Episode 76 - Alice Ford, Alices Adventures

Travel

May 11

For most of us, life is a journey of many twists and turns that ultimately defines who we are. As women, we may feel pulled in a million different directions. Our upbringing and upbringings may have changed our paths but travel doesn't take away the adventurous spirit.

At some point traveling became more than just a pleasure. It’s now an adventure, and you might be surprised at who, besides the backpackers and the adventurers, are on the road.

Traveling awakens your senses: through scents of exotic foods, sounds of waves crashing against sand, and sight of the rolling hillsides of vineyards…and best of all, experiencing cultures and people from around the world.

Christine’s guest today is Alice Ford.

Alice Ford is an award winning host, stunt woman and executive producer. Strong, confident and adventurous she is an entrepreneur, explorer, environmentalist and athlete. An adrenaline junkie she has hiked some of the world’s tallest mountains, swam with sharks, jumped out of airplanes, repelled down cliff sides and traveled solo all over the world documenting every moment for her Award Winning Series Alice’s Adventures on Earth.

With a passion for travel and sustainability she has spent more than a decade working as a host for shows such as Alice in 7 Wonderlands in the Canary Islands, Healthy Lifestyles on WWLTV, National Park Adventures on Amazon, The Alienist and Westworld Aftershow on AfterBuzz TV, and many more.

In 2016 she launched her new company “TravGanic” which is dedicated to connecting people with eco-friendly travel options all over the world. Specializing in green hotels, nature tours and unique adventure packages that focus on conservation and sustainability.

As an expert in the fields of adventure travel and sustainability, she has also found success as a travel writer, producer and speaker.

Alice loves to inspire others to see more of the world while teaching them about protecting and respecting the planet. A passionate visionary, she wants to tell the stories of unique people, cultures and places that need a bigger voice. Her writings, and world class video production skills can be seen across many channels. Her YouTube channel has a large and ever growing community of avid hikers and travelers and her writings keep thousands entertained on the alicesadventuresonearth.com website.

In this conversation, Christine and Alice talk about how adventures in Alice’s childhood piqued her curiosity early on, what it has been like being a woman in the adventure space, how we find our way as multi passionate people, and how we can create travel content that matters.

Join me now for my soulful conversation with Alice Ford.

In this episode, Christine and Alice discuss:

Who Alice is in the world of travel
How adventures in Alice’s childhood piqued her curiosity early on
What it has been like being a woman in the adventure space
How we find our way as multi passionate people
How we can create travel content that matters
Why eco-friendly travel is important

Resources & Links Mentioned in the Episode

To learn more about Alice Ford and Alice Adventures, head to www.alicesadventuresonearth.com

Follow Alice on your favorite social platform: Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter

Subscribe to Alice’s YouTube Channel

Join me for my Get Wild in Glacier Women's Wilderness Retreat!!

This year we're headed to Glacier Park in Montana. You'll get to get wild and reconnect with your inner child as you hike, bike, ride horseback and whitewater raft.

This is a unique experience that adds so much depth to your journey.

Registration for this Women's Wilderness Retreat closes on May 20 and our virtual coaching begins on June 6.

Visit Lotus sojourns website for more information www.lotussojourns.com

To watch this interview on YouTube HERE.

Learn more about Lotus Sojourns

Looking for ways to be a part of the community, learn more here.

Find Lotus Sojourns on Facebook, or join the Lotus Sojourns Collective, our FB community for like-hearted women.

LOVE these conversations...support the production of this podcast by making a donation here!

Support the show (https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=Y76XFGFWCMEV8)

WE'VE BEEN NOMINATED FOR A BESSIE AWARD! The Bessie Awards recognize the achievements of women and gender-diverse people making an impact in the travel industry. If you are a past attendee of Women in Travel Summit (WITS) please consider voting for Soul of Travel Podcast! Thank you!!!

Voting is now open and winners will be announced at the Bessie Awards ceremony on Saturday, 14 May 2022 at 7 p.m. CT at the Marriott Downtown in Kansas City, Missouri. To view the complete list of this year’s finalists, visit bessieawards.org.

About the Soul Of Travel Podcast

Soul of Travel honors the passion and dedication of the people making a positive impact in tourism. In each episode, you’ll hear the story of women who are industry professionals and seasoned travelers and community leaders who know travel is more than a vacation. It is an opportunity for personal awareness and it is a vehicle for change. We are thought leaders, action takers, and heart-centered change makers.

The guests work in all sectors of the tourism industry. You'll hear from adventure-based community organizations, social impact businesses, travel photographers and videographers, tourism boards and destination marketing organizations, and transformational travel experts. They all honor the idea that travel is more than a vacation and focus on sustainable travel, eco-travel, community-based tourism, and intentional travel.

These conversations are meant to educate, inspire and create community. They are directed to new travelers and seasoned travelers, as well as industry professionals and those who are curious about a career in travel.

If you want to learn about new destinations, types of travel, or how to be more intentional or live life on purpose, join Christine Winebrenner Irick for soulful conversations with her community of fellow travelers exploring the heart, the mind, and the globe. These conversations highlight what tourism really means for the world.

Subscribe & Review on Apple Podcasts

Are you subscribed to the podcast? If you’re not, I want to encourage you to do that today so you don’t miss an episode.

Click here to subscribe to Apple Podcasts!

Credits. Christine Winebrenner Irick (Host, creator, editor.) Alice Ford (Guest). Original music by Clark Adams. Editing and production by Rayna Booth.

Transcript

KEYWORDS

travel, people, places, adventure, conversations, world, hotels, community, women, youtube, community based tourism

Christine Winebrenner Irick 00:08

Thank you for joining me for soulful conversations with my community of fellow travelers, exploring the heart, the mind and the globe. These conversations highlight what travel really means for the world. Soul of Travel honors the passion and dedication of the people making a positive impact in tourism. Each week, I'll be speaking to women who are tourism professionals, world travelers and leaders in their communities will explore how travel has changed them and how that has rippled out and inspired them to change the world. These conversations are as much about travel as they are about passion, and living life with purpose, chasing dreams, building businesses, and having the desire to make the world a better place. This is a community of people who no travel is more than a vacation. It is an opportunity for personal awareness, and it is a vehicle for change. We are thought leaders, action takers, and heart centered change makers I'm Christine Winebrenner Irick. And this is the Soul of Travel.

Alice Ford is an award winning host stuntwoman and executive producer, strong, confident and adventurous. She is an entrepreneur, explorer, environmentalist, athlete and adrenaline junkie. She has hiked some of the world's tallest mountains, swam with sharks, jumped out of airplanes, repelled down cliff sides and traveled solo all over the world, documenting every moment for her award winning series, Alice's Adventures on Earth. With a passion for travel and sustainability. She has spent more than a decade working as a host for shows such as Alice in seven wonderlands in the Canary Islands, healthy lifestyles on WWL TV National Park adventures on Amazon, the alienist and Westworld after show on afterbuzz, TV and many more.

In 2016, she launched her company “TravGanic” which is dedicated to connecting people with eco-friendly travel options all over the world, specializing in green hotels, nature tours and unique adventure packages that focus on conservation and sustainability. As an expert in the fields of adventure, travel and sustainability, she has also found success as a travel writer, producer and speaker. Alice loves to inspire others to see more of the world while teaching them about protecting and respecting the planet. Passionate visionary, she wants to tell the stories of unique people, cultures and places that need a bigger voice. Her writings and world class video production skills can be seen across many channels.

Her YouTube channel has a large and ever growing community of avid hikers and travelers and her writing keeps 1000s entertained on the Alice's Adventures on earth.com website. In our conversation, we talk about how adventures in her childhood piqued her curiosity early on, what it has been like being a woman in the adventure space, how we find our way as multi passionate people, and how we can create travel content that matters. Alice and I always felt like we could chat for hours. But we tried to keep it to just the hour today and share as much as possible as we can with you. Join me now for my soulful conversation with Alice Ford. Welcome to the thought of travel. I'm so excited to be doing this live episode with Alice Ford. Ellis is an award winning host, stunt woman and executive producer. And you can find her on YouTube where she has over 20,000 subscribers and covers a wide range of topics in her unique style and voice which I love. And also has created “TravGanic” which is dedicated to providing people with eco friendly travel options. So it's a quick intro Alice, thanks for being here with me today.

04:25

Thanks so much for having me. It's so great to be here. And yeah, thanks for everyone that's joining us today on a weekend as well really appreciate it.

Christine Winebrenner Irick 04:32

Thank you. Well, just to start, I would love for you to give us a little bit of a picture of who you are in travel right now and what you do in this space.

04:45

Absolutely. So I am an adventurer, filmmaker, and also own a sustainable travel platform. I share my adventures on YouTube as well as on my website Alice's Adventures on earth.com which is kind of my blog and my more personal travel side of, of my travels, I guess. And then my sustainable tourism company “TravGanic” is all about sustainable travel. So on that website, you can find detailed itineraries, you can find resources for booking trips, for finding new destinations that are sustainable, that are eco certified, and that are more based on community tourism. So two different worlds, but they obviously blend together really seamlessly. And I make videos pretty much everywhere that I go. I love hiking, trekking, really getting off the beaten path and showing people like a deeper side to travel, not city travel, not, you know, sometimes I do restaurants and things like that. But it's more about getting deep into a destination, finding the community, getting to know the locals and getting to those off the beaten path places that not everyone gets to. And I always have an educational component to all my videos and content as well, whether that be like ecology and science, history and culture. So those are the kinds of things that I do. And you guys can check me out. Yeah, on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram everywhere. You can find me at Alice's Adventures on Earth.

Christine Winebrenner Irick 06:19

Great, thank you. That was definitely what I was initially drawn to, when I found you in the great world of travel content creators. Because it's what really resonates with me, I love hiking, I love spending time in nature. And similarly, I really enjoy kind of discovering those really, kind of more, like you said, off the beaten path or deeply connected places as I travel. That's what I'm really seeking out. And so I think, when I started to see what you were creating, that's what really caught my eye was like, Okay, this woman travels, how do I do so I'm really curious. And then I also really love that there's always the elements of sustainability and education that you talked about as well. I think that's so important. That's obviously why I do this podcast is so that people can have a better understanding of what else they can seek from their travel experiences. And I think it's just really important to be able to use travel as a place for education, which I think we both really agree on. To give the listeners a little bit more background on you. Can you give us a sense of how you fell into the travel world or adventure? We're going to talk a little bit more about your adventurous spirit and and in a bit but kind of When did you get curious about exploring or how did travel find you?

07:50

Absolutely. So my parents were super adventuresome, I would say my dad was a little bit more adventurous than my mom. But I grew up in a family where we always found a mountain or hiking. I grew up in a really small town. But just completely immersed in nature. We had about 40 acres, which was super forested. So we had woods, we had pasture, we had a river, we had swamp, we had a kind of a little bit of everything. So in my own backyard, we could raft, we could hike, we could get lost in the woods, pick raspberries in the summertime, and watch moose and bears. So from birth, really, I was just immersed in nature. And my dad was very, very involved in conservation. He was part of our town's Conservation Association, and a member of a ton of different environmental organizations. So I grew up hearing from him all the time about how important it was to protect forests and oceans and lakes and, and in nature in general. So that was kind of my upbringing.

And we, you know, our family, I guess, gatherings, as opposed to maybe going to an amusement park or the movies would be going on a hike, or going out and going camping or going out and going on the boat and taking the canoes out and going to an island and spending the day there having a picnic. So very different from probably a lot of people's upbringings. But that's what made me fall in love with nature. And then you know, as a young teenager, I guess we actually had some land in Mexico. So we went there a lot. And I would always, like my favorite thing to do would be to plan the whole vacation. Okay, we're gonna go here, we're gonna stay at this place on the way we'll fly into blah, blah, blah. And I loved it so much just planning the experience for everything for everybody and like figuring out okay, this is where we can eat. So I really loved it as a kid. And I think obviously, that passion was already there. And so as I got older, it just grew and grew. And in college My dream, which is still my dream, was to be the next Samantha Brown. You know, I loved talking to people about travel, I loved being on camera. And my goal was to hopefully one day I can have my own travel show. So about 10 years ago, I was actually working on a movie in China. And I had the opportunity to travel afterwards. And so I went from China, through Cambodia and Borneo, and Bali and Australia, and shot my first travel pilot. And that's kind of what started this whole filmmaking journey. Many years ago.

Christine Winebrenner Irick 10:35

Yeah, that's amazing. Yeah, I feel like there's so many people. And I think it's really amazing that we're like this. My goal is to be the next Samantha Brown. I'm just curious about how many people I've talked to, like, that's what our mission in life was. And the thing that also I think is really, I guess, important to mention about that is that for many of us, she was the only woman that we saw, doing what she was doing. So that is why so many of us wanted to be her. And I think even still in this space of adventure, travel and just travel media, it's still a space where women are underrepresented. And, and this is also a huge part of why I wanted to have these conversations is because in you know, the world I live in, I see women doing these things all of the time.

And I'm like, Okay, it's not that we're not out here. Obviously, I've had amazing conversations with so many people at this point. But I really wanted to create a space for more people to see who is working in this way. Who else is creating really valuable content, who's creating amazing trips, who's doing great conservation work? Like there's such a broader segment of women in this field that is just not seen by mainstream media. So thanks for sharing that. Because I think that is really important. And I imagine for her it must be pretty cool to be able to hear. I don't know if she ever, like, has a sense of that. I'm sure she must. But yeah, I think that's really amazing. So then you talked about getting into television, starting to record a pilot trying to kind of get into that space. And I know part of also how I initially found you, I had seen an article written about you. And it was like an adventure traveler and a stunt woman. I was like, what this is definitely catching my eye. I'm like, that sounds like a story I haven't heard before. So how did that come into your life? And what did that look like? Yeah, absolutely.

12:51

So I guess I'll start by saying, I've lived in a lot of states, I've worked a lot of jobs. After college, I went into sales. And then I went into hotels, and I was in restaurants that whole time. And but I guess the thing that I always wanted to do was be on TV. But I didn't live in California at the time, I didn't live anywhere near Los Angeles, I didn't live anywhere where there was really a market for being a TV host. So it was always in the back of my mind, but never something that I was able to really pursue in the way that I wanted to, I would get hosting jobs here and there for infomercials and, and commercials and things like that, but it wasn't what I wanted. So eventually, in all the places that I moved to different jobs that I had found myself in New Orleans, Louisiana. And there's a big film industry there. So I started working as an extra, I got a hosting job with a local hospital and actually did all these kinds of little health care segments about, you know, how much water you should drink and things like that and, and started working in movies and TV. And then I basically met some people that were instance, at the time, I was pole vaulting, I was trying to actually qualify for the Olympic trials in pole vaulting.

Christine Winebrenner Irick 14:12

Which is another story. I was like, wow, that's a whole other story.

14:16

But I met some gentlemen that were working on GI Joe. And they said, I told them about myself and that my background was in gymnastics and track and field and they said oh my gosh, you'd make a great stunt woman. And I was like, Well, what is that? You know, what does that entail? And they were like, well, you get to perform. You get to do flips and all this stuff. And I said, Well, that's right up my alley. You know, that sounds like a lot of fun. How do you get into that? And so long story short, I basically ended up sending in a tape to a TV show that was filming in Los Angeles called make it or break it, which is all about gymnastics. I got called back because the show came out to LA and worked with him for our last season of filming.

And that was my first job as a stunt woman. So I got to play a gymnast and then double one of the actresses doing her flips and floor routines and things like that. And then that was maybe 12 years ago now, so quite a while ago, but that's kind of what got me into stuns. And it was such a good opportunity to be able to travel and be in entertainment. It brought me up to Los Angeles, obviously. But in the back of my mind, I was like, Well, this is great. It's definitely feeding one of the, like, hungry mouths inside me. That's about knowledge. You know, like, I'm so multi passionate, and I have been an athlete my entire life. So giving that up was really difficult in college. So this was a caveat, to be able to still have that need that I felt like I needed to be able to perform and be an athlete still. But on the other hand, I wanted to be a host, I wanted to have my own travel show. So I was constantly like, Well, how do I make this happen. And I ended up being the main double for an actress on Transformers for which was a Michael Bay movie back in 2013. And met my boyfriend that I'm still with today. And he was like, Well, if you want to be a travel host, and you want to have a travel show, you should go and shoot a travel show. And you'll figure out how to do it, and you know, whatever.

So I was like, Okay, and so with just that little bit of encouragement, you know, he helped me kind of like shoot this first pilot, which looking back now Oh, my gosh, the things I learned. But it's such an amazing experience. But that's really what got me started. Not only in stunts, but in kind of creating this whole other chapter of my life, in the passion that I've always had in travel, to be able to showcase that to all the people

Christine Winebrenner Irick 17:03

in the world. Yeah, thank you for sharing that. I mean, I think it's so great. One of the things that really resonated for me is this idea of if you're really an athlete, in high school, and college, and then all of a sudden when you're done with college, that urge to keep being engaged in something like that. And there's not really anything to do with it, that I resonate with because I was the same, I really loved sports and activities. And I did basketball and track and I like you're done like you were like, Oh, well, I guess I just put that part of me aside now. Because it doesn't really exist in the real world after you leave school. And so I love that you were able to kind of fulfill that through this. And then like this journey of, you know, when you have something you really are, have a deep conviction for, but you don't know how to get there. I think sometimes people just stop trying like, there's like, Well, I'll try this way that didn't work. I'll try this way that didn't work.

Maybe someone will still try another way. But you know, it's really hard to keep looking at new ways to get there. So I love that your boyfriend was like, Well, you could just do it. And you're like, Oh, well, that seems really obvious. And I've had those moments. So many times, I remember, I was working with someone that called themselves, like a sole profession coach or something like that. She's like, well, I'll just walk you through. And I'll ask you about all these things you've been interested in and see the commonality and just kind of like, see what comes up for me as an idea of what your dream career would be. And so we had a conversation. And at the end, she was like, Well, have you ever thought about starting kind of an outdoor nature adventure travel company for women? I was like, Oh my gosh, that feels like the most obvious answer of anything that anybody has ever said to me.

But at that moment, I just hadn't really liked it. I pulled all these things that I loved together and tried to see what they would look like. And then it's you know, then you have that and you're like, Okay, now how do I make that work? And like I had been in the travel industry in different facets for many years, but kind of much like you it's like, okay, well I have these skills, and I have these skills, and I have this connection, but they don't feel like all of the pieces of the puzzle. And so then you're still kind of wondering, what's the next step forward? And I think similarly, it was just like, well, just try it. I mean, the only thing that's going to happen is it's not going to work, but at least you're actually on the trajectory of the thing that you really, really want instead of kind of edging around it the whole time. So I love that. That's kind of how that started for you. So then you created this first series. So how did that end up kind of evolving into the space Use of creating travel content that you're in now.

20:04

Yeah, so I guess it's evolved a lot over time. You know, back when I shot this first pilot, which was basically, back then it was a show, it was called World Heritage adventures. And it was basically based on going to different UNESCO sites, showcasing them, and also the cities or the towns where they're located talking about the history and the culture, because these are all things that for me, when I travel, I read, you know, look for or like to travel to. So this was basically shot as a TV pilot, we then pitched it to some different production companies tried to kind of get my foot in the door, and see if we could sell it to a network, the feedback that I got pretty much everywhere was, well, you're not a man, you don't have a mustache or a beard. And you don't have enough TV experience, like as a reporter, or you're not already famous.

So it was like, okay, um, all right, well, I kept trying back to the drawing board a little bit. Short, a couple of other things. But I didn't know much about YouTube. At the time, I didn't really know about the algorithm, I hadn't spent a lot of time really thinking about, I guess, being a consistent and serious person on YouTube, in those first couple of years. And then, as I realized that pitching to TV production companies is a really tiring, tiring, and usually unsuccessful way to go, the better way if I want people to see my content, and I want to actually help people discover new places, is to just have my own show on YouTube. So then I started actually doing the research looking into, okay, what do I need to do to make YouTube work? What do I need to do to make it so that my content is available to people and that means starting a blog, and that means, okay, I have to come up with some concepts and be consistent on YouTube and, and have an actual plan of things. So that's when I started getting a little bit more serious and committed to YouTube and my blog and then obviously, when Instagram came out, and, and got a little bit more serious on that as well, instead of just seeing photos of my cat or something.

But yeah, it definitely evolved. And I wish looking back, I guess that I had been more of an early adopter of the social platforms and of YouTube, and also maybe been a bit more knowledgeable and serious about it back then. But I guess Long story short, I just decided, at one point, if I'm going to be serious about this, I have to put the time and effort into being consistent on this platform. So that people get to know me, and they get to know me as an expert, and, you know, solo female travel and hiking and backpacking. And they want to come watch, you know, my entertaining videos.

Christine Winebrenner Irick 23:00

Right? Right. And especially if that, you know, if you're looking at those initial conversations with pitching and one of the things is, you know, we need to know that you're an expert, then this is one of those ways to establish that because, you know, obviously, you're never going to have a beard or you can, but that's probably not going to make you any more attractive to a white. Which is really frustrating. And I can't even really find the words for that. But yeah, I also when you were talking about World Heritage Sites, I remember when I was doing a travel program, probably like 20 years ago, and they started talking a little bit about that.

And then I worked for another company where they were highlighting some UNESCO sites and I, I actually had the idea, I was like, Oh, my gosh, it would be so cool to just travel, bring travelers just to these sites, because there's so much to learn, built into them already. And then they all happened to be kind of near these amazing communities. So I love that that is where you started. I think this is a great kind of segue into talking about staying true to your voice. I think, especially if you look at the broader world of content creation, and you look at social media. There's kind of obviously the things that seem like they're reproduced over and over. There's all these programs that are like here's the five things to do to be successful on Instagram on YouTube on every platform, basically, how when you were starting to look at who you want it to be in this space, did you find your voice and how did you stay connected to your why so that you weren't one of the people that just kind of got lost in this void because there's it's grown so much since you started as well like, how do you really stay where have you on your path?

25:03

I think for me, because I started out doing things the wrong way, I guess for and when I say the wrong way, say, when someone is coming to the internet, let's say and I was like, I want to be a YouTube star, they might Google like, how do you be a YouTube star and they're gonna look up all the, you know, now it's the information is so widespread, like, these are the things that you need it, you know, it's like a plan of like, Yeah, you should do this and do that and do that. And, I didn't do any of that when I started. And so I think that, that now 10 years later, while I do some of those, the stuff that I make is more based on what I like what I feel like, is important, rather than what I think the algorithm is gonna like, I've got plenty of videos that if I were somebody else would maybe have a couple million views. But maybe they only have a couple 1000.

But to me, it was an important topic. You know, my first show on YouTube was actually called Green and fabulous, which was ages ago now, but they were like, kind of kitschy videos on Sustainability tips around your home, that I was kind of like making fun of myself. And that was just a passion project. And also my other channel, which is called Nature news, is a passion project. I only have 100 subscribers on that second channel. But to me, it's really important to be sharing stories of conservation and stories of, you know, environmental problems that don't get a lot of airtime on national TV. So those things are important to me. But when you think about algorithms and what you're supposed to do on social media, everyone would probably tell me don't do that, and don't do that. But to me, it's just more important to stay true to who I am.

And to, to what I think is important to what I think is important, maybe people should learn and pay attention to actually I have a video coming up tomorrow on a Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park and halfway through the video, I stop and just talk to the camera about some of the issues that I saw in the park like people taking relics out of the park, people smoking cigarettes next to Sequoia trees, people going down closed trails when there's signage. And a lot of people probably wouldn't put that in their videos because people will stop watching. But for me, it's like if I would stop you in the park and say, Hey, don't do that, then it's important for me to say it in my video, too. So for me, I guess I'm just like screwing the rules that screw the algorithms. I'm gonna say and do what I think is important. And that's just the way and hopefully people watch it.

Christine Winebrenner Irick 27:54

Hi, it's Christine. Interrupting this episode for just a quick minute to invite you to join me for my get wild in Glacier women's wilderness retreat. I'm so excited to share because last year when I partnered with my friend Becky brought from Trailblazer wellness, we brought women to the top of a fourteener in Colorado and knew we had to do it again.

This year, we're headed to Glacier Park in Montana.

I grew up in northwest Montana and cannot wait to share this treasured corner of the world with you. You'll get to get wild and reconnect with your inner child as you hike, bike, ride horseback and whitewater raft. Not only that, Becky and I spent three months with you preparing for this adventure and creating community. You'll be excited to meet in person and share this adventure with during these three months you'll get one on one coaching with Becky to prepare for the adventure, as well as mindset and yoga sessions led by me an education from other inspiring women about nutrition on the trail and packing for adventure, as well as learning from local educators about nature and wildlife and indigenous communities.

This is a unique experience that adds so much depth to your journey. Registration for this women's wilderness retreat closes on May 20. And our virtual coaching begins on June 6, visit the Lotus sojourns website for more information. I cannot wait to share my home with you.

Now let's hop back over to our soulful conversation.

No, I think that's so great because one I think it's really important for people. One of my passions is that people know their truth and they speak it. And it's really hard because in so many facets, people are silenced. You know because if it's not the thing everybody wants to hear. It's not how you're supposed to show up as whomever you are in some dictated sector of society like there's all these methods for silencing, and I think it's the most important thing, that we speak our truth. So I love that you have that conviction. I also think there's people that are looking for it. So maybe there's not 100 million people looking for it. But there's, you know, 1000s of people looking for it. And if they need to hear from you, then you're there for them.

And I have had this conversation with a lot of entrepreneurs that have something similar they're like, you know, I think if I did this thing, I might have more of an audience, I might have more travelers, I might have more sales, but it's inauthentic. And, you know, there just feels something to me about that, that it's really always made me uncomfortable. Like, I just, I don't really understand, you know, this kind of commercialization or selling out, or however you want to call it. I feel like it's really, really important that we all have this message for a reason. And I think it's because people are meant to receive it. And it's okay, like, there's definitely, especially in today's day and age, this idea that if you aren't here, you know, like reaching the most people, then you're not successful. But I feel like we really need to redefine what success is. It's like if I have 10 listeners that are listening, every week, and they are super inspired. And that in like, gets them talking to 10 more people who are then super inspired that change how they're showing up in nature, in their careers, in their lives. Like that is a huge success. For me, like I can't even imagine that would make me really proud.

But that's not like this measure that is used across the board. So I don't know if you have. I mean, I think you've probably had those conversations with yourself, if you're looking at, you know, the way you have shown up. I just would really encourage anybody who's listening to this kind of, you know, if you are listening, because you are really excited about content creation and being you know, a travel professional in media or like you also want to be the next Samantha Brown.

32:15

I feel like we all have to do it in our own way. And it's really hard sometimes because we don't have another way to measure our success. Yeah, absolutely. And I think it's also it's, it's also really difficult, I think, especially now with so much social media to not, it's hard to beat yourself, because you're inundated by so much content, that it's hard not to copy other people or be like, Oh, that worked there. So I'm going to do the same thing. And then you try that and it doesn't work for you. And then you're like, Well, it worked for them. And then and then you're in this imposter situation, impostor syndrome, or like jealousy.

That's never good. So it's always better to just be yourself. And I think, for me, I majored in business in college for like one year. I had like nine majors, but I took ethics. And one of the things that I always asked myself, especially, you know, and this is for anyone that is listening, that's wanting to get brand deals, or maybe they want to become an influencer or something like that. I think it's so important that you ask yourself, if and when you start getting companies that want to work with you. And this can be for anything, not just social media, that does that brand or that company, share your values. Because if they don't, then I think to me, it's a completely unethical collaboration. I have a lot of companies that reach out to me that want to work with me.

And a lot of times I don't like how their products are made, or I don't like their brand messaging, or maybe it's just a product that I don't use. So to me, it's inauthentic. And like, Well, I wouldn't, I wouldn't use the editor. And I'm in a lot of these Facebook groups where there's other collaborators in there other women trying to do the same thing. And they have seen questions about things like that, oh, well, CBD brand reached out to me, I don't actually use CBD. But what should I do for this collaboration? And it's like, Well, you shouldn't have taken it if you don't use the product, so those are things that I always think about when I'm collaborating with brands or or thinking about those others. Is it ethical to Me and does it share the same values as me?

Christine Winebrenner Irick 34:34

I love that you brought that up. I had thought about that a lot as I started to think about pursuing sponsors for this podcast even though I was like, Okay, I really, I have created my travel brand based on my values. I have created this podcast based on my values, like it's very important to me. And so you know, people like how about this sponsor? And I was like, no Hmm, no, I don't think that would, it just wouldn't work. Like, I would like this to be an extension of how I show up in the world. So I'm like, I would love women owned brands, small brands that maybe don't get a space in, you know, in a major market or on a major podcast who couldn't afford to sponsor or be a part of another show. Like, I feel like this is my opportunity to create a space for that, like, I'm not going after this huge sponsorship, that's not necessarily aligned with who I am.

Maybe there's a perfect brand out there where that would work. But I really want to give a window of opportunity to somebody else. And so I think, like you said, like, it starts to feel kind of questionable. And I've had this conversation about trip designs like, Well, why when you go to Peru, don't you go here, when you go to, you know, XYZ? Don't you do this? So I'm like, well, because, you know, with my sustainable travel practices, I really want to be conscious of overtourism. And I want the economic benefit of travel dollars to do this. And so kind of much like you, it's this opportunity for education. And it's also the opportunity to show what my values are, and continue to keep those moving forward. And like, like you mentioned, I think it can be really hard, especially when you're first starting out, that if someone reaches out and they're like, yes, we would love to partner with you. And you're like, oh, my gosh, I've been waiting for this moment, forever. And if they're not in alignment, it's going to be really hard to want to say no, because you've been working toward it.

So I think that's a really great thing to bring up and to know where you'll stand ahead of time, maybe because then you, you already know what your answer is. And you're not going to question yourself and like, maybe you're like, I don't really care. I just need that first one. And then after that I'll set my boundaries, or you know, I don't know, like, I think it's just really important to kind of have those conversations internally. Absolutely. Yeah. When I was talking about eco travel, sustainable travel, I just thought that would be a great time to bring that into this conversation. So I know that you have a background in environmental management. And so that is definitely something you are passionate about, like you mentioned, you bring that already into your youtube content. But can we talk about TravGanic? And how did that start and what does that look like for you? Yeah, so

37:29

I started TravGanic I guess back in 2015, is when I started researching and kind of compiling information for that. And it was born really out of this lack in the market, really, I love to travel. But when I travel, I want to find the community that nobody visits, I want to stay in an Eco Lodge. And I want the place that I'm staying to have solar panels and filter the water in and do all these things. And I couldn't find any of that information on any of the big booking platforms, obviously now many years forward, a lot of that is starting to change. But back when I started TravGanic nobody was doing that. And you would have to search and search and search countless websites for hours at a time trying to find one hotel or or one community tourism project.

And it was really kind of a pain. And so that's that issue is what led me to start TravGanic. And I did a ton of research, I created partnerships with a ton of different green certification companies. And I did that because there's so much greenwashing I think in the industry. I think it's maybe getting better, or maybe it's getting worse. But there's some reputable companies around the world that certify hotels. Airbnbs tires companies on all the different aspects of their business practices. We do that TravGanic as well. But basically they look at like how they what they do with their water where they get their water from do they treat it? What do they do with the wastewater, they look at what they do with all their waste as far as trash or mattresses, you know, any sort of waste that they would have, even from their offices, also like their air quality control, if it's a hotel, the types of linens that they use, the types of cleaning products that they use, how they manage their staff, and even how they treat their guests as far as you know what information they share with them.

As far as sustainability, things go and even the building materials that these are there's all these different things that these certification companies look at, to make sure that these hotels or tour companies are doing what they can or should in order to get these different levels of certification. So those are the types of companies we've partnered with that TravGanic for hotels, and tour companies, and then we look extensively into places to find these kind of like smaller niche community tourism products, projects, where you could, let's say, like, go stay with a Maasai family in Tanzania, or reindeer herding in Norway with the indigenous family, I just came back from Ecuador, where I actually stayed with an indigenous tribe in the Amazon at the only Eco Lodge that's actually owned and managed by an indigenous tribe and all of the Amazon.

So it's projects like that, that we love. And that we look for, we don't want to have the same run of the mill tours and properties that everyone else does, we want the unique, like, once in a lifetime, you're never going to have this experience anywhere else. types of things that are really focusing on protecting the planet while also teaching you about culture and history. And, you know, in the Amazon, it was amazing to go explore the jungle with a member of this tribe who had knowledge passed down from his father and his grandfather of the medicinal plants and the animals. And those are the experiences I feel like are completely priceless. And that's what we do.

Christine Winebrenner Irick 41:19

Yeah, I love that, as you're just describing, that's basically like my dream travel experience. So I'm definitely going to be looking at that. I mean, and it's really hard to find and like you've said, as a consumer to try and do all of that vetting and figure it out. And like, know, what, what is greenwashing? What is legitimate? How do I figure it out? I think people become very overwhelmed with that process. And like you said, it's a little easier now. But there's also more people who are like, aware that these are the marketing terms that are catching people's eyes. And so while like, it's like better and worse at the same time, I think, and, and then even when you're really looking at Community Based tourism, so it's so great to do that experience.

But then you also want to make sure that that's being community led, right, that there's not really one to make sure that's their decision to be inviting travelers in and how they're showing up and engaging with the travelers. And these are all questions that, again, like I think that your average traveler isn't really understanding to think about yet. And so like, while I really want to encourage this type of travel, I know that you do to like, just really the education part is the most important part. And if that's happening all through the selection process, and then during the experience, then I think people really come away with having learned so much through the process that then they can take forward into their next travels. And I really loved what you were talking about, not just because I think people know, okay, well, I look for an eco friendly Lodge, I might actually know to look to see if it's locally owned. I know that I want to use no plastics. And so I brought my water bottle, but I love what you talked about like the linens and the cleaning products, and what they do with mattresses or other products like that? Because, again, I think that's something that's so far removed from our immediate experience, that we're maybe not questioning that. And I think it's really amazing to know that those pieces are being considered through processes like this.

43:36

Yeah, absolutely. And I think the challenge I think for a lot of Tor companies and a lot of hotels in, in developed nations, it's it's easy. All the resources, the processes for waste management, and recycling, and yada yada, yada, are, are built into the economy. But in places which are very far removed from, you know, America, Canada, you know, in Europe, these things are very challenging. So, to our companies and hotels that are, you know, silver gold, even, you know, if they're sustainably certified, they're doing a lot of work, not only in building the type of facility that they have, but usually within the community by providing services that probably didn't exist before. I think there's a lot of places in Africa that have done a fantastic job by becoming these kinds of completely self-sufficient hotels. I stayed at a place in the Serengeti called the Maleah.

A couple of years ago, they had their own waste to energy conversion plant at the hotel, where they actually took all of the trash and they put it in this waste to energy converter and it basically incinerates it and turns it into energy that then the hotel uses they use that in conjunction with solar power to power the Tire place, because it's 200 miles from any source of electricity. So those are the types of places that blow my mind. And it is also kind of mind blowing that we don't have a lot of places like this in the United States. You know, as far as sustainable travel goes, America is kind of getting a d minus my book. We don't look very good job.

Christine Winebrenner Irick 45:26

Yeah. And what I was just thinking, as you were talking about that is two things. So you're looking at, like this property you mentioned in Africa. And so they're doing these amazing things. And I agree like the innovation you see, that comes out of these communities. It's, it's, it's astonishing. It's so cool when you get to understand how some of these projects evolve. And they might not technically be certified as sustainable, because what people might not also understand is this processes elaborate many times, sometimes just the access to the internet to submit documents isn't something that they have, I've run into this in the world of Fairtrade certification that I have worked in, in the past.

And so then you see, you'll find people that are saying they're operating under the principles. And so then again, this is where it might get confusing for people like they're maybe much more qualified, but not certified. And, and then the other part of what you were talking about, I'm thinking about this in the context of being a B Corp, like, you have to know, there has to be a lot of transparency in all of the providers that you use. So like, where's your food coming from? And then who are they getting it from? And how are they growing it or, you know, it gets lost when you're like, this is in this village, that's a two hour walk from this village.

And this is where this worker is creating this part of this product. And again, it, it can be kind of hard to understand if you haven't traveled to these places to even to know what that feels like it looks like but then when you're looking at applying, for instance, for me as an operator, in rural Peru, how am I going to find all the documentation for the things that are like one or two steps out from this immediate person I work from. So I think that's really interesting for people to be aware of people who are in the industry that are looking at maybe finding a certification like this for themselves, or finding brand partners, just to be conscious of what may or may not allow people to have certification.