I am a vagabondess and storyteller currently rooted in Costa Rica. I have traveled and lived many places, and can comfortably say I feel at home just about everywhere. I have a metaphorical closet full of hats including: Author, Editor, Marketing Consultant, Movement Artist, and Empowerment Self-Defense Instructor. I am the founder of Mujeres Fuertes Costa Rica, a holistic self-defense project creating unique empowerment retreats around the country and region. I believe that words are medicine, and that stories can heal the world. I am passionate about the power of the written word, and I regularly publish writing about travel and life, as well as support others to share their stories in my work as an editor and consultant.
Women Who Run with the Wolves is a classic; I can’t recommend it enough to anyone interested in the fascinating interplay between myth and fairytale, the female psyche, and the journey of self-discovery—in the literal and psychological woods. This book has led me to think much more deeply about the female archetypes present in both my solo travels and in my personal development (of course, the two are deeply interconnected). I am currently on my second reading of this epic book, and the tales shared and their profound interpretations continue to twine with my life in wild and unexpected ways. Required reading for any aspiring or veteran wild woman!
First published three years before the print edition of Women Who Run With the Wolves made publishing history, this original audio edition quickly became an underground bestseller. For its insights into the inner life of women, it established Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes as one of the most important voices of our time in the fields of Jungian psychology, myth, and women's mysteries.
Drawing from her work as a psychoanalyst and cantadora ("keeper of the old stories"), Dr. Estes uses myths and folktales to illustrate how societies systematically strip away the feminine spirit. Through an exploration into the nature of the…
I’ve read this twice and enjoyed it thoroughly both times… I may even go for a third-round! Every time I read it I feel newly inspired to venture out alone into the forest, seek out some animal familiars, and frolic in a meadow full of flowers. This book tells the story of a (mythical) strong, independent woman with a complex inner life. Her heroine’s journey to self-actualization is a mystical blueprint for any woman wishing to connect with her inner power and embrace the fear of the unknown inherent in any solo journey. Sure, Circe is also a goddess and a powerful witch, but then, so are you.
In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. Circe is a strange child - not powerful and terrible, like her father, nor gorgeous and mercenary like her mother. Scorned and rejected, Circe grows up in the shadows, at home in neither the world of gods or mortals. But Circe has a dark power of her own: witchcraft. When her gift threatens…
I happened upon this gem of an anthology in a library book sale a couple of years back, and I highly recommend trying to get your hands on a copy if you’re looking for wide-ranging inspiration and guidance on the traveler’s path. With a focus on the spiritual element of women’s journeys, and featuring literary powerhouses like Maya Angelou and Anne Lamott, this collection is an ode to feminine courage, power, and transformation. Each essay is a masterpiece, and can be a guide to a specific kind of journey. You’ll want to carry a dog-eared copy with you to come back to again and again.
A Woman's Path presents inspiring stories of spiritual growth and awakening, written by some of the world's finest women writers. From New Mexico to Niger, Israel to Ireland, India to Chechnya, the wide range of stories in this enthralling collection touch on common themes letting go, opening up, finding an inner peace. Through these tales, we see again and again the grand and subtle ways that travel awakens us, nudging important questions to the surface, directing us to view life from new angles. And while many of these stories take place while on the road, for others the change of…
I almost didn’t include this on my list, because it has become such a cult classic that you’ll find it on every book list for solo female travelers… but honestly, it’s a great read! I think I read this not long before hiking the Camino de Santiago through Northern Spain, and I appreciated the perspective of a regular woman (not a top athlete or hiking enthusiast) digging into her inner drive and determination in order to achieve an extraordinary feat. Strayed’s account of her 1,100-mile hike along the Pacific Crest Trail and the healing journey that accompanies it will probably continue to nag at me until I hike that trail myself.
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A powerful, blazingly honest memoir: the story of an eleven-hundred-mile solo hike that broke down a young woman reeling from catastrophe—and built her back up again.
At twenty-two, Cheryl Strayed thought she had lost everything. In the wake of her mother’s death, her family scattered and her own marriage was soon destroyed. Four years later, with nothing more to lose, she made the most impulsive decision of her life. With no experience or training, driven only by blind will, she would hike more than a thousand miles of the Pacific Crest Trail from the…
This book about street art and feminism is an important reminder that the dangers of solo female travel are not so different from the dangers of walking the streets of your home city. Issues like street harassment and sexual violence are global; staying at home may seem like playing it safe, but gender-based violence crosses every border. This book tells the stories of various women in the United States and their experiences with street harassment. I believe it offers an important complement to the other books on my list: In order to embrace the solo travel journey, women must often first address the very real fears of harassment and violence, which we are socialized to carry with us no matter where we travel. To overcome these fears, it is important to first recognize and dissect them—and the patriarchal systems from which they have emerged.
A celebration of the author's art, a rallying read for women who are fed up with their own harassment experiences and a statement on how pervasive the problem of street harassment really is, this is a singular and important book.
Sitting at the cross-section of social activism, art, community engagement and feminism, Stop Telling Women To Smile brings to the page the author's arresting and famous street art-featuring the faces and voices of everyday women as they talk about the experience of living in communities that are supposed to be their homes yet are frequently hostile.
Vagabondess: A Guide to Solo Female Travel is a book for women—and all people!—who want to travel solo, face their fears, and live the adventure of their dreams. This book is for the travelers, the feminists, the adventurers, the seekers, and the curious. Much more than a guide, it is a collection of travelogue, philosophy, stories, and, yes, travel advice. It is about embracing the vagabondess—her spirit of adventure, her curiosity, her dedication to growth and discovery—who lives inside each of us, showing up in our lives in a myriad of ways.
If you were waiting for someone to tell you that your dreams are just crazy enough, and then give you some practical suggestions for how to get there, then this is the book for you.
On the run from her abusive husband, Kyra Smith hits the road. Destination unknown. With a dog she rescued in tow, she lands in the peaceful California mountain town of Gold Creek and is immediately befriended by an openhearted group of women who call themselves the Tattooed Ladies. They’re there for Kyra—and for each other.
The maternal Frannie is a tattoo artist struggling with a troubled daughter. Suzy is a self-described fashionista grandma bearing a painful estrangement from her son. Then there’s Jo, whose storybook marriage is shadowed by a grim medical diagnosis. And bookstore owner Marisol. She longs for…
A woman escaping a violent past finds new friendships, romance, and tenuous sanctuary in an emotionally gripping novel by New York Times bestselling author Eileen Goudge.
On the run from her abusive husband, Kyra Smith hits the road. Destination unknown. With a neglected dog she rescued in tow, she lands in the peaceful California town of Gold Creek and is immediately befriended by an openhearted group of women called the Tattooed Ladies Club. They're there for Kyra-and for each other.
The maternal Frannie is a tattoo artist struggling with a troubled daughter. Suzy is a self-described fashionista grandma bearing a…
