I was diagnosed with testicular cancer and at one stage was so ill I woke in hospital to find the nurses crying. A stem cell donor was found who rescued my health and followed this up with a life-changing note

In February 2023, I booked a one-way flight to Salvador in Brazil to see the carnival celebrations. Forty-four years old, physically fit after a long illness and with some savings set aside, I had decided to spend 116 days travelling around South America, a continent I had dreamed of visiting. It was the same amount of time I had previously spent in hospital.

On my first day in Salvador I was robbed at knifepoint: I swiftly realised I had a lot to learn about travelling alone. I didn’t know much about where I was and had no plan for where I was going next but I wasn’t tempted to go home, because I had already been through much worse.