The Illness That Changed Everything
In 2014, I became very sick. After weeks of searching for answers, I was finally diagnosed with meningitis.
I spent weeks in the hospital, followed by months of recovery.I kept waiting to feel normal again, but normal didn't come back the way I expected. My body continued to struggle, and eventually I learned that the illness had triggered an autoimmune disease. At the same time, I was entering menopause, which made it even harder to understand what was happening.For years, I pushed through exhaustion, inflammation, stress, and uncertainty while continuing to work in a high-stress career. I searched for the right doctors, the right answers, and the right treatment while doing what I had always done: I kept going.Surviving became normal.Looking back, I realize that experience changed much more than my health. It changed the way I think about time. When you've gone through something that reminds you how quickly life can change, the word someday starts to feel a little different.Eventually, I began to understand that healing wasn't only about getting through the difficult days. It was also about learning to listen to myself again.When Everything Familiar Started Changing
While I was still trying to understand my health, life continued to shift. After 15 years together, my relationship ended. Around the same time, my youngest daughter was preparing to leave for college.The family rhythm I had known for so long was changing. The house was becoming quieter. The people who had depended on me were building lives of their own. And I was over 50, still working in a stressful career, with retirement beginning to appear on the horizon.And suddenly I found myself wondering, who am I when nobody needs me to be all of those things anymore?It took time to gather myself back together. It took time to grieve the life I thought I would have. It took time to accept the life that had changed.And eventually, I began asking myself a different question: What do I want my life to look like now?Learning How to Be Alone
At first, being alone felt uncomfortable. After so many years of family schedules, work responsibilities, and being part of a relationship, I wasn't used to making plans simply because I wanted to do something.So I started with little things: one meal alone, one cup of coffee, one quiet drive, one local place I had always meant to visit, or an afternoon spent wandering without needing to be anywhere at a particular time.Slowly, I discovered that being alone did not automatically mean being lonely. Sometimes being alone gives you enough quiet to hear yourself again.Those small outings became some of the first steps on the road back to myself.Then Came Savannah
Eventually, I decided to do something bigger. I booked my first real solo trip: Savannah. And it wasn't just any trip. It was my birthday trip.I walked beneath the live oaks and Spanish moss. I wandered through the historic squares. I explored museums and churches, stopped to photograph beautiful buildings, learned about the city's history, and followed whatever caught my attention.For the first time, I began to understand the freedom that could come with traveling alone. Being alone didn't mean something was missing. It meant I was learning to trust myself again.That birthday trip changed something in me. It showed me that I could explore, celebrate myself, experience new places, and create joy on my own. And I wanted more of that.Why I Created Solo Liz Roams
Solo Liz Roams grew out of this season of uncertainty, healing, and rediscovery.Yes, this is a travel blog. You'll find road trips, itineraries, historic places, solo travel experiences, practical planning ideas, unexpected stops, and plenty of stories from the road.But underneath all of that is another story: the story of finding yourself again when the life you expected isn't the life you ended up living.This space is for the woman starting over. The new empty nester. The woman approaching retirement and wondering what comes next. The woman who has spent decades caring for everyone else and suddenly realizes she doesn't quite know what she wants. The woman who would love to travel but doesn't have someone waiting to go with her.And it's for anyone else who feels a little lost and is learning how to choose themselves again.I'm not here because I have everything figured out. I don't.I'm still learning, still healing, still exploring, and still figuring out what I want the next chapter of my life to look like.Some roads back are slow, but slow still counts.And for me, that road has started to lead to some pretty incredible places.I'm roaming one step, one road, and one trip at a time.
