‘I left my well-paid corporate job in the concrete jungle of Slough to move to Borneo – now I dive with whale sharks’

An adventurer who left her well-paid corporate job in the “concrete jungle” of Slough to move to Malaysia 20 years ago now spends her days running transformational retreats and diving with whale sharks.

Jo Swann, 52, an author, psychotherapist and clinical hypnotherapist, now lives in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, on the north-west coast of Borneo – but two decades ago, she never dreamed she would be here.

In the mid-1990s, Jo had a successful corporate career at Legend-QDI, the computer giant now known as Lenovo, and was based in Slough – and she was accustomed to a “fast-paced, achievement-driven world”.

However, after meeting her husband Richard in 2000, he suggested they try an 18-month stint in Borneo. The couple left the UK in 2005 and have remained in Borneo ever since.

Jo has since experienced countless “I can’t believe this is my life” moments, including swimming with whale sharks, manta rays and dolphins, seeing a clouded leopard and being chased by pygmy elephants.

She has now released her latest self-help book, Turbulence: Master The Five Tools of A.T.L.A.S To Navigate The Storm And Re-map Your Life, which she describes as a “manual for how to live the human experience”.

Jo told PA Real Life: “I just see the turquoise ocean, the green jungle, the sunsets, the pinks, the oranges, the purples, the yellows – it’s insane.

“Life is colourful, it’s full of nature, and to be able to just have your skin out in the sunshine, it’s wonderful.

“I get to swim in the ocean whenever I want, and life is just now at a pace that I’ve accepted.”

In the mid-1990s, Jo was living in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, and commuting to Legend-QDI’s headquarters in Slough.

She worked at the company for eight years and became the UK manager by her mid-20s, taking their monthly motherboard component sales from 4,000 to 24,000 in just one year, which was “millions of dollars”.

“In those days while I was there, the internet was just beginning, so I had a front row seat in this incredible industry that was booming,” she said.

After meeting her husband Richard in 2000, the couple ventured to Sipadan – an island off the east coast of Malaysian Borneo which was created by a reef growing on top of an extinct volcano – in 2001.

They experienced “world-class scuba diving” and “fell in love with that island”, and Richard later suggested going back to Borneo for an 18-month stay to “see what happens” in 2005.

Initially, Jo said she felt she had been “ripped away from (her) family” when she left, but she soon adjusted to life in Sabah, with its “amazing” wildlife and 28-degree temperatures all year round.

“At first, Richard and I were like two little tornadoes, rushing to adapt, but over time, we embraced the simplicity, the calm and the deep connection to nature … and we’ve been here for 20 years now,” she said.

The couple later launched their company Adventures In Borneo, but when the Covid-19 pandemic hit in 2020, Jo decided to step away from her role as director and focus on self-development, leaving Richard to predominantly run the business.

In her 40s, Jo, who had studied psychology at university, wanted to search for “the meaning of life” and enrolled on online courses to further her knowledge and skills.

“I was able to see that the world can throw what it wants at me, but I get to say how I respond to it,” she said.

Jo’s typical day involves waking up “when (her) body wants to”, without an alarm, stretching and then enjoying a coffee on her balcony with 180-degree views of the ocean.

She will go for a walk without her phone or earphones, as she enjoys listening to the birds and wildlife in the nearby jungles, and she will then complete some work before going to the beach or for a swim.

With a market at the bottom of the hill, Jo will pick up “loads of fresh fruit and vegetables” and, if she has the time, she will go hiking, camping or scuba diving.

Jo has encountered plenty of wildlife while in Borneo but explained that one memory stands out.

She said: “We were just walking through the jungle, and we saw some pygmy elephants.

“We got a little bit too close and she, the female, started reversing on us and stomping her feet, so we knew we had to get out of the way.

“We literally ran along the riverbank and jumped into the boat.”

Other memorable moments include meeting the then Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, William and Kate, at a private welcome party in 2012 and seeing Lewis Hamilton on Mount Kinabalu.

Along with running their adventure company and retreats, Jo is an animal welfare volunteer and offers one-to-one therapy sessions for those struggling with dependencies, including alcohol, drugs and sex.

Through her therapy work, Jo said she discovered that people just need “the tools” to navigate life’s challenges – and this led to the idea for her latest book, which came to her while scuba diving.

“As soon as I dropped below 24 metres, I was just getting massive downloads of information and, over the period of nine or 10 dives, the whole framework of A.T.L.A.S came to me,” she said.

“I wanted to give people tools to navigate the ambiguity and the complexity of life because being human is hard.”

A.T.L.A.S stands for awareness of self, thoughts and feelings, locus of control, adventurous awakening and sense of abundance, and Jo believes the tools in her book will “help people navigate the turbulence” of life.

“I have contemplated what would have happened if I stayed in the UK because I was doing so well in that industry,” she said.

“I probably would have stayed in the corporate world and done very well, but I wouldn’t have had the experiences that I’ve had here.

“It definitely wasn’t easy. Even financially, I went from a very well-off 20-something-year-old to then ‘how many books can I buy per week?’, because we were on a budget.

“But I wouldn’t trade any of it, I wouldn’t change anything.”

To find out more about Jo’s book, visit: mybook.to/TurbulenceAtlas.