Living location independent – What’s your passion?

What’s your name, age and occupation?

I’m Deborah Preston, 42. I’m co-founder of travel blog Travel with a Mate and I also run 11 travel sites called Places to Go like Places to Go in Britain with my husband Matt. We’ve been blogging since 2006.

What’s your passion?

I love to travel, seeing new places and meeting new people really gets me excited. Matt and I decided to make the leap to living life location independent in October 2011 and never looked back!

We wanted to see more of the world and live in foreign locations, really getting to know them rather than just passing through. We were in the perfect position to do so, and decided to first try out living in Singapore.

We spent the first year in different areas of South East Asia, Malaysia, Thailand, Burma, Philippines, Bali and Cambodia. We’ve also spent six months in Sydney, Australia and at the moment we’re enjoying UK country life living in a beautiful village in the Cotswolds.

How long have you been travelling then?

My first holiday was when I was 14, but my first big travel trip was in 2002 when I went round South America for six months, including a jaunt to the Galapagos Islands. I’d seen a lot of the world even before me and Matt began travelling together: I’d travelled across the ‘States via train, been on the Trans-Siberian Express from Beijing to Moscow, explored the east coast of Australia and part of New Zealand, been on Safari in Kenya and explored the Bahamas and Mexico. I’ve never stopped really!

What made you want to travel and live location independent?

I remember my Grandma going to Australia when I was only eight. I cried at the airport as she was going for three months as this seemed like forever back then. Still it left an impression on me, and I’ve wanted to go on long trip ever since.

What do you love about travelling the most and why?

It makes me worry less about the small things in life. I realise how small I am and that makes me happy and much more relaxed. Also meeting and making new friends from all over the world and meeting up with them again in a different country is amazing.

What great experiences have you had through this?

So many it’s impossible to pinpoint one. Doing the Trans-Siberian Express was pretty special, I loved going to the Japanese GP in Suzuka and swimming with whale sharks in the Phillipines for my 40^th birthday, but getting married in Hawaii has to be my favourite!

What top tips would you give to anyone who’d like to travel more or even become location independent?

Save up as much as you can before you go and when you are there do everything you want to. I imagine that it’s my one and only time in a place, that way I never say ‘I’ll do it next time”, I do it now!

Tell us a random fact about yourself that might surprise us!

I’m a qualified accountant, I just hope I never have to be an accountant ever again! Working for myself is the best thing I’ve ever done so if you get the opportunity to do it, grab it. You won’t regret it!