The prospect of leaving the comfortable world of full-time staff journalism to go freelance always seemed too scary to be viable. But after close to two decades as a reporter and then editor on daily publications, the time has come to strike out on my own.

Starting a small business feels like taking a leap into the unknown. What type of company to register; how to handle taking payment; how much of the admin to farm out to other service providers; what web host to use; decisions beget other decisions and answers raise more questions.

But ultimately it is a step-by-step process. Make a decision and then make the next. Sometimes the thing that is insurmountable is our own perception of our limitations — not the thing itself.

Becoming a freelancer is the key to exploring my love of travel more fully and branching out in coverage areas beyond the commodities that have consumed my career for the past decade.

A travelling foodie with a love of skincare and a passion for fashion, a camera always in hand, I’ll also be developing my lifestyle blog, Style Punch. I write these words from the patio of my rented apartment in the tropical paradise of Barbados, where I’ll be spending the next few months at the start of an itinerary that will take me around the world.

Opportunities are springing up from unexpected places and I’m excited for what comes next.