The Happiness Diaries #Miles for Minds

Amy is awesome and insightful, and like many people on here I barely know her having spent a grand total of about 3 hours together where I enjoyed her generosity in the form of a peanut butter sandwich and a coffee.... I'll get you back on that one day! In that meeting and in talking online since, it's clear that her confident approach to life leads her towards so many enjoyable and enlightening experiences and her introspective reply to the happiness diaries reflects that.

Kitti runs a small camping gear store in Phuket where he and his wife help people get set up for real adventures like the ones they take their children on. Incredibly knowledgeable and helpful, he went above and beyond what any store owner would ever need to do, and I'm eternally grateful.

Bill is recently retired from many peoples dream career: Sportscaster. When he was coming out of school/university gap years weren't a thing, so he's making up for it now exploring the world on the big daddy of adventure bikes while raising funds for a fantastic charity. Set up for real off the grid adventure Bill and his GSA were about to head off on an over 900km offroad stretch between petrol stations when I met them... talk about adventure!

Malcolm is a fellow motorbike adventurer that I met in a campground on the way between Adelaide and Yulura, the middle of nowhere essentially. Also travelling alone he was at the beginning of a very arduous trek through some very remote routes around central Aus by himself on his BMW GS1200.

Mitch is one of the athletic trainers for the Australian men's Rugby 7's team and is in process of completing his PhD in Physical Sciences. Easygoing and driven, Mitch is always a delight to be around thanks to his massive and infectious grin, and this constant throaty laugh. Mitch has one of the most interesting diaries to date, might start off a little off-beat but he really opens up, this is a must read!

Carlos is formerly of the UK armed forces, having moved into property development when his service time came to a close. After some time building a life in England, he realized that now was the best time to explore the world, got a working holiday permit for Australia and began work on solar farms while exploring all the country has to offer. Extremely motivated to succeed, he has moved into a very different career: attempting to build a life and fitness coaching business.

Tom is an Australian that I met as a 20 year old strolling around Greece. Like me, he's battled with his own mental health issues while also being largely impacted by getting stuck in the cycle of trying to obtain the stereotypical "good life". Since then, Tom has walked across a large portion of India for Beyond Blue, he has continued to travel the world, and he looks to help himself and others discover LIFE though the power of travel. "We are all capable of doing great things and all it takes is one small step to create change."

Roland is a young adventurer from a small farm town in the UK who has been backpacking and living through New Zealand the last 18 months while he discovers where he wants his life to lead. After a night of chit chat, I'm very impressed with the way he thinks and I'm sure he'll lead a remarkable and happy life. I don't have a photo of Roland, so this one from the Twizel area will have to do!

Sam is going to be a nurse when he gets back home to Switzerland, but for the time being he's done something many people travelling don't have the courage to do: change paths. Self realization is an important part of travel and Simon has done it wonderfully!