Wirral, UK | Day 1 of 28

Is it ironic that the piece I will use to restart my travel blog is the journey to close the book on a long chapter of my life? Yes. Is it profoundly cheesy that such a post will be titled “A New Beginning”? Also yes. But we’re rolling with it.

To explain the reasons for this journey, I’m going to need to rewind six years to December 2015, to the day I came out as transgender to my mum. It was as unplanned and spontaneous as coming outs can be, given that the feelings and emotions had been festering inside of me for many years prior, and it was most certainly not well done. We were in the midst of an argument about my rather boy-ish hobbies and in response to my mum’s comment that, deep down, I would always be a girl, I yelled “I’m not a girl” and ran to my room.

Thus began several long hours of me sobbing on my bed, my mum banging on my bedroom door, and eventually my younger sister, who had known for some time, briefly explaining to my mum what the hell was going on. Once the wave of emotions had died down, I was able to emerge and begin the very clumsy explanation of how I felt and what I needed to do to be myself. I didn’t have anywhere near the vocabulary I do now to talk about my experience, having barely learned the meaning of the word transgender, so I don’t blame my mum for her confusion. Once it was clear she understood I was a boy, the conversation moved on to transitioning and the first step of changing my name. Then came hair cuts, new clothes, and the dreaded consult with the GP to be referred to the Gender Identity Clinic.

I’ll save the agony of the waiting list for another time and cut the story short: it is October 2021, I’m on testosterone, but I still have not had top surgery. Having exhausted my options in the UK, both NHS and private, the time came to look elsewhere and so last year I scheduled a consultation with a surgeon in San Francisco. Back then it was very much a back up plan if I was desperate. Now, it is very much a reality and desperation barely begins to describe how badly I need this surgery.

Getting to San Francisco was not going to be an easy task. I created a budget but costs kept cropping up everywhere. I didn’t have anyone to come with me and so I faced another hurdle of recovering from anaesthetic alone. And, of course, the USA was not open to visitors who had been in the UK 14 days prior thanks to the Presidential proclamation. I waited as long as I could but with no sign of change by March 2021, I gave in and booked my date. I would be getting top surgery on 29th October… somehow.

Once all is done and dusted, I’ll delve into the details of how I financed the journey, how I found my surgeon, and any other tips I can offer to my fellow trans folk out there. The focus of these blogs will be the physical journey. I needed a country to spend 14 days in before entering the USA and, after analysing many pros and cons, Barbados came top of the list. High safety standards for COVID, reasonable quarantine period for vaccinated travellers, a country I hadn’t visited previously, and somewhere enjoyable to spend the two weeks.

And that is how, on an early chilly October morning, I found myself on a train to Manchester Airport, equipped with a suitcase of comfy clothes, painkillers, COVID masks, wet wipes, and various other after-surgery essentials. Plus my uni work – lots of it. I still did not dare hope that the surgery could take place without any further obstacles but I will continue to document my journey until I reach my destination. First stop: Barbados.

---

Approximate prices

Train ticket from the Wirral to Manchester Airport = 17.60 GBP || 23.50 USD || 47.40 BBD (booked via Trainline)

Flight from Manchester Airport (MAN) to Bridgetown Airport (BGI) = 357 GBP || 476 USD || 961 BBD (booked via MyTrip)

---

Additional Information

This trip takes place from 11th October to 7th November 2021.

Keep an eye out for upcoming blogs on the rest of the trip “The Journey“.

For my GoFundMe to recoup surgery costs, visit this link.