Best friends from Jersey set off to travel around the world

Sunday 23 April 2017

Two best friends from Jersey set off to Asia earlier this year for the first of many adventures they hope will take them around the world.

Curtis Monks (20) and Danny O'Toole (21), both Jersey beans, left their jobs as a trust administrator and an electrician before flying off to Asia. They are hoping to inspire others to get off the Island and explore the world.

Curtis and Danny met at Granville School when they were just 13 and have been best friends ever since. "We're basically brothers!" says Curtis. The two decided to go travelling last summer after Curtis returned from a three-month break, travelling around Thailand, Indonesia and New Zealand.

He told Express: "The winter was coming and it can be a bit depressing in Jersey so we needed to get out. We didn't think too much about it and booked our tickets in September. We were both in the same mindset and knew it was now or never."

Danny added: "We were bored of the nine-to-five routine and we wanted to do something more adventurous. Most people tend to stay in their comfort zone but we wanted something different."

Their adventures kicked off in Australia where they attended the Melbourne F1 Grand Prix, "a Jersey Live big race track" according to Curtis, who arrived in Australia in late January. He worked on construction sites in Sydney for eight weeks before Danny joined him so they could fly to India together.

After India, the 'Travelbros', as the two have dubbed themselves, will go to Sri Lanka, where Curtis will celebrate his 21st birthday. They will then move on to Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines and then back to Australia, where there are planning to spend a couple of months to work and save money. After that, not much is planned as Danny explained: "We don't really know where we will go after Australia, we will see how it goes. We might come back to Jersey for a while and save more money. I would like to go to the US and Canada, Curtis would like to go around Europe."

The first weeks of travelling are proving to be full of surprises for the duo but especially for Danny. It's his first trip off Island. "India is a big jump from a first-world country, there is a giant difference. If people go there, they need to be prepared for something very different." Curtis added: "Most people stare at you in the streets because they only see white people in movies. Once there was a line of people that wanted to take photographs with us. You just have to get used to it, it's a learning experience for them and for us."  

Another surprise, which was definitely not as pleasant as getting to experience new cultures, is the food poisoning the duo got from an unlikely place. Danny explained: "We ate in a few dodgy places and we thought we would get food poisoning from there but we got it from Domino's Pizza! We were craving western food and the pizza was very tasty, but we both ended up sick. We were travelling by train that day, it was the worst day of my life!"

Food poisoning aside, the Travelbros are enjoying their globe-trotting adventures and are hoping to inspire other Islanders to do the same. Curtis said: "A lot of people go on holiday but we don't know that many who have left their job and the Island like that. They need to get out there and see what is outside of Jersey!"

The two post regular updates on social media mostly for their families but also to inspire fellow Islanders to leave the Rock. They are also hoping to find another career through the experience. Danny explained: "We are not really scared about not having a job when we get back to Jersey. It's more exciting than anything else. We both worked before so we are confident we will find something when the time comes. But we are also interested in the media industry so maybe we could make a job out of this somehow!"

As much as the two are enjoying their travels, they are also looking forward to coming back to Jersey. "We love Jersey, it's our home and we will always go back. It's the best place in the world but people need to realise and appreciate that the world is bigger than our island," said Curtis.