When Millie, 22, arrives to the SHAG shoot, she is kind eyed and mesmerisingly articulate, an accent which encompasses all of English charm. The ever so slight drawl of the shire country mixed with the twang of East London make for a symphony of experience that could only ever belong to a traveler.

“I have a lot of respect for my heritage. There’s a lot of good points about it that doesn’t get represented in the media. It’s so secretive.”

“Because we have such a bad stick as a community, people think we are thieves, we will trash the place, blah blah blah. Not many farmers want to take gypsies to work the farms.”

A nomadic lifestyle breeds a certain type of toughness, of understanding, that’s conveyed in Millie’s easy understanding for nearly every topic brought up in discussion. After being criticized for her upbringing in British culture since growing up, Millie has kindled a fire under her well-worn shoes to go through her London life with the hardworking grit of a traveler and the free thinking of a modern woman.  

“I’d be a completely different person if I still lived on a site. I’d have children by now. My cousin’s a bit younger than me and she already has two twin boys. But you know it’s conflicting because, as a woman, you’re not allowed to have a boyfriend, not allowed out of the house, but you have to get married young. It’s really archaic.”

“I am working on a platform for traveler women. A safe platform where they feel like they can discuss about domestic abuse and their children. It’s so secretive. It has such a bad reputation outside of it. My family are not bad people, but some have been victims of domestic violence.”

After graduating from drama school and spending several months teaching in India, Millie now attends Goldsmiths, one of the top universities in London, studying performance politics and society as a first generation student.