Alysa Liu & Eileen Gu: Well behaved women seldom make history

Watching Alysa Liu and Eileen Gu compete in this year’s olympics have been making me think about the quote from historian Laurel Thatcher Ulrich that “well behaved women seldom make history”. They are young, wildly accomplished, and unapologetically aware of how talented they are. They don’t shrink themselves for reporters. They don’t rush to dilute their success with forced humility. They own it. And they have made me realize how often I feel the need to minimize my accomplishments, including my current solo backpacking adventure.

Recently in a press conference a reporter asked Eileen Gu if she sees winning her silver medals as silver medals gained or gold medals lost. And her response (after calling the reporter’s perspective “ridiculous”) was "I'm the most decorated female free skier in history! I think that's an answer in and of itself". A response I absolutely loved because at the end of the day the reporter was trying to diminish Gu’s silver medal win, and I think its rare to see a woman respond with such confidence. She did not feel any need to prove herself or reply with humility. She is the most decorated female free skier in history and she used that to shut him up.

Alysa Liu retired from figure skating, came back, trained on her own terms, and won the first women’s single title gold for the U.S. in 24 years.

In this climate, women don’t need more reminders to be humble. They need permission to take up space. Young girls need to see women who are boldly confident about their accomplishments. They need to see powerful women who say, “Yes, I did this. Yes, it was hard. Yes, I’m proud.”

Liu and Gu are women who are incredibly successful and living life on their own terms. They are unapologetic about their success and confidence, and I think that should inspire all women to celebrate our successes in the same way.

So I’ll start because as a woman currently solo backpacking South America, their energy is reshaping how I see my own journey.

I am currently solo backpacking South America as a woman — completely on my own dime. I worked a 9–5 job and waitressed at night to save enough money to make this childhood dream come true. I left security, routine, and comfort to experience life on my own terms. People told me I was crazy, but I did it anyway because well behaved women seldom make history.

That is not small.

That is not “cute.”

That is powerful.

Yet so often, I feel as a solo female traveler the need to soften my accomplishments. Saying things like, “I got lucky,” or minimizing how many years it took of saving and busting my butt working multiple jobs. But planning a solo backpacking trip as a woman, navigating new countries alone, prioritizing solo woman travel safety, funding your own adventure, and building a life around independence is a big deal.

I refuse to be humble about my journey any longer because I started this blog to empower other women using solo travel. It is incredibly empowering to see women own their confidence and accomplishments. Trying to be humble or dimming your light out of the fear of how other’s might perceive you is a waste of time and a disservice to yourself. If there are young girls reading this I want you to know that you are powerful and that is a good thing. Anyone who makes you feel like you should make yourself smaller is just intimidated. I am proud of what I have accomplished. I am a badass international adventurer seeing the world and living my life on my own terms. And I use my experience to help other women access their inner badass, so now its your turn to go out and own your accomplishments.