I moved to Tokyo to open a bar last year. I'd already lived in a few cities across Asia, but moving was harder in my 30s.

09.08.2024 - 01:01 / insider.com

I moved to Thailand to teach English the day after I turned 24. I realized right away that I wasn't built for my native London, and wanted to create a life outside the UK.

My next home was in Seoul, for two years, followed by a decade in Hong Kong — the one place I truly felt at home. It was there that I got my career back on track and left teaching, for it hadn't been part of my career plan, just a means to an end for living a life abroad.

I landed my dream job as the food and drink editor of Time Out Hong Kong and found myself falling in love with Asia's cocktail scene. Hong Kong's bartending community felt like my people — I finally found a place where I truly fit in.

I'd worked in hospitality on and off since I was 14, running plates in a London greasy spoon, and decided it was time to get back into bartending.

I later moved on to become the managing editor of DRiNK Magazine Asia, while I was simultaneously bartending at The Old Man Hong Kong. I traveled with the team to do pop-ups and became even more ingrained in Asia's cocktail world. The Old Man went on to take the No. 1 spot at Asia's 50 Best Bars 2019, and my eyes were wide open to this fascinating world.

I eventually left the bar to concentrate on writing and went on to publish my first book, "Cocktails of Asia." It was my love letter to the bar scene that had made me feel so at home. The book caught my now-business partner's attention and recently led me to Japan to help open a bar, Tokyo Confidential, in the capital. My partner is private and prefers not to be mentioned.

It was a difficult decision to make. One of my toughest yet. I had built a beautiful home in Hong Kong, and formed a tight-knit community of friends. I knew it wouldn't be the same elsewhere, especially somewhere as geographically huge as Tokyo.

But I had to ask myself, what was I really doing? I had hit a bit of a ceiling in my editorial role, and my husband — who is a cofounder of Tokyo Confidential — was miserable in his job.

My parents always said how brave I was for moving abroad. I never understood this, as they'd never traveled much, so how would they know? Bravery didn't even come to mind for me, but they were right. You're braver when you're younger. In our mid-30s, we were freaking out about change and knew that if we were going to do this, we were going to give our absolute all.

After a dozen trips to Japan over the past decade, I thought I was pretty familiar with the country. Before moving to Thailand and South Korea, I'd never been, and got on just fine. Perhaps it was because my innate ability to adapt anywhere was stronger in my 20s.

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