Mine is a story of courage, responsibility, independence and a young girls dream of seeing the world, one small step at a time. The young girls motive for traveling began with an urge to transform herself from a naive, codependent teenager with low self esteem into a young woman out in the world being responsible for her own life and learning things as she goes. That young girl was me. I was 19 years old when i decided to make this huge move from a small town in Ireland to a country so far away it seemed almost dreamlike. This would be the biggest challenge of my life and would pave the way for miraculous things, but i didn't know that yet. Australia was my destination but it was the journey that i was excited for, maybe even a little apprehensive, as any normal human should be. I set off with no friends to meet me in Australia, no travel plan nor any idea what i would work at, in fact all i was sure of was that I had enough clothes to last me the entire year. Some may say this was a huge challenge for an inexperienced girl and some did say this, many times. I cant explain how much a year away traveling changed me but what I do know is that one trip, that one step to independence, led me to visit almost 50 countries around the world.

I set out with no qualifications and no idea about my future or my plans to study, but this is what the universe had planned for me and I was lucky to know that from a young age. Many like me, struggled to decide their destiny and instead, studied for years to be in careers they hated. Others envied me for taking this leap and quizzed me on how they could follow in my footsteps, but at the end of it all, were too scared to be the change. From Australia, I continued home to that small town in Ireland I had once left, only to discover that time stood still and everyone stood with it. I had a feeling inside of me that If i fell back into this reality, everything I had worked for would be erased and I would rediscover the old version of myself. The one i tried so very hard to change. It was final, I had taken a job in Bahrain would spend four months adapting to middle eastern life while working as a barmaid in an Irish pub. How cliche? From one culture to the next, I was slowly expanding my cultural knowledge along with my circle of friends and life skills. My world was changing, and how could I ever want this to stop. Change and growth is good right? Why didn't everybody understand my plea, why didn't everyone want this too. It took me a while to realize this, but one step at a time.

Soon after Bahrain, I set off on a short nine week adventure with some friends around South East Asia before moving to Brighton, England for a few months. The nomadic life was catching on and I was slowly becoming addicted. It wasn't long before I set off to Canada for a year of working, traveling  and reuniting with old friends, and to top it all off, I had a job on a friends families potato farm - again, How cliche? That year would pave the way for my study life, and once I had returned to Ireland, plans were in place to study a Beauty/Holistic Therapies diploma. The course was two years but it didn't take away from my love of travel because students have free summers right? I spent the entire summer traveling through 9 countries in South America, brushing up on my spanish, so well in fact that by the end of the trip, I almost resembled an ad for 'Rosetta Stone', at the local veggie market. Having finished the trip off in Californai, t was then time to return home to Beauty School.

It was during the South America/USA trip that I traveled with the 'Eat, Pray, Love' book that I had brought with me on many of my trips and had reread more times than in could remember. From the first time i read this incredible story, Liz Gilbert became an instant role model and inspiration to me, so much so that I could almost imagine us as friends from a past life. So much was similar to my life and my reasons for traveling, so much so that I began planning a trip of a lifetime. After college, I would start my trip in India and then travel to Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Japan before finally settling down in New Zealand for a year. As if I couldn't possibly become more different to the young girl who left Ireland for a life of adventure in Australia, this trip would turn my life upside down. In the best way possible.

I spent the 6 months leading up to my India trip, studying for my college exams, finishing my first novel and setting up my very own travel advice website from scratch. It was a busy few months for me, with no help but It was something i needed to do. My dream was to have my first travel novel published purely to inspire others through my story, much like Liz's was. I also aimed to blog throughout my journey to get people involved and share my tips and tricks with fellow aspiring travelers. It took a lot of blood, sweat and tears to get everything going at once and even with my website not making a cent, i figured this Karma yoga of helping others would be priceless for me. I set off on my first trip to India where I traveled far and wide for four weeks and settled in a great yoga school in Rishikesh for six weeks,  training hard to be a yoga teacher. I came out of that school having learned things i never knew I could learn, philosophies that blew my mind and had me thinking a totally different way about life and everything I would encounter. My body was in the best shape, my skin was glowing and I was fully detoxed with new loving friends around me and a future so bright that I needed sunglasses. It was in Malaysia that I met a man, that would change my life even further and show me happiness that I had only seen in movies. We spent time traveling various parts of Indonesia in what resembled a very honeymoon style scenario. We had accumulated a group of mutual friends who we spent weeks with and it seemed as if this love story would never end. As they say, all good things come to an end, and It did, inevitably. His journey was opposite to mine and there was no way I could tear him away from his destiny nor could he do it to me. We reunited a few months later having tried the long distance thing, and spent a beautiful Christmas and New Years down under before the time came for us to part ways, one more heart wrenching time. As any break up goes, It took me a while to realize my life without him and actually move on to a life of happiness. I went on to find a passion i didn't know I had, nor did I think I could make a career out of, but here I was working for the NGO Greenpeace and learning so much more about this part of life. Learning about sustainability and environmental issues made me all of a sudden aware of everything around me and I instantly became the best version of myself. Would anyone at home recognize me? Would they brand me as 'one of them hippies' now? Would people think that all of these changes was me trying to be better than them or me being a fake version of myself? I didn't care. My life was currently about helping others, helping the planet and becoming a loveable version of myself which I was truly happy with. I instantly noticed good things happening to me, I noticed my eyes glowing in photos, I noticed myself enjoying life so much more and I was now attracting great people to me. I saved and saved until finally one day, I had enough money to continue my travels and continue to challenge myself. I cruised around the Pacific Islands, I hiked over three weeks in Nepal to reach a 5416m summit, I graduated one again from that same yoga school with an advanced certificate and I created an epic overland trip from Tanzania to South Africa on the tightest budget possible. My life had changed dramatically because of 'Eat, Pray, Love and Liz Gilbert's inspiring words, and its only going to continue.

To think that we hiked over a 3 week period for over 200kms in the Himalayas in the middle of winter, in deep snow, with no guides, no proper equipment or even hiking poles, seems pretty crazy. So crazy in fact that when I tell people this, the look on their faces says it all. The tragic accident that happened on that exact route just two months prior should have tipped is off as to not go ahead and hike during the winter. The mountains have their own energy and you never know, whatever time of year, what could happen. And this was proved when this tragic accident happened in the peak of the high season in Nepal, a time very unusual and unpredictable. 

Nevertheless I chose to head off on this 3 week circuit of the Annapurna Himalayan range by myself but was hoping to find some people to join me just to out my mind at ease. Luckily last minute I met Dave and we spend the only day we had before the hike to  get prepared. We both bought/rented knock off North Face/ North Fake as it's known around Thamel, clothing and sleeping bags and with just a tiny 15l day pack full to the brim, I was ready to leave. 

We were due to meet Om, a Nepalese friend of ours who had been around the circuit more than 30 times now and he was heading off again the same time as us. Unfortunately when the time came, with lack of wifi and communication methods we missed him by a day. 

The trek was a mix of sceneries and was a trek described as being one of the best if not THE best long distance hike in the world and it definitely was! We walked on average about 6-8hrs a day on a good day and maybe 4hrs on a bad day. We also had some rest days once we got close to the summit of the Thorong La Pass on the Tibetan plateau at 5416m up, to acclimatise and prepare for the near 12hr power day to the summit and down again to the mustang region. That was the day everyone dreaded.. The weather had to be perfect, you had to be well prepared and be well rested but none of that is guaranteed and at the end of the day, it's all a risk. The first few days was rainforest, waterfalls and rocky trails up and down until finally one day we hit the snow line and began to get more and more immersed in it as the days passed. 

We would meet people from different groups, with many stories, some struggling and some powering through and we all had that same goal to get over the pass safely. The pass was the scene of the past accident, when the cyclone hit the broad flat area during the groups crossing and we were very anxious about passing that spot. 

Every day hiking the Himalayas is an incredible rush but at the same time you know that one slip on the narrow trail can throw you off the edge and the weather is constantly unpredictable. So unpredictable that we were lucky we had been delayed a day for the crossing because Xmas Day was a very windy day and a lot of our friends came across some difficulties. Boxing Day on the other hand couldn't have been perfect with not a breeze of wind to be felt. 

This wasn't the case just the day before though for us making our way towards the pass. We ran in to the wind that day and lagging behind Dave and Rik our Belgian buddy, I was struck so hard by a gust of wind that it knocked me onto the ground into the snow right on the edge of the mountain. I couldn't prayed more that day if I'd tried, and I was relieved when I made it to our tea house for the night. 

I can't say that taking me on such a big challenge with such an easy going attitude was responsible and I don't believe it was but luck was on our side and we made it over and down the pass with minimal difficulty apart from a few slips down the ice. We took on the challenge using my Annapurna Circuit Guide book as a personal guide and it was such a great help. Even though the trail is marked, in the winter the snow buries the signs so it's easy to be misled as we were many times. It's not fun to be lost coming close to sunset in the middle of the vast open spaces of the worlds biggest mountains. 

Guides and porters are available everywhere and they are very cheap but from the way we saw some of the guides hurry on their people, i was glad we could take our own time to do things. Both Dave and I suffered slightly with altitude symptoms at the exact point the say - above 3000m and we took acclimatisation pills until we came off the pass. Even Rik who had hiked to Everest base camp not long before, had an altitude problem during the pass which frightened us all. You just never know! All the medication is available in Thamel, Kathmandu before the hike so be prepared for everything... Even blisters like I had! 

Towards the end I suffered with tendinitis badly in both feet that last few days of the trek, once we were out of the snow and back on dusty trails, I wore my hiking sandals. Thank god for them! The end of the trek for us was New Year's Day spent in a natural hit spring in the mountains, well deserved after days of walking if you ask me. We then room dodgy public transport the last few kms back to Pokhara and there we celebrated our achievement. What a challenge and what memories were made!

One thing people always ask me is what's the best way to make money when travelling and how much money do I need to start in the first place. The truth is if you save enough for a one way flight to... Anywhere... then the rest is easy. During my travels I have done so many random jobs from picking eggplants in Australia to potato farms in Canada to bartending in the Middle East but since my travels started, more and more websites and ideas have come about to make it een easier for you to land yourself a job.

If you are in the right ages category generally between 18-35 you can even pay a company such as USIT to do it all for you. For first time travellers this is great but personally you can save a fortune by organising things yourself which I slowly learned. There are a few handy websites to keep on hand if you are in the midst of planning a trip and you can land yourself a job or even just good connections before your flight. Some of these include:

www.workaway.info

Helpx or Woofing which are both very easy to use to connect with contacts around the world and it costs as little as $20 a year. www.helpx.net www.wwoofinternational.org

Other options are too go online to various classified websites such as Gumtree, Craigslist or Kijiji to scope or the job opportunities in the countries you desire and contact job offers directly that way. www.gumtree.com

Another option that I would regularly check up on was www.jobs.goabroad.com

It is also an option to travel abroad without a job and as in hostels along the way if they are taking volunteers (I occasionally did this to save money along my travels). If you have a specific skill or trade you can by all means use this during your travels to earn a wage or to just trade for full board/food & accomodation. I have met so many people around the world who have been travelling long term like me and they use the same such websites to make their journey last longer. It is always easy to keep travelling once you know these options and you can even study as you travel like I did. I started my recent two year trip around the world, training to be a yoga teacher in India and finished that same trip with my advanced training in the same school back in India. It is always good to have trades like this to keep you travelling and gaining new experiences and no doubt I'll be using most of my qualifications in Vancouver this year.

Please feel free to post feedback below or on the Facebook page if you have any questions do the same.

Happy Travels!! And don't work too hard 😉

This blog post idea came to me randomly like a lot of the topics I write about and I wanted to write an inspirational travel piece for potential world travellers. As most of you may know I started travelling almost 8 years ago which seems totally crazy. I was 19 and basically wanted to get a grip with adult life and see the world in the process. With most of my friends in college, it helped me to push myself to travel alone- the best decision of my life. Since then I have met too many best friends to name, had so much work and life experience and have been given opportunities people can only dream about. Today I am a fully qualified beauty therapist, advanced 500hr yoga teacher and environmentalist, all of which would never have happened if I hadn't of taken that first step.

It's a lot of people's dream to get out there and see the world but it seems a lot of people are nervous and afraid of the unknown exactly as I was. The website was set up by me to encourage those people to go forth and conquer the world through first hand travel Information and my own personal experiences. If I had a cent for every time someone asks me how I afford it, do I work, tells me how lucky I am or even calls me a dreamer- I would be a rich lady... And that I am not! Yes just like everyone else, I work and I work hard. Like most Virgos when I have a goal to focus on then there is no stopping me and for the past few years every cent I have saved has been put straight into the travel fund.

Still, with the questions being asked on a regular basis I try to reply to each and every travel advice query and provide links to my info blogs, my recent experiences and my own research to help others live their dream. This blog has followed me around the world for the past two years and the previous 5 years of travel we're written down and turned into my first ever novel which I hope to have published at a later stage. My journey is nowhere near complete and this 'travelling' life I portray is literally just my life now and I don't want anything other than this for the time being. I am the happiest I have ever been thanks to yoga, healthy living, outdoor activities, incredible friends and the chance to see the lives of people in other countries far and wide. This is a life I have chosen, a life I have made for myself, and no I am not lucky because at in life you make your own luck and you would be surprised how far optimism, positivity and manifestation can take you.

Trust the universe to know what's right for you.

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