About me… a world explorer…

Anna sailing

Welcome to my Mediterranean travel blog!

My career in travel started when I was age 19 and started flying as cabin crew for British Airways. Initially I operated flights to more than 20 short-haul destinations across Europe over 10 years. I spent anything from 1 to 6 nights in these destinations. I am forever grateful for this time in my flying career as I got to see, taste and experience European destinations that I would never have considered visiting for a holiday myself. My love of Mediterranean destinations and especially the Greek Islands grew from there.

The next 11+ years of my career were spent flying to many long-haul destinations such as the Caribbean (Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad, Tobago, Grenada, St Lucia, Costa Rica); the east coast United States (Orlando, Tampa, Fort Lauderdale), plus Houston, Las Vegas, Cancun, Bermuda, the Maldives, Mauritius and Cape Town. I have had the pleasure of staying in some of the most stunning, luxurious hotels and resorts in the world – and I even had the privilege of undertaking hotel inspections and selection for the crew fleet.

Given the wonderful benefit of staff travel, for more than 20 years, I have travelled the world extensively for holidays  – to Asia (Thailand, Loas, Cambodia), Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Peking, Sydney, Tokyo, Wellington (NZ), North, South and West Africa, Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo, California, Canada, India. I learned to ski in 2008, and now ski every season in Europe or Whistler.

By 2014 I had studied to be and qualified as a barrister. I left my (by then) part-time flying career in 2017.  Having practised law ever since, it has become clear to me that my passion for travel and adventure is never going away! In 2019, I learned to sail – first in a dinghy, and then we went on to do Comp. Crew and Day Skipper qualifications on a sailing yacht. In 2020, we bought a 52ft sailing yacht which became our home along with my cat, Rocket

The Great Escape Travel blog was born from my relentless passion for travel and adventure. My travel business is an extension of the things I love to do and share with others. It was the natural next step in my journey. Am I still a barrister? Yes. But I no longer submit to the 9 to 5 demands of a demanding full time career and I work on my terms, on days I choose to work.

To fulfil my travel aspirations (apart from travelling) I have fun travel business too!

Join me on my social media platforms to stay better connected:

No website or ‘about me’ would be complete without sharing more about my companion of 20 years (on 14 July 2023). He’s been with me for so many years; he’s put up with my wanderlust, and he’s always been here for me when I return and he’s always shown my an abundance of love. More recently, he’s accompanied me on my explorations, living with me on the yacht. It’s be amazing to travel with him. Sadly, in March 2023 he was diagnosed with a cancerous tumour in his mouth. My dedicated and ever loving boy was so well otherwise, so resilient and so brave.

I had to say the hardest ‘goodbye’ the day before his 20th birthday, 13 July 2023. This has been a truly heart-breaking outcome – and for that reason I dedicate this blog to him:

Rocket. My beautiful boy… always ♥️ 14 July 2003 – 13 July 2023