G’day. I’m Karen and your guide and inspiration to Roam with No Regrets.
I’m originally a Sydney girl, growing up in one of the most beautiful cities in the world. I lived and worked in 4 countries and travelled to over 34 countries and touched every continent and crossed every ocean.
I caught the travel bug from my parents who immigrated separately from the UK. They met each other in the middle of Australia. Every 4 years we would return to the UK to see the relatives and stop off somewhere different each time. In between, Mum would organise epic Australian road trips with a lot packed in to a short time.
Between school and university, I completed a two month cultural exchange in Japan with the most wonderful family. I learnt Japanese at school, which helped a little bit but they all talked so fast. I was brave enough to get on a peak hour train in Tokyo and managed to cross Tokyo changing trains 3 times to meet a friend. This was before mobile phones and Google translate!
After graduating university with a Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical), I grabbed every opportunity with both hands. I worked on hospitals in Perth, Gold Coast, Tasmania, Darwin, Alice Springs, Sydney and regionally throughout NSW. I managed to turn onsite meetings into long weekends. If we had spare time in regional NSW, I would tell my colleagues, “we are taking scenic route.” We would stop for photos at grain silos, checking out old bridges and historical gold mines. (Well, they did let me drive.) I even managed to work on the Kuala Lumpur Private Hospital which meant a few trips to Malaysia were on the cards. Of course this became stop over for a long weekend in Thailand and then there was India…..it’s a long story.
At 21, I wrote a bucket list of all the places I wanted to go, things I wanted to see and do and experience. I’ve been working on this bucket list ever since. This bucket list included a visit to the Galapagos Islands, 2 African safaris, walking the Inca trail, hanging out with lemurs in Madagascar, meeting penguins in Antarctica and polar bears in the Arctic. That’s just the tip of the iceberg (I mean bucket list).
My biggest adventure so far was marrying my wonderful husband and adopting 4 kids (13, 10, 5 and 2). I left a career in the big smoke and everything I had ever worked for to move to a small community on the shores of Port Stephens, NSW. Travel changed from adventurous to more family orientated in New Zealand, Bali, Thailand, Fiji and Australia.
Now that the kids are almost all grown up and with a new caravan, its time to get back on the road and roam some more.
Why Roam with No Regrets?
Chances are you will only visit somewhere once and who knows what tomorrow will bring. I don’t want to be the one who says, “I could’ve, I should’ve, I didn’t”. I want to be able to say “Look what I did!”. No regrets. Grab every opportunity with both hands and give it a good shake. You will be amazed what you can achieve.
What’s on your ultimate bucket list?