D Travels Around with Diana Edelman

Diana Edelman writes, "I recently returned from traveling Europe and parts of Africa for seven months -- on my terms. At 30 years old, I woke up one morning and realized the life I was living was the life I had dreamed of (I was a successful PR practitioner who had spent most of my career in Las Vegas and recently relocated to Atlanta), but was no longer the life I wanted to live. For months, I struggled with this idea, and trying desperately to figure out what I wanted from my life. After spending my 30th birthday in Croatia (my first holiday in years), I decided I wanted to risk it all and leave America. In between October 2009 and February 2010, I began to live a double life. I started a blog, got on Twitter and began to get recognition for my travel writing and tales of adventures. With the support from social media, I finally decided to quit my job, put my life in storage and book a ticket to Europe. It wasnt until I left my job that anyone there knew I was an entirely different person outside of the office.
I traveled to Europe in March 2010, bopping around Western Europe for three months, mostly falling in love with Spain, and then heading down to Rwanda on a press trip to experience World Environment Day and learn about the amazing tourism opportunities in the country. Then, I went to Morocco and over to Eastern Europe for another three months.
There were so many risks I took -- both emotionally and physically -- backpacking solo through countries where I didnt speak the language and knew no one. I can tell stories of falling off of a cliff in Turkey (yup ... paragliding can go wrong); trekking for gorillas in Rwanda; going topless in Barcelona and all of the delicious adventures in between."