Five years ago Sharon Decouto was a successful accountant working for her family’s business.

Then, one day she gave it all up in order to travel the world and give back to disadvantaged communities in India, Cambodia, Thailand and Peru.

Next month, she is set to embark on her latest adventure — building a home for a needy family in San Benito, Guatemala.

Although her pockets are a lot more empty these days, the 38-year-old admitted she’s happier than ever before.

“I like to tell people that I used to work as an accountant and couldn’t get paid enough. Now I work as a volunteer and it’s the best paid job I’ve ever had and I get paid nothing,” Ms Decouto said.

“My life is entirely different now. I strongly believe that life is about doing what you enjoy.

“I get to sing, make music and give back. Most importantly, I get to follow my heart, instead of doing what society thinks I should be doing and being where it thinks I should be in my life.”

Ms Decouto works as a bartender at The Beach and Cafe Cairo six months of the year, and travels for the remainder of the time.

She has volunteered at an orphanage in Peru and taught music as a form of self-expression to children in poverty-stricken areas of South East Asia.

Along the way, she’s also learned a lot about herself and the beauty of living a less materialistic life.

“I wasn’t fully self-expressed before and thought I had to have the great job, car and house and have all the money,” she explained.

“I thought I needed to work 40 hours a week and only have two weeks’ vacation a year.

“But, now, I work 25 hours a week as a bartender and couldn’t be happier. I get enough money to survive and make enough so I can do the things I enjoy doing and support the travelling I want to do.

“I also live in my parents’ basement — and I’m 38 years old. But, that’s really a small sacrifice to pay.”

Ms Decouto has hosted fundraising events in order to raise money for her various volunteer works.

She will be hosting a Scavenger Hunt this Sunday, starting in Dockyard at 1pm and ending in Hamilton at 6pm.

Individuals and teams are encouraged to participate in a host of fun, off-the-wall activities.

For example, they might be asked to find a police officer and get him/her to sing the national anthem.

The team with the most points will be declared the winner.

There is no set cost to take part in the event, however, Ms Decouto is encouraging participants to give a donation.

She will also be spreading positivity around the Island from now until she departs for her trip on October 15.

Those who have driven along Harbour Road through morning traffic recently may have seen Ms Decouto handing out muffins to commuters.

She said she got the inspiration for that project from ‘Mr Happy Man’ himself, Johnny Barnes.

“I was sitting with Mr Barnes one day and he said ‘You know what this world needs? A whole lot of love.’ And I said ‘You know what you’re actually right’.

“I decided to give a ‘muffin for nothing’. I started out by giving away 40 muffins and recently that number was as high as 500.

“It’s funny to see people’s faces when we give something away for free. You see their eyes light up or they smile because they aren’t expecting anything.

“The cool thing about this is I don’t expect anything back either. I do tell them about what I’m going to be doing in Guatemala and if they want to give a donation they can.”

You can find her giving out muffins outside Fly Bridge Tackle on Church Street on Fridays from 12.30pm until 2pm.