My travel journey so far…
So I thought it was only appropriate that my first ever blog post be explaining exactly how I got to be living over 15,000 kilometres away from home…
Let me start off by introducing myself; Hi, I'm Ali, I am 27 years old born in England but currently living in Far North Queensland, Australia. I am a travel and lifestyle creator with a love for creating breathtaking content both on land and in the water. With a career history working in Marketing and as a Social Media Coordinator for multiple businesses... You could say I not only have the passion for this but also the knowledge for it too!
Now let’s get into my journey... from an early age, I’ve been fortunate in being able to see a lot of the world, having visited places like New Zealand, Cuba, Dubai, Thailand, and different countries in Europe during my teenage and early twenties, some of which were family trips and others with my friends. I can honestly say I’ve had the travel bug since I was about 12 years old, I distinctly remember myself and one of my best friends Kat being obsessed with all things Australia and making a pact to move there when we were older.
When I turned 18 my heart was set on travelling and taking a gap year but my parents knew if I started travelling I wouldn’t come back for uni (they weren’t wrong either), so I went to university and got a degree. I still made sure I got to travel often with my group of friends travelling Thailand for a month during one summer and going to different cities in Europe for another, I was living the best of both worlds (and If you’re wondering how I afforded all of that well I actually had an unintentional full time job during university working in a hotel and at one point had two jobs alongside studying - I’m not sure how I quite did it but I did)!
Skip forward to finishing university and 2 weeks after graduating back in July 2018 I packed my bags and booked a one way flight to New Zealand. With an uncle who lives near Queenstown in the South Island, it was the compromise in order to allow me to begin travelling. I lived in New Zealand for 10 months, 5 months living with my uncle in Wanaka where I got to ski weekly at the many different ski resorts in the area, and experience all the beauty that the south island had to offer, I spent the following 5 months in Wellington, where I lived in the city centre, this was the beginning of my solo adventure.
In May 2019, I FINALLY made it to Australia, after so many years of dreaming about it the day had finally come. That next year is when I truly realised Australia was somewhere I felt at home, from the people, the weather, and the lifestyle it was everything I had dreamed about and more, I had no desire or plan to leave, I was the happiest I think I’d ever been! You can probably guess what happened next… Covid hit the world in 2020 which unfortunately meant my Australia dream and life came to an end, I was devastated, and I don’t think I’ve cried more in a month than I had in the build up knowing I was having to leave Australia. I flew back to the UK in March 2020 and alongside the rest of the world did practically nothing for 2 years.
Fast forward to now, well 18 months ago, to March 2022 and my replacement WHM had been granted after 7 months of waiting, I flew into Brisbane on the 15th March almost exactly two years after I had left and my life started again! I spent 6 months on the Gold Coast (this place will forever be one of my favourite places in Aus), met a boy and then moved up to Port Douglas, Far North Queensland where I still live as im writing this September 2023! After 18 months of living in Australia I can honestly say I’m so content and grateful for this life and thankful for everything that led up to it. All the experiences I’ve been able to do from scuba diving at the Great Barrier Reef, visiting Whitsundays, road tripping along the East Coast, driving along the Great Ocean Road and so much more its been an incredible journey that isn’t ending anytime soon!
With the new agreement between the United Kingdom & Australia meaning you can live here for up to 3 years without having to do any farmwork, my life has only really just begun!
If you’ve read this far, thank you so much, I appreciate the support and If you want to follow my journey visually through photos and videos I share my travels on my Instagram and TikTok which I’ve shared below for you.
See you soon,
Ali x
