hoping to build up some bank so I can have a bit of a freer life as well.

Ha ha, well that is the pay off I'm afraid. I live a pretty scarce life when it comes to luxuries... like holidays etc. I literally haven't been anywhere in nearly 2 years. It's ups and downs with freelance writing. It has been a lean 6 months but I got an opportunity which should make things easier recently. The commission hasn't started yet, but sometimes over the next few months I should be tripling my income, which is nice. I'm hoping it's enough to be able to go travelling if all these health measures I've taken pay off and result in healing my chronic gut issues.

Fingers crossed :)