Rising Stars: Meet Lindsay Mukaddam

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lindsay Mukaddam.

Hi Lindsay, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I am a travel writer and content creator based in Austin, TX. I actually didn’t start traveling until I was in my 30’s. It’s probably going to sound silly, but a few years ago I was in a spin class and the instructor was saying how growth doesn’t come from comfort zones. I was at a pretty comfortable place in my life and I realized I had stopped growing. I thought about what would be the most uncomfortable thing I could do and for me, that was being alone in a foreign country. I booked my first solo trip, went all out on it, and did a ten day trip to three European countries. I enjoyed my time traveling solo, much more than I could have even imagined and what I thought was going to be a one-time challenge to myself ended up just being the start of this journey. I had friends and family who encouraged me to start a blog and I decided to go for it. It’s definitely been a learning process, building and maintaining a blog and showing up regularly for my audience has been quite a bit of work but it’s also been very rewarding. I love hearing from women how my story has inspired them to take the leap into solo travel.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Of course not! There are definitely some days when I think about why I’m doing what I’m doing and I question myself all the time. There’s also the entire comparison game that happens, especially in travel because it is a saturated market. But I remind myself that when I started blogging I wanted to be the resource that I didn’t have when I took my first solo trip. I knew that if I could encourage and give the tools help just one woman to take the leap to try solo travel that this would be worth it. Now I get messages every day from women who are sharing their solo travel adventures with me. Every time I get a message like that it renews my purpose. I’ll take a screenshot and file it away in a folder on my phone dedicated to these messages that I get. When I’m questioning my purpose, I can go back, look at them and remember the number of women that I’ve made an impacted on.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
My photography is something that I am incredibly proud of. I’ve had my camera with me since my first solo trip and I barely knew how do use it at that time, but over the years I have been developing my photography skills. I’m especially proud at how far I’ve come with photographing myself when I’m solo traveling. A lot of work goes into my pre-planning for a trip in terms of scouting locations, figuring out the best time to shoot, even what to wear. There’s a lot of work that goes into showing my travels in a way that inspires but is also realistic. I want women to feel like travel is within their reach and that it’s not something that’s only for a select few.

Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
I’ll honestly have to say that I’ve been incredibly lucky to have such a supportive blogging and creator community within Austin, TX. All of my connections have started through genuine conversations taking place on Instagram. I am also determined to extend that same courtesy to bloggers and content creators who are just starting and reach out to me, it’s all about community over competition.

Contact Info:

• Email: lindsay@onegirlwandering.com
• Website: https://www.onegirlwandering.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onegirlwandering/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/onegirlwandering
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@onegirlwandering