About How Dare She

Hi, I’m Jessica. You may have already figured that out. I am collecting countries. Every country. What about North Korea? Yeah, there too, it’s a country. And all those “scary” places in the Middle East? Countries? Yup. How dare she! There have been several, many in fact, men who have gone around collecting countries. They are badasses in their own right and I’m impressed by each and every one of them. But it is noticeable how few women have attempted such a feat. Why? Well, some women aren’t into travel. Some countries aren’t into women traveling (see: Saudi Arabia). But I think more often women are, and in many ways should be, more apprehensive about solo travel due to the potential risks in addition to having a higher tendency to want to share experiences with someone. So they wait until they have the right boyfriend or husband or girlfriend or wife to go along with. But once they’ve found that person, they start thinking about the life they want to build, the house they want to build it in, and the children they want to fill it with, and travel becomes a shelved dream, to be dusted off in retirement.

What is How Dare She?

“I could never” to “I can’t wait!”   I started How Dare She as the project to collect all these countries, and share those experiences back with the world. I have noticed how few Americans travel and any discussions of upcoming trips are often met with surprise. “You’re going where? By yourself? Aren’t you scared? They have….[insert list of scary things likely perpetuated by media]!! I could never!” I personally hate extremes like “never” (and especially “impossible”). I hope to challenge people who feel that way about travel to understand what their obstacles are, and how to overcome them. There are a lot of reasons to be apprehensive of travel, especially if you stick to the Fox News cycle, but I see those as considerations to take, not reasons to skip. So How Dare She is not just about me going to every country in the world, but bringing you along with me. I want to explore the challenges (be they financial, health, cultural, and especially gender-based) to see and show how to get around or over them, to reap the benefit all over the world. I want the “I could never“s to turn into “I can’t wait!“s.

Work with How Dare She

I am always happy to work with brands that share How Dare She core values. Find more information on the Work with Me page.

You want to contribute? Yes, please!

Buy me a coffee (beer)? I won’t turn it down. How? My personal favorite is Square Cash (cashtag $howdareshe), but Paypal works great too. Just make sure I know who contributed and have an email address to thank you!.

Thank you

How Dare She is possible thanks to the contributions of so many people supporting this attempt to collect every country in the world. I’m beyond grateful for their support and hope that each and every one knows that they are a part of this. You will find thanks to them in the credits of each video as well, but they will remain here in gratitude.

First and foremost big thank yous to Janet Protonentis and Jonathan Elliott. Not only have they supported this wild idea, but have raised me with the spirit that it will take to accomplish it and have helped with countless things that are just easier done by someone in the country.

Next, a huge thank you to Mike Graziano and Global Degree. It was Global Degree that inspired me to take the leap and figure this whole thing out. Mike, Alex and Natalia are also out traveling, providing continuous injections of inspiration to myself and many others.

Chris & Kristine Laping	Mark Allan	LeAnne Stine
Cathy Cooney	Chris Shumaker	Denny Post
Jeff Melnick	Amanda Busby	Jason Rusk
Rob Plumbley	Brian Murray	Dad
Shawna Jones	Don Dalton	Jenn Rivas
Amy Jones	Shay Carver	Ted Watson
Diana Jonkman	Evan Eakin	Chris Echelmeier
Susan Feichter	MsMeno	Amy Roth
Andy Mulz	Mike Dunmire	Donna Houseworth
Michael Cox	Matthew Elliott	Ted Watson
Mo Morrill	Al Hansen	Kirsten Cummins
Teri Lowery	Kelly Piuma	Lou Tsourovakas
Deena DePhilips	Krystal Bittner	Beth Elliott
Todd Madlener	Karin	Gina Fielding
Jason Whitner	Dave Batton	Dan Green
Mike Doss	Chuck Shuptrine	Ann Servatius
Terrell Lewis	Kali Hullsiek	Peter Owens
Mike and Jenny Rucki	Rob McGough	Mike Borcherding
Dan Kubik	Erik Andersen	Abbie Prince
David Elliott	Jessica McCleave	Katie McKinnon
Michelle Dacyk	The Park Family	Jaime Benson
Heidi Eikenhorst	Andy Somers	Nicole Jones
Cori Garcia	Allen Tong	Rob Hawley
Gemma Lynn	Kara Lisa Scott	Kara Anderson
Cassie LaBonte	Patrick Stone	Lisa Czarneki
Ben Carter	Darian Cannard	Jen Cerami

Katie and Michael McKinnon and Benchmark Auto Salon

Jennie McMurty and Global Love Fund

Ashley and Aaron Wheeler

Darin & Christine Dempsey