Hey! I’m Belle, a third culture kid preparing to go on a solo adventure to the other side of the world. Thanks so much for visiting my site! I should probably start by telling you a little bit about me, my upcoming travel plans, and why you should care about this blog.
At first, I was a bit hesitant to start blogging. Entering the blogging world is scary! I'm up against professionals who have been writing about their passions for years and instagram model "influencers" who can afford to spend thousands on camera equipment and have personal photographers. Then there's me, a recent graduate with rusty writing skills and a GoPro. But what am I saying, it isn't a competition. I really have no idea if I'm going to be any good at this and it's hard to find a niche when there are already so many inspirational bloggers out there writing about their magical soul searching adventures. Then I thought, what have I got to lose? I enjoy writing, taking pictures and making films, so I've decided to combine these passions and go for it! Now is the perfect opportunity to turn my love for travel into something more and if I can connect with and inspire even just a few people I’ll be happy:) If you're reading this, firstly, thank you. Secondly, I hope this first post will convince you to follow me on my blogging journey. If it doesn’t, that’s totally cool. I’m new to all of this so any feedback and tips would be greatly appreciated. Okay, enough introduction, here’s a little bit about me.
About me
Born in Switzerland to American parents and raised in the US and UK, I absolutely love stepping out of my comfort zone and have a huge curiosity for people and culture. As a kid, I moved around quite a lot and am lucky to have travelled a fair bit. We moved to the UK when I was 7 years old (woah, 15 years ago?!). Although I was young, adjusting to a new place was difficult at first. After growing up in small countryside towns, moving to Kingston in Surrey was a big step. I remember hating it at first. I just didn't understand why there was so much rubbish and concrete everywhere. That being said, I grew to love the UK and was lucky to spend 3 years of university in the heart of London.
Post-uni depression is a thing
Having recently graduated from university last summer (July 2018), the thought of starting my career and joining the 9 - 5 rat race is truly daunting. The competition is fiercer than ever, the applications seem impossible and after receiving countless job rejections all you really want to do is give yourself an endless holiday after such a brutal third year pulling all-nighters in the library. Sound familiar? I’m sure I’m not the only one who has experienced that post-uni panic where you start to doubt everything and just wish you could go back to freshers week. Believe me, I’ve been there. Up until that graduation day, your whole life has sort of been structured by the educational system: you go to school, do your A levels, go to university and then BAM you’re in the real world with a huge dept wondering what the hell you’re supposed to do next.
I know this probably doesn’t apply to everyone, but my fellow Arts & Humanities graduates might know the feeling. I have a BA in Liberal Arts with a major in Film Studies and a minor in English, a very broad "multidisciplinary" degree that doesn't exactly pave the way for a set career path. A few weeks ago, whilst bored at work, I retook the 16 personality test online (highly recommend taking it if you haven't already) and my result was "Campaigner (ENFP-T)". In the hope that this magical website would shed light on my uncertain future, I clicked on "career paths" for the Campaigner personality type. The highlighted quote is spot on: "If there’s a challenge Campaigners face when selecting a career, it isn’t that they lack talent or options or drive, it’s that there are so many things out there that are just cool." Sure, I'd love to work in Film, but I'd also love to do a lot of other things. Any ways, the bottom line is that I can't quite seem to convince myself that working long hours (getting paid almost nothing) as a runner and eventually working my way up in such a cut throat industry is the right thing to do with my life right now. Millennials are kind of known as the "job-hopping" generation and it's pretty cool to enter the professional world at a time where so many new opportunities and ways to make a living are becoming available to us.
After graduation, I moved back home with my parents and spent 3 months feeling extremely overwhelmed with the pressure of choosing the right next step. In my second year of university, I was lucky enough to spend 6 months studying at the University of Sydney, where I absolutely fell in love with Australia. During my third year, I told myself that after graduation, I would save up enough money and go back to Australia on a working holiday visa. But after seeing my friends successfully secure jobs in London or continue onto their Masters, I started having second thoughts. Maybe I should build up my CV and work professionally for a year or two, maybe I should just get any job to pay rent in London and live with friends, or maybe I should wait until I’m far into my career making a stable income and then take a year out and go travelling?
I would wake up every morning feeling uneasy and confused, wishing someone would just tell me what I needed to do. None of the grad-schemes appealed to me and it seemed that every entry-level job into the creative industries required a minimum of three years experience along with an outstanding professional portfolio. Browsing through jobs became disheartening and I began to doubt my potential. I started picking up shifts at my local pub to make some money and did various unpaid volunteering jobs to try and boost my CV, but still felt trapped. I didn’t really have a goal to work towards or a set path to follow. I seemed to just be waiting for something to happen. Deep down, I knew I wanted to go back to Australia, but my mind was all over the place.
Doing what's best for me
Eventually, I snapped out of that horrible post-uni panic stage and put myself first. I want to travel, and I want to do it now. I'm interested in a lot of things and have accepted that I just need some more time to figure it all out. But what am I saying? No one ever really "figures it all out", we're in the process of figuring things out all the time. If everyone had their shit together life would be pretty boring. I stopped being so hard on myself and remembered that I am fully qualified and capable to do many jobs. I also reminded myself that there is absolutely no rush. It's really okay to come out of university feeling more clueless than you did to begin with. If you're not exactly sure about what career path you want to follow, then I think it's important to firstly focus on what type of lifestyle you want to have and where you want to be. The job will fall into place. Putting yourself in uncomfortable new situations (especially through travel) is a great way to learn not only things about the world, but things about yourself. You gain a clearer understanding of what your values are and who you want to be (cringe, I know, but bear with me...) Looking back, I didn’t put as much effort into job searching and applications as I could have because deep down, I knew I had to get out of the UK to experience a change of perspective. So, free from the pressures of choosing a career right now, I’ve decided to push my boundaries, keep my options open and go on a solo adventure back to Australia.
My travel plans
At the end of January, I used what I had saved up, went into STA travel and booked my tickets! The whole process of actually sitting down and booking flights was terrifying, it just made it so real. On multiple occasions, I began to panic and overthink everything. However the girl helping me kept me calm and reassured me that I was making a great choice. I‘m flying to Bangkok at the beginning of September, doing a 2 month hop on hop off tour through Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, flying to to Bali and spending a month island hopping and then flying to Sydney in time for a hot Christmas on the beach. Then the job hunt will begin! I’ll stay in Australia up to a year working and travelling and honestly have no idea what will happen. It’s scary, it’s exciting... and I can’t express how happy I am with my decision. Right now, I’m living at home and working 5 shifts a week in an ice cream van. Endless ice cream and sensational sundae's beats any office job if you ask me. It’s a sweet temporary job to save up the pennies, but maybe not the best one for getting beach body ready? Nevertheless, the thought of getting on that plane in September makes it all worth it.
This blog
This blog will include the glamorous and not so glamorous details of all my experiences and will always be totally honest and personal. I hope to inspire young people who are on the fence about travelling solo to just go for it and develop a platform where I can write freely, share creative content and connect with like-minded people. It's very exciting to think of all the possible directions it could take, and I can't wait to develop what I hope will be a successful travel blog. And don’t worry, my future posts definitely won’t be this long. If you’ve made it this far, you’re an absolute legend. Since I’m not leaving until September, you can also expect some updates throughout summer (music festival fun from the UK and Amsterdam) along with some pre travel packing tips. I can’t wait to start my blogging journey and if you’re reading this, I hope you enjoyed my first extremely amateur post (I’ll get better I promise!).
Until next time :)
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