Taking Travel Risks: Kio Briggs the Inspirational Traveller

As we embark on the year’s journey, with the limitations of time consideration of working days and of course our pockets, travelling is often an afterthought. It is considered a luxury rather than a necessity.

What if we could cross out those working days and fill up our calendars with endless possibilities of travelling?

For 24 year-old Kio Briggs, this was a decision he made in 2014. The British Nigerian had completed his secondary school at CITA International School in Port-Harcourt. He explains, “I moved to England and went straight into A levels, on to University for my Bachelors. Immediately after that I started my Masters degree and before I had even completed my dissertation I had started my career in finance.”   

Like many of us, Kio had spent most of his years studying and gotten a nine to five job straight after. He talks about an uneasy feeling of being lost when he says, “I hadn’t seen enough, done enough and met enough people to settle down into a lifelong career at barely 22 years old. Friends and family kept saying to me, “You can stay at your job and just go on a one or two-week holiday”, I understand the logic behind that, however I didn’t just want to travel, I wanted new experiences, to actually take my time seeing places, learning about different cultures and how different eyes see the world, maybe in some way open my own eyes a bit more.”

After much consideration, Kio decided to quit his job and take time off to explore the world. The finance consultant considers himself to be a traveller, having travelled to 10 countries between the year 2014 and 2016.

Kio considers himself to be an absolute believer in “each to their own.” He would advise that people do whatever they believe in, especially things that will make them the happiest.

” I realised I wasn’t looking to have the fullest bank account, I wanted to have the fullest life. Years after I set off on my first trip, I find myself up a career path I am phenomenally happy with and find more fulfilling than I found my initial path,”

He explains a serene state of happiness and self-fulfilment which he would have never found in his nine to five job. Being able to see the world through different eyes has changed his perspective on life, he describes his attitude towards life as more thankful and grateful than ever before.

He firmly believes being able to experience life whole fully enabled him to have freedom. This personal choice which made him a happier individual, might also be a key factor to others. We are taught to have a capitalist mentality in which our life goals revolve around all things money driven, Kio questions this idea in relation to happiness.