Married. And Traveling Solo.

My husband is a great travel partner. He's also not interested in half the places I want to go.

He'll do the beach, a resort, or a cruise if I really push for it.

But the food tour in Madrid? Shopping in the medinas in Marrakech? Swimming to the edge of devil pool in Zambia? That's not his trip. And honestly, after years of trying to convince him otherwise, I stopped wanting it to be.

The first time I booked a trip without him, I felt guilty about it for two weeks. Not because he said anything. He was fine and supportive. But I had been so conditioned to believe that traveling alone meant something was wrong with the marriage that I carried that story with me all the way to the gate.

By day three I had completely forgotten to feel guilty.

There's something that happens when you travel alone that doesn't happen any other way. Every decision is yours. Where to eat, when to leave, how long to sit in one place and just be. Just you and the city and however long you want to stay.

I come home better every single time. More patient, present, more of myself. My husband noticed before I did. He started asking when my next trip was, not to complain, but because he liked who walked back through the door.

A lot of married women I know are doing this now. Some quietly, some loudly, some still working up the nerve to book the flight. The ones who haven't done it yet are usually waiting for permission from someone who was never going to give it to them.

You don't need it. The marriage doesn't end when you travel solo. For most of us, it gets better.

Book the trip.

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