The passport. One pocket sized book packed with a rainbow of stamps and stickers can hold someone’s entire story. It represents expedition, adventure, and risk. For solo travel influencer and icon Alyssa Ramos, this is her job—her lifestyle. From sharing her  travel experiences through online platforms, to planning to publish a book titled, Yes, I’m a Women and I’m Traveling Alone, Alyssa’s journey has impacted individuals all around the world.

Alyssa ventures to both popular and “off-the-beaten path” destinations which have brought her to 115 countries spanning across all seven continents. By sharing her jaw-dropping solo travel experiences, she has gained over 200 thousand followers on Instagram, with fans eagerly waiting for her to share her next adventure.

For someone so well-traveled, it is surprising to discover that Ramos did not initially set out to work in the industry. She graduated from Florida State University with a degree in biology, intending to one day become a veterinarian. But much like with travel, sometimes plans don’t go, well, according to plan. After realizing this path was not for her, Alyssa worked in event planning before eventually moving to Los Angeles, where she discovered the world of freelance writing. “I went to L.A. for a weekend, and I fell in love with the freedom of creativity and the people there that are also dreamers,” explains Alyssa. “I’d write all day long for all these blogs.”

While landing writing gigs left and right, Ramos then decided to start up her own blog titled My Life’s a Travel Movie. Through this blog, she began documenting her extreme adventures as a solo travel influencer and shared her own tips. One of her articles titled, ‘Yes, I’m Pretty and I’m Traveling Alone”  was even published in the HuffPost and gained lots of attention—good and bad. “I thought my career was ending because of all the hate emails and hate comments that I got. And then the next day TV stations were reaching out and Hollywood producers were calling me trying to get this made into a show.” This article ended up launching her career in both the writing and travel world. Her Instagram account where she uploads photographs of her most recent travels, gained over 30,000 followers overnight due to the article’s instant media recognition. At the end of the day, she is grateful to be able to share her journey regarding solo travel with other like-minded women, exclaiming that “So many women experience the things [she] wrote about.”

As Alyssa was developing her blog and social media platforms, she was also gaining more experience in the field of solo travel. While she initially intended to travel with friends or family, she realized that not many people were up for the challenge. Alyssa was on the lookout for thrill-seeking expeditions and adrenaline rushing adventures, so she decided to take matters into her own hands and started traveling on her own. Yet, this transition did not come without backlash. In fact, many people judged her decision to adventure as a single party, insisting that it was absurd. When asked about her solo travel struggles, Ramos stated, “People are going to judge me. Why are you doing that? Why aren’t you married? Why are you not having kids?” She continued to do it anyway. “When I did it, it was the most life changing, liberating, empowering thing.” Since then, she has never looked back.

After experiencing various countries through solo travel, Ramos started her own business, My Life’s A Travel Tribe, where she leads extraordinary trips for the extraordinary traveler. These group tours reach all corners of the globe, including Antarctica. Ramos describes her tours as “…not a normal tour. It’s extra personalized and tailored.” With so many opportunities to expand upon and itineraries to plan, Alyssa handpicks the destinations carefully according to her own experiences. She wants her fellow travelers to live out the same adventures she had fallen in love with and see the destinations through their own eyes. For anyone wondering what they will take away from the expedition, Alyssa states, “The goal is for it to be the most epic trip of your life.”

When it comes to travel, Alyssa prides herself on a sustainable and ethical lifestyle. All her group trips include an eco-friendly initiative. Minimizing the use of vehicles, selecting hotels based on their eco-efforts, and donating proceeds to reforestation projects are just a few of the ways her and her team give back to the environment. “My tour companies that I work with know absolutely no plastic, nothing that we can waste. Minimize everything,” she urges. Not only does she make her own efforts, but she also makes it a mission to educate both her audience and travelers about the importance of ethical travel. “I make sure that everyone knows how to calculate their carbon footprint,” to explore the planet we call home while preserving its natural beauty.

Despite having explored almost everything the world has to offer, Alyssa still has some bucket list items she wishes to cross off. “Everest is a big one,” she states—hiking the base camp is on the top of her agenda. On the opposite spectrum, diving with great white sharks is another experience she intends to cross off her to-do list. This year in particular, her followers can expect more video content not only regarding group tours, but also personal travel. Five new countries are a priority, including Comoros, Ethiopia, Algeria, Lebanon, and Bhutan. This solo travel influencer shows no signs of slowing down.

Alyssa’s followers don’t only commend her for her high-quality photography or videos displayed through her social media profiles, but rather for pioneering solo travel in the modern era. “I was never the first one, but rather one of the  first solo female travel influencers,” she explains. However, she certainly won’t be the last due to all the people she has inspired and impacted along her various journeys.