Want to change your life? Maybe consider a one-way flight.

One-way flights have changed my life a few times now.

When I was a toddler, my parents packed two bags, two sleeping bags and my brother and me onto a flight from Auckland to Sydney. So began an on-off affair with Australia, a place that has brought much luck to my life.

At 20, I cycled to the student travel bureau, bought a one-way flight to Barcelona and met Kaitlin, my wife, six weeks later. We now have two boys, who, if not for that flight, wouldn’t exist.

At 25, I called Qantas with 37,000 carefully saved-up frequent flyer miles. 30 minutes later, I’d booked a one-way flight to Nairobi, Kenya, setting in motion a decade of adventure and purpose, and the most fulfilling years of my working life so far.

Now at 42, Kaitlin and I, along with our two boys, Finn (8) and Atlas (5), have recently taken a one-way flight from Brisbane to Montevideo, Uruguay. We hope to journey for a year, most likely returning to Australia in 2027. We don’t know just yet how this journey may change our lives, but we feel that something is coming. How fantastically exciting.

I have a few theories on why one-way flights are so great.

For one, there is the obvious - if you have a confirmed flight home, there is a clear end. A time when you will be back to the comfort and regularity of home. If the journey is not great, you can count down the days. Or if it is great, you have that looming sense that it will soon end. With a one-way flight, it’s less about the calendar; you are just living.

One-way flights also give you a particular kind of mindset. It feels like you are setting out on a journey and are far from sure how it will play out. You know there will be peaks and valleys with moments of struggle and resilience and instances of pure joy and wonder. You are also perhaps more likely to learn a local language, to truly meet people, or commit to finding work or a new way of living and thinking.

They also leave you magically open for spontaneity. Without a set date and place of return, you can sail where life, opportunity and inspiration take you. What rare liberty is this?

How have one-way flights changed your life? Or, far more challenging a question, what courage, boldness or madness would it take for you to leave your job, your lease, your current life, and book a one-way flight somewhere yourself?