Travel feeds my soul

I firmly believe that travel feeds my soul and makes me feel better.

A few months ago at work I was speaking to my friend about a trip I took in 2015, I was 24 years old and had just finished an extremely demanding and stressful job. There was a huge amount of expectation resting on this trip and for months it had sustained me whilst I worked. Booking sections of the trip whilst I went home at the weekends gave me the energy to keep going. I was filled with excitement at the thought of traveling to the southern hemisphere and stopping off in Singapore along the way.

But the fear hit me square in the face the first night in Singapore. I was in a new country, about to go off into the unknown and I suddenly felt very ill prepared. The uncertainty of what the next 4 months would bring also heightened my anxiety.

And yet despite of this, it was the best experience of my life and I still reminisce about it today. I found an old note on my phone that I had forgotten about and it looking at it now eight years later, I can’t actually believe all these things occurred on the trip. My writing on this note almost seems giddy and overwhelming.

Get told by a cab driver about the secret Singapore escape plan!

Go into hotel so you can eat the breakfast buffet whilst waiting for your airbnb to be ready.

Pretend your a Hobbit and visit The Shire.

Pack inappropriate clothing for a 3 day camping trip at Uluru.

Sweet talk a producer on Jimmy Kimmel so you get tickets to see the show.

Blag as much free wifi as you can, be it a library, campsite, cafe or boat.

Fit flops, compartment bags and dry shampoo are essential when camping.

Get vague directions and follow them. Who needs a sat nav!

Eat a BBQ steak on an island in the Noosa Everglades for your birthday.

When I ask for English breakfast tea I don't mean Darjeeling.

Tim Tams, Anzac biscuits and Lemon, Lime & Bitters are lifelines.

Getting the camper-van beached in New Zealand and a total stranger saves the day.

Make friends with the tour guides so you get the best seat or view.

Use as many modes of transportation as you can.

It feels so surreal that I made this list at the time, as before I left I was given a travel diary and it barely made it past the first week before I abandoned it to my suitcase. And although anxiety and doubt where there, amazingly they didn’t overtake my experience.

It was a life changing trip but it was also exhausting. When I returned home something happened to me which changed my life forever. I had plans of skipping off again, this time with a holiday working visa and then suddenly the dream of endless possibilities vanished.

As time went by and years past, I began to take control of my situation and the urge to travel came again. My soul needing feeding, I was in a 9-5 and as the song goes barely making a living so in 2018 I went to Canada by myself to join a trip. This was the first time I had flown by myself since I was diagnosed as a Type 1 Diabetic and I was absolutely terrified. I had an mini crisis in the airport and wondered around aimlessly before snapping back to reality and finding a place to eat. I also had a mini panic on the plane about eating and two very sweet cabin crew found me a fruit plate from first class. But when I got there, joined the tour and relaxed I ended up having the best time.

After this experience my desire to travel was strong and I went again to Australia in 2019. Not knowing what the world was about to go through the following year.

Sitting here now thinking about all of this seems pretty pertinent as I am currently planning a trip abroad. This will be the first time in 4 years that I have travelled outside the UK and I am slightly terrified but excited. I haven’t been on a plane since 2019 and after everything we have been through I am little nervous and can feel the anxiety floating in my mind. I feel out of practice with the machinations of traveling and almost feel like I am about to travel abroad for the first time.

But then I remember I find travel and experiencing new things a renewing and transformative process. I hope this can carry me through the fog of anxiety clearing the way for an amazing experience.

How do you feel about travel? Does the idea of traveling aboard terrify or excite you? Do you have any travel experiences that were life changing?