My Eureka Moment, Travel Inspiration

Travel Inspiration from EmilyMeets

Ever since Archimedes made his famous proclamation, “Eureka!” has become synonymous with the moment where you have that one, life-changing epiphany. Some people might never have or need one, but for me, miserably grinding away well beyond the so-called 9 to 5 as a physics teacher, my epiphany was long overdue. Having struggled with depression throughout much of my teens and early twenties, I dreamt of escaping it all and travelling to Africa – somewhere I have always been drawn to since I was a child. For 4 years I worked and saved my meagre paychecks whilst studying for my degree and, finally, in September 2008 I took my first tentative steps onto South African soil. At that moment, I felt my entire body come alive – I hadn’t arrived, I had come home. For 3 blissful months I relished every second of this exciting new world of travel and I knew then that I could never go back to my life in England. I was destined for the open road.

Sadly, and like so many others before me, I returned home and failed to make the leap. Instead, I reverted to expectation, opting to get a “proper” job, a car and even renting a flat, enviously reading the blogs of those lucky few whose travel magically never ended. With barely two cents to rub together after paying all my monthly bills, I would somehow manage to save enough money for my annual migration to South Africa, living for those few weeks each year when my heart would dance among the stars. It was the last of those trips that changed my life.

The Camp Where Everything Changed

My Eureka Moment

The date was the 29^th December 2010 and the sun had long set over the wild African bushveld in Greater Kruger National Park. Sitting around an open fire in a rustic tented camp, listening to the eerie whispers and rustling of the waking night, my thoughts turned to sadness as I once again contemplated my imminent return to England. And that’s when it happened – my Eureka moment. Like a lightning bolt to my brain, I suddenly realised that I was never going to escape the manacles of my English life by dreaming and reading about it online. I needed to take action, prioritise my future above all else and make some drastic sacrifices back home. By moving out of my flat and into a small, rented room; selling my car and 95% of my possessions; more than halving my monthly budget and – most importantly – setting a date, I finally had a plan of action. One year of hardship was nothing if it could buy my freedom.

Planning and Preparations

New Beginnings, Ready for the Trip of a Lifetime

Back at home I stuck by every promise and, slowly but surely, my funds began to grow. I bought a round-the-world ticket spanning 16 countries and booked onto my trip of a lifetime – 2 amazing months overlanding from Nairobi to Cape Town – to kick start my adventure. I got a working visa for Australia to make my funds last that little bit longer and, even though my ticket said I was leaving for a year, I told myself this was it. I was leaving England and, no matter what, I wasn’t coming back to settle again.

Taking the First Step

That first trip, magnificent as it was, ended over 6 months ago – and I’m still going strong! By actively seeking out opportunities, rather than waiting for them to knock on my door, I got plenty of chances to earn as I went. From being paid to blog as a travel intern for an up-and-coming website to remotely marking 300 A-level physics scripts from my then-home in Cairns, I managed to keep my budget afloat. Best of all, I combined my love of teaching and nature by getting a job as a governess on a cattle station in the Australian outback. For a wage that rivals my full-time teacher position back home, I spend my days messing around on the farm and delivering a primary-school curriculum to my boss’ 2 young children. Come the weekend or end-of-term, there are rodeos, campdrafts and horse races to attend as well as cattle mustering, buggy-racing, horse-riding and even jet-skiing to pass the time – a bit better than the local cinema in my opinion!

Having forged a great relationship with my new Aussie family, they invited me back again this year – and next – to carry on working for them. Because it’s in the middle of nowhere, I can’t spend my wages and so they quickly build-up, allowing for lots more travel – most recently to Thailand and South Africa (the migration continues) and in just 2 weeks’ time to Peru and Bolivia. For a total of 10 weeks’ work this year I don’t think that’s too bad going!

Living My Dreams

In the split second it took to make that decision to leave nearly 3 years ago, my life has changed beyond recognition. I have gone from a life of misery and distant daydreams to actually living my dreams every day – and I’m happier than I could ever imagine. I may consider myself privileged to live to the life I do, but at no stage did I simply ‘get lucky’ like I’d always imagined happened to others. All it took was a little bit of sacrifice and hard work and a massive leap of faith to believe that I could make it on my own. As for the future, as well as a spell in the UK for my sister’s wedding, I’ve already got trips to Nepal, Mongolia, Japan and, of course, Africa in the pipeline and am even excited to get back to outback-life next year. After that, who knows? I won’t be going back to England, that’s for sure.

Climbing the Needle in the Cook Islands

But if these aren’t what you are looking for I’m very adaptable! Would love you to have a look at my website and see what you think www.emilymeetsworld.com

Travel Rookie, My first Time in Africa 2008

Emily is a teacher-turned-traveller from the UK who has been blogging her way around te world for the last 18 months. You can read more about her adventures at www.emilymeetsworld.com. Don’t forget to follow her on Twitter @Emilymeets and Facebook for all the latest news and updates on her travels!

From Emily: A massive thank you to Deb and Dave for this wonderful opportunity to tell my story – I hope you enjoy reading it and even if it inspires just one person to take the plunge and finally live their dreams, well, I’ll be a very happy girl!

Travel Inspiration Series

Write for ThePlanetD – Our ongoing Travel Inspiration Series features fellow travelers who have changed their life through travel. Has travel changed your life? Has travel made you a better person? Did you find the love of your life, your passion or your purpose during your travels? Did you  meet someone who Inspired you, or have one incredible experience that you’ll never forget? We want to hear your travel stories. Be it your greatest adventure or most life affirming moment. Send your ideas to ThePlanetD.com and check out our Editorial Guidelines for more details.

Source : theplanetd[dot]com