When he landed back at Grand Junction Regional Airport on New Year’s Eve, Cole Sjoholm was returning home after setting foot on all seven continents as a solo, LGBTQ+ traveler in just one year. His adventures in 2023 took him from Mexico to Queensland; Tokyo to Copenhagen; Hong Kong to Antarctica. Throughout his adventures, he was accompanied by only his camera and wanderlust as he explored 25 countries spanning the world.

On New Year’s Eve 2022, a friend of Sjoholm’s from Instagram posed the idea of going to Antarctica. Though he was initially thrown off by the virtually uninhabited destination, Sjoholm decided he would go if he had the opportunity.

“My mind may not work like others, but to me, I saw a flat map of Earth and the continents started lighting up,” Sjoholm explains. He had already booked trips to Australia, Norway and Sweden at the time, and then decided to visit South America and Antarctica. “If I did all of that, I only had to go to Africa and Asia to go to all seven continents,” he says. “The continents lit up like the Simon Says game from the 80s. I replied to her within moments that I was going to go to all seven continents in a year. That’s honestly how quickly this came to be.”

Sjoholm is a loan originator from Michigan who attended the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (though he moved back to Colorado 30 hours before graduating). He worked remotely for the entirety of his 2023 travels. He has lived in Colorado for 22 years and Grand Junction for 10.

Traveling to all seven continents in a single year is a remarkable achievement, but doing it solo is even more so. Sjoholm had not considered solo travel before 2023, and he decided to make this year of travel all on his own. “I knew going into 2023 that I was going to live the year for myself and only me,” Sjoholm says. “Very few things motivate or energize me like travel.” While it was a significant leap, Sjoholm found that it changed his life in unexpected ways. He grew his self-confidence and became more enthusiastic about meeting new friends. He also reinvigorated his passions for writing and photography.

Sjoholm purchased a camera for himself as a holiday present shortly before embarking on his year-long adventure. “I figured a camera was a great solo activity. My camera became my travel buddy.” This sparked the photography series on his blog titled People n Places, where he captured portraits of the people he met on his travels, as well as the scenery.

“Mortgageguytravelstheworld.com gave me purpose in a year that was otherwise lacking, other than the mechanical nature of stepping foot on all seven continents in a single calendar year.”

Apart from his camera, one of Sjoholm’s most important allies in his travels was the Grand Junction Regional Airport. “Having GJT as a regional airport is incredible. I think the longest I had to wait in line to check in or at security was 20 minutes, and it’s often far less than that. I stood in security for more than two and a half hours in Buenos Aires.”

According to Sjoholm, being a loyal airline customer gave him valuable benefits that only increased during his year-long travels around the world. If a beginner traveler is looking to check free luggage, get seat upgrades or receive hotel room upgrades, Sjoholm says loyalty points are an effective way to do it.

ARRIVING TO “UNIQUE JOY”

Being a solo traveler and member of the LGBTQ+ community comes with its own challenges, but it also brings a unique joy. “Australia, my first big international trip, was eye-opening. LGBTQ+ couples were walking down the streets of Gold Coast, holding hands and kissing while the rest of the world walked by and didn’t bat an eye,” describes Sjoholm. Scandinavia was another important destination, where Sjoholm marched in the week-long Helsinki Pride event. “The city came to a standstill to celebrate diversity with an estimated hundred thousand people both marching and celebrating on the parade route in the pouring rain,” describes Sjoholm. “The sheer size of the celebration was awe-inspiring!”

Of the seven continents, Antarctica had the most lasting impact on Sjoholm. “Antarctica was so much vaster and more grandiose than photos or words can describe.” Sjoholm was one of only approximately 100,000 tourists on the continent last year, witnessing its unique, delicate beauty. He said the glaciers were indescribable, but they also felt fleeting. “Wearing shorts while on the cruise ship deck a short distance from the shores of Antarctica illustrated how impactful rising temperatures may likely have on our planet. I will try and do more personally to impact climate change,” he explained.

Seeing 25 countries in a single year comes with a mountain of memories, but for Sjoholm, the most memorable part of his journey has proven to be the people he met along the way. “I can honestly say I have friends on six continents. I tried to befriend the penguins in Antarctica but they didn’t have an Instagram, so it’ll be hard to stay in touch.”

Sjoholm says that the opportunity to spend time with new people, whether it was over dinner or on a sightseeing expedition, was the most incredible part of his experience, especially when everyone he met was bound by the same thirst for adventure. “The sights, sounds and flavors of the world are incredible, but I’ll forever hold the new friendships at the very top of the list.”

Traveling the world was an incredible experience that made a lasting impact on Sjoholm, one of the most notable being that he now finds himself needing less space and fewer belongings than he used to. “Living a large portion of the year in a cruise ship cabin, which is usually around 185-190 square feet, taught me a lot about priorities and what’s truly important,” he explains. Traveling to 25 countries also meant visiting many important historical sights, which affected Sjoholm’s current perspective on history. “I have a new appreciation and strong opinion that experiencing historical sites in person is critical to those events not repeating themselves.” Visiting the Nagasaki Peace Park, Hypocenter Park and a KBG prison in Tallinn, Estonia, shaped this perspective.

Sjoholm has thoughts not just for voracious travelers like himself, but for everyone. “The world is both a very big and very small place at the same time. I ran into a friend from Denver while in an elevator at London Heathrow Airport. How we ended up in the same elevator at the same time a third of the way around the world is humorous if nothing else,” he says. “People have traveled from all over the world to see what you get to look at every day,” Sjoholm points out. “There is beauty all around and it can be hard to step back and appreciate what your hometown has to offer when you are stuck in the mundane happenings of daily life.”

Originally published in the Spring 2024 issue of Spoke+Blossom.

A Solo Journey To 7 Continents As A LGBTQ+ Traveler

ARRIVING TO “UNIQUE JOY”