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A female solo traveller who ditched her career at an estate agent to pursue exploring full time and now gets paid to travel said she “refuses to let fear” stop her.
Grace Kelly, 33, first started adventuring when she felt a “sense of accomplishment” after summiting Mount Snowdon in 2018 and then pursued hiking because she was “in a bit of a lonely place”.
“All my friends had settled down and none of my friends were wanting to get into hiking or anything,” she told PA Real Life, adding that four of her closest friends all became pregnant in the same year.
She climbed 23 mountains in 2020, and then expanded her adventures abroad, with her solo trips taking her from Canada and Iceland to Austria and Costa Rica.
Since starting, she has amassed more than 113,000 followers on her Instagram @graces__adventures, and more than 36,000 followers on her TikTok of the same name.
After two years of travelling around her work schedule at an online estate agent, Grace was able to pursue exploring full time as she gained brand partnerships and turned her travelling into a business by hosting trips for small numbers of travellers.
Grace, based in Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire, has hosted four trips for men and women so far, with three more planned, charging between £1,600 and £1,900 which typically includes accommodation, food, transport and more.
The first trip she hosted was in collaboration with a man who owned a yellow American school bus that he had converted into a hostel on wheels with three sets of bunk beds.
She said: “I hosted two back to back road trips in Scotland on this big yellow American school bus, which is so cool and that went really well.”
Grace made the decision “early on” to allow men and women to attend the trips, explaining: “I know that there’s so many guys out there as well that want to meet new people and make friends and step out of their comfort zone.
“We’ve had some great laughs and some great experiences and great bonding moments and stuff with people on the trips and I just feel like it adds to the experience, having it open to everybody.”
Grace said people often ask her about the dangers of travelling alone as a woman but she is determined not to let fear hinder her, and after several years of solo travelling she has picked up a variety of tips and tricks to keep herself safe.
She said: “I think as a female, you definitely have the element of vulnerability, and it’s something that you have to be very wary of and I’m always very wary of it.
“If I’m in a camper van, I’ll always make sure that I’ve got the keys with me when I’m sleeping and I know where my way out is and I’ll reverse into a spot instead of driving forward.
“I’ll always make sure that the passenger seat is empty, because if you’ve got belongings in the passenger seat, it shows that you’re by yourself.
“When I’m wild camping, I will make sure I’m in the car park until people have left, so no one actually sees me go up.
“Whenever I’m on solo trips, if I’m having conversations with people, I won’t mention specifically that I’m on my own, I’ll maybe insinuate that I’m meeting somebody.”
Grace recalled an instance at a hostel in which the receptionist loudly said Grace’s room number and implied she was alone, prompting the solo traveller to request a different room.
She continued: “I would always advise people to agree on check in times with people, especially if it’s one of your first solo trips and you’re a little bit nervous.
“I’ll never advertise that I’m going by myself or that I am by myself, especially with social media, I will never share my location until I’ve left.
“I’m very aware of the dangers, but I refuse to let fear stop me from doing things.
“One of the most common responses I get is ‘aren’t you scared’, and sometimes I am scared. Sometimes I lie in a tent on a mountain, and my brain will start going around, and I’ll be thinking, ‘anyone could be here right now’.
“But I’ll think, what’s the likelihood that someone with ill intention is going to be on this part of this mountain in the middle of the night, coming across the tent and deciding to do something?”
Grace plans to write a book “for people that want to start getting out solo more”, which will be a mix of advice and anecdotes from her own travels.
Because of her passion for travelling, Grace is at home for only about one week of each month, “if that”, she said.
Grace increasingly shared her travels on social media because she was “so passionate about this new hobby” which eventually allowed her to turn her passion into a business.
She said: “I’ve always been an over-sharer, and I’ve always been someone that loves social media and taking pictures and documenting things.
“I got my first small offer of being sent a free T-shirt or being sent a pair of boots and I started getting these small offers coming in, and I just suddenly realised there was so much potential here.”
Now, brands pay towards some of her travels and she has been paid up to £4,000 for a trip, on top of expenses.
“Sometimes you’ll get an entire trip covered, expense-wise, but you won’t get a fee,” she said.
“Sometimes you’ll get the trip opportunity for free, but you have to book your own travel, and I think only maybe three times in the whole two years, I’ve been paid on top of the trip and everything being covered.”
She said it feels “incredible” to have her passion become her full-time job.
“I’m always conscious to kind of remember that this is such an incredible thing to be experiencing and to do what I love, and to have the freedom,” she said.
