My journey to Freedom
I am a child of immigrant parents who migrated to New Zealand from the United Kingdom seeking a better life.
On leaving high school at 17 with a desire to explore the world, I joined the New Zealand Army which gave me the stepping stone to my exploration of the world.
I have worked in a number of different industries, without seeking a particular career as:
- A Soldier
- Prawn Fisherman
- I worked in Western Australia for more than 25 years in the mining industry, working in remote locations for long periods of time in exploration, drilling, earthmoving and mineral processing
- I have been in business, retail and the drilling industry with mixed success,
- Lived and worked overseas as an expat both in the military and mining
- I have experience in investing in property and shares
- Studied Financial Planning, Travel Consulting, Tour Guiding and Professional Life Coaching.
I worked in Western Australia for more than 25 years in the mining industry, working in remote locations for long periods of time in exploration, drilling, earthmoving and mineral processing. I understand the pressures that come from being separated from family and friends.
I have been married several times and helped bring up two children that I am proud of and who have gone on to develop their own life styles.
I have been in business, retail and the drilling industry with mixed success, lived and worked overseas as an expat both in the military and mining.
I have experience in investing in property and shares. Studied Financial Planning, Travel Consulting and Tour Guiding.
My passions
My passion is travel which is so strong that every form of income producing endeavor that was undertaken by me was for the purpose of living my dream to backpack, hike and camp, exploring and experiencing different culture’s and travelling for long periods of time. I have visited 90 countries and I still have the desire to explore more. My other passions are rock climbing and snow sports. I love the challenge of learning something new, whether it is learning to rock climb in Romania or skiing in Switzerland both of which I started in my fifties.
I finally achieved my version of freedom, semi retiring at the age of 48.
I had a few detours on my journey, which weren’t intended to be, such as marriage, raising a family, divorcing, creating and running businesses all of which were to be part of the journey and enriched my life but did not turn out as expected for any number of reasons. All were steep learning curves which had their moments of joy and pain. When I do reflect on these detours I endeavor to learn from them.
The challenge in changing career paths
There have been challenges. The biggest one being, to change my career path, a career path that was unintentional and that was working in the mining industry in Australia. I never intended to still be working in the industry past 40 but it became addictive, too easy to find work , it was secure employment and the money was more than enough to allow me to travel. But it meant returning to the source of income after each adventure which I found depressing, and I realized that I had to develop a longer term plan that removed the security of mining work and enabled me to be in a position to make a choice as to how I lived my life. Choice equals Freedom.
As I implemented the plan, I would ask myself how I could improve on what I was doing to increase my income, my knowledge, even what sort of relationship I wanted. The relationship part still alluded me, but I feel I have a better idea now.
Achieving a Goal
Then the period of when I achieved that goal, the goal of being able to choose to travel, to choose when I worked. Choice equals Freedom to me.
The “Now what?” question arose 5 years ago. I had achieved my goal but I felt I hadn’t reached that ultimate point, my purpose. My relationship felt like a trap, especially with the realization that my partner truly did not share my drive to explore.
“What to Do”
Is it time to reinvent again? Is it time to explore new options, experiences or do I stay in a place that I was uncomfortable in.
Refocusing on Dreams
I decided that I would pursue one of my dreams and that was to do a long-distance hiking and camping trip overseas. I picked the Lycian Way in Turkey in 2018. I recruited my best friend and ex business partner and away we went. It was a challenge for both of us, 500 kilometers of rocky trail that passed through history, climbing steep hills with heavy packs. The hike gave us both time to think and share our dreams and issues as we walked. It provided space and time to explore my options in my head, to discuss with my friend my thoughts, and he had time to think about his own situation. Explore the “What ifs”, “What next?”.
It was another hike that I did with my sister around the Peaks of the Balkans that helped me determine what my purpose was. 200 kilometers of discussion and thinking.
So here I am, with quite a few more kilometers and countries under my belt, I have found a purpose, a purpose that matches my drive to explore. If I can help people to discover their version of Freedom, then I have found my purpose.
Freedom 