Why Amy Goes Solo

I’m Amy. I’m a woman in my sixties, widowed, full of curiosity, and determined to see the world solo… Yes, going solo as an older woman takes courage, but it also builds courage. Some research, planning, willingness to experience new and different things, and a spirit of adventure can take you anywhere you want to go.

I hope that through this blog you’ll find yourselves right there with me wherever I travel, AND that I can plant a bug in your mind that you can travel solo, too.

My husband and I loved to travel. We lived and worked together in Japan and Spain and traveled throughout Western Europe, all the while talking about the places we would explore when we retired, our daughters were on their own, and we were free to make traveling the world “what we did”.

We would rent out our home in the San Francisco Bay Area and begin exploring the world. We’d live in a place as long as we wanted, then move on to another. That was our dream.

But just as the best-planned vacation can go wrong, life doesn’t always deliver dreams. My husband died in 2013 on our wedding anniversary, and that unexpected tragedy promptly put to rest our shared dreams.

Now, instead of sharing all the wonders of travel with my husband, I am doing it all solo. I made a promise to myself, my husband, and the universe to continue our dream. Every year since 2013 on that September 14 anniversary date, I’ve been in a different country—one that he and I had wanted to visit. And on that day, wherever I am and whatever I’m doing, I raise a glass of wine or beer or whatever paper umbrella-topped local concoction there might be—to love, life, and pursuing dreams. I truly believe travel is the best education one can get, whether you do it with someone you love, a best buddy, or solo.

Now some words about navigating the website from the menu topics along the top of the page.

All Things Travel—There will be posts about current and past travel, travel tips and tricks to plan and then ways to execute those plans, and general encouragement to get out there yourself and travel solo. I won’t be posting these chronologically since I started my solo travels in 2014 and already have some journal writings from all the travels since then. I’ll be posting them as I get them spruced up and ready to share. In the meantime, you can come along with me on my most recent trips to Isla Holbox, Mexico, and Las Vegas!

All Things Writing—I can’t travel all the time, and writing has always been a part of my life. In addition to writing travel journal entries, I’ve also written short stories, a couple of novels, some poetry and some memoir-like essays. I haven’t shared them with many people, though. (See self-sabotaging tendency mentioned in the second paragraph above.)

But a few years ago I joined a writing group—To Live and Write —and the encouragement, writing advice, and nurturing environment have helped me focus and gain confidence so that I want to share some of my efforts. When you click on All Things Writing, you’ll find some short writings called Flash Lit–little ditties of no more than 500 words based on prompts we get from the fearless leader of our writing group, Bronwyn Emery. I have lots of these waiting to be posted from previous months, but for now you can read those written this month, October ’21.

DIY–When travel and writing take back seats, I love to tackle Do It Yourself projects at home. From the daunting task of remodeling a bathroom solo, to reorganizing the patio layout solo, I’m always searching for more DIY victories. I’ll share pictures and comments here as I work toward a finished product. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll wonder what the hell I’m doing! Hopefully, my successes and my not-so-great moves will show you that it’s fun to Do It Yourself!

I’d love to hear from you with any comments or questions about any of my posts or the website in general. Thank you for going on my solo journeys with me!