Monday, February 22, 2016
Wednesday, February 17, 2016
The Obligatory Welcome Post
Hello!
This is the welcome post to my new and improved travel blog, Visa Stamps! Ta-da! *cue fireworks*
So what is this blog going to be about? Happy you asked! As a female backpacker, a lot of my family, friends, and sometimes strangers have outright called me a crazy adrenaline junkie. They've said things like "the world is dangerous"; "it's too risky"; "a guy is going with you, right?" - or my personal favorite- "you're practically asking to be sold into slavery." Yes, people have legitimately said these things to my face.
I'm not going to lie. Because of these comments, I was hesitant to travel internationally for extended periods of time. I felt like I was never going to be able to achieve my dreams because of my size and gender, and let me tell you, that isn't a pleasant feeling.
When I finally mustered up the courage to travel internationally for the first time in a "hostile" country, I realized how skewed it all was. So when I got back to the States, I started doing some research into female solo backpackers and was shocked to learn that a lot of women commit to solo treks across the globe. Upon realizing that I could achieve my dreams of traveling the world, I instantly gravitated to the usual "how-to" blogs of international backpacking.
The more popular blogs seemed to graze over important details about female backpacker safety (as a good amount are written by men). And the ones that made female backpacker safety their focal point didn't necessarily have the whole package either.
I found a lot of great, relevant information, but something besides gender safety and the general "how-to" was missing. I didn't feel like I was chatting with the sweet elderly lady at the train station in Chester, England or having a deep philosophical conversation with the Lebanese restaurant owner in New York City or sharing a fun night of dancing and story-telling (in three different languages) with the Haitian man whose family had recently moved to Santiago, Cuba. No. These blogs read as if the most important things about travel are the sites to see. I disagree. For me, the best part about traveling is experiencing the human connection through an unfamiliar culture, language, scenery, etc. So naturally, I wanted to find a blog that was based around this idea of human connection along with gender safety and the usual backpacking tips. When I couldn't find one, I decided to create one.
And so, my promise to you is to make this blog as informational and interesting as possible while being 100% real in terms of human connection. It's important that you realize this blog is for you, and not for me. I've created this blog in hopes that through my experiences, you too will be inspired to travel the world in a comfortable and confident manner.
This is the welcome post to my new and improved travel blog, Visa Stamps! Ta-da! *cue fireworks*
So what is this blog going to be about? Happy you asked! As a female backpacker, a lot of my family, friends, and sometimes strangers have outright called me a crazy adrenaline junkie. They've said things like "the world is dangerous"; "it's too risky"; "a guy is going with you, right?" - or my personal favorite- "you're practically asking to be sold into slavery." Yes, people have legitimately said these things to my face.
I'm not going to lie. Because of these comments, I was hesitant to travel internationally for extended periods of time. I felt like I was never going to be able to achieve my dreams because of my size and gender, and let me tell you, that isn't a pleasant feeling.
When I finally mustered up the courage to travel internationally for the first time in a "hostile" country, I realized how skewed it all was. So when I got back to the States, I started doing some research into female solo backpackers and was shocked to learn that a lot of women commit to solo treks across the globe. Upon realizing that I could achieve my dreams of traveling the world, I instantly gravitated to the usual "how-to" blogs of international backpacking.
The more popular blogs seemed to graze over important details about female backpacker safety (as a good amount are written by men). And the ones that made female backpacker safety their focal point didn't necessarily have the whole package either.
I found a lot of great, relevant information, but something besides gender safety and the general "how-to" was missing. I didn't feel like I was chatting with the sweet elderly lady at the train station in Chester, England or having a deep philosophical conversation with the Lebanese restaurant owner in New York City or sharing a fun night of dancing and story-telling (in three different languages) with the Haitian man whose family had recently moved to Santiago, Cuba. No. These blogs read as if the most important things about travel are the sites to see. I disagree. For me, the best part about traveling is experiencing the human connection through an unfamiliar culture, language, scenery, etc. So naturally, I wanted to find a blog that was based around this idea of human connection along with gender safety and the usual backpacking tips. When I couldn't find one, I decided to create one.
And so, my promise to you is to make this blog as informational and interesting as possible while being 100% real in terms of human connection. It's important that you realize this blog is for you, and not for me. I've created this blog in hopes that through my experiences, you too will be inspired to travel the world in a comfortable and confident manner.
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