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Happy Birthday to me! Today, which happens to be my birthday (double nickels, oy vey!), SoloTravelGirl.com is celebrating its Sweet Sixteen. Wowza! Time does fly.
Sixteen years ago, I launched this blog and the Solo Travel Girl brand on my 39th birthday. I wasn’t sure where it’d lead me and I had high expectations, yet, they haven’t quite come to fruition.
Don’t get me wrong, my Solo Travel Girl brand – including my social media channels, now-defunct podcast (Solo Travel Girl’s Adventures Near & Far), my book (A to Z of a Solo Travel Girl), and regular travel and outdoor columns for local papers – has taken places, granted me access to one-of-a-kind experiences, and importantly, connected me with incredible people. I’ve also been interviewed and/or contributed to local and national media outlets about travel.
Becoming Solo Travel Girl
I’m feeling reflective about how I got here, so let me share a bit of a backstory to my blog and brand.
First, I found that when I made travel plans with others, they often fell through, and I ended up sitting home while I could have been out exploring. I was afraid to do things alone. Dining alone, even going to the movies alone, was intimidating. Eventually, I pushed my personal boundaries to get out and do things alone.
Second, I planned an amazing solo trip to the Pacific Northwest, beginning in San Francisco (okay, I know that’s not really PNW) and drove up the coast through Northern California, Oregon and Washington. During a wine tour through Sonoma, a couple asked if I was traveling alone and if I got lonely.
No, I love traveling solo for a host of reasons and although I’m alone, I’m not lonely (honestly, as I age and learn more about life and reflect on who I am, being an ambivert/introvert probably plays a role in my contentment for being alone.)
Third, I began blogging in the early 2000s before blogging was a thing. I set up a website called WoodBicycle.com where I shared my travel tales with family and friends who were across the country. The name paid homage to my Grandma Huber who had a wood bicycle when growing up and she loved telling her grandchildren about it. In honor of her storytelling, I named my initial blog Wood Bicycle to carry on the tradition of colorful storytelling. Sadly, I let that domain go decades ago when I launched a lifestyle blog.
I was writing more travel content and contributing to online websites, one of which became a Yahoo! product. Geeking out over web stats, I noticed my most popular content was travel.
Fourth, in 2008, my former husband passed away unexpectedly. Although we had been divorced, this was a shocking, confusing, and challenging time for me. It was a time of reflection and self-evaluation. I decided to embrace life by the proverbial horns and make the most of each day. There was a spark to break off my lifestyle blog for a specific solo travel blog.
Fifth, well, there’s a “rest of the story” placeholder here, yet I’m STILL not ready to publicly share. Someday, I will. 😉 But just know, I’ve had a hesitation to move full steam ahead with Solo Travel Girl and now that barrier no longer exists.
Which Era Am I In?
Over the years, I’ve had some nice wins but nothing that’s made me want to quit my day job and take on travel content creation fulltime. Healthcare is important for me.
Fast-forward from 2009 to today, I’m in a different era of my life. I’m eyeing my brand as something to prepare for my pre-tirement and eventually retirement eras. Yet, I’m trying to determine what this looks like.
What I need to do is take my own advice: just do something and keep moving forward, even though it’ll move at a snail’s pace. As to what that something is, I’m not quite sure, other than creating content.
In Gratitude
Apologies for the rambling. Here’s the really important part of this post – thank you.
I want to express my sincere gratitude to my followers. Whether you’ve been following along since the beginning in 2009 or you’re a new follower, I sincerely thank you for your encouragement and support.
Here’s to 16 more years and beyond!
