My passion for travel was ignited in my university summer vacations, where I spent three months volunteering for a gender based anti-violence charity in Kenya. I fell in love with the rich and unique culture during my first time out of Europe, and this trip fundamentally changed who I am into a kinder and more open-minded person.
This sparked an intense desire to travel Asia, due to the exciting travel memories I'd created and having heard amazing things about this region from my parents — who visited on their honeymoon. And so, after working as a data technologist for a couple years, I was able to go and chase my dreams of solo backpacking Asia.
First stop was Sri Lanka! I fell totally in love with the country’s incredibly kind culture, history, spirituality, jaw-dropping landscapes and stunning surf beaches — what was meant to be a three week stay in the country quickly turned into three months. Next stop was backpacking in Southeast Asia and India, before living and working in Australia. Overall, I was traveling for three years — and absolutely fell in love with it.
After such a long time away, I was drawn back to the UK to reconnect and nourish my relationship with family and friends. My trip inspired me to take a different direction with my career, utilising my passion and knowledge for travel while connecting to like-minded people at Audley.
Q&A with Steph
What’s the best local dish you’ve tasted?
On my Audley trip and as part of the Heeloya village trek, which goes from Kandy to one of the local rice paddy farming villages, I experienced a traditional Sri Lankan curry cooked from one of the lovely local people from the village. There were eight different varieties, which had the widest number of colors I'd ever seen. It was an explosion of spicy, yet creamy coconut flavor, and was even served in a handmade plate crafted from leaves.
What’s your most vivid travel moment?
At Yala National Park I was lucky enough to see a beautiful leopard and even experienced an even rarer sighting; I saw a Sri Lankan sloth bear climb a tree right right in front of my jeep. In these tree branches the bear found a honeycomb and sat there at the top of the tree sucking the honey from it — real life Pooh Bear! This was a special experience because I'm extremely passionate about wildlife and the Sri Lankan sloth bear is an endangered species with a population of under 1,000. It's also uncommon for the bears to climb trees, so it was very unique — I felt like I was in a David Attenborough documentary.
Where would you love to travel next?
I would love to travel to Nepal next. It would be a dream to experience the largest mountain range in the world — trekking in the world famous Himalayas. Being surrounded by nature is my favourite place to be and I’ve heard stories about incredible guesthouses, great food and community vibe along the trekking routes. I would especially like to visit Nepal during the Hindu festival Holi — where paints fill the streets with colour and countries around the Indian subcontinent celebrate.