Hello! I’m Katie, the writer behind Escape Artist Katie.
My blog was born out of my desire to help others gain the confidence to travel – in particular, to visit destinations that are little less visited, and to explore outside of the typical tourist itineraries.
Since 2022, I have also been travelling full-time, in and out of the UK. Alongside blogging, I keep up my freelance writing career; both of these allow me to work remotely.
I also run a dedicated Madeira travel site, Pico & Poncha.
What are my values?
How I Began Blogging
I was writing about travel long before I started Escape Artist Katie in 2021. After some pretty rough teenage years (can you relate?!), I moved to Birmingham to study English and creative writing – but not before fitting in my first ever backpacking trip.
The summer before university, I worked for minimum wage at my local pub and used that £1k to travel from Milan to Amsterdam by rail. It was the first time I felt capable, inspired, and not to be cheesy but it’s so true, alive.
In my second year of university, I happened across a national student magazine in the UK, and I started publishing stories about my travels on their website. I’d done another backpacking trip by this point, to Croatia and Montenegro, and I was hooked.
After several months of writing from my tiny box room at university, I was promoted to Assistant Travel Editor and then Travel Editor. Then, all of a sudden, and much to my surprise, I was trusted to represent the magazine on a fully hosted surfing trip to Portugal and an island-hopping trip in the Philippines, in return for my words! Can you believe?
There began three years of freelance travel journalism. Sadly, the magazine died a sudden death shortly after my graduation in 2019. However, I’d already had a taste of travel writing and met some really talented writers and PRs on the ground, so I began pitching my stories to travel magazines. I mainly reported for luxury travel magazines, and I visited Berlin, the Philippines (again), Romania and India (twice!), all expenses paid.
However, in late 2022, after doing three press trips in one month, I found myself – naturally – pretty burnt out. It was at that point that I decided to change things.
Pitching to magazines is fun, but not every story lands, and I had so much to say. I really wanted to share more than just the basics. It’s all very well describing the tea fields in Kerala, but without knowing how to get a bus or taxi there, none of my readers would be able to get there in the first place.
I booked a one-way ticket to Indonesia and started my travel blog.
Countries Visited
Days Traveling
Hikes done
More About Me & This Blog
The Blog
Helping You Get Off The Beaten Track
One of the main reasons I started this blog is to inspire you to get off the traditional tourist routes and see what’s out there. Whether that’s visiting a less-popular destination in Asia and Oceania (like Sumatra or Kerala) or simply visiting a smaller town in a well-travelled country like Thailand, my guides will help to steer you away from the generic itineraries.
Connecting With Local People
You’ll notice that my guides feature a lot of ideas to meet and learn from the local people in the destinations I visit. That’s because I believe that the more you meet people from a different background and upbringing than yourself, the more you can understand and respect other people. We shouldn’t travel to take – we should travel to learn and give something back.
Supporting Your Curiosity And Confidence
Once I started travelling, I went from a self-conscious teen to curious and confident in my ability to plan. I want the same for you – and sometimes all it takes is hearing someone say, “I took this trip, and you can too”.
About Me
I’m From Rural Wales
I was born and raised in Wales, in a small rural area where it’s common to live at home into your late 20s and never move away. I grew up somewhere where the bus turns up once an hour (but never on time), so the itch to live somewhere bigger and more exciting started when I was very young.
My Parents Are Big Travellers
I probably owe my ‘travel bug’ to my parents. They whisked me away on camping trips in the UK for most of my childhood, and when I turned 13, they took my brother and me to Egypt. I remember driving through Cairo and having my first “I can’t believe life can be so different” moment.
My dad has done a solo trip to the Himalayas, my mum worked at a kibbutz in Israel in the 80s, and nowadays, they both travel the world using Trusted Housesitters (on my recommendation).
Timeline of My Travels
1998 – Born in a small village in Wales, in the United Kingdom.
For the first 17 years of my life, I was fortunate enough to spend most summers camping in the UK with my family. Like many UK families, we also spent some summers at all-inclusive resorts in Europe, mainly in places like Lanzarote and Ibiza. However, at the age of 13, I distinctly remember visiting Egypt with my parents; I couldn’t believe the contrast with the UK, and pledged to travel widely as an adult.
2016 – My first budget trip.
Interrailing in Europe: After saving cash from working a minimum-wage bartending job in the summer, I travelled by rail from Milan to Amsterdam, exploring Italy, France, Belgium and the Netherlands. I was only 17, and turned 18 when I reached Paris. Many hotels tried to turn me away, as I’d booked a room underage.
2017 – Travelling as a poor student.
Backpacking in Croatia and Montenegro: After saving more cash from my part-time job, I visited Croatia and Montenegro on a budget in the summer after my first year in university. Kotor was a highlight – it was somewhere I’d never heard of before, and it exceeded my expectations.
2018 – I landed a couple of free trips and became a travel magazine editor.
2019 – I backpacked Southeast Asia and was hooked
2020 – The year the world went on pause.
2021 – I quit my job and started freelancing!
2022 – I started to travel again and felt my spark returning. I also launched my blog.
2023 – I continued travelling, and then became a ‘digital nomad’.
2024 – More slow travel and lots of writing!
