The other day I was waitressing at the restaurant where I work. Obviously. Because why I would be waitressing at a restaurant where I don’t work? That would be stupid. And weird.

Anyway, I served a guy who was from Denton in Manchester. I could tell he was from Manchester because he sounded like me. I enjoyed this. And, as you do when you’re on the other side of the world, we discussed the joys of being from Manchester (which are many in case you’re wondering). He had lived in Melbourne for the past 8 years, and loved it. We then had the Sydney V’s Melbourne debate (another common topic over this side of the pond) and discussed how he loved living in Australia. Then he said to me, “You know what, people are always saying to me ‘you’re so lucky’, and it really pisses me off.” As he said this I knew exactly what he meant. And exactly what he was going to say next. I think I’ve developed telepathic tendencies. Or maybe I can read Mancunian minds. Or maybe anyone could have guessed what he was going to say next. “So I tell them ‘No I’m not lucky – I’ve worked bloody hard. You could get on a plane too if you wanted too.’ It’s not luck.” And then we said our goodbyes and he left the restaurant. I followed him closely, just to make sure he paid. He was from Manchester after all.

This got me thinking about the amount of times over the past two years, people have told me I’m lucky. Now, don’t get me wrong, I agree with these comments. I do think I am extremely lucky. Let me just repeat so we are all clear on this point “I AM ONE LUCKY BITCH”. Ok, we’re all clear. I am lucky that I have the opportunity to travel like I am doing. Lucky to be seeing the world, exploring new countries and cultures and meeting new people. I am lucky that I have the funds, education, health and one of my best friends (usually) beside me. For all of these things and more, I am lucky. And I get that.

However, Denton (that’s what we’ll name Mr Melbourne Mancunian for the purpose of this blog) had a fair point. And I agree with him. I too, have bit my tongue on numerous occasions when people have told me I’m lucky because I am travelling. Especially when they emphasise that I’m lucky because I have the money to travel and I don’t have a consistent 9-5pm job like ‘everyone else’. Those two ‘luckies’ really rattle my cage.

I saved to go travelling. I worked, like everyone else, and I saved. I went travelling with my savings and then I set up in Sydney and worked again. Actually, I worked two jobs in Sydney. A 9-5pm customer service job and then 6-10/11pm in my Indian restaurant. But I loved it. And I lived. And I enjoyed. And I got tired. And I worked bloody hard. And I saved. As did Lyvette. She had a 9-5pm job and then worked weekends until 3am in a bar.

That is not ‘luck’. That is hard work.

And this is how we have the funds to continue travelling. After the Sydney stint we travelled in Australia for 2 months. And I blew my funds. As do most travellers. I scraped the barrel. And then I picked eggplants (sorry aubergines) for 3 months. And let me tell you, this was no cushy number. Anyone who has completed farm work can tell you that there are days when you may just drop in a field and weep, and only your work mates can feel your pain and drag you back to your feet. And you think I’m joking. You couldn’t pay me enough money to do this job in the UK. You may even come face to face with a brown snake (again definitely not luck, or is it luck because you weren’t bitten on the face? Who knows!) Again, you think I’m joking. After the eggplant picking I went back to Sydney for 7 weeks to join Lyvette who was already working, and saving. I got another two jobs. And then we travelled to the Philippines, Hong Kong and back to India for a few months. Because we’re lucky. But also because we worked hard for that luck.

And now I’m in Auckland, with guess what? Two jobs. I work 60-65 hour weeks. Most days I leave the house at 6am and get back between 11pm and midnight. Some days I struggle to get up for a run. Some days I struggle to get up full stop. Most days I fall asleep on the bus. Some days I might get 6 hours sleep, if it’s a good night. But guess what? I’m saving. And this is a choice. This thing called hard work allows me to continue my journey. Not just luck. And, don’t get me wrong I am not blowing my own trumpet – what I am saying is that a lot of people who travel work hard to earn their money to allow them to continue. They get the hours in and continue on their journey. Or they work hard at home and save the money to explore the earth for 6 months. Just like some people might work hard to buy that new car or house or an organic tub of almond butter (it’s basically the same price as a new car now, right?).

I also realise that not everybody has this chance, for many reasons (for the example the man in India who works twice as hard as me and scrapes to provide for his family), and I appreciate and accept that. And yes, I am lucky that I am not in that position, but we’re not going into that right now. Most of the people telling us we’re lucky are people not unlike myself or Denton. They just choose not to follow the same path as us. They choose to have that 9-5pm job and have a family or work on their career. Which is fine. But these choices do not necessarily make them unlucky and us lucky. It simple means we made different choices.

I am also not saying that travellers have to have two jobs. Not at all. I am simply using this fact to back up my ‘hard work’ points. I love my life in Auckland. Just like I loved my life and jobs in Sydney. (Apart from the call centre where I wanted to throw myself off the building.) But if it gets to the point where I don’t like my jobs anymore, it all becomes too much and I’m not enjoying myself I will stop. Even though my goal is to save to travel some more, I still want to enjoy this experience and be able to live, I don’t want to just work and not appreciate my time here. I am choosing to be tired sometimes but at the moment I am happy. So that’s ok, because I’m still doing the things I want to do, still meeting new people, people like for example Denton the Melbourne Manc. And because I know this stint of work will enable me to see more of the world.

Lyvette currently can’t work because of her ankle. Is she still lucky? Stuck in another country, across the other side of the world with limited family and friends watching that all-important bank account dwindle – is this lucky? She’s a worker. She has worked all of her life so for her this has been one of the hardest times of her travels. Her money is running severely low and there’s nothing she can do about it. And she left her support network at home. So this lucky travelling mullarky is not all fun and games and Lyvette will have to work extra hard to collect some funds in NZ when she can work. And she will, because that’s what she does.

So basically, the purpose of this blog (apart from letting you that I waitress at the restaurant where I work) was to discuss myself and Lyvette being lucky bitches. Because we are. Do lucky bitches fall down the toilet and rip their achilles tendon? Clearly they do. She’s obviously more unlucky than me because I didn’t fall down the toilet. But not as unlucky as the person who fell down the toilet and never came back up. But anyway, I’m not an expert on luck and this topic could be explored extensively. But not by me, because let’s face it, I just ramble.

We are lucky bitches because we have this opportunity. But we have also created our own ‘luck’. We work bloody hard when we are not travelling in order to make our adventures happen. We take risks, we have long since given up the security of a stable income and consistent routine. But we chose to get on that plane 2 years ago. We chose to forget our original 6-12months travel plan and just wing it. And we chose this lifestyle. Just like we are choosing to work 60+ hour weeks. Our ‘luck’ is partly created by choice.

You may see us loving life on Facebook. And that’s because we are. But those pictures are the icing on the cake. After the hours of work have been done.

And I think that’s what Denton was saying. People who make a choice to do something different still have to work to sustain themselves. They don’t make this choice and all their troubles disappear, the money fairy arrives and they live happily ever after. And sometimes it’s irritating when people assume this.

Because the Two Small Mancunians (and Denton) are indeed lucky bitches. Lucky for lots of reasons. After almost two years they are still living their dream.

But the dream is a choice they made 23 months ago.

And everybody knows that dreams don’t just come true.

You have to work for them. You have to work hard to keep the dream alive.