6 Years

On April 18th 2018, I got on my one way flight from Brisbane to go travelling and experience life overseas. I was only 20 years old when I left Australia and I had absolutely no clue what was in store for me. 

Flash forward to today April 18th, 2024… six years later, I’m now 26 years old. I’ve officially been travelling, living and working overseas for SIX years! My palms start sweating as I reflect back because never in my life did I think I’d be away from home for six years straight. But, Australia isn’t just my home now. I didn’t expect to find my “home” anywhere else in the world because I love Australia so much and it really is such a beautiful country. I am unbelievably privileged in the fact I get to tell people that I’m from Sydney and had the experience of growing up in a mixture of the city life, beach life and farm life with some incredible friends by my side. 

I’ve always been curious and eager to learn about life around me and my need to travel has inevitably been far greater than staying and living in Australia, I knew there was more out there and I wanted to go and see it for myself - that was my version of success. Even though it meant leaving my friends, family and life in Australia, after two summers at camp and a trip to Lisbon, I was so ready to continue exploring other countries and live out my dream. When it came to leaving and getting on that one way flight, I only had travel plans for the the first four months from leaving in April… which took me up to the end of August 2018, although, I knew that I wanted to live overseas for maybe a year or two and see where the wind would take me. I remember thinking that this was my chance to do whatever I wanted to, go wherever I felt like going. I was prepared to take the bad times with the good as I’ve always known that travelling isn’t as comfortable, fun and glamorous as it seems or comes across. As much as I was excited and ready for an adventure, I was also scared and worried from the fear of the unknown. Yet to my surprise, I found so many “homes away from home.” I found my home at summer camp in America, I found my home in Banff, Canada and I found my home in Wigan, England. I’ve had the pleasure of travelling around and seeing some spectacular parts of America, Canada, the UK and Europe and had the trip of a lifetime backpacking throughout Mexico, Guatemala and Belize. I feel like I’ve left a part of me in every place I’ve lived and visited. 

The true place that I have found my home in and I am grateful for every day, is the people that I have around me and spend my time with. I think there’s a misconception about solo travelling. I’ve been asked a lot of times and seen on social media very similar questions in relation to solo travelling, such as “do you not get lonely?” How could you leave your family?” Don’t you miss your friends?” “How could you spend so much time by yourself?” Don’t get me wrong, it is completely normal to feel lonely and to be alone but I think a lot of people have the opinion that you’ll only feel those emotions halfway across the world and by yourself… they forget that you can have those feelings in your hometown, surrounded by all your family and friends. 

Solo travelling (and travelling in general) for me is not being able to say “I’ve been there” or ticking another country off the bucket list, but to understand the different ways of life. To learn about myself, other people and the world around me. To push myself and get out of my comfort zone, try new things and immerse myself into everything about that particular country I possibly can. I absolutely love spending time by myself and that is one big reason as to why I wanted to get a one way ticket and solo travel. Although at some points I have felt lonely on this journey, I’ve never been alone once. I’ve been able to meet some truly wonderful, inspiring and life changing people who have made my time away absolutely sensational to say the least!

So, I wanted to say a massive thank you to all the people that I’ve met throughout these six years. Thank you for making my journey so special. Thank you for everything. You are the biggest reason as to why my travels have been made so memorable. I also want to thank my family and best friends back in Australia, even though I’ve been gone for so long, there’s nothing but support, good vibes and unconditional love. And lastly to my amazing partner Deejay, his family and of course my two best friends Aine and Molly, I simply don’t know where I’d be without you all! 

It’s so cool to acknowledge how far I’ve come and what I’ve learnt. What an extraordinary opportunity and privilege. It’s not been all smooth sailing, but it’s a journey I wouldn’t have done any other way, I’m truly blessed, lucky and appreciative and I’m unbelievably excited for the next chapter in life! 

Stay tuned for my next blogpost and if you ever have any questions or want to chat feel free to DM me on my instagram the_runawayredhead! 

Talk soon, 

The Runaway Redhead

The REAL DEAL… PART 2

Summer camp in 2017 was the year the three of us became friends, best friends in fact. I don’t remember the first time the three of us hung out but I remember meeting Aine and Molly individually. As you live and work with all the staff members at camp for nine weeks of the summer, friendships can form incredibly fast as you go through everything together…navigating your role and the group of kids you’re in charge of each week, the highs and lows, the daily and weekly routines, your progression and of course, the fun adventures you got to have on the weekends. After all these years, the only thing I can remember was the instant connection and banter that the three of us had. I knew deep down that they were going to be my friends for a long time and that was such a comforting and exciting feeling. The three of us were very similar and different in a lot of ways. We joked around maybe a little too much and could make fun of each other all the time. We always had each other’s backs. We could be real and honest with each other. We all loved to travel. 

Molly’s camp name was “Teddy” after St Edmund Hall where she studied in Oxford. I didn’t know much about Oxford but I knew it was meant to be a very intriguing city with lots of influential history. After our travels throughout America and Lisbon in 2017, we spoke about meeting up again somewhere and definitely paying Molly a visit in Oxford one day. Now that I was in England, it was the perfect opportunity and it was a locked in plan. 

Almost a year later, in May 2018, I found myself on the National Express bus to Oxford. After a five hour bus ride, I got off at my stop in the middle of the city. I was blown away by the architecture alone. It looked magical and made me think if Hogwarts was real, it would be right here in front of me. After reuniting with Molly, I spent the first few days meeting her housemates and friends. I got to walk around the city centre everyday and explore Teddy Hall, always in absolute awe of my surroundings. In fact, one of my favourite things that I got to do was join in on one of Molly’s lectures. I don’t remember how it came about but there I was, waiting with her as the hallway piled up with students to enter the lecture room. As we walked in, I saw the room full of chairs, a massive white board and a few screens, for everyone else it was probably boring and just any old lecture room… but for me, (I’m laughing at myself writing this almost six years later) I found it SO amazing and I still find it so awesome that I had the opportunity to join in. I don’t fully remember what the lecture was about. At the time though I specifically remember being very fascinated by what the lecturer was talking about but also very surprised that they didn’t realise I didn’t belong in that room.

Molly, her housemate Chris and I also went climbing and bouldering at the Oxford Brookes University Centre for sport and I even got a shoutout in the Teddy Hall Confessions Facebook group at the time when it was popping full of confessions. 

FINALLY Aine joined us and the three of us were together once again, it was an epic feeling. We explored even more of Oxford and luckily had Molly as our tour guide. It felt like no time had passed between when we saw each other last. Spending our time talking and laughing for hours on end, we walked around the stunning buildings of different Universities, Schools, Libraries, Museums and Churches. Oxford was such an extraordinary city, with so much charm and history. Being near London too, it had the hustle and bustle atmosphere, but also had a lot of greenery and picturesque quiet spots in nature that made you forget you were in a city. We spent a day punting down the Isis River- which I highly recommend doing if you ever visit Oxford! An afternoon going to an Oxford RAG Garden party (a charity event that they held every year) and having a night out at the classic club Purple Turtle.

One of the most memorable parts of our trip was the formal dinner we had at Teddy Hall together. These dinners were held often for the students, their families and friends.  It was so much fun doing our hair and makeup and putting something nice on for what felt like a once in a lifetime event. Meeting some of Molly’s friends in the line, it was really cool and interesting to see them all wearing gowns for the dinner. Upon entering, I remembered looking around, and thinking “ is this what it could possibly feel like eating in the dining hall of Harry Potter?” We got to our seats and stood up when the Principle and people on the High Table also entered and after they had situated themselves on their own table, the Principle stepped up to the podium and says in Latin “Benedictus Benedicat” which means ‘May the blessed one give a blessing,’ he then slammed down a gavel and that meant we could all sit down. It was nothing I’d ever experienced before but it felt special to be there and to see it all. The food came in courses and I recall Aine and I being so impressed, it was all so fancy and elegant! After we had finished eating and chatting, everyone stood up and the Principle again made his way to the podium said “Benedicto Benedicatur,” which means ‘Let Praise be given to the blessed one’ and left with the High Table, which signified the end of the dinner. 

I was so grateful to have been able to become familiar with Oxford and life in the University. Also for Molly who is a book of knowledge, and just so passionate about life, what she does and studies, I learnt so much from her in the time I was there. Having those possibilities to be involved was brilliant and it’s a time in my life I still think about now. I’ve always enjoyed travelling in a local’s way of life, immersing myself as much as I can and I definitely got such a delightful perspective of Oxford that maybe the another traveller wouldn’t get. 

Aine and I also visited a free and once in generation exhibition about the life and legacy of J. R. R. Tolkien called Tolkien: Maker of Middle Earth, which took place at the Boddleian Libraries, Oxford University. It was brilliant and we both found it incredibly fascinating. The exhibition took us through his famous works such as Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit that displayed a collection of draft manuscripts, illustrations and maps drawn for his publications. We also got to see inside The Book of Ishness, in which we discovered his early abstract paintings, stories he wrote for children, rare objects that belonged to him, private letters and even fan mail! We were absolutely blown away by how incredible the exhibition was and as fans it was fun to get the extra insight into his work and his life. 

What a time we had had! After a wild ride in Oxford, it came to saying goodbye once again but I knew it was only a “see ya later” as Aine, Molly and I further plans to catch up later on in the year together. It was early June now and I’d been in England for a month! The weather was absolutely lovely as time went on, summer was on its way and I was astounded at everything I’d been able to see and do within in month and even two months from originally leaving back in April. I jumped on another bus up to Nottingham for a short but sweet visit to see Olivia. The bus rides always gave me time to reflect and be alone again. It was so much fun to be back on the road, going to a new place, filling up my days with hobbies, learning and trying out new things. 

Getting off at Nottingham, I was reunited with Olivia and it was so nice to see her after so much time had passed from camp. After spending hours catching up on each other’s lives and meeting her housemates, I got a tour of their house and it was crazy to be shown that they had a complete layout of the house down in the basement, there was graffiti on the walls and they had used it before as a background for group photos! Olivia also showed me around Nottingham University, where she attended, and the grounds of the university were gorgeous! She also took me to a couple of her favourite food spots and we spent a night out on the town with her friends. We ended up going to a pub where you could stand on the chairs and tables to sing and dance! It was crazy and hilarious and such an awesome night. 

Another goodbye rolled around and it was bittersweet leaving Olivia. My time in England was coming to an end and I’d loved every minute of it but on the other hand, I was going to camp for my third year and I was unbelievably excited for the summer. I hopped on a bus again back to London ready to get my flight to Boston. I had just started to feel like I was coming down with a cold too, sore throat, body aches, blocked nose the LOT. I put those feelings to the side and hoped that I could just rest it off on my flight to Boston… 

Stay tuned for the next blog! If you ever have any questions about any of my travels feel free to DM on my instagram the_runawayredhead. 

Talk soon, 

The Runaway Redhead