Tracy here!
My happy place is planning, going on, or reminiscing about a trip. While I’m fortunate to have quite a few stamps in my passport, I also consider myself a traveller with very lofty dreams and heaps more to experience.
My kind of travel is more than a vacation - I like journeys of discovery. I choose to explore the world around me in ways that also help me to learn about myself. Travel has shaped who I am and continues to be my teacher.
Professionally, I have been a passionate researcher and synthesizer who transforms information into practical action. Personally, I am a maximizer and an optimist with a healthy wanderlust looking to eke out the most from each journey.
My mission is to connect women with inspiration and opportunities to boost their well-being through travel experiences. I do this by sharing my own learning journey and by designing tools and initiatives that nudge people out of their comfort zones and help them shape journeys of self-discovery.
“We travel, initially, to lose ourselves; and we travel next, to find ourselves.” ~ Pico Iyer
Let’s live everyday like it is a trip of a lifetime and embrace a purposeful life with the awe & wonder of a traveller.
Why is this my passion?
Well, it all began, as most things do, in my childhood. I grew up as a military “base brat" moving 12 times, to 8 cities in 3 countries before I graduated from high school. This transience taught me to observe, adapt, and look for the positive everywhere. It also gave me an early and frequent dose of new experiences: new homes, new schools, new friends, new cultures. Like a healthy addiction, my need for “new” stuck.
I know now that travel shaped - and continues to shape my identity.
Decades later (and 3 more cities) I’ve blended my career skills in community development strategy, learning, and well-being research with my own wanderlust to design helpful tools and initiatives to embrace a purposeful life with the wonder of a traveller. As a certified travel coach - travel, once again, has shaped my identity.
My Travel Truths
1. Travel is for everyone.
Books, films and Instagram highlight the glamorous, expensive, travel-infused lives of influencers, the rich and the famous. Well, step aside socialite - the world is all of ours to experience, treasure and learn from!
At the same time, I am deeply aware that many people have limited opportunities to travel because of money, health, time, priorities, oppression and/or basic survival. I endeavour to head into the world with my eyes wide open and sensitive to these inequities.
2. There is richness and beauty everywhere.
Travellers can be so focused on bucket lists or far-away destinations that they miss the ability to experience the beauty and pleasure in the everyday. We don’t have to go far, for long or in luxury to experience the positive emotions that happen when travelling: awe, challenge, wonder, and diversity.
We do, however, need to look past our home routines and biases. It might come as a surprise but where you are today is likely someone else’s dream destination. It’s a matter of perspective and it takes intention to #lovewhereyoulive.
3. Everyone’s travel experiences are gloriously different - not better or worse.
The same can be said for everyone’s daily lives! We have so much to learn from one another! I share my travel stories and my hometown adventures to celebrate the diversity that makes life so darn interesting. I hope we can learn about the world through each other’s eyes and through each other’s stories. No judging, no competition, no comparing - just appreciating!
4. Traveling well requires us to be better humans.
Travelling well includes great responsibility and personal accountability for the places you visit. Is my spending improving the lives of local people? Are my footprints (physical, carbon etc..) doing any damage? How can I make the world a better place while enjoying it? Am I contributing in a way that my grandchildren’s grandchildren will still be able to travel?
These questions mingle in my brain, influence my planning and help me make better travel decisions.
What’s getting me excited about Travel Bug Tonic?
The Travel Bug Blog
Find resources & reflections, tips & to-do’s, musings & marvels on the blog.
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My Travel Journals & Planners
Travel Coaching with Tracy
I’m a Certified Travel Coach, Certifiable Travel Bug, Itinerary Whisperer, Planning & Research Enthusiast, and Budget Savvy Strategist.