I am NOT a world traveler. YET. I mean, I have been to some great places, but nothing
like what the 16-year-old (or 30- or 40-year-old) me had dreamt of for this point in my life. But I am grateful for the experiences I've had, past, present, and future. For all of the National Geographic magazines that my dad hoarded in our little closet under the stairs of my childhood home.
Those magazines introduced me to exotic places, beautiful people of every color, and culture galore. I was mesmerized. I don't think it occurred to me at the time that I could actually visit such places. But I knew the world was a huge and interesting place, much bigger than the small town I was raised in.
In high school, I couldn't wait to take Spanish. That morphed into wanting to give my left arm to go to Spain. Unfortunately, we didn't have the finances for that. That was probably in 1989. Bitterness check. Yep... still bitter.
Then came college, marriage, and birthing four kids in nine years. My dream of traveling seemed eternally out of reach. A dangling carrot. And I'd do it all again.
I only regret not prioritizing travel post-college/pre-kids. It all just seemed so expensive, and I didn't even know where to begin. I didn't have the guts to backpack through Europe on a dime, but my 49-year-old self would fiercely kick my freshly-graduated college ass right out the door.
While life, happily, pressed pause on my goals, it never shook my curiosity about travel and culture. I mean, Rick Steves is my idol and I am a travel documentary junkie. I'm also a geography nerd and can probably point out at least 95% of all the countries in the world. A little weird, maybe, but...
In retrospect, that curiosity is the most valuable gift I have ever received - aside from my children, of course. Not the leather bomber jacket, gold rings, the neon ski coat, or the entire set of Strawberry Shortcake dolls. I loved them all, but it is so true that the most important things can't be wrapped up in a bow.
Some of us never know what we want to be when we grow up. We end up running through
life in a non-committal zig-zag, often feeling like a failure. Jack-of-all-trades kinda vibes. Some people are OK living in that space forever. Others get tired of that feeling.
I've worked at law offices and real estate title offices. I was a stay/work-at-home mom for 20 years, running a home-based cake business. Then a storefront bakery. I competed on Food Network's Cake Wars twice. Won once. So I've done a few things. And I was really, really good. But then, I was done.
So, during COVID, I took a self-discovery course, thanks to an amazing free women's program at our local Cleveland-area community college (here). I did a ton of research and took a big leap of faith, pursuing a 10-year-old dream. I became a certified travel advisor through an intensive program with the most supportive people on earth. It has been a true investment in myself.
I may be a late bloomer in figuring it out, but here I am. And it's not just about having an awesome job making people's travel dreams come true. It's conveying the richness that
travel can bring to a family's life. It's having an open heart and mind for other cultures. It's being a compassionate global citizen. It's stepping out of your comfort zone to force personal growth.
Come along for the ride!
PS I haven't figured it ALL out, but I'm happy to be a constant work-in-progress.
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