I want to co-host a travel reality show where women take their first solo trip and discover their independence and identity through the ups and downs of the adventure 🤞🏽

Someone on the subway said I smell rich today and that’s like the best manifestation compliment ever

If this moved you, follow me @packslight on Instagram. I’ll be sharing more stories, reflections, and resources for living a life of freedom and bold adventures into my 30s!

I hope my 30s are less about proving myself and more about enjoying myself. More grounding. More ease. More magic I don’t have to chase, just recognize when it arrives ✨

As I turn 30 I hope I don’t just remember the places I went but the versions of myself I met along the way. The brave one. The soft one. The one who doubted everything. The one who kept going anyway.

Today I'm 29 and I’m putting a bow on this decade very soon! This year I'm remembering and reflecting. I'm revisiting countries that shaped me—to see how much they’ve changed, and how I have too. I'm thinking back to all the risks and leaps I've taken to get here today 🥹

At 28, I got an apt in New York City. I wanted stillness between adventures, community between flights, and a deeper sense of belonging. My late 20s is when I decided to make decisions for the moment, and they don't have to last forever. I can grow, change my mind and my plans

At 27, I started to reflect. What did I want now that I had achieved my dream of full-time travel? I started hearing "What's next?" and panicking. It was now or never for the Money-Marriage-Mortgage train. Would I backtrack, or keep going into the unknown?

At 26 I was finally making just enough money to travel full-time. So I went, alone. Stayed in hostels, traveled cheap, made it work. And was so happy! Freedom doesn’t mean luxury, it means choice. I felt rich in time, experience, and growth (even if my bank account disagreed)

25, boom, officially mid-20s! I quit my corporate job to travel the world! ...Pandemic hit two weeks later. I was seconds from calling my boss to beg for my job back but deep down I knew this was part of the path. That year taught me to have faith

24. My prime years. Drove to the airport at 4AM with just a carry-on and booked a flight “Anywhere.” Ended up in US Virgin Islands for an extended weekend! That trip solidified it... I was too young and full of life to keep that sterile, gray office job. I needed OUT.

At 23 I already HATED 9-5 life. Then I read The 4-Hour Workweek... mind blown. Started chatting with my boss... Suddenly, I was traveling the country on company dime. That year taught me the power of a strong pitch - asking for what you want is such an underrated skill!

22, graduated, I secured a big girl job. Decided to blow my signing bonus on a 2-week trip to Italy with friends. Florence, Amalfi, Rome, Capri... Best decision ever. That trip solidified in me: work to live, never live to work. And some memories are worth the money!

As a 21 y/o student I won a study abroad scholarship. I chose the Middle East not because it felt familiar, but because it felt so so foreign. I flew in full of fear and assumptions, and left wishing I could stay longer with friends who'd become family. That trip cracked me ope

When I entered my 20s I had a checklist: Good job. Money. House. Marriage. But something shifted.. I felt a strong curiosity to travel. So I started small, I went solo... and it all spiraled from there here’s what solo travel taught me—year by year—in my 20s 🧵

Solo travel isn’t glamorous. Sometimes it’s lonely, sometimes it’s awkward. And sometimes that's exactly what you need to grow. Savor the beautiful empowerment AND embrace the suck. Both are important

When I finally realized that my 70% was the majority's 100%, I learned to rest

Someone said “Nothing gives you a clearer look into someone than how they misinterpret things, every misinterpretation is a confession” and it’s so true because how people misunderstand things can reveal a lot about their perspectives and feelings.

tl;dr https://t.co/r7DwC5gVUX 💙

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Most people have no idea these types of funded travel programs exist and get it. I came across them by luck, and had to get really good as separating the gimmicks/scams from worthwhile opportunities. So much trial and error and research for hoursss