'I left everything to travel the world but it was lonely and exhausting'

16 February 2023 , 10:55

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Ciara and her boyfriend at the time lived on a boat together in the Caribbean (Image: Ciara)

A globetrotter who appeared to be living the dream on one huge holiday gave it all up for the London rat race - and says she is much happier now.

As anyone who has spent long winter afternoons scrolling Instagram feeds of orange sunsets or watching van life TikTok videos knows, sometimes the urge to sell up and hit the road is strong.

Life can feel short, while the world sometimes seems large and alluring.

Ciara had exactly that feeling while studying at university in Scotland, and so decided to see what the globe had to offer.

"I had the wanderlust, I wanted to see the sights, I'd read the sensationalist articles about yachting, with all the drama and glamour," the 25-year-old told the Mirror.

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Ciara spent a year and a half basking in the sunset (Ciara)

After four years of working on yachts in various glamorous locations across the world, Ciara set off on a beautiful 45 foot boat with her boyfriend.

For a year and a half the couple sailed across the Caribbean, basking in the orange glows of the evening, swimming in the crystal blue waters and meeting like-minded couples as they went.

Then, completely sick of her dream life, Ciara split with her partner, moved back to the UK and happily jumped back into the daily grind.

"People say, 'Live the dream!'. Everyone says 'live the dream', but travelling the world all the time is exhausting and can be quite lonely," Ciara said.

"There was a disconnect I think. You miss big events (back home). You miss weddings and birthdays. Your pictures on Instagram were great, but you can't make connections with people.

"(When you get back) everyone has moved on, no one cares about where you have been. I didn't really care whether people were interested, but I thought it would change my life."

Ciara had become completely fed up with "constantly leaving people behind" and struggling to make connections with people who came in and out of her life so quickly.

Ciara gave up such scenes to move back to the UK (Shutterstock / Simon Dannhauer)

Another problem was quite how much effort sailing took.

"It was a 45 foot boat which needed a lot of work," Ciara continued. "People don't understand how much work goes into a boat. It takes three hours to fill up the water tanks.

There's washing clothes, cooking food, there's an extra layer of work. It is not nearly as glamorous as you think."

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Ciara says she didn't know quite how much she'd fallen out of love with travelling until she stopped doing it.

"I found myself applying for jobs and people were confused about why I was moving to London," Ciara, who now works an intense job in PR, said.

"Suddenly all my friends were around again. I'm much happier now. It is the people. It's saying goodbye all the time. The connections are not lasting. There isn't a day that goes by when I don't think about it. I don't regret the decision, maybe I will.

"It makes me smile when you hear people talking about living the dream, I wonder how long they will last? I am much happier here now."

Milo Boyd