Jay’s Journey by

Jay Chavez

Part 1: Catching the travel bug

Having been born in Peru, whilst my parents were on a teaching exchange there, I had always felt a pull in that direction. I always knew I would go back. Initially, I planned to go in 2003 but ended up going on an amazing expedition to Malaysia with an organisation called Trekforce (sadly no longer running expeditions but my expedition leader, Dom, now runs his own organisation - Fieldskills). I loved the feeling of sleeping under the trees in a hammock and spent as much time as I could with the local guides, relishing the experience of connecting with people from such a different culture. We built 5 bridges and a trail to improve access for scientists to an uninhabited area rich with undiscovered flora and fauna (and leeches!)