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Updated: On The Hunt for ‘The Best Life In The World’

You may remember Ben Southall – he won ‘the best job in the world’, a £70,000 six-month stint as ‘caretaker’ of Hamilton Island on the famous Great Barrier Reef. He beat nearly 35,000 applicants for the dream position. Ben, now 39, is embarking on a new epic adventure, which will see him travel over 10,000km and pass through more than 25 counties.

On 8th February 2015, Ben and his wife Sophee left Singapore in their Land Rover, ‘Colonel Mustard’ and began to travel back to the UK – an epic adventure for which my Travel Cash Prepaid MasterCard® has provided sponsorship. Along the way, the two adventurers are searching for people who genuinely believe they have the ‘Best Life in the World’ and asking them what makes them happy.

The trip will retrace to the route of the 1955 First Overland Land Rover Expedition by the teams from Oxford and Cambridge University from Singapore to London. It will take around 9 months to complete and their ultimate aim is to discover the person with the best life in the world.

Part of Ben’s role on Hamilton Island involved updating a blog with photos, videos and diary entries documenting his experiences to help promote the area as a tourist destination worldwide. Similarly, Ben will be documenting the stories of the people he meets on his latest venture via the dedicated website www.bestlifeintheworld.com.

So far, Ben and Sophee have travelled 21000km, immersing themselves in diverse cultures and meeting extraordinary people.

One of the most humbling experiences was visiting Nepal and feeling the shudders of the earthquake on 12th May.

Ben said: “There’s something incredibly terrifying about being shaken by a huge earthquake but at the same time it’s also exciting. It was a powerful reminder of quite how insignificant we are as human beings when Mother Nature decides to display her full force.

“We met a Rescue Pilot while in Nepal called Ram. When the first earthquake hit, Ram was one of the first helicopter pilots to fly aid into the devastated areas around Everest Base Camp and Langtang. When I caught up with him for a coffee in Kathmandu his positive outlook and stories of the experience left me captivated and gave me a different perspective on life.”

Ben is no stranger to adventure. In 2008 he climbed five of Africa’s highest mountains and ran five marathons during his circumnavigation of the continent with his ‘Afritrex expedition’. During 2011 he kayaked 1600kms along the Great Barrier Reef retracing Captain Cook’s ‘Voyage of Discovery’.

Ben is keen to keep plotting adventures and exploring, while learning new skills such as filming, editing, presenting and public speaking. However, it’s not an easy task. The most recent Land Rover Expedition has taken many months for Ben and Sophee to plan and prepare for.

Ben continues: “While planning this expedition, there has been a lot to consider – both larger, important logistics and smaller things to make the trip run smoothly. For example, I have debated safest and most cost effective way to carry money while we travel through so many different countries. I decided on my Travel Cash because the cards appeared so easy to use and are not linked to a bank account, plus there are no charges for taking out cash or spending which was important for me*. It will really put my mind at rest knowing that I don’t have a wad of cash in my rucksack, which could easily be lost or stolen.”

Ben will be using a my Travel Cash Multi-Currency Card to spend and withdraw foreign currency during his trip.

my Travel Cash (mytravelcash.com) offers three prepaid MasterCard travel money cards (Euro Currency Card, US Dollar Currency Card and Multi-Currency Card), which provide a convenient way to take, spend and access money abroad. The Multi-Currency Card, which Ben will be using, is loaded in GB Pounds and designed for spending in any foreign currency with the exchange rate calculated at the time of the transaction with no additional fees for spending or withdrawing cash*.

*Some ATM providers may apply additional surcharges. Withdrawing GB Pounds or spending in GB Pounds using the Multi-Currency Card incurs a 2.99% fee.

ENDS
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Notes to Editors:
my Travel Cash prepaid currency cards offer competitive exchange rates. The cards benefit from Chip & PIN protection and no link to your bank account.

The cards can be used at over 35 million merchants and any of the 2.1 million ATMs worldwide that display the MasterCard Acceptance Mark.

All my Travel Cash Cards provide a generous 1% cashback on all purchases made and a dedicated 24/7 Customer Services team is on hand to help.

The Express Delivery option allows cards to be delivered in just 1-3 working days and is free for orders of £800 or over. For orders under £800 a fee of £5 will be added to the order. Visit mytravelcash.com for information about terms, fees or to order a card by completing the quick order process.

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