From family trips to solo flights: Mischa Christie sees the world

Author Stephen Covey said it best, “We should live our lives based on a compass, not a clock.” And Mischa Christie is a firm believer in this mantra. From a tender age, Christie would tag along on international trips his parents made for work. His love only grew from there, as he caught flights during the holidays to visit his family overseas. Then there was his employment in the work and travel programme abroad, which allowed him to check out other states in his downtime. So it’s no wonder that since living in the United Kingdom, he has increased his adventurous spirit and upgraded his status to globetrotter.

Christie, who was born and raised in Jamaica, explained that he spent some of his former years in Clarendon before moving to Kingston. Growing up, he got a taste of different cultures through his family members. “My mother would travel for her pharmacy conferences, while my father would fly for his teacher conferences as well. So they just carried us along. So I developed that love for travel from a very early age,” he told Saturday Living.

BEST ADVENTURE

By the age of 12, he went on a trip to Cuba with his grandmother and it still stands out in his memory as one of the best adventures yet. As he got older, that hunger for adventure grew from a bite to full-course meals; he went on to travel with friends and later on his own.

“Another great adventure happened just in January of this year when I went to Iceland with my friends. We saw the Northern Lights for the first time and that has always been on my vision board. I had wanted to go to New York and walk in Times Square, so that was a dream come true. And I recently went to Venice. Venice is beautiful,” he explained further. Additionally, he has paid special visits to Morocco, Jordan, and Barcelona, just to name a few.

As a solo traveller, the cost of accommodations has been his biggest obstacle to date. And he overcomes this by finding places that are inexpensive, like Air BnBs and hostels. His top-five travel essentials include a universal adapter for the plugs, especially when in Europe; a padlock because hostels come with a locker or a drawer and he wants to be careful; toiletries are a must - roll on and toothpaste, all under 100 millilitres, since the airport won’t let you through with anything more; waterproof phone case in case there is a pool or beach nearby and I want to carry my phone; and lastly, he carries a towel, given that some room and boards don’t offer the amenities.

“What I love about travelling the most is viewing breathtaking scenery and immersing myself in rich cultures, trying new food, seeing how architecture is in a different place, learning the history behind these structures, opening the mind to the fact that there are others all over the world,” he said.

Currently residing in England, the globetrotting content creator is encouraging persons who are interested in venturing outside of their country, even internationally, to start seeing inspiration locally. “Start by exploring your own island. Get into that sense of adventure.” After you get your feet wet, he recommends that you conduct extensive online research to find out more about the countries you would like to visit and cost-effective ways you can travel, like flight deals across the region and the world.

Outside of being an adventure-seeker, Christie is a registered pharmacist with the Pharmaceutical Council of Jamaica and a medical writer in the UK.

krysta.anderson@gleanerjm.com