Having been a fan of travelling since I was a child, I knew first-hand how travel can boost your confidence and transform the way you see the world and yourself. With this in mind, I came up with a plan.

Since 2014, when I’d started my own proofreading and editing business I could run from home, it had been my dream to become a digital nomad (or location-independent worker). So, in 2022, when the world started opening up again, I made several huge life-changing decisions, completely flipping the script on my life. Actually, as my brother said, I didn’t just flip the script… I burnt the script. No longer was I going to live my life according to societal expectations, what others thought I should do, or what my fears and limiting beliefs told me was possible for me.

I handed in my notice on my house. I Marie Kondo’d all my stuff. I bought a storage unit and moved whatever had survived the Marie Kondo-ing into it – apart from what I could fit in my giant suitcase. And then I jumped on a plane to Bilbao in the Basque Country, Spain. I’d booked a month-long stay at a co-living house in Gautegiz Arteaga, where I’d be working and living with 20+ other digital nomads. As a shy, quiet introvert with mild social anxiety, this was a tough thing for me to do, and I felt incredibly nervous as I made my way to the house.

Once I was there, however, I put my nerves aside and I got down to business, putting my plan into action – and action is definitely the operative word here. I threw myself into every social, professional, and personal development event that was offered to me. I took part in everything I could, even when I felt shy or uncomfortable. Especially when I felt shy and uncomfortable. I took part in workshops, masterminds, and self-development exercises. I had a life coaching session. I shared my story. I opened up. Complete strangers became friends and then family.

A couple of days after I’d arrived I’d led a skill share event myself, giving a presentation on Life Purpose and Legacy – and I’d felt sick with dread and fear for days beforehand. But I made myself do it. After all, I knew that the only way to overcome your fear is to face it head-on. And I continued facing my fears head-on for that whole month, feeling more confident and less self-conscious with every day that passed.

Then, at the end of the month, I wrote a poem about my stay, and I read it out – voluntarily – to the whole group on our last night. The fear and dread I’d felt before and during my Life Purpose and Legacy skill share was completely gone. I wasn’t scared. I wasn’t nervous. I even enjoyed it. After all my hard work, my number one fear that had plagued me all my life had now seemingly vanished. I left the villa in the Basque Country feeling sad at having to say goodbye to all my new friends, but elated that I’d gone there with a solid intention of overcoming my fear – and that I’d succeeded.

I even went on to test my new-found public speaking confidence back in England. I wrote another poem that my brother and I read out to my entire family during our parents’ Golden Wedding anniversary party – and I didn’t feel sick or scared. And, when my friend Gemma asked me to give a speech at her wedding (at which I was a bridesmaid), I didn’t even hesitate before saying yes. Just months before, I would have been thinking of every possible excuse to try to get out of it, and I would have spent the months prior to the event dreading it and worrying about how it was going to go. Now? It seemed like no big deal – I was even looking forward to it.

If I could transform myself that much in just one month of staying at a co-living house in a different country, what else could I do? Where else could I go and what intentions could I take with me? What else could I transform about my mindset, my confidence, my beliefs, and my perspective of the world and myself? And what was I going to do with this new-found knowledge and confidence?

After all, I knew now just how powerful intentional travel can be in terms of slaying self-doubt, boosting confidence, and conquering life-long fears – and I wanted to tell everyone else all about it. I wanted to teach them how they could transform through travel, and show them – through telling my own story – that not only is it possible… it’s inevitable if you follow just a few simple steps.

And so Flip The Script Travel Transformation Services was born. I took a course and got accredited as a travel coach, I launched my Travel Transformation Academy and The Travel Transformation Podcast, and I published my book, Intentional Travel Transformation: Boost Your Confidence, Conquer Your Fears & Finally Become The Person You’ve Always Wanted To Be. It is now my mission to help others transform themselves and their lives through intentional travel, just like I did. And none of it would have happened if I hadn’t taken that first step of making the decision to change my life. Now, I’m putting myself out there in a way that would have been impossible for me to do even just a couple of years ago – and it’s nowhere near as scary as I’d convinced myself it would be.

I didn’t just flip the script on my life – I burnt the script and then wrote myself an extraordinary new story, one I’m intentionally adding to every single day. After all, life is short; we should make sure it’s nothing short of amazing.

That’s what I’m doing with my life, and now it’s my privilege and pleasure to help others do the same with theirs.