Chapter 1 – Zambia

I was born and raised in Zambia, where I lived for 18 years of my life. Oh, in case anyone is wondering, where the heck is Zambia? It’s a country (with about 20 million people) that may not be on many travellers’ radar in Southern Africa.

Apart from the wonderful wildlife national parks, one of the main highlights that put my birth country on the world map is our magnificent Mosi-oa-Tunya (meaning “the smoke that thunders, and where the local beer “Mosi” also gets its name), globally known as the Victoria Falls, which we share with our neighbouring Zimbabwe.

Fortunately, Zimbabwe gets more global glory from it than us, but we have the best up-close views on the Zambian side. Victoria Falls is also a World Heritage Site in Zambia.

When exploring Southern Africa, be sure to pass through Zambia; it’s a friendly and peaceful country, which is sadly underrated due to poor governance and a lack of tourism resources.

I was raised in a normal, average family that hasn’t travelled much, except for my father, who was fortunate to have a decent job that made travel around Africa and Europe possible.

My father is truly my pillar of inspiration; he came from a humble background and worked his way up (he still does today) to give his family a decent life (by Zambian standards).

Being a first child, I have always had a higher expectation of my life and career choices (this is a typical rule in an African family, you know, so your siblings and cousins will look up to you).

I was in junior high school when my father went on his first work trip to Paris. When he got back, I remember him sharing his travel experiences with us on this trip, from his transit in Johannesburg, South Africa, to Paris.

All these stories fascinated and inspired the 14-year-old Jane to be curious about places outside my birth country.

Chapter 2 – South Africa and Moving Abroad (first-time)

After completing high school, I moved to East London, South Africa (yes, South Africa has a city called East London in the Eastern Cape). This incident was not an “I moved solo abroad” situation. I moved to South Africa to pursue my university studies at 19, where I have family.

When I was trying to figure out where and what to study, I ended up working (a typical 19-year-old job) as a waitress at a small, lovely restaurant in Selborne.

It was a gathering place for local parents (right across from Selborne Primary School), expats, and travellers worldwide, mostly European tourists. I remember being fascinated whenever an expat customer briefly described their origins. I knew I wanted to visit those places someday but didn’t know how then.

After about a year and a half working, I soon enrolled at a university in East London (which made my parents proud and happy that I was at least staying close to family), but to be honest, they were probably worried that I would lose myself, as South Africa compared to other African countries has a reputation of “wild and free” culture (a bit similar to some Western cultures), especially for young people.

While living and studying in South Africa, I participated in several activities and programmes that forever changed my life.

Dancing, volunteering at NGOs, and taking weekend road trips with friends to see the stunning Eastern Cape, to name just three. These experiences made me curious about the world, and I wanted to explore it and learn more. Since then, I have lived and called South Africa home, as I’ve spent most of my 20s there, and the experiences have had a huge positive impact on my life today.

Now, I’m a self-proclaimed “third culture kid,”; hence, it’s a little tricky for me to answer the question, “Where in Africa are you from?” now that I live outside Africa. So often, you will find me introducing myself as either Zambian or South African, as I consider both countries home.

But to be honest, though, I feel a sense of belonging towards South Africa, as I’ve had a few encounters where some Zambians would tell me I don’t look, speak, or behave like a Zambian, whatever that means.

Chapter 3 – Leaving South Africa and Moving Back to Zambia

After completing a BCom in Information Systems from the University of Fort Hare (a university that has produced a few African presidents, including Nelson Mandela), can you tell I’m a proud alumnus? I returned home (Zambia). At least this is something I’ll always be most proud of, even if I never used the degree much anyway.

The plan involved extending my stay in South Africa to explore the country further and potentially secure my first corporate job as a big girl, but life happened; I experienced one of the first existential crises in my life and work. Naturally, I had to return home (Zambia); at the time, I had just met Alex, now my partner.

In summary, returning to Zambia didn’t bring about any changes; in fact, it exacerbated the situation. I felt unfulfilled, as if I didn’t belong—I guess the universe was telling me there is so much out in the world, and you’re not meant to be stuck in one place. And sometimes it’s just important to listen to our intuition.

In short, my relationship with Alex grew stronger, and we began our long-distance dating journey. We met for the first time in person in my favourite city in South Africa, Cape Town. I was living in Zambia at the moment. So he visited me there back and forth too until the all-COVID-19 pandemic situation began.

Chapter 4 – Leaving Home and Moving to London, United Kingdom

Moving to London was an exciting chapter of my life with Alex (his entire life was in London). This meant our long-distance relationship was coming to an end.

I had so much aspiration workwise (at the time I just began my creative freelancing journey back in Zambia, but I had so many missed opportunities to develop my professional skills due to location limitations, one of the disadvantages of freelancing and remote working).

My parents were happy, of course, that I was coming to England (such a dream for many Africans and probably many others outside Africa too).

On Alex’s last long-distance visit to Zambia, I travelled back with him. We arrived in London when the COVID-19 pandemic limits were slowly lifted in the third quarter of 2021.

For a few months I played the tourist, and, of course, Alex was a happy local guide to show me around.

Sadly, the work aspirations did not meet my expectations. I became very frustrated with how the UK tech jobs market worked, and I ended up working long hours in a job where I was underpaid and undervalued. This made me feel a little lost and unfulfilled in my work.

So, I decided  to take  the creative / entrepreneur path for work (which has its pros and cons; it brings me existential crises almost every week, literally!) But is there any job that is fully secure in today’s world? I’m talking about the 2023 global job layoffs if I’ve lost anyone here.

Still reading? Here’s a quick rundown of my life in the UK. I’ve lived in London since 2021, but we plan to move abroad in early 2025. You can read all about the first steps required to make this happen in this post.

Oh, just to make it clear, in contrast to many other travel bloggers, my goal is not to be constantly travelling. I enjoy slow travel, exploring my current city, country, or continent, sharing budget-friendly travel tips and guides, and encouraging regular people to explore and travel more by using practical, affordable travel hacks.

So, here I am, looking for the best places to visit and things to do around Europe. Along with tips and guides from Europe, this blog will also have posts about other destinations to visit that will help you plan your next trip.

[ Stay tuned for the rest of the chapters! ]

Happy Travels and Blogging! ✈️ 👩🏽‍💻

Jane xx