The Austin Blogger Helping Women Travel Solo

When we sat down to communicate with influencer and vacation blogger Lindsay Mukaddam, she’d just landed in Croatia. Immediately after a bleary flight and a stable nap, Mukaddam labored to install a Zoom update on her Airbnb’s spotty Wi-Fi. Between the loading and buffering, we talked about rescheduling, but Mukaddam was joining friends on a weeklong boat journey up the shoreline, and the open up sea promised even even worse download velocity. Via divine providence (or a perfectly-placed kick to the router), the clouds parted, and Mukaddam appeared on display, grainy yet noticeable at final.

These is everyday living for the globe traveler. For fifty percent a ten years, Lindsay Mukaddam has been sharing her adventures less than the multiplatform handle 1 Girl Wandering, amassing approximately 200,000 followers alongside the way. From her comprehensive journey guides to organized group outings with her admirers, Mukaddam hopes to express a core information: you don’t have to hold out on other individuals to see the earth. Here, she shares some of her most vital classes.

You started this undertaking to prevent stagnation in your lifetime. What was the method of getting One Lady Wandering like?

I unquestionably didn’t set out to have this turned into a small business. I had begun touring, but my Instagram at the time was just a personal account. I had some pals and family who had been like, “You need to begin a site.” Of program, none of them have their possess web site. They don’t know how difficult it is. I was like, “Yeah, absolutely sure, I’ll do that.” And so I started off a weblog and began sharing by way of that and through social media, and it just form of took off from there. Attracting a group arrived with possibilities [to work] with brands, other companies, and tourism boards. And from there, thankfully, I have been equipped to make a little business enterprise out of it. So that is what I do now whole time.

You assemble journey guides, share tips, and advise women of all ages on the greatest way to vacation. Why is it crucial for you to help others see the earth?

A large amount of women of all ages hold themselves again from traveling. They are ready on friends or on considerable other individuals. Solo travel is something that’s been taboo for women. So, I wanted to demonstrate a couple of items. One, you can do it—you don’t need to have to wait for anyone, and you shouldn’t hold out for any person, mainly because daily life is also short.  You never ever know what’s likely to come about in lifetime, and you really should be able to get out there and check out and not be waiting around on other people today to be checking their calendars. Two, I’m married, and a lot of women consider that once you get married, that’s it. You are with your husband 24/7, and you men have to do all the things with each other. A significant section of my mission is to permit gals know that you should test solo travel even if you are married. I however vacation with my good friends, with my spouse, and go on team trips. I just want females to know that this is an alternative for them, and for them to be bold more than enough to consider it.

What are your most important guidelines for girls who are overcome by the prospect of setting up a solo journey?

You really do not need to acquire a gigantic global first excursion you can begin off slow. You can consider by yourself out to supper. Just take yourself to the motion pictures. Go to the museum by on your own. You can perform up by your comfort level by accomplishing compact things, like getting a trip to the following town above or doing a weekend excursion. You really don’t need to have to soar wholly off the cliff of your comfort zone.

You do not depend the variety of international locations you’ve visited. Why is that?

A single of the reasons I never count is due to the fact, what determines visiting a nation? Is it staying there right away, or is it browsing for a few hrs? I’m a large lover of heading back to locations, so I’ll do return visits. I imagine I’ve been to Paris 4 occasions now. I’ve been with my partner, with pals, and by myself, and every time was a various encounter. I have been to Japan three instances. I’ll be going all over again future 12 months, and I have obtained a group trip going to Japan before long. I’m absolutely a person who’s in aid of slower travel and return vacation. I check out not to hurry by way of places. I sense that a lot of periods, particularly for us in America, we have this kind of confined holiday time that when you do last but not least get [to travel], I see persons who arrive up with these wild itineraries of striving to strike five nations in a 7 days and you are just like, “Slow down and truly love in which you are.”

In all your solo adventures, have there been any standout, “This is it” moments?

I might get emotional. It was toward the finish of my first solo excursion that I was sitting down atop a mountain in Switzerland. I was keeping at a hotel with a funicular to the major, but at a sure time the funicular stopped jogging, so [hotel guests] have been the only kinds on the mountain. I determined to get up at dawn, and I try to remember sitting on top rated of this mountain wondering, “This memory is heading to be all mine.” It is a thing that I’ll get to treasure, like a tiny gem that I get to hold on to.

Is that 1 of the most fulfilling factors of journey, finding to see people wonders firsthand?

That’s certainly aspect of it. Another portion of it is just viewing how distinctive people today reside their life. You feel so a lot about how you dwell your daily life and what is usual for you, and then when you get to go see other individuals, it really shifts your point of view. You master unique factors, and often you understand that there are greater means of undertaking things. And I believe that has helped me a whole lot when I return from travel—thinking about how I am residing, how I can make improvements to that, and how I can provide into my everyday living what I have learned from meeting other people today.