Surgeons said flying was out of the question post-cranial operation, so I spent £5,000 on a nearly two-month journey from the UK to New Zealand via cruise ships and trains – it was totally worth it.

A yoga teacher who was warned by doctors never to fly again refused to give up on her dreams of travelling – so spent £5,000 and two months using boats to get all the way to New Zealand.

Bethany Hearn, from Colchester, Essex, was determined to fulfill her dream of emigrating across the world despite warnings from doctors over the risks of flights after skull surgery.

The 23-year-old underwent surgery to remove an abnormal collection of skin cells deep inside her ear – known as a cholesteatoma – in 2021.

The operation meant a part of Bethany’s skull was removed and her ear drum was reconstructed with a graft of cartilage.

However, a year after surgery, Bethany was left in excruciating pain during a flight to Greece after the pressure on the plane caused the graft in her eardrum to sink.

Medics then advised the yoga and pilates teacher to avoid all flight travel from then on to avoid any further complications.

But Bethany was still determined to fulfil her wish of emigrating to New Zealand, and began researching ways to reach her destination via ferries. 

She said: ‘I was told not to fly again because it was too risky. The doctor said the pressure wasn’t good for my head. He said no more flying.

‘He said my graft would basically sink in even more and there was a risk my eardrum would burst.

‘But I really wanted to go back to New Zealand. I sat down and thought: “I really don’t want this to stop me travelling”.

‘When I got told I couldn’t fly, I just really didn’t want my diagnosis to define me. I just thought: “Why should I not be able to still travel?”.

‘I made a joke to one of my friends to say I might just get a boat and it went from there. I thought why not? Surely there must be a way. In the olden days before planes, people still went.’

Bethany’s first ferry trip on Cunard’s Queen Mary 2 set sail from Southampton to New York, on September 15, 2022.

She boarded a three-day train from New York to LA, then embarked on a Princess Cruise from LA, which stopped off in Hawaii, Fiji and French Polynesia on route, before finally arriving in New Zealand on October 27.

The trip took nearly two months and cost Bethany around £5,000 – but she plans to do it all over again in June this year for an epic trip back to the UK after living in Auckland, New Zealand, for the past 16 months.

Bethany said she was the youngest person on board her first cruise by ’50 years’ – with passengers confused as to what the backpacker was doing on board the ship.

She also faced a series of problems as a solo female traveller, including men calling up her room on the cruise and others finding her social media profiles.  

She continued: ‘The first leg of the trip was actually quite lonely. I was the youngest passenger by about 50 years. The cruise was really cool though – I went to a lot of gym classes and the entertainment was fun.

‘I got quite a lot of hostility. I think people were confused about what I was doing on the ship. I had no nice clothes, I just had my backpack. But I did meet two other really nice solo travellers.’

After a three-day cross-country train journey and another cruise across the Pacific Ocean, Bethany arrived in New Zealand with $40 to her name.

There, she worked in babysitting and hospitality jobs before becoming a yoga and pilates teacher.

Bethany said: ‘I had saved £6,500 to get to New Zealand and actually turned up with $40 to my name. I got here and immediately started working.’

Bethany said her unconventional method of travelling across the world helped her ‘define who she is’ – and plans on making the same mammoth journey home next month.

Bethany said: ‘I really underestimated myself. You realise life is short, the world is massive. I look back and think, “Thank god I got on that ship”.

‘It was hard doing it by myself, but it really defined who I am.

‘It’s such a cool way to explore the world and so much fun. Cost is the only thing to consider, but was much more reasonable than initially anticipated.’

A one-way flight from London to Auckland, New Zealand range from between £400 to £800, and takes a minimum of 24 hours, including at least one stop.