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Rebekah sold her car and put all her clothes on Vinted to raise enough for an open-ended trip

A woman saved £18,000 in just seven months to travel the world – by selling her wardrobe on Vinted. Rebekah Swatton, 26, has spent the past seven months aggressively saving for an open-ended trip abroad after a previous journey forced her to rethink her relationship with money and possessions.

Her outlook on life changed dramatically after the sudden death of her boyfriend from a cardiac arrest five years ago, an experience she says made her realise that “nothing in life is certain”. Last March, she embarked on a six-month backpacking adventure across Australia, Africa, and Asia, taking a sabbatical from her job at Lloyds Banking Group.

But when she returned to the UK in September, she says she was struck by how little she actually needed the possessions waiting for her at home. That realisation sparked a drastic lifestyle change.

Rebekah sold her car, worked up to 20 hours of overtime each week and cleared out the majority of her wardrobe on Vinted – ultimately building up savings of £18,000 for her next trip to South America. Rebekah, from Powick, Worcestershire, said: “I had been away for so long that when I came back I realised I had been living without any of these extra material things happier than I was living with them.”

Rebekah began saving in 2022 following the sudden death of her boyfriend of six months, who passed away from an undiagnosed underlying heart condition. Rebekah said: “It really made me wake up and I felt that nothing is certain going forwards. I’d gone straight from college into career mode without thinking.

“I’d always said I wanted to travel and this really catalysed my first trip, as I want to live my life to the fullest.”

Last March, Rebekah set off on a six-month backpacking adventure, travelling through Australia, the Philippines, Cambodia, Vietnam, Kenya, and Tanzania. When she returned, Rebekah decided to completely change the direction of her life and pursue travelling full time.

She said: “It was such an amazing time. I really enjoyed feeling free and experiencing new things each day. But once I got back and realised I wanted a change, I decided next time I left I would leave my job permanently and not return to the UK for at least a few years.”

With that commitment in mind, Rebekah knew she would need to build up substantial savings to support herself on an open-ended trip with no fixed return date. Rebekah said: “Since I’ve been back, I’ve been living with my parents, which of course helps keep outgoings down.

“I have been working my £30,000 banking job full time plus an extra 15 to 20 hours over time each week. I sold over 200 items on Vinted, from clothing to accessories to random trinkets and also sold my car for £2,500.

“This, plus working 60 hour weeks and living with my parents, meant I saved nearly £20k for the next time I leave the country.”

Rebekah has booked a flight to Guatemala for the first week of May, with plans to travel through South America from there. She said: “I’ve planned out the first couple months of my trip with flights and loose accommodation.

“But I know over the next six months I want to travel through Guatemala, Columbia, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Argentina, and Chile.”

Abdul Khan was in nappies when his cousin Amir won the nation’s hearts and a silver medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

By the time world champion Amir produced a career-defining performance against Marcos Maidana in 2010, Abdul was a seven-year-old watching wide-eyed in Bolton.

On Saturday, featherweight Abdul faces journeyman Liam Fitzmaurice at Wembley in a watershed moment for British South Asian boxing.

The card is headlined by unbeaten light-welterweight Adam Azim and features prospects Mohammad Bilal Ali, Vijayraj Karia and Saqib Mehmood in the earlier bouts – meaning five south Asian fighters will share billing.

“Seeing Amir reach the heights of the sport only lit the fire in probably the majority of the South Asian kids out there, including me,” Abdul, 23, tells BBC Sport.

Amir rose to prominence after winning silver in Athens aged 17 and went on to capture world titles at light-welterweight, becoming one of Britain’s most high-profile boxers.

Unbeaten in 14 professional fights with three knockouts, Abdul is the first to admit his surname helped carve his path. The family connection even led to him fighting on the undercard of Amir’s final professional bout against Kell Brook.

But after building his record on the small-hall scene and on international cards, the time has come to step out of the familial shade.

“Being known as his cousin was always going to be like that because of what Amir achieved,” Abdul says. “I’m grateful for everything he has done to open the doors – but it is all right getting through the doors, it is how good you are to stay in those rooms.

“It’s been my own hard work and dedication which has kept those doors open. This only gives me more of a push to just get out of the shadow. I think we’re all our own people and I’d love to shrug off that tag of Amir’s cousin.

“My team have always said to build me in the right way and to explode when the time comes – now it’s my time.

“He done so much for me but I don’t want to latch onto anyone else’s name, you only appreciate it more – and get appreciated – if you do it this way.”