I was born and bred in Guernsey on 9th June 1973. For the geographically challenged, Guernsey is one of the three main rocks which make up the Channel Islands. They lie in the Southern English Channel, between England and France and are warmed by the Gulf Stream, ensuring a mild climate year round.
By the time I could tie up my own shoelaces, I had left my tiny home island for the exciting and previously unexplored expanses of the English countryside. After a spell at agricultural college, I spent the next few years working in some of the most beautiful parts of rural Britain as a gamekeeper. You may be wondering what all that is about – you can click here to learn all about the gamekeeper’s life.
So, where does the travelling thing fit in to this?
I had worked real hard at my career for years, it is an all-consuming job, no, a way of life, which demands dedication often seven days a week for most of the year. While it has been a privilege to be involved with this, I did miss out on a lot of stuff too. A short trip out to New Zealand, to spend time with family, go hunting and travel around a bit, left me desperate to see more of the world.
It did not take long to reach the decision to have a career break, a year should do it I thought, to travel and follow some personal interests away from hunting.
It was an incredible year on the road. Better than I ever dared hope, in every respect.
I had met some fascinating, and sometimes scary people. Many became the sort of temporary friends you tend to keep whilst sharing an experience together. Quite a few were more than that, and remain friends to this day.
At a rough count, I had explored some twenty major cities around the world, passed through fourteen airports and travelled around ten countries. Transport included horse, tuk tuk, taxi, motorcycle, local bus, long haul coach, local and express train, internal and international flights, hitchhiking, hire car and even the purchase of my own van; all in various states of repair.
I had survived much of the time on my savings, by sticking to budget and using the money wisely. I worked enough to have fun, but not so much as to question what I was doing there.
It surprised me how quickly I had adapted to a life on the road, living out of a backpack. I had never really been particularly materialistic, but I actually found living so simply to be very liberating. When you do set aside time or money for the little things, such as watching TV, a special meal or perhaps a long night on the beer, you tend to savour them even more.
Within a couple of months of returning home I had moved away again, this time back into my usual life as a gamekeeper. I settled down into the routine and gradually acquired all the things one needs in a home, and lived what you would describe as a normal life.
Whilst my career remained very important to me, I had had a taste of a life where there was time to follow personal interests, and wanted more. I was itching to see more of the world, and while I was at it I decided to top that off by moving to New Zealand to live.
A curiosity for almost anything going on around me, I am glad to say, has always been there. I found travelling was the perfect outlet for my desire to know more. So I have set myself only one rule for the current journey. That is to make the most of it all, push myself forward and make every moment count.
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