Hi, I’m Lydia! Thanks for stopping by. For starters, here are a few random facts about me:
🇨🇦 I was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec, Canada
🗣️ I’m fluent in both French and English, and know basic Italian & Spanish
🥇 I have a Bachelor’s degree in Arts & Sciences (Italian Major)
❌ I don’t know how to whistle
✈️ I prefer the aisle seat to the window seat (the middle seat always sucks!)
🍃 I’m vegetarian (mostly)
☕️ I don’t drink coffee or wine
🙋🏻♀️ I’m a textile addict
🗺️ I’ve traveled to over 60 countries across 5 continents
MY SHORT STORY
After working for the same company for 17 YEARS (gasp!), I quit my uninspiring nine-to-five job to pursue my passion for design. In 2014, I made a leap from a boring corporate job to the creative world of Interior Designer. I opened my small business under the name Kazza Interior Design.
I finally felt like I was doing something I truly enjoyed. Carefully choosing each element to create a beautiful and equally comfortable living space was like an art to me.
But, as much as I enjoyed working as an Interior Designer, it didn’t take long to realize that my passion for travel was much stronger than my passion for design. What’s more, I began questioning all the effort (and money) we put into accumulating material stuff.
It was clear I needed to satisfy my craving for a more rewarding life.
That serendipitous moment came in 2015 when I took on the most challenging project of my life. To be honest, this plan was on my mind for years but it was at that time I summoned the courage to make it happen. I gave in to my ever-growing wanderlust and decided to sell everything including my flat.
I wish I could say it was as easy as typing those words. In fact, it took two years (!) to sell my flat. During that time, I felt like I was trapped. I was on the verge of giving up on my dream of a life of full-time travel.
Those two years challenged me in ways I never expected. Many nights were spent crying myself to sleep. Self-doubt and uncertainty on so many different levels crept up almost daily. I found myself constantly re-evaluating the decisions I had made. I was losing hope and my self confidence took a plunge.
Finally, the day I had been waiting for had come. My flat was sold after two years on the market. What a relief!
Once my flat was sold, it was time to sell/give away everything I owned. This was a tedious process of taking pictures of each item, posting them on Facebook groups, waiting for buyers to show up (or not), negotiating prices, etc.
In the end, what was left of my belongings fit into a few boxes. Getting rid of all that stuff felt so liberating! I was ready for the next long-awaited chapter of my life.
Without anything left to hold me back, I booked a one-way ticket to Jakarta, Indonesia. On December 8th, 2017, my husband and I finally embarked on our new life of traveling the world full-time.
Since then, I’ve been carrying my whole life in a 30-litre backpack.
WHAT IS LIFE UNTRAVELED?
Like so many others before me, I decided to create a travel blog. I know that travel blogs are a dime a dozen but I hope to infuse a fresh and unique perspective in this saturated business of travel blogging.
Life Untraveled is about traveling, differently. I’m not a slow traveler (sometimes I stay only a few days in one place) nor am I a (digital) nomad. I consider myself an untraveler which means that I travel long-term as I please. It’s an unconventional lifestyle that suits me just fine!
