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How My Life of Travel Began

Graduating from college in 2009 on the five-year plan—and into the middle of a recession—you could say I had very little in the way of options.

Nonetheless, I consider myself one of the lucky ones.

Soon after graduating and coming to grips with my reality, I realized that, if I wanted to live any kind of extraordinary life, I was going to have to do something different.

If the United States was having an economic crisis, wouldn’t it make sense to go somewhere that wasn’t?

With less than a year in the professional workforce under my belt and measly excuse for a savings in my bank account, I bought a one-way ticket to Australia.

My journey started with a two-month jaunt up the east coast of Australia, which left me fulfilled, intoxicated by life, and completely, utterly broke.

I wanted to travel forever—or at least for as long as I could. So I picked up a job at a local nightclub and started saving some cash. Along the way, I realized that, if I played my cards right, I’d never have to work another desk job in my life. I could pick up travel jobs and work and travel at the same time!

For the next five years, I traveled the world as a bartender, working in some of the best craft cocktail bars around the world. I was a blogger by day and a bartender by night.

I lived in New Zealand for more than a year, traveling the country and working in bars in Queenstown, Auckland and Wellington.

I took a break to teach English in China, and then moved to Beijing to work in the best cocktail bar in the country.

I traveled in South America, the Middle East and spent a summer backpacking across Europe from Athens, Greece to Berlin, Germany. I hitch-hiked through Albania and wrote a love letter to the Balkans which received a fair bit of attention.

It was at this point that my blog was starting to gain traction. Unfortunately, at the same time, I was diagnosed with a debilitating case of Lyme Disease. I stayed home and fell off the map, so to speak. The entire trajectory of my life just changed—again—almost overnight.

With half a working brain and a lot of time on my hands, I started thinking about how I started this travel blog and how I could keep it running. Could I make money online while simultaneously using my experience to help others get out into the world and make a positive impact on their lives?

It turns out, I could. And I did.

Eventually, just before turning 30, I made the shift to full-time digital nomad, travel blogger, and online influencer and entrepreneur. This was before Instagram was even a thing!

Since then my travel advice has been featured by The New York Times, Vanity Fair, Forbes, National Geographic, Travel + Leisure, INSIDER, BuzzFeed, The Boston Globe, USA Today, and more. I’ve also personally helped people from all over the world recognize their dreams of traveling the world—and help them come true.

So What Now?

Recognizing that TravelFreak has become a platform that literally changes lives, I’ve made it my mission to help as many people as possible.

Of course, I’m not that green 24 year-old anymore. I guess you could say I’ve been around the block. Travel changed me in the biggest of ways. I went through it. Heck, I still am. But I’m in my thirties now with more than a decade of travel under my belt.

I still travel, though differently and less often. I spend more time focusing on my health and continue to do my best to provide value through this website to all the aspiring travelers out there!

While I was grounded, I started getting out into nature more. I learned the rules of hiking, drove across America while sleeping in my car. I’ve spent more time in one place, taken more domestic trips by overlanding or renting a campervan. And I got really into travel gear.

I tried every travel hack, tested every backpack, reviewed the world’s best luggage brands, and made every mistake out there (it’s my preferred method of learning). And alongside my trusted team of extraordinary travelers, adventurers, and life-livers, we’re sharing every piece of knowledge we can about how to handle your next adventure like a pro.

Over the past ten years, I’ve created a lifestyle for myself which suits my strengths while giving me the creativity and freedom to do and roam as I please.

No, you don’t have to quit your job to live a more passionate and fulfilling life (but you can if you want to!). You can still maintain your home life and a life of travel—you just have to want it bad enough to create it.

And what’s more, it’s probably a lot easier done than you realize.

Sure, it’s going to take some risk and you might have to pick up a few new skills along the way. But, as human beings, I truly believe that we are intelligent and resourceful enough to manifest anything in the world we truly desire.

My intention is to help you do exactly that.