We Ditched Our Lives... To Travel The World

Fed up with her commute, Donna Garner, 49, made a big decision.

- Sarah Holmes & Donna Garner

Cramming the very last box into the boot of the car, I turned to take a final glance at our empty house. This was it. No more relaxing baths after a stressful day at work. No more washing machines and dishwashers. Heck, we’d even used our last proper toilet for a long time. It was June 2003 – and the greatest adventure of my life was about to begin.

I’d always longed to travel. But having married my first husband at 18, and having my children just a couple of years later, I never got the chance. Then, when my marriage broke up in 1999, I started a relationship with a new man called Phil. He was a keen sailor and whenever the kids, Sean, then 14, Jen, 12, and Peter, 10, were with their dad, Phil and I would share a glass of wine on his boat in Wales.