So, who am I?
For those of you who don't know me, I'm Aly and I could be best described as organized chaos. Originally I come from Canada, but I always say I was born in the wrong country because I cannot deal with Canadian winter (hence, full-time travel). I am the first person on the dance floor, I will do anything if dared, I thrive outside of my comfort zone and I cannot go thirty seconds without cracking a joke. I have never been happier than when I am travelling, and I want to share my love of travel and help others realize they can feel like this too.
No, I don't get to travel because I'm rich or had everything handed to me or something silly.
One of the most common things people say to me is "Wow you're so lucky you get to travel full-time" as if I haven't worked my ass off to be where I am. I got my first job at 12 years old and worked three jobs at one point in my life in order to save money. I also worked during university as a waitress and saved money solely for travel. I knew EXACTLY what my goals were and worked damn hard to make them come true. I even took extra education after university to increase my chances of finding a job abroad. I went on trips even though I had no one to go with, I forced myself out of my comfort zone (where I now thrive) and I refused to give up even though this lifestyle can be HARD. I've nearly bankrupted myself multiple times just to travel, and I literally would not have it any other way.
So no, I am not lucky. I am dedicated to the things that make me happy and I am unwavering in my efforts to create a life I love.
That my friends, is a loaded question! I have lived many lives and worn many hats. I used to work as a bartender, then in a hospital abroad for a short period, I tried my hand at teaching children, I ran hotels and the list goes on. The one consistent thing in my life has been my love of travel. When I was 18 I went on a trip through Costa Rica, Panama, Nicaragua and Peru and I fell in love. I fell in love with travel, discovering new cultures, being out of my comfort zone, meeting new people and everything else I experienced. I ended up cancelling my flights home and staying longer than originally planned (this will become a theme in my life lol). I found hostel work and had the time of my life, but of course I had already registered for university and I knew my Mom may disown me if I skipped uni to dance on bars in Nicaragua. So I went home, finished university and immediately went abroad again the second I was done.
I had heard about teaching English as a way to travel and make money, so I ended up getting my teaching certificate while I completed by business degree. Literally nothing was going to get in the way of travelling again. I found a job in Thailand (during COVID and did a super fun two week quarantine and everything) and packed up my life and booked a one-way ticket. I ended up staying two years, where I again fell in love. Although I enjoyed it, teaching was clearly not my life's calling, and I ended up finding a job running a hostel on an island. My literal DREAM since I went travelling the first time. I did this for my second year, and ended up landing another position in Vietnam. In the end the work permit and visa situation in Vietnam was an actual nightmare, and I was transferred back to Thailand. Do not get me wrong, running hostels was a magical time in my life, but it is EXHAUSTING. It is full-on and requires work from morning until the wee hours of the night. I also wanted to be free of any location requirements, I wanted to be able to go home and visit my family whenever I wanted or to go explore a new place for a weekend without being on my phone the entire time. There were some other issues, and you can check out my blog posts for more juicy details on that.
I ended up going home for a visit for the first time in two years. There was a family wedding and it was Canadian summer so it was the perfect time. When I was running the hostels I used to do some digital design and realized that was my favorite part of my day. You know what they say, find something you enjoy and figure out how to make money from it. So I did! I learned graphic design and web design and launched my own company offering these services. This was the perfect solution for me, I get to work for myself, travel anytime and do something I genuinely enjoy! I am still hard at work on my web design business as well, you can check it out here or on Instagram if you're interested!
How did I end up a full-time traveller?
People are constantly asking me how I travel full-time. They want to know how I make money, where to visit, how to get a work visa, where to find jobs abroad and everything else you could imagine. One day it hit me, why in the world am I not sharing all this knowledge I have?! Travel brings me so much joy and I want other people to get that same feeling I do! I've made a lifetime of mistakes and learned a lot of things the hard way, what good is all this expertise if I don't share it? Also, to say the craziest, stupidest and most hilarious things tend to happen to me is an understatement. I figure I might as well share them with you guys so you can laugh along. Not to mention, if I can continue to diversify my income then I can continue to travel! It makes so much sense for me, I'm already a full-time traveller and this doesn't require me to change my lifestyle at all. I've had the idea for years, but I guess it always felt like one of those things that other people do and succeed at but it would never work for me. I was always nervous about what people would think and what if I failed. Well, I'm in my not giving a fuck era. I do what I want when I want, I don't care what anyone thinks and I am determined to relentlessly pursue anything important to me. So yeah, here I am.
I have no intentions of stopping travelling any time soon, so I created this blog to take you guys along for the ride! I hope to build a community, inspire others, give everyone a good laugh, share my expertise and show everyone that travel is anything but unrealistic. If there is every anything you guys want to know or see, send me a message on Instagram. Speaking of Instagram (and Tik Tok for that matter), there is loads of helpful content over there as well and I would be forever grateful for your support there too!
