The One Seven Years After the Creation of The Altruistic Traveller
It’s a reflective exercise to sit here and update this page, seven years from when I wrote it in the first place. How does an ‘About me’ page remain evergreen? I suppose it doesn’t – I have changed, the world has changed, you have changed. Yet, as I reflect on what to write on this page, I felt to leave some of my original words about who I am, or who I was back in 2015 when I started The Altruistic Traveller platform as a safe space to share my own story and the stories of others. That vision - that mission to share stories, dear friends - hasn’t changed. Stories are what we are and what we will forever be.
Written by twenty-nine-year-old Bianca in 2015 –
About seven years ago I diagnosed myself with wanderlust – a strong desire to travel and see the world in all its vastness. Years before that, I discovered my passion to be part of something bigger than myself, something that would contribute to the path of global peace and equality.
‘They say that I’m a dreamer… but I’m not the only one’. – I think in that one sentence John Lennon reached out to all the dreamers of the world with a kind of ‘don’t worry, there are others like you’ message, giving us all hope that our epic dreams would one day become reality. So this is me, the nomadic, wanderlusting, dreamer pursuing her journey and following her dreams. The following paragraphs will give you a bit of background about some of the events that have shaped who I am today and ultimately led me on this journey.
I grew up on the island continent of Australia and began connecting myself with the world through child sponsorship with World Vision. I was only 16 at the time and ten years on, and much more self-aware, I was able to embark on a journey to meet that sponsored child. This was one of the many experiences that opened my perspective on the world. The awareness that I gained from my first child sponsorship made me realise that I had a part to play in creating a more just world.
Here is me visiting one of the local villages in Northern Uganda:
In my twenties, I wasn’t too sure what I wanted to be, as many of us can relate. In some ways, I’m still not sure, but once you hit thirty you certainly have a better clue than any time prior to that. So I studied topics that would be able to assist me in working in the NGO sector, which would then give me increased opportunities to help others. This vision led me to complete diplomas in web design, digital marketing and travel writing, while at the same time working in the corporate world. It was my time in the corporate stockade that funded many of my overseas travels including trips to Borneo, India, Bali, Vietnam, China, Kenya, Uganda and many more. Each journey added its own set of values to my worldview and built on the wanderlust which I carried deep in my soul. Throughout those years I also developed a love for writing and shared many of my stories through my first blog titled ‘Be Where You Want To Be.’
This is one of my good friends and I planting trees in the Kinabatangan Forest of Borneo:
This is me climbing the Great Wall of China back in 2012:
One of the most significant and life-changing experiences for me was my first trip to Cambodia. A friend and I sat around the dinner table one night and brainstormed ideas on how we could make a difference in the world. We both shared the same passions and felt as though we should be doing more. It was then that we decided to go on a mission to Cambodia to collaborate with some of the smaller grassroots organisations working there for the greater good.
That journey changed my life. It was there that I realised the opportunity that we all have to make a lasting impact on people’s lives, no matter how far out of sight they may be. Through a little communication, and a little courage, my friend and I were able to pull funds together to build a school classroom for the children of a school on the outskirts of Siem Reap, the Sok School Villa.
Here is an image of the school classroom construction:
And here is an image of me teaching at the school on my return trip to Cambodia, three months after the original:
It was not too long ago that I made the big decision to descend the corporate ladder and leave my job in the corporate world and pursue this passion of mine that had been nudging at me for so long. Through the life experiences mentioned above, I finally understood that it doesn’t take much to change a life and so I decided to go on this journey. An altruistic journey that would incorporate my love for travel and my love for connecting with people, and start exploring what possibilities we have as human beings to make a difference in the world.
Written by thirty-six year-old Bianca in 2022 –
She was a dreamer, wasn’t she? How can I go back and hug that younger version of me? I want to tell her that she was going to do so well, that she would face her deepest fears and achieve all the things she set her heart towards. I’m proud of her. It was hard. There was loss. There were tears. There were times the ground trembled beneath. But there was also love. There was adventure. There was unbecoming. And mostly, there was wisdom.
I see it now – the world in all its polarity; the darkness and the light, the autumn and the spring. How wonderful it is to age and to grow, to learn and unlearn. To cherish sunrises. To connect with others on levels so far beneath the surface of this all. To lose all concept of time because you feel how fleeting it is.
Seven years on, I know myself more. Perhaps the greatest journey we’ll ever have is the journey to meet ourselves. I got on that plane in November of 2015 a heartbroken girl who believed she left everything behind to start anew. But nothing was left behind. I took it all with me. It laid the foundations for the woman I have become today. For the achievements I have accomplished. For the stories I have told. Nothing is ever left. Pieces of our lives forever remain a part of us. We are all connected.
The Altruistic Traveller became everything I ever wanted it to be and more. In my relentless determination to change the world, I was challenged to change myself. And maybe, that’s ultimately the best we can do to create a better world for everyone.
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