Strangers Abroad

Despising the complacency that is socialized into Italian youth, Rachel from Milan willingly thrusts herself out of her comfort zone which pushes her to rethink who she wants to be in the world. I vividly remember one time while eating alfajores, having one of the best conversations about how we have used our mothers as an example of what not to do (I love my mother, I come from a line of weird and wild women) and we talked about how our mothers were never challenged to push outside of normalized gender roles the way that we, millennial women are now encouraged. How our mothers were limited in the opportunities and expected to just follow the fold, even though they are both so much more than that. I remember feeling a sense of connection with her when she said, "If I don't leave, I don't become a better person and I would be restless."

We have finally arrived at our final destination, Peru, where I find the people who are so similar to me I was surprised we aren't blood-related. This episode is with my chocolate soul mate, Jen, whom I shared a room with while working at a chocolate shop in the south of Peru. The friends you meet on the road are a special breed- they see you at your most uncomfortable, your most scrappy and sometimes desperate because of the extremeness of living life abroad. While we were living together, Jen got her backpack stolen and I got painfully sick; we experienced each other at more overwhelming points that not even our own mothers would have known how to handle. When you are abroad, you open yourself up to the curveballs of the world-testing your resourcefulness and perseverance. You don't even know who you are in these situations or how you will respond. So, when you make friends who witness you at this simultaneously euphoric and tumultuous point in your life- and they still like you afterward- it is a bond like no other. These microwave moments weather your relationship because of experiencing each other in extremes. She understands a part of me that my oldest friends don't. Jen has cunningly found ways to stay on the road while pursuing her creative career. Find out how she does it in the newest episode of Strangers Abroad!

This is an excerpt of our conversation with Graham Hughes where we both get kind of ranty and I wanted to give it its own space now at a time when our thoughts about the world have been challenged. We recorded this conversation pre Trump and pre Brexit- so neither of us had the knowledge to know the outcomes of those elections but as you can here we do have foresight to feel that something was happening. In this mini episode we discuss the elements that have made the world seem more dangerous than ever and the hysteria people have against traveling due to these skewed perceptions. I hope mine and Graham's' stories of our global interactions show some proof of how the world isn't as bad as it seems. You can read all about Graham stories with strangers from all over the globe travels in his new hilarious book "Man of the World" which we will link on the website.

He holds the Guinness World Record for visiting every United Nations recognized country by traveling by land and sea. Like a turtle, Graham carried his home on his back for the better part of four years over every sanctioned United Nations country. Like the Mansa Musa, Marko Polo, or Zheng He, who only had their feet, a boat, or a few camels to further them on their explorations, Graham's trips emulate the wonders and lessons of ancient travelers whose slow journeys had them span thousands of miles away from their homes and forced them to engage in other cultures' ways of life. Graham has seen a lot for someone his age and for someone who has traveled to ALL of the allegedly dangerous countries in the world, he has come out unscathed and with both of his kidneys intact. In our conversation, Graham and I bypass the superficial aspects of travel and dig right into the deeper questions: is the world as dangerous as it seems, how did it shift his world perspective, and what has travel taught him that stay at home in Liverpool couldn't? We get a good taste of his historical expertise, political mindfulness, and well honed storytelling skills. If you want to read all about his adventures you can check out his blog but if you want to hold the stories, adventures, and close encounters in your very own hands then you can pre-order his newest book " Man of the World" through his website. I can't wait to get mine! Ready to go on the adventure of a lifetime? Hell, SEVERAL life times? Then check out this episode!

What would you do if everything you worked for- successful company, healthy body, living in a great city-was suddenly taken away from you? Many survive the setbacks of unpredictable chaos and unpleasant events and are able to return to a normal life. But what about those who not only get back to where they were at, but grow even more? Who see life for the fleeting opportunity that it is and take these setbacks as a challenge to grow? We call those people antifragile. Deano's story is the quintessential example of being antifragile- living in LA, having a budding tech company, being at physical peak and then all of that was taken away when he got into a horrible accident. After a year of physical therapy, instead of returning to the grind, he packed his bags and took full advantage of his new found strength and the opportunity to do what he was never able to before. Deano bought a one way ticket to Central America, lived abroad, learned spanish, hiked erupting volcanos, jumped over waterfalls and experienced the robustness life has to offer. In this episode, we discuss, How he became an entrepreneur How he got into a motorcycle accident Why he chose to travel to Latin America What it was like to hike volcanoes What he learned from his accident How he perceives his body- post accident Why he wanted to learn spanish What it was like to travel to Latin America What it was like to live in Latin America What his travels taught him Listen to his stories and adventures while traveling through Latin America His perspective on how the universe tests him

I met Gaby while I was volunteering in a hostel in Costa Rica. Born and raised in San Jose, Gaby thought she was going to go down the traditional path of education right into a career. However, her choice to work in a hostel, just to get some dinero on the side, has unintentionally challenged the way she thinks about her future. She has formed a new perspective on homeland by seeing it through the eyes of people who are experiencing it for the first time. She has become endlessly inspired by the travelers who wander in and out of her hostel who are far from home and perceive her normal to be vastly different. She strikes up a conversation with everyone, whether it is asking them questions about their explorations or native soil, guiding them to the bus station to their next destination, or cluing them in on where to get the best cup of coffee in San Jose. We would spend hours during the quiet afternoons of the hostel having little music jams while doing the daily chores. She would create a warm and welcoming space for every weary traveler who walked through the doors of Hostel Beku. This seemingly innocuous job choice has forced her to question everything about what she was doing with her life. She has been given a hidden perspective of the ways travelers live and move on a day to day basis and has inspired her to get out of her comfort zone. And with the help of her American beau, whom she met through pure random and romantic chance, she now has the motivation and ability to go and reach some of the places that once seemed untouchable. Since I last spoke with Gaby she has been living up to her dreams. She quit her job and has been flying to and fro between America, Costa Rica and now parts of Europe where she's always wanted to experience. I emailed her asking how she has enjoyed it and she says " Well to me is not traveling just for traveling, this a dream that I have had forever and it's changing me as a person and teaching me so many different things about the world and myself. My expectations are living up to my dreams, especially the smallest and most simple moments give me the feeling I was looking for, walking down the streets of Rome and touching the walls with your fingers and taking it all in. I love it. She currently has no plans for the future and is happy living her life day by day, or whenever the next fly benefits kick in. In this episode, we discuss How she met her American boyfriend How she is able to maintain a long distance relationship The cultural differences between dating someone from America What she went to school for What working at the hostel has taught her Why she wants to travel What it is like to date someone from another country How she gets fly benefits How she learned English What life is like growing up in Costa Rica

Sara and I also met at the hostel in San Jose, Costa Rica where she was working at a program that teaches English to locals. Sara says exactly what's on her mind and has a specific pep about her that is emulated by the bounce in her curly red hair. Although far from Scotland, Costa Rica was not her first rodeo. As a well-traveled woman, she is attuned to the complexities and subtleties of new places and is thrilled by how vastly different locations in the world can share so many similarities, exposing the elegant simplicity of our earth. This love of learning combined with a travel competition she has with her brothers keeps her on the move. She strives for a genuine travel experience and is not interested in seeing a new terrain through a window, she wants to get her feet on the ground, breath the air, and chat up anyone that comes her way. Here is her story.

Sarah and I met in Costa Rica while I was working at hostel Beku. From the moment we met, we immediately broke into a long conversation, as if it was unfinished from years ago. Like a hummingbird, flying from one flower to the next Sarah gave a scattered synopsis of what brought her to Costa Rica and how she was leaving in a few weeks. Keeping my feelings to myself, I selfishly got upset at that news because we had just met and there was already too much to talk about. Since we parted in Costa Rica she has continued to bounce around the world, going from teaching in New Zealand to being a Divemaster on a tiny island in the middle of the Indian Ocean, where she was residing when we had this conversation. It reminds me of the planet the Little Prince lives on, taking only 15 minutes to walk around the entire floating piece of land, gently bobbing in the middle of the sea. She has become enamored with the discoveries of the underwater world, one that mirrors the great depth she finding within herself. Here's her story.

Karyn and I bumped paths while still working in a hostel in Costa Rica. She is hard to miss between her immeasurable height, voice, and personality to match. As boisterous as her presence is, she is attracted to the relaxed, Caribbean sway that is hard to come by in frigid Minnesota. I bring her on initially to tell a regional American joke that I had never heard before. This is a little snapshot of the energy and playfulness that is bouncing out of her and I will let it speak for itself. In this podcast episode we discuss -What it is like to live in Minnesota -Why she travels to Costa Rica -What the Pura Vida life provides her -Her favorite food in Costa Rica -What are Lina and Oli jokes? -Where did Lina and Oli jokes originate? -Why are these jokes so damn weird? Lena and Ole jokes became popularized around the 1940's in the Northern Midwestern states of America. They are born from the Norwegian and Swedish immigrants who landed in the US, playfully making fun of their cultural misunderstandings in their new homes and cooling tensions between the immigrants and locals. I loved that I had to go all the way to Costa Rica to discover these jokes that are coveted by an entire group of people who share my nationality. By meeting Caryn you can understand how these innocuous, teetering between ranchy and wholesome jokes have molded her springy light on life, I didn't get to spend too much time with her, yet her laugh is still vibrates within me.

Tina, from Finland, needed to find a place that was a 180 from her 9 months of snow, before becoming complacent with her beautifully simplistic life above the arctic circle. She decided to go and explore a climate and people on the other end of the world away from her reindeer eating folksmen. Flying in with a come what may attitude, Tina has not been disappointed with the challenges she has faced and exposure to new perspectives that have blossomed within her in a warmer world without snow. This trip has generated great reflection and better understanding about who she is fundamentally, and how she wants to construct the scaffolding of her future. Here's her story.