The Big Interview: Amy Baker, Author of Miss-Adventures

Amy Baker quit her job to go to South America. She wrote about her adventures in her new book Miss-Adventures. We talked with Amy about her experiences.

– Hi Amy! Congratulations on your book! Can you tell us why you decided to give up your job?

– Thank you. Well, I had a hard job and worked day and night but didn’t progress at all. I wasn’t happy with it. So, I asked, ‘Why am I doing this job?’ I wanted to write about travel. If I wanted to do that, I needed to travel, so I quit my job and flew to South America.

– The focus of your journey – and your book – is ignoring life advice. Can you tell us more about that?

– Of course! When I quit the job and told people about my plans, I started getting loads of advice from everyone. They warned me on what to do and what to be careful about. My family told me what I should avoid eating too much. However, my friends were really supportive. Most of them said, ‘You are doing a great thing. Go for it!’ Suddenly, I understood that when we listen to other people, we can’t listen to ourselves. We forget what we want to do or where we want to go. So, I decided to ignore all the opinions for a while.

– Which of the countries you visited in South America was your favourite?

– Colombia! I just completely fell in love with it. The heat, the people, the landscape – everything about it felt exciting. Plus it was where I met the best friends I made on the trip, where I had the most fun and where I realised the most about myself.

– Congratulations on the book! How did that come about?

– I wanted to have something to show from my trip other than the photographs and good memories! At the end of my trip, I had a lot of notes and a lot of funny stories, so I put them all in a book.

– Finally, what’s next for you after Miss-Adventures?

– I’m working on another book already. It’s going to tell what’s out there and how it can help if you’re prepared to open your mind and your heart a little. I’m excited about it!