Why I Created Lady World Explorer
After decades of children, a company and a full house, I gave myself the gift of travel. This is why this journal exists.
For years, decades really, my days were not mine to arrange. I had kids. I had a company. I had clients, and a big circle of family, and all of those things dictated how every day went. That is not a complaint. Those were the things that mattered to me, and I was being pulled by them because I loved them.
Then, one by one, they stopped being the centre of my life. The children grew. The business changed. And I lost my husband. In the beginning, it feels like you've lost your life. I am not going to pretend otherwise. But the fact is that there is a new life to be had, one where you are not being pulled by everything that matters to you, every hour of every day.
Suddenly you have air. Space. And I craved peace.
What peace looks like to me
I find peace when I'm in an environment that is beautiful and calmer and full of story and history. Not the busiest beaches, not the cutest bikini, none of that. A place with old stone and long views and people going about their lives. Somewhere I can walk slowly and not be needed by anyone for a while.
So I made a decision to help myself. I would give myself the gift of travel.
The first gift was Santorini. A beautiful little apartment, the geography of that island, its history, its people. I have written about it in its own story, so I will only say here that it was a gift of healing. I came home grateful.
Why a website
When I came home, I shared it with my family. And as I told them about it, I felt that there were other people who might benefit from hearing the story, and from believing, maybe, yeah, maybe I can do it too.
Not the way we usually do it, where we negotiate every plan with everybody in our life. Just: what do I want to do? Finding that voice that is uncluttered. It is a slower life, and it is a gift.
That is all Lady World Explorer is. A very personal record of the places that give me peace, written for anyone who is standing where I stood, wondering whether the quiet is an ending or a beginning.
I think of my husband every day. I feel so grateful for his love. And I think there are so many beautiful things in the world, and I don't want to stop.