about me

My Story

Hi! I’m Tiani, the creator and writer behind this blog.

I grew up on the tiny island of Jersey, in the Channel Islands. 

I was lucky that my parents saved up for us to travel to amazing destinations like Madagascar, the Maldives and the Caribbean when I was young. 

Seeing such beautiful and interesting places with my parents definitely instilled in me the desire to travel the world as an adult.

Their love for travel and learning about different cultures was passed down to me and I feel so grateful to them for all of the awesome adventures we shared.

Blogging and Career

I studied my dream subject – Marine Biology – at Plymouth University and graduated with First-Class Honours in 2020. It was the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic at this point and I was unemployed for a few months.

It was then that I began learning how to teach English as a foreign language (TEFL) online. Before I started teaching I had a couple of different jobs, one was in my field of Marine Biology which I was ecstatic about and the other was good enough to pay the bills!

My Digital Nomad Journey (so far!)

It wasn’t until November 2021 that my partner Brett and I became fully-fledged digital nomads by teaching English online. Our first DN destination was Seville, Spain, where we spent 3 months.

From there we moved to Split, Croatia and stayed for 3 months also, revelling in the digital nomad hub that we found there.

Next up was Montenegro, we stayed for 1 month in the sleepy seaside town of Herceg Novi and then 1 month in Kotor.

Fast forward to September 2022, we spent 1 month exploring the south of Thailand (without working) and 5.5 months in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. We spent time here working, saving money, meeting new people and get to know the capital city.

In April 2023, we decided it was time to explore more of Southeast Asia. We spent 1 month in Cambodia, 1 month in Vietnam, 2 months in Laos and then we went back to Thailand for a month in August to meet my partner Brett’s parents. We are now spending 2 months in the Philippines before taking a 2 week holiday to South Korea before we go back to the UK!

Remote Work

I taught English on iTalki for almost 2 years. It is a marketplace for teachers where students can engage in 1-2-1 lessons. My life changed dramatically through TEFL online, as it allowed me to work remotely from anywhere in the world (with good WiFi!). 

In January 2023, I began a new, fully-remote job in Artificial Intelligence. This job is super flexible and enjoyable for me, I found it through wellfound.com.

My Travel Style

Slow, budget travel is my style. I love to immerse myself in cultures and leave no trace apart from connections with people, photographs and memories.

I travel on a budget because I want to make travelling a sustainable lifestyle for myself. The more I save, the longer I can travel for!

Sometimes I will spend more on certain things, like unique experiences and food, but save money in other areas like transport and accommodation, depending on the location.

As a DN, I like to stay in one place for a least a month when I’m working so I can get into a routine and schedule regular classes with my students.

Staying longer in one place also helps with slow travel and gives you an immersive experience. You get to know a place better when you live there for a little while!

However, certain countries in Southeast Asia don’t really allow for slow travel if you want to experience as much as you can. For example, Vietnam is such a big country and we had plans to see a lot while we were there, so slow travel wasn’t really an option. But in countries like Laos where we spent 2 months, it was so nice to get back to the laid back pace of slow travel.

About Tiani Travels

Tiani Travels grew from a tiny idea into a reality.

I always knew I wanted to travel for as long as possible after university, but I didn’t know how to make that a reality until I came across TEFL. There are so many remote jobs that allow you to travel the world and earn money at the same time.

Through writing this blog about travelling and making travel a lifestyle, I hope to inspire people to think differently and realise that living a life outside of the usual 9-5 is possible.

Tiani Travels uncovers the best things to see and do in destinations, as well as documenting the travel mistakes that will inevitably occur along the way!

Get inspired! New and exciting cultural, creative, and eye-opening experiences are waiting to be discovered!

I am so glad to have you here with me on this journey, thank you for taking the time to read my blog!

If you have any questions or suggestions, please don’t hesitate to contact me via email: tianitravels@gmail.com or via social media.

Love,

Tiani