A couple of weeks after my wedding in November 2024, I packed up my life and moved out.
What should have been the happiest day of my life revealed a truth I could no longer ignore. My fiancé, who had been struggling with addiction, was violently intoxicated at the altar. He couldn’t stand without holding onto it. He couldn’t even read his vows.
The future I thought I was stepping into…cracked open…In front 100 of our family and friends,
There was no dramatic confrontation that day, just a deep, sinking knowing. I realized, in real time, that love alone was not going to be enough, and that staying would mean abandoning myself in the process of trying to save someone else.
Leaving wasn’t easy. It was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever made. But I knew, clearly and painfully, that I deserved better. So I chose myself.
Travel came later, but the choice came first.
Leaving Wasn’t Easy, But It Was Necessary — and Community Was What I Needed
Moving out wasn’t an act of anger or impulsivity. It was an act of self-respect. Staying would have meant shrinking, caretaking, and continuing a cycle I did not create and could not fix. Leaving meant stepping into uncertainty with nothing but self-trust and the hope of finding real community to guide me.
But, starting over at 33 is scary, especially with all the social conditioning that tells women they must be a ‘wife and a mother’ before they’re somehow ‘expired,’ (a word my ex used as I packed my things.)
I knew this next chapter would not be easy, but I healed the only way I knew how, through travel — and, eventually, through building community.
Travel isn’t something I stumbled into, it’s something I was raised in. My father has been a travel agent for over 40 years and founded Rivas Travel, a business he built from the ground up in the 1980s. I grew up in airports, surrounded by maps, itineraries, and stories of places far beyond my own neighborhood. Travel was never just a vacation, it was a way of life.
So when everything fell apart, returning to the skies felt instinctive. Travel is in my blood.
2025 marked the year I became a solo traveler and digital nomad not to “find myself,” but to remember who I already was, in 12 different countries.
Healing on the Move, Fueled by a Desire for Community
Solo travel is often painted as glamorous sunsets, instagrammable moments, café hopping. The truth is quieter and far more complex.
There were days in Lisbon where I cried alone in a borrowed apartment. Weeks in Mexico City where I questioned everything I thought I wanted. Nights in Berlin where loneliness hit harder than jet lag. Healing didn’t arrive all at once, it came in fragments, stitched together between unfamiliar streets, new routines, and the slow rebuilding of trust in myself.
What surprised me most wasn’t the solitude.
It was how deeply I craved community.
The Missing Piece: Friendship & Safe Community
Every city had incredible women’s groups, local meetups, expat circles, wellness collectives but finding them required insider knowledge, endless Facebook or Whatsapp digging, or already knowing someone.
I kept asking myself: Why is it easier to find a date than a friend?
Women who travel, relocate, or start over don’t need another dating app. They need safe spaces. Genuine friendships. Trusted communities. Places where connection isn’t transactional or romanticized but grounded and supportive.
Somewhere between coworking spaces and women’s dinners abroad, the idea became impossible to ignore.
If I couldn’t find what I needed, I would build that community myself.
Turning Pain Into Purpose: Building a Community for Women Worldwide
What began as a personal solution turned into a mission.
I created RoamCircle, a women-only community app designed to help travelers, expats, and digital nomads find genuine friendships and vetted local communities around the world. Less swiping, more showing up. Less situationship, more sisterhood.
The platform highlights women-led groups, local events, and 1:1 connections—prioritizing safety, inclusivity, and real human connection. It’s not about consuming a city. It’s about belonging in it. It’s about community.
In many ways, building RoamCircle feels like carrying the torch my father lit decades ago – modernizing travel for a new generation, but centering it on what matters most: people and community.
Every feature was shaped by what I wished I had during that year of rebuilding: warmth, trust, and the reminder that starting over doesn’t have to mean starting alone.
Liz Rivas is the founder of RoamCircle, a women-only travel and community app designed to help solo travelers, expats, and digital nomads find real connection around the world. Raised in the travel industry and inspired by her father’s 40+ year legacy as the founder of Rivas Travel, Liz is passionate about building modern spaces where women can heal, connect, and choose themselves—wherever they are in the world.
Email: Erivas@roamcircle.app
Thank you to our special guest for writing this article and sharing her story and knowledge with our community.
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