What I Am Not: A Fearless Travel Blogger

My first time traveling without grown-ups, at age 20!

You want the truth? With this blog, I will not become a professional travel blogger, make any money, or even reach an audience beyond my family and friends (aka, my mother, who has already promised to read every post). I frankly lack the skills necessary to do any fancy design, HTML, or marketing. And you know what? I don't want to become a professional travel blogger.

After having read dozens of blogs and hundreds of posts, I know that there are plenty of incredibly talented bloggers out there who are more adept than I at helping others achieve their dreams - my personal inspirations have been Kate at Adventurous Kate, Stephanie at Twenty-Something Travel, and Christine at C'est Christine.

So - why do I write? (Besides my love of self-aggrandizing, of course). I thought hard about if I wanted to start this blog (or more accurately, re-start my now-slightly-embarrassing study abroad blog). I've already said that there are others more talented and much cooler than I am doing the same thing - so why contribute my voice?

The answer, it turned out, is simple - I need a record for myself that I actually did this. That I actually took my introverted, transitions-hating, schedule-loving self abroad, solo, into the complete unknown.

The truth is I am terrified. I am planning my travels with almost a grim inevitability. Wanderlust has been a part of me for as long as I can remember, and traveling solo to my dream destinations the single-minded goal I have been working towards for the past three years.  And yet, I am SO SCARED. 


But as I've chewed over my fear, I realized something important: every single time I have been scared in my life of a new, unknown thing, it has worked out perfectly.

Continuing to be the coolest person around (at graduation)

And so, I journey forward. The fear remains, and will remain for quite a while, I suspect. But this is why I write. I need to show myself, when I reach the end of the road, that I may have quivered as I initially stepped foot, but I made it to the end and survived. 

(Also, I wasn't kidding about the whole self-aggrandizing thing. I have a domain! I'm kind of a big deal.)

So what's the master plan? The first part of my next steps most people know - I will be working in London through the fall. And after that? Well, I've decided to follow in the footsteps of those favorite bloggers and jump on to the well-trodden backpacker's trail in the winter and spring for solo travel in Southeast Asia.


[P.S. My good friend Laura Maas at Maasachusetts wrote a fantastic post today about why she writes, including an absolutely wonderful article about why every woman should travel solo. I really enjoyed it and encourage you to read it as well!]



(To end with CAT PICTURE! Here's the happiest cat in Istanbul - not quite SEA, but gettin' on over there. Why is this cat so happy? He is FAMOUS! The bona fide Hagia Sophia cat - he seriously does live in the museum; he's been pet by the man, President Obama, himself; AND he's now in my blog. Fame, my friends. Here is where you start paying, in sweat!)