A Solo Season

Sometimes I feel like a fraud, encouraging solo travel to women when I actually haven’t done it that much. It’s not like I lived abroad for years and traveled to 60 countries. I truly admire women who have done such a thing and I love their spirit of adventure.

But I think the point is that solo travel is often a season in your life. You need it for some reason at that time. You need healing… you need clarity. You need transformation and sometimes the only way to get it is to get away from the normalcy of life and get out into a space where God can actually start talking with you.

My solo journey served and inspired me greatly. (You can read all about it in my memoir Sherbet Skies.) It’s always something I can go back to when my heart needs it. But until then my mission is to help other women heal and grow through this magical concept of solo traveling.

When I set out on my own journey, I had recently graduated college. I was very lost and I didn’t know what life would look like after college. I craved travel and adventure and a life outside of an office.

I also was still healing from a sexual assault that happened to me in college. It somehow broke me and turned my life upside down. It altered my self image and turned me away from an identity I had since I was very young. You see, I grew up on the back of a horse. I rodeoed and ran barrels from middle school all the way through college. For years I dreamed of running barrels professionally. But when I was a senior in college, one roping turned into an unsafe situation and I was taken advantage of by a cowboy. After the assault I wanted nothing to do with rodeo or cowboys. I eventually ended up selling everything- my big beautiful barrel horse, a truck, & trailer. With some cash from the sales, I was able to start dreaming a new dream. When I left for Australia my heart and mind were so tender when it came to my physical body. I needed to feel safe in my skin. I needed to know my body was mine. Many people said I was so brave to go out in my own. But ironically it was on my own where I felt safe. I could keep everyone at a distance and stay very guarded. I needed the time to heal.

Looking back on it now, it’s so easy to see that everything was happening for my good and the good of those around me. Because of the sequence of events I was beckoned on the solo journey that changed my life. I wrote my book and I was inspired to create this global network of women who support and love each other.

I truly deep in my heart believe that HerHouse will be the vehicle that helps women get out there. It’s especially for the women who have always wanted to try but the unknowns were so terrifying that they were paralyzed by fear.

So sis if you’re in that boat, hear me now. The journey your heart longs for will take great courage. You will be challenged on your adventure but if you let it, it will change your life forever. We are all here cheering for you. And someday I hope to share a bottle of Franc and hear all about it.

Dream big.

Have adventures.

-Tess