Welcome to my lifestyle and travel blog ...
Let me take you on my journey with me. I shall be traveling the world, and blogging as I go. I wanted to start the blog with a little bit of information in it, so you had a something to start to read. I have written up about 4 recent countries I have visited, just click on destinations in the tab.
Also please feel free to check out the photo gallery below, or on the home page. You will see pictures of when my travel adventures started at 17 years old in Ibiza (1996), also my world travels when I was 25 years old (2004), and some travels since. I have been to many more places than listed, however there’s far too many to add at this moment, over time I can. Each place in the photo gallery has a short description about it, which describe my experiences and where it was, so you can get a feel for the place and my experience when I was there. To read my full story though, just follow this page all the way to the bottom before clicking on the photo gallery which can take you off the page, to other areas.
Feel free to add yourself to my mailing list for weekly updates of countries, places I’ll be visiting, i.e. restaurants, beaches, clubs, hotels, bars, excursions, things going on, and my experiences going forward from now on.
My Story
My name is Emma Louise Wilson, and I am an English girl from the Midlands who was born to travel. I remember always going on holidays when we were young, and loving them. I have two sisters, both older than me. One is 3 years older, and the other is 6 years older. When I was 8 years old, we lost our dad. He took his own life, leaving behind 3 beautiful children not really understanding it all at that age. I just knew my dad was gone, and was not coming back. Sometimes I would dream it was just a dream, and he was still here out there somewhere. I wish he was still here to see us all growing up, and be proud of us all. Have you ever lost anyone close to you? I do believe that everything happens for a reason, and he is up there somewhere as an angel, looking over us.
His name shall live on, as he has now become a part of my brand - Emma L Wilson, or travelwith.emmalwilson. I am the last Wilson around in our family, as both my sisters are now married.
Everyone has things that happen in life but it is how we look at it and deal with it.
Family
I have been very blessed to grow up in a very loving family. My mum remarried, so I grew up with a loving mum and step dad. They went on to have two beautiful children together, so i now I have two beautiful brothers who I love very much, along with two amazing sisters.
The start of my travels
The start of my travels really began when I was 17 years old, I went on a little holiday to Ibiza with my best friend. However, we ended up staying there for 6 months, we thought we would see how easy it was to get jobs. We got them, and I ended up working in Ibiza for a 3 summers. In my first year I was a podium dancer, and was loving it; I was enjoying life, and meeting so many new people who are all now my closest friends. I have a lot of love for this island. I went on to work in Tenerife one winter, then I moved to London for a few years, before returning to do a summer in Ibiza in 2001. This time I had a chance to star in a film. One of my friends, Colin Butts, wrote a book which they adapted for a film called ‘Is Harry On The Boat’. They were holding auditions, so a few of us went along, not knowing what the outcome would be - but if you don't try, how will you ever know? I got a small acting part in this film, working alongside Danny Dyer, Will Mellor, many other actors, and some of our friends too. You have to take chances in life, as you never know where it will lead to. However, this didn't lead to me acting, but it was a great life experience. When I was younger, I did want to become an actress. I had a few extras roles in a few things, and was in some music videos. But it wasn't the path I ended up taking.
The journey continues
I loved to travel, so went on to visit, work, and live in places like Cyprus, Greece, then back to London, working in the city (in the BIG smoke) for an insurance company/underwriters. Then travel called me again. I went traveling around the world for a year, from Dec 2004-Dec 2005, staying in beach huts, hostels, and luxury hotels: mixing it all up, for different experiences. I traveled on night buses, boats, trains, and visited places like Hong Kong, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, the Indian Himalayas, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, Cook Islands, Fiji, Tahiti, and then North America. We flew into LA, and traveled all around different parts of America. What a life experience. We jumped out of planes, went elephant trekking, tubing, jet blasting, hung out with hill tribes, scrambled through the Cu Chi Tunnels, went skiing in the Himalayas, visited kids in local schools, explored the temples of Angkor Wat, went down the Mekong River and much, much more. Are you into travel? Do you like adventure, or maybe just fancy some more life experiences?
A few places I’ve been to …
Click on the continents below to view pictures of where I’ve been
A difficult time in my life ...
After traveling, it was time to get back to the city and start earning money again. I went back to the city to work for few years, then headed to Greece for a summer, before moving on to Thailand for 1 year, and then back to London again for a year in insurance. Then, bang, recession hit the UK, and I was out of work. I ended up moving to Lincolnshire where I was born, and my family still lived. I hadn't lived there since I left home at 17, so this was a bit of a shock to me at the age of 32, by which time I thought I would have made it and be settled in a big house in London. But I couldn't find work in London, and couldn't afford to pay the rent. My sister Samantha kindly offered for me to work for her, as she had a bistro pub restaurant in Lincolnshire. I needed work and place to live, so I am very grateful to her, as she really helped me out. She is my rock, and always there.
I thought it would just be for a short time, while I got myself sorted, and I'd be back to London where all my friends were. I kept going to London for interviews, but it was hard as there weren’t many jobs around. I was getting deflated, and started to get really down in the dumps, as I wanted my life back in London. I was having fun in Lincolnshire being around my family of course, but I also hit many lows. I couldn't explain it. I knew this was not where I was meant to be and live anymore.
I got so down in the dumps at times, I was eating loads, and my weight went up. It was the biggest I had ever been, and I felt crap and stuck. Where was I going with my life? What did I want to do for work? What did I like doing, more to the point? I started asking myself these questions. I didn't really like insurance in the City, and whilst it was good money, it felt like Groundhog Day for me really. I knew there was more out there. What did I want do with my life? I began to see why people get so low at times, and do silly things, but I had never experienced this before. I had always loved my life, and things always fallen into place for me. Jobs came easily, and things were always good. I had always been a very happy and positive person, and felt everything in life happens for a reason. But I couldn’t see my reason at this point. Have you ever experienced this?
I cried for myself, I cried for my dad. Now I understood him. Well kind of. I always thought he was a bit selfish years ago, but now I understood how people can get out of control when they feel lost. I was lost and I needed to sort this out. I cried for him, like REALLY cried for the very first time. I knew I needed to take control of my life, racking my brain with thoughts of where did I want my life to go, what did I want to do, what made me happy, what did I love to do? Then my other sister, who is called Tracy, called me from Rhodes, Greece, as she lives there. It was like someone was watching over me, and I believe she saved me from going mad at the right time. My sisters really have been there for me when I have needed them the most. I’m truly grateful to them both. Tracy said, “Emma, I have found the perfect job for you. It is everything you love to do”. It was a job in travel, and I was to go over to Rhodes for 6 months. Perfect, a travel job, and travel was something I loved. I could work in TRAVEL. Actually that was my path, as I loved travel, and why had I not seen it? I should have done this years ago. So, I packed my bags and went.
The Present and the Future
I am now fortunate enough to work for a multi-award winning travel company, helping people build friendships in places all around the world and make amazing memories. I have been doing this for many years now, and I love it. Traveling the world, staying in beautiful hotels, beautiful locations, and experiencing all. I also run my own business alongside this, where I help other people earn money, so they can have more freedom and flexibility, enabling them to travel the world, or just have more fun, money, or experiences in life.
I am now super excited to make one more addition to both the above, and get this travel BLOG up and running. It is funny how life works out hey? Now I am doing all the things I am passionate about, as they are all based around travel. I was meant to go on this journey, and go through the hard times at points, to get me to this place today. I would love to do my own travel TV show, or a travel TV documentary, to show the world to people. To show them what is out there, and inspire millions of people to have life experiences, take adventures, learn things on the way, mix with locals in each country, and understand their ways. To visit kids in schools all around the world, and make them smile, laugh, love, and remind them to go after their dreams.
We have choices in life. We do not need to stay in one place to work these days. The world is HUGE and we can work from anywhere, and do anything. So take risks and live your dreams. Would you like to change your current situation?
All I can say to others is life is short, so make sure you are doing what you love. Live your life to the max. Take adventures. Experience new things, always. We all get lost at times, but you will end up on the right path in the end, even if you can't see it at this moment; stay strong and keep going. I am still on my journey and I am excited to see what the future brings.