After being left standing at the altar, a jilted bride
quit her job and swapped weddings for
wanderlust.
Heartbroken Katy Colins, 30, sold her house and
her car and booked a one-way ticket to south
east Asia after having her big day called off.
Little did she know that backpacking around
Thailand, India and Nepal on her own would lead
to her achieving a childhood dream of becoming a
published author.
Katy, from Formby, England, has secured a three-
book deal with Carina UK, an imprint of world-
renowned publisher Harper Collins.
The former Manchester Airport public relations
worker told how she was left confused and
disillusioned with life after being jilted by her
long-term boyfriend and sold “anything that
wouldn’t fit into a large backpack” before jetting
off to Thailand on her own.
Katy told the Liverpool Echo:
“Everyone did think I was a little mad
especially as I’d never travelled anywhere
by myself before but it just felt right.
“I needed the time away from everything
and everyone I knew to find myself, but it
wasn’t as cheesy as that.”
With a degree in English and journalism from
Salford university, Katy said she always dreamed
of one day writing a novel.
She kept a travel blog, mainly to keep family and
friends updated during her trip, which grew and
grew in readers.
Katy said:
“People who weren’t related to me started
reading my blog and sending me emails,
telling me how brave I was to quit it all and
go.
“I received messages from other newly-
single men and women who said they read
my blog as an inspiration - that just
because you’ve been dumped it doesn’t
mean you have to listen to bad power
anthems and devour ice-cream.
“You can use this as a catalyst for
something much bigger and better.”
As she travelled around south-east Asia and India,
Katy said the passion to start putting her
experiences into words was hard to resist.
She said:
“I started writing a few chapters, not fully
aware that they would be the start of a
novel but mostly as a way to clear my
head.
“Although I was experiencing things that I
would never have imagined seeing, such as
the Taj Mahal and trekking through the
Himalayas, I was still working through the
feelings that I wouldn’t be making wedding
scrapbooks or be living the married life,
well not just yet at least.
“I began to think what if you were given a
second chance to find yourself?’”
Katy has since backpacked around South America
for six months and lived in France teaching
English for the past two years.
She was living in a small fishing town in northern
France when she received news about the book
deal.
Katy said:
“Ironically, an editor called me on what
would have been our third wedding
anniversary. “It is poignant to think how far
I’d come through hard work, being brave
and wanting to live the biggest life I could.”
Katy’s journey inspired her to write the first novel
in The Lonely Hearts Travel Club series, a light-
hearted romantic comedy, which has been
described as “Bridget Jones goes backpacking”.
Destination Thailand, the first book in the series,
follows hapless Georgia Green who spends what
should have been her big day sobbing into a
warm sex-on-the-beach cocktail wondering where
it all went wrong.
She is forced to make a bucket list of her new life
goals and packs her bags for a long-haul
adventure to Thailand as she tries to discover
herself once again.
With her unworn wedding dress still hanging in
her wardrobe, Katy now thinks back to her ex
calling everything off as the best thing that ever
happened to her.
She said:
“His decision, although devastating at the
time, was the wake-up call I needed. I had
a good job, a lovely house and lived a
comfortable lifestyle but it lacked
adventure.
“That is something I hoped travelling
halfway around the world on my own would
give me, and luckily it paid off.
“I have climbed an active volcano in Chile,
slept in a Thai jungle, got covered in Holi
powder in India, skydived in France, and
even taken a flight past Mount Everest.
“I’ve experienced things that I would never
have dreamed possible but the highlight is
being able to call myself a writer. Nothing
compares to that.
“I am a huge optimist and believe that
everything happens for a reason. Life is
about saying yes, being brave and knowing
deep down that it will all end up alright.”
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