“My Story – Inspiring others to make overseas travel a reality”
I was never particularly interested in long-term overseas travel.
After graduating, many of my friends took on second jobs and worked themselves to the bone to be able to afford a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it 2 month holiday to Europe, where they paid too much for cramped dorms crawling with bedbugs, and returned home broke and exhausted. I never understood the mass appeal. I preferred my easy routine of working part-time during the week, and then pouring my paycheck down my throat in the form of too many shots, which I usually threw up a few hours later. I was having fun living for the weekend in my hometown of Darwin, in Northern Australia, where I’d lived all my life. All that saving and sacrificing hardly seemed worthwhile to me.
That is, until just after my 22nd birthday – when I met a boy and fell in love. He convinced me that South America would blow my mind, and we should pack up everything and take off to this foreign continent for 3 months with nothing but a backpack. I was quite apprehensive, and had every excuse in the book – I had just got a pay rise (in a job that I hated); all my family were here (they weren’t going anywhere); and I didn’t have enough saved (although I knew I was due to soon receive a large tax refund). He rebutted every excuse I had, and on a whim he went and simply booked our tickets for me. It was now or never, and I wasn’t one to miss out on a party. I was terrified, yet eventually relented and agreed. How bad could it be?
The truth is, the reality of long term travel is nowhere near as daunting as you build it up to be in your mind. 3 months in 7 countries in South America did, infact, completely blow my mind. We met so many Travellers who were away from home for 12 months, 2 years, forever – and I was so envious. I found myself fervently wishing we hadn’t put a time-limit on our time away, and before we even returned home to Australia we were planning our second trip, this time to South East Asia. I had found so much peace of mind, clarity and happiness on the open road, meeting like-minded people and sharing experiences I could never have dreamt of back home. Countries like Bolivia, which I’d never even heard of before I left Australia, had me spellbound and wishing I never had to leave. The whole experience was unforgettable and eye-opening. I couldn’t believe I’d been so reluctant to travel, and had chosen instead to waste so many years in the same city I’d grown up in, when there was a whole world out there waiting to be discovered.
I had to get back out there.
I returned home a different person. Spending all my hard-earned money in the same bars, drinking the same beers and going to the same parties no longer held the same appeal; my eyes had been opened to another world, and every cent I earned was dedicated to getting back out there (although I did manage a few sneaky holidays and big weekends whilst saving… It wasn’t always all work and no play!). After about a year of saving, my boyfriend/travel-partner-extraordinare Brett suggested the idea of starting in India for our “Big Trip”. I scoffed at the mere idea of it – I had no interest whatsoever in India. He challenged all my assumptions and preconceptions about India, and reminded me that I had felt the same way about South America before we went, so I surrendered, and we booked a one-way ticket to India. I figured, if South America blew my mind, who’s to say India wouldn’t do the same? Overseas travel had given me new perspective, and I was ready to put my assumptions about India to the test.
Less than 2 years after returning from South America, we had saved like maniacs and had enough money in the bank to fulfil our ultimate dream – a one-way ticket to the world, no set plans, no date of return and enough money to travel for at least a few years. We arrived in India in late December 2011, and although I had only reluctantly agreed to 3 months here, I quickly fell in love with the beautiful people, the smorgasbord of delicious food and the diverse landscape, and we barely made it out of the country before our 6 month visa expired – and that was just doing a small portion of South India! We casually lounged on beaches in Goa for 2 months, starred in Bollywood movies in Mumbai, and learnt how to scuba dive on the amazing Andaman Islands – believe me when I say India is completely different to what you’d expect. Truly, an amazing country, and the best bit was we had no reason to hurry – we had all the time in the world this time. We set our minds to return to tour North India in 2013, and in the meantime headed off to Sri Lanka for 2 months of volunteering at an elephant orphanage, volunteering teaching English to Buddhist Monks, and just soaking up the laidback lifestyle of surfing, diving and sipping tea. After 8 months of work-free gypsy life, we felt the urge to put our feet down and unpack the backpacks for longer than a week or two, and moved to my now favourite city in the world, Chiang-Mai in Northern Thailand. After loving the experience of volunteering as English teachers in Sri Lanka, we booked ourselves in for a one-month Teach English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) course, and before the course was even finished, I had a job lined up teaching Kindergarten-age Thai students their ABC’s and playing in the snow for a few bucks. Life was all about teaching, eating, practicing Muay Thai boxing and enjoying the spoils and straight-up BIZARRE daily life as an Aussie living in an Asian country. We had found home.
However, reality was calling and we were soon expected home for 3 family weddings, so after a brief stint in beautiful Burma (Myanmar as it is now known) for a few weeks, and a month in picturesque Vietnam, we went from the cycle of endless travel to right back to where it all began – Darwin, Australia. Life took a few twists and turns in our first year home adjusting to “normality”, and my travel-partner, best friend & partner of 7-years and I broke up – it was a really difficult time in both of our lives. However, travel had turned us into the type of people who learn to see the blessings in every new experience, and the ability to recognise that everything happens for a reason – we still have a mutual love and respect for all we achieved together, and are still somehow best mates.
And now I am embarking on my greatest journey of all; Another one-way ticket to anywhere, this time flying solo (well, mostly). I have a week back in my all-time favourite city of Chiang-Mai to see my old friends, a week in China visiting my sister and her partner, before hopping on a plane to the country I’ve longed to visit most in my life – Mexico. One month here soaking up the sun with a cold Carona should heal all scars, and if not – I have as long as I want to explore Central America. My ultimate cure-all, travel, will help me to get back to the truest form of me, and remind me of the big picture in life – of this I have no doubts.
My advice is simple – don’t let excuses get in the way of your travel plans. The timing will rarely ever be “perfect” to pack up and just GO, but if you don’t do it now, you risk missing the opportunity completely. Anything worthwhile in life is worth sacrifice. Those few hundred dollars you save by staying home this weekend or not buying another pair of shoes, will stretch further than your wildest dreams in a country like India, and the memories will last a lifetime – could you say that same about the shoes? I doubt it. It took just four months to save $4000 to tour South America, and I still came home with money in the bank. Asian countries cost even less, and we do anything and everything our hearts desire when we travel.
Travelling overseas is much more than just seeing the sights and taking in the views from a 5-star hotel – you miss the best parts of a country travelling that way. It’s about getting down to eye-level with the local people, immersing yourself in a culture so unlike anything back home, meeting new people with new stories and opinions which challenge your own, and seeing a country through the eyes of the people who call it home. But above all, it’s about the change you notice within yourself. The calming clarity and unbridled happiness you feel when you allow yourself to be the person you aim to be, away from the stereotype of who you were before, is amazing. You are free to be you, whoever you choose to be.
But don’t just take my word for it… Get out there and do it yourself!
– Belle
If you want to read more about my travels, head to my blog: http://www.belletakesontheworld.com
belletakesontheworld 
Hi Belle!
My name is Roxanne and I am awed by your courage to travel like this. I am VERY curious about how you communicate with the locals in the south east asian countries as I know that most locals do not speak english.
Hi Roxanne, great to hear from you! Actually I found that majority of the locals either speak english, or someone in the group/within close proximity will be able to help you at least get by half the time… But even on those occasions where we did not speak a word of their language, and them of ours; hand gestures, pointing, maps and low guttural sounds will often get you to where you need to go (or something to eat!). I always make an effort to learn at least a few words, at least just to be polite if I don’t get a chance to learn more. Words like hello, where is the toilet (there’s a reason this is listed second most important, travellers know this rule), how much, and for me “This is delicious!”. Gotta let em know I love their cooking 🙂
I also did both spanish lessons and thai lessons, respectively, for 6 months or more so whenever I lived in a foreign speaking country, I loved learning the language. Canada even has it’s own lingo eh!
– Belle