Writing a Travel Memoir: All You Need is Flights

When I was dumped by my boyfriend of two years on my 35th birthday, on a sponsored cruise where I was working as a content creator and he was my plus one, the same day my Facebook was hacked, I had just one thought: 

You can’t make this stuff up. 

I knew, then, that I was living out my next story. 

How my author journey began 

My first book deal was for a memoir based on a year-long travel challenge I took before my 30th birthday, while still employed full-time as an attorney. I knew that no matter what, my 20s were ending, and I wanted to send them out in style after a decade of working, attending school, and doing everything the “right” way. 

So, I learned everything I could about finding cheap flights, travel hacking, and content creation and started my journey. By the end of the year, I had taken 20 trips to 41 cities across 11 countries. That’s when I decided to write my first book. It was not, however, 12 Trips in 12 Months. 

I realized that I had inadvertently been advertising myself as a flight deal expert by sharing all the flights I’d been booking, usually for less than $400 roundtrip. I had been reading up on publishing and listening to podcasts and they all gave the same advice: write the book people w,ant to buy, not the book you want to write. At least, not the first time. 

I found this to be sound advice generally. If your first book flops, you might get discouraged and decide not to keep going, but an author career spans an entire portfolio of books. It helps to expect at least moderate success from the first attempt you make to step out into this world. 

With this in mind, I decided that instead of writing 12 Trips in 12 Months, I would write The Affordable Flight Guide, a non-fiction, self-published book sharing all my flight secrets. I had been tempted to write about affordable travel generally, but my learnings also warned about kitchen sinking a nonfiction book. It helps to have one topic you’re talking about to more easily get results for your readers, and it makes business sense as you can then tackle related topics in a series, and have more books. 

The Affordable Flight Guide did well — it was an instant bestseller in 8 categories on Amazon and won a Readers’ Favorite Book Award. Encouraged by this success, I was determined to keep going, with the goal of writing and self-publishing 20 books after seeing a statistic that the majority of 6-figure authors have 20 books or more. I was on track to hit the number and self-published 5 books before deciding to pursue a traditional book deal for my travel memoir. 

Selling a travel memoir during the pandemic when all travel was stopped 

Selling a travel memoir during a global pandemic when it’s uncertain if anyone will be able to travel again is a difficult task. Thankfully, my agent, who I met at the Writer’s Digest Conference Pitch Slam, was up to the challenge. I had an offer of representation in July 2021, and by December 2021, I signed my first book deal. 

12 Trips in 12 Months took several years to get to publication. I thought it was coming out in summer 2023 initially, but was pushed back to 2024. It ended up being the best thing for me, but at the time, I was fresh off a breakup and reeling about how many things were seemingly going wrong. 

The breakup and my crying world tour

Being dumped on your birthday is a special kind of evil. There are so many other days you could choose. The day after works just fine. To make matters worse, my brutal breakup happened on a sponsored New Year’s Cruise somewhere over the Mediterranean, and we still had to share a cabin after. 

It was shortly after this happened that I heard my book launch was being postponed and I thought to myself, “what else can possibly go wrong??” I had already planned 12 trips that year, one trip a month, as a way to promote the book. I thought about cancelling because I did not have a grip on my emotions and found myself crying in public or before fun events, but I went anyways. It’s what I now affectionately call my crying world tour. 

When the breakup happened, I went to Egypt after the cruise and we left things tenuous, to be finalized when I returned. I had hope we would fix things. Then, on my last day in Egypt, I got a 4-page text putting the last nail on the relationship coffin. So my crying world tour kicked off right there, at the Hilton Luxor, while in my own private spa room with a hot tub bubbling. I thought, there’s worse places one could cry. 

That year, I before hiking a volcano in Guatemala. I cried in Japan before eating cotton candy bigger than my face. And I cried not for him, but for me. I cried for the partner and family I so deeply craved, and the fear of deep seated inadequacy that I hadn’t found it yet. 

Confronting deeper issues 

All You Need is Flights is a look at that year of healing, and the travel experiences that put me back together again. I wish I could say it was a clean mending, but it was messy, and the book confronts much deeper issues. 

One theme is mortality. Towards the end of the year, I had a cancer scare. Thankfully, the mass turned out to be benign and my health is on the mend, but it was a reminder that the life we sometimes drudge through and struggle to animate ourselves to take on for another day, is never guaranteed. And it’s still a gift, even when it’s hard or sad.

The other was a theme of self-worth. As a high-achieving woman, I have girl bossed my way to every goal I set for myself. If I just work harder or do more or learn a better way, I can reach my desired outcome. Unfortunately, love doesn’t work that way. My biggest lesson in the book and life in general is how to let go, stop clenching so hard to what I want to happen, and accept that what’s meant to happen might be even better. 

My second book deal 

Having come out of the year a different person, I thought it was a story that needed to be shared with others. So I reached out to Blackstone once again and pitched them the sequel. 

Truthfully, I was nervous about doing so. Memoir is unlike any other type of writing in that it’s deeply personal and about you. You are the main character. That means that any bad reviews of the book or comments about the character’s choices, are direct criticisms on you as a human. And they can sting. 

Moreover, I didn’t realize how difficult it would be to write a memoir about healing from heartbreak. Every time I opened the laptop to write, my body was flooded with the emotions of the year. Writing it is like reliving it because you’re remembering every detail vividly so your body can’t tell the difference. It was not a comfortable or pleasant experience, but rather like an exorcism of sorts — forcefully removing the experience from inside of me and putting it on pages so it held less power over me and could be properly processed from a detached perspective. 

This was not an easy memoir to write, and I don’t feel I was at my personal best mentally or emotionally when I wrote it, but maybe that’s part of the artistic process. And maybe, in being so raw, it will resonate with others who know a similar pain or longing. 

All You Need is Flights 

All You Need is Flights picks up 5 years after 12 Trips in 12 Months, when I thought I was healed and ready and found the love of my life. It takes readers on bold and meaningful adventures around the world, from taking a Kintsugi class where I learned that our cracks are not flaws but the best part of our life stories, to Rapa Nui where I saw the Moai and felt like I’d found the one place my problems couldn’t find me. I healed parts of my inner child riding the Jacobite Steam Train and chasing fairies in the Scottish Highland, and found faith in my life path own to-be-revealed life path after witnessing a newborn baby gorilla in the mountains of Rwanda. 

I hope this book helps anyone wanting to find a way back to themselves, and that it inspires women wanting to travel solo as a means of embracing the present and discovering what makes them feel alive. 

If you’re interested in joining the adventure, All You Need is Flights is out now!

ALL YOU NEED IS FLIGHTS

In All You Need Is Flights, Jen Ruiz transforms an unexpected breakup into a gift: the catalyst for an inner journey toward greater self-worth through another year of solo travel adventures.

A major life transformation starting on your thirtieth birthday, leading to an entirely different and exciting new career? Jen Ruiz (aka @jenonajetplane) has been there and done just that … and shared that first adventure with readers in 12 Trips in 12 Months.

Getting dumped and having to restart your life completely (again!) just before your thirty-fifth birthday? Definitely not on the agenda.

Abruptly single, Jen made a wish in front of an Egyptian statue, which became the catalyst for another year of adventure and personal growth.

In All You Need Is Flights, readers are whisked away again for a year of exploration and growth as Jen regains her solo travel magic and learns to love herself. Whether she is eating pizza on a volcano in Guatemala, mending ceramics with gold in Japan, walking among the Moai on Easter Island (Rapa Nui), or among the giants in Yosemite National Park, this intrepid travel writer faces health scares and mountain climbs with curiosity and her signature wit—all while discovering what truly matters and how setbacks can make you stronger.

BUY HERE

Jen Ruiz is a lawyer turned travel blogger and author. She is a 3-time TEDx speaker and 2-time Readers’ Favorite Award winner.

Jen has been featured as a budget and solo travel expert by The Washington Post, Huffington Post, ABC News, Matador Network and Elite Daily. She was named “Top 40 Under 40” by the Naples Herald and aims help people fly for less and experience more.

Follow along on the journey by visiting Jen’s website, www.jenonajetplane.com.

Tags: featured, women writers

Category: On Writing