Penngrove author advocates for solo travel experiences

In her latest book, “Estrellas,” Suzanne Maggio ‒ a local author from Penngrove ‒ shares the profound experience of her nearly 500-mile solo journey along the El Camino de Santiago in Spain. Maggio, also author of “The Cardinal Club” and host of the “From Sparks to Light” podcast, delves into the beauty and benefits of solitary travel.

As Maggio’s 65th birthday approaches, her narrative is a testament to the idea that it’s never too late to embark on transformative adventures.

Ever since Maggio’s walk on The Camino, she has tackled several additional solo walks, the most recent being her 19-day journey along the Via Francigena in Italy. The inspiration for that journey stemmed from her Italian heritage and her fascination with identity.

“I am Italian, and I love Italy,” she explained. “I have cousins who live in Rome and I’ve been very fortunate to visit many times. So when I heard about the Via Francigena, it was an easy decision to make.”

As a social worker and psychology instructor, Maggio is deeply interested in what makes us who we are.

“I have an Italian passport, which I got 10 years ago after I applied for citizenship,” she said. “I wanted to dig deeper into what that means to me. Walking the Via Francigena was a way to do that.”

Maggio described her Via Francigena journey as amazing, hard, challenging and inspiring. She makes it clear that, even without a familial connection to Italy, the beauty of the adventure can provide meaning to anyone.

“Tuscany is ridiculously beautiful,” she said. “It’s everything you see in pictures. Rolling hills. Cypress trees. Grape vines. Olives and hazelnut groves. Walking into Vatican City was unlike anything I’ve ever done before. I’ve been there plenty of times, but walking in was completely different.”

One of the most memorable moments from Maggio’s walk took place toward the end of her journey, when she met Gina, a young woman from the Romagna region.

“She had begun her Camino from her house,” Maggio recalled. “At the young age of 21, she had the courage to step out her front door and begin walking.”

Maggio and Gina made a deep connection during their trek together.

“Despite the fact that she was more than 40 years younger than me, from a different country and with different life experiences, we bonded in a profound way,“ she said. ”Climbing the Tuscan hills, walking through the hazelnut groves of Lazio and into Vatican Square, it was just the two of us. When we got there, we held each other and sobbed. It was profound. We’d been through something remarkable together.“

These relationships and moments are what make solo trips unique, and cannot be experienced when traveling with groups of familiar people, Maggio has discovered.

“When you travel with friends or family you have a safety valve, a built-in support system,” she noted. “There’s nothing wrong with that. I love traveling with other folks too, but these experiences are different. I always go alone because I want to challenge myself. I’m naturally an extrovert, so I love to meet people, but that doesn’t mean it’s always comfortable.”

Stepping out of one’s comfort zone is the first step in planning a solo journey, Maggio firmly believes. It’s the first step toward what can be a truly transformative experience. As she writes in the novel “Estrella,” “On the Camino, something inside me had shifted. I could feel it in my bones. I left one person. I returned home another.”

That is the allure of traveling alone: experiencing self-transformation and realizing it is never too late to embrace it. In fact, Maggio pointed out, for older individuals, the time is now to book those trips.

“Age is a funny thing. I’m about to turn 65, but inside I don’t feel any different than I did when I was 40,” she said. “On the other hand, the older you get, the more you realize that we don’t have forever. There are so many things I want to do. There are so many places I want to see. I just don’t want to waste any time with what-ifs. It’s time to do them.”

For more info on Suzanne Maggio and her work, visit suzannemaggio.com.