In 2023 I said yes to solo travel. Not because I was feeling particularly brave or adventurous, but because my family was busy booking couples-only trips… and I realized that as a single woman, if I wanted to see the world, I needed to start making it happen on my own.
So I cleared my corporate calendar and booked the flight. I rolled my suitcases up the cobble stone streets of Barcelona and kicked off my week aboard Valiant Lady. And while any solo travel story could be about good food and new souvenir magnets, mine is a story about how I changed the way I connect with myself and the world.
There’s nothing like sitting on a balcony alone in the middle of the Mediterranean to make you reflect on what makes you, YOU. What makes me feel like my most authentic self? How do the people and places around me contribute to that? How can one action be such a catalyst for future growth and connection?
So I started saying yes to things that truly felt like me. And my solo trip turned into a series of journeys surrounded by likeminded people that would impact me for years to come.
Because someday, a person I danced with in Ibiza will show me waterfalls in Wales.
A fellow solo sailor I dipped my toes into the pool with at scarlet night will inspire me to start writing again.
A person I sat next to at Loteria gigante will post about a ski festival, which will lead to me saying yes to ski lessons in the alps. Then at ski lessons I’ll laugh with new friends while we stumble down the mountain together, and a few months later we’ll be stumbling around bars in London.
At home I’ll return to my routine as a more authentic version of me. More aware of what energizes me. What fulfills me. And every trip unlocks another piece of that puzzle. Showing up for myself. New places with old faces.
And a reignited passion for saying yes to the things that make me feel most authentically me.
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