Greece

This is the trip that sparked my obsession with travelling. I had planned to goto Bali with a girl I was seeing- but things didn’t work out between us, and I was left with time booked off work the following week and money saved up for a trip, but no trip to go on. I was bummed the trip was off and unsure what to do, so I visited my brother Will for his advice. “Go island-hopping around Greece” he said. “What, on my own?!” – I’d never travelled alone or done the backpacking thing. “Yeah, go by yourself, you’ll easily meet people and will love Greece”. So with his advice, I nervously booked a flight to Mykonos and a return from Athens 10 days later, borrowed a backpack from my housemate and booked a beachside hostel the night before my flight.

All my fears eroded as soon as I arrived. I met a friendly Australian couple in the taxi queue at Mykonos airport who were staying at the same place. We grabbed some beers on the beach together, and that was the start of my 10-day island-hopping adventure across Mykonos, Paros, Ios, Santorini and Athens. I met so many cool people on that trip at every step of the way- I was never alone. I met people I would stay in contact with and years later stay with in Australia, and met two of my very good friends out there who now live in London. I enjoyed the trip and backpacking lifestyle so much that it would spur me on to do a six month backpacking trip around the world.

It all goes to prove – sometimes you need to take a chance and put yourself outside your comfort zone.