Breaking Through Barriers: A Woman Overcoming the Odds
At AdventureWomen, we often share our stories among each other while journeying. You live such rich and interesting lives, Adventure Women!
This month, we want to honor women who break through barriers. Now many of you might associate “barriers” with externally-imposed road blocks – glass ceilings, stereotypes, economic hardship, or discrimination. But sometimes barriers are more personal in nature. These can be some of the toughest to overcome and having the courage to face these head on deserves comment.
Recently, Condé Nast Traveler featured one of you (Lorraine) in a piece focused on the healing power of travel after experiencing a loss. We wanted to share this with you because we believe that having the courage to travel with a new group of women to a new place after going through the death of your partner is in our opinion, breaking through a barrier, like no other.
Here is Lorraine’s story…
According to Lorraine, it was a New York Times article about solo female travelers that inspired her to make the leap [to travel with AdventureWomen] —two years after losing her husband. “I held onto that article for a while. Eventually I said, ‘you know what, I need to plan something that’ll make me feel better about being alive. I need to take a trip.’” She thought of the places she’d always wanted to explore, including those her husband hadn’t taken an interest in, and decided to book an all-female Galapagos cruise with AventureWomen. For the first time in her life, she booked her own plane ticket. (Paul had always handled the logistics.)
“I would go up to the deck of the boat, if we had time before dinner and I would start sketching or painting,” says Lorraine. She’d always traveled with an art set, but hadn’t used it much when traveling with her husband. They’d always kept busy together. Now, it was a way to occupy herself during downtime. As she painted, other women began to come by and watch her work, showering her with compliments. Some even offered to buy her art on the spot. It was the boost of confidence she hadn’t realized she’d needed, just when she needed it. “That was a turning point for me,” says Lorraine. “It made me think, maybe I do have something to offer the world.”
The gifts given to our guests, by our guests, these mean the most to us at AdventureWomen. They are unsolicited, unpredictable, and unforgettable moments which build each of us up, bond us together, and give us new inspiration to take on challenges, stretch, and grow.
Lorraine reached out to AdventureWomen team member Eliza after her story was published by CNTraveler and said, “After reading the story, Eliza, I definitely want to plan on another AW trip. Will figure out which destinations ‘tickle my fancy’ and when my ‘kids’ (all adults, but there’s 3 grandsons) don’t need my help. Always trying to move forward, Lorraine.”
Here’s to Lorraine.
