By far, Sarah Hepola may be the most inspiring, independent female author out there. I thought by the title, "Every Woman Should Travel Alone", that she'd portray herself as some depressed woman repelling any man that entered her life because of an awfully hurtful past; however, that was not the case for this woman.
The message of this essay was not to be a "loner" and live in the dark...it was to reassure oneself by learning to stand on your own in the world. Sarah didn't ride along the Pacific Coast Highway, drive to Alaska, and across Montana into Quebec because of boredom; she did it to conquer all of her fears in the world that could have existed even while sitting on her couch watching reality television.
This essay correlates well with the popular talk about women's rights, which has consistently shown up in recent political discussions. Sarah demonstrates clearly after acting very stupid, solely through the intoxication of alcohol, that not only men but women do stupid things. Why should women be more careful than men? It is just a matter of a gender difference. Stupid actions don't fit different genders more or less...stupid is stupid, period.
Fifty years ago the act of one's daughter leaving to travel the world on her own would be frowned upon because women were more incapable then...they were suppose to be housewives and give birth to multiple children, but now days it's not about the incapability it's about the danger of a woman being alone. The world is wicked, but it is equally as wicked of a place for men as for women. Without facing your fears now, alone or not alone, one may fail to become the person they have always wanted to be...as Sarah quickly found out.
I don't know how people can judge a woman traveling alone but not a man? It seems unbelievably sexist, and I feel like it is the year 2012, and people need to get over it. Sarah acquired an addiction, traveling. She had a desire to run all over the world. I believe that this attitude is becoming more of a trend rather than boyfriends, girlfriends, and babies. Big romances don't happen as often as they did fifty years ago, so why not obtain crazy, fun addictions?
I very much agree with Sarah's message in this essay. There is no way that in five years I will be letting myself live in the dark...especially just because I am a girl. My dream is to learn new languages and visit less privileged countries to help teach children or even medically assist them. Being young and stupid may seem irresponsible to a lot of adults, but let's be real, they all did it too, that's why they know the ridiculous outcomes.
The ending line is my favorite throughout this entire essay : "That the greatest trip of my life came because I did not get the things I wanted." I think that if everyone found a way to gain something new after not getting what they wanted originally, it would broaden the happiness in people's lives. Everybody gets set on one thing and that's all they can see through their tiny tunnel, but just as Sarah showed there is really an entire world out there waiting to be explored by each and every one of us...man or woman!
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