Go Solo Live

Tayloria Grant traveled to Italy for the first time when she was 16-years-old. After going through a divorce and leaving her corporate career, Tayloria went back, by herself, in 2014. She has been back to Italy every year since then and at the age of 40, she decided to learn Italian. Although she didn't know it at the time, her solo travel opened a new door for her and this experience led to her starting her own travel business, One Full Life. 

Key Insights:

*Tayloria spent 20 years in corporate America.

*By  the time 2014 came around, Tayloria had went through a divorce and was in the middle of switching careers.

*Tayloria loves family and girlfriend trips, but she really, really looks forward to traveling by herself.

*Why did Tayloria travel to Italy?

*There's a misconception that solo travel is lonely and that's completely not true!

*Tayloria is a planner, but she's learned that when you travel, you have to be more in the moment.

*Solo travel doesn't mean you'll be alone the entire time. You'll meet (and become friends with!) so many different types of people.

*Tayloria paints a picture of what Italy is like.

*Tayloria decided to learn the Italian language at the age of 40.

*In Tayloria's entire life, she has never hung up clothes on a clothes line. She came to that realization when she had to dry her clothes in Italy.

*This experience made Tayloria question what was really important in life. Owning a dryer is nice, but it's not important.

*People outside of the U.S, in general, live a lot simpler. After Tayloria's trip to Italy, she thought deeply about a lot of the possessions she had and started to purge them.

*Tayloria talks about the September retreat she's hosting.

*If you'd like more information about the upcoming retreat, feel free to message Tayloria!

Mentioned in This Episode:

www.transformviatravel.com/

Transform via Travel Facebook

[email protected]

Essentialism by Greg McKeown

Connect with Tayloria:

Website

Facebook

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Tina Erdmann is a photographer and introvert at heart. Traveling alone first started for Tina when she moved to Colorado at a young age and began venturing out into the local area, meeting new people. This slowly opened a door for her, so she began traveling further and further away from her home state and began to explore more of the United States on her own. Eventually, she made her first international solo trip in 2008 when she was in her mid-30s.

Tina says her photography has become an excellent ice breaker for foreigners and traveling alone has really helped her come out of her introverted shell. She is no longer afraid of walking up to strangers and talking with them. Traveling alone gives you time for self-discovery and to answer some much needed questions about yourself. People might see you as selfish for deciding to take space for yourself, but honestly, selfishness isn't a bad thing! You end up becoming a much more giving person when you practice self-care.

Key Insights:

*Where was Tina in her life when she decided to travel alone?

*When Tina started traveling by herself, she ended up meeting a ton of new people.

*Tina was at a major transition in her life emotionally when she started to travel alone.

*After working up to it, Tina took her first international solo trip in 2008 when she was in her mid-30s.

*Tina will go up to people now and just strike up a conversation with absolute strangers.

*When you travel alone, you're also much more approachable to other people.

*Tina's camera is a great ice breaker for many people.

*When you're in a group, you tend not to meet as many locals as you'd like.

*What are some of Tina's adventures? She goes solo to East Africa a lot.

*Tina loves traveling by herself because she can decide where she wants to go next on her own terms.

*It's expensive to climb Kilimanjaro solo. Tina went solo, but she joined a group to do that particular activity.

*The people you find on your solo trip enhance your experience tenfold.

*What did Tina's husband think of her traveling alone? He had two years to process her trip before she actually did it.

*Tina says her husband has been well aware of her solo travel trips since the beginning of their marriage.

*Tina prefers traveling alone, but she does see the benefits of leveraging group activities in foreign countries.

*How does an introvert travel with extroverts?

*What kind of lessons has Tina learned while traveling alone? First and foremost, trust yourself.

*When you travel by yourself, you end up rediscovering and seeing things from a new set of eyes.

*It's okay to be selfish and to give yourself that space to be alone.

*Selfish isn't a negative or a bad word!

*Where was Tina's business when she decided to travel alone?

*Tina's business, Suitcase Shots, allows for her to bring people together.

*Tina's business partner will pick you up from the Tanzania airport, take you on a safari and a 6 hour hike up Kilimanjaro (not on the same day).

*Stay tuned, Tina's next adventure plans to take groups of people to Paris.

Mentioned in This Episode:

www.transformviatravel.com/

Transform via Travel Facebook

[email protected]

www.africatravelresource.com/

Quiet by Susan Cain

Connect with Tina:

Photography Website

Suitcase Shots Website

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Hello everyone! Jennifer Buchholz here. I'm so glad to introduce you to the first episode of Go Solo Live, where we introduce inspiring women who are out there living their life to the fullest. My goal for this podcast is to showcase how the world isn't really that scary of a place, especially if you know how to take the appropriate measures. 

Joining me on this episode is Kelly McDermott, someone who decided to get out there and travel when she was 36-years-old. After coming out of a divorce, Kelly found herself needing more out of life. People all over the world have some pretty old-fashioned ideas about women and traveling alone and Kelly addressed some of those on our call. Despite experiencing a bit of prejudice, Kelly still wouldn't change the experience for the world.

Key Insights:

*Why are you traveling alone? What an old-fashioned question!

*Who is Kelly?

*Where was Kelly before she decided to travel by herself?

*Kelly wasn't running away. She made a concise choice to travel and recover from a bad divorce.

*Kelly was 36 when she started this journey.

*What did Kelly's family think of her going off to explore the world? They were very supportive!

*However, a lot of people feared for Kelly's safety.

*How did Kelly ensure her own safety? What kind of things did she do beforehand?

*Fear of the unknown is drastically scarier than the reality.

*Do your research! Technology makes it so easy to get the info you need.

*Kelly discusses her decision to travel in a group for specific areas vs. traveling solo.

*Traveling in a group takes a lot of pressure off your shoulders. Sometimes you need a break from planning and researching your trips!

*What kind of reactions did Kelly get when she was traveling alone? 

*While planned things are great, it’s the unexpected things that really stand out.

*What are some of the key highlights that Kelly learned when she was traveling?

*Why should people, who are currently of midlife age, travel more?

*Solo travel is the ultimate form of self-care.

Mentioned in This Episode:

www.transformviatravel.com/

Transform via Travel Facebook

[email protected]

Connect with Kelly:

Blog: A Path Less Taken

Leave a Review:

Did you like this episode? Please leave an honest review on iTunes with your feedback! Also, please subscribe to the Go Solo Live podcast on iTunes to get notified when a new episode has been released. I appreciate you listening to this week's show and tune in next week for another great guest.