More friends than I can count have asked me over the years if I would write a travel blog of sorts after hearing stories of my mostly solo journeys around the world. I'll admit the idea always intrigued me, but did I really have the time or the energy to keep up with it? Would anyone actually read it? Would it be like the numerous journals I've toted along on trips only to write in for the first day or two and never pick up again? For the past few years, it’s been one of those New Year’s Resolutions, one that never came to fruition. But now as we embark on a new decade (seriously, how has it been 20 years since Y2K?) I decided there is no better time than the present to start something new. So, I have finally bit the bullet, or rather packed my bags and taken the leap into the world of travel blogging.... here we go!
Growing up...
Sure, there are tons of books, blogs and essays on solo traveling, but honestly traveling solo was not something that I aspired to do! In fact, if you have known me long enough to remember who I was in high school, or even younger you'd know that traveling around the world solo was probably one of the LAST things you'd have expected me to do. After all, I grew up in a small rural area where I graduated from high school with some of the same people I went to preschool. My family went on our annual beach vacation, with occasional trips to places like Disney World and Pigeon Forge. We never traveled outside of the country and even though I knew there was a great big world out there that intrigued me, I had no idea how much I could learn from traveling around it!
Bitten by the travel bug... My unexpected love for solo travel didn't come until about 10 years after I my first trip outside of the United States. Which was back in 1996, my junior year of undergrad when a friend and I traveled to San Diego, California to visit another college friend who had moved a few months before after her wedding. During our visit, we took an overnight trip to Mexico. Back then you did not need a passport to travel to "Baja" and we drove through Tijuana making our way to Ensenada. We stayed overnight at a seaside resort, I had my first Mexican frozen margarita and relished in how rugged the coast was and how CHEAP everything was! Our visit was short, and I don't remember much other than shopping at outdoor markets, buying Mexican blankets for $5 and eating huge hamburgers (hey, I wasn't exactly adventurous with trying new foods back then!) It wasn't until three years later after I had graduated from undergrad, got my first "real" job and my first "real" apartment that I also got my first "real"passport at 24. The same friend I'd visited in San Diego had moved to Rota, Spain. My first trip to Europe was planned. The first time I'd fly further than I'd ever been. Much of that trip was a blur. Mostly because I had no idea how to manage jet lag; note to self, NEVER take a four-hour nap once you arrive at your hotel in the middle of the morning and think you'll automatically adjust to the right time zone. Although our friend had gotten some recommendations for us, we had done no research before arriving in Madrid, so we literally explored by the seat of our pants. And here starts my story....
Although neither of those trips were solo, my desire to travel and see the world was born. At 24. Then, I didn't know that a mere eight years later I'd almost by accident take my first completely solo trip that further inspired me to see more of the world. Little did I know that just over 20 years later that I would be able to say I had visited five continents, 39 countries and 39 states. That trip to Spain in 1999 was just the beginning of how I began my journey...
"Once you have traveled, the voyage never ends...The mind can never break off from the journey." - Pat Conroy
Thank you, Lori! :)
So excited for your blogs!