The Grace Millane story has really hit close to home this week and I’m truly saddend by it.
Maybe it’s because she’s English, maybe it’s because she’s of a similar age when I started travelling or maybe it’s just a really sad story.
I definitely think I take for granted how lucky I was to travel and see the world safely and alone and return home to my family.
The thing that sticks it to me most in this story is the victim blaming.
Why was she out alone? Why was she on tinder? Why wasn’t she more careful?
But instead the only question should be
Why did someone think it was ok to murder her?
I travelled mostly with friends, but there were times I was alone.
I travelled to Bali alone - I went shopping In markets and was followed and pestered to buy handbags. I went out for dinner in a restaurant with only men in and enjoyed food and a cocktail before walking home alone.
I arrived at a hostel in Sydney on my own. I shared a bedroom with 4 other men who spent the night drinking and taking drugs while invading my personal space and asking to use my iPad as a flat surface to snort cocaine on.
I traveled to a farm on my own to stay with a couple who I’d never met before 100 miles away from civilisation.
I got in a car with people I’d only known for a short time for a road trip and then camped with people I’d never met.
I travelled to America on my own and spent two nights in a New York airport with no way of getting anywhere.
And lastly, I met so many other people doing exactly the same. 18 year olds fresh out of school and wanting to see the world. Middle aged women on their quest to find themselves after a life changing event. Mid 20s on a break from university and wanting to see more than just the city they live in.
we should be allowed to travel alone and freely without the worry of men. We should be able to meet up with guys for dates or have harmless hookups because that’s what growing up is about.
Ive met so many amazing people who are dear to my heart on my journeys and we’re all so lucky to have returned home or continued travelling, unlike Grace, who will sadly never get that excitement of coming home and surprising your mum and dad after a months of being away.