The perpetual feeling of ‘Wanderlust’ is something that drives us humans to try to socialize, visit new places and what else can quench this feeling than to travel to a country, having nobody at your side but your paraphernalia, nobody to aid you through the language barriers but yourself and to travel to places despite these inhibitions and like Kristin Addis mentioned, ‘Irrational Fears’, is the true spirit of explorations and travel.
In all honesty, the blog was very relatable to myself and for most of the target audience out there in today’s day and age. Travelling for most people, especially Indians, involves meticulous planning before the actual journey. Hiring travel agents and companies seems the most likely way to go for us, however, in my opinion, it is this, that does not allow an individual to overcome his inhibitions and explore himself to the fullest. It is robbing individuals from the opportunity to adopt a new personality for their travels leading them to be bound to their constant stress and pressure’s in life. And in a conservative society as that of our country, letting females travel alone is considered to be a big No-No. The topic that the author has emphasized upon, that is, ‘Overcoming Irrational Fears by A Solo Female Traveler ‘is of great relevance in our country today keeping in mind the modernization and rapid development of our country.
The way the author has described her adventures, her initial narration indicative of her fears, slowly progressing towards a sense of stability and muse due to her control over the situation and ending on a note of optimism and encouragement shows a great degree of layers to the blog and an intimate co-relation of the narration with the author’s feelings. Also, the detailed description of the author about her travels from Johannesburg to Mozambique and the various procedures and norms that she had to consider, envelopes a detailed travel plan for any visitor whomsoever may be interested. The eloquent narration of the scenes of Mozambique develop a feeling of wanderlust and craving in the minds of the reader. Her encapsulation of the economic needs of the traveler also highlights a degree of economic understanding, which is also important while traveling to a foreign country.
The criticism if any would be that of very abrupt transitions between narration: for example, in the first paragraph while elaborately outlining the scenes of Mozambique, she abruptly moved in to a phase where she starts to describe the negative side of the country was something that did not go down too pleasantly for me as reader. And this is done so again in the latter parts of the blog, disrupting the mental flow of the reader. Despite picking up such a relevant topic, the author is unable to do justice to it as she does not fully tap into the mindset of a solo female traveler and rather encapsulates the inhibitions that EVERY TRAVELER faces, in general. Thus, if she had laid more emphasis on the ordeals faced by a solo female traveler rather outlining the generic problems faced while visiting the country, the blog would have been very reader-centric, nailing the thoughts that are faced by not only females, but every solo traveler.

For more insight on Kristin’s adventures, visit her blog-site via the link below.

http://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-blogs/travel-place-know-nothing/