Excess Luggage | Lived Dreams & Captured Memories

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Born in the Philippines, Michelle has spent all her working life in the travel industry, she has always been passionate about travel, since the first time she got on a plane to immigrate to Australia with her family from the Philippines. This first trip opened her young eyes to the pleasure of seeing and experiencing new cultures.

Having lived in two Australian capital cities, Brisbane and now Melbourne and seen a lot of Australia she has also travelled overseas frequently and to most continents of the world and feels well connected with the world and its people, but still she wanted to see more.

So in 2010 after a swift planning, she packed up and put into storage the life she had always known in exchange for a round the world ticket to become a citizen of the world, she left everything behind, a job which she loved, her family and friends and packed one suitcase, her laptop and a cabin bag, all of which weighed more than Michelle herself (she is very petite) and off she set.

Armed with a Nikon D5000 and a renewed sense of life, she travelled to 27 countries in twelve months. She visited all her yet to see dream destinations, immersed herself in new cultures and finally achieved a personal ambition to see all the new Seven Wonders of the World.

Unexpected medical advice almost cut her trip short, but her inner voice whispered to finish what she had started. Wherever she found herself to be during this epic journey became her home for that duration. She was truly a citizen of the world as she had planned to be. She returned to Australia, her home, with so much “excess luggage” (not of the physical, tangible kind) filled with photos, memories and unforgettable adventures that will remain with her for a lifetime.

Michelle says “In life we do things that others influence us to do. Then we do things that earn us money and keep us safe and secure. As a result we ‘live to work’ instead of ‘work to live’. When we release ourselves, and follow our own very personal dream and passion, we let go and begin our own journey: exploring, dreaming and discovering. Finally, I’ve arrived to blissful contentment, that money can’t buy.”