Aren't you afraid, Maja Proescholdt?
If you've ever fancied doing a lap of Australia in an SUV, read this...
Hey! I’m Emma from Where’s Ems? 👋🏼 I’ve been travelling full-time since 2023 while building my freelance writing business. Subscribe to receive weekly conversations with women travelling solo, celebrating the joy, kindness and challenges along the way, and asking the question they’re so often asked: “Aren’t you afraid?”
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From a solo trip to Russia at 21 to eleven months living out of a Nissan X-Trail doing a lap of Australia, Maja Proescholdt has never really done things by halves. After three years of full-time solo travel, she’s finally settled down — but still makes time for solo adventures.
In this conversation, Maja talks about rolling her car in the remote outback, a six-week campervan trip through New Zealand with a cute French stranger, and her practical tips for anyone thinking about living out of a vehicle.
Tell us about yourself. Where are you from? What do you do? What are your hobbies?
I’m originally from Minnesota in the US, but have been living in York in the UK for most of the last decade. I’ve recently settled down again after three years of full-time solo travel around the world, including a year each living in Australia and New Zealand! I’m a freelance travel writer, blogger, and content creator. I spent 11 months driving a 36,000-kilometer (solo) lap of Australia, which is the greatest achievement of my life (so far!). I love being outdoors — when I’m not behind my laptop, you’ll probably find me out hiking, swimming, or camping somewhere.
What inspired your first solo trip and where did you go?
My first solo trip (somewhere I hadn’t been before) was a weekend trip to Edinburgh. I had just moved to the UK to study abroad for a year, and wanted to travel everywhere, in my own way, without the restrictions or compromises that come from traveling with friends or in a group. I traveled solo all throughout Europe that year, culminating in my two-week solo trip to Russia when I was 21. That year — and that first trip to Edinburgh — laid the foundation for the person I am today!
How often do you travel solo these days?
All the time — solo travel is my life! After solo traveling full-time for almost three years, I’ve spent most of the past few months settling into my flat and enjoying some stability. While I sometimes meet up and travel with friends, almost all my trips are solo.
“Even when I was in a relationship, I continued to travel solo and loved those trips. Now that I'm divorced, solo travel is, literally, my life.”
How has travelling solo had a positive impact on your life?
Solo travel is one of the most empowering experiences of my life. When you have no one else to rely on, you have to rely on only yourself to make decisions and problem solve. I’ve gained so much independence and confidence from traveling solo. I’ve also met so many amazing people and made wonderful friends — I always meet so many more people when I’m traveling solo, than when I’m traveling with others!
Tell us about a really fun or inspiring story from your solo travels…
I met a cute French guy traveling in Australia, and was crazy enough to invite him to travel around New Zealand with me — and he was crazy enough to say yes and book a flight! Technically, our first date was a 6-week trip living together in a campervan as we traveled around the country. It was a wild and crazy adventure, but we had the best time!
Can you share a challenge you faced while travelling solo and how you handled it?
I rolled my car (and should have died) in remote Western Australia, when I was alone with no phone signal and no way to call for help. In an instant, I ended up homeless and stranded in the middle of nowhere without my reliable transport. Thankfully, I didn’t have to wait long before someone drove past and pulled over (who was very nice and helpful). I definitely cried a lot and ate more chocolate than was probably healthy. But within a few days I’d arranged for a free campervan relocation vehicle to drive 1,500 km down to Perth, where I could stay with a friend (a stranger I’d never met before and only knew from Instagram). I was nervous as hell to drive again, but looking back, I’m so glad I was forced to keep driving — it meant I didn’t have time for anxiety about the crash to set in. Two weeks after the crash, I’d bought a new car and was setting off to continue my lap of Australia!
“Solo travel is both very challenging and extremely rewarding — there’s no greater freedom like it.”
I want to know more about this lap of Australia! What made you decide to do it? And what were some of the highs/lows?
I had no idea what I was going to do when I got to Australia, besides that I hoped to travel. I landed in Sydney with no plan, no job, and no idea what I was going to do for the year! I knew I wanted to travel up the East Coast, and hoped to get over to the West Coast and Tassie. I ended up going for it because I'd been staying with a friend for a few weeks in Sydney, but she was planning to go away, so I needed to either start paying for accommodation in Sydney, or hit the road. So, I threw a mattress in the back of my car and just started driving!
The highs of the adventure were meeting so many amazing people, and seeing and experiencing so many truly spectacular parts of Australia. It really is one of the most beautiful and diverse places on earth! The lows were definitely crashing my car, the heat, the flies, not having a fridge/struggling with what I could eat, and the loneliness and overwhelming isolation that comes with traveling solo to really remote places with no phone signal. All in all, it was the greatest adventure of my life!
Tell us about a moment of kindness you’ve experienced while travelling alone.
So many moments spring to mind — the kindness of strangers is second to none! I got very sick while traveling alone in Russia in 2014. After seeing an English-speaking doctor and getting antibiotics, I went to bed early at the hostel. I woke up in the middle of the night in so much pain I could barely walk and couldn’t get back up in my bunkbed. The hostel receptionist, Yulia, saw me crying and gave me a big hug — I felt so alone and that kind gesture meant everything to me.
Over the next few hours, she did some of my laundry for me (I was running out of clean clothes), shared her snacks with me (I was hungry but had been in too much pain to go out and buy food), then made me a bed in the common room so I could get a few more hours of sleep. And she switched my bed to a lower bunk the next morning. She was an angel when I needed it more than ever!
What advice would you give to someone about to take their first solo trip?
You will always regret it if you don’t at least try! You might decide you hate it and that’s fine — you never have to solo travel again. But it is the most empowering experience, and one I think everyone should at least try once in their life.
Aren’t you afraid?
Yes, I’m afraid all the time. But I would rather do it scared, than not do it at all.
📍 Before you go…
Where’s the most memorable place you’ve stayed and why?
I spent 5 weeks doing a work exchange and living on an actual island paradise — Great Keppel Island (Southern Great Barrier Reef) in Australia
What’s one thing you always pack?
Power bank.
What’s the best thing you’ve eaten while travelling?
Adjaruli khachapuri (Georgian cheese bread) — I first had it in Russia and it inspired my trip to Georgia the following year!
Is there one safety tip you swear by?
Trust your gut instinct — it’s never wrong.
Do you have a souvenir that always makes you smile?
Photos make for the best souvenirs and memories.
📍 Maja’s tips for living out of a vehicle:
You don’t need as much as you think you do. You can, and will, live with less.
Your setup doesn’t have to be perfect to start, you can and will adapt/change things as you go.
Basic safety tips like always locking your vehicle and reversing into overnight parking spots can save you.
Always carry extra drinking water and more food than you need.
Basic items can be absolutely essential when on the road (toilet paper, wet wipes, hand sanitzier, dog poo bags for trash, scissors, power bank, etc).
Knowing anything about car maintenance is helpful, but you can learn a LOT on the road.
Always have a backup savings fund in case things go wrong with your vehicle or you need to pay to stay somewhere that’s safer.
Want to keep up with Maja’s adventures? Follow her here:
🟦 linkedin.com/in/maja-proescholdt
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