Writing her way around the globe

When Anita Dykstra was 19 years old, she quit her full-time job and bought a one-way ticket to London, leaving behind the Wairarapa farm life she was accustomed to. Since then, she has traveled the world writing about temples, castles and historic sites, all while earning a fulltime wage. ELISA VORSTER talks to the girl from Carterton who has made a living from living her dream. When Anita Dykstra wakes up each morning, she gazes over at the golden sandy beaches across from her apartment in Albania, where it is already 30C. It’s a far cry from the sheep farm she grew up on in Parkvale, but despite the many destinations the former Wairarapa College student has visited, she still looks forward to the opportunity to come home. Coming home, that is, from Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Philippines, USA and Spain to France, Germany, Hungary, Romania, Poland, Greece and Japan – and those are just the places I managed to scribble down. The 25-year-old travel blogger is based in Saranda, Albania, after spending the past six years traveling around the world while being paid to write about her experiences.