A single mum quit her job to backpack around Asia with her five-year-old and says she still has the "freedom" to experience whatever she wants.
Alicia Tunnicliffe, 23, had always loved travelling and would take her daughter, Milani, five, away with her and her parents at every opportunity.
But she realised it wasn't as scary to go away just the two of them after a week-long trip to Tunisia, Africa, last year.
Alicia thought it would be nice to go away for a longer period of time and decided to quit her job and travel around Asia - with her little girl in tow.
The pair moved in with Alicia's parents to save up for the trip and flew out to Bangkok, Thailand, on June 4, 2024.
Despite people saying she's "crazy", Alicia has found "freedom" travelling with her daughter and says they are having the "best time".
Alicia, who worked as an estate agent, from Torquay, Devon, said: "I pitched the idea to my family and they thought I was crazy.
"Only a year ago I was terrified.
"I don't feel scared anymore.
"We are having the best time."
Alicia was nervous to go away with just Milani for the first time in 2023.
She said: "I was really nervous.
"We went to Tunisia for a week and it was absolutely fine."
Alicia had the idea to do a longer trip just the two of them.
She said: "I thought the week holidays are nice but wouldn't it be nice if we do something a bit longer.
"I want to be a teacher and I'm starting college in September.
"I thought I should probably do it now."
Alicia moved in with her family late last year to save money to go.
She said: "We saved every single penny that we could."
Alicia pulled Milani out of reception for the remainder of her year but said the school have been really supportive and told her she wouldn't be fined.
They flew to Bangkok and have explored Chiang Mai, Phuket and Koh Samui so far.
They hope to explore Vietnam and Malaysia next and Alicia has been surprised at how easy it has been - despite a few things going wrong along the way.
Alicia said: "Milani has adjusted better than I have.
"She wasn't moaning about the heat as much as I have.
"I threw her in the deep end and she's just swam.
"We were leaving Bangkok and we showed the lady our passes and she said we were at the wrong airport.
"Milani gasped.
"But we managed to get another flight."
Alicia said Milani's favourite moments have been going to see the pig island and going to the cat café in Bangkok.
She said: "She loves animals.
"My favourite was the night markets."
Alicia said she has been able to experience what she has wanted to as well as what Milani has wanted to do.
She said: "Some said it's great idea but you don't have any freedom.
"I completely disagree.
"We went to a Love Island beach club the other night.
"We do something she wants to do one day and something I want to do the next."
Alicia feels Milani is learning more than she would be in reception from their travels.
She said: "There is so much that she is learning.
Alicia Tunnicliffe, 23, had always loved travelling and would take her daughter, Milani, five, away with her and her parents at every opportunity.
But she realised it wasn't as scary to go away just the two of them after a week-long trip to Tunisia, Africa, last year.
Alicia thought it would be nice to go away for a longer period of time and decided to quit her job and travel around Asia - with her little girl in tow.
The pair moved in with Alicia's parents to save up for the trip and flew out to Bangkok, Thailand, on June 4, 2024.
Despite people saying she's "crazy", Alicia has found "freedom" travelling with her daughter and says they are having the "best time".
Alicia, who worked as an estate agent, from Torquay, Devon, said: "I pitched the idea to my family and they thought I was crazy.
"Only a year ago I was terrified.
"I don't feel scared anymore.
"We are having the best time."
Alicia was nervous to go away with just Milani for the first time in 2023.
She said: "I was really nervous.
"We went to Tunisia for a week and it was absolutely fine."
Alicia had the idea to do a longer trip just the two of them.
She said: "I thought the week holidays are nice but wouldn't it be nice if we do something a bit longer.
"I want to be a teacher and I'm starting college in September.
"I thought I should probably do it now."
Alicia moved in with her family late last year to save money to go.
She said: "We saved every single penny that we could."
Alicia pulled Milani out of reception for the remainder of her year but said the school have been really supportive and told her she wouldn't be fined.
They flew to Bangkok and have explored Chiang Mai, Phuket and Koh Samui so far.
They hope to explore Vietnam and Malaysia next and Alicia has been surprised at how easy it has been - despite a few things going wrong along the way.
Alicia said: "Milani has adjusted better than I have.
"She wasn't moaning about the heat as much as I have.
"I threw her in the deep end and she's just swam.
"We were leaving Bangkok and we showed the lady our passes and she said we were at the wrong airport.
"Milani gasped.
"But we managed to get another flight."
Alicia said Milani's favourite moments have been going to see the pig island and going to the cat café in Bangkok.
She said: "She loves animals.
"My favourite was the night markets."
Alicia said she has been able to experience what she has wanted to as well as what Milani has wanted to do.
She said: "Some said it's great idea but you don't have any freedom.
"I completely disagree.
"We went to a Love Island beach club the other night.
"We do something she wants to do one day and something I want to do the next."
Alicia feels Milani is learning more than she would be in reception from their travels.
She said: "There is so much that she is learning.
Category
😹
FunTranscript
00:00I'm a single mom backpacking Southeast Asia with my five-year-old and today
00:03we went bamboo rafting to try and spot some elephants. We're in Chiang Mai in
00:07Thailand and we booked a tour to try and find some elephants on some bamboo rafts.
00:11We got there and they gave you these little t-shirts to try and they're so
00:14cute and then we spotted some bananas and we actually did eat one that was so
00:18tiny and very flavoursome, didn't taste like the ones in England. I didn't
00:23realize that this tour included a big hike up to a waterfall so we walked up
00:27without our bag, we left that in the little tuk-tuk they picked us up in and
00:31we walked for ages to this waterfall through the woods. We found this cute
00:35little dog on our way up as well. Milani's obsessed with every single
00:39animal that she sees. The only thing that kept her walking was the fact that there
00:42might be a dog waiting at the top but it was so worth it, look how pretty that
00:45waterfall was. It was so refreshing in the water as well but it was so slippy.
00:49So our tour guide walked Milani the whole way down holding her hands because she
00:53couldn't be trusted, she fell like five times and he was so good with her, he was
00:57playing with her to try and encourage her to walk because it was really hot like I
01:00was struggling. Then we headed to the bamboo raft which were actually really
01:03scary, it was quite fast and they kept pretending there were snakes in the
01:06water so I was a bit paranoid. We were looking out for the elephants and we did
01:09see some, we were so excited. I took my Crocs off to try and relax as much as I
01:14could, get a bit comfy. Look there are the elephants, it was so cute, there's a little
01:18baby as well and just as I began to relax we went down a waterfall and lost
01:23our Crocs nearly. We literally went under the water, it was so scary. Then we went
01:27back to the tuk-tuk and headed home. Spend a day with us whilst we are
01:30backpacking Thailand. We're in Bangkok at the moment and we started off the day
01:34at 7-eleven. We got cereal and milk for breakfast and this cost us 66 baht. We
01:39had to sit outside the hotel to eat it because you weren't allowed food from
01:42outside inside the hotel but we sat on the steps and really enjoyed it actually.
01:46They even give you a little straw so you can suck out the milk, it was
01:49yummy. Then we started walking to the park and Milani got hot so we got an ice
01:52lolly and then she got hot again so we decided to get a tuk-tuk there. We
01:55negotiated the price and he agreed to do it for 50 baht but he said that he had
01:58to take me to his sponsor to have a look around. So we went to his sponsor and it
02:02was like a little jewelry shop but it was so expensive. We were having a look
02:06and I think it was like a 17,000 English pounds for like some of these earrings
02:10but we found a gift shop and just got a fan instead for 60 baht. We got to the
02:15park and oh it was so pretty, it was absolutely boiling in mind but it was
02:18really really pretty and there was loads of these monitor lizards, they were so
02:22cool. Milani was obsessed with like searching for them. It was a bit scary
02:25though because they could just walk on the path. It was so hot so they did stay
02:29in the river though. Then she saw a park and decided to cool off there on the
02:32swing but she was still too hot so she was moaning quite a bit. Luckily we found
02:37the sprinklers so she ran around in them and I said don't get too wet. Obviously
02:41she came back drenched but she didn't moan about being hot then. Then we found
02:45these little swan peddlers and you can rent them for free and we peddled all
02:48around but it was so much effort that I was boiling. So then we headed over to
02:52the cat cafe. This was so cute, she's not stopped talking about it. They put this
02:56little cat on our table in a basket and she fed it some food. You have to pay 200
03:02baht entry each but you can use this towards your food that you buy there and
03:05your drinks. So we got some chips and a smoothie which was really really yummy.
03:08We're struggling for food so we're having chips a lot here and this is the
03:12outside of the cafe. They have like little pictures and Polaroids of
03:15everyone with the cat. We started walking home and Milani needed a little water
03:18break. We got lost, didn't walk the whole way and ended up getting a tuk-tuk back.
03:22And that's what we did today in Bangkok. Follow for more.