Originally from Orangeburg, South Carolina, Allison Hughes Stroud now calls Nashville, Tennessee, home. After years of demanding work in the film and television industry, she's embracing a life centered on connection, purpose, and the simple pleasures—a walk, a cup of coffee, or a shared bottle of wine with good company.
What is the best advice you ever got?
Find your wonder. Children see the world with wonder, because everything is new to them. As we grow older, most of us lose that sense — the everyday wears the shine off things. Travel is how I get it back. Every new place, every unfamiliar culture, reminds me how much there still is to discover. That sense of wonder is my rudder when I travel.
What life lesson took you the longest to learn?
Funny enough — letting go. I learned it on the Camino Francés in 2026, at the tender age of 56, when I realized I hold on to things, people, situations, way too long. There's real beauty in letting go — in letting a moment become a memory instead of something you're gripping onto.
I remember hugging friends goodbye on the trail and completely breaking down. We had different itineraries, so we had to part ways, and I didn't want to walk on without them. My Australian friends Geoff and Brooke put their arms around me and said, "Allison, we just walked across Spain together — we'll always have that." It reminded me of my childhood teddy bear, the one missing a neck, worn down from years of being carried and loved.
What five words would you use to describe yourself?
Kind, Adventurous, Independent, Inclusive, Warm
What are the top 5 things on your bucket list?
1-Hike the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal
2-Antarctica
3-Perth-I have to see a quokka in person.
4-New Zealand
5-Tonga
What is one thing people would be surprised to know about you?
I won a Shetland pony when I was six. We lived just outside the city limits, and my parents let me keep him in the backyard; we even converted our tool shed into his barn. I rode him every day of my childhood, until I got too big for his little back. After that, he went on to teach other kids to ride, one family after another.
What is something you did later in life that you wish you’d done sooner?
Courage. I wish I'd had more of it when I was younger; specifically, the courage to discover international travel sooner. I had a friend who backpacked through Europe after college, and at the time that felt completely unattainable to me. I was just trying to figure out how to pay rent and buy groceries. I wish I'd had the courage to pick up a part-time job and save for travel instead of assuming it wasn't possible for someone like me.
READ MORE > Rambler Profiles, Sole Sister Ramblers
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