Facing the unknown with confidence

The great looming uncertainty of what the travel landscape is going to look like post-COVID19 brought forward an interesting challenge for me. Besides the obvious turmoil that is happening globally right now, I was stumped about how to approach my travel blog ideas without knowing where this is all going to end, and where and when will we be allowed or able to go. I have a dozen unfinished blogs and find myself wondering where the time has gone. All these travel ideas, experiences and inspirations waiting to be shared with the world, found themselves stuck as my fingertips just hover over the keyboard while I ponder this moral dilemma.

I will be the first to admit I tend to overthink sometimes, so I decided to take a step back and reminisce about my journey into and through the travel industry so far. It all started when I was 5 years old. Lol. Don’t worry this is not my life story but every story needs to start somewhere...

I was lucky enough to travel at this young age because my Dad received an opportunity to work in the UK. There we were, a young Afrikaans family in the land of the Brits, during a very important time in our own country’s history (1990). My brother (3years old) and I could not speak a word of English. Just imagine the uncertainty my parents faced being a new country and a whole lot of politics happening at home. They were certainly braver than most for embarking on this venture with 2 small children. I believe this is where my own resilience and curiosity for the unknown are rooted. My connection to travel was born or rather inherited.

If we jump forward to a time in my life that I had to start making some serious decisions, like career choices and what/if I wanted to study after school. I found myself back in the UK in 2004 but this time on my own. My Mom reminded me that I was really struggling with my decision on what to study, where to study, if to study and decided to take that gap year to get clarity. BCom Marketing was all the rage back then, but it didn’t feel right for me and I didn’t want to waste my parents hard earned money on something I wasn’t sure about. So off I went on a ‘working holiday’ to the UK and Europe with strict conditions to return from the parentals. And this was my next defining moment – my first solo travel experience. I still remember it was a Nationwide flight into Gatwick Airport. I think my parents were still being braver than I, because honestly what did I know of the world at 18, and they watched me walk towards the unknown, the uncertainty, with everything I could carry on my back (literally, I over packed so badly!)

One year turned into two and I was lucky to work in places like the Channel Islands, Scotland, and London (stories for another day). For the ‘holiday’ part of my experience I managed to travel a good deal of Europe on a Contiki Tour and kissed the Blarney Stone in Ireland! And my love for travel was solidified.

I eventually honored the agreement made with my parents and came home to study – my choice was BCom Tourism Management – so basically marketing but with travel! I went on to complete my post grad in Destination Marketing and dived straight into working at a travel media company. I worked my way from travel media to tour operator to retail travel and business travel management. Everything I did, I did with travel in mind and has led me to where I am now.

My most recent leap into uncertainty was around my 30th Birthday. I resigned from my job and embarked on the epic journey of starting my own travel business in partnership with Travel Counsellors. And it has been an amazing journey … a journey that is far from over.

The travel industry is facing a very difficult period right now and it might take a long time to recover to its full potential. We are faced with uncertainty, no doubt, but nothing in life is certain anyway, right?! *I believe I am exactly where I am supposed to be.* I will keep on helping people to travel the world even if the travel doesn’t mean right now! And what exactly travel will look like in the future, I do not know, but I am certain (damn sure) that I am going to stick around to find out.

Humankind has been travelling since the beginning of time, it is in our DNA to explore, so I highly doubt we are going to stop now. The need and amazement of exploring, experiencing, feeling and being there will always drive humans to travel. We are being pushed to find better ways of doing things which is a super exciting prospect.

I hope this short snapshot into my travel life journey will create some excitement instead of fear around your own dreams of travelling. And YOUR dreams of travel will keep me going and keep me writing. I'm here if you have any questions, queries or just want to chat about your next trip without knowing when exactly it will be. We always have our own beautiful country to start with!

Keep dreaming of travel until we are free to roam the planet again! xx