After completing my PhD in 2014 , I spent the entirety of my life in education. I was 25, with no job, no house, no kids, and no responsibilities. It sounds weird, but it was perfect, perfect to take off and go travelling.
Travel was something I had always wanted to do. I love to learn and visit new places, I am also very social and get a buzz from talking to strangers and making new friends. During my PhD at the University of Manchester, I based myself in student halls as a residential tutor. I looked after first-year students, organising Fresher’s week and social events, helping with conflicts, telling people to be quiet at 3am, going to the hospital with depressed students… it had it all. But in the context of travelling, it had one thing… it was free. I managed to save £5,000 in 4 years as a PhD Student (who still went out drinking every weekend). In the grand scheme of things, it wasn’t much, but it was enough to get me going and keep me backpacking for 9 months.
My trip was incredible, I loved every minute of it, honestly. Even the long journies on buses and being kept awake at night by 18-year-old idiots. I was backpacking. What wasn’t to love?
It’s safe to say I caught the travel-bug on this trip and all of my ‘holidays’ since then have been backpacking holidays, albeit for much shorter lengths of time (and almost as much money!).
Here, you can view all my blog posts from my trip to South East Asia in 2014 in chronological order. I started in Thailand in March 2014 and travelled north to Laos overland, then Vietnam overland, Cambodia overland, back into Thailand, flew to Myanmar, then back to Thailand. South overland to Malaysia, flew to Sarawak (Borneo) Malaysia, back to Mainland Malaysia, then flew to Bali and Lombok before flying home in November 2014.
Travel Alchemist 