The UnchaperonedWhiteGirl Origin Story

Recently, I was asked where the "unchaperonedwhitegirl" hashtag came from. It originated a bit over a year ago when I was flying out to San Diego. It was my second time flying alone before (and truly didn't fly that often then).

I used #unchaperonedwhitegirl the first time on a view from my hotel room in San Diego. I had an entire day entirely on my own and zero plans. I am not 100% sure how the words all came together. I know the unchaperoned part started as how I just keep getting drinks at airports when I am alone. I think white girl was because stereotypes exist for a reason.

The San Diego trip truly cemented for me that I can travel on my own. And that I like it. I can get myself to an airport and board a plane. This wasnt a direct flight like my Seattle flight was! I can find things to do when I have an entire day by myself. I used to be incredibly self conscious about going places alone - I felt very odd. Unchaperonedwhitegirl almost became my alter ego - she goes places, sees sights, and doesn't care that she is a weirdo taking a selfie of herself at a Pilot rest stop. She is more daring than I thought I could be.

I flew to Hawaii alone.  Pre-unchaperonedwhitegirl Blair never would have done that. I am currently on a Megabus alone to NYC - no way would I have done that before. I would have waited until someone else could travel with me.

The hashtag is more to me than just a funny set of words that make fun of what I am doing. It symbolizes the point in time where I realized that I am capable of doing what I want to do.