Escaping the Cage: Choosing the Path Less Travelled

We all have a story to tell and share with our loved ones, friends and strangers on the internet, but It isn't easy sometimes to know where to start.

I will start it from the present day as I write this in a library in Cambridge on a humid, cloudy day on Tuesday, 12th September 2023. I have annual leave from work this week and decided to spend the week working out what I want from life - I know very profoundly. Still, my current situation has made me reflect on this.

What is it I want from life?

I want the freedom to travel, explore our world, learn new skills, and be more independent from the system. I don't know about you, but we all depend on the system for our daily needs; we don't live too far from our comfort zones, and I am guilty.

You would have thought that someone like me, who used to travel and move around for work, is used to living outside my comfort zone. While I am easily adaptable in most environments, I still keep returning to certain comforts that follow me wherever I go.

Eating out a lot, drinking too much alcohol after work, gambling to get my dopamine hit, or binge-watching online are just a few of my comforts. I have tried many times to reduce these habits, and sometimes it would work, but I always tend to fall back into my comfort zone.

My Career

The Royal Oak, Lake District: I was The General Manager in March 20201

My career is either working in the pub industry as a manager running bars, pubs or restaurants, which I have done for 8 years. It's an ideal career because you can travel anywhere, gain experience, and earn money while exploring the world. If you are lucky, I have found accommodation too, which saves a lot of money.

The covid lockdowns did huge damage to the pub trade, and from the last report, I saw over 10,000 pubs permanently closed due to the covid lockdowns and finances.

Unfortunately, I had to leave the Royal Oak because of fears that the restrictions could have continued until early next year, 2022. I also discovered that the owners didn't go to the pub after the summer of 2021. I was deeply upset because I put a lot of hours and passion into this beautiful country pub in the Lake District.

My other career is being a Licensed Animal Technician, which I have done for 15 years, working for a wide range of contracts up and down the UK. The good thing about this career is that the agency I would work for paid for my travel and accommodation, so this was ideal if I wanted to save money for my next backpacking trip.

Mice in IVC Cage: Image courtesy of University College London.

Some of you have never heard of "Licensed Animal Technician." In short, it's where I would be responsible for the welfare of laboratory animals used for scientific research, mostly rodents such as mice and rats. I will discuss this more in detail on my site and give you my personal experience of what I have learned and seen since.

I have worked all over the UK for different contracts from Kings College, Imperial College, Porton Down, MRC, various Universities, and many more places.

I want to move on from this line of work because, despite my great passion for animal welfare and the work I put in, I feel it's time to do something different and not in a laboratory environment.

Trying to Unpack

When I got the opportunity to work in Cambridge, working full-time as Licsend Animal Technician for at least 3 years, I was happy because a part of me wanted to settle down, find a place I call home for now and get my shit together. I had planned to work here, get things in order, save money to buy a campervan and do some short travel trips.

However, finding a room in Cambridge in 2023 is not easy! The rent in Cambridge is expensive to live a single room can be from £700 PCM, and you are lucky to be in a good location and have public transport if it is not within walkable distance to work or town.

So, for now, I have been moving around Cambridge a lot, every week, sometimes twice a week, to different places to stay. This will take its toll on me because it was never supposed to be like this. Cambridge is a costly place to live, and with the high cost of living, it will only worsen. I am homeless because I don't have a permanent place to make my home, register with the doctors, dentist, DVLA, etc.

Wanderlust Soul

Moving around most of my life has positively impacted my life because I have been to some beautiful places, met great people on the way and had wonderful experiences and memories. I have learned and got used to being alone, sorting problems for myself, arranging and finding accommodation, and travelling to work.

The downside of not having a fixed permanent home and job is that you need a routine, stable income, a home where you can build and have a relationship that can lead to having your own family. You lose touch with friends and cannot socialise with them as often as you would like.

Having a relationship with a girlfriend was very difficult as I got older because most didn't enjoy my lifestyle, being away from "home," which I can understand. Online dating in 2023 has changed the dating scene; I have been single for a few years now, and Covid lockdowns didn't help.

While moving around the UK for work, I would travel very lightly because I didn't have a fixed address since I was based in Manchester in 2019 for about two years. Depending on what I am bringing, I would either have a 35L backpack or a 65L backpack; mostly, it would be clothing, essential accessories, a laptop and a phone. I am what you call a minimalist, although everyone has their meaning of that term.

However, things never go to plan, do they?

There is a list of reasons why I am currently unhappy, feel hopeless, angry, upset with myself, bitter, pissed off, I could go on. However, I will never bitch or blame anyone or anything that has gone wrong in my personal life. I have never played as a victim of my failures because my mistakes are mine to own and mine to fix. Life is never supposed to be easy or fair; it never has been or will be kind.

I have mostly travelled around Europe, Thailand and Australia for a year on a working holiday visa in 2015. I did a few blog posts on my trip to Spain, where I stayed there for 6 weeks on a Work Away experience, but unfortunately, I never carried on the blog. I have found the blog posts I made and will have them on the website for reference.

Cape Tribulation, Australia

Rodney in Arichidonna, Spain

Flying from Cairns to Sydney

Looking back at my old blog post that I made for Spain, reading through what I had written, and looking at the photos I had taken gives me that buzz. There is a part of me that I feel trapped in a cage, that I can not seem to find a way out, to fly and to be free.

We have very little time on Earth, and even though society is getting a little weirder and more intense, it still is a beautiful place with wonderful people. Suppose everyone gets off social media and the internet, turns off the screens, and explores. In that case, people's attitudes will be different.

I am at a crossroads with what I want to do, but my heart tells me to leave my job and Cambridge, take my 35L backpack, get on a train and go to my next destination.

Where to? I have no idea; that's the exciting part, the unknown and unexpected opportunities ahead of me. I will, though, stay in Cambridge until the end of October 2023 and see where my next destination will be.

Happy Travels,

Macca