Welcome to Bems Abroad!
Welcome to chilled chaos, figuring out my early 20s alone and abroad. Follow along my journey as a first-time solo traveller navigating the world one step at a time.
I was extremely fortunate to have travelled during my childhood, seeing amazing locations like Thailand, Egypt, Poland, France, New York, and more. These experiences, together with my passion for history and travel, are without a doubt what sparked my desire to tour the world and inspired me to start this blog.
As of the end of May 2023, I completed my undergraduate degree but was lost on what the next step was.
As a result of hearing about and seeing other people’s travels across the world and my desire to not settle down just yet has led me to book a one-way ticket flight out of England, on to my next step in my life. Though the future is uncertain, I believe that is the beauty of life and the unexpected will happen regardless of our plans, so the fewer we make, the better in my opinion.
Solo travelling for me is a huge one-eighty from my life four years ago, where I could barely leave the house and the idea of going to the corner shop down the road caused a panic attack. Or even leaving the house to go to school required ten minutes of standing at the door trying to move myself to open the door and leave. Having dealt with anxiety and depression, arguably still managing this, I never in a million years thought I would be able to travel by myself. It has been a long inner battle over the last twelve years, but it was not until the past year that I truly made the effort to prioritise my happiness and push myself to resist against the fight or flight instincts. Without pushing myself to focus on my mental health I would not be in this position to travel, never mind alone. I want to show myself and others how we are not ruled by anxiety, how there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
This blog brings together my love of travel and my love of history. Having studied history at university and admiring the historical aspects of destinations, I want to bring this attention to the world in a new form and with a fun twist in the way this information is passed on. The beauty of history spikes my interest, from architecture to art and sculpture, particularly the renaissance. Even though I have studied history, there is still a lot I want to learn outside of the classroom by exploring the locations and learning about the past there.
Earlier this year, I took a spontaneous trip with my best friend to Snowdonia, Wales to climb a mountain, something neither of us had ever done before. This raised the blood pressure of both our family and friends, but the determination and excitement were what encouraged us and motivated us to keep climbing despite almost getting blown off the summit of Snowdon.
It was at this point that I realised I wanted to keep exploring the world and pushing my boundaries, and although I would love to have been on this journey with my best friend, I know that experiencing it alone is going to be just as wonderful and I will discover more about myself.
Now sit back, enjoy, and book a one way ticket with me to see the world.
