A man from Belfast decided to swap the city for travelling the world as a way to improve his mental health.
Noah McNaull, 22, is from the Stranmillis area of South Belfast, and decided earlier this year to pack up his life and travel the world, leaving the city with just £100.
Over the past few months, he has travelled through Spain and Italy, and is hoping to see more of Europe before branching out further afield. During his travels, Noah has been sleeping on beaches, relying on the kindness of strangers, and documenting his journey on his TikTok page, which now has over 17,000 followers.
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Noah said his decision to travel was based on a number of factors. When he was in fourth year he was expelled from school, and struggled to find what he wanted to do with his life.
In the years that followed, he ended up being in and out of jobs, working long shifts in bars, nightclubs and warehouses. He had worked towards being a Twitch streamer, but became frustrated waiting for success.
The 22-year-old began to fill his time by socialising and drinking heavily. His mental health plummeted, and he was put on anti-depressants.
But as he began to grow tired of constantly socialising and closing himself off emotionally, Noah decided to travel the world, sparked by his love of solo-travelling.
"I remember the moment I decided I was going to do this," Noah told Belfast Live.
"I remember sitting on my bed, looking at a wall. I've had these dreams and aspirations of wanting to be a Twitch streamer. I looked at all the equipment then looked at the wall and said it's going to be a long time before you can afford it; I'm out of here, I'm leaving.
"My mental health also wasn't good. I've always had a bit of wanderlust in me. I've always loved travelling and have always wanted to do it by myself, solo travelling just appeals to me massively.
"When I was 18 years old, the first thing I did was I booked a hostel in Barcelona for the weekend and went there myself. That was nerve-wracking, I remember the feeling of going up the escalator and going into the unknown a bit.
"But after that weekend I fell in love with it. A year later I went inter-railing by myself and that was spectacular."
Noah set off on his travels on May 31, and is currently travelling through Sicily. He's planning to briefly return home to Belfast at Christmas to learn how to drive, before setting off again, hoping to go further afield.
He keeps his followers on TikTok up to date with what he gets up to each day, including where he spends the night and where he's travelling to next.
Noah said being able to sleep on beaches every day is an "absolute dream", and he's been blown away by the kindness of strangers both at home and abroad.
He said: "The alarm clock here for me is the sun, that's a nice way to wake up every day. I left Belfast with 100 euros and told myself before I left - you're going to run out of money and you're going to have to beg on the streets. I knew this, and I was okay with it.
"But I was just posting on TikTok from day one, I was getting comments telling me to start a GoFundMe page but I didn't feel comfortable with it. But more and more comments came in, my funds were getting lower, so I decided to try it."
The Belfast man said his family and friends have been supportive of his decision to travel. He added that he loves the freedom he gets from exploring and that he would urge people to get out of their comfort zone and step into adventure.
"Falling asleep to the crashing of waves, lying on a beach looking up at the stars; it's being free, that's the best part of all of this," Noah added.
"My family are like 'fair play'. My mum's travelled herself, so she's happy with it. My grandparents were a bit worried at the start, but it's been months now so they know I've got this. My friends are also like 'fair play, go on Noah.'
"To others, I would say this life is short, we're only here for a brief moment of time in the span of existence. I think we should all live it to the fullest. For those who are anxious and don't know what the first step is - the first step is buying that plane ticket and just doing it, that's all it takes.
"As human beings we're hard-wired to want to be comfortable, not to want to be happy. When you're on the pursuit to happiness you need to be uncomfortable sometimes. I've embraced that now, and I think others should too as that's how we can be truly happy."
You can follow Noah's journey on TikTok here.
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