A woman who says she felt ‘stuck’ and ‘invisible’ while living in the UK has sold almost everything she owns to move abroad.
Angela Ward was determined to start a new life in the sun.
So much so that she bought a one-way ticket, crammed all her belongings into just two suitcases and left without a plan.
And the content creator says it was the best decision she’s ever made.
‘I had no safety net. No plan B. Just a leap of faith into the unknown,’ Angela, from Clacton-on-sea, Essex, told What’s The Jam.
She added: ‘I left my house and sold every single possession I owned. Everything. Except two suitcases, my passport, my bank cards and a travel business I could take with me.’
The 57-year-old has become stuck in a vicious cycle of feeling ‘invisible’ while living in the UK.
She said: ‘I was exhausted, frustrated and felt invisible in a world that seemed to have no place for me.
Angela Ward was set on starting a new life in a sunshine-filled country
She said she was fed up with her life – and was not happy in the UK
‘I was absolutely fed up with my life. For most of it, I followed the rules. I studied hard. I earned degrees, a Master’s, and a six-figure salary.
‘I worked tirelessly, built a home, and filled it with the things society told me defined success. From the outside, it looked perfect – secure, accomplished, enviable.’
In 2023, though, she left her high-earning job as an NHS consultant and quickly faced a tumultuous time plagued with mounting debt and a rapidly depleting savings account.
A year later, she finally snapped.
Angela said: ‘I had a breakdown; no support, no help and trying to work with a system that was working against me and not supporting me.
‘I was literally living in constant fear that I wouldn’t be able to make ends meet and I would be homeless.
‘I was under the most immense pressure, such as cost of living hikes and hefty mortgage. I just couldn’t afford to live like that anymore.’
As a quick fix, Angela decided to put her three-bedroom house up for sale.
Angela decided to sell all of her belongings and start afresh somewhere new
She bought a one-way ticket – and now soaks up the sunshine in Cyprus
But when it didn’t shift for eight months, delays and rising costs only made her life more difficult.
On top of this, Angela still couldn’t land a job; riding a carousel of disappointing interviews that led nowhere.
Then, life dealt another heartbreaking blow when her beloved dog passed away. It brought the light bulb moment to start fresh, though. Angela took her home off the market, renting it out instead, and began selling everything.
She said: ‘The more I let go, the lighter I started to feel. The funny thing about all of this is that I didn’t even know I was being trapped by these things.
‘I just knew that whatever I tried before hadn’t worked. Then God told me to go to Cyprus.’
She kept only a handful of essentials – including her bed, camping gear in storage and her car, which she gave to her daughter, Jaimie-Lee, 38.
And in December 2025, she said goodbye to the UK.
Now settled in Cyprus, Angela has thrown herself into documenting her journey online to her 15,500 Instagram followers on @angela _w_world.
Angela says the move was the best decision that she has ever made
Angela has written a book aiming to help others rethink their mindset and is now running digital marketing courses and developing future business ideas.
She added: ‘I’m working on helping people come out of survival mode and change how they experience life.
‘I think [my friends] were as shocked as I was. But they’ve been totally supportive. I don’t regret selling any[thing]. I didn’t want the things anymore – I wanted freedom.
‘Sometimes you don’t realise what’s trapping you until you finally let it go.’
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