My Story of a Life Reimagined

My journey didn’t start with a one-way ticket or a dramatic declaration that I was quitting my job to see the world. It began much more quietly, in the heart of one of the world’s most intense cities.

For years, my life was a masterclass in deadlines, MTR commutes, and the relentless pursuit of the next career goal. I love the energy of Hong Kong; it’s a city that demands the best of you, and I willingly gave it everything I had. My days were a symphony of ringing phones and late nights, fueled by coffee and ambition. I was succeeding, but I was also running on empty, constantly chasing a horizon that seemed to move further away the faster I ran. Travel, in those days, was a frantic, two-week blur—a desperate attempt to cram in as much as possible before being inevitably pulled back into the vortex.

The turning point, the moment that whisper of “there has to be more” became a roar, happened on a solo trip to Sydney.

I booked the trip on a whim, needing a circuit breaker from the burnout I felt creeping in. I thought I would hike a few mountains, take some pretty pictures, and come back recharged for the grind. Instead, Sydney completely dismantled and reassembled my understanding of what it meant to be alive. I remember standing alone under the vast, ink-black sky at the Blue Mountains, seeing the all the nature. For the first time in years, the noise in my head—the endless to-do lists, the deadlines, the expectations—went completely silent. There was just the raw, humbling beauty of the world.

Later that week, driving through the dramatic, silent fiords, I had a profound realization. I had meticulously planned the logistics of that trip—the rental car, the accommodations, the route—with the same precision I applied to my job. That planning wasn’t a restriction; it was the very thing that gave me the freedom to experience those moments of spontaneous, soul-stirring awe.

I came home a different person. The trip had planted a seed of possibility: What if I stopped treating my life and my travels as two separate, warring entities? What if I used the skills from my professional life—the planning, the research, the budgeting—to architect a life that seamlessly integrated the adventures I craved?

That was the beginning of Wanderlustwitch. I didn’t quit my job. I did something harder, and I believe, more realistic for most of us: I started making deliberate choices. I engineered my life to weave my demanding career with my newfound passion for mindful exploration. I became a master of the public holiday calendar, a savvy researcher of flight deals, and an expert in crafting itineraries that were both efficient and deeply immersive. Every stamp in my passport felt like a victory, a testament to the life I was proudly and intentionally building for myself, one trip at a time.