I am constantly asked “you’re from where?”, “where is that country?”, “are you sure that’s a country?” No sh*t Sherlock, I don’t…but seriously I am from little known Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean. The travel itch is a family gene passed down never mind I grew up in the small town of Debe with only 3,000 residents. I have managed to fuel my love for travel with studies and career over the ye
ars since leaving Trinidad at eighteen. I have enjoyed living in the US, Australia, Singapore, United Kingdom and France and taken full advantage of all the travel along the way. I am not quite a nomad but still working on finding a fixed address…one day it just might happen! High school friends nicknamed me Uncle Travelling Matt; yes I am their brave “Fraggle explorer!” I don’t have a bucketlist of places to visit but go where I have an urge too: exploring Cuba, visiting Tigers Nest in Bhutan, chocolate festival in Belgium, New Year’s Eve in Australia…even a work trip to Yemen with bodyguards I’ve experienced. One of my advantages is that I seem to blend in with most people…the Kashmiris, Yemenis, Cubans, North Indians, Nepalese, Cambodians, Bhutanese, and Latin-Americans, even whilst living in Singapore people thought I was half Indian/half Chinese. My Sikh friends in Bangkok still tell their families I am Guajarati with Bengali looking eyes when I have not one blessed clue where from the state of Utter Pradesh in India my forefathers came from five generations ago. Yes my Indian roots make me a travelling Trini chameleon! Many ask how I can afford to travel so much! Well I’ve never had a normal 9-5 job, mines was more 24/7 in various time zones. Being a young female expat does not just make for some memorable stories but helps rack up frequent flier points, hotel points, and save some dinero. I am a young woman who left the stresses of the corporate world behind to follow a more less travelled route for women...travel! It also helps having a network of the most amazing friends and family around the world that I not just visit, but travel with most times. M.A.D are my initials and these are my travel stories as a Trini female world traveller…
Marissa