2: year of expansion & get on a plane every month

2025, my year of "get on a plane every month" and my journey of learning how to become a solo traveler paired with a handful of the reflections and memories to go with it. reminder that there’s no permission slips in life, do the things you want to do, even if you have to do them alone

2025 was hands down the most beautifully expansive and life changing year of my life 

what’s your version of the get on a plane monthly challenge! 

Transcript

 Welcome to the Catch Her Somewhere else. A show about expanding your life, saying yes to new adventures and showing up fully wherever the journey takes you. I'm Lindsey here to share stories, tips, and real moments from traveling the world so you can feel empowered to create your own somewhere else.

Let's make every trip an adventure and every adventure a chance to grow. So stay curious, pack light, and I'll catch you somewhere else.

 Hello my friends and welcome back to another episode of Catch Her Somewhere else. I'm Lindsey and it is the end of 2025 and I really just needed to record this episode right now to forever timestamp this moment, so I just don't forget how I feel about this year. 

So back at the end of 2024, I had made a goal to get on a plane every single month. This year, I think it sort of just stemmed from the fact that I had started traveling more in the past, like couple years, like with friends or with work or with, volunteering with my old sorority and.

I just started realizing how much it like brought me to life and it just made me so excited to go to new places and to meet different people.


And looking at 2024, I was like, wow, I traveled a lot. I think I almost got on a plane every month. Like what if I tried to do that next year? And realistically, like I thought it would be a lot of me. Just like going to visit friends in different cities or traveling with friends,

but fast forward. And I am so proud and excited to report that I successfully got on a plane every single month this year and practically spent the entire year solo traveling.

And part of this year was. This idea that I really wanted to learn how to solo travel and what I thought would be like, maybe like one or two trips, like ended up being 10 trips with like also an extra little like 12 hour trip to Nashville by myself. And honestly,

I never spent so much time with just me. Um. Feeling like excited and scared and expansive and nervous and like so self trusting and also so like awkward all at the same time. And as the year progressed,

I truly started feeling more and more like myself anywhere that I went.

And with every solo trip I got to know myself more. I got to trust myself more. I was having just like really like deep alone thoughts out in the world old. And I think that's like one of my favorite things about traveling is that it like. Literally like teleports you to somewhere else, pulls you out of like your natural environment and it's like you have to be awake, you have to be alive, you have to be paying attention,

It really is one of those things that helps me be so present in my life because. Especially when you're traveling, you're noticing things you're having new conversations. You are telling people about yourself, so you have to be conscious of how you're presenting yourself and who you're presenting yourself as.

And in all of that, you really just get to know you so much more. So bringing it back to 2024. I had actually booked a flight to San Diego in February, and that was going to be my very first solo trip ever. And right after booking that flight, my friend Lauren and I, we decided

to book a flight to Portugal in April to celebrate her 30th birthday. And my birthday was right around then. And at the time we honestly like barely even knew where Portugal was. Um, and. It ended up being one of the most important parts of my timeline, like of my story this year. I'm someone who does like really well with like building blocks and like, you know, do this first and then do this and then do this. And by doing that I'm able to get like more and more comfortable and that was all part of it. So, you know, it's the end of 2024 and I'm like, great, I already got two flights booked. Like, this is great. I only need 10 more. 

the beginning of January hits and I actually didn't even have a flight booked for January yet. But was like really excited. Started to like look around at things and within like the first week of January, my boss at the hospital gets laid off from his position.

And suddenly it's like I just like lost all my motivation. Because at the time I was super involved and I was actually leading two committees. And was putting so much like time and energy into the organization. And at the same time, my boss saw how much I was doing for the organization and equally supported me in travel, because that was the thing that filled up my cup.

And he knew like, you know, it's a two-way street, but now like you take away my boss who is there to support me in these things. And it's like, well. I really don't know what I wanna do now. Like I really didn't wanna keep putting so much to the hospital. I. 

So anyway, it's beginning of January. It's cold, it's snowy,  I'm like super unmotivated. I'm like wondering if at this point, like do I really even care that much to try to like get on a plane every month this year? Like, you know, like I have two trips planned. Like that's fine. And then I'll just see where else I get to travel and then.

I remembered my sweet dear friend Lucy from high school reached out to me last time I was in Miami and was like, oh my gosh, you should come visit. And she basically said, there's always an open invitation. And so I actually reached out to her and was like, were you serious about that open invite to Miami? And she was like, yes, come.

And I immediately booked the flight and I will forever be so grateful for this experience and for her and her husband, like opening their house up to me and taking me like snorkeling and diving with them like I was swimming around with like sea turtles and fish and stingray in like the dead of winter, and I remember leaving for the airport that morning and it was like eight degrees outside,

I mean, this was like the perfect trip because I really didn't have the energy to plan a whole trip by myself. And truly nothing is more like healing and rejuvenating than getting in water I, and remembering that the world is so much bigger than just what was happening at home. In my hospital,

and this trip really showed me that like my life and my happiness is important. It matters, and no one else is going to be responsible for it except for me. I could have stayed angry at the hospital, I could have stayed down and sad and let and outside force. Come in and basically affect me so much that I was derailed from my goals or I could accept or just I. Shift focus   from what happened and put the energy and attention back into myself and choose my own life, and that is exactly what I did.

And I also think this experience in January was super important  because how I moved through it essentially became like my entire operating system for the entire year.

My job was literally just to plan one trip at a time, one month at a time. I didn't start in January and plan November and December, like I had no idea where I was gonna be ending up. Throughout the year, it was like this really cool trust in myself and the universe that like, I'll figure that out later.

Right now it's just the next month ahead of me and my job was literally to just pick the city, book the flight, and then later get on the plane, uh, in between booking the flight and the actual trip. Like i'll find the things that I wanna do. I'll do all the research in between. And for a lot of these trips throughout the year, they were three nights. They were two nights. Even had this cool like 20 hour layover in Denver that I found on my way from Memphis flying back to Philly.

But again, it wasn't necessarily about the length of the trip or how complex the trip was or how picture perfect everything turned out to be. It was about getting on a plane every single month. And when you make a goal simple and small enough, it actually feels achievable

and right alongside this, it was just the fact that I had to move. I am someone who can very easily get stuck in these like looped patterns where I'm like, I want everything to be perfect, or I just like get stuck, uh, planning something and then I don't actually like execute and sometimes it's really difficult for me to like finish a project or to like fully have it be visible to other people because I have this like crazy inner critic that's like, no, must do more, must make it better. We didn't learn enough yet. We're not prepared enough yet.

And the thing about it was like, the plane was taking off. So whether I Planned the entire trip, had a few things I wanted to do, or just kind of like made it up along the way like I did in Barcelona when my phone was stolen in the first 12 hours.

I learned that it all kind of works out, and it is so much more about moving through something and creating those experiences and letting life unfold as you move through it. Rather than sitting here in my bed or at my computer like planning an entire trip down to every detail because it's just so unrealistic.

And had I tried to actually plan all of my trips on the front end of the year, I never would've been as brave and as expansive as I ultimately ended up being by December of the person that I evolved into and allowed myself to grow into by moving and having these experiences.

It is like every trip that I took, I got to meet this like new version of me out, out in the world, and she got to come home with me and with every trip. I got a little braver, a little bolder. I was feeling more confident in my decisions in just my decision alone to be solo traveling,

Because, yes, obviously the goal this year was to get on a plane every single month, but somewhere in all of this, my big ultimate goal was thinking like, I wanna be able to do Solo Europe 2026. So I was like, okay, we'll start doing like some little solo trips like in the States. I'll go to Europe with Lauren, I'll do a bunch more trips.

Then that way by next year, I feel comfortable enough to do Europe by myself. Well, obviously, spoiler, you already know, I was in Barcelona I was in London  , had the times of my life but that really evolved from moving, from taking these trips month after month, like building this muscle, learning about the world, learning about other people, learning about solo travel, learning about myself. And as the year unfolded, so did new travel traditions, new ideas, new ways of planning a trip, new ways of manifesting things.

And actually like halfway through the year, I'm in Montreal about to get off this boat that I just had like the dreamiest time on, and I think I had Enchanted by Taylor Swift playing, and I was like, oh my God, this feels so exactly like Speak now era. Sorry, this for all my swifties. And then after the trip I was like, wow, Montreal really felt like speak now. And then I was like, oh my gosh, I wonder what other trips kind of feel like a Taylor Swift era.

And I was like, well next month I'm going to Austin, Texas. That feels like, you know, debut album with like country boots. And then after that I'm going to London, which like obviously that's lover era. And I basically went back and labeled all of my trips as a Taylor Swift era. And then from like then on out.

I went back and listened to all of her music and just like really gave myself permission to step in and out of like different characters of myself Because I wonder if that's like what her eras are to her. They're all a part of her through different phases of her life and how she's shown up in the world. Sometimes she's a little edgier, sometimes she's like a little softer. A little bit more glitzy and glammy young Taylor in her fearless era.

And we can travel through different eras of our life and different like personalities, personas, whatever it is, and go experience as that version of you.

Also somewhere in here though, I was like, oh my gosh, but she only has 11 albums. I don't know what I'm gonna do for the last one. And I'm like, Ugh. It'd be really cool if she would like drop a new album. Homegirl heard me and she was like, don't worry, here is the life of a showgirl. And I was like, oh my God, perfect.

I dunno what to do for October yet. And So like one night I'm like looking up flights, like where can I go? Found this really cheap flight to LA and I was like, amazing. The life of a showgirl.

And then ironically, November happened to be reputation. That's when I lost my phone. So it's like ironic how, uh, you know, when she says the old Taylor can't come to the phone right now, it's like neither can Lindsey because it's stolen. But like this isn't something that I could have planned going into this year.

It's like I had to move, I had to experience, I had to come up with these new little creative ideas that I allowed myself to do.

And to live out for it to actually develop. I don't know. Sometimes I, I do, I just get stuck at this like starting line and I feel like I have to map out the entire thing and know every single step of the entire race, and then I can start. And I'm constantly telling myself like, done is better than perfect.

It's good enough. Just jump. Make it exist, then make it good later. Why not me? Literally, Lindsey, nobody's paying attention. Just do the thing. If you hate it, you can quit it. This is not going to kill you.

And this is like literally what I have to tell myself to do the thing or to put the thing out, or to share my podcast or my TikTok or whatever it is, so I can move. And I was just so proud of actually living that out this past year and trusting myself that I'm just gonna keep figuring out on the way.

And I'm kind of learning that that's like the hack to life. It's like instead of looking at our entire life, which feels so big and overwhelming and all these big things that we wanna do, and these massive goals, it's like just focus on the one month ahead of you.

And if you set an intention alongside of that, you might really surprise yourself at what you can accomplish in a year. I picked the word expansion  And man, I never felt like my life was as expansive as it was this past year.

So I promise if you pick a word, pick an intention, like the universe is listening and I swear it does not miss,

and honestly, on some of those trips like two to three nights, I probably would've spent at home just like doing whatever, But instead I got a hundred dollars flight to go to Chicag and create new memories and have an experience that will forever shape me. This year would've passed anyway. I.

And it almost doesn't even feel real, like everything that happened this past year.
because when I really think about it, I remember sitting here like January 1st, 2025, knowing I already had my first solo trip booked for the end of February. But I remember being really nervous.

I'm trying to do as much research as I can. Like how do you plan a solo trip? What do you do if you're scared? How do you keep yourself safe?

How do you make friends? How do I fill my time? How do I not feel weird like sitting at a restaurant for every single meal by myself?

How do I stay in this hostel that I just booked? Like what do I expect? Like do I have to do all the activities? Are people gonna steal my things? Are they even safe? Is everybody really gonna be snoring? Like, what if I hate this? How do I go to this concert and not feel weird when I already bought a ticket and because I was already feeling that internally? 

My thoughts around how other people were going to perceive me was like amplified x 10. So as I was like. Learning about solo traveling. I really kept it quiet because I wasn't confident about it and I know that people were going to think that it was weird or question me why I would wanna go by myself when I have friends. Or you know, the good old love to tell me how dangerous it will probably be to be a female traveling by myself

When I already was like thinking those things myself. Even though I was like, , finding some community online. That was actually teaching me the opposite of those things.

I knew I had to be really protective of this Because I know me and I know there was also this thing that lived inside me that I felt this need to have to get people to understand me. I. And if they don't, then I must explain and explain again and over explain until somebody gets it and kinda like makes my belief valid, which I recognize consciously is not accurate.

Like I, I know that I'm allowed to do these things. I'm allowed to get on a plane and go to a new place by myself. It's not illegal. Also, I'm a grown adult, so therefore I am allowed to do these things.

But when you spend your whole life thinking and operating Like under a certain framework and thought pattern, doing something like this felt like I was doing something wrong.

When like my therapist would literally remind me, it's like, you are not doing anything illegal. You are not hurting anybody. You are allowed to get on a plane and go to a new place all by yourself, even if nobody gets it. Even if people don't understand, even if people think it's a bad idea, even if people try to instill fear in you. Even if people call you weird, you are still allowed to do it. I'm simply doing something for myself,

but because of certain like experiences in my life, particularly in my childhood, probably related to gymnastics trauma, I had this belief that I needed this understanding and approval before I. Truly acted. It's like I was waiting for some kind of permission and well, spoiler alert,

The permission slip never comes. You just have to decide yourself that you wanna do something and just do it and this was so much of what we talked about through this throughout this entire year. And traveling and therapy like really became these like tools. To shift some of these internal beliefs that I've been carrying probably my entire life,

And now it's like, okay, if somebody thinks it's weird or they don't get it, that's okay. You can think I'm a little bit weird. I think I'm a little bit weird.

And maybe it's just not something for you or something that you could ever see yourself doing. And that's okay because no one's asking you to, this is My own challenges and it's something that I want to do.

And fast forward entire year, I can tell you with my whole heart that solo traveling is something that is very much for me. Not everything in this world is, is meant for everybody. That's what makes us all so unique.

And I finally have so much like I faith in myself to really believe that if I really love something, I am going to do it.  And by doing that this entire year, I have found so much new joy in my life that I probably always   thought I would love.

I love spending time  by myself as a kid. I used to go in my woods and just make little forts by myself. Of course, I would probably love solo traveling as an adult. But we grow up and life makes us think if other people aren't doing it because it's not traditional or it's just not what we're used to and it's not normal, quote unquote normal, then like it must be weird.

And it's not weird. It's just different. It's just uncommon maybe to. The people that we know in our lives.

So if there's anything out there that interests you, that you have evidence that you would probably enjoy this, or you hear somebody talk about something and it lights you up, keep following that. And if you don't have other people to talk about it with, find a community online that completely normalizes it and find your own mentors that you hear the messages that you need to hear to get yourself to act, to get yourself to move, to try it.

And if it's a hobby, it's just a hobby. You can always stop it if you don't like it. And also recognize that the first time you do something that , even if it's not perfect or you are perfect at it, or it doesn't go as smooth as maybe all the influencers that you follow, like doesn't mean you're doing it wrong, or it doesn't mean that it's not for you.

You are just new at something. Yes, I felt silly on my very first solo trip. And in different moments of my other solo trips too. Yes, I felt awkward. Yes, I felt lonely at some points and in therapy we talked about this, okay, so if I get bored, if I feel lonely. As long as I'm safe, the feeling of loneliness itself is not going to kill me, and I've actually found that sitting with the loneliness

is like the most self-loving thing that I can do for me. It's like you really don't have anybody else to physically lean on outwardly, so you lean on yourself. And by doing this, I have really strengthened this relationship with me and like this internal cheerleader and friend who's like, okay, come on Lindsey, we got this.

I know we feel weird right now, but we're not gonna feel weird forever. And maybe we just need to go for a walk. Maybe we just need to get a glass of wine. Maybe we just need to put some Taylor Swift on and go find the next adventure. And I'm like, oh, okay. Thanks. Thanks, love. You got this.

And then I just carry on. Anyway, that is actually pretty much how I talk to myself in my head all the time. And it's great because it's literally the messages that I need to hear, and I'm hearing them from myself.

And honestly, this is how I have been able to move through so much and do so many different things this year. Like so many different little activities and like sporting events and concerts and shows, and I've, I've done so many of these things by myself. Because I started doing this thing that if I got this sense in me, that like, that I felt, uh, myself hesitate about something because of my fear of being judged or talked about or whatever weird scenario I'm making up in my head about how I'm being perceived.

I really challenge myself to push through it because there's been so many times in my life that I have been like, wow, I kind of really wanna do that. But then I get this like weird feeling and then I hesitate, and then I'm like, that's okay. I don't need to do that.

So when I was in San Diego and I saw people rollerblading. I was like, oh my God, that looks so fun. Oh my God. But I'm gonna look really bad because I don't know, I haven't been on roller skates in like, what, 20 years? Like what if I look really stupid? And then it's like, okay, so what if you do look stupid, Lindsey? No one knows you here. And also if you look stupid, like is the act of you looking stupid going to kill you? No rent the roller skates. Yeah. And I had so much fun. Yeah, I fell into bushes at one point, um, because I went down this little hill and I couldn't stop. Yeah, I might have ended up with a little bloody hand. But like, actually somebody came over and helped me.

No one made me feel stupid. Nobody made me feel weird. Like we sometimes like catastrophize these things in our minds. And. When we actually push through the thing, we realize, oh, it's actually not that big of a deal.

And now like the real secret to all of this is that once you push yourself and you get out there doing the thing that you wanna do, you actually find all the other people that are doing the thing that you wanna do.

And I think this is kind of like that law of attraction. Like if you say like, I am getting out there to go do this thing, the universe is equally going to help you find the right people and the stories and like identity to also be that person. Like the more I sought out to be a solo traveler, the more solo travelers I met and learned from, and was inspired by.

I could feel my own identity in this world Shifting. And I have been to so many cities now, and I have so many new friends, new characters, so many new quote unquote boyfriends and my people and my circle feels truly global now.

It really feels like the universe, my higher self, God, whatever it is was really rewarding me for facing these fears and. Doing the thing that felt like it was aligned for me, even if I had to grow into that person.

There are so many people that I have met in this world now that I have said out loud. I am so grateful that I was brave enough to learn how to solo travel because now I got to meet you and without me. Being brave enough to take this leap, I wouldn't have met you. And that alone just makes me so proud of myself and so grateful that I felt this inkling. I. To learn about this and that I really did it. There would be so many people and experiences and conversations and messages from my friends in the world that I never would've heard this year.

And there's places in the world now that I've gone that I feel really connected to right away. And I remember being in Barcelona and I was on this little rowboat and. Was just having these like really nice thoughts and I was wondering if like in a past life I lived in Barcelona and I wonder if I've lived in a lot of these other places too, and maybe I've met some of these people in those places and I really started thinking that my like soul family extends out into the world.

Like I have this, like, I kept calling it like a soul circle and you know, maybe there are soulmates from past lives out there in the world that I am meeting or have met and just immediately feel connected to and feel like so seen and valued and appreciated.

I don't know. It has my thoughts like really going so much bigger and deeper and at the end of the day, I'm just learning that people are people everywhere And as my dear friend Tommy wrote in my little travel notebook that everyone else just wants to have fun too and be inspired. And seeing this like evidence show up again and again, like trip after trip, that the right people show up, , that I learn the right lessons or I that plans fall into place or outta place. Probably exactly as they needed to. That part of me could just almost relax and I could just be and enjoy and experience without having to force so much in my life.

I really focused on the things that I thought would be fun and more playful things, and dancing more and flipping more, but finally for like the first time in my life, really truly giving myself the permission to do anything that I wanted to because it was just me. Like, man, once you start embracing this, it's like literally the entire world is yours. I started focusing on the things that I know would be fun rather than doing the things that the internet told me would be fun.

So anyway, here's just a few really fun things that I did completely by myself this year. That a year ago, I probably never would've thought I would ever be brave enough for.

This is the very first solo thing I did this year on my first solo trip, was go to a two friends concert in San Diego.

Oh yeah. Did I have to take like three tequila shots as soon as I walked into the place? Perhaps, but left the concert with several new friends.

I Did this really cute Taylor Swift tee tour in London because I wanted to and I literally like sang and took little videos the entire two hours sipping my tea.

I went either kayaking or paddle boarding in montreal, in San Diego, in Miami, in Chicago, in Memphis, in la, in Austin, and in Puerto Rico.

I had so much fun at this George Thoroughgood concert in Montreal And halfway through the show was like adopted by this really sweet group of like 40 something year old men. and we're just, you know, singing bad of the bone together.

In la. I went up to this like observatory park in front of like the Hollywood sign and just made all these little Taylor Swift tiktoks because it was fun.

In Puerto Rico, I did this Bomba class Because I was like, oh my God, I love dancing. Never did this kind of dancing. Why not do in Puerto Rico,

I went and saw the Chicago Cubs win in overtime, extra innings, whatever. All by myself.

I flew from Philly to Nashville and spent like 16 hours just like bopping around the city by myself in my cowboy boots. Before driving from Nashville to Louisville for a festival because it was just me. And I thought experiencing Nashville would be fun.

I also took me and my cowboy boots to a rodeo in Austin and was mind blown at what a rodeo is.

While I was in Montreal, I got to see Miami verse Montreal in a soccer game and was like, oh wow, this is really cool. I'm like, five seats behind the goalie and I got to watch messy score two goals, and I'm like, wow, we, this is so much fun. And like meanwhile all my guy friends are like, you don't even know this is such a big deal, but it's a lot cheaper and easier to get one ticket. For things than to get to or a group.

I got to go watch the Dodgers, win a playoff game while I was in la.

In Puerto Rico when I overslept and I missed being picked up for my Rainforest Group tour. I just got an Uber to the rainforest myself and gave myself a tour and ran through waterfalls  and the rain and had so much fun  

Oh, I rode this, a really adorable Ferris wheel while I was in Montreal and just took like the most fun tiktoks by myself.

I built up the courage and was my own literal hype man to dive into Lake Michigan And I recorded it and I was so proud. 

I did this little lesson on how to sail. While in Miami, because I had a patient one time tell me about sailing, and I was like, wow, that sounds fun. I'm gonna do that in Miami. And I did.

I went and saw a Cirque de sole show by myself in Montreal, because that's like the home base for those shows, and it's where they usually trial a lot of their new shows because I was a gymnast and was like, oh my gosh, yes. I wanna watch people go flip around and do crazy stunts.

When I did my like 20 hour layover in Denver, Colorado, I landed, got a rental car, drove the hostel, went to Red Rocks, saw purple disco machine, never heard of them, but was like, uh, I'm not coming to Denver for the first time and not going to Red Rocks, and had so much fun. Just dancing and bopping with my beer to this like cool, groovy band.

I went biking around la, Chicago, Montreal, and London.

I showed up to several concerts completely alone. This year, 

Several cities. I got over my fear of how people were looking at me and just put my phone down and just started doing flips and the grass on the beach , in front of the castle in Old San Juan. I. Because I wanted to.  

Can't tell you how many meals, how many glasses of wine I had by myself this year,

it's like I finally didn't have to wait for anybody to do the things that I wanted to do, and that's not to say that I didn't do tons of things with people this year.

now This might be my absolute favorite thing about solo traveling or just traveling in general, is these like unscripted moments and these spontaneous meetings of other people and how much another human can affect you, even if it's just a short period of time. But it's so crazy how like one minute this person has no meaning in your life. Then suddenly, I don't know, five minutes later, we're in an Uber or on our way to some adventure together, just getting to know each other. I.



But now this person is forever a part of your story. Whether you truly stay in contact or not I am changed by them. And actually before my trips, I started like really trying to manifest like the exact right people that I need to meet, or going to London and finding me a London boy. Or going places and being like, I hope I find the right person that knows how to dance and will dance with me.



End surprise. I found them or they found me. And like, you can't plan for this. This is part of the beauty that I learned. About having an open heart and being open-minded and trusting my gut when I wanna talk to somebody or say yes, if I'm invited to go somewhere, or inviting other people along on my adventures. It's like kind of ironic how. On some of my solo trips, I spent probably more time doing things with other people than I did by myself.

And now the thing is like, sure, as a solo traveler. I think you'll have the best time if you are okay with being with people and also okay, being by yourself because, right, like you can't necessarily force these interactions, but man, if you're open to them. I promise they will probably come to you

and anyway, here are some of my favorite things that transpired this year that

Probably Only a few of them did I actually even plan for, but probably kind of happened spontaneously by meeting other people. And saying yes.

I went bike riding with my new sweet friend in London. And we biked through London's Embassy District and in his really adorable British accent, told me all about it.

I went to this cute botanical garden in San Juan with friends that I just made. Five minutes after checking into the hostel.

I went to another two friends concert in Miami at Liv with a new friend that I met at the hostel, was be on a drink and was like, what are you doing tonight? You wanna go to the show? And she was like, okay. And I was like, okay, cool. Let me buy you a tequila shot. And we went. And dance the entire night together. I.

I did this cute boat tour with a new friend while in Chicago,

Learning how to salsa and bachata with a new friend I met in Barcelona. 

Two of my new friends in Miami went to a Miami Heat game together, and then they also got up with me in the morning to watch the sunrise on my birthday.

I went dancing with new friends that I made at the hostel in Barcelona. And ended up at this gay bar with like Spanish drag queens and it was incredible.

I did like an entire spontaneous bar crawl with me and my friend Bethany Montreal.

I made a new friend in Barcelona when I didn't even have a phone, and later that night, found my way back to him using only my watch, uh, paper map and a notebook with a time and place scribbled inside saying the Majestics 6:00 PM near Lululemon, and ended up hanging out with him and some of his friends who were also from Saudi Arabia.

got to hang out with 17 solo travelers in Puerto Rico. Just like hanging out in the water, listening to music, dancing, and playing volleyball.

When Lauren and I were in Portugal, we told ourselves that we were gonna have a chill night because we had to train the next morning, and we went out to dinner, had the most incredible servers. and ended up spending like the whole night with them, Until like 7:30 AM Just like dancing and playing pool and learning Portuguese and learning how to say Sweet Joelle's name, which I finally can say,

Spending a whole night, literally running around Barcelona, listening to Taylor Swift with a new friend. I had just met at the bar, all fun and games until our phone was stolen.

going on like this cute little spontaneous paddleboard date. With the guy who rented me the paddleboard, he met me out on the paddleboard with a beer, we got a pina colada afterwards and a chicken on a stick and watched a couple get engaged.

LL while I was on this date in San Diego and the guy took me on the Navy boat and I got a really cool tour. 

Meeting my dear friend Mia in London for like 30 minutes in the hostel. Only to find out that she lives in Barcelona, and I got to meet up with her when I was there and go dancing with her and her friends. 

My spontaneous adventure with my first ever hostile friend, Lily. And going kayaking in La Jolla and seeing all the sweet little sea lions

When I was visiting Lucy in Fort Lauderdale and decided to skip my flight, extend my trip, book another one because I wanted to go snorkeling one more day. 

When I was in Denver for my like 20 hour layover, I met this really awesome friend that we just clicked, spent the night just like bopping around bars. He showed me this cool Denver shot to take. Told me where to go hiking the next morning, and was on my merry way.

Oh, just like dancing and wandering around Old San Juan after the bar is closed, like with all the Christmas lights with this adorable friend that I had just met like two hours ago, just talking about life and traveling like probably how we knew each other in a past life. Ugh. It's like, man who's writing this script, 

When I got invited to go to this ice hockey game in San Diego with a friend that I had met at a concert.

When Lauren and I were in Portugal and we did a 10 hour wine tour in the Duro Valley and met these two awesome girls from Boston, and our tour guide was hilarious and amazing, and we called him Vino Poppy, and he had us laughing the entire day. I didn't learn a single thing about wine,

Oh, , when I was running around the streets of Montreal and randomly ran into my server from the boat tour that I did, and then we made plans to go dancing the next night and I just had so much fun listening to like all this french rap music.

just like staying up super late. Playing Jenga and turning it into karate Jenga with new friends that I just met at the hostel, completely sober, just cracking up while simultaneously convincing a new friend to extend their trip and stay in Puerto Rico.

Me and my new friend in Barcelona. Finding ourselves in some weird speakeasy. That her and I somehow got invited into

and one of my absolute favorite memories from this year was after meeting my Sweet London boy, and basically all the bars were closing early, so we grabbed a bottle of wine, walked across the bridge, sat under Big Ben, along the Thames River, and just like drinking wine, talking for hours, while literally looking at the London eye. Ugh. I felt like it was like straight outta a movie.

And I think it was moments like this and all these moments, like whether it was by myself or was something that popped up spontaneously by meeting other people, but it was like allowing myself to just be present It was so fun to be so playful in the world.

I really stopped trying to force so much or perform or. Prove myself in any way. It was like just me out there.

Throughout this entire year, I've realized how much every single trip has helped me heal. Different parts of me, show me different sides of me that I maybe forgot about.

On my very last trip in Puerto Rico, I got to connect with like 16-year-old me that was left behind in 2010 when my entire gymnastics team got to go to Puerto Rico. But I was recovering from double knee surgery, so I wasn't competing, therefore, I wasn't allowed to go on the trip, and I was like super down, sad.

Now that I am someone who is capable of traveling alone in the world, I decided to go back there and bring 16-year-old me with me to tell her like I got us. You don't have to perform to be here. You don't have to compete on broken knees anymore. Like we just get to be here because we earned this ourselves and we had this like really sweet moment.

One morning I like watched the sunrise and like wrote in my journal. And I told her thank you for not pushing yourself to try to compete just to get to Puerto Rico. ' Cause I really do think something bad would've happened and probably would've needed more surgery. But it's like, I think she really heard the message 

and I think like, this is what I find so special about traveling. It's like I would go into my trips with intention and openness. And would also spend so much time after my trips, like really reflecting on how I felt like I shifted in the world, or how I showed up differently. How was I braver? What did I learn? What's something that somebody said to me? That like really stuck out and how can I bring that into my life? I really prioritize like this like integration phase after every single trip I really wanted to document this experience. As much as I could, even though it was happening so fast.

I started posting on TikTok while I'm out traveling, whether I'm making like a little Taylor Swift video or just like sharing some pictures from my trip. Probably mostly of just me in all these different places.

Or sometimes I would feel like kind of lonely or weird or awkward and I would actually just like sit down and talk about it and I would just post it anyway. Like again, it really doesn't matter. Life is like a video game. It's like whatever. Just post it and who knows? Like might.

Listen to it and it might resonate with, and if it's nobody, that's fine because this year and all of these experiences and documenting all of this was for me to show myself that it's possible. But along the way, I really have found like different community out there. This like travel space.

And truly what I found is that people in the world, whether it is online, whether it's in person, whether it's like just a quick 30 minutes passing by, like people are looking for genuine, kind connection. And honestly, that is exactly what I found. The amount of times people told me like, oh my gosh, be careful of London. Like, oh my gosh, be careful of Puerto Rico. 

And yes, I did take comments very seriously. I pay attention. I did lots of research and part of learning how to solo travel was learning how to be aware in the world, how to set boundaries, because my safety was the most important thing and how to truly trust my own instincts. Because I'm not naive to think that there aren't horrible and terrible things that happen in the world. They definitely do, and it doesn't mean every place is going to feel safe for everyone. Everyone's comfort level is different. But for me, I am very grateful that I was awake. I stayed informed, I had my eyes open, and my experiences were just overwhelmingly positive.

And truly part of this year was about seeing the world for myself. and not through the lens of everybody else's social media or. The news or however else, like the government or whatever, like wants to like instill fear in us. . I remember at the beginning of this year there was like all those like plane crashes and people were like, you are not really gonna get on a plane every month with all these planes going down. And I'm like, yes, I definitely am.

But yes, I was very conscious of where I chose to go and where I didn't. There are places right now that I recognize I am not the solo traveler that is prepared enough to go. I learned a lot from following experienced travelers on Instagram and TikTok, especially women, and learning how they approach safety.

But I'm also very protective of my own journey. I always kind of follow this. One quote that says, don't take criticism from someone you wouldn't go to for advice. Or like, don't take advice from someone you wouldn't wanna trade lives with.

I'm very intentional with my life. And I've learned to be very conscious of what I take away from a conversation when maybe that other person is just projecting their own fears.

And it's almost funny because through traveling and meeting so many different people from so many different places in the world, it's almost like on paper we might be told that we're divided.

Or like, I don't know. We shouldn't be friends because of what's going on in the world but in reality, in my real moment, it was just two people sitting together at a bar or on the beach or walking through some city, just two humans talking about life. Like we can hold this awareness of the world while still believing that people at their core are more similar than we are different.

And I am Lindsey Duda, and yes, I am from the United States, but I am not the United States. I am not the America. I'm Lindsey Duda. A solo traveler from Pennsylvania who's also a nurse and just excited to be out in the world to meet people and truly this year has opened my eyes to so much My dreams are bigger than ever. My goals are bigger.

And as we step into this new year, I invite you to pick your word for this year. To pick like an intention, like a mantra, a phrase like whatever it is, something simple enough that you can recall like over and over and over again throughout your entire year. That helps guide you, like if you are stuck between choices or. Either moving or not moving, taking action. Like what's the word that's gonna help pull you into the best version of yourself?

So last year my word was expansion. It was like things that I was deciding on, like does this support my goal of expansion in any way possible? And this year my word is momentum. Like I wanna take all the things that I've loved and. Learn from and just expanded so much on and really like shift into alignment and truly, truly build momentum.

So that's like more nursing, more traveling, more documenting, more podcasting, and just more connection with the world that is. Truly what feels so important to me, like this year is all about like moving forward at like a steady pace, breathing through this

and part of this momentum feels like reconnection, like reconnecting with the people anywhere in my life that has, that has really like. It mattered to me like last year was lots of new, new people, new places, new experiences, and I know that will come with this year too, and I'm excited to reconnect, to like really strengthen some relationships that I have made throughout my travels.

And while this year might not be, uh, get on a plane every month, I do have different goals, um, for myself and hopefully also will lowkey, maybe casually get on a plane every month.

Okay, so this is the part where I'm gonna invite you or challenge you to think of or consider like your own quote unquote, get on a plane every month. Like, it doesn't have to be a plane, it doesn't have to be travel, um, but something that will excite you, that you can plan and look forward to every single month.

Something simple enough, but something like new or just like a way to get yourself out of your own comfort zone. Like maybe it is. Going on like a small solo date every month. Maybe it's just trying a new restaurant every month, going to the movie theaters reading a new book. Uh, maybe it's committing to getting up once a month to watch the sunrise.

Maybe it is getting in your van and going surfing in a new city or town every single month. But whatever it is something that you can look back at the end of the year and be so excited and proud of that you stuck with something and committed to it every single month. Because I think a lot of self-trust is built on this commitment and like our relationship with ourself and like upholding it, knowing that like we have our own back and like if we say we're gonna do something, like we're gonna do it and.

That's why it's so important to keep it simple and fun and lighthearted, but something that you know that you can do So at the end of the year, you have 12 different stories around the same theme that you can be proud to talk about out.

And also stay tuned because I'm going to do this as like a little series, uh, where the next one I really wanna talk about, like, logistically how I did this.

Because for one, I am extremely grateful for how I intentionally set my life up. Being a nurse and working three 12 hour shifts, having some scheduling flexibility. I am currently living at home And I also kept trips short. 

I worked around my shifts, like the amount of times I got done working at either like three 30 in the morning or seven 30 in the morning and drove straight to the airport or was flying back into Philly or to New York. Drove home from the airport and went straight to work that night.

Like there was definitely some sacrifice, some of this wasn't super glamorous or luxury it was about pushing myself and finding my version of what was possible,

but I would love to share like truly how I found cheap flights, how I learned to stay in hostels. How I learned to choose certain hostels, how I plan month to month without burning out or also going broke. And really just like the routine of it and like what made it possible. And how maybe you can incorporate this in your life if you are looking to travel more.

And the third part of the series will be where I actually walk you through like. Month by month and kind of move through every city. Some of the highlights, what I learned, and kind of give you like that full travel diary.

Thank you so much for listening let's keep this momentum going into 2026. Let's be open and expansive and really create the lives that we want to live because remember, there is no permission slip. You are allowed to decide you are allowed to create the life that you wanna live.

When you commit to that and give yourself the space and the time and the grace to grow, I promise you really can look up and see a whole new version of yourself that you are so excited to be.

So cheers to the new year 2026. I'm so excited to hear where you're gonna be traveling this year book the flight, plan the trip, say yes to new adventures. And in the process, I hope you never stop chasing your somewhere else. Until next time.