A 36-year-old woman who ditched her 9-5 to travel the world solo says she’s never looked back.
Tina Huegel left her office job in legals in July 2023 with a plan to travel for a year.
She was sick of her day-to-day routine and wanted to inject more passion and adventure into her life.
But after just a few months of travelling, Tina realised she’d found a life that fit.
“I was surprised by all the positive experiences I had and all the people I met,” Tina, a content creator, told Luxury Travel Daily.
“I barely had anything negative or bad happen to me, and I never felt lonely.
“I learned a lot about content creation and about myself and I feel like a totally different person now.”
Tina has now visited over 35 far-flung destinations including Bali, Sydney, Auckland, Wellington, Los Angeles, New York, Mexico City, Tulum, Lima, Rio de Janeiro, Cape Town, Cairo, Barcelona, Paris, London, Amsterdam, Berlin, Milan, Dubai and Bangkok.
The former office worker had no long-term plan when she left her parents’ home in Tokyo, Japan, and landed in Singapore.
She said: “I had originally prepared for the trip for one year.
“I had a detailed plan of when I would go to which country.
“I booked a lot of things ahead of time. I’m very organised, and I love to plan ahead.
“I just wanted time for myself.”
Tina ended up starting her own social media pages across TikTok, Instagram and YouTube.
Before long, she was able to make some extra cash as a travel content creator.
She said: “I loved every country I’ve been to.
“The landscape in Cape Town was especially incredible – it absolutely blew my mind.
“The people I met were amazing.
“At one point, a stranger gave me her train card after I’d been trying to buy one myself and failed.
“I met a YouTuber in Amsterdam who likes Matsumoto Jun, a Japanese actor that I’m a huge fan of, and I absolutely did not expect to meet someone in Amsterdam who knows about him.
“A women in Egypt took me in for about 10 days because I had no Wifi at my hotel and I needed it for work.”
But Tina’s travels have come with a couple of mishaps.
She said: “My phone got nearly stolen in Nairobi on my first day.
“And I got nearly arrested for walking around with a camera on in Istanbul.
“But I’ve learned a lot about safety as a solo traveller and become really careful.
“I try to connect with more people and not travel alone as much in countries where I feel slightly unsafe.
“I would recommend everyone to be careful with their camera and phones in Middle Eastern countries.”
For lone travelers, Tina recommends always doing your research.
She said: “Knowledge is power, honestly.
“The more you know beforehand, the easier your trip will be and the more you will hopefully enjoy it.
“Some countries are easy to travel to, others are not.
“But doing enough research, making a good itinerary and connecting with locals will enhance your trip a lot.”
Tina has currently settled back in Japan to work for a few weeks, but plans on traveling to Taiwan, Korea and Thailand next.
She said: “I’m working freelance as a travel content creator.
“Coming back to Japan, I also signed a contract with a Japanese company, and I spend most of my time filming, editing, and creating videos for their social media.
“Apart from that, I’m planning on doing smaller side projects in the future with other companies.”
For those thinking of taking a leap of faith, Tina says the words of popular American YouTuber Casey Neistat might help.
She said: “His video called Do What You Can’t and it’s the most inspiring video I’ve ever seen.
“He is one of many people who taught me that I need to take risks, believe in myself and just do whatever I really want to do.
“To be happy, you need to teach yourself to think in a solution-orientated and positive way.
“You need to think, ‘I can do that’ instead of ‘I can’t’ and life gets really easy once you get you there.”
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