Identity Crisis

No, it’s actually not me having the identity crisis (although one may be impending given my new status as jobless wonder). Currently the mental instability and missing sense of self is reserved for my blog, not me. I have been unhappy with the blog title since its inception. I coined it with 20 minutes to spare before I had to get to the airport for my flight to Buenos Aires. Something about it has irked me ever since.

Then, while in Tilcara, I was talking with my friend Alex (check out his fantastic blog, Spendthrift Shoestring), who said he enjoyed the “shoe theme” my blog had going on. At that very moment I had on my feet a pair of borrowed tennis shoes, and had at least two more shoe blogs in the works. Clearly I loved the shoe theme as well.

So in honor of my love of shoes, and in the spirit of my impending business venture with new friend Liz (I’m not divulging any more here, but I will say that it has to do with travel—and shoes), I have been obsessed with a new new name for Somewhere Beyond, something that better captures its goal, which is to encapsulate exactly what you get when you mix a fearless (well, almost) woman, the perfect pair of shoes, and the great unknown (aka the world of travel).

Enter a huge problem: writer’s block. For two weeks I have been driving myself (and some very patient friends) crazy with titles that incorporate travel and shoes. With a million and one shoe sayings and songs at my disposal, I was coming up with such gems as “A Million Miles in These Shoes” and “Anywhere, Any Way and in Fabulous Shoes” (which started to seem suggestive of many things other than travel).

The list of boring or inappropriate shoe titles goes on, but I finally have a winner, at least for now: I think Around the World in Gold Stilettos has just enough quirkiness and just enough pizazz to capture my goal. So no, you haven’t landed on the wrong site; it’s still Suzanne’s blog with a new focus: to encourage bold woman to travel without inhibitions, and without giving up their sense of style. And, of course, there will be the occasional shoe obsession on my part.