Woman who saved £10,000 to travel the world reveals the dark side TikTok doesn't show

A travel influencer who saved £10,000 as a teenager to fulfil her dream of trekking around the world solo has opened up about the darker aspects of globetrotting.

Layla Loutfi, from Brighton, always wanted to jet around the globe, ticking off her bucket list as she went, and so worked two jobs to put away enough money to begin her journey.

As well as working in retail and hospitality, her side hustle flogging clothes on Depop and Vinted helped top up the cash before her travels, which have now taken her to more than 30 countries around the world.

And while the 22-year-old says she 'pinches herself' every day, there's a side to solo travelling as a woman that often isn’t shown on the likes of Instagram and TikTok that everybody should be aware of, including a terrifying experience in Colombia.

"We were never in a position to go to these amazing places"

Speaking to LADbible, Layla says she began putting money away aged just 14, and now, just eight years later, the travel influencer has more than 160,000 followers.

"I’ve always had a job even from being 14, and it was all working towards travel," she tells us.

“I remember bedtime stories that my dad used to tell me of travelling the world. But we weren’t a family in a financial position to go to these amazing places.

“Girls from school after the summer break would be like oh, I've just been to Barbados or I've just been to Jamaica. I've just been to Australia. I was like, what? My mind was just blown and I dreamt of going to all these places.

“I was working retail on Saturdays, hospitality on Sundays and then I did DePop and Vintage clothes selling on the side. I did that for two years and saved up £10,000 to go off and do travelling for the first time.”

Layla started off her trip joined by a few friends but after a misunderstanding she decided to go it solo.

She then began making videos documenting her travels and knew almost instantly that she ‘didn’t want to go back to England’.

Although she didn’t earn enough from social media, she then bagged a job with a travelling company that organises trips for other budding sightseers.

And since setting off in 2023, Layla hasn't looked back, returning home to Brighton just once in that time, having spent an estimated £45,000 on her travels, working out at £15,000 a year for accommodation and food.

Over the past three years, she's racked up the miles, stopping off in Cambodia and Thailand, as well as Guatemala, Colombia, the Maldives and Japan.

"Now, I’m in Brazil, and I would say that’s also up there on the list," she says. "I constantly stop and ask how I’m here and doing this as a job.”

But even with all the bucket list moments, travelling the world alone isn't always the dream life it appears to be on a phone screen.

"You're never fully safe"

Despite loving her job, also sharing fun TikTok videos of her having breakfast with monkeys, showing what she eats day to day and hiking Peru’s Rainbow Mountain, she says there are sides to travelling that everyone should be aware of.

"To be brutally honest, you’re never fully safe," she tells us. "I had a traumatic incident in Colombia where I was attacked by a gang. As a woman, my safety has been compromised in a way that it may not have been if I was a man.

“I have become jumpy and I avoid walking around on my own. I didn’t realise the gravity of it until I was back in Latin America and I was suddenly so nervous at night. It is a lot scarier than even I would say online.

“It has come every time I’ve let my guard down and something has unfortunately happened. I don’t want to sit and pretend it’s all perfect and doesn't have dangers.

“But people are usually so kind. A lot of traumatic incidents with my safety I also had in the UK, in London. I’m from Brighton and there’s areas that I won’t walk through there too. Still, in Asia I feel a lot safer than I do anywhere in the UK.

“What I would say to people is that as a woman, I don’t actually feel completely safe anywhere.”

As well as being aware of the dangers and crime, Layla says a lack of routine can also affect people, as well as feelings of isolation and loneliness.

“I do pinch myself every single day,” she said. “But I look around and there’s no-one there. I am doing the most incredible things, but I am not sharing it with anyone.

“That’s what I’ve learnt through all this - how much human beings need connection. We’ve created this whole idea that as women, we can do this on our own. And I can do it on my own, and I can have fun, but I do need people too.

“At the same time there aren’t many people with the privilege of doing what I do. A lot of friends I make will then go back home, back to their normal lives, and I’m still here.

“You get so close to people in such a short time, it’s almost like being a Love Island contestant. So the one thing I would say is the loneliness, and also the mental toll it can have with not having a routine, not being able to keep up with fitness, or eat healthily depending on budget and what food is in the area. That is something I’ve really learnt.

“They’re all things that can affect some people that aren’t made for travelling. People don’t think about that side of it and just see Instagram and that positive side to it all.

“I know I am the first in my family to see most things. Like, to be at the Taj Mahal or Machu Picchu and call it work. It’s opened up the most incredible opportunities and I am forever grateful, but people need to be aware of the cons and negatives, like everything else in life.”

She continued: “To be brutally honest, you’re never fully safe. I had a traumatic incident in Colombia where I was attacked by a gang. As a woman, my safety has been compromised in a way that it may not have been if I was a man.

"It looks like a never-ending holiday"

Layla is among other young people who have ditched their day jobs in the UK to travel the world. Dubbed ‘early retirement travelling’, it is the lifestyle of exploring the world or taking long trips after leaving traditional work early.

She now hopes to return to Australia once she has completed her fleeting trip back to home soil for the Boomtown Festival in Hampshire.

The beauty in it all, she says, is not knowing what each new day will bring.

Explaining why so many young people are ditching the UK, Layla explained that social media is mostly the reason. She said: “I think a lot of it stems from COVID. In my opinion, people got really lost and young people were doom scrolling online looking at a different life.

“As grateful as I am for using this platform, for my own personal benefit, I do think social media can be such a negative thing in human lives.

“They say that comparison is the theft of joy. And all we do now is compare ourselves. Like the life of someone in the Maldives is compared to someone in Blackpool.

“We’re meant to read books about these people, not see their lives every day on a screen and how amazing it looks. This endless comparison means so many people need an escape.

“So many travellers I meet who hate their home are from England. They don’t seem happy and they want to leave, which I find interesting.

“I think the problem is how much of a mental health epidemic we are having in our country. I think looking towards a beautiful beach or island gives the idea of this never-ending holiday. It’s like a saving grace for people and has become a kind of religion.

“That's what I felt like it was for a while. All I thought about and all I had to look up to was getting out and travelling the world.”

On her next stop, she said: “I've got no idea where I am going next. It changes. I was like, OK I'm moving to Australia now. But now I want to live in Brazil. And that's exciting. That is the most exciting and most beautiful thing I can think of. I’ll figure it out. I just know that I won’t be able to settle in England again after this.”