I’ve started this blog a few times and gone round in circles and started again. And again.
It hasn’t been flowing, it hasn’t felt natural, like I’m trying too hard. It feels, to be honest, like work and as though I’m trying to write A Very Nice Feature.
What I’m attempting to do is share how I got to the point where I shed some of my belongings and packed up the rest and headed off to Asia and Australia for who knows how long.
I’ve found it hard to write simply because I go backwards and forwards and maybe I’m looking for all the answers.
But here I go……
A Call That Changed My Direction
I was queuing up in my car at a waste recycling centre in Sheffield in March 2025 when I took a call from a letting agent.
I’d been renting a flat in a lovely part of the city for a few years but now the owners wanted to put it on the market, I was told. That meant I would be moving on although there was no rush.
Rather than disappointment or dread, I felt a jolt of realisation. I’d been thinking about going travelling for some time but I hadn’t done anything about it except to go back and forth about where I intended to go.
I’d been to Australia once when I was much but I hadn’t made it over to the west although a trip to the west coast of the USA also intrigued me.
All the while I was going round in circles until that day at the dump when I realised the universe had given me a nudge.
In hindsight, the wheels were set in motion in the summer of 2024. I’d been covering football across Yorkshire as a freelance reporter since 2017 from Bramall Lane to Elland Road and everywhere in between.
That, though, came to an end in early August 2024 with agencies taking the place of freelancers.
I enjoyed having Saturdays to myself again for a few weeks although I still worked a lot at the weekends but when the new year arrived, I knew something had to change.
Little, if anything, was anchoring me to Sheffield.
I don’t have children or a partner nor are my parents alive. I can work remotely.
I’d essentially decided to go travelling in early 2025 but hadn’t acted on it.
That is until that day at the dump when I took that call.
The Stars Align
It wasn’t that I was unhappy6 in Sheffield, quite the opposite. I have regular freelance work, I lived in a lovely part of the city packed with nice cafes and places to eat and a short hop into the centre while still only minutes from the Peak District. I had a close-knit group of friends and my sister close by. I could walk down to Bramall Lane to see my team Sheffield United……..
I decided on a simple route starting off in Thailand, heading into Singapore before a couple of weeks in Bali and then a single flight into Perth. Western Australia had won the day.
Even so, I worried that I’d procrastinate and over-think so I handed everything over to Debbie Dent of Travel Counsellors. Flights were booked and information about visas and inoculations sourced.
And that was it: it was done. I was heading off in mid-June. There was no huge fanfare, no jumping up and down. I didn’t ask myself what on earth I’d just done while overwhelmed by waves of dread and excitement.
Instead, I was calm, it felt absolutely right and never once did I question myself or the decision I’d made.
If that sounds downbeat or underwhelming, it wasn’t the case. It was just a quiet certainty in my decision. Like someone had gently held out their hand which I’d taken as they helped me across a threshold and down a new path.
Everything had fallen into place to enable me to take that opportunity and go.
Fast-forward to 15 June and my final night in Sheffield. After a swim and sauna, I sat outside amid the quiet and the blue skies and said a silent goodbye.
The following evening I left Manchester Airport for Abu Dhabi and on to Bangkok. There I was met by a good friend Jon Combe, who has lived in Bangkok since 2002. We’ve known each other for years since we were members of the London Blades, a group of Sheffield United fans who were based in the capital.
As I went into baggage reclaim, I got a message from him. “Wilder’s exit all but confirmed,” it read with the Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder set to leave the club.
And that was the start of it all really. I picked up my bags and we headed outside into a wall of heat.