My Story
My love affair with travel began when I first set foot on African soil as a wide-eyed 22-year-old in 1992. I didn’t know it then, but travel would become the quiet thread running through every chapter of my life.
Years later, after the sudden loss of my husband, I turned to travel again — not to escape, but to cope. To grieve. To breathe. To slowly work out who I was when the life I knew had disappeared.
Travel didn’t fix me. But it gave me space. Perspective. Moments of lightness when everything felt heavy. Over time, it helped me rebuild a relationship with myself — and eventually, with life again.
Since then, I’ve travelled to over 80 countries across six continents. More importantly, I’ve lived through loss, love, reinvention, and the quiet courage of beginning again in midlife.
Today, I share my story as it is — honestly, thoughtfully, and without neat conclusions — for women who find themselves standing at a similar threshold.
Media, Podcasts & Conversations
I’m open to podcast interviews, YouTube conversations, and media features where lived experience, nuance, and emotional honesty are valued.
My story and writing have been featured in outlets including Woman & Home, Mail Online, Mail on Sunday, Woman’s Weekly and BBC Radio. I’m also a regular contributor to the HuffPost Travel section, where I write about solo travel through the lens of real life, not aspiration.
A full record of my features, interviews, and contributions can be found on my In The Press page.
I’m particularly drawn to conversations that explore:
- Grief, loss, and life after everything changes
- Midlife transitions and second acts
- Travel as reflection rather than escape
Solo Travel in midlife - Identity, courage, and becoming
- Love, reinvention, and living forward
If you’d like a sense of how I speak and hold these stories, you can also find me on YouTube, where I share unscripted reflections rooted in lived experience rather than advice or performance.
Writing & Editorial Contributions
Sue Where Why What is a personal, lived-experience space.
I don’t accept guest posts or generic collaborations, and I only share places, stories, and work I genuinely trust.
I am, however, open to commissioned editorial contributions, personal essays, and interviews for publications and platforms where depth, integrity, and thoughtful storytelling matter more than trends or transactions.
If you’re looking for a grounded, midlife-aware voice — reflective rather than prescriptive — we may be a good fit.
SPEAKING
From time to time, I say yes to speaking engagements, panels, and curated events where stories are welcomed in their full complexity.
I’m most at home in spaces that value conversation over performance — conferences, retreats, festivals, or intimate gatherings — and where lived experience is treated with care.
Topics often include grief, travel, reinvention, midlife courage, and rewriting life after loss.
GET IN TOUCH
If you’d like to invite me onto your podcast, discuss an interview or editorial feature, or explore a speaking opportunity, you’re welcome to get in touch.
I read every message personally and reply where there feels to be genuine alignment.
LET’S CONNECT
Email: sue@suewherewhywhat@gmail.com