Solo Travel Origin Story

For my 32^nd birthday, I went on a solo trip to Colombia. The experience inspired to share about my travels in a deeper, more meaningful way. This trip took a lot of research, planning and confidence to make happen and in doing so, it reinforced the value and transformation solo travel provides. But before we dive into that, let’s talk about how we got here. 

Solo travel sort of found me. 

I went on my first domestic solo trip to Naples, FL for my 30^th birthday in 2021. I had put profound emphasis on this day for my entire life because it was on 3/30, marking it as Golden. 

 When I was invited to a friend’s surprise party the weekend of my (not yet planned) 30^th celebration, it felt like a gut punch. My two options were: A) go and pretend not to feel overlooked or B) celebrate my birthday in April.

Both felt equally depressing; I decided on a trip to the beach.

I booked a flight to Fort Meyers, Florida and spent the weekend with an old work colleague of mine. We toured the Everglades, hit up Kava bars and went to dinner. I booked a hotel for the remaining 3 nights of the trip, and soft launched my first solo vacation.

I found myself in a pensive state for the first few days.

I wasn’t particularly happy with where I was at in life. I had lingering credit card debt, my situationship was dying a slow natural death and I was intentionally spending my birthday alone.

I felt lost.

The night before my birthday I hid behind tears, reflecting on my life experience at a sushi restaurant. The girls sitting next to me saw and invited me to sit with them. They hyped me up and told me how brave I was for going somewhere alone. Suddenly I didn’t feel so pathetic. I felt proud of myself.

This act of kindness invited me to release my outdated victim story and allowed me to lean into the magic of the moment.

My actual 30^th birthday was perfect. I woke up, and meditated / did breathwork on the beach. I ate breakfast, laid out by the pool and responded to a flood of texts, calls and well wishes. I grabbed British tea time and got my nails done. I even bought my first Louis Vuitton purse.

At night, my friend met me for dinner and I won $500 on a scratch off.

I left home that next morning feeling so rejuvenated and proud of myself.

Two years later, I am writing fresh off my 7^th solo country (Italy, Vatican, Denmark, London (UK), Portugal, Paris (France) + Colombia) and first time in South America.

I will share the events leading up to my first solo international trip to Italy just 6 months later tomorrow.

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 Xoxo,