Jill Thomas 🇨🇦 🇺🇸, Rambler Profile

Jill Thomas is a Rambler, traveler, and storyteller with a big laugh who believes life takes her where she needs to go, no matter the roundabout path.

Where did you grow up, and where do you live now?

I was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, but my family soon moved to Edmonton, where I started school.

My parents separated when I was in grade two, and my mom moved us to Port Moody, British Columbia. I remember being so excited to see the ocean and worried that others would discover and take home all the good seashells before I arrived.

Today, Port Moody is a big, vibrant city, but back then, it was a tiny town. By high school, I dreamed of escaping. When I was 17, I moved to Toronto to live with my dad. Experiencing life in a big city for the first time was one of the most exciting times of my life.

I completed my final high school years in Toronto, where I met three of my fellow SSR founders (Jill Cohen Morris, Tara Romoff and Naomi Weisman). I still love Toronto and return as often as I can.

In my twenties, I moved around a lot, traveling between Victoria, Vancouver, and Toronto. Eventually, I settled on Salt Spring Island in British Columbia, where I met my husband, owned a ran a couple of restaurants and raised our family. 

After our kids graduated, I accepted a job in Pensacola, Florida, and relocated there for nearly 13 years. I truly loved living in Pensacola; we resided on one of the most beautiful beaches in the world and created a wonderful community of friends. Additionally, we took numerous trips to New Orleans, a city that made me fall in love.

Last April we relocated back to Canada and our home on the Salty Isle. 

What do you most like to do in your spare time?

I used to jog frequently, and although I enjoyed walking, it was not a regular part of my routine, and I never did it alone.

Near the end of the pandemic, I visited my longtime friend and fellow SSR founder, Jane Witherspoon at her home in Panama. She was an avid hiker and took me on some strenuous hikes which made me realize I was out of shape. 

I decided I needed to do something about that, so Jane and I signed up for a virtual Camino walking challenge and completed the 420-mile challenge in two months. 

I was hooked. I gave up jogging, and a long daily walk became my routine. I love, love, love Rambling, so it's easy to motivate myself. In the years since, I've become stronger and stronger. I believe I am fitter now than I have ever been.

Rambling is something I look forward to doing daily and has benefited both my physical and mental health in so many ways. I have become a Rambling evangelist and love sharing this passion with the SSR community!

What is your favorite music, and what influenced your musical taste?

Living in the southern United States for 13 years, close to New Orleans changed my musical tastes forever. I love Americana music which is a broad genre encompassing various American roots music styles, including folk, country, bluegrass, blues, and roots-rock. My husband calls it Jill's "plonkety plonk" music. 

What invention in your lifetime are you most amazed by?

The Internet! In 2007, a friend introduced me to what was then called Web 2.0. My brain exploded when I realized I could publish my thoughts and promote my business on social media and websites without needing to know how to code. I remember it clearly as a seminal moment in my life.

I was hooked on the internet and started a blog called Island Chef. Since I owned a restaurant at the time, it felt like a natural topic. A year later, we decided to sell the restaurant, and I teamed up with three friends to start a digital marketing agency. Although it was a total failure, it ultimately transformed my career and led me to Florida, and I have never looked back.

Now, I many hours every day (perhaps too many) with a computer on my lap, passionately typing and releasing words and pictures into the world.

What are the top 5 things on your bucket list?

I am obsessed with very long walks, and I want to embark on them all over the world, wherever I can find them. I dream of Rambling for weeks on end in interesting places.

What do you love about being a Sole Sister Rambler founder?

When I began to consider inviting some of my close friends to expand our Messenger chat group, which we had named "Sole Sister Ramblers," into a public space for others to join, I felt a wave of intense anxiety. I shared this feeling with a friend, who said, "Sometimes anxiety and inspiration feel the same in your body and the swirl you are feeling is part of the process." 

A short time later I convinced my four co-founders to join me in what we initially thought would be a fun Facebook Group. None of us could have imagined where we would end up or anticipated how this idea would resonate with other women and the wonderful impact it might have on their lives.

I am incredibly proud of what we have built and treasure the closeness it has fostered among my fellow founders and with so many other Sole Sisters I have come to know in our community.

Sole Sister Ramblers is growing rapidly and presents many daily challenges. However, no matter what the future brings, I will be forever proud of what we have created and the fact that we did it with each other will be the most important part.

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