What a buzz!
Armed with a pair of scissors and a beard trimmer, Jessica Palfrey, 26, from Bristol, is making her way across the globe, one haircut at a time…
Switching off the electric clippers, I carefully made my finishing touches with a comb and smiled. ‘All done,’ I said.
It was 2016, and my latest customer was the last in my training to qualify as a barber.
I’d always enjoyed cutting hair, found it rather relaxing.
But being a barber had never been my original plan.
As a teen, I’d joined the Army cadets, headed off to do my A-levels at a defence school up in Leicestershire.
But the strict rules of an Army boarding school clashed with my boisterous personality, and I struggled.
After that, the Army paid for me to study engineering at Birmingham University, while also training as an Army reservist.
The idea was for me to one day join the Royal Engineers, but by that point, I was miserable.
Packing it all in, I gave up and went home to Taunton to live with my parents, Brenda and Tony, now both 59.
Needing to make some cash, I enrolled in a hair cutting course – and I loved it.
I qualified five months later, and even though my life hadn’t gone exactly as I’d planned, I was so happy. Butsomething was missing. I’d always dreamed of travelling the world – but without any savings, I didn’t think it would be possible. Then, an idea!
‘I could travel the world and cut hair along the way to fund myself,’ I told Mum and Dad.
Agreeing I needed to stretch my legs, they were supportive, even forked out the cost of an airline ticket to get me started.
A few weeks later, armed with a few changes of clothes and all my barber gear, I was off, a one-way ticket to New Zealand in my hand.
Touching down 48 hours later, I was exhausted, and quite nervous about this new adventure.
But, checking into a hostel, I soon made friends.
‘Anyone fancy a trim?’ I asked, holding out my clippers and offering my services to anyone who would take me on.
I was surprised when so many people said yes – and there I was, cutting hair over 11,000 miles from home.
My first stint earned me enough cash to pay for a few more nights at the hostel – I was on a roll!
A few days later, I met Caro, 19, a backpacker from Germany. Both growing tired of hostel life, we decided to use what little money we had to buy an old camper van and travel around New Zealand.
We stopped at camp sites along the way – most of the people there were tourists or backpackers, desperate to get their hair cut!
My services were in demand, and with Caro’s help, over the next few months, I snipped my way through the country!
One morning I woke up to the sound of seals barking on a remote beach, surrounded by crystal clear water.
It was absolutely stunning, and in that moment, I knew I’d made the right choice.
I felt completely free. To make ends meet, Caro and I sold our van and ended up living with a local circus family we’d met on the road – and we ended up becoming part of the circus!
They trained us to become a juggling act, and we travelled around with them for two weeks – me cutting hair in exchange for food and board.
After that, I hitchhiked my way around the country,
My unique services were in demand
before finally making my way to Australia.
In 2018, I decided to go home for a while – but not before stopping off in Vietnam and Thailand first!
And after a few good homecooked meals and some TLC from Mum and Dad, I was off again, this time to sunny LA.
Offering my services along Hollywood Boulevard, I met up with a local photographer.
‘You should really document your travels,’ he said, after I
told him all about my crazy adventures.
He even offered to be my first model, and the pair of us climbed up to the Hollywood sign – I cut his hair while he took selfies.
From there I went to Las Vegas, where I cut someone’s hair under the famous Welcome to Las Vegas sign.
After that it was back to California – this time, the beautiful San Francisco.
I cut someone’s hair under the Golden Gate Bridge – but stupidly forgot to snap a picture of the occasion!
Still, it was an awesome experience I’ll never forget.
From San Francisco, I jetted off to Egypt.
While most tourists head straight to the pyramids, I decided to enrol in a scuba diving course instead.
A lovely man called Ahmad was my instructor, and after a few weeks, I was a fully qualified diver. ‘You can cut my hair underwater as a thank you,’ he grinned.
‘But you’re bald!’ I laughed. Instead, Ahmad and I dived into the Red Sea with our scuba gear, and I trimmed his beard underwater.
From there, I flew off to cut hair on the slopes of the Swiss Alps and in front of a temple in Hong Kong.
By February last year, I’d reached the Philippines, where I spent four months cutting people’s hair on local beaches.
People there would queue up to see me, begging me to re-create the latest hairstyles they’d seen in magazines.
Most of them were so poor – some of them had never had a haircut before – so I decided not to charge them.
It was the same when I went to Nepal – people who lived in remote villages had never even seen a barber before, so it was so fun to meet them and give their hair a bit of life.
By September, I’d made my way back to Europe, where I cut a man’s hair outside Rome’s Colosseum, and did another haircut in the Vatican City.
And in December, I touched down in Kathmandu for one of the best experiences of my life – climbing to Mount Everest’s base camp.
I joined a group of hikers for the 16-day trek, made lots of good friends.
‘You can cut my hair when we get there,’ Will, a fellow hiker smiled on the way up.
And I did just that – wrapping my clippers in gloves so the battery wouldn’t freeze, I cut Will’s hair as we admired the most spectacular view in the world.
It was such an incredible experience.
After that, Will became ill and had to be airlifted back down the mountain.
Thankfully he’s OK now, but I had to keep telling everyone that it had nothing to do with the haircut!
Soon, it was time to swap minus 26-degree temperatures for 38-degree climates in Bali, where I cut a man’s hair outside a temple.
By then, home was calling my name, and I’ve since made my way back to Bristol, where I now work at a pop-up barber called Eddies Street Cuts, cutting hair for homeless people and people in need. It’s a great feeling knowing I’m making these people feel a bit better about themselves, and it’s also helping me save up some money to go travelling again.
People call me the Backpack Barber, and while I may have been terrible at remembering to take photos of my travels, I do have the tattoos to prove it.
I’ve got a tattoo of the national animal of each country I’ve cut hair in – a kiwi for New Zealand, a kangaroo for Australia, a water buffalo for Vietnam, an elephant for Thailand, a bald eagle for America, a carabao for the Philippines, a panda for Hong Kong, and a cow for Nepal.
Armed with a pair of scissors and a beard trimmer, I’ve managed to earn a decent living by trimming hair across four continents.
But I’m by no means done. For my next great adventure, I plan on heading across to South America.
I want to fly to Argentina and haircut my way all the way up to Central America.
I’m lucky enough to travel and see the world, and I can do it all simply by cutting hair!
I’m known as the backpack barber