Lad who lost his job bought cheapest plane ticket he could find and ended up travelling around the world
It's always good to find the silver lining in things, and for Kevin John Smith, that came when losing his job gave him the opportunity to travel the world.
And that's a pretty good silver lining, if you ask me.
Kevin's adventure began when he lost his job as a social media manager, and was left with nothing but time on his hands.
Advert
Instead of looking for a new role, Kevin decided to get out of the country on the cheapest flight he could find - a journey to Carcassonne, France, which cost just a tenner.
The 30-year-old went with nothing but a rucksack, packed with seven t-shirts, two pairs of shorts and his camera, as well as the trainers and hoodie he was wearing to travel.
Explaining his decision, Kevin said he'd 'always wanted to see the world', but opportunities at work made hard to go 'into the unknown of travelling'.
He continued: "However, everything happens for a reason.. I packed my work rucksack and looked for the cheapest flight out of Manchester, which was a £10 Ryanair flight to Carcassonne in France. I'd never ever heard of it."
Kevin spent a couple of days exploring Carcassonne before hopping on a train to Toulouse, after which he flew to Italy for just £9.
He made his way to Lake Como, and from there Kevin visited Lecco, Varenna and Bellagio.
"It was incredible and stunning," he said.
His journey was far from over though, and he later moved on to Slovakia, Vienna and Istanbul, before going to Egypt to take in one of the Seven Wonders of the World - the Great Pyramid of Giza.
"After seeing the pyramids, I was tempted to make that the end of the trip and go home, but I looked for the cheapest ticket out of Egypt which was to Abu Dhabi," Kevin said.
"During my time there, I visited the Grand Mosque and also went to Sharjah and Dubai. The cheapest flight out of the UAE was from Dubai to New Deli, however, I couldn't do that because of some issues with visas.
"So I headed back to Abu Dhabi on a bus and found that the cheapest flight out of there was a £91 ticket to the Maldives."
Kevin's adventure only became more interesting when he landed in the Maldives with no internet and no accommodation to go to, but he managed to find a place to stay after hopping on a boat for 20p - yes, 20p.
Next, it was on to Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Singapore, before he flew all the way to the US.
"Everywhere I was going was on a whim. I had no accommodation booked in Bangkok either, but I wasn't scared the entire trip," Kevin said.
His lack of preparation for the trip did backfire due to the fact he'd had no vaccinations, which left him 'wiped out for days' when he fell sick.
Things took another turn when he arrived in Los Angeles, where Kevin couldn't find any available hotels and had to sleep in the airport.
"I thought to myself that this is too far now, and dangerous," he said.
Kevin spent £17 on a flight to Vegas, where he tried his luck in a casino and managed to turn his spare $50 (£39) into $800 (£630).
He knew he had to start making his way home, but he used his earnings to stop in New York and see 'all the sights', before managing to secure a flight back to London for £180.
"I arrived home in the same pair of trainers that I left in three months earlier, with the same seven t-shirts on rotation. I felt like a shadow of the person I was when I set off on my trip," he said.
"However, after everything I had experienced, I couldn't stay in Manchester doing a typical nine to five and getting the bus into town every day."
Knowing he wanted to keep pushing himself out of his comfort zone, Kevin went to stay with a friend in Dubai, where he's since moved full time to 'start another adventure'.
Emily Brown