Photographer and author Autumn Carolynn’s relationship with wanderlust started early in her life, with a semester abroad in England. From there, she’s held a variety of travel-related positions, including flight attendant and travel agent, and all of them have allowed her to pursue photography around the globe. During the pandemic, she combined her photography with her travel stories, and the result is “Traveling in Wonder: A Photographer’s Tales of Wanderlust,” which encourages readers to embrace exploration and life’s everyday challenges. Autumn joins me to talk about the surprising gut instinct that changed the direction of her life, the realities of life as a flight attendant (including the wide range of life skills required for and learned on the job), the importance of traveling now rather than putting it off for retirement, and how she sees the intersection between travel and creativity. If you’re looking for inspiration to buy that plane ticket, this is it!

Episode breakdown: 

00:00 Introduction

05:15 The alchemy of photo development

09:59 13 countries in 13 weeks

12:53 Secretive travels shared via Facebook

14:57 Exploring global fast food menus

18:13 Lost in Budapest

23:14 Gut feeling cancels Australia trip

25:44 Intense flight attendant training

29:34 Moving abroad: Not so simple

31:57 Adventure in Australia

38:10 Handling in-flight medical emergencies

41:53 "Traveling in Wonder" book release

43:28 Building a creative art business

47:20 Capturing memories for mom

50:05 Seize opportunities while able

55:48 Embrace new experiences

Check out the full show notes (now including transcripts!) at fycuriosity.com, and connect with me and fellow creatives on Substack.

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