Earlier this year, I strapped on a backpack and travelled the world for nine weeks. My posting in Tokyo as The Australian Financial Review’s North Asia correspondent was over, and it seemed like the perfect time to take long-service leave before moving back to Australia.

At 54, I wanted to find out if it was possible to recapture that sense of freedom and adventure I experienced as a young backpacker three decades earlier. The idea was to travel spontaneously without being locked into a schedule and book hotels and flights at a whim while on the road.