April Wendy Hollands

https://www.lefrancophoney.com

Age: 37

Hometown: Melbourne, Australia

Quote: “Living out of a backpack can be a challenge at first but becomes pretty liberating after a while.”

How did you find out about Vagabonding, and how did you find it useful before and during the trip? It was a while back now – I think it was via an Aussie friend on Facebook.

How long were you on the road? 11 years so far – still not ‘home’.

Where all did you go?

Lived: London: 2 yrs, then French Alps (Brides les Bains) 6 months, Cambridge 7 months, Alps (Les Allues) 5 months, Cambridge 2.5 yrs, Annecy 2 months, Les Allues 5 months, Menthon St Bernard 4 months, La Clusaz 3 yrs, St Jean de Sixt 1 yr.

Visited: Russia, Italy, Litchtenstein, Scotland, Ireland, all over England, Switzerland, Austria, Vatican City, Monaco, Spain, all over France, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Denmark, USA, Wales, Germany….

What was your job or source of travel funding for this journey? Lived off the IT boom during my time in London as a technical author. Worked as a tech author and barmaid in Cambridge to fund ski seasons as a ski bum (no work), and now I work part time only (and travel on a budget) as a production editor for a magazine, giving me lots of free time to enjoy living in a ski resort.

Did you work or volunteer on the road? No.

Of all the places you visited, which was your favorite? Impossible to have just one favourite!  The ruins in Rome were pretty special to me after learning about them at school and feeling as if they were far to far away to ever see for myself.

Was there a place that was your least favorite, or most disappointing, or most challenging? Dieppe in France is my least favourite because I was stuck there overnight after my ferry was cancelled due to bad weather. Apart from sideways rain, an old, drunk French man decided to flash me.

Did any of your pre-trip worries or concerns come true?  Did you run into any problems or obstacles that you hadn’t anticipated? No, but after years of traveling on an Australian passport, it was an absolute treasure to have a British passport so I could skip straight past the huge queue for “other” passports and go straight to the short, fast “EU” passport line.

Which travel gear proved most useful?  Least useful?

Most useful, apart from my backpack, is a long skirt: good for squat toilets without losing privacy; provides warmth in the evenings but a nice breeze on warm days: very handy for long travel days.

Least useful? Can’t think of one, but did just think of something as useful as the skirt: my Swiss Army Knife has cut whole pizzas, picked out splinters, cut off tags on emergency clothing purchases etc.

What are the rewards of the vagabonding lifestyle? Experiences that can’t be duplicated and that I will always treasure.

What are the challenges and sacrifices of the vagabonding lifestyle? Birthdays etc. can be hard when not surrounded by close friends/family and so can health worries, especially in countries where your mother tongue is not the primary language. Living out of a suitcase/backpack can be a challenge at first but becomes pretty liberating after a while.

What lessons did you learn on the road? Fewer personal items means more freedom! Seriously, I’ve learnt about tolerance, trust, kindness of strangers and how it’s always better to identify yourself as an Australian in France so they don’t treat you like you’re English (to whom they’re often outwardly xenophobic – but thankfully not all).

How did your personal definition of “vagabonding” develop over the course of the trip? I never really had a definition, but my idea of travel has certainly changed from the days of ‘must have’ stuff such as a beauty case, big suitcase and tourist faff along the way to being a minimalist and traveling light, absorbing the moment, and chilling out to enjoy the culture around me instead of racing around to tourist attractions.

If there was one thing you could have told yourself before the trip, what would it be? You’re not really coming home in a year: may as well get rid of all those clothes/belongings at home now and save the parents from hassling you about it on future short visits home.

Any advice or tips for someone hoping to embark on a similar adventure? Just do it, but be determined to make it work. When people say: “You’re lucky” you might well be, but it’s probably through your own hard work and determination that you make that luck your own.

When and where do you think you’ll take your next long-term journey? As soon as my adopted old-age cat passes on, I will no doubt hit the road again. Until then, road trips around Europe will have to do (cat-sitter-permitting).

Are you a Vagabonding reader planning, in the middle of, or returning from a journey? Would you like your travel blog or website to be featured on Vagabonding Case Studies? If so, drop us a line at casestudies@vagabonding.net and tell us a little about yourself.