My name is Emma, the creator of A Case of Wanderlust. 

Originally from a small town in South Wales I am for all intents and purposes your average 30-something year old. I love good music, adore good coffee and probably spend too much time sitting in cosy little cafés scoffing blueberry muffins and people watching. 

Although it may have taken me a while to put pen to paper (more like fingers to keys!) and turn the idea for this website into a reality, the lightbulb moment that led to me choosing a life centered around travel came to me way back in 2015.  I had just graduated University and to celebrate I decided to book a spur of the moment trip to Thailand with two of my close friends, ensuring to really make the most out of the last of those student loans!

I was so excited to go but at the same time a little nervous because I had never really flown long haul before. Sixteen hours and two flights later we touched down in Phuket. From the moment that we go out of the airport I had the strange feeling like someone had just suddenly turned the contrast up. I remember thinking to myself later that evening that this is how they must have felt when they made the switch from black and white TV to colour back in the day.

For the next three weeks we all lived our lives in full colour. Boat trips, quad bikes, jet ski’s, island hopping, beach days, night markets, cooking classes, new friends, all-night parties, we said yes to everything. 

I have a vivid memory, it must have been about two weeks in and we had decided to grab some pizza from a little beachside café. The Sun was beaming down, the waves were lapping calmly in the distance and everyone had a smile on their face as we went over plans for the rest of the week, life felt so good. I don’t really know why, but the feelings of happiness, freedom and connection that I felt in that moment took me by surprise. It had only been a few weeks and already I had seen and experienced more things that truly excited and intrigued me than I had in the past five years of my life at home.

I didn’t realize it at the time, but I believe that having that tiny taste of how magical life could be was my lightbulb moment. Over the next few weeks, maybe even months I was in a battle with my own brain. Part of me just kept asking questions like ‘why can’t I feel as happy as I did then?‘ and ‘why do things seem so drab and grey now? Is this really how it has to be? ‘. 

At first I tried to pass it all off as a case of the holiday blues and tried hard to slip back into the life I had spent years building. I got a promotion at work,