The year I plucked up the courage to quit my 9-5 to travel the world 🌍

Be lit, just quit!

Picture this, it’s 6:30am, your daily alarm goes off, you snooze it a million times but you eventually shower, change and do that same boring commute to your dead end job that you’re just doing because you need the money. However you’re comfortable, you have friends, you know what you’re doing and you love your home town. Let me tell you now, your hometown never changes, your friends will always be there and heck if you know what you’re doing in that 9-5 then least you have something to go back too. But one of the best things you can do is leave, explore and see more. Take that leap of faith and see this beautiful world we live in. Memories last forever, so does regret. Don’t regret not making memories!

2015 was my year. The year I plucked up the courage to quit my 9-5 switchboard job and accept the offer at one of the biggest European travel companies. I was overwhelmed, proud and too excited! It all started in Mallorca: Cala Bona 2015 Where I caught my travel bug, the east of the island. I started this adventure by working in a 4* family resort by the harbour of Cala Bona. My awesome team below!

Cala bona is a beautiful scenic relaxing square filled with restaurants, coffee shops and beautiful boats. Kinda cute too, imagine cobbled harbour, flower pots and rustic chic hotels. I’d spend most my lunch time in a British family run cafe called Janet and johns which soon became the ‘place to be’ for us holiday reps, I think we loved it so much because it just felt homely, the staff welcomed us like we’ve lived there forever and the menu was simple and quick. A chicken n bacon salad baguette always seemed to be my go to, back when I ate meat that was. If I wasn’t eating food, I’d be sat in my favourite spot, right on the harbour front, so close I could dip my toes in the Mediterranean sea, with one of the best iced coffees I’d ever had with one of my good friends Lauren.

But come Thursdays, the famous thirsty Thursdays, we done the obvious… drinking, and lots of it. Hey I’m 20 living with the same like minded people, living our best lives in a beautiful country for free, of course Im making the most of this. But majority of my time of this island, I was working in a beautiful hotel, the hotel Bonaire. I wasn’t repping alone though, there was Lauren, Frank, our TL-Victor and I. Along side us you had the incredible entertainment team who worked endlessly to entertain the guests from 10am-11pm, then the fantastic kids club team. We were like a huge bubbly family. You’d catch me doing all sorts of fun stuff for families there, prancing around the pool side to kids holiday songs and getting them involved, dressing up as pirates and doing treasure hunts and just being silly in the sun. As you can see below, this was just after a super fun game of water polo, team v guests!

However one song has haunted me from the day I started rehearsals, UPTOWN FUNK- bruno Mars. I can still picture myself dancing with the kids, then once I had a sangria in my free time, I’d be that annoying rep who’d get up in the bar and do the routined dance, for goodness sake so cringe thinking about it, why did I do that? Anyway… I loved my job and it had great perks like being able to go to the Pirates adventure show in Magaluf, (Voted 3rd best dinner show in the world) twice a month because I was the guide for my guests on the long 90 minute couch journey so I had to do something to entertain the guests. I’d usually do a pop quiz over the mic.

However If you’re the right height then you’ll be greeting guests as the main mascot of the company, which in 30 degree heat in a full fur body suit was not ideal, but still it was fun and I still smell it ha!

The next hotel I worked in, I got away from the fur dog outfit, But I was completely alone and it was a shabby 3* hotel over looking the med. A huge difference to my 5* family bubble. But it was an experience to say the least because the clientele were elderly, it was rather dated and no one wanted to dance to uptown funk around the poolside, it was a strange atmosphere but it meant I got to support different types of guests and talk about the more grown up days out we sold which was a fun learning experience.

Fast forward 7 months and there’s been, 4 different room mates, 100s of cheap sangria brought and drank, countless sunbathing, 100s of welcome meetings, explored the whole island for free, been on every excursion there was, embarrassed myself at the end of season party(way too much wine).

Then we finally had to pack up our apartments, drink them dry from all the alcohol we had left over and climb aboard that TUI aircraft back home in time for Halloween. I weirdly cried as we flew over London and landed, really not sure why but I think it was something to do with the fact it looked freezing and I’ve been living my best life abroad(sad face) I needed to get back on a plane and fast. So I was only home for a short 14 days and my next adventure continues.

This time, I headed a little further. Off I went with my best friend Shan across to Asia. A journey to the Jungle… Check out my blog and let me know if I have convinced you to be lit and quit that 9-5!