So I said to people that I would write a blog, and as I came to the end of my first week away in Bali, I had some time to reflect on the week and all the amazing things that I have done, personal barriers I have conquered and some of the wicked things I have seen and taken part in. Each day I wrote a bit about my best bits and what I got up to, so I am going to share that with you.

Well… when I think about the journey that has got me here and everything in the lead up to it and I can’t believe I have finally made it. When I booked to go travelling, I had 119 days to countdown.

Going away was a big one for me, with all sorts of ‘everything’ happening in my life. In the lead up to it, I was terrified, don’t get me wrong, I was excited as well, but as soon as I realised I had 10 days on my countdown left rather than 100, anxiety kicked in massively and all sorts of questions buzzed through my head…

‘Are you sure about this?’

‘By yourself?? Travelling by yourself?’

‘What if something goes wrong?’

‘You are really far from home’

‘19 hours in a confined space? Never’

Everyone at work must have though I was something similar to a Duracell bunny on acid the week before I left. Excited and then jumping and then shaking and then crying. It was a difficult week to get through.

When I left my house, I had 19 hours of travelling ahead of me and oh my did it feel like 19 hours. I remember being sat at Gatwick airport having only just gone through departures and not being sure what to do. I was by myself, I was about to be by myself for 3 whole weeks.

But, I was excited now, so the only thing I could think was ‘let’s go, see what happens’.

Here’s my journey for my first solo trip halfway across the world, beginning in Bali. Let’s go. Mads x