How Solo Travel Changed My Life — And Why I Want to Help You Change Yours

There’s something that happens when the plane lifts off the ground. A hush. A moment where the world falls away and you realize it’s just you, your backpack, your hope. I’ve felt that hush more times than I can count.

But I didn’t always call it solo travel. Sometimes it was a train across the country for college. Sometimes it was a one-way ticket to Alaska with only a half-friend waiting on the other end. And sometimes it was leaving the Peace Corps after two years in Botswana and saying, I need to see more.

Each time, I asked myself, Is this the right move? But once I was in the air, that doubt never held. Not once. I always moved forward.

What Peace Corps Gave Me (Besides Mosquito Bites and a Sunburn)

After Africa, I came home changed. Not in a dramatic, Eat Pray Love kind of way. Just more grounded. More capable. I had done the hardest thing I’d ever do — and it taught me that I could do anything.

That confidence stayed with me on my first official solo trip to Europe. I didn’t drive. I didn’t speak the languages. My maps barely worked, and my phone battery dipped faster than my courage some days. But still, I wandered. I got lost in every city. I got found again, too.

In Toledo, I found the restaurant I’d been seeking for hours just as I started to panic. They welcomed me. Fed me. Nourished me. I left full and aimless — still lost. I tried following the flow of foot traffic. I tried not to cry. Eventually, I followed a tour group out of the maze. I wasn’t part of them, but they got me home.

That’s when I realized: you don’t always need a map. Sometimes you just need to move toward what feels right.

The Loneliness of Beautiful Things

I’ve had birthdays alone. I’ve cried in airports. I’ve wandered into friendships that still sustain me years later.

I’ve spent my birthday in Seoul, anonymously making perfume, cooking new recipes, and getting a tattoo that no one knew was celebratory. It was a quiet revolution.

And yes, loneliness visits sometimes. But it’s never stayed longer than I needed it to. Because something better always arrives — a cozy hostel dinner, a stranger who becomes a soul friend, a day that surprises me with its softness.

What Travel Taught Me About Life (And Myself)

Before solo travel, I was waiting. Waiting for permission. For someone to say I could go. For someone to come with me.

Now? I go because I said so. I rest when I need to. I explore when I want to. I have become the captain and the anchor of my own story. Traveling has taught me how to challenge the plot of my own story, be the main character, and find my own happily ever after.

The trip that still breaks me wide open? Hawaii with my mom. I paid for everything. We drove the Hana Highway, buried our feet in warm sand, and filled our days with joy. But we didn’t roll down the hill behind the hotel. I wanted to. She wanted to. But we didn’t. And we forever wished we had. We had a thousand remarkable memories of that trip, but the one we didn’t do is the one I remember the most. 

She’s gone now. That trip taught me that joy delayed is often joy denied. And I’ve made it my mission not to deny joy to myself — or anyone I serve.

Why I’m Building This Business

I don’t fit the influencer mold. I’m a plus-sized, biracial Black woman who travels solo and makes her own rules. I don’t do this to impress anyone. I do this because it changes people. It changed me.

There was a time I forgot what I loved. When I finally made it to Seoul, something woke up in me again. I felt wonder. Joy. Curiosity. And a soft voice whispering, don’t let this go again.

Since then, I’ve built a business that creates custom travel itineraries for women like you — high-achieving, heart-heavy, and overdue for a reset.

This is about more than locations. This is about the version of you that gets to re-emerge in them.

What I Want You to Know

You don’t need to be brave. You just need to be ready.

I believe travel is self-care. Not the kind that checks boxes or takes cute photos. The kind that shifts something real. The kind that lets you feel joy in your body, presence in your breath, and power in your story.

And if you’re craving something like that, I made something just for you.

👉 Download the Escape Blueprint

It’s free. It’s beautiful. It’s a soft place to start. Because this isn’t about being a traveler. It’s about finally coming home to yourself.