Hello There! And Welcome!!

Hey! It’s so great to see you! Thanks for stopping by my blog!

Why don’t you grab a coffee and sit with me for a bit?

I’m super excited to get started with this blogging business… Although the funny thing is that I didn’t even really know that much about blogging a few months ago (OK – I knew nothing!)

It all kind of started out as a desire to have something other than my regular day job to focus on…

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You see, in July 2017 I burned out.

At least, that’s when I finally caved in (aka did the smart thing) and listened to my doctor’s advise to take some time off.

It was a culmination of lots of different things. Not least of all my dad being really sick, and my job just being incredibly demanding.

Busy was the new norm and the expectations that I felt were on me just became too much.

 

The thing is that I’m a bit of a perfectionist.

I work really hard.

I want to be the best because I’m super competitive and know that I can be the best.

I’ve learned since (after reading this amazing book called Depressive Illness: The Curse Of The Strong by Sheldon Press) that it is those of us who are dedicated, hard-working individuals who are at risk of burning out.

Eventually that’s what happened to me (maybe I’ll get into that more another time!)

 

Anyway, once I kind of got some of my energy and motivation back, I realised that I needed to have something else to focus on. Especially once I went back to work, so that I would avoid landing back in the exact same position again.

The daydream (which I’m sure sounds familiar!) is to win the lotto and go live on a deserted island…

Somewhere warm and sunny with a stunning beach and fresh mangos and cocktails and… well… just a sense of calm really.

So, I did what any modern-day girl (or guy!) does… I Googled “Making a Living in a Thailand”

(Inspired, right?! We love Thailand!)

Scanning through one of the articles, I quickly dismissed bar work. (I’m barely able to pour a glass of wine without spilling any – I have what I like to call “shaky hand syndrome.” I’m incapable of keeping my hands absolutely still. Just as well I never had an aspiration to become a surgeon!)

Teaching English was another popular option but I’ve taught English abroad before (in Japan!), so that wasn’t really something I was necessarily planning on doing again.

Besides, I didn’t want to go and turn my life upside down immediately!

I wasn’t even able to go to work, never mind contemplating selling our house and quitting my pretty well paying corporate day job!

 

 

My attention fell on “Working Online.” More specifically Freelance Writing.

That sounded interesting!!

Images of travelling the world and writing for hot-shot publications like Lonely Planet popped into my head. I’ve always loved writing and I figured I must be able to make a few bucks writing stuff about things I know!

How hard could it be?

So I went all in and bought a self-hosted domain name to promote my new Freelance Writing business. I learned about WordPress and hosting and making logos and much more! I was a sponge, taking it all in and it actually felt really great having a focus and something that got me EXCITED for the first time in months!!

But then as I got deeper into the process I started to see something else really cool – Blogs.

People were out there travelling the world and writing about what they experienced, what they recommend and what they loved.

While getting paid to do so!!

Like, WHAT?!

I mean, I love to travel.

I’ve been travelling my whole life.

My parents spent 6 months in Australia in a pimped out van (for the 70s!) after they got married and that bug got passed on to me.

So I realised that as well as writing for other people, I could write for myself!

That just seemed even better.

The whole point about having a focus other than my day job is so that I can decide what I want to do.

You know, that it’s a bit more about me (well, and you of course!)

But more importantly, that I 100% enjoy doing it.

And that’s how a Zest for Travel was born.

 

Because after a pretty shitty 2017, I plan to inject a good dose of Zest into my life in the coming years.

Especially when it comes to travel!

I reckon we did a pretty good job of that with our first trip of 2018, which incorporated 3 countries and 2 weddings (both of them ours!) in 4 weeks!

I’m super excited to have you along for the ride and can’t wait to see where this leads us!

Thanks for stopping by and I’d love for you to leave a comment below telling me a bit about who you are and what your hopes and dreams are (life, travel or otherwise!)