When Alistair Kenyon-Brodie sold his house and belongings back in May, he only had one aim – to find a new home abroad and complete his bucket list.
The 32-year-old, from Hull, had a good job at the University of Cambridge working in Press and Assessment but wanted more from life than the nine-to-five drag.
‘I’d reached a level of success that my parents were proud of, and I just wasn’t happy,’ Alistair exclusively tells the Daily Mail.
‘I wasn’t happy with having achieved what you’re supposed to have achieved in life.’
Currently in Japan, he has been travelling with just one suitcase since June and regularly shares his adventures on his YouTube channel @BucketListBrodie.
He explains how his friends and family knew he had the travel ‘bug’ and was unhappy in the UK.
‘I think my mum was the one who was the most against me going,’ Alistair admits.
‘She supports me 100%, but I think she would be happy if I just stayed working at Cambridge.’
When Alistair Kenyon-Brodie (pictured) sold his house and belongings back in May, he only had one aim – to find a new home abroad and complete his bucket list
The 32-year-old, from Hull , had a good job at the University of Cambridge working in Press and Assessment but wanted more from life than the nine-to-five drag
The passionate traveller first jetted off to South Korea and spent two months exploring the country.
He paid around £400 to £500 for a months rent, ‘If I’d have tried to stay in hotels that would have been triple, four times that,’ Alistair explains.
Now, he is hitchhiking across the entire country of Japan instead of using the trains.
‘That cuts all of my costs down on transportation,’ Alistair says. ‘The high speed rail can be quite expensive here, but I’m traveling from the very south of Japan in a place called Beppu, that’s the hot springs capital of Japan, they’re famous for onsens here.
‘So I’m hitchhiking from there to Tokyo, which is about 1000 kilometres.’
During his solo travels so far, Alistair admits he hasn’t felt unsafe or had any unnerving moments, and he credits the people he has met along the way.
‘The Japanese are absolutely lovely people,’ he says. ‘You would be amazed to see, I stand at the side of a road and it doesn’t take me any longer than about 20 minutes to get picked up.
‘You get people waving at me as they pass, or bowing their head to say, ‘Sorry I can’t pick you up’.
‘I think my mum was the one who was the most against me going,’ Alistair admits. ‘She supports me 100%, but I think she would be happy if I just stayed working at Cambridge.’
Now, he is hitchhiking across the entire country of Japan instead of using the trains
‘But it’s just amazing. So, I’ve not had any bad experiences at all.’
In September, Alistair will be going to China, where he has a year-long job lined up at a university.
Alistair shares the tactics he has used to keep costs down during his travels but admits he doesn’t have ‘an endless money supply’.
‘It’s a mixed bag, so right now I am using savings,’ he says.
‘But travel doesn’t really have to be expensive at all, and there’s a lot of ways that you can actually travel very low cost, using certain methods like HelpX, where you work in exchange for food and accommodation.’
Alistair adds, ‘I have got a job lined up in China, starting in September, at a university, which is a really good gig working two hours a day for what is an average salary in the UK, and accommodation included.
‘So I’ve got no cost expenditure apart from food. So really, it’s a dream. I’m very fortunate I’m in a position where I can sort of afford this lifestyle, but there are decisions that you can make to try and help reduce costs along the way.’
The traveller urges others to explore the world, ‘take the risk’ and achieve their goals.
During his solo travels so far, Alistair admits he hasn’t felt unsafe or had any unnerving moments, and he credits the people he has met along the way
‘The key things that I was doing it for – finding where I wanted to live, then going and completing everything on my bucket list,’ Alistair explains.
He wants to show people that travel can be affordable and adds, ‘Most importantly, don’t be afraid to take the risk if you feel trapped in your nine-to-five job, you feel stuck, you think there’s more to life than what you’re currently experiencing.
‘I would say, go for it and do it, whatever that is, whether it’s going and starting your own business, or whatever that risk is to you, like, for me, travelling the world.’
Alistair says, ‘You don’t live forever, and many people will wait until they’re into retirement to be able to go and do this stuff. But I think, do it now, do it.’
