These Two ‘Aunties’ Quit Their 9 to 5 Jobs To Travel Around Europe & Northern Africa In A Camper Van

The hustle and bustle of city life and working 9 to 5  jobs will eventually get to us. However, not many of us have the guts to just resign and travel around the world, often far from our loved ones. 

This brave duo, Susie Chua, 56, a corporate secretarial executive and  Norah Soeb, 51, a private hire driver from Singapore did exactly that.

Susie & norah

In order to fulfil their dreams of travelling around the world, Susie quit her desk job last July and the duo flew to the Netherlands on 9 September last year.

They set a budget of SGD50,000 (RM152,000) for their one-year European trip. When they first reached, they bought a camper van for SGD24,000 (RM73,000) and the rest was to be spent on their trip.

Susie cleaning the camper van.

In the span of one year, they managed to travel to 20 countries spanning across Europe and Northern Africa. In November 2019, they arrived in Morocco and planned to stay there for three months, however, because of the pandemic, they were trapped there for a total of seven months.

When asked about some of the difficulties that they faced travelling via a camper van, they said,

“One of the difficulties that we faced was finding a nice and safe place for us to park every night.”

Dadès gorges.

Cycling in the sahara desert.

But other than that, they seem to enjoy travelling that way very much. In fact, they shared some of their most memorable moment during their trip with us and it’s invoking the wanderlust in us. The duo recalled, “Some of our favourite moments include…”

• Parking in the forest all by ourselves in Scotland
• Parking at the cliff of Moher in Ireland
• Driving through the gorgeous Atlas mountains and the challenging route of Dades Gorges in Morocco
• Cycling in the Sahara desert and being invited to a nomad wedding

It is certainly a very impressive list, however, the duo still misses their local flavours and food such as dried shrimp, chicken rice, etc. Throughout the trip, they have amassed like-minded friends.

Susie & norah and some friends they just met.

Travelling across countries during a pandemic is not without difficulties but they say;

“It is strange seeing people wearing masks and practising physical distancing. Yes, we are scared but we need to learn the new norm instead of avoiding living the life we want.”

“Life goes on and you still need to live your dreams. Be adaptable.”

Originally, the duo planned to sell off the camper van after one year to return to Singapore, however, after being bitten by the travel bug, they decided to continue on. As for their future plans, the duo would like to slowly drive back to Singapore and at the end of their trip, they hope to write a book about it.

“The nine to five is no longer for us. The city life, security, the short but expensive holidays are no longer enough. We crave the fulfillment of life by living it.”

Dubrovnik aka king’s landing.

Triberg, germany.

We wish this pair good luck and we hope that their story can at least give courage to those who want to do the same thing to take the next step. If you would like to keep up with their journey, you can click here.

Also read: Enjoy A Scenic 12-Hour Train Ride From Kelantan To Johor With The Jungle Train!