I’m Lauren, the founder of Indie Travel Club.
I’m living proof that a life of travel and adventure is available to anyone who wants it. At 40, I was a single mom with no passport, a poverty-level income, and big dreams. At 48, I started traveling the world with everything I owned in a backpack.
I lived in a treehouse in Turkey, a cave house in Spain, a village house in Indonesia, and an artist’s loft in Paris. I also did some volunteer work and got heavily involved with a children’s home in Peru.I loved the variety of moving between city and country, trying new cuisines, and learning about different cultures and their approach to life.
I’ve had so many adventures, and learned that I don’t mind a little discomfort along the way. I’ve found that the most difficult parts of travel are the most life-changing.
Friends sometimes visited me around the world, and I loved to share my favorite places with them. That grew organically into a small business, inviting women to come share a house with me in the locations I know best.
These aren’t big group tours — it’s just small groups of interesting women who want to experience other cultures in authentic ways.
I make sure we cover the major sightseeing stops and see a museum or two, but my focus is on real life. Instead of looking at people from a bus window, we walk among them. We take local transportation, meet local folks, and experience their arts, food, and traditions. I call these trips Indie Adventure Tours because even though we’re in a group, we travel like independent wanderers. These aren’t fluffy-towel, fancy-hotel tours; they are for people who aren’t afraid to get a little dirty.
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