Hello! And of course , welcome!
Okay a little introduction, my name is Paige Copeland, and I’m from Southampton, England, UK. At around the age of 16 I wanted to travel, but never in a million years did I think I would go on anything but a weeks holiday in Spain. I genuinely thought only the super wealthy could travel more than 2 weeks at a time. At the age of 18 I ‘fell’ into recruitment and started, what I thought would be my life long career. At around the age of 21 I broke up with my boyfriend at the time and moved back home to live with my Dad, as I couldn’t afford to keep the flat I had previously shared with my boyfriend. I was desperate to travel and feel ‘alive’, I felt like I was doing nothing with my life and the days were on repeat. From school I had gone to college, from college I had gone straight into full time recruitment, and to be honest it was slowly killing my soul. On my lunch breaks, I would sit at my desk and look at pictures of other countries and daydream about visiting them.
Like many of us, I had a burning desire to travel long before I took that first flight. What held me back was fear of going alone and not making any friends. Being all alone in the jungles of Thailand, and not knowing what to do. And let me tell you, it’s so far from the truth! I came up with every excuse under the sun to put off my trip. I’m not ready to go yet, I need a bit more money, it’s not the right time, I’ve got plans. You name it, I said it. But you know what I told myself? What would 75 year old Paige say to herself if she never went? What would 75 year old me want to be able to say about her life? She would want to say ‘ I was shitting myself, but I done it anyway and lived the life some people only dream of living’.
So in November 2018, I sold my car, quit my job in recruitment and flew one way to the Philippines with a backpack and shit loads of money saved. I had one night booked in a hostel in Manila and for the next two years I fully winged it. I traveled the Philippines, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, India, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam and Australia. In that order haha! I completed my first year working holiday visa and worked in a winery and solar farm. I had the time of my life and working on the solar farm was one of the best jobs I’ve had. You can read about my experience in a blog post!
I traveled until July 2020, when I flew home for my sister to get married and be her maid of honor! We even managed a hen do in Ibiza! After the wedding and hype of me returning had died down, a sadness settled in like nothing I’d experienced before. After about 4 months of feeling lost again and unfulfilled, I decided life is happening for me, not to me. In May 2021 I started growing my social media platforms, and start this blog. I wanted travel so bad, I wanted it every day, for the rest of my life. I pushed past the fear of being criticised and laughed at for posting content and my life has never been the same. I doubt I would ever have started all of this if I never came home when I did, so thanks for proposing to my sister Stephen! haha!
I have just turned 28 and it’s safe to say I’ve found my passion in life. If you are feeling the same as I did before I first flew to the Philippines, I want you to know, YOU CAN DO IT! You really can. Once upon a time, I was sat reading a blog just like this getting ready to hand in my notice, so I know how you feel. My mission now is to help and inspire as many people as possible to travel, and also travel SOLO. I want to be the encouragement you need to book that flight and just go for it. Because I know from experience it will be the best thing you ever do for yourself. And who knows, maybe YOU can then go on to inspire others too! The old “knock on effect”. I’m sure if you’re here reading this, it’s because you know you are destined for more than staying in one place your whole life. Destined for more than working for someone else’s dream 9-5. Well I’m here to tell you, you are absolutely RIGHT. You are destined for more. You deserve more. You will have more.
Just so you know, fear is temporary! And you will feel the fear the most before you travel, not during!
Go for it!
Love Paige x