About Me!

Hello! Welcome to gypsyjen.net! My name is Jennifer Pearson – thanks for coming by.

A little information about me and my site:

Short Version:

First started to travel before I could walk. Fell in love with the idea of potentially-permanent, long-term travel on a trip to Europe and Russia in 2013. During this trip, I realized that this was how I wanted to spend my life. I’m a female traveller with a goal to travel to every country in the world, and I will work towards empowering others to see the globe. I do most of my travelling solo, and I want to show other solo travellers that, for the most part, the world is not a scary place.

 

Long Version:

While I started travelling with my family when I was in elementary school, it wasn’t until I was 18 years old that I got my first taste of solo travel.

I went to Japan on a two-week exchange program. It was a perfect first trip abroad. It was safe, and though I was travelling with a group, because of the exchange portion, it gave me a sense of solo travel. It gave me an appreciation for different cultures. It was my first real experience of culture shock. I made a promise to myself that trip that I would always, always find a way to travel.

That year, I started attending university. While travel remained on my mind, most of my savings went towards making a ‘future’ for myself. Doing what was essentially expected. Though university was a fantastic experience, and I will always be grateful for the opportunity to get my education degree, it also postponed my travel plans.

My first trip to Europe was in 2007. It was with family, and we spent the time in the UK with extended family, and then took a 28-day Trafalgar tour through Western Europe. While the pace, and the 2/3 days per city drove me a little crazy, I would not trade this introduction to Europe for anything. It exposed me to many different countries, and gave me a small background and excellent base from which to start my own travels.

After graduation, I gave myself one year to plan my first backpacking trip. I always wanted to go back to Europe and do it ‘backpacker style’ for as long as I could make my budget last. I planned to be gone at least six months. I knew I needed to do it sooner, rather than later, because once I got hired as a permanent contract teacher, it would be more difficult to walk away from that for an extended holiday.

From March to October 2013, I backpacked Europe and Russia. I travelled all the way without taking a flight (a little challenge/goal I’d created to encourage me to travel slowly, see more scenery, and to save money!) Check out my stories and more details from this trip here.

This trip was when I first fell in love with solo travel. I was only mildly concerned with travelling solo as a female. (My mother was quite a bit more concerned. But ultimately, things went ahead as I planned and she relied on near daily confirmation that I was, in fact, still alive and doing well). I knew how to be safe while travelling. I knew that I might sacrifice things to keep myself safe. But the trade off of being able to do any activity, on any day, without having to compromise with what someone else wanted to do, far outweighed bringing a friend along.

Though sketchy border crossings (the time I crossed on a bus from Finland to Russia at 3am, and the bus left without me….maybe?), and when I was questioned more coming into England than I was coming into Russia. From staying with a family for a month in a beautiful little town of 400 people in Northern England. From renting an apartment in Paris and living like the locals in Montmartre. From cruising the fjords in Greenland, and visiting a small town whose population was less than half that of our ship. These all propelled me to the person I am today.

Over the next several years, I travelled extensively around North America, Europe, Russia, the Caribbean and Central America. While I wasn’t able to travel again in the long-term way that made me fall in love with travel, I was still able to travel enough to somewhat satisfy my craving.

In addition to smaller trips through the year, I’m currently in the process of planning a 14-month trip through several continents, likely my next long-term trip. I plan to try and support this travel lifestyle enough to be able to do this full time.

Ultimately, my goal is to continue to travel through 198 countries in the world, and much of them, I hope to travel as a solo female backpacker. My goal is to show you that not only is it possible to travel as a solo woman (either by choice, or because no one in your current social group shares your need to travel), but it can be one of the more rewarding experiences of your life!

Join me as I travel the world!

 

Please feel free to comment, or email me at jen@gypsyjen.com. I will always reply to each email I receive! I will do my best to answer your questions and share my experiences!