Discover the story of living across continents, embracing culture, and how travel and career intertwined to shape the MyGuideGuru journey.
We’ve already established that the travel bug bit me back in my final years of high school. But how was I going to sustain it? That question shaped my twenties and thirties, and the answer came in a way I hadn’t expected… through my career. I studied Chemical Engineering and Finance, only to discover that jobs in my field weren’t exactly booming in Sydney. To my delight, that gap became my ticket to live abroad.
For ten years, my career was everything. I worked hard, saved harder, and used every scrap of annual leave as a launch pad to explore. My path took me from Sydney to Brisbane, Melbourne to Perth, then far further afield, to Brunei, Korea, Amsterdam, and even an offshore facility along the way. Each move brought me closer not only to new opportunities but also to the cultures I longed to experience firsthand.
During one of my Perth stints, I stumbled across someone who woke up my heart and reminded me there was more to life than career and travel schedules. He had lived in Guatemala and Myanmar, and together we soon set off for the Netherlands. Our shared love of discovering cultures, learning languages, and getting outdoors became the glue that tied our stories together.
Living abroad only reinforced how much I loved to immerse myself in local life. I sought out history, ate what locals ate, and joined in on festivals to truly get to know their culture.
In Brunei, I saw a culture that fiercely protects its religion, wealth, and traditions, holding fast to a hierarchy that defines daily life (pictured). In Korea, I marvelled at how a high-density nation turns to the mountains, with hiking part of its soul. There I learned the concept of jeong, a deep bond that goes beyond affection or duty. And in the Netherlands, rain, hail, or shine, I joined the locals pedalling their way to cosy brown bars, where the word gezellig sums up their love of warmth, friendship, and community.
What struck me most in every country was how living there let me go deeper than sightseeing ever could. I absorbed the sights, smells, languages, and daily rhythms of life. I learned not just about the places, but about the people who made them what they are. From the moment I boarded my first plane out of Australia, that connection has always been the most important part of travel.
Living abroad is more than changing addresses! It’s about learning, connecting, and being shaped by culture. At MyGuideGuru, that spirit lives on in every self-guided tour. Download the app and experience the joy of diving deeper into history, flavours, and traditions, just as if you were living there yourself.
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