Transforming Anxiety into Adventure: A Spiritual Nomad’s Guide to Finding Inner Peace with Guest Monique Giroux // 89

What if you could transform a rigid, anxiety-filled life into one of peace and spontaneity? Join us as we sit down with Monique Giroux, a former corporate executive who left behind the financial world to embrace the life of a spiritual nomad. Monique's journey began with a life-changing retreat in Bali and led her to adopt practices like yoga, meditation, and forest therapy. During our conversation, she opens up about her transition to minimalism, the disciplines that have nurtured her inner calm, and her mission to guide others towards nature connection and energy healing.

Monique takes us through her adventures and misadventures, sharing the highs and lows of solo travel. Imagine meticulously planning your travels with spreadsheets, only to find yourself with a broken leg in Croatia! We discuss how Monique adapted to these unexpected turns and the value of balancing well-planned milestones with spontaneous detours. You'll hear about her enriching experiences with new friendships in Portugal, managing travel anxiety, and learning to follow life's serendipitous path.

Finally, we explore the profound practice of forest therapy, a mindful engagement with nature that originated in Japan. Monique shares the emotional and grounding experiences she's had through this practice, including the creation of gratitude mandalas and connecting with forest guides worldwide. This episode is an invitation to embark on your own journey of self-discovery and nature connection, inspired by Monique's story and her new book, "Lost Intentionally: The Inner and Outer Journey of a Spiritual Nomad." Tune in and let Monique's journey guide you towards your path of inner peace and adventure.

Amazon Book: "Intentionally Lost" https://a.co/d/anym6RM
Instagram @flourishwithmonique
https://linktr.ee/flourishment

Transcript

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Nomad Journey

Speaker 1 0:00

Hello sister travelers , I have a guest on the show today . I have Monique Giroux , and she is an author , a nomad , a coach and a forest therapy guide . But after 30 years of being in the corporate career in financial services , Monique took an early retirement , traded in her business suits for hiking boots , sold her possessions to pursue a slower paced , minimalist , nomadic life . In 2019 , she made a commitment to herself to live an anxiety-free life by finding peace and calm of mind . After an enlightening experience in Bali , immersing herself in study and becoming a certified forest therapy guide , reiki master , meditation and yoga teacher , she is now breathing deeply . Today she works with clients to help them slow down and reconnect with their inner voice and intuition through nature connection coaching and energy healing . And intuition through nature connection coaching and energy healing . She's the founder of Flourish with Monique , the Forest Guide Circle Flourishment Collective and Homes to Zero . Monique travels the world sharing stories along the way and just published her first book , which is out today , june 11 , 2024, . Book which is out today , june 11th , 2024 , called Lost Intentionally the Inner and Outer Journey of a Spiritual Nomad . So listen in to our conversation today . Well hi , M monique , thank you so much for being here .

Speaker 2 1:55

Thank you , I'm really excited . I'm looking forward to our discussion today .

Speaker 1 2:00

I know we have a mutual friend that connected us , so I'm really grateful for that because I'm loving what we're going to talk about today . But before we dive into some of that stuff , I do want to go back . We know where you are now according to your bio , but I want to go back to that pivotal moment , that life-changing event that happened , that brought you to where you are today . Can you share a little bit of that story with us ?

Speaker 2 2:27

Sure , yeah , it happened in 2019 . And it was one single breath changed everything . I was at the end of a 10 day retreat with my daughter . We were in Bali and it was a yoga meditation retreat , and at the end of the retreat , I was just reflecting on how I was feeling . I was sleeping really well , which was unusual because I had been an insomniac for years . At that point , so I was sleeping and I noticed I took a deep breath and I felt no pain in my chest , and that's when I realized for the first time that I had been carrying anxiety my entire career . I always had this tightness in my chest and when I could take that deep breath , I realized I made it . Actually , I made a commitment to myself to find a way to live my life so I could breathe deeply and have peace of mind . I had those two goals very simple goals , for about two years , and it really helped focus my efforts , my free time after that moment .

Speaker 1 3:42

And so you went back after Bali . And what happened after Bali ? Though ?

Speaker 2 3:46

I feel like , because of this revelation that you had on that trip , some things really changed in your life after that yeah so it started a learning journey and I , you know , I wanted to learn ways to manage my anxiety and manage my insomnia . And I just started to read , listen to podcasts . I took workshops and I ended up taking a teacher training with a woman who I listened to her podcasts on my way to work was called Mindful in Minutes and Kelly Smith is her name . She's American and I would listen to her podcast . She has podcasts on every topic under the sun . There were a few that were about anxiety , you know , helping you sleep and so on . So she became a regular on my podcast playlist and I heard she was coming to Toronto .

Speaker 2 4:43

So I decided to sign up for her class and she was teaching a restorative yoga teacher training and I decided to take that course and then I did a yoga nidra course with her and yoga nidra is like yoga for the inside , I call it . It's very much . It's a deep , restorative state where you're in between being awake and being asleep . So I took that course and I started putting these learnings into place into my own life and they were starting to see results . Then I take and then that pandemic hit and so she moved her courses online and I did a meditation teacher training during the pandemic , which I found really helpful . Yeah , and then I heard about forest therapy , which is Shinrin Yoku in Japan , started in Japan , started in Japan , and again it was still in the pandemic , but it was kind of in between . You know , when there was people could gather in small groups . So I signed up for it .

Speaker 2 5:56

It was a month later after discovering this forest therapy training and I went and spent eight days in the forest with other participants to learn how to be forest therapy guides , and after that there was a six-month practicum where every day we had to spend at least 10 to 20 minutes out in nature and that really was so transformational because it opened my eyes to a whole world I didn't even know existed , like just right before our eyes .

Speaker 2 6:24

There's just so much energy in life and in the wildlife and nature and starting to really connect with nature and really slow down . I think that was probably the practice . That was the practice that made the biggest impact on me . And then after that I had , during all of this time , I was seeing a Reiki practitioner and she had told me that you can do Reiki on yourself and I mean she was always so very helpful to me , so I decided to take the course . All of this was for my own healing at the time , and so Reiki opened up this whole spiritual world for me . So I think the combination of all of these practices within a two-year period was really changed the direction of my life yeah , enough that you quit your corporate job , and this is really what you're doing full-time now .

Speaker 1 7:26

right , but you're also , I guess , transition , not only , I think , from you know , personal standpoint , and even a spiritual standpoint , it sounds like but , um , from a lifestyle standpoint . You have also transitioned to what we call now , which didn't have a name many years ago , but digital nomad , and so that's where you are right now .

Speaker 2 7:49

Yes , and so location , independent lifestyle , right right .

Speaker 1 7:56

Yes . So share with us how that whole transition happened , because if you know , we know , I know um other digital nomads will tell you uh , especially if you're doing this full time , there's there's a transition from the conventional way of living , you know , whether it's you have a house , you have property , or you have a you know a salary , job or whatever it is Right . And there's this transition that happens to kind of get to the other side , right , and a lot has to change . So share with us what that evolution looked like for you . I know you were doing a lot of this personal diving in and seems like while that was happening , you might've been also working on this digital nomad lifestyle at the same time also working on this digital nomad lifestyle at the same time .

Speaker 1 8:48

No , no , okay .

Speaker 2 8:48

We're a little bit separate , Separate okay , I've always loved to travel .

Speaker 2 8:59

I've traveled a lot with my daughter and my partner but when I left , I worked in financial services for 20 years and when I left I just knew it was time for me to go . And I remember having that conversation with my boss and she said you're going to save the world one person at a time . And because I said to her , I don't know what I'm leaving for , I just know it's time to go . And I also knew I wanted to explore all of these practices and try to help other people yeah , you know , be able to breathe and feel calm and find relaxation and rest in their lives , and so . But I didn't know what that looked like . And the day after I left my job , my partner , andrew , and I got on a plane and went to Costa Rica for one month and we did a trial to see he's a coach . So we did a trial to see he's a coach . So we did a trial to see what life would feel like . Yeah Right , working elsewhere , so he would do his coaching practice . He didn't miss a beat .

Speaker 1 10:08

And .

Speaker 2 10:09

I went to a yoga center that was right next to our Airbnb , called the Peace Retreat In Playa Negra , tiny little village in Costa Rica and owned by Canadians , and I got to know them and they really , you know , it was wonderful to be able to go there every day , as I , you know , as Andrew would say landed the plane and we really loved it and we thought we realized we could do this full time you know , we had the discussion about do we keep the house and turn it into a rental property or do we sell the house ?

Speaker 2 10:48

you know , we really had this debate when we ended up seeing a financial advisor , which I recommend to anyone considering this lifestyle to really look at the financials before you jump into it . And so we decided to sell the house , and because we had this underlying motto keep it simple .

Speaker 2 11:10

You know we didn't want unexpected expenses , we didn't want the hassle of dealing with difficult tenants and so on , and we also knew we didn't want to live in Toronto long term . So once we did decide where we wanted to live , it likely wouldn't be in Toronto . So we were okay with kind of exiting the real estate market of the city . And so it was about almost a year later , after our Costa Rica trial that you know we moved out on September 1st and started to travel full time and at the same time my daughter was starting first year university . So you know it was a really interesting time . Know it was a really interesting time . I would say a little bit of an identity crisis you know , really under trying to think about .

Speaker 1 12:07

Who am I now without my ?

Speaker 2 12:08

you know , without your child , my job , I have an empty nest , I'm not a homeowner and on top of that my partner , Andrew , decided to pursue a childhood dream to sail around the world . So that's what he's doing right now , and so I didn't even have a partner , you know . So I felt like really stripped bare in so many ways . And so he started his race last September and I started to solo travel and I went into that a little reluctantly , you know I had some fears about traveling alone , but eight months later now I look back at the experience and it's just been , I think , the most wonderful thing other than having my daughter , the most wonderful thing I've ever done .

Speaker 1 12:52

Well , I know that you mentioned being reluctant about the solo travels , but it sounds like to this path that you started beforehand almost prepared you . I want to talk a little bit about anxiety , because there's a lot of anxiety sort of wrapped around that , or fears wrapped around the idea of solo travel for women , and I would love to see every woman get over that right . But you know there are and it sounds like you have discovered some techniques that could help anybody . But also , you know , helped you almost be ready for this place , right that you're at right now . So maybe share .

Speaker 1 13:36

I know you said you had struggled with anxiety . Many people I'm sure could relate to what that feels like . But share with maybe how you've used , what the tools that you've learned and what you teach with how you can help . You know the whole idea of anxiety and travel and how that could . You know they come together at some point , possibly whether it's in the planning stages , right , you get overwhelmed , or maybe it's when you actually get there . You get off the plane and suddenly you're just like having a panic attack , right . So maybe share . You know if you have some stories of your own or maybe what you think would be beneficial to women that maybe experienced that .

Speaker 2 14:17

Yeah , absolutely . It

Embracing Travel Transitions and Discoveries

Speaker 2 14:20

is overwhelming . At first , you know , when I was looking at eight months of complete openness , I didn't even know where to begin , and I came from an environment that had plans and contingency plans and contingency plans for those contingency plans , and it's like this whole illusion , though , of control , because I learned very , very quickly we really have no control . You know , when Andrew and I first started to travel , I had an Excel spreadsheet . I had every flight , every accommodation , the dates , you know everything on a spreadsheet . I'd given it to his parents and my parents and my daughter , and every single thing on that spreadsheet changed Everything . I mean , I guarantee it , yes , I broke my leg six weeks into our journey . Yes , it was . I was in Croatia hiking , it was . We can talk about that , yeah , okay .

Speaker 1 15:16

Question first journey ? Yes , it was . I was in Croatia hiking . It was . We can talk about that . Yeah , I'll answer your question first .

Speaker 2 15:18

You might have to get to that , yeah but so I learned very early on not to get too far ahead of myself , and so when I started traveling on my own , I had a few things in my calendar that I knew I wanted to do because they were , you know , activities I had to register for and pay for before they filled up . And so I had these milestone events in the schedule , but then complete openness in between these key activities , these key activities . And so I started in Portugal , and it was with a group of women who were also digital nomads , also over 50 . And it was a pathways program . So it was a perfect way to start . I mean , I got really lucky with the timing of this , but I also met some women that to even to now we're in regular contact . We've become really good friends , which happens all the time .

Speaker 2 16:24

When you travel alone , you meet some wonderful people , and so you know I say I'm never alone .

Speaker 2 16:32

You know there isn't the opportunity to be lonely because you meet people along the way . So , with these two women , after this week in Portugal , we decided to travel together for a while and we did a little road trip , stopped in villages along the way to Porto , we spent a few days together in Porto and then we kind of all went and did our own thing and I feel like , in a way , I have been guided . And so when I left the bank , I said I felt like you know my whole career , I had my hands on the steering wheel , I was in control and driving where the car was going , or directing the car . When I left the bank I would let go of that steering wheel and there was this trust that the car was going to go where it's meant to go and I felt like that for a long time . When I started my solo travel , that shifted a little bit and it felt more like I'm following the breadcrumbs and I don't know where they're leading me to , but I'm just following one at a time .

Speaker 2 17:38

And that's how I would describe this . Eight months of travel . It was just following those breadcrumbs , and it's led me to you know some really interesting experiences and beautiful people and beautiful friendships , so I'm really grateful . I did learn , though , that the transition days I found those stressful .

Speaker 2 18:02

You know , I just really wanted to get to the next place and I know a lot of people who embrace those travel days and they love them . I'm still trying to love them . I find them difficult , and , but not to the point where I get anxiety , because I've learned to , you know , and schedule my time during the transitions in a way that makes it as easy as possible . It might be an extra night somewhere in a hotel near the airport , instead of trying to go , go , go and get it all done and , you know , in one go I kind of hop , skip and jump to where I'm going .

Speaker 2 18:48

I don't , I don't book meetings , so I block my calendar and , yeah , I try to enjoy that time as best as I can , but it's still , you know I don't sleep the night before , so I'm still working on it . I think I'm I'm a lot better than when I started , a lot better , you know I'm I'm less nervous about those days now . Now I just kind of need to get through them . But yeah , so you learn , you learn those things along the way .

Speaker 1 19:19

Yeah , I love how you've discovered that about yourself and you're working on that .

Speaker 1 19:26

I mean , we're all a work in progress , right , and we all have different things that might make us anxious surrounding travel or just day-to-day life . Yeah , airports can be . They can be really . I mean , some people I don't mind them , but my part is I don't like the waiting so much , you know , waiting around or wasting my time . But I've learned to , like you said , I've learned to sort of embrace that time as like , well , I'd rather have extra time right , Then be rushing , so I always come with a book or listen to a podcast or something that I know in my day-to-day life I may not even have the time to do so . Like this is almost like a little treat , Like I get this time to just sort of yeah , I'm waiting for a plane . It can be . Airports can be noisy . Discovered about yourself the transition days .

Speaker 2 20:26

I've discovered waiting at airports right , how to utilize that time and you know , not be so anxious about just the waiting period , right yeah , and what I like to do at airports is , um , a little bit of shopping , because I don't really shop that much . Oh , okay , when I'm traveling and there's some great gift shops , so it's a . It's a good place to grab a few souvenirs . Yeah , if you haven't , you know , if you haven't done it family and friends , and so I take my time . And it's also like when you're in different countries , you know the food is different and everything's different and so I just kind of like exploring and and and trying the food .

Speaker 2 21:06

I really like um , trying different foods in different countries . So I also like to use the opportunity to do that at airports and once I'm okay in an airport , it's kind of I think it's just it's the getting there and stuff .

Speaker 1 21:18

It's the getting yeah , yeah . That can be stressful if you're in an area that maybe doesn't have really good . You know transportation system or infrastructure , but yeah , yeah , um , you know transportation system or infrastructure , but yeah , yeah , finding your way is part of the part of the journey . Um , I'd like to go back to um .

Forest Therapy and Global Connection

Speaker 1 21:39

You mentioned forest , uh , therapy . I know it is forest bathing .

Speaker 1 21:44

I think the terms are probably interchangeable um you kind of explained it a little bit , but maybe for my folks that are not familiar , like I mentioned to you , my son didn't know what it was , and when he went to Japan I asked him if he was going to do it and he thought it was walking in the forest naked . But maybe you can give us a nice definition of it . Sure , and then how do you use that currently in your travels ?

Speaker 2 22:17

Well , forest therapy started in Japan and it's known there as Shinrin-yoku . It's actually quite different today in Japan and it's kind of evolved in other countries around the world , but it is typically it's a two to three hour experience and I think of it as mindfulness in the forest . There's a process that a guide takes the group through that brings them into this liminal space where you lose all sense of time , and the experience is different for everyone in that they'll notice different things . Some people might tune into the sounds around them , or some people might really just be focusing in on the leaves of trees or the shadows on the forest floor , and so we have what we call invitations that we use to help people focus in on different parts of the walk .

Speaker 2 23:14

It's a very , very slow walk . It's not a hike , it's not a botany tour . We're not pointing out any plants or naming things . It's really , you know , about opening up all of your senses and getting you very grounded in that place , in that environment , and then slowly noticing what you're noticing and just spending time with it , and you know the kinds of things that come up for people . Sometimes there's grief , sometimes you know grief in in that I can't believe .

Speaker 2 23:54

This forest is in my neighborhood and I never even noticed all of these things . You know , like , wow , what are we doing to the planet ? Kind of grief , um some . I mean , I was just at a retreat on the weekend and there was . It gets very emotional Because we just rush through our lives so quickly that when we stop , all this stuff comes up that we're just holding inside and so there , you know , it can be very emotional for people to just start to keep thinking about their lives , where they are in their lives , and that's the therapy part . And we say the forest is the therapist . I'm not a therapist , I just opened the door to the experience . The forest is the therapist . I'm not a therapist , I just opened the door to the experience .

Speaker 2 24:34

The forest is the therapist . Yeah , um , and you're right . Sometimes it's called forest therapy , sometimes it's forest bathing .

Speaker 2 24:40

Shinran yoku is translates to forest bathing okay yeah , and at the end of the walk we typically have a tea ceremony and there's a lot of sitting on the ground on the earth , so we sit in a circle , we have some tea that's usually made from some plants that have been foraged from that area , and so you've opened up all of your senses and now you're incorporating the forest in with the tea and we use that also for any sharing that people want to discuss with the group .

Speaker 2 25:17

It's quite beautiful . It's also the tea ceremony , the other purpose , and we have a snack , because people are kind of zoned out and they're so relaxed that the chewing of the tree of the snacks helps wake them up so they can safely get back in their cars and drive home . Okay , yeah , so it's wonderful , because what I love about it is it opens people's eyes to um , to nature and the beauty of it , and you know the know the realization that we are nature . We are connected to the earth , the air , the fire , the sun and the water . When you have that experience , you just feel very connected to the earth .

Speaker 1 26:05

So in your travels , do you try to do that yourself when you go to different places ?

Speaker 2 26:11

I do . If there's a forest , you'll find me in the forest . I have a practice that I've started wherever I go . That really helps me get grounded and oriented to that place , because moving from place to place to place can feel very discombobulating you know , it's like , some days I wake up like where am I again ?

Speaker 2 26:36

yeah , oh right , I'm in Thailand , you know . And so it's , it's a it's . I call it a gratitude mandala , and I just create these mandalas on the earth . Sometimes they're made with shells and flowers on a beach , sometimes they're in the forest , or sometimes I did a beautiful one in Bali with frangipani flowers on the lawn , and it's just like a circle that's oriented to the four directions north , south , east , west and I do a gratitude to each of the directions and to each of the elements . And because it's oriented , then I know oh okay , in this place , north is that way . So it actually physically helps me get oriented , but also spiritually helps me feel connected to the place that I'm in awesome , yeah , yeah , I like that .

Speaker 1 27:30

You said discombobulated disconnect . I mean , I like that word a lot . Yeah , disconnected , yeah , because , yeah , you're right , you could wake up if you've been traveling a lot and go where am I , you know , and yeah , it's happened .

Speaker 2 27:44

It's happened a few times , yes , yeah . And the other thing I mean I have guided a few walks on my travels , but in some countries . You know I was trained in Canada . I know what to look out for here as far as you know plants to be you know , or maybe toxic . But in a country like Vietnam or Thailand or Australia . Oh my goodness , you know . I'm not sitting on the ground in the forest in Australia . You know there's so many venomous snakes and spiders .

Speaker 2 28:17

Yeah , but what I do is I meet with other forest therapy guides when I travel and I share their stories , so I write a little blog about meeting them and they take me to their trails or their favorite parks . I learned so much about the wildlife and the plants in all these different places and it's just . My favorite thing is to connect with people .

Speaker 1 28:39

I was just going to say it's bringing you connection with people that are actually from there , which is another great way . Some people do it through food , and it sounds like you do it through this forest therapy group , so that's amazing . Yes , well , you've been traveling for eight months right by yourself . Where are some places you've gone ? And then , like I hate to ask , but so far , what has been your favorite , or I should say , maybe most transformative place that you have gone to ?

Speaker 1 29:16

It's hard to pick a favorite because I feel like every place has its purpose in the season that you're in , possibly , and so it's hard to equate one against the other because you may have been in a different space in your life at the time , so having a different appreciation for that space . So I like to maybe just say you know what so far has been maybe the most transformative place you've been to ?

Speaker 2 29:46

That is hard for me .

Speaker 1 29:47

I'm sorry , maybe that's a hard question .

Speaker 2 29:50

Almost just as hard , because a lot of the places I go I go for spiritual reasons . So I spent two weeks at the end of September and the first week of October at a Plum Village monastery . And Plum Village , the Plum Village monasteries were started by the Vietnamese Zen master , thich Nhat Hanh . Yeah , he's from Vietnam , and when he was exiled during the war he ended up in France and started this community and so it's quite . It's a movement that's grown around the world and I lived with the nuns in the lower hamlet . There's three different hamlets one for the monks , which is where Thich Nhat Hanh lived , the upper hamlet , and then there's two for the nuns , and I really enjoyed that .

Speaker 2 30:47

Thich Nhat Hanh wrote a book called Love Letters to Mother Earth . So , of course , as a forest therapy guide , that really resonated with me . And every day they do a mindfulness walk through the forest and it's in silence , it's very slow . At one point they stop and they sit and they just listen . It's there's so many parallels to forest therapy um , and there's a um , a mindfulness bell that they ring throughout the day , and when the bell goes off , everyone stops what they're doing , stops talking and just takes a moment to come back into the present moment , come back to yourself , and so the mindfulness practices that are just woven throughout the day are practices that I've brought home with me . So it was a great experience .

Speaker 2 31:44

Now , the first three days into it , I realized I had COVID . Oh no , I know , can you imagine ? So here I am in a monastery in isolation . Well , I mean , it's probably a good place . I don't know . It actually was a good place . The sisters were so compassionate and they moved me to a room where I could be on my own with the washroom . They brought food from the Happy Farm so food that's grown there , so that I can prepare my own meals and some of the participants would come and visit me . We'd sit outside and they would tell me about their day and what they learned , and so it ended up being yeah , it was quite a beautiful experience actually .

Speaker 1 32:32

Wow , that sounds amazing . Any other special places that you've been so far ? I know it was probably well , and actually you said you have a book coming out and I'm sure you highlight some of these places in your book . Yes , I do . Yeah , okay .

Speaker 2 32:50

Sure the whole journey .

Speaker 1 32:54

Oh , well then tell us about this book . Um , I know it's launch . It's coming out soon . By the time this airs , it'll probably be uh , launched or out there .

Speaker 2 33:03

So go ahead and share with the audience about the book and where we can get it . It is um , launching june the 10th , so in in less than two weeks from our recording um , and I have it here for people to . Yes , called lost intentionally , the inner and outer journey of a spiritual nomad , and it just tells the whole story actually . What's interesting , though , is um , after I left the bank , I did a 10-day silent retreat . It was a buddhist meditation retreat of apasana and um . This book was . I was day five of the of the um retreat and two hours in a deep meditation , and this book just was just like there just appeared , the whole thing . So , uh , it took me two years to write it because I , kind of um , sometimes had it on pause and would pick up again and um , so it tells the story of you know where I was before I started putting all these practices in place and ends in Bali . So it starts in Bali when I had that breath , that realization of my anxiety and it just by chance ends in Bali .

Speaker 2 34:24

So I finished writing the book last November and my publisher like originally I was going to end the story when I sold my house and we were about to embark on our travels and my publisher said no , no , no , no , you have to finish like you have to bring it to your present moment , which just happened to be I was in Bali . So I actually kind of like that .

Speaker 1 34:44

you know that it's a full circle , absolutely yeah yeah , that's amazing , yeah , so , um , today's conversation barely touched the surface , I'm sure , of all those uh experiences you had . So june 10th , the book will be available to purchase . Yes , and where can ?

Speaker 2 35:04

they purchase that june 11th and it'll be on Amazon or any book retailer worldwide . June 11th it'll be Amazon and I think it takes about two weeks to get into all the other booksellers .

Speaker 1 35:20

And I'll make sure I put the title of the book in the show notes . And then is there . Do you have any social media that if people wanted to reach out to you that we could include there ?

Speaker 2 35:32

Sure , yes , I have . So my business is called Flourish with Monique and it's Reiki , forest therapy and coaching , and I also have on Instagram Flourish with Monique , okay , and on LinkedIn , because , of course , a lot of my network is corporate on the business side .

Speaker 2 35:52

Yeah , so yeah , I love connecting with people . So then , speaking of which , is there any last little nugget of truth or encouragement that you would just like to offer to my audience ? I think that the fear of the unknown can really hold you back from doing things , and the fear is always greater than the reality .

Speaker 1 36:36

You know .

Speaker 2 36:37

So I know when I think about when I was starting to travel on my own and the things I worried about like , what I worried about the most was losing my phone and someone suggested getting a lanyard , so I had this tethered to me all the time because I was so . You know , our lives are on our phones , yeah , but those were the things . I was worrying about them , and now I just I'm not worrying about things because I know I can do it and so so can you . You know , and I think it's just kind of , if people are nervous about traveling on their own , just start small , just go on maybe a weekend somewhere nearby , and , and you know , see how that feels . But I'll tell you there are a lot of women like us out there who are doing this , and you're really rarely alone . If you are , you do have to take the initiative to like go on a walking tour yes sign up , go on an airbnb experience .

Speaker 2 37:43

There's so many amazing airbnb experiences locally that you can try a cooking class you know , so get out there yes and and don't stay in your hotel room , right , it's so fun . Yeah , once you start , it's so fun . My daughter always says , like Mom , you have to talk to everybody . It's like , yeah , I do , it's why not ? You know , I've learned too if you talk to someone long enough , there's some connection , it's really incredible .

Speaker 1 38:07

It's really incredible . It is , it really is . Yeah , and everybody has a story which I love to hear all the time .

Speaker 2 38:12

Yes , yes , yes . That's why you have this great podcast .

Speaker 1 38:17

Yes , I'm hoping to keep sharing more of these stories , for sure

Inspiring Travel Podcast Episode

Speaker 1 38:21

. But , M monique , it's been a pleasure having you on my show today and I'll make sure I include all those things in the show notes for anybody that wants to buy your book and even get in touch with you .

Speaker 2 38:36

So again , thank you so much for your time .