Three Open Roads posts and I was booking flights to Lisbon. Two weeks later I was eating pastéis de nata in a café that wasn't in any guidebook. The writing here doesn't just describe places — it makes you feel like you've already arrived.

I've been travel writing for years and rarely find content that surprises me. Open Roads does. The guide to lesser-known Japanese mountain towns sent me on a two-week journey through places I never would have found on my own.

Traveling solo as a woman is about preparation and confidence. Open Roads gave me both. Vietnam, Nepal, Morocco — three countries in one year, all discovered through guides I found right here.