Episode 160 - Nikki Vargas, Bestselling Author of Call You When I Land: A Memoir
In this episode of Soul of Travel, Season 5: Women's Wisdom + Mindful Travel, presented by @journeywoman_original, Christine hosts a soulful conversation with bestselling travel author Nikki Vargas.
Originally from Bogotá, Colombia, Nikki Vargas is the author of the bestselling CALL YOU WHEN I LAND (HarperCollins, 2023), named one of the best women's memoirs of 2023 by Glamour Magazine, selected as a Staff Pick by Apple Books, and is a recommended read by Good Morning America, Forbes, Shondaland, Cosmopolitan, Real Simple, and more. Nikki is also the co-author of WANDERESS (Penguin Random House, 2022), a women's travel guide available in stores now and featured in Refinery29, Fortune Magazine, and Forbes.
Nikki is a Senior Editor for Fodor's Travel, a legacy travel publication since the 1930s, reaching millions of readers. She is also the Founder of Unearth Women, a women's travel publication set on championing women's stories and spotlighting women-owned businesses. She founded Unearth Women back in 2018, taking it from a mere idea to an internationally-sold magazine available in over 800 bookstores across the United States and independent bookshops abroad.
Nikki's work has been published and celebrated in The New York Times, Good Morning America, CNN, Vogue, Cosmopolitan, The Daily Beast, The Washington Post, Forbes, and more. Beyond her writing, Nikki is a public speaker who has spoken at various travel conferences, including the Women’s Travel Fest, Women in Travel Summit, Latino Travel Fest, and more. She is represented by the Literary Division of the Paradigm Talent Agency.
Call You When I Land: The Title
To launch this episode, Christine and Nikki discuss how Nikki’s latest book came to be. The original title of Nikki’s latest tell-all transformational travel memoir was “Shifted in Flight,” symbolizing the change and growth of Nikki’s life through the lens of travel. But something about this name never quite “fit” within the travel space. After workshopping a long list of names, “Call You When I Land” appeared as a perfect fit.
Nikki shares the two meanings behind this title: First, it’s the common phrase we share with loved ones as a final check-in before boarding our next flight. Second? “I’ll call you when I figure things out.” This state of coming of age and a transformative journey lands in the person Nikki feels she was always meant to be, where she has landed, and where she’s headed next.
A Call to the Skies
Nikki’s foundation for her desire to travel began with her dad, who she says has always been a dreamer. Fascinated by aviation and exploration, Nikki had a childhood filled with unique travel experiences worldwide, including Russia, the Yucatan, and so much more–far from the style of ‘family travel’ by many of her peers and their families.
Through these trips, Nikki learned that the magic she was drawn to in travel was stepping outside of what is familiar or known. This discomfort, this challenge, has the potential to catalyze incredible growth and self-discovery.
“I love the ability of travel to pull you out of your comfort zone and pull you out of routine. And show you something new. Whether that’s an hour away from where you live or on the other side of the planet, that to me is the magic of travel.”
Daring to Change
So many of us spend time outside of the whispers of our soul; Christine asks Nikki to share about a moment she describes in Call You When I Land, in which a little girl spoke with her in Cartagena. Nikki counts this moment as pure magic; you don’t want to miss her share about this on the podcast at minute twenty.
At this point in her life, Nikki felt the pressure and messiness of life; this little girl saw her for who she could truly be.
This catalyzing moment allowed Nikki to begin to “dare to see my life in a different way.”
Christine and Nikki also count themselves lucky to have surrounded themselves with people–and opportunities–to confront the ways in which they have aligned themselves with ways of being that didn’t truly fit who they wanted to be.
For Nikki, she wonders whether the major shifts she has made in life would have ever happened had she not allowed herself to feel disconnected, lost, or uncomfortable–all challenges (and blessings) that come with travel.
““I allowed myself the opportunity to break with routine and be alone with myself. And that gave me the opportunity that I needed to move forward.””
Soul of Travel Episode 160 At a Glance
In this conversation, Christine and Nikki discuss:
Nikki’s new book, Call You When I Land
Navigating challenges when you find yourself out of alignment
How to change direction to head toward the right path
Join Christine now for this soulful conversation with Nikki Vargas.
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Related UN Sustainable Development Goals
Sustainable Development Goal #5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.
Resources & Links Mentioned in the Episode
Visit Nikki’s website to stay tuned at https://www.nikkivargas.com.
Get your copy of Nikki’s newest book, Call You When I Land and check out her upcoming book engagements.
Visit Nikki on your favorite social media network: Instagram / Facebook / LinkedIn / Twitter.
Follow Call You When I Land on Instagram and Twitter.
Join the 2024 Lotus Book Sojourn
Lotus Sojourns offers transformational travel experiences for women, as well as being a hub for a global community of women. We offer a virtual book club, the Lotus Book Sojourn, to inspire travel, create cultural awareness, and offer personal growth experiences from the comfort of your home (or wherever you may be lucky enough to be in 2024!). In this year-long journey, we will read a new book every other month, which will offer you the opportunity to have many of the same types of experiences you would have on a Sojourn and create a space for personal awareness and transformation. Lean more about the Lotus Book Sojourn here.
Like any personal practice, the Book Sojourn curates the opportunity for you to reconnect with yourself, with others, and with your dreams.
This online book club for women provides the opportunity to read books written by inspiring and empowering women, specially selected to create this impactful and soulful journey.
About the Soul Of Travel Podcast
Soul of Travel honors the passion and dedication of people making a positive impact in the tourism industry. In each episode, you’ll hear the stories of women who are industry professionals, seasoned travelers, and community leaders. Our expert guests represent social impact organizations, adventure-based community organizations, travel photography and videography, and entrepreneurs who know that travel is an opportunity for personal awareness and a vehicle for global change.
Join us to become a more educated and intentional traveler as you learn about new destinations, sustainable and regenerative travel, and community-based tourism. Industry professionals and those curious about a career in travel will also find value and purpose in our conversations.
We are thought leaders, action-takers, and heart-centered change-makers who inspire and create community. Join host Christine Winebrenner Irick for these soulful conversations with our global community of travelers exploring the heart, the mind, and the globe.
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Credits. Christine Winebrenner Irick (Host, creator, editor). Nikki Vargas (Guest). Original music by Clark Adams. Editing, production, and content writing by Carly Oduardo.
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Soul of Travel Episode 160 Transcript
Women’s travel, transformational travel, sustainable travel, women leaders in travel, social entrepreneurship
Christine: Welcome to the Soul of Travel podcast. I'm Christine Winebrenner Irick, the founder of Lotus Sojourns, a book lover, Yogi mom of three girls and your guide On this journey. We are here to discover why women who are seasoned travelers, industry professionals, and global community leaders fall in love with the people and places of this planet. Join me to explore how travel has inspired our guests to change the world. We seek to understand the driving force, unending curiosity and wanderlust that can best be described as the soul of Travel. Soul of Travel Podcast is a proud member of the Journey, woman Family, where we work to create powerful forums for women to share their wisdom and inspire meaningful change in travel. In each soulful conversation, you'll hear compelling travel stories alongside tales of what it takes to bring our creative vision to life as we're living life with purpose, chasing dreams and building businesses to make the world a better place. But the real treasure here is the story of the journey as we reflect on who we were, who we are, and who we're becoming. We are travelers, thought leaders and heart-centered change makers, and this is the Soul of Travel.
Originally from Bogota, Columbia, Nikki Vargas is the author of the Bestselling Call You When I Land, named one of the best women's memoirs of 2023 by Glamour Magazine, selected as a staff pick by Apple Books and is a recommended read by Good Morning America, Forbes, Shondaland, cosmopolitan, real Simple and more. Nikki is also the co-author of Wanderers, a woman's travel guide published in 2022 that is available in stores now and was featured in Refinery 29, fortune Magazine and Forbes. In addition, Nikki is a senior editor for FRO Travel, a legacy travel publication since the 1930s that reaches millions of readers. She is also the founder of Unearth Women, a women's travel publication set on championing women's stories and spotlighting women owned businesses. She founded Unearthed Women back in 2018, taking it from a mere idea to an internationally sold magazine available in over 800 bookstores across the United States and independent bookshops abroad.
Nikki's work has been published and celebrated in the New York Times. Good Morning America, CNN, Vogue, cosmopolitan, the Daily Beast, and Washington Post Forbes and More Beyond her writing. Nikki is a public speaker who has spoken at various travel conferences including the Women's Travel Fest, women in Travel Summit, Latino Travel Fest, and others. I hope that Nikki is no stranger to you here at the podcast. As we reveal in the beginning of the conversation, this is her fourth visit to Soul of Travel and with good reason. We connected early on with our love of travel writing and creating spaces for women to tell their stories. If you missed our earlier conversations, uncovering her journey to becoming a travel writer, creating my favorite travel magazine, unearth women or highlights from wanders that unearth women's guide to Traveling smart, safe, and solo, then make sure you go back. I'll link those episodes in the show notes for this conversation. We spend time discussing Nikki's book, call You When I Land, we share her journey, but also pull from lessons she's learned and talk about how you can navigate challenges you may face if you find yourself on the wrong path out of alignment and feeling lost and how you can change direction to head towards the life you've always wanted to live. Nikki, ever eloquent, always says it best. So let's just get started. Join me now for my soulful conversation with Nikki Vargas.
Welcome to Soul of Travel podcast. Today is a really fun and exciting day. I am sitting down with Nikki Vargas who wins our returning guest award. She's been here in seasons one, two, and three, and here we are in season five. And while she wasn't in season four herself, I talked with your good friend Esme Benjamin, and you landed right in the middle of that episode. So in a way, you've been with us all five seasons, but I'm so glad that you're back here today.
Nikki: Thank you so much for having me. I love that I have almost been in every season of this podcast. It's amazing. I love talking to you. I love this podcast, so it's really my honor.
Christine: Yeah, thank you so much. Well, I will encourage our listeners to go back and listen to the past episodes if they want to hear more about unearth Women and wanderess to things that I really loved talking to you about, but we won't hit those today. Today we're here to talk about your most recent project, which is your book Call You When I Land. We were talking before we hopped on how fun it's been for me to be able to read this, and I have a few other friends that have written travel memoirs and it's such an interesting experience reading someone's journey when you know parts, but obviously not all the parts. So it's been fun to peek behind the scenes. So I can't wait to get started and I would love to give you the opportunity to just introduce yourself to listeners who might not be familiar with you and let us know who you are.
Nikki: Of course. Hello listeners. My name is Nikki Vargas. I am a travel writer. I am a travel editor. I'm a senior editor at Voters Travel. I'm also an author, call You When I Land is my travel memoir that came out in November from Hartford Collins. And my first book Wanders, which I was co-author on, is an exhaustive women's travel guide, very much inspired by a travel publication I founded in 2018 called Unearthed Women, which really just aims to champion women within the travel space. So my entire career is very much rooted in travel, writing about travel, traveling, speaking about travel, all things travel.
Christine: Yeah, I love it. And it's funny because last time we were here I showed you my copy of Wanders, but I hadn't sent you the picture yet, but my copy of Call You When I Land is completely destroyed because I just took it. I was literally reading this in the Amazon. It felt like the perfect tribute to be reading it in the middle of the jungle, but it's all water warped.
Nikki: I really, really love that. Honestly, that's the best compliment. If I can see my book out there in the world with you getting bent and dirty and sand in its pages and water worn and everything, that's the sign of a book and and that is what I intended.
Christine: Yeah, I love it. Well, I would love to start with, which perhaps might be the most obvious question, but I know finding a title for a book can be a really arduous task. It's like putting the icing on the cake and I know maybe some people start there and then that shapes it. But I'm wondering what is the significance for you of Call you when I land?
Nikki: Well Call you When I land is really a coming of age journey as you well know, having read it. So there's a lot in there. Not only is it about travel, but it's really about finding yourself stumbling around in your twenties. It's about calling off a wedding. It's about chasing a career dream. It's about embracing your heritage. There's even a little bit of a murder mystery in there. So there's a lot of transformation and evolution. And originally the title was shifted in Flight and the idea being that as I was moving through the world and growing as a woman, that I was also shifting along in this journey to the person I would become. And then in conversations with my publisher, it was felt that shifted in flight wasn't an obvious enough title for the fact that it's a travel memoir. So we all sort of went back to the drawing board and we're trying to think of different names and there was a few funny ones thrown out there.
I believe one name that was floated was, this is your final boarding call. And I was like, that sounds so doom and gloom. And I was talking to my husband one day and we were bouncing ideas off each other and the name Call You When I Land came up. And what I love so much about it is that there's two meanings to it. There's the obvious meaning of I'll call you when I land, what we tell our loved ones when we're about to take off. But then there's also this symbolic meaning that compliments the book well, which is I will call you when I figure things out, I'll call you. When I land on the person I'm meant to become on the career that I'm meant to have on the relationship. That feels right. And that's why I love the title so much because I think it really encompasses this coming of age transformative journey where in the very end it really is landing on the person I meant to be.
Christine: Yeah, thank you for sharing all of that and I love that you just kind of walked us a little bit through the full journey as well. I think it's something that so many of us relate to and we'll maybe talk about this a little bit later, but what it's like to actually go back and reflect and pull all those pieces together because I think we all have our lives experience, but we don't always take that moment to intentionally reflect on how we've gotten where we are and what it means to kind of embrace that and really land somewhere. So I appreciate you sharing that. Of course. I know that travel was a really important part of your childhood, both with your father's love of airplanes and your family travels, and I really, really loved hearing your dad's story in the book. I was like, oh, he is the best character, obviously he's your dad. But reading him, I really enjoyed just his passion and I could kind of see how that came through into your storyline, but I was wondering how that really set a foundation for your desire to travel.
Nikki: Yeah, my dad is always been a dreamer. He's always dreamed of being an airline pilot. He still dreams of flying a plane and he's always kind of had this fascination with aviation and just traveling as a whole. And that passion was really instilled throughout my childhood in the form of family trips that were pretty unique for childhood trips. My family and I, we would go to Russia to St. Petersburg and spend three weeks in St. Petersburg living in Nevsky Prospect going to the exploring. Then we would do another couple weeks in the Yucatan Peninsula visiting local Mayan communities. So it was a very different style of family travel than some of my peers were having at that age, which at the time I did not fully appreciate, but as an adult I really do. And my dad and I just really had a bond with travel, a detail in the book.
We would go to the airport and this was pre nine 11 and just watch planes take off and watch people boarding flights and pretend that we could just board one of those planes and where would we go? And he used to love watching the planes take off from O'Hare International Airport in Chicago. And so we would drive the family car out there and lay on the roof and watch the planes go. So there was always this love of transporting yourself and of travel, but as I say in the book, my dad's fascination with aviation was different from my fascination with just stepping outside of what, and that's a magic that I still really am drawn to. I love the ability of travel to pull you out of your comfort zone and pull you out of routine and show you something new, whether that's an hour away from where you live or on the other side of the planet. That to me is really the magic of travel.
Christine: Yeah, I agree. That way that you feel as you kind of grow and evolve and travel constantly puts you up against something new and really forces you to become someone new in order to move through that situation. And this really leads into the next thing that I wanted to talk to you about, which was in reading about your early travels to Paris, I strongly connected to both your inability to pronounce the town you were staying in because I was just in Paris this summer and visited a friend south of Paris and I will not try to pronounce where we stayed. My daughter could do it perfectly and my friend would say it and then I'd repeat it and she would look at me, I don't know what you just said. I'm like, I don't know what I just said that was wrong. I don't know what's happening.
So I really loved that part of your story. I've really just recently experienced that. But then also as I've traveled, there have been those moments when I feel myself really lured to stay in the safety of my hotel room and overwhelmed by what might be lurking outside of these four safe walls. I think that many of us create this kind of romanticized version of who will be when we travel, we imagine ourselves being the most fashionable and the most witty and the most brave and magically multilingual. And then all of a sudden you get there and you realize that this person you concocted, this traveler you will be is not who you are. And so you are sitting here in this room and trying to force yourself to be that version of yourself you wanted to be when you traveled in the first place. So I wanted to talk to you about do you still find yourself caught in those moments? And also what might other people do to encourage themselves to step out of the safety of that hotel room if they're also feeling that same hesitancy and resistance?
Nikki: Yeah, it's a good question. In the book, in the first part of the book, I speak a lot about using travel as a tool of avoidance, using it as a means to run away. And there's that saying where wherever you go, you find yourself. And I think when I start the book in this very turbulent time where everything is very messy and I'm just kind of avoiding my life in all the wrong ways, I use travel as a way to kind of get away from my reality, and I keep finding myself wherever I go. And it could be on a speedboat in Miami or on a riverboat in Borneo or wherever it is, I keep kind of coming up against myself now as an adult now at 36, I have more of an appreciation and understanding and maybe patience with myself than I did back then, which is to say that when I go out into the world, I understand that I can be a little nervous and it can be scary to step out of the comfort of your hotel room because you've just stepped out of the comfort of your home.
And it's okay to take it step by step and day by day it's okay to listen to yourself and say, you know what? Today I just want to walk around my immediate vicinity and get familiarized with my area. I don't need to be this version of myself and put pressure on myself like that. And it took me a while to get to the point where I'm more accepting of who I am and how I am when I travel. And that's really my advice to people as well, where you may have an idea of yourself when you step out into the world, that you're going to be spontaneous and free and striking up conversations with strangers at a Parisian cafe, and you're going to be more charming or sexy or adventurous than you are back home. But the truth is, wherever you go, you meet yourself.
And rather than create such pressure and really guilt and shame because you're not living up to this expectation, allow yourself to just be and do what feels right. And it's okay to move at your own pace, and it's okay to decide that you want to spend that day at a cafe, people watching versus doing something incredibly adventurous or spending day at a museum, whatever it is. And I find now, especially post pandemic, post lockdown, that it's a lot harder to feel comfortable outside of my comfort zone, whereas maybe it was a bit easier beforehand, certainly in my twenties, but now I really do have to give myself grace when I leave my comfort zone when I go out into the world and allow myself permission to just take it slow.
Christine: Yeah, I love that you kind of mentioned what it feels like to travel before the pandemic and now, and even as someone that I would say would be a very savvy and well-traveled person to recognize that it feels different to travel because I also just have spent some time traveling. And that's something I kept noticing about myself, but I don't think I actually had that awareness is that I felt that sense of insecurity or not being safe lurking around me and didn't really realize that it probably comes from that space where we were all living, where everything felt so vulnerable and unknown, and now taking that out into the world, it somehow seems still ever present. I think that that volatility just hasn't gone away. And I notice it
Nikki: And it absolutely persists even beyond the pandemic. There's a lot of volatility out in the world right now, and when you're home, it's almost like you're in bubble wrap, you're in your safe space, you know what to expect. Things feel cozy, things feel comfortable, and there's a real beauty in that. And then of course when you step outside of that and you break off that bubble wrap and you're in a new city and you don't know anyone there, and it's far from what you consider your safe space and comfortable, there's a fear that comes with that, and that's okay. And I think that it doesn't need to necessarily reflect poorly on you as a traveler or as a person that you're not immediately comfortable wherever you're dropped in the world. And my career is traveling. I work as I mentioned as a travel editor for a big publication, and I still feel that way, and I would never fault anyone for choosing to spend a day spend at their hotel room just acclimating to the fact that they are in a new place. And so I think it's the pressure around being a certain type of traveler, needing to experience a destination in a certain way that can make travel not enjoyable, and that's something I really want to try to push against.
Christine: Yeah, I love that. So one of the moments early in your book, you begin your first solo trip to Columbia. This is something I highlighted this sentence where you started this trip with this thought of we were building a future together while ignoring the fact that we long to walk entirely different paths. And I was like, oh, I can really relate to that. And you were referencing your relationship with your then fiance, and then you end the trip with this other moment that also caught in my chest with this young girl who connects with you on the beach and says Libre, and she sees you in a way that you long to see yourself. And she says to you are a free bird. And so many of us, I think have been here on a path that fills out of alignment with the whispers of our soul. And when this little girl sees you, I wonder, what does that awaken in you?
Nikki: I think that moment was so pure and magical because I'm in Columbia, I have my fiance back home in New York. I'm skyrocketing towards this wedding that does not feel enjoyable to plan, doesn't feel right, but instead of stepping back and acknowledging it and seeing the red flags for what they are, instead I'm blaming myself and I'm sort of expecting that my doubts will kind of slough off my skin with time and I'm not really having a conversation about what's really happening. So when I'm on this beach in Kartha Hena, Bo Grande, this little girl who comes up to me and sees me on the beach just writing in my journal and staring out at the ocean and whatever, she just comes up to me with just such childish innocence and just plops down on the sand and is like, what are you doing? Why are you doing it?
Where are you from? Just classic kid questions. And that moment was so magical to me because she was so in awe of the fact that I was in Columbia without family, that I was on this beach, that I was just writing in my journal that there was no one around me and that I was hailing from the city New York. That to her was just this incredible magical place. And she just decided right then and there that I'm a free bird. And that's what she expressed to me in Spanish. And what I love so much about that moment is that I did not feel that way at all. I felt completely tied down to the wrong career, the wrong marriage or impending marriage, the wedding, everything felt messy and wrong and confusing. I felt anything but free. But when that little girl said that to me, I could see myself through her eyes and it was the first moment where I felt like I could become that. And that in ways I think was a catalyst for trying to dare to see my life in a way that it wasn't because, and what I mean by that is you have your life, you see what everything is in this moment in time, but it can be hard to imagine what it could be. And the way that girl saw me kind of gave me permission to look at my life and imagine what it could be if I dared to make some changes, which eventually a few months from that point I do.
Christine: Yeah, I just loved that moment so much because I think it really sometimes takes someone seeing us, like you said, to give you permission to even imagine that for yourself or the way that some people have an innate ability to see the truest part of you. So really that I think was who you were. You just weren't living in that way in that moment. And I think that can be some of the greatest gifts that we receive from people is just them witnessing who we truly are.
Nikki: Yeah, it's a change in perspective because we are the stars of our respective lives and we are in it. And when you're so in your own emotion and in your own drama and in your own life, it can be hard to sort of step out of that and get perspective on yourself and on your life and where it's going and what you need. It's really hard to get perspective, let alone unbiased perspective. So to have those magical moments with strangers when they just off the cuff say something so impactful that has a way of throwing your life into a new view, it's really powerful. It's really, really powerful. And that little girl she did that, she probably has no idea.
Christine: I think I love that too. You never know the power that you hold over someone else and you never know something that can be said in passing. And I've had that too, where I've said something just quickly to someone and they come back later and they're like, you know that I didn't have that awareness about myself, and you just saw that thing in me, and I have completely changed course because that is what I also wanted to see in myself. So I think it happens to people maybe more often than we would realize.
Nikki: Yeah, magical moments.
Christine: Yeah, I definitely believe so. Hey, listeners, I have an exciting announcement. I can't wait to share with you the book, sojourn Is Back in 2021, I wanted to find a way to bring women together in the absence of the travel experience I offer with Lotus Sojourns. I wanted to create a space for connection, cultural understanding, growth, and most importantly, belonging. And it was magic, pardon the use of your lingo, Liz Gilbert. But really it was big magic. We set out to read 12 books in 12 months, meeting virtually twice each month, and having deep and passionate conversations about the books and all of the lessons we were learning, showing up for each other, being real and vulnerable and supporting each other in one of the hardest times of our lives. Then we decided to do it again In 2023, we were feeling life speed up and the book club was set aside.
However, over the past few months, I've spoken with so many women and the thing I've heard in common from many of them are thoughts like these, I'm running faster than ever in my business and in my life. I am tired and not prioritizing myself. I feel like I need to heal since returning to life as normal, I feel anything but normal. I feel like there's no place for me to grieve the life I used to have, and I need a supportive community. I am craving deep and meaningful connection. I need a community of women where I feel a deep sense of belonging. So this is what I've been hearing from all of the women I've been connecting with, and I'm feeling it too. All of these feels, and I have missed this special circle of women who came together for this unique journey through the pages of inspiring books.
So here we are. I am bringing it back, and I cannot wait for you to join me for this guided journey that past members have shared is so much more than a book club. We'll begin at the end of January with a community welcome call and review the books we'll enjoy in 2024. We'll go over the format of the calls, the Facebook groups and more. Then in February, we'll begin reading our first book. I cannot wait to bring you the ever-growing solo travel community along on this journey. You'll find more information about the 2024 soulful book Sojourn on my Lotus Sojourns website. While you're there, just hit any of the join us buttons on the page and you'll be added to our mailing list. For more information and enrollment will start soon. Visit www.lotussojourns.com/ Women's book Club. Again, that's lotus sojourns.com/and if you land on the website, you'll see the Women's book Club right at the top of the header.
I'm so excited that this is right around the corner and we don't have to wait long to share this sacred space with one another. And for all of you who sign up on the waiting list before the end of December, you'll be entered to win a few special prizes. One of you will win the entire year journey, and I'll give a few more month long sojourn experiences away to you. So make sure you head over to the Lotus Sojourns website, get on the mailing list, and you'll know as soon as we open the doors for this book Sojourn, I really can't wait to be back in this space with all of you. But for now, let's head back over to our soulful conversation.
And you mentioned a little bit before about the beginning of your book, you're really talking about travel is this place of escape and that you were pressing pause. It was this moment where you could disconnect from this place that you didn't really want to be. And I think for a lot of people, we use travel that way, or travel is painted that way. That's like these weekends to go and drink and be on the beach and be oblivious to what is happening in the world or happening in our own worlds. But then I think what happens for some people is that they realize that travel is this place where we can actually reconnect to our true self. And I wanted to talk to you a little bit about how travel has offered you that clear view. And the other part of that is not only the view we get of ourselves while we're traveling, but then there's this moment of landing, which is important that we just talked about, but landing back in your life, and even if you're happy, even if you're returning to the life you want to return to, it can be a little dizzying and unbalanced.
And for example, just last week I was like two days ago, I was on the Amazon in Peru, and today I'm in Driveline, and it's very hard to integrate those two parts of ourselves. And when you travel a lot, you're bouncing between these two spaces of disconnect, connect, unreal and real, and your brain is trying to process it. So I'm wondering for you, one, how travel has been valuable for that clarity, and two, how you navigate that reintegration process into your real life over and over again. Well, I have
Nikki: To say the disconnect connect, it's very real. It's very, very real and beyond the fact that you yourself are stepping into this dream world where everything is just fantastical and adventurous and beautiful and spontaneous, and then you step back into your reality. There's also the fact that if you're solo traveling or if you're going on a press trip or whatever and you're not bringing your loved ones with you, there's also a disconnect with your loved ones back home where you're trying to convey to them what it felt like to glide down the Amazon on a riverboat or have this experience with Komodo dragons in Indonesia. And words can only go so far. And so it's really hard. I will say, and I used to struggle with it a lot in my twenties, especially the financial aspect of it, because when I was in my twenties, I'm working an entry level job.
I am living in New York City where I still am. I'm barely affording rent. And these press trips that I were taking were really the only way that I could afford to travel, which is to say that they would fly me out to destinations or hotels in exchange for writing stories. And that was the biggest disconnect because I would go to these places and stay in hotels that I could never afford at this moment in time and have these experiences that I could never afford. And then I would go back home and it would be living paycheck to paycheck and pinching pennies and eating ramen for dinner. And so that was even a larger sort of discombobulating disconnect as well at that age of how to marry this career and all of these sort of lavish and luxury experiences that were kind of happening by virtue of these work trips with my reality in New York.
And it's very disconcerting. But I will say that as I've gotten older, I think much as I was saying earlier in our conversation, there's just a level of giving yourself grace and of just allowing yourself to be. And I also try to save trips that I feel are special to me for loved ones. So for example, Vietnam is a place that I had always wanted to go, and I had gotten press trip offers and I turned them down because it was a place that I knew I wanted to experience with my now husband. I'm glad I saved that destination for us because even though it's disconnecting to step outside of your life and go somewhere and have these incredible experiences, the part that was the hardest for me was not being able to share that with someone I love and telling him in retrospect what it was like to move through Hanoi without him really experiencing it firsthand.
So now I really try to be more discerning about the trips I do for work and the trips I want to save for my loved ones so that there is that connection there that I can enjoy with my husband or my sister or my family or whoever it is I'm traveling with. But to answer your first question, the clarity travel has given for as much of a disconnect as there can be. I think that disconnect is also important when it comes to sort of epiphanies and learning things about yourself. And it all goes back to this idea of breaking routine and breaking away from your comfort zone. In my case, breaking out of New York, breaking out of routine gave me the clarity to call off a wedding, to confront myself, to realize that I was skyrocketing in the wrong direction in my life. It gave me the clarity to change course in my career to realize that I was being very passive and taking a backseat in my career and that I should really be pulling my passion for travel riding out of the corners of my life and sort of thrusted into the sunlight because that is what I want to do with my life.
And these moments which I share in the book in almost like vignettes rooted in destinations, I don't know if they would've happened without me stepping outside of my life and my comfort zone and allowing myself space to confront myself. And I think that's really the magic of travel is when you allow yourself space to just be with yourself and think about things that you're not thinking about when you're on the day-to-day and moving from to-do list and errands and everything that our lives demand. And that to me, it's not to say I needed to run away to Argentina to call off my wedding. I do wonder if I had just gone to upstate New York, maybe I would've screamed into the forest and the aex, who knows? But the point is is that I allowed myself the opportunity to break with routine and be alone with myself, and that gave me what I needed to move my life forward.
Christine: Thank you for sharing that. And the thing that you mentioned that I hadn't really thought about before as you were kind of painting that picture of being the travel writer in this hotel that you could have never afforded and that sense of disconnect, I think a lot of times we can feel a sense of imposter syndrome. And I'm seeing, I'm like, oh, that's exactly where it's coming from because how do you feel like you could be the person to write about these experiences when sometimes they're completely foreign to your own reality, literally not just because you're in a foreign country, but because it just wouldn't be an experience that you would truly live. And I think I've seen that in people's businesses or as they're writing and they have these incredible experiences, you are tackling that emotion as you're moving through it as well. And I hadn't thought about it before until you just were saying that.
Nikki: Yeah, it's interesting because I think it's something that's hard to talk about within the travel media industry because obviously it's a real blessing and privilege to be able to experience these things, and not only to experience them, but to be able to experience them usually for free by virtue of being a travel writer, editor, content creator, influencer, whatever it is, or travel agent when you have these trips. So I think because there's such a privilege attached to it, I think talking about sort of the discombobulating effect of it and the emotion is not often done because you never want to seem ungrateful for these situations and you're not. But there is also a real imposter syndrome, as you said, where you're enjoying these moments that many other people save years for. And I have one experience that I had, I remember I went on a creator trip, which was in partnership with India tourism, and I went on a trip with maybe 18 other travel writers, creators, bloggers on a train that took us around India, and we went to vei and New Delhi and everything.
And this was a luxury hotel basically on wheels. And I remember that the people on board that were not part of our group were visibly disgruntled by the fact that we were there, and it was a much older demographic. They had saved a lifetime for this experience. And then just imagine the disconcerting effect of having a bunch of 20 something year olds come on board and they're enjoying this high ticket item for free. And there was a real level of imposter syndrome of insecurity there. But what I will say, and that trip ended beautifully is that on our last night on that train, they threw a party where we all just kind of were dancing on this moving car. And the passengers that were there that weren't part of our trip, they ultimately loved the company of just having younger folks on board. And they joined us and we were all dancing, and it was a really just magical, fun evening. And I love those moments in travel. I love those sort of unexpected connective moments where you meet strangers and you share this moment in time that just kind of is fantastic.
Christine: Yeah, I agree. The things we can never plan for are always the ones that I think live in our hearts the longest. They just are really special.
Nikki: Yeah.
Christine: Well, you alluded to this, a little bit of screaming into the woods. So this is a really pivotal moment, I think in your story and in the book. So I wanted to hop back over to there and have you take us through that kind of unexpected walk to the falls where you weren't really hearing a whisper, you were hearing something with a quiet level of intensity, and you knew you couldn't be on this path anymore. But I wanted to know if you could just share a little bit about what you were experiencing in that moment.
Nikki: Of course. So this was two weeks before my wedding. I flew to Buenos Aires and I had flown there for an assignment to write about the cafe scene in Palermo. And while I was there, I met a backpacker who recommended I go to the Iwao waterfalls, which I'm embarrassed to say I did not know of. And I certainly had not done my research into Argentina. I was just kind of moving on momentum at that point. And when I saw the photos of the waterfalls, I immediately booked a one hour flight to the border of Argentina and Brazil and decided to just go. And at that point in time, it was now a week before my wedding day. And when I was walking in ISU National Park, I didn't go there with the intention of confronting myself. I certainly did not plan on doing that. I was just enjoying sort of the magic of solo travel and making a spontaneous travel decision.
But when I got there and I was sort of hiking alone through the jungle and I kind of moved away from the crowds that were kind of clogged up around the major waterfalls, and I found myself alone, I realized that this was probably the last moment I would have alone with myself before I got back to New York. And I remember the feeling very well. I got actual butterflies in my stomach, and I got this queasy nervous feeling because I think I knew before I said it, what was going to happen next. And I knew that if I didn't ask myself, what's going on here? Why? What am I running from? Why am I in Argentina when my wedding's in one week? If I don't have this conversation with myself, then I'm walking down that aisle. And I remember I asked myself out loud, what is it you have to say?
And I literally asked it out loud and I screamed into the trees. I don't want to get married. And it wasn't a planned response. I didn't take a beat and think about what I was going to do and then decide I'm going to yell it in the most dramatic fashion. It quite literally was, what is it you have to say? And then the words just flew out of me with such ferocity that it kind of took me off guard. And I just realized in that moment that everything I had been avoiding and everything that I had been suppressing had just let loose and just bubble to the surface. And the reason I start the book there, and well, I should say the prologue starts there, and then I sort of rewind and build back up to that moment for the reader. But the reason I really kind of hinged the book on that moment is because that to me is the moment that everything changes.
It's the moment I stop running away from myself and stop lying to myself as well as lying to those around me. It's the moment I stop taking a backseat to my own life, and it's the moment that I change everything. I change my career. I change the trajectory of my life by canceling that wedding. I cancel that engagement, I break that relationship. And so there's a real massive sort of restructuring and course correction that happens as a result of that moment yelling into the trees that to this day, defined everything that came and that happened more than 10 years ago. And I can say that everything I value now from my husband to my pets, to my career, to my home, to my friends, everything that I value, I think came out of that moment because it dramatically threw me on a different course.
Christine: Yeah, it's such a powerful moment. So thank you for sharing it with us. And I think one of the things too that struck me as you were saying that was realizing that you knew you were lying to yourself, right? That's an obvious thing, even if you weren't consciously acknowledging it. But kind of in that moment realizing too that you were also lying to this whole host of other people. And when you're kind of caught up in it, it's your story. So you're focused on the main character. But I think that clarity to realize that if I go home, it's not just me entering into this marriage with this kind of darkness clouding over it. It's this other person and their family and my family. And I think sometimes that's the harder thing to face. It's really actually pretty easy to lie to ourselves. But when we realize that we're bringing other people into it with us, I can imagine that that was a really long plane ride home.
Nikki: And the thing is that it was scary. It was absolutely terrifying. And I could have just walked down the aisle, and that was a question I got quite a lot at that moment in time was, why didn't you just do it? Just walk down the aisle, get divorced on the other side of things, just do it. And at the end of the day, I could have, but I didn't. Once I confronted myself in that jungle, and once I realized that I had been lying not only to myself, but to everyone around me for months, and I had been hiding from myself in the worst possible ways, from infidelity to alcoholism, to just running away and hiding in travel, once I realized how bad I had let things get, I didn't want to lie anymore. It was just like I was so fed up with myself at that moment in time that the worst thing, the thing that I could think of doing next was to stand up in front of everyone I know and love and respect and lie about loving this person and wanting to spend my life with him after having just almost cleared the fog out from over my eyes and realized the truth.
And in the end, I have to say that I'm so glad I canceled the wedding because yes, I could have walked down the aisle, yes, I could have gone through the wedding and had this whole facade of a thing, but when I got married this past September, spoiler alert, but when I got married this past September, it was my first time walking down the aisle, and it was my first time standing up there and saying my vows and wearing the white dress in public because I had done wedding dress fittings for the one before. But it was my first time having that moment, and I'm so glad I saved it for my future self because I meant every word and I was happy, and it was a beautiful, beautiful wedding that I felt fully, and there was not an ounce of me that was scared or doubtful or trying to run away. And I'm just so happy that I didn't steal that moment away from my future self out of fear of letting other people down.
Christine: That's really, really, really powerful and really beautiful, and I really hope that other people can hear that and that can give them a different perspective also on that. I think that is a really beautiful gift to have that awareness and have given that to yourself.
Nikki: Because the thing is, I was asked earlier today, actually, I was having a conversation with someone, and the question was, why is this an important story that I felt I needed to share beyond the fact that it's my life and just honoring this period in time? But I thought about that question, and I think the answer is that it's very easy to think that if you go so far down a certain road, it's impossible to pull off it. And I think especially as women, we have such a tendency to people please and to not want to let those down around us that we will stiff upper lip and power through even if we're not happy and even if we're uncomfortable, even if it doesn't feel right. And I think stories like these are important because they remind us that it's okay to choose ourselves, and it's okay to pull your car off the road and go a different way because it's your life to live.
And that's really the learning here. If anybody takes anything away from call you when I land, my hope is that it's a reminder that it's your life, and if you're making decisions to please others, and if you're saying yes instead of no, and you're walking down roads that you have no desire to walk down, you are the one who ultimately pays. But if you have the strength to change that and to advocate for yourself, then your future becomes yours. And I'm, again, I'm so happy that at that age I was able to make those decisions whether or not I knew how they would turn out. Certainly when I was facing that canceled wedding and calling off everything and leaving my job, I certainly didn't have a guarantee that things would work out. But I'm glad I took those risks because it got me to where I needed to go.
Christine: Yeah. Yeah. I'm like, and in scene, well, I mean, as you mentioned, your story wrapped up with the perfect happy ending and reading it and knowing your story before the book had even come out. I don't want to share too much. I want readers to definitely read the book. So we're not going to talk really about from that moment to this moment too much, but I can just say that seeing you posting that you're on this trip to Argentina, knowing your background a little, I was like, oh my God, this could be really cool. This moment might be coming. All of us are living vicariously through you. And I was like, I hope we see this post on social just watching and watching. And when it happened, I was like, man, oh man. If she wasn't already writing a book, she better be because it couldn't have been written and scripted more beautifully. So congratulations. Thank
Nikki: You. Thank you very much. I was asked the other day, because again, I mean, not to give it away, but I'll give it away. I already alluded to the wedding, but I was the other day, what would I have done if my now husband hadn't proposed? Because obviously there's such a beautiful agreeable symmetry there where the book starts with canceling this wedding and then what happens. But if he hadn't proposed, I think I would've ended the book in the same way and the way of meeting myself back in the past and just showing gratitude because at the end of the day, the love stories and everything that kind of ebbs and flows in the book, really it's just about one woman's evolution. And it's because this is so weird to talk about myself in third person, but it's because of that girl that went to Argentina by herself in the worst inopportune time and had the gall in audacity to do what she did and then restructure her life that I am where I am today. And there's so much gratitude there. So at the end of the day, for as much of a love story as Colu and Island is, and a story about chasing career dreams and everything, it really is also just a story of gratitude for the daunting, scary, brave, outlandish decisions that we dare to make when we're younger that have ripple effects throughout our adult life.
Christine: Gosh. And I think not all of us get to pay this respect to ourselves and our choices. So that's kind of where I wanted to go with this before we end our conversation are two questions. I guess, what was it like for you to actually write this journey? And then also, what was it like for you to be sharing this when you were getting married? So I don't know if you knew this when you set the date for when the book would be released, but this all kind of happened serendipitously or I don't know, but what has that been like for you to not only reflect, but then also kind of be able to celebrate as you're sharing this in this way?
Nikki: Yeah, I mean, the first question writing the book was, I think the popular answer for most memoirs is cathartic, which it absolutely was. It was cathartic, vulnerable as all hell to go out there and share these stories. Because the thing is, is that I really love the genre of women's memoir. And the reason I love women's memoir so much is that it has such a tendency to pull readers into a woman's mistakes and sort of drag them through the mud and show readers the worst of us so we can get you to appreciate the best of us. And that's what I wanted to do here, call you When I land gets uncomfortable, as you well know, it pulls you into mistakes I make, it pulls you into affairs and all sorts of things that are going on that you're like, oh man, girl, get it together.
But there's no appreciating the journey and where I've come if you don't know where it started. And there was a real vulnerability to that. The vulnerability being showing those mistakes, showing those flaws, showing the mishaps and the missteps. And what I did in my twenties is that I'm not necessarily proud of, but how they ultimately shaped me and got me to where I needed to go. And since the book has come out, there's a real magic to seeing how people have taken that story and made it their own. And I think that's also the power of memoir as well, that when you write a memoir, my story is no longer my story. It's your story and whatever resonates with you, whatever inspires you or empowers you, these words are now yours to make your own. And there's been a real lovely magic to seeing readers come to book events and reach out on social media to tell me about their own stories and what call you when I land did to help either inspire them or resonate or comfort.
And so many memoirs that I grew up reading did the same for me. And I really appreciate and do not take lightly that awesome responsibility to be able to impact someone's life in a wonderful way. But I will say, having written a book about calling off a wedding and all that comes after in tandem with planning a wedding was really surreal. I mean, we had mentioned disconnect, connect in the world of travel. That was a real disconnect, connect. And all I could keep thinking was, I can't believe I did that because keep in mind, this time going with wedding planning, I was all in. I mean, every step of the way, I'm on the phone with florists on DJs and I'm, I have this insane Excel spreadsheet. I'm in it in a way that I was not back then. And so I just kept thinking along the way.
I can't believe I called off a wedding of this magnitude a week before the big day. And there was a level of awe as well as guilt because I planned that wedding the first wedding with my mom. I planned this last wedding with my mom, and it just felt, I could see how much pain it would've caused her, how much it did cause her for me to pull the rug out from under her like that not only financially that was a doozy in and of itself, but emotionally that I hadn't been forthcoming with her about what was going on, but also because I wasn't able to be forthcoming with myself. And so there was a real righting of the wrongs that happened this time of being able to plan the wedding with my mom and for it to be honest and enjoyable and a lovely process that culminated in the perfect wedding day. And it just feels like the ultimate sense of closure, that, okay, now it's done. The story's been told, the wounds have been healed, we're good, and I can move on.
Christine: Yeah. And I can imagine that not everybody gets that sense of closure that happens simultaneously with this process of sharing their memoir. So I just think, again, from the outside perspective, I was like, I can only imagine what is happening right now. But it seemed even more beautiful and powerful. And to even know that that's where the story landed as the other story was landing, it was really powerful. And I loved what you said about women's memoirs too, because I think, I don't know if I didn't notice them before, but as I've aged and I've started reading them and I witnessed people's journeys, I realize how important it is. And you have those moments. I think so many of us have laid on the floor with Liz Gilbert and
We've known, we're like, oh my god, me too. And even the very first time reading one of those books, I think it was Glennon Doyle's book, was the first one I read where I witnessed that vulnerability and that truth. And I was like, I had no idea we could do it. I was like, oh my gosh, this is incredible. We can actually tell our real story. We don't have to hide. We can be who we are. Like you said, we can take part of someone else's story and make it our own, or we can learn how to see our story through someone else's and see the parts we were maybe not brave enough to witness in our own. Which I think even just in talking with you, that moment with that little girl, when she said that to you, I kind of felt like she was saying it to me. It really resonated. And I love so important when you are writing something like this to realize that you're creating something for somebody else.
Nikki: No, I love that so much. And I think what you said is exactly right. These memoirs, they give you permission to make mistakes and to be flawed and to course correct. And I remember reading Sheryl Strayed's Wild when I was in Argentina at that moment in time, running away from my wedding and literally sleeping with her book against my chest because it felt like a friend who got it, who understood what it's like to let your life sort of free fall for fear of making a decision or confronting a truth. And I see the power of those memoirs, and I really wanted call you when I land to pay homage to that because those memoirs meant so much to me and held my hand through so many tough moments, and I hope call you when I land, can do the same. And I understood that in writing this, the ultimate disservice I could do to the reader and myself was to not be honest about the darker parts of my story.
And I wanted to really be vulnerable there. And I think that I had read a quote when I set out to write the book that said, an approximation of honesty won't cut it when it comes to writing a memoir. You either are going to tell the story as it is or don't tell it at all. And that was the thing. There's a lot of editing that goes on to memoirs. And obviously it's not just a dumping of your diary. You have to choose a moment in time and tailor it for readers. But even with all the editing and the cooks and the kitchen and the publishers and everything, I really wanted it to be raw and candid. And I hope it's because it's in that raw vulnerability that people really connect. And we all see the success stories. Our entire social media is curated success stories, but it's that part, the dark part, the part where you share how you fell and how you got up and when it looked ugly. Those are the parts that are inspiring that make you appreciate the success. And I just hope that the book does that.
Christine: Yeah, thank you. And I know that's something that people have really resonated with listening to the podcast too, is hearing the story of how so many women who are really inspiring leaders in travel got there. And like you said, I think it's so important that they see that they were this 19-year-old who wasn't sure about this and this 30-year-old working in corporate who felt like they were dying. All those parts are really important.
Nikki: A hundred percent. Yeah. And the thing about those, and I could talk to you forever,
Forever, but the thing about those stories too, it's like I love those stories, the evolution, career evolution, but the thing also is a lot of times those stories, they still skip over the ugly parts. It's like, well, I had a dream and then I chase said dream and it was so far out of reach, but then I got it, and now here I am. And it's like, but it's still not showing you at your ugliest. And that's important too. It's okay to show a little bit of the ugly side. And it's not that I love talking about the fact that I called off a wedding or that I had affairs or quit jobs or got lost jobs or was unemployed. These are not pretty parts of the picture, but they are necessary to understand holistically where the image stands today. And I think that those ugly parts that we tend to curate out of the image and cut out of our stories for fear of judgment, those are really the parts that matter because that shows your resilience and that shows your evolution. And I hope that more people learn to embrace those parts of their story. Inspiring.
Christine: Yeah. Thank you. Well, I know we're running over on time. This is clearly why you've already been back to the podcast four times because we could keep talking forever, and I love that so much about the time that we get to spend together. We've done rapid fires together, so I don't want to do those again. But I do have three kind of last rapid fire ish questions just to wrap up. And then I want to share with our listeners where they can see you in the new year. The first question, and we've maybe already heard the answer to this, but what is your favorite travel memoir?
Nikki: Oh gosh. I feel like I always fail at these rapid fires. They end up being long-winded questions. I love Wild by Cheryl Stray. That's absolutely my number one.
Christine: Yeah, me too. Have you met her? I feel like you must have.
Nikki: I did, yes. We actually had a Zoom call. I had the pleasure of interviewing her for photos travel, and I would love to meet her in person.
Christine: Yeah, me too. And also wishing for her to be here on this podcast, so someday maybe we'll have the best.
Nikki: Yeah, manifest it. Yes,
Christine: We we're put it out there. What travel quote is one that you always come back to.
Nikki: The quote that I love is to Travel is to live, which is part of the larger Hans Christian Anderson quote to move to fly. Oh my gosh, I don't remember the quote. Let's just say to travel is to live. I have it printed on the bottom of this world map where I place pins and the Hans Christian Anderson quote that it's a part of which is escaping me right now is actually in the book, but it's a quote that the last line my mom had printed on a map that she gave to me and she gave it to me when I first started out on my travel journey.
Christine: I have it highlighted somewhere in the book and I can't find it either to share it, but we'll share it in those show notes. And the last one, which I hope you've already thought of, but if your book is made into a movie, and I hope it is because I can't wait to see it. Oh my gosh. Who would You Wish would play you?
Nikki: Wow. Okay. This is a very specific niche reference, so I don't know if you've seen the show, the Bold Type. I really love the Bold type. It was this great show about three women navigating New York, and one of the lead actresses is named Katie Stevens, and she's actually of Portuguese descent, and her and I have kind of similar looks. I might be flattering myself here, but we look somewhat similar and I think that really great, and she has a way of pairing emotion and just a poignant gravitas with her acting while also sort of being fun. I think she would be awesome for the role and manifesting Katie Stevens. Okay.
Christine: We're putting lots of energy out to the universe today, but man, as I read it, I'm like, I already see the movie, so I think it's fine. We should just go ahead and do this. Yes. So coming into the new year, you're going to be out promoting the book. Do you want to share where you'll be and where people can find you?
Nikki: Yes. So in January I leave on the second half of my book tour, I will be going to Portland, Oregon to the famous Powell's City of Books. My event is on January 20th with Emmy nominated travel host and award-winning photographer, Rachel Redwall. It's free to attend, so please join me if you're in Oregon, and then I'll be in Los Angeles for two events, one at Romans, that's with a v and another at Ziv v's. Bookshop in Santa Monica. You can find all of that information and more on nick vargas.com or on Instagram. You can follow me at nick knickknack Vargas.
Christine: Excellent. I hope that somehow you're forced to come to Denver because I would love to see you here. There's a great book. We'll throw that, a great book star called Tattered Cover, which is also in the Denver airport. So while we're manifesting things, I'll just throw that onto the list.
Nikki: Love it, love it.
Christine: But thank you so much for being here. Again, thank you so much for sharing your story with me and my listeners and for writing a book that I think really is going to resonate with so many readers. I am really, really glad to have shared this with you.
Nikki: Thank you so much for having me. Again. Here's the next time.
Christine: Yes. To next time. Thank you.
Thank you for listening to Soul of Travel, presented by Journey Woman. I hope you enjoyed the journey. If you loved this conversation, I encourage you to subscribe and rate the podcast. Please share episodes that inspire you with others because this is how we extend the impact of this show. Learn more about each of my guests by reading our episode blogs, which are more than your average show notes. I think you'll love the connection. Find our episode blogs at www.souloftravelpodcast.com. I'm so proud of the way these conversations are bringing together people from around the world. If this sounds like your community, welcome, I'm so happy you are here. I am all about community and would love to connect. You can find me on Facebook at Soul of Travel podcast or follow me on Instagram, either at she Sojourns or at Soul of Travel podcast. Stay up to date by joining the Soul of Travel podcast mailing list. You'll also want to explore the Journey Woman community and its resources for women travelers over 50. I'd also like to share a quick thank you to my podcast producer and content magician, Carly Eduardo, CEO of Conte. I look forward to getting to know you and hopefully hear your story.
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