Since she was a child, Ombeline Daragon Ferreira felt a deep urge to venture out and discover the world beyond her doorstep.
After completing her education, the 27-year-old from Bordeaux, France, diligently pursued the life she believed she desired. With a stable job, her own apartment, and a pet cat, she seemed to have it all. Yet, something essential was missing from her life.
“I was a stable, respectable adult,” she shared in an interview with the Daily Mail. “But I felt like I was suffocating, waking up each morning with the weight of a life that didn’t truly belong to me bearing down on my chest.”
At the age of 21, a frightening health scare served as a wake-up call for Ferreira. It was a moment of clarity, reminding her of the need to transform her life while she still could.
“I lost an ovary because of a massive cyst that could have been fatal,” she revealed.
Recalling a pivotal night, she said, “I was lying in a hospital bed, surrounded by the peculiar silence that only exists in medical rooms at night, and I made a promise to myself.”
‘If I come out of this, I said, I will stop pretending. I will stop shrinking. I will go.’
In 2021, after recovering from her emergency surgery, she sold everything she owned, including her apartment, rehomed her cat, left France and never looked back.
Ombeline Daragon Ferreira, 27, from Bordeaux, France, sold everything she owned, including her apartment, rehomed her cat, left France and never looked back
She had only a mere $1,000 in her bank account and no plan, but Ferreira has now spent the last five years traveling the world full-time
‘I executed what I can only describe as a controlled demolition of my life,’ she reflected.
‘I want to be clear about something, because people romanticize this moment whenever I tell it. I was not brave. I was terrified. I just decided that the terror of leaving was smaller than the terror of staying.’
She had only a mere $1,000 in her bank account and no plan, but Ferreira has now spent the last five years traveling the world full-time. She’s lived in 11 different countries, including New Zealand, Australia, the Dominican Republic, America, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and India, among others.
And while it’s certainly come with immense highs and thrilling experiences, she admitted that it’s also tested her in ways she never expected.
‘My travel was never a vacation. [When I got on that first] flight, it wasn’t away from something. It was toward myself. The distinction matters enormously, even if it took me years to understand it,’ she said.
‘I’ve now supervised mining operations in the Australian outback, repaired fishing boat hulls with a needle gun, picked strawberries in Tasmania while living in a tent and worked 90 hour weeks as a chef in New Zealand without a single day off.’
She explained that getting by with no steady work has been extremely difficult. She took ‘every job’ that she could find to make ends meet, working as a barmaid, banana picker and dairy farm worker over the years, among other things.
Ferreira admitted that she’s been put in an array of scary, life-threatening situations throughout her travels, like the time she was forced to stay in a ‘dangerous’ neighborhood in California riddled by ‘addiction and crime.’
She’s lived in 11 different countries, including New Zealand, Australia, the Dominican Republic, America, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and India, among others
And while it’s certainly come with immense highs and thrilling experiences, she admitted that it’s also tested her in ways she never expected
She said that spending five years surviving on very little taught her things about the world that ‘no travel blog will ever tell you.’
Ferreira shared the vital travel tips and safety hacks that she credits with keeping her alive all of these years on the road.
First, she explained that she protects herself by keeping her credit and debit cards hidden when she goes out, and instead, puts what she calls a ‘ghost wallet’ in her bag.
‘My real cards never sit in my wallet. I carry a decoy with expired cards and a small amount of cash, which I can hand over without flinching if I’m ever in a dangerous situation,’ she said.
‘My real [wallet] is hidden in a secret pocket. Sometimes a shoe. It sounds paranoid until the one time you need it.’
In addition, she said she always stores $100 hidden inside a ‘hollowed-out lip balm stick or sewn into the lining of a jacket,’ explaining: ‘Have it, forget it and pray you never need it.’
Ferreira also said she makes sure to keep copies of important documents on her phone that are ‘accessible even offline.’
‘[This includes] scans of my passport, visas, insurance documents,’ she said. ‘[I keep] photos of entry stamps in a hidden album on my phone.
She said that spending five years surviving on very little taught her things about the world that ‘no travel blog will ever tell you’
She explained that getting by with no steady work has been extremely difficult. She took ‘every job’ that she could find to make ends meet
‘The first thing an authority or a hotel asks for even if you’re offline is proof. Have it ready before you need it.’
In addition, she said she always carried a ‘laminated card’ in her bag that has the address of her accommodation, three emergency numbers including a local contact and one person back home who always picks up, and her insurance’s phone number.
Ferreira also told the Daily Mail that she never travels without ‘premium insurance,’ adding: ‘If you can’t afford it, you can’t afford to travel. I’ve seen people’s entire lives derailed by a $50,000 medical bill on the road. Insurance is the difference between a crazy story and a catastrophe.’
Other travel necessities include a power bank, AirTags in all of her luggage and ‘activated charcoal’ in case of stomach bugs, as well as electrolyte salt and antiseptic cream.
‘Dehydration and infected scratches are the two most common trip-ruiners in my experience, and both are entirely preventable,’ she added. ‘Your body is your most important piece of equipment.’
And if you feel yourself starting to get run down or sick, she stressed the importance of taking the time to rest rather than trying to push through.
‘The best version of yourself is found when you stop moving. The world will always be there. Your nervous system needs permission to rest, and burnout doesn’t care how beautiful the view is,’ she urged.
After spending five years on the road, Ferreira said the most important lesson she has learned is to embrace her true self.
‘Travel is a tool – a brutal, beautiful, effective tool for stripping away the false self,’ she concluded.
‘But I learned that you don’t need to travel to become who you want to be. You need the bravery to be that person in your own environment. Travel just removes the excuses.’
