Notes From the Window Seat

What if you could have help with the logistics and still have time to wander on your own?

You want to see more of the world, but maybe you don't want to plan every transfer or navigate every unfamiliar city alone. And you don't want to follow a crowd from one landmark to the next. Is there a way to travel somewhere between those two experiences?

In this episode of Notes from the Window Seat, I explain why I choose small-group travel: someone helps with transportation and logistics, local knowledge is available when I need it, and I can still have time to explore on my own. I also share the questions I would ask before booking, because “small group” doesn't tell you everything about how a trip will feel.

You'll hear about:

• Group size and how you'll get around.
• Where the free time really falls in the itinerary.
• Optional activities and physical expectations.
• Who helps when plans change or an emergency occurs.
• Experiences beyond famous landmarks.
• Why the pace matters as much as the destinations.

A question to take with you: What do I want help with, and what do I want to discover on my own?

Window Seat Note: Support and independence are not opposites. The right journey can give you both.

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 What If You Get on the Wrong Train?  What happens when you realize you’re headed in the wrong direction in an unfamiliar place? 

Getting on the wrong train can feel like a disaster—especially when you’re somewhere unfamiliar, don’t speak the language and have somewhere you’re supposed to be.

But are you facing an emergency or simply a temporary problem that needs to be solved?

In this episode of Notes from the Window Seat, Marty shares what happened when she boarded a train going in the wrong direction—and the simple realization that changed the experience: trains stop. She could just get off, cross the track and head in the right direction.

You’ll learn how to:

• Pause before embarrassment becomes panic
• Use maps and translation tools more effectively
• How to ask a for help
• Build flexibility into your travel days
• Recognize the difference between an inconvenience and a genuine emergency

Marty also explores what getting on the wrong train can teach us about leadership. A mistake doesn’t have to define the rest of the journey—but refusing to acknowledge it can take us much farther from where we intended to go.

Going the wrong way for one stop does not mean the entire journey is lost.

Follow Window Seat 2A on Instagram for more practical tips to experience the world with greater curiosity and less fear.

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How one small “Why not?” can change a trip—and perhaps more than the trip.

When you hear the word adventure travel, do you picture something physically demanding, dangerous or completely outside your comfort zone?

It doesn't have to be.

You do not have to be fearless, physically daring or willing to sleep on the side of a mountain to have an adventure. Sometimes adventure begins when you find an unexpected idea, look at the people traveling with you and say, “Why not?”

Adventure is personal. It can mean choosing a less familiar destination, trying one new activity, joining a supported small-group trip or leaving enough room in the schedule to follow an idea you did not plan. Growth does not always require a dramatic leap. Sometimes it begins with one different choice.

In this episode of Notes from the Window Seat, Marty contrasts kayaking in Antarctica with a very different kind of adventure: a spontaneous afternoon racing her husband and a friend down a New Zealand hill in small luge carts. What started with a quick phone search and the words “Why not?” became one of the memories they still laugh about a year and a half later.

You will learn how to define adventure for yourself, choose an experience slightly beyond your usual routine, distinguish uncertainty from actual danger and use support to make more of the world feel possible. You will also hear why leaving a little unscheduled space may lead to the stories you remember most.

Adventure does not have to be extreme. It only has to take you somewhere beyond the familiar.

Adventure begins wherever the familiar ends—even if that is only one street beyond the usual route.

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When I first met Lucy, she was hiding in the corner of a room, shaking. I sat on the floor, talked quietly and waited. Twenty minutes later, she looked at me. Eventually, she took a treat. Then, after nearly an hour, she came over and sat beside me.

Five months later, Lucy is still learning to trust. Loud noises, thunder, unfamiliar people and other dogs frighten her. But there are also glimpses of the dog she is becoming: secret zoomies, stolen socks, and moments when she feels safe enough to rest a few feet away instead of hiding beneath my desk.

In this episode of Notes from the Window Seat, I share what Lucy keeps teaching me about trust, patience and the quiet ways transformation happens. Trust cannot be demanded. Progress does not always look impressive. Safety can reveal the personality beneath the fear. And love does not require someone to become fearless before they are worthy of it.

Sometimes courage looks like taking a treat from an open hand. Sometimes joy looks like a stolen sock. Sometimes three feet is not merely three feet—it is an entire journey.

In this episode

• Why good intentions are not enough to create trust
• How patience can be an active form of love
• Why progress is easy to miss when we expect dramatic transformation
• What frightened behavior may conceal about a person or animal
• How safety allows personality, curiosity and joy to emerge
• Why love should not demand immediate proof that it is working
• What it means to become a safe place when the thunder comes

Where might there be quiet progress in your life—or in someone you love—that deserves to be noticed?

Want more lessons from a dog?

📖 What Training My Dog Taught Me About Leadership

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Why does everything we do have to be productive?

We track our steps. Set reading goals. Fill our travel itineraries. Turn hobbies into side hustles. Even relaxation can become something we're supposed to optimize.

But what if enjoyment is enough?

In this episode of Notes from the Window Seat, I start with a simple walk with my dog Lucy—one that sometimes doesn't even make it out of the front yard—and I explore our tendency to measure experiences by what they accomplish.

From giving yourself permission to spend an afternoon lost in a novel to stumbling into an unplanned local festival in the Azores, this episode is about leaving room for things that don't have an outcome, a purpose, or a place on the agenda.

Because a life filled with productive days isn't necessarily the same thing as a life filled with good days.

In this episode:

• Why Lucy and Marty have very different definitions of a successful walk
• When hobbies become another form of work
• Giving yourself permission to enjoy something without guilt
• Why a good travel itinerary needs some empty space
• The difference between wasting your life and wasting a little time
• A different question to ask at the end of the day

Not everything worthwhile has to get you somewhere.

Sometimes doing something simply because you enjoy it...is enough.

Learn more about the window seat here: TRAVEL | Visual Escape

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What are you looking for as you move through your day?

On a beach I've walked for years, I rarely pick up shells anymore. But I'm always looking for sea glass—those tiny pieces of white, green, and occasionally blue glass that have been softened by years in the surf.

Finding one feels a little like discovering treasure. But I've realized the real gift may not be finding the sea glass at all.

It's the looking.

In this episode of Notes from the Window Seat, I'm taking you along on one of my walks before sunrise to explore anticipation, attention, familiarity, and the small things that can still delight us.

Because sometimes the treasure isn't what you find.

It's having something worth looking for.

Learn more about the window seat here: TRAVEL | Visual Escape

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Why awe, wonder, and a little perspective can make life feel bigger. 

When was the last time you stood somewhere that made you realize just how small you are?

Not insignificant. Not unimportant. Just small.

In this episode of Notes from the Window Seat, 

I travel from the ancient ruins of Machu Picchu to the vast landscape of the Azores and the quiet of a freshly covered ski slope to explore three very different kinds of awe.

Machu Picchu made me feel small in time.

The Azores made me feel small in space.

And a quiet mountain covered in fresh snow made me feel small in the silence.

Along the way, I explore why those moments matter—and why feeling small can sometimes make life feel much bigger.

Because awe doesn't necessarily make our problems disappear.

Awe widens the frame.

And sometimes, that's exactly the perspective we need.

Sometimes the world needs to make us feel small so we can remember how big life really is.

A Question for You

When was the last time you stood somewhere that made you realize just how small you are?

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What Have You Stopped Noticing?

The longer we're around something, the less we tend to see it. The neighborhood we drive through every day. The people we've known for years. Even the sunrise we've promised ourselves we'll stop to watch "someday."

In this episode of Notes from the Window Seat, I explore why familiarity makes remarkable things feel ordinary—and how curiosity helps us rediscover the wonder hiding in everyday life.

From early morning beach walks to traveling through unfamiliar countries, you'll discover why becoming a beginner again may be one of the healthiest things we can do.

In This Episode

•  Why our brains naturally stop noticing familiar things 
•  The hidden danger of "The Expert Trap" 
•  How travel makes us curious again 
•  The "Tourist Effect" and how to experience your hometown differently 
•  Why curiosity strengthens relationships 
•  A simple challenge to help you see the ordinary in extraordinary ways 

Window Seat Challenge

This week, visit a place you know well and pretend you've never been there before.

As you walk, ask yourself:

•  What am I overlooking? 
•  If this were my first visit, what would surprise me? 

You may not discover a new place. But you just might discover a new perspective.

 "The world rarely becomes less interesting.  We simply become less curious." 

Learn more about what we do here: Notes From The Window Seat

Learn more about the window seat here: TRAVEL | Visual Escape

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Why is the window seat the best seat on the plane?

Most people would say it's because of the view.

But what if it's something much deeper?

In this episode of Notes from the Window Seat, I explore why I always chose the window seat—and how that simple choice has become a philosophy for travel, photography, business, and everyday life.

Along the way you'll discover three lessons the window seat teaches us:

• Perspective – Sometimes we need distance before we can truly see.
• Anticipation – The journey begins long before we arrive.
• Attention – The best moments belong to those who slow down long enough to notice them.

Whether you're planning your next adventure, leading a business, or simply trying to be more present, this episode is an invitation to become an observer instead of simply a passenger.

In This Episode

• Why I always choose the window seat
• The beauty of watching a sunrise over a new country
• Why anticipation is part of every meaningful journey
• The surprising lesson hidden in the middle seat
• How photography teaches patience

"The best seat on the plane isn't about the view. It's about becoming an observer instead of simply a passenger."

The best views rarely belong to the people in the biggest hurry.

Before you rush to the next thing, pause for just a moment. Look out your own window. You might discover that the moment you were racing toward has already begun.

Learn more about the window seat here: TRAVEL | Visual Escape

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Welcome to the first episode of Notes from the Window Seat.

In this special episode, Marty shares the story behind the podcast's new name and the journey that inspired it. What began as conversations about business and leadership has grown into something broader—a place to explore travel, leadership, curiosity, and the everyday moments that quietly change the way we see the world and ourselves.

From a spontaneous trip to England nearly forty years ago to adventures in Antarctica, Africa, and beyond, Marty reflects on how saying "yes" to one unexpected opportunity sparked a lifelong love of discovery.

Because Notes from the Window Seat isn't just about travel.

It's about perspective.

Grab a cup of coffee, pull up a chair by the window, and join us for the beginning of a new chapter.

In This Episode

• Why the podcast has a new name
• The trip that changed everything
• How curiosity shaped a lifetime of travel
• Why the best journeys teach us to see differently
• What you can expect from future episodes

 There's always a seat waiting for you by the window. New episodes every Monday. 

Learn more about the window seat here: TRAVEL | Visual Escape

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