Episode 85- Sahara Rose De Vore, The Travel Coach Network

Travel

Jul 13

Travel has the capability to heal, reconnect and refresh you. The term wellness travel is used because it's not just about recreation and relaxation but also a mean to achieve wellness. The concept of healing is really picking up all over the world.

Travel getaways and relaxation, that feeling you get when you are on a vacation from your daily routine. These days, travel often means more stress than a break from regular life. People are increasingly looking for ways to redefine traveling: change your pace and approach to life in order to feel healthier, relaxed and rejuvenated.

The idea that people come back from a vacation feeling really either amped to go again or a lot of times people especially traveling with young children, I need a vacation from my vacation like that didn't do it for me.

So this idea of wellness and healing is really on a rise. In the past, we've really thought about it in terms of like spa vacations and disconnection. And now wellness is more healing and integration, not this escape. It's this immersion.

Go beyond the top tourist attractions and find out what matters to you. Are you looking for a wellness-themed trip or do you have another idea in mind? You are about to discover new places, explore the local life and gain an insight into how the locals know how to heal themselves and each other.

In ancient times, people would go to natural places in search of serenity as well as relief from their ailments. Spas were set up in order to help the sick and weary get a new lease on life while they enjoyed the waters and its therapeutic value. This same tradition is carried on today in the form of spa resorts, which offer guests an unforgettable experience which leaves them renewal and rejuvenated.

The world is becoming more and more aware of the importance of wellness, meditation, and healing. If you travel, you are likely to seek out an oasis that can help you relax and escape. Is this how you think about your vacation? If not, it is time to learn what wellbeing travel is all about!

Christine’s guest today is a Wanderluster, Artist and Animal-Lover.

Sahara Rose De Vore is a Wellness Travel Coach and the Founder and CEO of The Travel Coach Network, a global community of Travel Coaches in which are certified through her ICF accredited Travel Coach Certification Program.

Sahara Rose went from a solo backpacker visiting over 84 countries to starting both her travel coaching and the TCN businesses in 2018. She has been seen in over 100 media outlets including Travel Weekly, USA Today, Forbes, and Best Company for her ideas and expertise.

In this conversation, Christine and Sahara Rose take a closer look at travel coaching, what it is, who it's for and how it can add value to our travel experiences. They also discuss wellness travel in the corporate world, the rise of digital nomads and location independent workforce, and how wellness travel has been changing in recent years.

Join Christine for her soulful conversation with Sahara Rose De Vore.

In this episode, Christine and Sahara Rose discuss:

Who is Sahara Rose in the world of travel
How a 1-way ticket to Ireland turned into a 10 year solo backpacking experience
What is travel coaching and what is travel coach?
Wellness travel in the corporate world and why its important for companies to encourage vacations
What is wellness travel?
The rise of digital nomads and location independent workforce
How wellness travel has changed over the years
How to get involved with The Travel Coach Network

Resources & Links Mentioned in the Episode

For more information about Sahara Rose and The Travel Coach Network visit: https://thetravelcoachnetwork.com/

Want to be a Travel Coach? Check out The Travel Coach Certification Program! https://thetravelcoachnetwork.mykajabi.com/the-travel-coach-program

Follow Sahara Rose and The Travel Coach on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn

Join me for my Women’s Wilderness and Yoga Retreat in Alaska in March 2023!

We’ll be traveling 63 miles north of the Arctic Circle to stay at Arctic Hive, owned by my friend Mollie Busby and her husband Sean. This boutique property nestled in the Brooks Range is way off the beaten path and also off grid. We’ll stay in beautiful cabins built by hand by our hosts, practice yoga in their yoga dome lovingly referred to as The Hive, with gorgeous views of the surrounding nature.

We’ll explore the wilderness by snowshoe and dog sled, connect with members of the local community to learn about living in this remote environment, enjoy daily yoga practice and vegan meals all while keeping our eye out for the beautiful northern lights that like to show off their magic this time of year.

I only have 6 spaces for this unique adventure and a few are already taken. Hop over to the Lotus Sojourns website to book yours today.

Please share this experience with anyone you know would love this restorative adventure.

Want to learn more, you can listen to my Soul of Travel conversation, episode 67 with Mollie Busby

Visit www.lotussojourns.com/journeys to join this unique travel experience today.

To watch this interview on YouTube HERE.

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

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WE WON A BESSIE AWARD! The Bessie Awards recognize the achievements of women and gender-diverse people making an impact in the travel industry. To view the complete list of this year’s winners, 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.

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Credits. Christine Winebrenner Irick (Host, creator, editor.) Sahara Rose De Vore (Guest). Original music by Clark Adams. Editing and production by Rayna Booth.

Transcript

KEYWORDS

travel, people, wellness, companies, conversation, world, life, coaching, industry, coach, hear, trip, experience, connect, vacation, healing, talking, stay, feel, elements

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.

Sahara Rose De Vore is a Wellness Travel Coach and Founder and CEO of The Travel Coach Network, a global community of travel coaches, which are certified through her ICF accredited travel coach certification program. Sahara Rose went from a solo backpacker visiting over 84 countries to starting both her travel coaching and the travel coaching network business in 2018. She has been seen in over 100 media outlets including travel weekly, USA Today Forbes and best company for her ideas and expertise. In our conversation Sahara Rose and I start with a closer look at travel coaching, what it is, who it's for and how it can add value to our travel experiences. We talk about wellness travel in the corporate world, the rise of digital nomads and location independent workforce, and how wellness travel has been changing in recent years. Join me now for my soulful conversation with Sahara Rose De Vore. Welcome to the soul of travel podcast. I am so excited today to be joined by Sahara Rose De Vore, who is the Founder and CEO of The Travel Coach Network. And I'm really excited to bring this topic to the podcast this week. So welcome to the conversation.

03:05

Thank you for tuning in. Thank you so much for having me. I'm really excited to chat with you today.

Christine Winebrenner Irick 03:10

Thank you. Well, as we get going, I would love to just turn it over to you for a moment actually to introduce yourself. Tell us a little bit about who you are and what you do in the world of travel right now.

03:22

Yeah, thank you I am a wellness travel coach, I just happen to specialize in the wellness side of travel and also founded The Travel Coach Network. As I was building my wellness travel coaching business, I just really love being able to help reshape meaning and purpose around travel experiences. I really encourage and empower and equip companies with the knowledge and the tools to understand how healing travel really is on our mind, body and souls and how they can implement that in for their employees, whether they are on the road as business travelers, or they're in the workplace, or now they're hybrid with remote working. Thank you.

Christine Winebrenner Irick 04:10

Well, I would love to talk a little bit more about that. But before we go there, I always love to hear about how travel found you or how travel began to show up in your life. And I know that you spent quite a long time traveling solo traveling as a backpacker, and that really shaped who you are. And I would just love to hear a little bit about that if you'd share those experiences of

04:38

Of course I would. Actually I wasn't from a family that traveled very much and I grew up as an only child with a single mom and we our form of traveling were just long road trips to the family van to Mexico to go visit my my grandmother side of the family and then up to Canada to visit my Grandfather said a family. And that was really our sense of traveling. We didn't talk about destinations and airplanes and stuff like that. So I was not really grasping the concept of how, how big the world is and what else is out there. And it wasn't until I was in my third year of university, I was changing schools. And I was also never someone who knew my direct path in life. I, unlike many of my friends and classmates, throughout high school and university, they always kind of knew their path, they knew that they wanted to be a lawyer or a doctor or a veterinarian or, or whatever it might be.

I just never knew what I was passionate enough about to hold as a career that I would want to dedicate time to. And so in university, I changed majors a few times and dabbled in different topics. And then when I was changing universities, or going back across the country, I came across a tourism and hospitality program, and I was like, well traveled school, right? Like, that was around the time, like, I would hear people talking about backpacking trips. So throughout high school, my best friend, and I would make a promise, like, we're gonna go backpacking, before we ever go to university. You know that many people have that dream, or will take a gap year between high school and college. And so I had that mentality as well, because I had heard of this thing called backpacking through Europe.

But I didn't put too much thought into it. And I was really inspired when I joined this Hospitality and Tourism Program of how many foreign exchange students we're talking about their countries and how easy it is to go from one country to another, and even maybe just for the day and come back home. And being in the States, we're so far away because we're such a big country. And we're far away from other things. So I was just in awe of how possible travel could be. But then at the same time, I remember that I was a broke college student at the time. And I thought, which many people think as well, that travel is very expensive. And it's only something you have to save up for a really long time. And you can only do it once or twice a year, because it is so expensive. And coming from a single mom and being an only child. And you know, living in an expensive city like Chicago, I was like, I don't know how I'm going to be able to pay for this.

And I switched my money mindset around at that time. And I ended up working out and saving a lot. And I said I was going to go off and do what I wanted to do and travel. And I started doing that right after university. I also was struggling with really bad anxiety. And also not really sure what direction I want to go in at the age of 22. So I wound up buying a one way ticket to Ireland and, and I chose Ireland because I was like, Well, I'm gonna go to Western Europe. And I'll start this out. So Ireland and then England and then kind of hop my way to the mainland. And that was my very first trip I'd ever been anywhere by myself, especially on a plane by myself. And I thought I'd go for a month and a half and wound up falling in love with how travel was really impacting my life and my well being, and I got kind of addicted and started traveling for the next 10 years and couldn't stop.

Christine Winebrenner Irick 08:23

That's amazing. I feel like that's not very common where people think they'll go for a few months and end up traveling for 10 years. But I also know that if I had had the opportunity, I could see that I would have definitely done that. I didn't backpack the first time until probably my mid to late 20s I guess. And it just Yeah, much like you like who I was when I traveled and how I felt and the way the world felt. I just was like I'm all in and there really was a moment I was waiting in a restaurant in Bangkok for my flight we like stayed up all night with the group of friends that we had met and we had maybe a 6am flight so I think I had to be there at four in the morning and you know coming like two three in the morning. I'm like I don't think I'm going back I don't think I'm going back but I did I got on the plane. But it really stayed with me after that. I mean it really shaped my life. So I love that you were able to just stay in that place and keep exploring and learning about yourself. And I think we would both agree that it's so powerful and healing and transformative and I think that's why so many people are bitten by the travel bug if that's what you want to call it because once once you feel that it is very like it's addicting like there's something about the way it helps us undersell understand ourselves in the world that we want more of. Yeah, travel

09:58

is just so fun. Filling in oftentimes, we don't understand or connect with our underlying reasons for why we want to travel, we just go through the process of finding flights and booking a trip and creating itinerary and planning activities. And there's so much more to travel experience in a travel journey than the cold, hard facts of an itinerary and the booking process. And that's what really made me fall in love with like, travel coaching as well, because I just knew that travel was such a tool that many people used in our lives for so many different reasons to, to heal from a traumatic life events to celebrate, to connect, to find ourselves to find purpose to do business, everything. And when we don't really assess what it is we miss opportunities and how beneficial that experience really can be. Yeah,

Christine Winebrenner Irick 11:01

I think that's a great place to jump into understanding what travel coaching is. I know when I launched my business, and I was talking about creating transformational travel experiences for women, and that I really wanted people to set intentions, know why they were traveling, know what they wanted out of travel, like, envision themselves at the end of the experience and who they wanted to be. And I would talk about its people, and they would say, oh, you're a travel coach. And I hadn't heard the term yet. I'm like, I don't know, do you mean travel agents or you know, a travel coach. And then I started to understand what that meant. I was like, Oh, this is amazing. I didn't really know this was a thing. But yes, that's what I want to be. That's amazing. So can you share with us? What is travel coaching? And why someone might seek a travel coach or what they get out of that experience?

11:54

Yeah, absolutely. Well, I love hearing that. That's what you were kind of doing before you even heard it was a thing. And that's when I started my wellness travel coaching four years ago, I too, never heard of it. I never saw it and didn't think anything about it. And that's also why so many people were coming to me. When I started my travel coaching, it inspired me to create the travel coach network. Because people are like, Well, I think I've been doing sounds like something I've been working on for years. But I just didn't know there was a name for it. But I also learned that over the past four years of starting my business, travel coaching in general has just grown tremendously, and it continues to do so. But there's also anything that grows, there are different versions of it. So I have learned that there are definite different definitions out there. Even as simple as just someone who trial coaches people to travel as we become travel agents, I think.

So you have to kind of do your homework in it. But within the travel coach network, and within my world of travel coaching, it's exactly like you're saying that you are helping people set intentions for those trips. When we think of why someone would work with a life coach, or health coach, Coach, they have specific aspirations and outcomes and transformations that they desire. Think of traveling the same way. It was always that missing piece that people didn't include in their travel experiences mindfully. And yet people understood, you know, travel, I really was transformed on that trip or travel really was so helpful for me. So that's where the travel coaches come in. And it helps people fill that gap and say, Well, what are the underlying intentions for this trip? What are you looking to get out of it? And it's not the facts of, you know, what kind of activities are you going to do? Or, you know, what, where you're going to go or what time your flight is going to be at? It's about, you know, how do you want to base on what you this, the motivating factors for this trip are also called Travel triggers that can help you best decide where to go what to do, do you need to go alone do you need to do some soul searching, and maybe it is, you know, many people who are like I just need to get away I just went through are going through a terrible divorce or a breakup, travel has been used as a tool to heal in those ways as well. So if we help set intentions for that we can better we can return from a trip with the best intent or changes and outcomes that we're looking for in the first place.

And that's where the travel coaches really come in and step up and every travel coach is so different just like a life coach or a wellness coach. They specialize in so many different kinds of niches or areas depending on what it is that they care most about. Right. And you know, I want to be someone mentoring parents who travel because I don't yet have a family and children. That's not my area of stuff. Guilty. You know, there's so many black women trapped female travelers who are travel coaches to help other Empower power other black women travelers, that's obviously not my niche. So the travel coach network has been there just to help guide and support and inspire and empower travel coaches around the world to be able to figure out what it is that you know, and love most about travel and who exactly can benefit from that?

Christine Winebrenner Irick 15:28

Yeah. It's so great to hear someone else talking about that process and that journey, because I think it's so important. And I really love sitting down with someone and having that first conversation when they really haven't thought about traveling in this way. And they start to think about it and you see them have that first aha moment about, like you said, a travel trigger, and maybe they didn't even realize that's what they were setting out for. And then you realize that now, this is going to be so much more healing, because before, maybe that would have come up during their travel experience, and maybe it wouldn't have but now they really fully are aware of what kind of created that call to travel for them. And they can really start to work through that.

And they can create experiences, like you said, whether it's traveling solo, or with someone who's really supportive, or like doing a certain activity that maybe will help them to process through or work through something that they really want to focus on. So I think that's so amazing to just really put out there because I really think anyone who's traveling can bring this into their travel experience. And I would think you would probably agree with that, like, any kind of trip, I even had a friend who, like, just heard about travel coaching and intention setting and I think she was taking her family to Disney World or something. And, you know, she's like, I was thinking, you know, this is why I want to go. And then this is what I want to get out of it. Like, without thinking about it, this is what I thought my goals were. But when I really sat down and thought about it, what I really wanted was to see the joy on my kid's face, to be relaxed and calm, to just have a great time and let go of expectations or something. And, you know, they said, because I created that space for the experience, it was so much more magical and rewarding.

So this, I think it's really great to talk about this in the context that it doesn't have to be, you know, 10 years of solo backpacking, like this can happen on every kind of travel experience and even a day trip or a local neighborhood exploration. But how have you seen that shift what your travelers get out of their experience?

17:49

Yeah, and actually, like you mentioned, it's not just for the 10 years, it's solo backpacking. And I work a lot in business travel industry with travel coaching, and that's kind of where I started my wellness, travel coaching was in the business travel industry, and even does having business travelers put more intention behind their trips to and focus on, you know, these different types of wellness experience that could have that is going to help lead to increased productivity, increase creativity and innovation levels and, you know, connect on a more personal level with those who are doing business with. So it really is setting intentions for any type of trip. Because there, there has been decades and decades of research out there. And how beneficial travel can be whether it's on your mental, your physical, your emotional, your spiritual, your social, your intellectual, your professional life, and so much more. So if anyone is in the realm of travel coaching, or in the travel industry just in general, I really encourage people to use that research and find some of this, the studies that really show and support your belief and you know how powerful travel could be as well. But yeah, just having people set intentions for those trips can really make a life changing impact and how it is how the overall experience is. And when we think about it, you know what happens if we don't set intentions for a trip.

You might have experienced this before. You know, when you go on a trip and you're still connected to your work, you are still worrying about the stresses that you tried to escape from. Maybe you brought someone along that you felt guilty for not including so you did and it really did put a damper on and you really just needed some alone time. So making these types of decisions because you didn't set the intentions for the trip and you didn't ask yourself like what do I actually need during this experience to feel how I want to feel or make the changes or the transformations in my life were ripped upon return? And how can I implement that into my daily life? No longer do I believe that people should be in the cycle of, they can only take one vacation year, and now they have to be so, you know, bummed out upon returning that they are gonna have to wait so long until next year to go on another trip. And I hear that quite often from people.

They're like, Oh, I just got back and I'm already itching to go by, you know, I can't go for, you know, until next year, or whatever it might be. So can you imagine if we use a travel experience to help us bring what we experienced during that trip to help him implement that into our everyday lives, our personal lives, our family, our home life, or work life. So to make it a little bit better, we're not, you know, just looking at the calendar and counting down the days for our next trip. And that's what I mean by having travel as a tool. And that's what I've seen a lot of people do. Even the travel coaches in the travel cork network, and their clients too, are able to accomplish this during setting his intentions and working with someone like a travel coach.

Christine Winebrenner Irick 21:01

Yeah. And I love the idea of talking about how you can bring it into your life when you return. Because I think that's a huge part, like you said, you 're done. And you're kind of already thinking about the next experience before we fully integrated the experience that just happened. And that can be so powerful. You mentioned the intersection of wellness and corporate travel, I would love to talk a little bit more about why that's where you started and why you're so passionate about that. I think that people wouldn't necessarily lean into connecting those two pieces together. But why do you think that is so valuable? Yeah, well,

21:43

I It's funny that I'm actually in that the corporate space, business travel, corporate wellness, because I knew for myself, that was not the route I wanted to take in life, I already knew for myself that I didn't align with what a corporate schedule was going to look like, or corporate job or whatever it might be, despite that's what the industry was telling me I should do upon graduating with my degree in hospitality, tourism, whether it was working in a hotel or working, you know, as a flight attendant or working for a company that went to full paid you to travel for business. And so I knew that wasn't going to be my route. But being in the world of travel, and being in the world of in the online space of travel, being able to see and hear so many stories of people wanting to quit their corporate job to travel or quitting their corporate job to travel quitting the nine to five, these became kind of like taglines over the decade before the pandemic hit.

And I had heard of people who were, you know, corporate leaders with six figure jobs, and they left it all to travel. And I heard people getting just so burnt out. And I dove into that research as well of, you know, corporate burnout and the problems in the industry. And upon that I came across the information on vacation policies and or the lack thereof and many studies on why people were not actually using their vacation days either, in particular in the States. And that also meshed with the business travel industry and the burnout epidemic that was happening among what they call road warriors, which are just calm, very frequent business travelers. And then I reflected back on a time when I was just on a plane going from like Thailand to India or something. And I was sitting on a flight next to a business traveler, a man in a business suit, and we sparked conversation. And here I was with the sturdy, smelly backpacker girl coming from Thailand, going to India and for no purpose other than just always wanting to go to India.

And he was telling me how you traveled for work a lot. And he had everything on paper. That was what people strive for. You know, he had a family and a home and a great salary and a great title and travel for business. And he was just really unhappy. He's like, I never get to see what you're talking about seeing I never get to have these experiences with my family. And I remember that conversation, you know, and that was probably 10 years, eight years before I started my travel coaching business. But I said travel doesn't have to be that way. And I was really surprised that it was with travel being something that was valued so much in people's lives, especially so much so that people are willing to leave a six figure role that they work hard for, to just travel the world and I said there's a disconnect In the corporate industry of the value of travel, and how it is used or the lack thereof being used at all, and that's why I started into the chain helping change what's going on when, when it comes to vacation policies and you know, travel perks or business travel well being overall.

Christine Winebrenner Irick 25:25

Hey, it's Christine. Interrupting this episode for just a minute to invite you to join me for my Lotus sojourns. Women's wilderness and yoga retreat in Alaska in March of 2023. will be traveling 63 miles north of the Arctic Circle to stay at the Arctic hive owned by my friend Molly Busby and her husband, Sean.

This boutique property nestled in the Brooks Range is way off the beaten path and also off grid will stay in beautiful and cozy cabins built by hand by our hosts practice yoga in their yoga dome, lovingly referred to as the hive with gorgeous views of surrounding nature will explore the wilderness by snowshoe and dog sled. Connect with members of the local community to learn about living in this remote environment. Enjoy daily yoga practice and vegan meals, all while keeping our eye out for the beautiful northern lights that like to show off their magic this time of year. I only have six spaces for this unique adventure and a few are already taken. I'd suggest pausing this episode and hopping over to the lotus sojourns website to book yours today.

Please share this experience with anyone you know who would love this restorative adventure. Want to learn more? You can listen to my soul of travel conversation with Molly Busby, check out episode 67. Now let's hop back to our soulful conversation.

I feel like I know so many people, like you said, that have had that kind of dance in their career and trying to decide how they can create balance and it seems like an all or nothing. Answer, it doesn't seem like there's balance.

So I love that you are trying to create that. When you look at working with companies and you're talking to them about corporate vacation policies or you're trying to encourage them, have them encourage their employees to take vacation time. What, how, how does that conversation evolve? Or what resistance do you find? Are you finding a lot of encouragement for that to happen? Now? What has been that process?

27:43

Yeah, to be completely honest, it's been a lot of educating companies on the value of it. Because we have to remember that the corporate world, still the corporate world, and the bottom line is still first on but also many companies are at a clean slate or restarting and getting back on their feet after the past two to three years. So it's been interesting conversations on with, but what we do see is wellness being put to the forefront of the corporate industry, and within wellness is that value of travels. So I'm starting to see some changes. When it comes to pushback, there's not much pushback, because companies are kind of willing to do what I really have to strengthen their wellness and their values that they put in their core values for their company and enhance their company culture. It's just more of the implementation or the execution of it.

And the follow through as well. So with everything, it takes time, but we definitely see some changes in the corporate wellness industry right now it's more so on the support the acceptance of just wellness. So we see a lot more static things like yoga and meditation or, you know, healthier meal options. And not as much travel at the moment because also the travel industry is still getting back on its feet. But there is a lot of hope for the future of IT. And especially once the companies figure out what their business structure actually looks like in the workplace with remote working and whether it's going to be back in the office, whether it's going to remain a hybrid or be permanently remote. They're still figuring that out too. But we do see a lot of companies embracing just the elements of travel such as being in nature. So having meetings outdoors, like the company Salesforce bought, is building a wellness or Tree kind of like in this nature area for their employees to work in. So different elements of travel are starting to be implemented. So I am really glad to see and hear that.

Christine Winebrenner Irick 30:10

Yeah, it seems like it's really the perfect time to kind of integrate this, like you said, so many people have been working remotely. And I know that, you know, misery, many companies have been had to look at how they can not only figure out how to bring workforce back shift to create whatever their new culture will be after the pandemic, but also meet the needs of people that are now considering working remotely wanting to work for themselves wanting to be digital nomads, like people have gotten a taste of that freedom, which also kind of involves being able to travel or be more flexible, spend more time in nature. What has that looked like? And how do you encourage companies to kind of compete with that? I know when we talked before, there's a lot to consider if you have remote workers like supporting them, and understanding language and culture and tech and all the things you need to even survive as a digital nomad. What does that look like in the industry right now?

31:17

Yeah, well, we see baby steps being made. And so like I said, it's not so much the vacation policies that are being changed. But there are those elements of travel that are being implemented. And it really just looks like it's individual. It's every company, it has to be assessed differently, because every company has a different structure, has a different workforce, and it has different locations. So it's more of an individual project with that. But some of the general things that I do recommend companies to take a look at are look at your surrounding environments, take a look at your policies that you already have in place. And how can you also take those elements of travel and use it to help boost what they are looking for most right now, which is to attract and retain valuable talents, and also to boost engagement between those who are in the workforce and in the workplace, and those who are on the road working remotely.

And that's a big problem in the industry that companies are trying to figure out as well. But when we take a look at why people embrace travel in the first place, is the diversity in cultures, the diversity and locations, the ability to feel their self voids when it comes to being in nature and what that does for people. So whether being an atrium means being by bodies of water, being near trees, just breathing in the fresh air, hearing different sounds. Many places don't take into consideration their destination, their location, and how powerful that can be as well. Because the workforce has always been in, you know, a building with four walls and a ceiling. And granted, there are windows, but everyone works differently. So being able to provide different options for different types of people is really helpful if everyone deals with something differently and struggles in different ways. So whether it's families who just need to spend more time together, moms who you know, are overworked and overstressed. So it's really providing different options.

And that's why it's always a great idea for companies to look into hiring travel coaches, because you can assess the different needs of your different types of employees. And that's what employers are looking for, which is to be treated as individuals, because we are we all have, we all go through something different. And we all work and produce in different ways. So in order for employees to be the most productive that they can be, and actually achieve those goals that their job requires of them. Companies have to treat them as individuals and help them you know, reach those goals in their own particular way, whether it's centered around their wellness, or even just the environment that they work in, is really important to

Christine Winebrenner Irick 34:14

Yeah, I love thinking about all the ways that wellness and travel and you know, and work intersect. I think maybe people don't always look at that, inherently. But I, as you were talking, was reminded of a job I had probably 20 years ago. So this company was well above the curve. But I remember when I started there, one of the first things they did was bring in an ergonomic expert to like look at your workstation and like assess how you work and help you flow out your workstation to make your work most you know physically comfortable but then you know to mentally comfortable and all these things. I thought oh my gosh, this is amazing. Everybody should do this. And then the other thing they did is they had I put a bike rack out front a shower in one of the restrooms, so people could ride their bike to and from work and like to easily navigate that.

And then we live really close to a big outdoor market. And so they had a huge refrigerator and encouraged people to go shop the market and bring stuff back and prepare their lunch. And we had a full hour of paid lunch because they really wanted people to eat and nourish themselves, and also encourage people to go walking because we were in an area where it was easy to go walking. And like, those are all things that were one of my first jobs. So I also really was like, expecting that that's what work looked and felt like, which was definitely not a match. But you think about the environment, it happened to be a job in the travel industry. So maybe that's why people, you know, think about what makes them feel good. And maybe that's how it got integrated into the culture. But it made such an impact. And I think people there really seemed like they were passionate about their jobs, it really created community. And it felt like a good place to be working.

But one of the things that I wanted to talk to you about, as we have talked a little bit about wellness is understanding finish shifting gears, what wellness in travel is and the idea that a lot of times like you said earlier, people come back from a vacation feeling really either amped to go again, or a lot of times people and I know I've said this, especially traveling with young children, I need a vacation from my vacation like that didn't do it for me. So this idea of wellness and healing is really on a rise. And I think in the past, we've really thought about it in terms of like spa vacations disconnection.

And now I feel like for me, wellness is more like healing and integration like it's not this escape, it's this immersion. Can you talk to me a little bit about what you think that shift is? And what does that look like? And how can that serve travelers who are really looking for healing from travel?

37:19

Yeah, absolutely. I love talking about wellness travel. That wellness travel itself is there's so many changes coming within the industry. And we're already seeing some of it. When we think about wellness travel in general, the term was coined off of a kind of piggyback off of the spot industry. And that's why a lot of wellness and travel is still associated with luxury spas and wellness retreats and yoga retreats and wellness centers. But when we think of travel, if you ask anyone, anytime that they went on a trip, and they felt something that in a way that made them feel like better helped improve something of their own, whether mental physical health, it got them excited about life, again, they met the love of their life, whatever it might be, that's all wellness as well. So travel itself is a very powerful tool for healing. So it doesn't need to be segmented into if you want to heal through travel, you must attend one of these spas or resorts.

And that's something that also added to the mentality that if I want this type of transformation or outcome from a trip, I must invest in an experience like that. And I know for me, travel itself was so healing in so many different ways without ever going to a luxury spa or wellness center. And not saying that those are not valuable. Absolutely they are if that's what people are into. But the whole definition of wellness tourism needs to be redefined, and not have the barriers that limit what's possible when it comes to healing through travel. And that looks different for everyone as well. Everyone has a different healing journey. And everyone is looking for something that is different out of life and out of an experience in general. So I'm already seeing many hotels being interested and thinking outside of the box when it comes to what kind of wellness services can be provided. And when I talk about wellness, it's more of a holistic approach to wellness and travel.

Travel itself is very holistic. We innately traveled for, you know, years and years as just human beings to connect, to discover, to explore, to to just survive. And that's what we do sometimes now too. We're like well, I need to travel, travel is my fuel for life. And, and again, you don't have to be a backpacker for decades to have that same mentality and feeling and love for travel, we all hold it and embrace it in that way in our own particular ways. But travel and its healing is just meeting people is healing, you know, connecting a being on this, something that we haven't really been able to do too much over the past few years, which is socializing and connecting and sharing stories.

That's a healing element of travel. And of course, like we mentioned many times the power of just being in nature, there's so many studies out there talking about the powers of blue spaces and green spaces, and even on doctors and physicians in England, during, during during the pandemic, were prescribing clients, with time in nature, in parks and forests by bodies of water at to help lower their anxiety and stress. There's a lot of research backed by this stuff, too. So we're starting to hear more of travel being used as this tool for healing. But what it takes is the travel industry to step up its game and step up its marketing, when it comes to how we sell travel and how we talk about travel to write.

It's not just about the hotels we stay at, and the flights that we did, the airlines that we use, and these all inclusive resorts anymore. And travel itself has been shown to be so much more meaningful and purposeful in people's lives after it's something that we've been limited from over the past few years. And it's time that companies and even just travel professionals, you know, think outside the box when it comes to your business or your company and those that you work with your clients or your consumers or your travelers.

Christine Winebrenner Irick 41:54

Yeah, this really pairs well, with a conversation that I had talking about why people would get into the industry. And we were we were talking about, Okay, what if, instead of you know, this feeder line, the conversation wasn't something like, Oh, I really love travel, I want to travel, I want to see the world, I want to stay at all the fancy hotels, I'm gonna get into the travel industry, whatever the conversation was, like, I want to help people heal, I want to be engaged in global economics, I want to, you know, serve communities, I want to, I'm really curious about science and research.

And I want to do that in, in action in practice, and then that leads you to the travel industry, like, that creates such a different way that travel feels, and I think it becomes this force that you and I see it as, as this holistic connector and healer. And it's so amazing because travel intersects with everything and everyone around the world in a way that I don't think anything else does. And I kind of always go back to the early explorers, and you know, archaeologists and anthropologists and that curiosity and the science of education and then also the soul searching in the mysticism that used to be wrapped up in travel. And I think at some point, it became this commodity.

And it really was, a lot of that was stripped away from it. And so I think, like you said, how professionals think and feel about travel and then allowing travelers to take that much out of their travel experience, because I also don't think they've been given permission, you know, we're thought like, the most we can want out of travel, like the ideal is this all inclusive resort where we don't have to lift a finger or do a thing, like, we're really conditioned, that that's the end all be all like the thing you want to achieve. But I think now people are starting to see also this tool for healing and engagement and immersion and culture and connection and almost going back to that early way of thinking about travel. And I'm really excited for those kinds of conversations. I feel like that's why I've lived in travel since I began traveling, but I know as a culture that that's not been the case across the board.

44:22

Yeah, definitely. I really liked that. I really, it's because I was thinking about myself when I graduated from university and here I had this degree in tourism and hospitality and I was told what I could do with it. You know, and, and but none of those sounded interesting to me. And I hear that so often with people they're like, Well, I want to be in the travel space, air travel industry of some sort. And here again, are the boxes that they have must be put in in order to have that but I love what you're talking about or thinking outside of the box and expanding upon. You know, when we if you think of someone who's As I want to help people heal, or I want to help people feel well, well, they're to the industry's most you must be a doctor or nurse something in the medical field, maybe a therapist, and the What about if there's, you know, a way to mash that together. And that's really what travel does, it opens the idea to a whole new spectrum of careers, that mesh, travel with what other whatever it is that someone else is interested in. Because travel isn't just applied to vacations, it's applied to our lives in so many different ways. And the elements of that, you know, whether it's in remote work, or business travel, or the corporate wellness space, or, you know, taking elements of travel and including it into a company or an infrastructure, or lifestyle is there's the possibilities really are endless, but it's really takes people to start thinking differently about travel itself. I love that.

Christine Winebrenner Irick 46:00

Yeah, and I was talking with someone else as well as when you define travel, and it really being any, any experience that you leave your home for, and or leave your, your place of origin for. And so then your conversations about travel, the way you can work in travel, really open up as well, because, you know, people travel for so many reasons. And again, it's not just vacations, it can really be the gamut of things, it can, you know, it can be traveling for medical reasons, it can be travel for professional it can be for so many ways, and then that again opens up, like what we can ask out of our travel experiences asked out of our travel careers and the ways that we can engage. And so I think I really look forward to a future where travel is like being invited to all these different professional areas to see how they connect and how they can work together. Because I think it's just the, like the lining and the thing that brings everything together. Before we end, I would love to talk just a little bit about

47:10

kind of back to the coaching and mindset if we are not traveling in a conventional sense, how can we bring some of this? Some of these elements you mentioned, even in the corporate world, just having a meeting outside is a way or going to a park. But how can we bring both some of the physical elements, but the mental elements into our daily practice? Yeah, absolutely. And when we think about travel, travel is the foundation of people in place. So we have the place there, right, if we're in a location in a workplace, and it's a stagnant place, then taking advantage of the surroundings and what's there.

But then think about the people, the elements of travel and people when it comes to culture and languages. And really connecting with one another in that way can help boost that company culture and give us the elements of, you know, travel without actually stepping foot on a plane and going anywhere. So what that can look like is sharing stories, sharing, having exchanges of cuisines, and just letting people understand and appreciate the diversity in the world. Because that's one of the main reasons why we travel. And I asked so many people within my network and online, know, why do they travel? And I always hear them say I want to experience other cultures.

Well, why isn't that people are from all different cultures in one work establishment, why is that not being utilized as well? Right? Why are we not encouraging people to tell about their story and their background and their family and their traditions and their beliefs? I think that's something that we all need in the world as well, to grow compassion and empathy and gratitude and appreciation and understanding and acceptance. If we want work environments to be a happy, safe, healthy place, physically and mentally, people have to feel accepted and understood and travel is something that can do that. So opening up those conversations. So that's just another example of a way to incorporate the essence of travel without actually going on a vacation somewhere when it comes to the corporate world.

Christine Winebrenner Irick 49:43

Yeah, again, this reminds me of another recent conversation. I'm lucky to get to spend time having great conversations over and over. It's like the thing that makes me happiest but about talking about and I was thinking about this earlier, too, when you were looking at corporate policies and culture and how we integrate wellness is maybe shifting, the idea that we are serving people at work and people aren't serving us. And I think we have really historically had employees and not really addressed them as individuals, it was just like this pod and we weren't really looking at what people need as individuals. And I think that's going to be a huge shift. And I think as, as corporations are looking at people who are really craving to be location independent, who really want more wellness integrated, who want more family time, like, that's where we're gonna really break this down and having to be looking at serving the individuals that work for us, instead of them serving, you know, the corporations. And I think that travel can really, like you said, and wellness really will play a huge part in what is the evolution before so lucky to be able to create that shift in corporate culture?