Traveller of the Month: Lucy from Of Wandering Far
Welcome to my new series, Traveller of the Month! Each month, I’m featuring a world traveller to help build connections within the travel world, inspire you to see the world through a new lens, and shout out a fellow travel blogger.
Without further ado, meet the Traveller of the Month for April: Lucy from Of Wandering Far and Earth Sun Wild Air!
Who are you, where are you from and where are you now?
I’m Lucy! I’m from England and very recently relocated from Surrey to the countryside in the lovely South Oxfordshire.
What’s your travel story? How did you get into travel and what kind of travel are you doing now?
Since a child, I knew with every family holiday that I loved being away and that I hated coming home. We holidayed in parts of Europe and the States for several years and once I’d finished my studies and had a complete shift of what I wanted to do, travel seemed to be top of my list. Then I discovered travel blogging and tried to give it a go – back then I really had no knowledge (and I’m still learning now!) but I just winged it.
For a multitude of reasons, it took me until the age of 21 to finally book my first solo tour, 6 weeks around Europe. Of course, I absolutely loved it and wanted to come home and start planning even more. Obviously being that young, it wasn’t going to be as easy as jetting off whenever I liked. I had to work and save a lot of money and as is generally the case, life caught up with me and I kept working and pushing travel to the back of mind a little.
Just under two years later, I realised I definitely wasn’t happy and made my biggest decision yet to leave home and travel around Australia for a year. I only just returned in November 2019. I had hopes to find work and then travel some more around Europe in 2020, BUT as we all know a certain virus didn’t quite allow that. So we shall wait, and plan, and wait some more until this all dies down and we can all eventually travel the world again!
When did you start your blog and what sort of stories do you share there?
I dabbled with blogging around the age of 18 but I would say I started to take it more seriously and invest more time and effort into it right before my trip to Australia, so around August 2018. I really wanted to document my trip – not just the places I was seeing, but everything I was feeling and learning along the way. So I have a range of guides and itinerary-style posts but also stories that are more on the personal side, about myself experiencing different things and reaching different milestones throughout my year abroad.
What do you do when you’re not travelling or writing about travel?
Hmmm bit of a tough one to answer, again due to our current global situation! I just about secured myself two casual jobs at the start of February, which are now both on hold until further notice! What I want career-wise is still undecided for me, but I’d love for it to be of a writing/creative nature. While there’s a lot of uncertainty in the job area right now, I’d like to focus on my website, my niche, my design, maybe even the name! So there’s work to be done, I just won’t get paid for it! I also would love to write a book, so maybe now would be the perfect time for that.
What’s your most recent travel memory?
Spending the last year in Australia is definitely still very much at the forefront of my mind; I had so many wonderful experiences there and covered a lot of the country. But I also visited New Zealand and Bali before flying home to the UK so technically Bali is my most recent travel memory – and a very good one!
What destination would you go back to over and over again?
Because I have already been back time and time again, I would have to say Portugal. I actually went at about 6 months old – not that I have any memory of that! But with family, I’ve returned to the same spot maybe five or six times now. I feel very at ease there and we’ve made happy memories there, so as long as mass-tourism doesn’t hit the area, we will continue to go back and enjoy it.
What destination totally surprised you?
I visited Slovenia 3 years ago with one of my best friends and before we left, people at home were kind of confused that we chose that as our destination. We were certain that there would be some beautiful parts to see but generally, I don’t think I expected the whole trip to be as beautiful as it was.
I think part of the surprise for me as well was due to the fact it was pretty different to most trips I’d been on at that stage. I usually opted for coastal destinations and sunshine; Slovenia was a mix of weathers and stunning mountain backdrops. I loved everything about the week and wrote a week’s itinerary to help others see some of the best sides to Slovenia!
What destination is calling your name in 2020/2021?
My plan for 2020 was to visit more of Europe, either on small budget trips or on one large inter-railing journey. However, in terms of BIG trips I’d be really keen to travel parts of South America and I’m forever fascinated with the idea of travelling to India in the near future.
If you could live abroad, where would you live?
I have always dreamed of living abroad, because I never felt a big connection with England and believed I’d be much happier some day in a warmer climate. Since moving to the countryside in Oxfordshire, I have found a new love for my country. However, I still idolize living in pretty coastal towns in Spain, Italy or Portugal so for now, who knows?
Do you have any travel goals?
In an ideal world, I really would love travel to become my lifestyle. I’d like to make a living that incorporates travel in some way and eventually settle somewhere that feels right, whether it’s abroad or in the UK. So in a way that is my biggest travel goal – to create a life around it.
Do you have any travel regrets?
A travel regret for me is only wishing that I could change how I felt throughout a period of time traveling Australia. I hit a wall where I felt maybe a little homesick and lonely. I was working at the time and needed to save, but everything else wasn’t going as well as it should’ve been. I got itchy feet and decided to leave Australia one month sooner than my visa expiry to head to New Zealand.
In hindsight, I kinda wish I’d found a way around it or been more adventurous with my options. But equally, I’m proud of my year as a whole and I know that it would’ve been impossible not to come across any negatives as a solo traveller; I wrote about that particular experience on my blog – it’s important to be honest and show both sides to travel, the good and the bad!
Do you have any goals for your travel blog?
I do have several goals for my travel blog as it’s not at the place I would like it to be just yet. There’s still lots I’d like to do to improve it, mostly visually. But I know that I’d love to gain a solid audience of younger travellers, who are/were in the same position I was in (living in a bit of an unhappy rut) before deciding to travel long-term. I’d love my blog to eventually be a base of information for those seeking a working holiday in Australia. It would be amazing to establish some partnerships in the future and write freelance for other websites/magazines too.
What’s your favourite travel snack?
Biscuits. They’re my favourite, which means they’re also very dangerous because once a packet is opened and I’m sitting on a bus for 5 hours, I can’t guarantee there will be any left!
How do you keep your wanderlust up when you’re stuck at home?
It can be tough and can come and go in waves! But I watch travel documentaries, read blogs, write blogs or sometimes I just simply write for myself: lists, thoughts, plans, whatever it may be. I regularly look back at all of my old photos with such fond memories and find that I can get myself excited for more travel just by looking at them. Plans are always fun though and even if you have to wait a long time to travel, invest time in it and think how amazing and thorough your plans will eventually be!
Thanks so much for being my first Traveller of the Month, Lucy! Head over to Lucy’s blog and social media channels to follow along on her adventures, and stay tuned for next month’s featured traveller!
