Autumn’s Atlas

Welcome to Autumn’s Atlas

My name is Autumn. I am 23 years old, and I have a passion for travel. I have devoted the past few months of my life to searching for ways to hit the road. I have scoured the internet for cheap ways to travel both in the States and abroad.

I would like to make it clear – I am very much a beginner. I will be sharing what I learn during my experiences because I am starting with relatively zero knowledge. My goal is to help encourage and strengthen anyone who feels eager to experience the world but is afraid of setbacks – because that is me. I am also a very clumsy and forgetful person, so if I can do it, I am confident you can too. 🙂

I kickstarted my trip to Iceland by leaving my only international credit card on the airplane and by dropping my wallet in the road on the first day. Luckily, I had a kind companion who caught my wallet mistake, but I was out of luck on the credit card. This blog will be an adventure we go on together – through the ups and downs.

My Story

I was born and raised in Sapulpa, Oklahoma. My desire to travel first sparked when I was 19. I took my first solo road trip to Natural Falls State Park in Arkansas. It was a beautiful and freeing experience. I was nervous to travel on my own, but I fell in love with being alone pretty quickly.

I have always been a hard worker – I could perhaps have been considered a workaholic. I worked 3 jobs throughout high school and through the beginning of college. I would not recommend doing that, I fell asleep in almost every college course I had Freshman year (sorry again, professors). It did, however, teach me time management skills. I started my first ‘big girl’ job in 2021 at a manufacturing plant. I started at the bottom of the totem pole and worked my way up to managing the office within a couple years. The longest work week I worked was 105 hours – again, I would not recommend. I ultimately worked myself to the ground and ended up in the hospital for stroke-like symptoms that were caused by stress.

After the hospital scare, I realized I needed to slow my life down. It was this realization that pushed me onto this journey of self-discovery through traveling.

The Beginning

Truthfully, I have really struggled to start this blog. I have had so many memories, ideas, and conversations bouncing around in my mind – but it felt impossible to articulate them.

I did a presentation last semester about overcoming the fears of social media – Visiobibliophobia. I listed all of the wonderful brain hacks to overcome the fear of putting yourself out there. The biggest piece of advice that I found was:

                Do it scared.

I realized that posting would not get easier until I started trying. It’s the same as going to the gym or starting any new hobby: everyone has to start somewhere. I realize it is unfair for me to compare my beginner blog to professional content creators, but if I am honest, I looked at them and I wanted to give up before even trying.

I have many deep rooted fears about posting on social media. I am afraid of starting, of jumping into the abyss of possibility and then falling on my face. I am afraid of being judged, just as we all are deep down. I am scared of someone reading my blog or seeing my post and thinking “Why did she even try?”. I am afraid of being noticed in general, even though I fully understand that is the point of making a blog in the first place. I have never enjoyed being the center of attention – I get shaky, queasy and impressively red.

I don’t want my experiences to die with me. I want to share the beauty of the world with everyone who is interested in learning about it. My ex’s Mimi, who I love dearly, once told me that she posts her experiences on Facebook so others who aren’t able to travel can experience it too. I noticed how many of her family members look forward to her posts. I saw the joy and wonder that Mimi’s experiences brought to them. I want to be able to bring others happiness in a similar way. I want people to experience new places with me – even if they aren’t able to visit themselves.

So, here I am. I am going to do it scared.

My Passions and Hobbies