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So many of my friends have said that they can not believe that I moved so far, so quickly. Life on the other side of the world seems a world away to the life I knew in the uk, or even in europe for that matter.

Over the space of 6 months, I had sold off my stuff and downsized until everything I owned could be taken on a plane. However, I had originally planned to move to Spain, much closer to the UK than the Philippines. But things always change and I was lucky enough to be in the right position to do what I wanted.

Life in the UK had begun to feel like slow motion suicide and I had had more than I could take. I needed a change, I needed to plan my escape.

When I left the uk, 3 months ago today, I was ready to live away. What I mean is that I had sorted everything at home so that all I had was what was in my suitcase and carry on bag. Should things work out in the Philippines, I can stay there as long as I can. The longest flight I had been on before I came to the Philippines had been just 4 hours, so facing 3 flights totalling 19 hours and 45 minutes was daunting. Not to mention the 28’000 km distance or the fact that I was flying over almost all of Russia as I headed east over Europe, Russia and then just after Moscow, heading south through china and landing at Hong Kong. A quick cigarette at the airport and back onto a plane for the final leg of the journey, a short 1hour 30 minute flight into Manila, Philippines.

To this day, everytime I see a plane coming in to land, I think about that day, as I was sat on the plane nervously waiting, full of hopes and fears. It feels so long ago now as I look back.

I have setup roots here in the Philippines and am working hard to secure a future. I am doing more than I have ever done in the uk. We were at the Philippine fashion week (where the earthquake was).

During the same week we were interviewed on 99.5RT radio about a website we have been working on covering undiscovered restaurants, hotels, resorts and other Philippine local delicacies. All very exciting stuff. Not to mention getting to hand feed tigers!

The other week Nick asked me “is there anything you miss that would make you come back?”. I had never thought about it, but in the the light of day, the only things that I miss are my parents, my friends and Spain. I could not think of anything that I had in the uk which I do not here or miss. There are many really nice things about the uk, but not many of them were where I lived. Seeing yorkshire villages with rolling hills. Finding hidden coves on the beach in summer. I will miss all of these things, but I never had them in the first place.

The whole purpose of this post was a result of people saying that they can not believe that I went half way around the world. I can not believe it either. Not a single day goes by when I do not think about how amazed I am at it and how different things seem now. After all, if something is worth fighting for, you should fight to the death for it. Without risking all, you can never win.

So here I am risking it all every day, fighting for that dream and buying as many building blocks as I can afford. If you spend your whole life sitting on your hands, when you finally do fight, your hands will be numb and you will likely loose the only fight that ever mattered.