People often ask how I’m able to travel so much, how I got into this lifestyle. The answer is actually quite simple. Annoyingly, it’s the same cliché you always hear — on the tacky wall quotes, the fortune cookies, the Instagram Reels.

It’s a mindset:

Whatever you want in this life, you can achieve. What if it turns out better than you ever imagined? You are the designer of your own life.

I’ve always been in the mindset that I can work towards anything I want in this world. I was privileged enough growing up, yes. I grew up in a fairly small rural town and had the opportunity to have a decent education. My family always had enough and my mom did everything she could to provide for her four daughters as a single mom. I desperately wanted to escape to a bigger city, took out all the student loans and always had multiple jobs while going to university. And then I left one day to study abroad and basically never looked back.

I’ve researched every way to travel on a budget, have had dozens of jobs working in hospitality and education, and have relentlessly searched for a place, a career, and a purpose that sets my soul on fire. I’m still in the midst of this pursuit (though I’ve gotten much closer to all of the above), but on the way, I’ve managed to create this life where working my ass off quite literally results in the life of my dreams.

I know my dream life looks much different than yours, and I’m not suggesting a full life is only achieved through travel. I am saying, though, that anything is possible — yes, more clichés. I don’t feel brave most of the time, but I have an obsession with the beautiful things in life and have always been determined to do whatever it takes to surround myself with them. Which usually consists of the ocean, sunsets, and great company, all whilst holding a drink in hand.

There’s been constant struggles throughout my life, mostly in the form of anxiety and depression (and also being a broke college kid/backpacker), and it’s driven me to be on a constant search for happiness. I was determined to get to this place in life where I was 100% happy and content. And what I’ve been reconciling with the past couple of years, is that it’s not living without living with the struggles and the sadness and the loneliness. I’ve been an emotional wreck half of the past year (okay, half of my entire life), but something I’ve been actively working on is embracing those moments, these feelings, that heartbreak, the grief. Trying to remember during the low times that loss means I had something significant, something meaningful to begin with. And loss and losing are just the opposite side of the coin.

So simply, I travel so much and have this lifestyle because I wanted it. Really fuxking bad. I’ve spent the better part of 35 years squeezing the most out of life and have no intention of stopping anytime soon.