Solo-female travels ... but really, we are never alone!

Seeing the best that the world has to offer ...

Hiking in Inca country, Peru.

I left New Zealand with a single backpack, my camera, an open ticket, a sense of adventure, an unlimited time frame and the motto, "to see the best that the world has to offer," so how could I ever claim that I was alone? I had a new found spiritual understanding in my mind, a sense of the eternal in my heart and my excitement as my best companion, what more could I need? (Yes, I had Mastercard too!).

I still remember walking through the departure gate, waving good-bye to my family and tears were rolling down my face, not tears of sadness, but tears of release; here I was, setting off on a long held dream, and maybe I wasn't doing it quite as I had expected to be doing it but, by God, I was doing it!

Now, to be fair, it's not the first time that I had travelled and I have been on many amazing trips with my husband, my family, friends, work and sports teams, but this was different, this was just me, this was a recovering me, this was a new me. So, it was a trip into a bit of the unknown yet, as the old saying goes, 'wherever you go, you take yourself with you.' I was determined to take the self that was fun and frisky, kind and adventurous. I quite like her.

First stop really, on any adventure, starts before we leave home. It starts with the decision to travel and who you are taking with you .. fun me, worried me, adventurous me, poor me, sad me or joyous, eager, 'let's go' me. I packed the eager me and decided that, to make life easy, a few pre-booked tours in places that could be difficult, would be the best option and so up to Intrepid Travel, in Parnell, Auckland, I went. South America and Africa were booked in and the rest was left to fall into place, with the target of spending summer in the UK and Europe. I was determined to let myself be guided to go wherever I could be of value, wherever I could bring some light and some fun. Passport packed, bag packed, attitude packed and off I go ...

...soon to discover that a solo-female traveller is never, ever that and from the time you wave good-bye at the airport you are surrounded by those who want to play; a smile here, a kind word there and a laugh with others who really are looking for the same as you are, to live their best life.

I have met people from all cultures and backgrounds, in the weirdest of places and the silliest of ways. I have laughed with them and made them laugh. I have jumped off stuff with them and floated in ancient caves on rubber tubes. I have eaten lots of different foods with them and stared in the faces of lions and gorillas, hoping not to be food. I have "oooohhed" and "aaaahhhed" with them over amazing landscapes and amazing theatre performances. I have danced and sung out of tune to silent discos on beautiful ships and smoked 'something' with one of the oldest cultures in the world. I can honestly say that I have given it my best shot to see the best in everyone and to find their playful nature, and you know what, I think that I just might have. And I hope that they also found that in me.

What I really found was that we are all amazing, in our own unique ways and there is no one that doesn't have that unique and beautiful spark within them, and once you step back from pre-conceived ideas about who someone is and just let the real person show through, then you really do see the beauty of God's Creation.

So get out there, don't let fear dominate your life and talk you out of it, because that's just something you've talked yourself into. The world is an amazing place and each and every one of us contribute to that, and always remember, 'wherever you go, you take yourself with you!' Which 'you' are you taking?!

See you on the road ....