Hi there, my name’s Steph and I’m a travel addict!
Never one for staying at home and working for too long, I’ve always had to make sure I can travel affordably to fund my nomadic lifestyle.
Big World Small Pockets was created to share with you the highs and lows of solo female budget travel – the sort of real, wild, global adventuring that fires up minds and sets hearts racing.
I hope you enjoy it!
Originally from Jersey in the Channel Islands, I left at the tender age of 19 and set sail for a wild adventure in Southern Africa.
6 months later, having largely lived in a tent, become a veteran of African bus rides and an amateur sailor on a catamaran voyaging across the Mozambique Channel, I was hooked.
I returned to the UK and attempted to go about a “normal life”, but my itchy feet just wouldn’t stop scratching.
Periods of study were always punctuated by increasingly far-flung ventures to destinations including New Zealand, Northern Africa and across Europe because, as hard as I tried to convince myself I would one day get a “proper” job, after a few months of working and saving I’d always find myself booking another ticket!
D-day came when I was living in London, a freshly completed masters degree on my CV and the perfect platform to launch my career.
Instead, I got a phone call from a friend saying he was going to Guatemala…. and, well ….how could I resist?!
That was back in 2010 and since then I haven’t really looked back, at least not to a regular career in London anyway!
My time in Central America showed me how to live life on the road and gave me the courage to admit this was what I really wanted.
Being a committed traveller isn’t always easy however, especially financially, but it is possible. You just have to get a bit smart and a bit creative.
Big World Small Pockets was set up to show others how they too can save for travel and how easy it is to travel affordably; money doesn’t always have to be an obstacle to living the life you love.
So from Guatemala, I ended up living and travelling through Latin America for 2 years.
After a short trip home to the UK, I then found myself in Australia roaming across this enormous island, largely in a battered old Landrover Defender for a number of years!
It was during this time that Big World Small Pockets was born and the blogging bug bit me!
So from the Land Down Under, I then returned to Africa in 2017 and since then I’ve been adventuring as a full-time nomad across this incredible continent, as well as the Middle East, Southeast Asia, the Pacific Islands, Eastern & Western Europe, South America and the Caucasus region.
During this time, I’ve learnt that it’s often the off-beat places that really inspire me most in this world and so now I’m hooked on voyaging cheaply as a solo female to discover the less travelled places of our amazing planet and, of course, collecting all the tips, advice and stories to share with you with a big smile!
In Nov 2019, my efforts were recognised and I was voted the Best British Travel Blog at the Prestigious British Travel Awards in London.
Following this, I undertake perhaps my greatest challenge yet!
In 2020, I planned to travel the world as a blogger without flying – discovering and sharing how we can adventure the globe on small pockets AND a smaller carbon footprint.
Unfortunately, the pandemic had other ideas, but I look forward to recreating this journey, as well as many more, now that travel is well and truly back on the menu!
Follow me and my global adventures by joining me on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and Twitter – see you there!
