My travel bug started young when my parents moved to the Masai Mara in Kenya on my first birthday to manage a tented safari camp there. The local Masai tribesmen frequently babysat me; they dressed me in their traditional Masai robes and tried to teach me to jump (not quite) as high as they could. This instilled in me a deep love for both different cultures and nature, although I have had some scary run ins with the wild - namely when a group of lionesses ambushed my paddling pool and decapitated my doll (thankfully when I wasn't there!) Since then, (after one more stint living in Kenya) we have been back and forth often to visit my grandparents who still live there, so it continues to be a country very close to my heart.
I was lucky enough to grow up in a travel obsessed family who have taken me on some epic trips! When I was very young, my parents took me on a camping trip across Europe for several months, and more recently we have travelled to Morocco, Egypt, and Sri Lanka among others.
Naturally, after leaving school I leapt at the chance of a gap year where I had my heart set on Central and South America. After spending a month volunteering in Costa Rica, I hopped across to Ecuador for 6 weeks to do the same, mainly doing construction work helping to build toilets, schools, and community centres (which my friends never believe by looking at me but I promise it's true). I now have some very niche Spanish words in my dictionary - if you need to ask to borrow a wheelbarrow, I'm your girl. Sadly, before my travels could continue, COVID hit and I had to rush home before the borders closed.
Since then, I have gone to university and completed an English degree where I primarily was interested in multi-cultural or post-colonial modules, writing essays on foreign aid in Somalia, apartheid in South Africa, and Caribbean poetry to name a few. Whilst I have been travelling across Europe in my holidays waiting for Covid restrictions to ease, I am now ready to explore the rest of the world and get off the beaten path with my role at Wild Frontiers!
BEST TRAVEL MOMENTS
Q: Favourite city?
I recently went to Seville which I think is my top weekend city break destination. It is the perfect size to travel on foot and there are the ideal number of cultural sites and activities to squeeze into a couple of days. I definitely recommend doing a free walking tour on your first day which I did to get my bearings and the guide even taught us a few flamenco steps. I am tapas-obsessed and so I also spent a lot of my time there just enjoying the delicious food and sangria!
Q: Favourite country?
I am definitely biased but I have to say Kenya. I think it is such a diverse country which means that there is something for everyone whether that is beautiful white beaches, mesmerising wildlife in the game parks, peaceful lakes and islands to explore, desert landscapes, and then mountains for the climbers out there! I cannot recommend it enough to anyone that I speak to.
Q: Favourite meal?
Apart from tapas (which I could eat everyday) I absolutely loved all of the curries in Sri Lanka, and I am desperate to go to Thailand to taste authentic Thai food as it is my go-to takeaway choice. I am a huge foodie, so I really do love most food I try from other cultures even if it is just for the experience.
Q: Most memorable journey?
Anyone who has been to Costa Rica will understand what I mean when I say I have never seen an environment which is so vibrantly green before. We kept saying that it seemed to be nature on steroids as it almost didn't look real. Absolutely every car journey left me mesmerised and enamoured by the landscape, especially when we were going through the rainforest.
Q: Favourite travel advice?
Ask for recommendations from the locals! They know the place best and you can end up finding some real gems that you would never have found otherwise. I would also always advise people to remember to put the camera down and be present in the moment as much as possible to really soak it all in.
Q: Next on the must see list?
This is so hard to pick as next year I am already loosely planning trips to Peru and Nepal! However, I think I would have to say somewhere in the Middle East, maybe Iran or Saudi Arabia, as I am so fascinated by the history there and it is unlike anywhere I have travelled before.