Tell Me Your Story…

When I created this website focusing on travel for women, I never intended for it to be solely about me.  “Look where I am in the world today!”  That would get old pretty quickly.  Providing travel inspiration & tips has always been secondary to my main goal: which is to make women less fearful about traveling by themselves.  I created this website an antidote to our fear-driven media, & our often fear-driven mindsets.  I wanted to tell women that it’s not that scary out there in the world!  But at its heart, I always envisioned this website as something more: I envisioned it as a home for women’s stories.  Which is why I want you to tell me your story…

“What I know for sure is that speaking your truth is the most powerful tool we all have.”

Oprah Winfrey, from Cecil B. Demille Acceptance Speech

Tell Me Your Story, Girl Who Travels the World

Speaking your truth leads to living your truth. Tell me your story…

2018 = The Year of Women’s Stories

Ultimately, I want this website to be a home for women’s stories.  From all over the world.  Because everywhere I go, no matter where I am, I meet women who inspire me.  It happens everywhere.  From the Peruvian women in their tall hats & big skirts, lugging 50-pound sacks up into the Andes, to Mayan women in Guatemala running coffee farms & knitting cooperatives, in order to make better lives for themselves & their families: everywhere I go, I see strong women.  Many of  whom don’t have the luxury, or ability, to travel.  And yet, they all have stories.  And I believe they are stories worth telling…

Tell Me Your Story, Girl Who Travels the World

Women in Lake Atitlan, Guatemala at Tinte Maya, a women’s weaving collective.

Now we have a little bit of economic independence, & think about leading independent lives.  It’s a process, but this culture of female independence is being passed on to our children. They see it & begin to adapt to this new rhythm of life.  My niece told me the other day that she is going to weave so she can earn a bit. And she is getting an education, too.”

Amalia Tay Mendoza, Founder of Tinte Maya

Writing as Medicine

Other women have already contributed & written for this website ~ many of whom are close friends or family.  They’ve written about growing up in two different cultures, & what it feels like falling for your salsa instructor in Cuba.  They speak from perspectives I never could.  And the irony is, even people I’ve known for years, people I think I know well ~ reveal unknown truths & vulnerabilities when they take to paper & write their experiences down.

For instance, how much do you think you’d learn about your own parents if you asked them to write about their high school years?  Or about the way in which their parents disciplined them?  Or how they fell in love with each other?  I bet some of their revelations would shock you ~ & these are people you think you know intimately.

Writing is a wonderful venue: it gives us an opportunity to reflect on our experiences, bringing meaning to them.  It helps us find themes & tie various experiences together, discovering common threads.  It helps us unearth where we’ve gone wrong.  Writing helps us grow wiser.  I wish everybody, even people who don’t view themselves as writers, would write.  The world would be a better place if more people took the time to reflect, & to write.

Tell Me Your Story, Girl Who Travels the World

Write.

  In our modern society, where spell-check fixes our texts & we are terminally “busy” ~ it seems, reflection is a luxury.  I fear that the written word will grow less important as technology encroaches.  And yet, I find that reflection is a necessity ~ not a luxury.  It’s how we move, with grace, from one stage of our lives to the next.  It’s how we know when to let go of someone, or something.  It’s how we move through feeling dead inside, to truly living again, with zest & passion.  Through writing, you become your own best friend.  A trusted confidante, with whom you’ll share anything. 

When a woman becomes her own best friend, life becomes easier.”

Diane von Furstenberg

Tell Me Your Story…

With all this said, I encourage you to write.  Telling stories has always been one of our most powerful tools, throughout the ages.  Today is no exception, & perhaps it’s even more important, as we are all so consumed by technology.  Stories are the way we relate as humans, to one another. 

And if you are a woman: I know you have a story.  I know you have hundreds.  I’m not saying that men don’t have stories, or that they’re unimportant: far from it.  But the fact is, men have been the lead story for so long, throughout history: I simply feel that it’s time for women’s stories to emerge.  And I want this website to be a venue for the telling of women’s stories. 

“The most important relationship in your life is the one you have with yourself.  Because no matter what happens, you will always be with yourself.”

Diane von Furstenberg

Tell Me Your Story, Girl Who Travels the WOrld

This website is a home for women’s stories…

Get Inspired to Tell Your Story..

 

Tell Me Your Story…

What story do you most want to tell about yourself?  What story do you need to tell?  Where have your travels taken you ~ & what has moved you most during those travels?  I want to hear about it.  It may take time for me to respond to your submission, given that I could be in an Amazonian jungle or hiking the Inca Trail ~ but rest assured, if your submission is authentic, thoughtfully written, & sent with good intent: I will read it.  I want to hear your story.  Submissions that move me most will be added to this site, with the author’s permission.  

Write me in the comments below, or for longer submissions, send an email to girlwhotravelsworld@gmail.com.  Everyone has a story.  And I want you to tell me your story…

xoxo Noelia 

Read Next: Inspring Women Series, Volume One: Lydia Cacho