I’m working on something new at the minute.
Something that excites and scares me in equal measure. I’m not ready to talk about it just yet, but new beginnings always make me think back to where my fascination with all things travel began: in a hot, swaying minibus careening down a road in Turkiye.

I had just graduated with a degree in tourism and the naïve bravery of a 21-year-old. I got a job as a travel rep but started mid-season, which meant I would be posted whenever and wherever hands were needed. Much to my mother’s horror (it was the nineties), I was sent to Turkiye. She was expecting Benidorm.

In my dad’s car outside Departures at Birmingham Airport, my brave face slipped, and tears poured out. I was going somewhere so new, so unknown, and I’d be all alone. I was leaving all connections to my home, friends, and family, save the occasional snail mail. My mum and dad said I didn’t have to go. I knew I did. I needed to.

Those first 24 hours in Turkiye were some of the hardest in my young life up to that point. It was roasting hot, and in that sweltering, swaying minibus, I had four hours to scribble down notes on everything I’d need to know to take over from my predecessor, “Big Rob.”
The bus eventually spat me out at a tiny apartment that was somehow even more sweltering, and I lay awake in the sweaty darkness, terrified of missing my morning meeting with Big Rob. The company had my passport, nobody at home knew where I was, and I felt totally and utterly disconnected.
But then the morning came, and I saw my new surroundings in the light. I stepped out into the unfamiliar streets, and the fear was replaced with excitement. I was ready for something new.
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This photo was taken at the Kervansaray, Marmaris, on 6 August 1998. I was shadowing the Cosmos Rep team and learning the ropes during a fascinating period in my tourism career.