Ruthie Lanigan
Travel Addict | Lifelong Wanderer |
Certified Life Coach | Spiritual Guide
Ruthie Wanders
Wandering through Life, One Story, One Place, and One Lesson at a Time
I’ve always been curious.
About people. About places. About why we do the things we do. About what makes us happy. About what keeps us stuck.
And lately, I’ve become especially curious about what happens when life doesn’t turn out exactly the way we thought it would.
I don’t believe we ever completely figure life out.
I think we wander through it.
We try things. We change our minds. We travel. We love people. We lose people. We make mistakes. We laugh at ourselves. We get hurt. We heal.
We get on airplanes. We occasionally get completely lost.
And somewhere along the way, if we’re paying attention, we learn a few things.
Welcome to Ruthie Wanders.
This is where I write about the places I go, the things I’m learning, and the beautiful, complicated, sometimes ridiculous experience of being human.
#RuthieWanders
Come Wander With Me
Some days I’ll write about traveling halfway around the world.
Other days I might write about something I noticed five minutes from home.
There will be stories about travel, life, curiosity, getting older, starting over, courage, relationships, things I’m learning—and probably a few things I haven't even thought of yet.
Because I have absolutely no idea where all of this is going.
And I’m beginning to think that might be part of the fun.
Follow along with #RuthieWanders
And if your own life has you wondering where to go next, you’re always welcome to sit down and talk with me.
Hi, I'm Ruthie
I’m a writer, traveler, curious human—and a certified life coach.
I’ve lived enough life to know that it rarely follows the itinerary.
There have been wonderful chapters and difficult ones. I’ve traveled to places that changed the way I see the world. I’ve faced experiences that changed the way I see myself.
And through all of it, I’ve become fascinated by the same question:
How do we create a life that actually feels like our own?
I don’t have all the answers.
That’s kind of the point.
I’m still learning, still exploring, still changing—and definitely still wandering.
This site is where I share some of what I discover along the way.
Read Ruthie’s latest wanderings →
Sometimes the wandering is inward.
Not every journey requires a passport.
Sometimes we reach a place in life where the old answers don’t work anymore.
A relationship changes. A career no longer fits. The kids grow up. We lose someone.
We get older. Something we thought would last forever doesn’t.
Or maybe nothing dramatic has happened at all.
We simply begin asking:
Is this still the life I want?
I know that feeling.
It’s also one of the reasons I became a life coach.
Coaching gives us a place to slow down long enough to hear ourselves think—to look at the patterns, expectations and experiences that have shaped us and decide what we want to carry forward.
I’m not here to tell you how to live your life.
I’m here to help you get curious about it.
Together, we can explore what feels unsettled, what matters now, and where you might want to wander next.
Learn more about coaching with me
A Little About My Story
For years, I was very good at doing what I thought I was supposed to do.
Work hard. Be responsible. Take care of people. Keep going.
From the outside, my life looked pretty darn good.
Inside, I spent a lot of time wondering why doing everything “right” didn’t always feel right.
Eventually, I started asking different questions.
What do I want?
What matters to me now?
What would happen if I stopped measuring my life by everyone else’s expectations?
Those questions have taken me around the world—and much deeper into my own life.
I’ve learned that clarity doesn’t always arrive in one giant revelation.
Sometimes it appears on a walk.
In a journal.
During a conversation.
In a strange country.
After something falls apart.
Or while sitting quietly with a cup of coffee and finally admitting something to yourself that you’ve known for a very long time.
That’s what I write about here.
The wandering.
The wondering.
And the little bits of wisdom we pick up along the way.