I had always wanted to travel, but somehow the extent of my travelling experiences for many years revolved around the odd beach holiday where I left knowing as much about the country as when I had begun! I didn’t consider travelling on my own as an option and went along with whatever my friends were doing, which I always enjoyed, but knew that I wanted more. I was the one who after 30 minutes sitting on the beach wanted to explore which no one else wanted to do.

Then life changed rapidly. I broke up with my fiancé, got a new job and found myself living on my own for the first time in my life all within 6 months. At first, I couldn’t afford to even think about holidays, just surviving with a mortgage on my own was enough. As time went on and money became a little less tight, I realised that actually the world was now my oyster and all the travel plans that I had had could finally be realised if only I was brave enough to embark on solo travel…

Plucking up the courage wasn’t easy for me to do. I am a natural introvert and the thought of solo travel or travel with a tour group was not something that appealed. But one day, a friend introduced me to the companies Exodus and Explore  and my world suddenly widened. It probably took me another six months to pluck up the courage to actually phone and book one of the trips which was to Italy. When I phoned, they said that there was no more space on the flight and I can remember putting down the phone with relief! However, the next day, they phoned me back to tell me that they had found me a flight and the rest was history!

Since then, I have travelled to over 40 countries and have enjoyed every second. As time has gone on, I have grown in confidence to design my own itineraries and travel both with and without the support of a tour group. On this blog, I hope to share some of those experiences with you.