The Workbook Is Finished! (And I Only Lost My Sanity a Little Bit...)
The last few weeks before leaving for Europe were... hot and hectic to say the least.
Most people spend the run-up to a six-month trip packing, saying goodbye to friends and family, and wondering if they've remembered their passport.
I was doing all of that. Plus trying to finish writing a workbook.
I’d already written the main content, but I'd completely underestimated how long the final stages would take.
Reading it. Re-reading it. Editing it. Spotting the same typo for the eighteenth time. Removing repeated paragraphs. Checking the chapters flowed properly. Wondering if I'd accidentally contradicted myself three pages later.
Then there was the technical side.
Ten separate PDFs needed merging into one. I needed a cover. I needed a Stripe account. I needed somewhere to actually sell it. I discovered Payhip—a website I'd never even heard of a few weeks earlier—and somehow had to figure out how all of that worked.
Meanwhile my brain was also occupied with equally important questions, such as whether seven pairs of knickers would be enough for six months travel, or whether I should risk taking eight.
These are my big life decisions at the moment.
To make matters even more interesting, Britain decided to have a heatwave. I was working until the early hours most nights, while also trying to stop my mum's pond fish from turning into fish fingers and persuade her plants to at least stay alive until she got home.
Looking back, I'm not entirely sure how it all happened.
But somehow...
It did.
I sent advance copies to friends and family, took on board their feedback, made the final tweaks, uploaded everything to Payhip... and quietly announced it in my Facebook group.
Then something wonderful happened.
I sold my first copy.
I may have celebrated with a little more enthusiasm than was strictly necessary for one digital download.
Picture a 52-year-old woman bouncing around her kitchen on her own, grinning like she'd just won the lottery.
I immediately messaged my children.
"I've sold one!"
They were every bit as excited as I was.
It was proof that this strange idea I'd had months ago—that perhaps I could help women find the confidence to travel solo—might actually be useful to someone.
If even one woman books that first weekend away because of something she's read in my workbook...
If one woman discovers that travelling alone isn't lonely, but liberating...
Then every late night, every edit, every moment spent wrestling with PDFs will have been worth it.
As for me right now?
I'm writing this while cycling and camping my way around Lake Constance, weaving between Germany, Austria and Switzerland in temperatures that seem better suited to baking pizzas than riding bicycles.
I'm melting most afternoons.
But I'm also swimming in lakes, eating locally grown food, chatting to fellow campers, waking up somewhere beautiful each morning and filling another page of my journal every evening.
It isn't glamorous. It isn't always comfortable. But it feels like exactly the life I was hoping to create.
I'm also still learning that writing a book is only half the battle. The other half is finding the people it was written for. Thankfully, I love this part too—sharing the journey. Writing these blogs. Reflecting on what's gone well, what I've learned, and hopefully encouraging other women to believe that their own adventure is possible.
If you're reading this and you've been putting off that first solo trip because you're worried you'll be lonely, nervous or simply don't know where to start, that's exactly why I wrote Solo in Six.
It isn't about convincing you to spend six months cycling around Europe (although I can highly recommend it!). It's about helping you build the confidence to travel in whatever way feels right for you. That might be a weekend away, a city break you've always dreamed of, or something much bigger.
If I can help even a handful of women discover the freedom and confidence that solo travel has given me, then every late night, every edit, every merged PDF and every debate over how many pairs of knickers to pack will have been worth it.
Solo in Six is now available to download (click link below), and I'd love you to join the women who are already taking those first exciting steps towards their own adventures.