12 TRIPS IN 12 MONTHS

Approaching 30, an attorney slowly transitions out of her office job to fulfill her dream of becoming a full-time travel blogger and influencer.

Ruiz is the creator of the Jen on a Jet Plane blog and author of The Solo Female Travel Book and The Affordable Flight Guide. Her published insights into “travel hacking,” including how to use airline points and miles to get free flights, earn her complimentary hotel rooms and restaurant meals in return for creating content about her perks and experiences. The year before she turned 30, the author resolved to take 12 (mostly) solo trips abroad in 12 months to such far-flung destinations as Greece, Italy, Ecuador, and Cuba, “my first dictatorship.” Ruiz displays considerable shrewdness in learning how to travel safely alone as a young woman, following her credo that a solo traveler “can do absolutely anything they want on vacation without consulting or waiting for anyone else—the good life.” The author sometimes broke her own rules—e.g., not getting into cars with strangers—when the vibe felt right, as when a “big, fat Italian family” invited her to join them. Though self-sufficient, Ruiz admits that she spent lots of time “secretly hoping I would meet a guy while I ‘wasn’t looking.’” She candidly reports on romantic entanglements with men she met during her global travels—“Greek Guy,” “Chilean Guy,” and “California Guy”—but the attachments didn’t last. Of course, Ruiz was not truly alone in her peripatetic travels; she was often “sponsored” by restaurants, hotels, and tour companies along the way. By year’s end, the author quit her office job to pursue travel blogging and writing full time. The purposeful traveler discovered that being alone is not a curse; in fact, she came to see it as a “superpower.”

A mostly inspiring tale of solo adventure.