CLOSE TO THE EDGE

Jamie Brotsky, 30, fell in love with travelling - only taking that plunge left her fighting for her life...

- KATIE PEARSON, ANAIS SEELY

Throwing my rucksack off my back, it hurtled onto the hostel bed.

Now this is the life, I smiled, already able to tick London and Greece off of my travelling list.

Growing up in Massachusetts, USA, with my mum Susan, 66, and dad Craig, 67, I wasn't convinced by seeing much of the world.

I was always quite happy where I was.

Only, as I hit my 20s, that mindset changed entirely.

I wanted nothing more to experience what the world had to offer, and what crazy things I could get up to jet-setting across the globe.

When it came to my first European solo-trip in June 2018, I had big plans.

One month packed full of sights to see and new hobbies to pursue.

Although it made my parents nervous, they were happy that I was getting out there and seeing new sights.

Touching down in Italy on 20 June 2018, two weeks into my trip, I'd booked a room in a hostel in the picturesque village of Riomaggiore.

With a bubbly, thrill-seeking and confident personality, I quickly introduced myself to the travellers that were also staying in the hostel.

'So, what's good to do around here? Iquizzed.

Ready for adventure It was the icebreaker that was needed, and soon our personalities all started to bounce off one another-it was great fun.

'Well, there's a walk and at the end of it we are going to go cliff jumping,' they said.

'Oh, count me in!' I interrupted, excitedly.

Being a strong swimmer, I loved the water but had never had the chance to jump into it from a great height before.

I'm on holiday, why not? What could go wrong? So, putting my swimsuit on, we left the hostel.

Making our way through cobbled streets, we talked about all things travelling and before long, we had cleared

through the trees, reaching the top.

The views were breath-taking-I'd never seen anything quite like it.