about

Aspiring journalist, age 21, who hitchhiked 20,000km across the world.

 One of the most important things within my story telling is to show the truth from the perspectives of the locals I am writing about.

I believe it’s very difficult to even have a basic grasp of the truth if you have not experienced a situation yourself. For that reason, I want  to discover countries and cultures as they are for their residents,  shown them by the people who live there as opposed to some of the negative tendencies of mainstream media. 

 As a woman travelling alone, I am inundated with ‘travel advice’ from people telling me how dangerous it is to be a female on her own – especially hitchhiking.  This information however is almost always from people who have never travelled themselves, and certainly never discovered how truly kind the world can be. 

In 2020 during a trip to Morocco, I was invited to stay in the home of a traditional Berber family. It was while I was there, sitting on the floor of a tiny room with no furniture to speak of, being served mountains of homemade flat bread that I thought ‘I have to tell people about this. I want the world to know. I just have to tell everyone’. This is what sparked an interest in Journalism.

Since that moment, I have felt a duty deep within me to make presenting my real, raw experiences of travel and the incredible humanity all over the world  Demonstrating my belief that the world need not be as scary as we are taught. 

‘If you don’t go, you will never find out’ – Tamsin Balmer 

Visiting the president of the Kurdish Military in Iraqi Kurdistan
Visiting the president of the Kurdish Military in Iraqi Kurdistan

my journey

I started travelling at age 18 and returned home to my family when I was 21. 

During this time I spent five months without using money and managed to travel through three continents whilst doing so.

 Yes, you read that right, I did not use money, touch money, or think about money for five whole months. The way this worked was by hitchhiking absolutely everywhere in terms of travel, and working in exchange for everything else I needed. When when I needed food, I would go to places such as restaurants or farms, anywhere that there was visible work, explain the journey and ask if I could work in exchange for food and accommodation. Sometimes the people who picked me up hitchhiking would help me, either providing work, or simply hosting me in their house! The idea of travelling without money was to prove that with the right working attitude, you can go far and travel well. I wanted to show that (of course with respect to passport privilege), money doesn’t need to be what stops you from travelling. 

Some of the work I did included gardening, hotel work, sewing and boat maintenance. I scrubbed a whole yacht with a toothbrush. This endeavour earned me a passage by yacht the whole way to Egypt from Turkey. The most memorable work exchange of them all, was working in a coffee shop in The Erbil Medina, Iraqi Kurdistan. 

Washing dishes whilst out at sea. I had to use the bucket to scoop up sea water and rinse the plates. During 'living without money' I worked on this boat in exchange for a ride to Egypt.
Helping renovate the swimming pool of Hassan, a man who heard our story and offered to host us.
Invited to visit the president of the Kurdish military in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Solo across latin america

After five months in the Middle East, I found myself stuck and due to closed borders because of Covid-19 unable to find a route out of Turkey without an aeroplane – which was something I was avoiding using. I had outstayed my visa so had to break my own rules and take a plane. I flew to Mexico, one of the few countries that due to the pandemic still had its borders open for tourists. From there I hitchhiked the whole way to Bolivia.

All my life I have wanted to learn Spanish. Hitchhiking Latin America seemed like a great way to pursue that. My route passed through Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama. This was 8500km of solid hitchhiking!

It's hard to get photos of me hitchhiking as I am usually alone, so this is a screenshot from leaving my camera on video!

After 5 months of hitchhiking south, I arrived in Panama where the road ended. 

The land mass between Panama and Colombia is non accessible by road or by foot, unless you are actively trying to kill yourself. The Darien Gap, is said to be one of the most deadly places on Earth. The reasons for this are two fold, the intensity of the jungle conditions are clear, but the main reason for its inhospitality is because it’s the operating centre of many drug cartels. Many migrants have no choice but to take this horrific route. Few of them make it out alive.

Not wanting to take a flight, but also not wanting to cross The Darien Gap by foot and being on a strict hitchhiking journey, I started looking for a sailing boat, offering work in exchange for the passage. After much searching, I found one. I worked cooking and cleaning for other paying customers. The passage was six days, including three days visiting the mesmerising San Blas Islands, home to the Kuna tribe, who notoriously trade in coconuts instead of money. 

Preparing breakfast on day one at sea. Admittedly, the toast and avocado didn't require a huge amount of cooking skills, however within just a few days, I had progressed to helping the captain prepare fresh lobster!
The Kuna Tribe paying a visit to the boat! They we were the first boat that had visited their islands in a year, because of the pandemic, so were curios to see who was aboard.
The San Blas islands, we passed through here on the passage between Colombia and Panama. These islands are where the Kuna Tribe live. 'Sorry, did I say San Blas, I think I meant San BLISS'!! I still can't believe I hitchhiked here!

Whilst in Colombia I worked with Venezuelan refugees for two months, including a trip to the illegal Venezuela border crossing, which was one of the scariest days of my life. 

Providing electrolyte drink to refugees walking alone the road. The NGO I worked for was located very close to the Venezuela border, and we focussed on providing aid to the Venezuelans along their perilous route.

why did i do all of this?

 I wrote in my diary the day I left my parents ‘it’s time to learn’. 

I had and still have so much to learn, not only about cultures, but also about myself. I needed to gain an understanding of the world, from experience not just by reading stories.

 One of the most common questions I have been asked while on this journey is ‘Aren’t you scared?’ My answer is always the same….‘Yes of course, but not as much as I used to be’. For me, if I am scared of something, that is the exact reason that I face it. One way but for me the only way, to eradicate fear is to repeatedly do something you’re terrified of until it becomes normal. ‘Your comfort zone will be the limit of you’. These many exciting, some terrifying experiences have allowed to me know myself, and gain self-confidence.

I have a strong desire to be a journalist and to show people my raw and real encounters. I love to share my adventures on social media, including Instagram, YouTube, and now this blog. I enjoy demonstrating to people that the world is not as scary as we are taught, and how stepping out of familiarity will change your life. Personally, I believe that there is not a single person that either travelling or volunteering abroad would not benefit. My hope is to inspire others to do it. 

It’s always the people who haven’t travelled that give me the most advice or danger precautions. I seek to provide real life stories, whether it be good or bad, and present the world as it really is, through my eyes.