Starting over can feel terrifying, especially when life suddenly gets quiet. In this personal Coastline + Castles reflection, I’m sharing how solo female travel helped me rediscover confidence, independence, and the courage to take the first step.
There was a moment after I moved to Columbus, Georgia when everything suddenly got very quiet.
Too quiet.
For most of my adult life, I had been living for everyone else: wife, mom, employee, caretaker - the person constantly trying to hold everything together. My days were spent running from my 9-5 to my part-time job because I always felt like I needed to keep pushing, keep working, keep surviving.
And honestly? Deep down, I just wanted to be anywhere but the town I was living in.
A few years earlier, I believe it was 2022, I had fallen in love with Uptown Columbus. The riverwalk, the rapids, the restaurants, the nightlife, the sunsets. Something about it felt peaceful in a way I couldn't quite explain. It felt like home.
At the time, it felt more like a daydream than an actual plan. I had a child to raise and I often wondered if I really had it in me to pick up everything I owned and move.
Skip to August 2025. I took the chance. I moved. By myself. To a brand-new town where I knew absolutely nobody.
One night, while decorating my apartment, it all hit me at once. I looked around at my Coastline + Castles workspace, at the space I had built for myself, at the life I had quietly started creating, and I just sat there thinking:
"Damn. I actually did this."
For the first time in a long time, my life belonged to me again. And oddly enough, the first emotion I felt wasn't sadness. It was pride.
My daughter was off living her own life with her husband in California. My son had grown into a fully functioning adult who no longer needed me every second of the day - unless he needs to borrow $25 until payday, which he thankfully always pays back.
Becoming an empty nester can feel emotional, but I realized something important during that season: I had done a good job. My kids had grown into independent people capable of building lives of their own, and suddenly I had the space to rediscover myself outside of simply being needed. That realization changed something in me.
Somewhere in the middle of all of that, solo travel started teaching me things about life too.
The first step is always the scariest part.
Whether it's moving to a new city, taking a solo trip, starting over after heartbreak, or simply walking into a restaurant alone for the first time, your mind will convince you that you can't do it. But then you do. And before you know it, you're sitting in places you never thought you'd visit because you stopped waiting for someone else to come with you. That's one of the greatest gifts solo travel gave me: confidence.
Not loud confidence. Not "look at me" confidence. Quiet confidence. The kind that just says, "I'll figure it out."
I've also learned that solitude and loneliness are two completely different things. I joke that I'm an extroverted introvert because I can happily go two straight days without speaking a single word out loud. But the moment I travel somewhere new, people naturally start talking to me. Maybe it's because I smile at strangers. Maybe it's because I genuinely enjoy hearing people's stories. My dad always jokes that I could make friends with a fence post, IYKNK.... And that's something else solo travel taught me: most people are kinder than we think.
These days, my life looks very different than it once did. I'm building a business, creating content, exploring new places, and yes — even dating again. Younger me never would have believed that one day I'd be spending weekends dancing with a Yankees fan while secretly checking Braves scores on my phone. (I still haven't convinced him to do the tomahawk chop, but there's still time)
Life is funny like that.
If there's one thing I'd tell another woman who feels stuck, burned out, or afraid to start over, it's this:
Take the chance anyway.
The first step will feel terrifying. But one day you might look around and realize you're living in the apartment you once dreamed about, building a business you once thought was impossible, and slowly becoming the version of yourself you were always meant to be.
Sometimes all it takes is one brave decision.
And sometimes, all it takes is a smile. 💛
Catherine Williams,
Founder of Coastline + Castles
Catherine is a solo female traveler and travel writer who blends coastal escapes with castle-town charm. She shares practical safety tips, luxury-on-a-budget guides, and curated itineraries to help women explore boldly - without breaking the bank.