About Emily
Hi everyone, my name is Emily, and I’m a solo traveller from the UK.
Welcome to my travel blog – Journey by Backpack.
In 2021, I took a career break from my job in public relations to travel the world. It’s fair to say I caught the travel bug and soon quit my job to travel full-time.
ABOUT THIS BLOG
Welcome to Journey by Backpack, a blog designed to help you plan your dream trips to destinations worldwide, with a focus on backpacking and solo travel.
After quitting my full-time career, I started this blog to combine my love for travel and writing. I want to empower people to travel solo to destinations worldwide, whatever their age. I meet so many people who ask, “How do you do it?” So here I am to show you.
Solo travel can be a scary prospect, especially when walking away from your career, but I’m here to share advice and help you along the way. While my blog has a focus on solo travel, many of my guides and itineraries are useful for all types of traveller.
Every piece of content on this blog has been written with first-hand experience of a destination. I’m honest in everything I write and want to show both sides of travel.
This blog is only a year old and there’s a long way to go before it’s going to be where I want it to be. I’m writing every piece of content by myself which takes time, so please bear with me while I work to add more content.
HOW IT ALL STARTED
I discovered my desire to travel back in 2012. I travelled abroad for a family wedding and went on a solo travel adventure around the USA for three months. I had the time of my life but decided to return to the UK to focus on my career. I eventually got my dream job working as a publicist for one of the world’s largest media organisations.
Fast forward five years and as much as I enjoyed my job, I felt like my life wasn’t moving in a way I wanted it to. I didn’t feel fulfilled and there was a voice in the back of my mind telling me to travel. I decided to make this my focus and spent the next three years saving every penny I could. My career break was approved, and I moved all my belongings back to my parents and said my goodbyes to friends and family… then along came a certain global pandemic.
In 2021, my dreams finally came true and I was able to travel. With the world still recovering, I opted to move to Costa Rica for six months to volunteer at a rescue centre. It was the best experience of my life. After this, I travelled solo to Ecuador and Guatemala before returning to work.
After a few months back at work, travel was still very much on my mind. I made the scariest decision of my life – I quit my career to travel the world full time.
MY FIRST FULL YEAR ABROAD
It’s now been almost 18 months since I quit my job to travel full time and I haven’t looked back since.
I’ve travelled across ten different countries in Africa, backpacked around Southeast Asia and spent five months working as a tour guide in New Zealand.
Working online and finding a full time income certainly has its challenges, but I’m loving every second and have zero regrets.
I’M AN EXPERIENCED TRAVELER
So, why listen to me? I’ve now traveled solo to over 30 countries. I’ve spent more time abroad in the last three years than I have in the UK.
I’ve planned each and every single one of my trips by myself and like to think I’m an expert when it comes to travel, especially solo travel. While I’ve travelled to well over 30 countries, there are a few I know especially well. This includes:
These are also places that I’ve spent an extensive amount of time in and am working hard to write as much as I can about each destination.
What to expect in 2024
My blog will turn one year old in March of 2024. I’ve come a long way since starting this blog but I’m nowhere near where I want to be.
In 2024, I plan to work full time on this blog, adding more and more helpful resources to help you all plan your trips. I also want to focus on creating resources to help those thinking of quitting their jobs to travel.
In the meantime, I really hope you find this blog useful. Thanks for visiting.
Let’s see where the world takes us.