How a few Facebook Posts turned into a book idea

Before I started travelling in 2025, friends and family asked me to keep in touch and update with my travels – some were genuinely interested, some wanted to live vicariously through me, and some, I’m fairly sure, were just being polite and didn’t expect me to take the assignment quite as seriously.  

On day one of my travels a posted a simple photo of myself on the train to the airport. Three days later another post, then another a few days after that.

On the way to Heathrow for my first trip to South America - Yes, those are ski’s that I’m lugging there with me too.

I had only intended to keep friends and family updated with the occasional Facebook post, but there was so much happening, so much to see and do, that I ended up posting about twice a week. I’d write about where I was, what I’d been doing, the people I’d met, and some of the thoughts going through my mind along the way.

I didn’t think much of it at the time.

But gradually, people started responding more and more. Friends began telling me how much they enjoyed reading my updates, and a few people even suggested that I should write a book.

At first, I laughed the idea off completely.

I’d already been keeping a personal journal throughout my travels around South America, mainly as a way to capture memories and make sense of everything I was experiencing. Writing had become something private and therapeutic for me to do at the end of each day— a way to process the changes happening in my life whilst travelling.

The idea of actually writing a book felt far too big, far too ambitious, and honestly, something other people did.

Still, the comments stayed with me.

Even if it never became a published book, I started to realise that turning my experiences into a memoir could still be worthwhile. I was already finding comfort in writing, so even if it didn’t get published, I was still benefitting from the process.

At that stage though, I still didn’t begin the book itself. I simply carried on journalling as I travelled.

After South America, I became a ski instructor for the winter season and my plan was to start writing properly after that.

But during the ski season, I discovered I had more free time than I expected. One day, I opened my laptop and simply started writing.

With no big plan and no outline or real thoughts about where it might lead.

Just the beginning.

Coincidentally, whilst skiing, I also happened to meet two authors - Ian Kelly  (also an Actor – Hermione’s dad in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – part 1), and Andrew Kay, a Neurosurgeon featured in the channel 5 documentary called ‘Surgeons – A matter of Life and Death’. They both generously shared advice and encouragement with me, which made the whole idea of writing a book begin to feel slightly less ridiculous.

Now the ski season is over, and I’ve spent the past week back home editing what I’ve written so far, learning about websites, looking into marketing, and trying to understand what I actually want all of this to become.

And something important has become clear to me. This journey may not just be about writing a book.

I started thinking about other women who dream about travelling solo but perhaps don’t yet have the confidence to do it. Women who feel stuck, uncertain, lonely, nervous, or simply ready for a new chapter but are unsure how to begin.

Because not so long ago, that was me too.

That thought has inspired me to create a Facebook community where women can ask questions, share experiences, encourage one another, and hopefully feel a little braver about exploring the world if that’s something they truly want to do.

It’s also why I decided to create this website.

Partly to share travel stories and practical advice, but also to document this writing journey from the very beginning — honestly, imperfectly, and in real time.

I have no idea exactly where it will lead yet.

But I think that’s part of the adventure.