Interview Series: Rebekah.
Humans are meant to connect with other humans. That's what makes us sentient. Yeah, we can go back to our tribe but we're always supposed to go out into the wild - that's how our ancestors lived. So when I go away - that's me going out into the wild, reconnecting with humanity.
Meet Rebekah Kasumu.
I met Rebekah (a.k.a. BexyBex, pronounced BeckseeBecks; not not be confused with Becky!) when we both were living on the beautiful island of Bermuda. She an expat and me an expat/local [it's complicated]. We were both cast in the recording of a commercial for a Bermuda tourism campaign. Our task was to be filmed, along with a bunch of others, having fun on a yacht, in our swimwear as if it were a warm Summer day - it was April - but in Bermuda, we were blessed with a sunny, and warm, day. I immediately was drawn to her bubbly energy and we kept in touch.
Saki(S): Where are you based?
Rebekah(R): I'm based in London. I was born & bred here. I spent a few years living overseas but yeah I'm a Londoner through & through.
S: I say based because I swear you're never home. You're always traveling someplace else.
R: *laughs* Anywhere that will take me.
Fast forward another year, from the time we met, and Rebekah is contemplating the cyclical nature of her current life, seeking the unknown and planning her "great escape".
S: What made you decide to go traveling?
R: I felt I always was going to do it. In the back mind, I was [thinking], "I'm doing this job but I need to be free. Who am I outside of studying, working, studying some more, working some more? WHO AM I? This is all I've ever done. I've taken trips here and there but I want to do this by myself and see what's out there. There is always things that hold you back like work, promotions, relationships.
Rebekah planned an adventure that would span at least a year and didn't tell anyone what was she was planning. Not even the boyfriend.
R: A week after Valentine's Day, I had a crucible moment. I was living on a small island (Bermuda) and was in a tumultuous relationship at the time. I felt like I couldn't escape the island nor the guy and I needed to get out of both. I started mapping out the countries I would travel to and didn't tell anyone about my plans. I had in mind this quote, "if you want to make a drastic change in your life, be careful who you share it with because some people try to put their fears on you and talk you out of it/your plans." And more importantly "surround yourself with people or share your story/plans with people who will encourage it." People asking questions like "how are you going to do this?" doesn't help; it just creates more anxiety so I just didn't tell anyone. I didn't even tell my boyfriend at the time. I was just planning my great escape! *laughs*
And what an escape it was! Within her 13 month trip, Rebekah traveled to: Greece, Iceland, New York (it is its own Country ;-), South Africa, Kenya, St. Lucia, Grenada, Barbados, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Bali,Indonesia, Australia, Croatia and Ibiza, Spain. That's 19 countries by my count but I may have missed 2 or 3.
Besides visiting places on her travel bucket list, Rebekah had 2 other goals:
- to learn Spanish well by taking courses and immersing herself in a Spanish country
- and to give back
Her travels didn't begin nor end with this list. These countries are just where she visited while on her "great escape". But what exactly does a newly promoted, successful woman who has been living on a beautiful, Caribbean island need to escape from?
R: I had just got promoted to Senior Manager at my accounting firm. My sister had told me, once you have the title no one can take it away from you. I knew what to expect from the job, I'd been doing it for 6 years. I knew what to expect from the company I was working for. I knew what to expect from living on this island. I knew what to expect from being with this guy. I literally could map out what the next "however long I allow it" would look like. And with all those things considered, I thought, 'Would you rather keep going, knowing what to expect? Or just go and not know what to expect and see what happens?' I chose the latter.
And so, we see Rebekah launch herself into the unexpected. Perhaps one of the first indications that she was ready to be open to whatever comes her way was for her to make her private Instagram page public during the year of travel. Thus allowing the outside World in.
Coincidentally, at one of her travel stops, she met two of her favourite travel influencers, @oneikatraveller & @thecatchmeifyoucan, who actually make it their business to make all of their travel life public. Two idols, one fan but in actuality all three sharing incredible, inspiring glimpses of their travels and mindset.
I asked her why not be a travel influencer and keep her instagram profile public so people can see her ongoing travel adventures. Her answer was this:
R: Travel is quite sacred to me. It's something I enjoy, it's something I hold a lot of space for, it gives me a lot of peace, for me, and I don't want it to belong to anyone else - where I feel, I have to answer to people. I take a photo, if I like it, it's my photo, I post it. I also enjoy photography. It's more for my enjoyment and what I like to do. I'm happy to share the journey with anyone that's interested but I don't want it to become, that's all I do it for.
Nevertheless, Rebekah's feed is full of vibrant scenes of her living her best life but also sharing motivations, reflective thoughts and insights about where she is in the World, her mind and her heart.
As Rebekah takes us through her journey, you get a sense that she is being transformed. She talks about being outside of her comfort zone yet realizing she was okay with it. And reminds us that sometimes, that discomfort could be one coming to grips with the fact that they cannot outrun their "problems". She tells us that not only do you meet new friends along the way but you also meet your-Self. (*snap snap snap*)
You see her shedding her old skin and stepping into the person she will be for her new phase in life which was returning to London to "do the things adults are meant to do!" as she says.
But how does one manage to feel content with what can be a hectic corporate life after 13 months of unscheduled freedom and frivolity?
R: I moved back to London September of 2018. I had moved away in 2011 so it was years living overseas. When I came back, my aim was to reacclimatise myself to London and put some roots down - buy a home - 'I will do what adults are meant to do!'. I started a new job and I thought 'Ok, I'm here for now' buuut maybe I lasted about 3-months before I thought, 'OMG, I need to get out of here - I need sunshine, this is miserable, what is this? I'm cold!' I didn't even own a winter coat. I hadn't in 7 seven years. This is crazy, I just needed to get out. So I went to Colombia for 3 weeks. It was then I realized, to make this work, I'm going to have to travel, like a lot. So every month, I managed to go anywhere that would take me.
Aha! So that's our answer. And while not everyone can travel every month, I believe the overarching idea here is that you must intentionally plan the things that give you peace, excitement, pleasure, sunshine, and/or "insert what makes you feel well and fulfilled here".
She tells me about the dichotomy of the World she lives in. London life and life experienced while traveling. Then she tells me a story from her time in Guatemala involving flip flops held together by tape and a walk up a steep hill...
R: I had a pair of flip flops that kept breaking. I was traveling light and didn't want to buy anything unless they had fallen apart so I had taped them[Bexy has a "one in/one out" rule you see. Explained in Part 2 below]. I'm in Guatemala on the way up a steep hill and the flip flops broke. A man saw me and offered to superglue the flip flops. Sadly, the flip flops broke again going up the hill. The man's wife sees this happen and runs up the hill to bring me another pair of shoes - which I think were hers.
S: That's the special thing that happens when you travel. You find out that people can be so helpful, loving and kind and you feel you want to be like that as well.
R: When you travel you meet the best in humanity then you come to London and you look at everyone and they're just not happy. [From my travels] my cups were full, my cup over runneth with happy pills and I thought I should try to share it. Well, I tried...
S: That warm and happy didn't rub off in London?
R: *laughs* Nooooo
R: In London, people don't connect. They stay within their social circles/cliques and you spend a lot of time just working and commuting because everywhere is far. So you 1. you want/need to get out of that monotony of life and 2. because as humans we are meant to connect with other humans. That's what makes us sentient. Yeah, we can go back to our tribe but we're always supposed to go out into the wild - that's how our ancestors lived. So when I go away- that's me going out into the wild, reconnecting with humanity and when back in London I disconnect from humanity again. *laughs*
The Lesson.
S: What did you learn about yourself during the one year of travel?
R: One thing that I took away from travel, which I take with me all the time and, that's finding your peace...you really need to get away from your everyday life, your everyday commitments, to really hear yourself and that is what I would describe as inner peace.
And that is what we carry away from travel. Not necessarily things but connections, experiences, friendships, new understandings, humblings but also assuredness. These cost nothing and do not get packed in any case but they do become our belongings.
PART TWO: Bexy's Travel Tips & Favourites
After traveling to 60+ countries to date, Rebekah definitely has some tips on how to travel light, bright and ready to fight[I'll explain below]...
As a person who overpacks every single time I travel, I was in awe when I learned that she traveled for a full year with just a backpack and a carry-on. I immediately felt deep shame for the large oversized suitcase I had packed for my own solo journey which was half the time - 6 months. Alas, I'm also here to learn.
| On Packing Light | Packed a few essential clothing items and shoes. Used beach coverups as dresses. "I bought toiletries when landed and kept the skin regime very simple."..."I never bought anything, no trinkets, my pictures are my gift. I only would only buy clothing to replace another piece - and only if it fell to pieces" - the one in/one out rule. |
| Trekking Tip | Always pack a swimsuit ;-) |
| Favourite Food Stop | Greece |
| Favourite Places | Greece & Colombia |
| Best Way to See a Place | With a local! |
Despite very real challenges to traveling alone as a female, there were very few times where Rebekah felt unsafe. Drawing on what she learned in a Female Awareness/Self Defense class weeks before she knew she could handle herself and used some of the lessons during some sketchy moments...
Safety Tips(especially for women)
- Be prepared - know about where you are going
- Dont' allow yourself to be in a vulnerable situation
- Avoid landing in unknown locations at night
- Don't be overly friendly, overly smiley
- Don't give too much information. Especially, be aware of who could be listening to you while you speak on the phone - ex. saying things like how far away you are from home and what you will do or where you will go next
- Pay attention to see if someone is following you. The instructor encouraged women to not be shy to turn around and pretend that you know a person following you so you can get a look at their face [i.e. Is that you Teddy B?]
- Use your voice even when it feels uncomfortable. Each person in the class had to go outside to practice screaming extremely loudly - as women we are conditioned to be quiet and it is important to make noise when threatened
- Get a personal alarm (a small alarm that makes a big, loud noise when triggered)
I could go on forever about Rebekah's travel experiences and tips but I will end it here with another of my favourite insights of hers...
"Travel is living outside of what is everybody's everyday life. And you're living outside of those guardrails where people tell you, "you're a woman, you shouldn't go there", "you're black, you shouldn't do this", and you just want to live and explore. To me, I don't think I've done anything special but in reality compare it to most people, most people don't even have access to passports to be able to travel the World. So even that alone, what we are doing being able to travel freely is very aspirational to many people. It's not common, you know? Even to us, we are doing what we enjoy but we are kind of living outside of those guardrails that we are put in from a young age."
Writer/Editor: Saki
Audio & Visual Editing: Saki
Images: Rebekah K.