GirlGI | Girl Gone International GirlGI Issue 3 | Page 172

Where is home to you? Home is the south coast of England, near to Bournemouth. My husband and I spend most of our summers sleeping in a beach hut where we build beach fires, catch fish, windsurf, and paddleboard. In the winters we travel to the southern hemisphere with our backpacks and boardbags. In your book, Mia says, “People go travelling for two reasons: because they are searching for something or because they are running from something.” Why do you travel? I’m searching for warm days and long nights, fresh experiences, and adventure. How do you think travel changes women? There is something about slinging on a backpack – at any age – and heading off on a plane, train or ferry that gives me the most incredible sense of freedom. The break from routine, the stepping out of one’s ordinary world and into another, is surely good for the soul. At least, it feels very good to my soul! Do your travels inspire your writing? I’ve always loved to travel and whenever I’m away I keep a journal. Nothing beats arriving in a new place, parking myself on a beach, on a city bench, or at the foot of a mountain, and turning to that first fresh page of a journal. Travel journals become