Name: Sadie Francesca Rose / Age: 21 / From: Lancashire, UK

I graduated from university in 2011 with a degree in Criminology with Sociology. Eventually I would love to go back to university to do my MA and PhD because I would love to be a lecturer in the Criminology field. I currently volunteer in a prison working for a charity which help families of offenders, and I enjoy it very much and find it extremely rewarding.

One day I will eventually use my degree to get a job, but at the moment I don’t feel ready to grow up. There are too many things I want to do with my life and too many places I want to go before I can happily settle down in a full-time career. Many people I know are getting proper grown-up jobs, moving into houses, getting engaged, etc… and I just don’t feel ready for that. The way I see it is I have my entire life ahead of me to do all of that stuff. I have up until I retire to work a 9-5 job every single day of my life. But right now I’m still only 21, and I want to live my life first!

As you will probably have already guessed, my passion is travelling. It literally consumes me. It is all I think about, all I talk about, and all I dream about. I first discovered my love for travelling in 2008 when I was awarded a travel scholarship to India. I found out about the scholarship through my sixth form, and when I heard about it something clicked inside me… “You have to apply for this Sadie” And I did. And I won. And it was that eye-opening journey to India that made me realise that I just had to see the world…

Since going to India in 2008, I have been to some incredible places. I travelled around Thailand which was an amazing experience. I’ve also been to some beautiful cities around Europe. Everywhere I have travelled I have managed to do extremely cheaply. I’m constantly browsing cheap travel websites, finding cheap flights and hostels, and just spontaneously booking trips. I was also awarded another travel scholarship which this time took me to Tunisia where I worked in a summer camp helping Tunisian students with their English language. Recently I won a competition called ‘I’m a backpacker, get me in here’ which I saw advertised by a gapyear company called gapyear.com. The competition is to travel to Australia in May 2012, explore the Gold Coast and also stay in the jungle and compete in ‘bush tucker trials’. What an amazing experience! I can’t wait.

Some people say to me: “oh you must have a lot of money to go travelling” or “your parents must help you”. My reply to that is no, I don’t have a lot of money. I simply find extremely cheap deals online, and save up my money from my part-time job. And nobody helps me, I fund everything myself.

In regards to my travel scholarships and the competition I recently won, people say to me “you’re lucky”. To which I admit to a certain extent, yes I am lucky. And I do feel lucky and priviledged to have had these opportunities. But I’m a firm believer in the phrase ‘you make your own luck’. And I have made my own luck. I’m not the type of person to let opportunities pass me by… or have that mentality of “I won’t win anyway, so there’s no point in applying”. You get out of life what you put into it.

I’ve started this blog to share all my photos and memories from my travels, and to also show people that no matter what your circumstances are it is always possible to travel. You don’t need a lot of money to see the world. Travelling is not just for rich kids who use the money their parents have left aside for them in a trust fund. And there are always opportunities to travel for free; whether it be scholarships or competitions. So what are you waiting for?!

I hope you enjoy my blog, and feel free to ask me any questions.

Sadie xx