I’m Emma. Travel addict. Food lover. Life liver.
My day job is at Loughborough University, right in the middle of England, the UK. People only really know the university for its sport, so not wanting to disappoint, I work in sport! Very conveniently, my husband also works at the university, lecturing in sport…can you sense a theme appearing?! We met in Loughborough in 2010, and after a five year stint in South Wales and moving house together six times (!) since we first met, we’ve now settled back in a small village just north of Loughborough, and hopefully will be here for a few more years to come.
I love travel (stating the obvious), good food, good books and sunshine. I dislike monotony, rude people and pretentiousness.
In 2014 while working in Portugal for a week, I became really ill. I suffered sudden liver failure and needed an emergency liver transplant. I’ve written and spoken quite a bit about it in the years since, so rather than repeating myself, have a watch of my interview with the BBC or a read of my story for the brilliant website, ‘The Athlete Place’. I’m a huge advocate for organ donation and also how important it is to really live after being given a second chance of life. I’m heavily involved with Transplant Sport and find it an excellent place to meet others who have had the same experiences.
A question I’ve often been asked since is, “Has your mindset about life changed since your transplant?” And I’m still not sure. If I’m honest, I was already one of those annoying relentlessly positive, happy and optimistic people, which definitely helped me to fight to stay alive, but my illness has certainly made me appreciate the fragility of life, and how quickly it can be taken away. I rarely dwell on my own health and morbidity (and have been so lucky that my new liver has been 100% healthy ever since my transplant), but I am quite pragmatic that I could experience organ rejection at any moment. Which is why I am such a big believer in making the most of life, whatever that is or however that looks to you. For me that’s travel, and it’s a huge driver for this website.
I’ve travelled to over 50 countries and love everything to do with travel. The planning, the packing, the airports, the plane, the destination, I love it all! My favourite place in the world is probably South Africa, though Singapore, and Australia are pretty close runners up. Least favourite? Bali sticks out as highly overrated, and Norway…you are beautiful but so, so expensive. A few days there was enough to bankrupt me!
Now, onto this website. Making the most of what? I hear you ask!
- Time. I get it, unless you’ve sold up all your possessions to travel the world, time is precious. As a full time travel fanatic, who has a full time desk job, I’ve gotten pretty nifty with weekend, week-long and fortnightly travel itineraries, so let me show you how it’s possible to cram things in when time is tight!
- Money. Sometimes I’ve spent a lot of money on travel, sometimes I’ve spent barely anything, but whatever I’ve spent, I have made sure every penny is worth it. Travel hacks, coupons, offers, sales, you name it, I’ve tried it. Collecting airline points to travel in first class, done it. So learn from my successes and my (many) mistakes to make the absolute most of your hard earned money.
- Life. I was incredibly lucky to receive a liver transplant in 2014, but it certainly made life seem somewhat shorter. Ever since, I’ve been determined to make the most out of life by seeing the world, eating good food and doing amazing things. And sharing it all on this blog!