Backpack Bren: How she became one the biggest travel- and outdoor Instagram influencers.

Brenda a.k.a Backpackbren lives the life many young globetrotters only dream of. With her colourfull Instagram feed, this young adventuress inspires her 17k and growing fanbase to GO.LIVE! With sponsorships from brands like CAMPTOO and STRONGER Brenda is on her way to become one of the biggest travel- and outdoor Instagram influencers of today. Exploring Europe in a van, hiking, and road tripping around the States, exploring the wilderness of New Zealand, the number of adventures seems endless. BUT there is more than meets the eye. “I came from a long way. Every person can live this lifestyle as long as you are willing to work hard and make the sacrifices.”

Born and raised in a strongly religious family, Brenda was taught to focus on the afterlife. Working on a career and living a fulfilling life was considered to be a focus point once life in paradise had taken its turn. “I always wanted to travel. I was always very curious, a real explorer. I had a big urge to go and see ‘what is around the corner’, but was always told to save this for my time in paradise.”

“I had a big urge to go and see ‘what is around the corner’, but was always told to save my dreams for my time in paradise.”

Brenda got married at a young age. When her marriage ended in a divorce after two years, Brenda’s life turned completely upside down. She got not only separated from her partner but also her family, friends and the community. “The first three months after my divorce was the darkest time of my life. In two days, I had lost everybody around me. I was completely on my own in a city I didn’t know. The first three weeks I didn’t speak to anybody, apart from the cashiers in the supermarket. I had never felt so lonely.”

She decided to do everything within her power to create a new social life. From a course in souring to drawing, she did it all. She also continued going to church. “I forced myself to keep my religion and my believes. For the following 2 years, I continued visiting the church. Until one day… It was about half an hour into the mass... All of a sudden this thought popped up in my mind. ‘What am I doing here? Who am I fooling? I’m fooling myself and everybody here by being here. This is not me.’ And I just stood up and walked out of the door. Now looking back at this period of my life I realize I tried, really wanted and pushed myself to be somebody that I am not.”

“Now looking back at this period of my life I realize I tried, really wanted and pushed myself to be somebody that I am not.”

Now Brenda turned her passed into a positive impact on her life. “It taught me to be humble. To put things in perspective. Even on the hardest and toughest days of life, you can always turn it into something positive.” She now believes in the possibilities that life brings. “The bigger the loneliness, the more I realized that everybody is the director of their own lives and that you are capable of doing so much more than you have ever imagined.”

Her first taste of traveling came via a colleague. “He left to Australia to travel around. The thought of joining him played around in my head for a few days. Then, during my lunchbreak, I decided to just go for it. I jumped up, went to the computer and half an hour later I had booked my flight ticket.”

Instagram became one of her biggest sources of inspiration. “I used to always scroll through these amazing photos of young women traveling around. I would look up the locations of my favorite images and put a star on my google maps. After a while, I found out that the vast majority of my stars were located in West Amerika. So I decided to return to Australia to work and save up money for a road trip. Once in the States, I bought a car which I converted into a simple campervan. Just some crates and a blowup mattress. It was very simple, but it was enough to bring me to all my stars.”

But once again things were not always easy. Loneliness started to kick in again. “I definitely realized that this way of traveling is so much more fun when you can share it with somebody. Luckily her own Instagram feed started to bloom and enabled her to meet up with some of her followers. “I met some of the most inspiring people during that trip.”

“I definitely realized that this way of traveling is so much more fun when you can share it with somebody.”

With time and freedom on her side. Brenda started to reflect a lot of what had happened in her life. “I started to get to know myself, who I am as a person and that I am proud of that.”

“Travelling solo made me get to know myself. Who I am as a person and that I am proud of that.”

Nowadays Brenda wants to inspire others to fulfill their dreams. Whether it is travel related or not. With her slogan Go.Live! She wants to stimulate people to do what they love to do!

“Of course we all need to work. We all need food on the table, a roof over our head. But think about the numerous possibilities you have within your own life. If you do work that you don’t enjoy doing, go an look for something else. When I got back from Australia my other passion: coffee got to another level. I had the dream to start my own coffee shop. To explore if this would be something for me I took a job as a store manager at Bagels and Beans in Breda. Here I had the opportunity to be part of the process of starting and developing a new store and found out along the way that this is not for me. Which is completely fine, at least I gave it a shot. That is the biggest mistake people make in life. They don’t even give it a try. If you want something, go for it, give it a shot. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. That’s part of life. But you have to be willing to make the sacrifices. If you want to travel, sacrifice the comfort of having a stable income and a house. If you want a career, sacrifice a part of your social life. If you want to be healthy, sacrifice your urge of sweets."

“ If you want something, go for it, give it a shot. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. That’s part of life.”

At the moment Brenda has handed in her notice at Bagels and Beans and rented out her apartment in the Netherlands. She will soon leave with her partner to Australia, New Zealand and Canada to explore new and revisit old stars. Follow Brenda’s adventures on her Instagram.