Most people strive for work-life balance, others throw travel blogging into the mix. It’s not easy finding that perfect life combo, but there are several wanderers, like me, that are doing just that.

But that’s why I wanted to start this series, Part-time Wanderers, to share the love of travelling with other bloggers who are travelling part-time too.

Meet Amy, a 26-year-old, a marketing manager from England by day, blogger by night. She runs Toothbrush Travels, a blog about her travels and adventures she embarks on, all while working full time.

She’s been to eight countries and counting, all while travelling part-time. She talks spontaneity in travel and embracing the moment.

What do you do for a living? And how does travel fit into your life?

I work as a Marketing Manager by day (8am-6pm!) and run my blog and ecommerce shop in the evening. The latter is incredibly convenient because I can do it from anywhere in the world, however the day job is just a touch more limiting in terms of location and so to get my travel fix I have to utilise weekends and my holiday allowance to the max. Luckily the company I work for are incredibly flexible and so they don’t mind how or when I use my holiday days and so I’ve been doing a lot of English and European explorations at the moment!

When did you take your first “adult” trip? Where did you go? What made this trip special to you?

The trip that made an impact was a trip to Paris that I took with my other half. It was the second trip I had taken without my family and the third time I had left England. My other half had planned a surprise trip for us there for my 18th birthday and it was the first time I had been on a holiday where everything wasn’t arranged beforehand, and not having that security blanket made me feel completely different. It was only after we navigated the metro and dumped our things at the hotel that the concerns over ‘what ifs’ became excitement for ‘what ifs’. We didn’t make a single plan that trip and instead wandered when and where we felt like, balancing seeing the highlights with exploring on foot and watching the world go by and it changed my travel style from there onwards as I realised that I preferred spontaneity over itineraries. It was a huge turning point in both my personality, and my travel style, and I’ve been on a quest to lose myself in as many countries as possible ever since!

Which trip or place was your favourite and why?

Oh I don’t know if I can pick just one! I adored everything about Barcelona, I lived in Thailand for a year and have such an abundance of happy memories from that, but I also recently did a motorbike trip with my significant other, riding from England to the south of France, which (minus the numb bum!) was pretty epic too. Can I pick all three?

Tell me about one of your favourite travel memories.

It was back in 2014 before the bridge had been built between Koh Lanta Yai and Koh Lanta Noi. My other half and I had rented a scooter with a friend to go over to Koh Lanta Noi. We had no idea where we were going (part of that spontaneous travel style I spoke of earlier!) and so we literally just rode. The island may as well have been deserted. There were only a handful of houses and roads that were so unused that nature had begun to reclaim them, but it was beautiful. That day we saw abandoned beaches, gorgeous structures, four six-eight year olds riding a single moped and a quiet way of life in Thailand that I hadn’t seen before. It was one of those unplanned days where everything fell together and to this day remains one of my most treasured memories, especially considering how quickly developments change in Thailand!

Why did you decide to write and photograph your travels?

It started when I was living abroad as a way to keep family and friends updated on my adventures, but I kept it up because I wanted to be able to look back on my life when I was older and truly remember what I felt in those moments, and not just the rose-tinted version of events.

How would you describe your travel style? (go-go-go or slow traveller) Why do you travel that way?

A bit of both. It depends how long I’m in a place and what I want to see. When I visited Barcelona it was pretty go-go-go because I wanted to spend time wandering, see all the sites, siesta, eat all the food and take in all things Gaudi – but there are so many hours in a day which meant that I had to haul ass to fit everything in! But most places I prefer to explore slow, not just because you start to really get a feel for a place when you do, but because the longer you spend in a place, the more meals you can have there.

Describe your travel philosophes you may have developed over your travels.

I’m a firm believer of having a balance between new, old and comfort. It’s so easy to lose sight of how incredible this world is when you’re stuck in the monotony of day to day routine and so I think it’s important that people travel and shake themselves up, otherwise we stop growing. A lot of people believe that you need to have boarded a plane to consider things as travel but I disagree – I think planes are incredible and we should all explore different countries and cultures, but I also think that travelling is about broadening your mindset and exploring somewhere new and you can do that regardless of whether you go ten, or ten thousand, miles from home.

Can you share your top travel tip for new travellers?

Find a job which allows you to do what you love; whether that’s the role itself or what the role enables you to have in terms of financials and/or flexibility. I realise that it’s weird that my travel tip is find a job, buuuuuut balance is important and, realistically, money makes the dream happen. I’m a massive believer that life’s too short to work all the time but I also love my career and so I feel that if you can find a role which allows you to do what you love – it makes life a whole lot easier!

What’s one thing you cannot travel without?

My camera!

You can check out Amy’s blog, Toothbrush Travels here. Follow her on Instagram, like her on Facebook or tweet to her on Twitter.

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