Tomorrow Is Not Guaranteed: Why Travel Belongs In Your Life Today

What if your passion for travel could transform from a distant dream into a tangible reality? Susan Sherfield's journey proves it's possible—even without extraordinary wealth or privilege.

After spending nearly four decades in property management, Susan shares how she carved out a life where global exploration takes center stage while maintaining her professional success. Growing up in a blue-collar Chicago family, she once believed international adventures were reserved for the wealthy. That perception shattered when she took her first Mediterranean cruise at age 40, sparking a lifelong love affair with travel that would redefine her priorities.

Susan doesn't just travel—she orchestrates her entire life around her values. Rather than viewing balance as equal distribution of resources, she strategically directs her time and money toward experiences that matter most. Through practical wisdom on tracking expenses, choosing shoulder seasons, and making thoughtful trade-offs, she demonstrates how anyone can make travel accessible without sacrificing financial stability.

The conversation takes a profound turn when Susan reminds us that "tomorrow is not guaranteed." This sobering truth guides her decision-making about which destinations to prioritize, asking, "If this trip is our last trip, which one would we regret not taking?" Her newly launched website, OnePassionForTravel.com, aims to inspire others to stop postponing their dreams and start living intentionally today.

Whether you're a seasoned traveler or someone who's never ventured beyond your home country, Susan's philosophy challenges us all to examine where our resources go and whether those choices align with our deepest values. Your life is your message to the world—why not make it extraordinary?

Transcript

Introduction to Susan Shurfield

Dalia 0:11

Welcome to the She Suite Society . Today we're taking a journey not just across the globe , but into the heart of what it means to live a life that truly reflects your values . I'm delighted to introduce you to Susan Sherfield , the adventurous spirit behind 1PassionForTravel . com . Susan has transformed her love for exploration into more than just stamps and a passport . She's created a philosophy around travel that reflects her priorities , instead of the other way around . Whether you're a seasoned globetrotter with frequent flyer miles to spare , or someone who's dreaming of that first big adventure from the comfort of your couch , Susan's insights remind us that the journey isn't just about the destinations . It's about living intentionally along the way . So fasten your seatbelts , put your tray tables up in their upright positions and prepare for takeoff . As we explore what it means to follow your passion , honor your values and remember that none of us are promised tomorrow . Please welcome to the SheSweet Society .

Dalia 1:22

This episode with Susan Sherfield . So it was a pleasure meeting you at Advocate . We are in the same industry , but tell me a little bit about your background . What

Career Journey in Property Management

Dalia 1:34

is your role currently and what do you do so ?

Susan Sherfield 1:38

I'm currently the vice president of learning and organizational development for Mercy Housing . I've been with Mercy Housing for 17 years . We are a nonprofit organization that primarily focuses on affordable housing for low-income families and seniors and people with special needs , based in Denver , and so I live in the world of employee development and training and education , and that's always been my passion , and I've been doing that for about 21 years now .

Susan Sherfield 2:14

But , before that I was on site Like many people . I started on site and then went to multi-site , so I've been in the industry for almost 38 years .

Dalia 2:25

Oh my goodness , and how did you get into this industry ? I'm like so many other people fell into it .

Susan Sherfield 2:32

My first career out of college was actually in the hospitality industry , so hotel motel management and got burned out on that and was looking for something different and had wandered into the apartment office where I was living to pay my rent and I was just talking to the property manager and she said did you ever consider property management ? And I said well , tell me about what you do . And what I heard was very similar to what it sounded like I was doing in hotel management . And she says well , we might have an opening for an assistant manager with this company . Can you come back with me , check with me tomorrow , and I'm like sure . So I went in the next day and she said we do have an opening and it's here at the property where I was living . And I said and we sat down and she goes I know you well enough . She goes I'm ready to offer you the job If you're interested . That's how .

Dalia 3:26

I started oh wow , what's funny is we talk all about a lot of us fall into it , and it usually is because we walked into an office and talked to the people on site . Yet when we talk at the NAA about how do we recruit more people , we never talk about that . We never talk about the impact of onsite teams and how they're actually the ones recruiting people into this industry . It just you made me have a light bulb moment . Why do we never talk about that ?

Susan Sherfield 3:53

Well , but actually , over the years , especially when I was on site , I recruited a number of residents into the industry , either for the property I was working at or for another property I was working at or for another property I was either familiar with because , again , you get to know your residents , but then if they're looking for a job change or if they're out of a job or something , you just start talking , you understand their background and say , hey , have you ever considered property management ? Just let me tell me all about it , and and so and again that I've recruited a lot of people that way .

Dalia 4:25

Yes , me too , and they some are still in the industry and some aren't , but it's still a really good industry to get in and I swear most of us just stay in it forever . It's one of those . You hate

Values and Life Orchestration

Dalia 4:37

it or love it . You hate it or love it . You hate it or love it . It's because we work where people live , meaning we become so entrenched in their lives . Did you ever find it hard to make a line or to create a boundary ? So first of all , I want to comment on what you just said .

Susan Sherfield 4:57

When I was on site , what I always told my team is we are not here leasing apartments . We are here to help people find a home . Yes , and that was always the mindset that I had is we provide people with homes and , yes , owning a house is always going to be the American dream , but renting an apartment also is a home and we provide them with that living experience , and so I've always felt that way . As far as your question , yes , there have been times that it was hard to draw a boundary between you and the residents , especially when you get to know them and then people go through different life changes and bad things happen to good people , and so it was sometimes very difficult to draw that boundary , but it was part of the job . However , I am going to tell you real quick a story .

Susan Sherfield 5:57

When I took over this property a number of years ago , there was this teeny , tiny little woman . She was well under five feet tall , she was maybe four foot eight and she was a Cuban refugee and she'd been living at the property a long time , and at first it was like who is this resident that is spending way too much time in the clubhouse and she shouldn't be here and I got to tell you I grew to love her like family . I couldn't have loved my own family . You know , and you know the way I love her . She was such an amazing woman and again , that was one of the times it's like you know what . I'm sorry I'm going to have to cross that boundary . She became family to me . She was just such a wonderful person .

Dalia 6:45

It happens , we care . I think that's why we're in the industries , we care . So how did you balance , then , your personal life ?

Susan Sherfield 6:51

I don't use the word balance , I call , I say I've always said I orchestrate my life , because I really have always thought of my life as an orchestra , that you've got to have all of these instruments somehow playing in unison and making this beautiful symphony or this beautiful music , and you've got to know when to put attention in the right space . And so at different stages of my career , I've always had a very strong work ethic . The whole idea of working just a 40 hour week was absolutely foreign to me . But to me it was about building my career , going above and beyond , getting involved in the industry , getting involved in the local apartment association , creating my networks , and so part of it was the drive to build career , but part of it was also just innate to who I was , who are you ? It was kind of hard to separate the strategy , a cognizant strategy , from who I really just was as a person .

Dalia 7:59

So what makes you tick , personally or professionally ? Personally , because I think that feeds into who we are professionally is ultimately it's your . Why you get up in the morning , why do you choose to do what you do ? Why do any of it ? It's the soul of who you are . What makes you tick ? And then I'm going to get to your traveling , because we got to talk about that Absolutely .

Susan Sherfield 8:19

So , first of all , I was a single mom and so part of it was making sure that I could provide a good life for my son . So family is number one , has always been number one . I've made a lot of choices to make sure that that was my number one . So I've passed up career opportunities . I've again made choices to say say what being a mom had to be first yes , I needed my work . I needed to still build a career , but understanding where my values were and that was in being a mom , that was always first . And then , after that , knowing that I wanted to be in an industry where I could make a difference .

Susan Sherfield 9:07

There's nothing wrong with making money , there's nothing wrong with that . But I needed to make sure that I knew that I was making an impact on people . And even when I was in the hotel industry , to make sure that the guests had a good experience , to make sure that my team enjoyed working good experience , to make sure that my team enjoyed working at that hotel . It was that mindset and so that really helped me align very , or plug into this property management industry so nicely .

Dalia 9:37

Those are awesome . Those are definitely some really strong core values as to your motivations . Core values as to your motivations . I'm wondering a little bit about your background , your childhood

The Passion for Travel Begins

Dalia 9:57

and how you came to be that way .

Susan Sherfield 9:58

I grew up in Chicago , a very blue-collar family , and again I think my values really come from my parents . Loving I was very , and it is not lost on me that I recognize that that is a privilege to grow up in a stable home with two loving parents and not worry about whether there's going to be food on the table or . I never took that for granted and so certainly my parents raised me right and so that was a big part of it . But again , we had a good life but it was not about any bells and whistles and luxuries . That's not how I grew up . As I said , I knew I had a good life but it was not about a lot of material things and I'm fine and I was in I . That also has definitely influenced me . I always say I would much rather spend my money on experiences than on stuff .

Dalia 10:47

Which is so funny . It's very true , but you have some of the best outfits seen and it's amazing because you're very honest about that . It's not about spending money on the things . Where do you find your outfits ?

Susan Sherfield 11:06

things ? Where do you find your outfits ? Well , so , if you didn't notice , I'm a very tall woman . I'm 5'11 and I have huge feet and it's . I can't just go into any store and say , oh , you'll start picking stuff off the rack and find stuff that fits me . So a lot of stuff is just knowing the places that I can buy stuff , and I buy almost everything online . I almost never go into a store .

Dalia 11:26

It's super helpful . I know I love doing that too , but see , that's the thing . So you buy , you spend your money more on experiences , absolutely . When did you start doing that ?

Susan Sherfield 11:36

You know what .

Susan Sherfield 11:37

To be honest with you , I think I've always had a sense of that , partially because of personal values and then , many years , because of necessity .

Susan Sherfield 11:47

As a single mom , I was the sole income for raising my son , and so bills came first . But even when he was young , I would put away $10 here , $20 there , in order to always take him on a summer vacation . We did a vacation every summer and sometimes that meant going down to Atlanta for a long weekend and going to baseball games and the zoo and things like that , and then every once in a while , if I was able to take him , maybe to Washington DC . But again , I always had to be on a budget . But even at budget , it's like I knew I wanted to have money in order to provide him with those experiences . And again , I also was very intentional about trying to give him a variety of experiences in order to then allow him to make his own choices about what things he wanted to pursue in his life , about what things he wanted to pursue in his life , and did you get those same experiences , or was it more of because you didn't really get that ?

Dalia 12:57

you curated your life in a way to make sure you had one ?

Susan Sherfield 13:03

I do think it's a combination of both . Again , growing up in Chicago , there was always so many things going on and my parents did take us to the museums and to the cultural festivals and a lot of the things in Chicago . That's always going on and I always loved that .

Dalia 13:25

That maybe sparked your interest in all the cultures .

Susan Sherfield 13:29

I think that was a big part of it . Now for travel my parents forced me to go camping . Let me just say as much as I like experiences and I love to travel there , I do have some limits . I am not a camping girl .

Dalia 13:44

I'm not either . You won't hear anything out of me for that .

Susan Sherfield 13:47

You've probably seen this meme that says if you ask me if I want to go and see nature , if it means I can see the trees from the comfort of my hotel room , yes , I'm in . I don't need a lot of luxury , but I don't want to be sleeping with nature .

Dalia 14:04

Listen , you will never hear me argue you on that one . My type of camping is also out of a hotel . I don't camp , I've been camping . What is that ? Why do people enjoy it ? No , knock on them , it's just . I prefer no bugs , personally , no bugs .

Susan Sherfield 14:20

As well as other things that creep and crawl .

Dalia 14:23

All right , let's talk about the places you've been . Let's start . What was the first treat yourself trip ? What was the first .

Susan Sherfield 14:33

So so I had been just from family travels , just like to around the United States . So let me just say I did have the privilege of seeing a number of the States of the United States . We live in an amazing country and you know who are interested in travel and you know want to go abroad or feel they can't afford to . We live in a fabulous country . There are so many different things to experience . You don't have to leave the country , you don't ? Yeah , we traveled a lot in Canada . Canada is an absolutely beautiful country . And then after that I'd been like in some border towns in Mexico a couple of times and maybe an island .

Susan Sherfield 15:13

But my first big trip abroad was actually for my 40th birthday . I mean , I was , I'd been divorced the year before and I thought , you know , I have to turn 40 . I want to do it in style . And you know , and before that I never really thought that traveling abroad was something that was within my reach , as I think I had mentioned to you growing up , you know I would make comments to my parents when we'd be watching , you know , the TV , when you know the whole family would be around one TV and you have three channels and that was it . You know . We would watch different shows , like Doc Cousteau and Mutual of Omicron's Wild Kingdom , you know , and National Geographic , and I would tell my parents I want to go there someday , I want to see that someday , and I don't . I think they really believed that it was . You had to be rich in order to travel those places , and I say this on my website . I said I never thought that they were trying to crush my dreams . I think they were trying to manage expectations . And it wasn't until I was in my mid-30s and I'd been in the work world for a number of years and I started meeting people that really were not all that different from me . You know , they had children , they had lives , they had bills and somehow , you know , they did not grow up in

Making Travel a Financial Priority

Susan Sherfield 16:42

in a family of of privilege , of of , you know , wealth or any , and yet they had been to these places . And I'm thinking , okay , well , you know , if they can do it , I can too . And so for my 40th birthday , my son was 19 at the time , 19 , I was 20 . And I just said , hey , you know , are you too old to take a trip with your mom for my birth , for her birthday ? And he's like well , what'd you have in mind , mom ? I said Mediterranean cruise , italy , greece and Turkey . And he's like I'm in .

Susan Sherfield 17:15

You know , and back then the internet was not in existence . You had to go to a travel agent for everything . You had to go to , like , the library and check out a book to learn about these places . You know the information wasn't available to help you plan a trip or book a trip independently . You know you had to rely on these experts and while you know , fine , it was like that trip absolutely lit the fire , changed everything . It was life-changing Absolutely and I knew that that had to be a part of my life In some manner . I just never imagined that I would be able to go the places I've been and do the things I've done , and especially on the scale that I've done it . But again , I made it a priority . It aligned with my values , it aligns with your values .

Dalia 18:11

So what are some of the other places you've been to , then , and the experiences that you've gone ? You talk a lot about this , obviously , on your website and I am going to be sharing that with everybody , but tell us .

Susan Sherfield 18:24

First of all , let me you know and I think I shared this with you the website is a new project for me , so managing a website is really well outside of my normal skillset , and so a good example is I was on it the other day and these weird boxes popped up . I'm thinking I don't know what these are . I didn't cause this , and so now I have this defect on my website that I don't know how to fix , and so I'm waiting for my webmaster to contact me and help me figure figure out that . So so website , yes , is new , and I'm , as I said , I'm still figuring out all the ins and outs of actually managing the website , because I probably have at least 30 blogs ready to go once I figure that part out .

Dalia 19:11

Nice , but props to you and kudos to you , because managing a website people always see , especially now in the age of technology and AI , they're like , oh , everything's so easy , you just plug and play , you're totally fine . No , yeah , if that's your skill set or if that's what you kind of already know how to do , or if you've been in marketing in that area to any capacity , you can learn it . But it is a steep hill to learn if you're not already in that , and so I'm thankful you bring stuff up like that , because there are many people that don't understand or even value that level of expertise out of anybody , because they're thinking they can just plug a bot or plug some sort of anything in . Like Chachi can do it .

Susan Sherfield 19:55

No , yes , yes , but no , yes but no , if you know how to do that , I'm sure it's easy . Yeah , but so the website I launched late last year and it was just intended to inspire people to travel to see the world , that I mean . I'm not trying to sell anybody anything . I'm not trying to , you know , create a different career about it . It was just about inspiring people to travel , whether , again is it , whether it's in the United States or abroad , you know , you know , is it following that passion if it's something that you're interested in ? You know is following that passion if it's something that you're interested in . And so , at this point , who ?

Dalia 20:33

isn't . Everybody loves a good experience . They just don't think . I think they think , like what you originally thought or your parents , that it's only for the wealthy . How could they take a Mediterranean cruise ? How could they travel to , or did you say you're going to Thailand ? Where are you headed to next ? I feel like you said you're headed somewhere .

Susan Sherfield 20:52

The next big trip is in August , for my birthday . I'm going to Rio . I've been to Brazil , so I'm going to Rio . That's my first time there . I'm very excited about that . Nice , so yeah .

Dalia 21:07

I love that you're spreading the passion for travel . I think that's even the name of it . It's the passion for travel , and no , it's not to monetize , but it is probably will end up being that way for you , just because I don't know . I talk to a lot of people I'm sure you do too . We do in this industry and just kind of as humans , we're just that way . I have yet to meet somebody that has no desire to travel . It's that's what I hear time and time again . Do you talk about that on your blog ?

Susan Sherfield 21:40

I do actually have a blog about that . It hasn't posted yet , but I do have it ready . But again , to go back to the word values , everybody has a limited amount of time and money , and where you spend your time and money directly aligns with what's important to you . And so you know , I know that traveling , you know the world is seeing the , having these experiences is one of my top priorities for myself , and so I choose

Travel Tips and Philosophy

Susan Sherfield 22:15

to live a pretty conservative life . I mean , don't get me wrong , I have a good life , but there are so many things that I choose to live a pretty conservative life . I mean , don't get me wrong , I have a good life , but there are so many things that I choose to not do or not buy based on how it might ding my travel budget . And so I mean , and that's for everybody , where to me , if they say , oh , I never could do , that it's like well , then it's probably just not something that's important to them , and that's okay . But if it is important to them , there are a lot of ways that you could travel on a budget and still have a good time .

Susan Sherfield 22:51

I don't generally stay in like real hotels , granted , I want somebody someplace safe , someplace clean , you know , but it goes . It doesn't have to be luxurious , I don't have to go to , you know Michelin , you know it's where to save . And then also doing a little research and planning . You know things . You know I lot on on shoulder season . That is like a huge I share all the time . It's like you do your homework and say you know when is the busiest season , both for you know as well as the prices go up Shortly before there , shortly after there . Shoulder season is a great time to travel , and so you know that's . You know one travel tip , learning how . You know the tips of doing research to figure out . You know different deals and you know , especially on airfare , airfare could . Then you know it's going to be the biggest expense , it is the most expensive .

Dalia 23:48

It's like everything is affordable but the airfare .

Susan Sherfield 23:51

Well , you know , once in a while I might treat myself to flying first class . But it's like that's one of those things again you have to figure out and say to flying first class , but that's one of those things again you have to figure out and say , okay , when is going to be like really impactful , when is it just a luxury ? You know , if somebody has the funds and they can afford to fly first class all the time , more power to them . But again , that's not my budget and so but let me just say , because of my legs , I do need to get at least that comfort class or that that extra , because , yeah , because I don't fit in many , you know , regular airplane roads .

Dalia 24:24

Yeah , See , that's very helpful . I'm sure anybody listening to this podcast will feel a bit more inspired to make it a priority if that is a priority for them , which again I argue that it is I think that it's a lot easier to say I can't afford things and to just chalk things up as that , as an excuse to not have to do anything . But then what happens ? 20 years goes by , 30 years goes by . You think that the years go slow . They go fast . And now where did all that time go ? When did you ever make time to make those values a priority ? I think that's the problem . They don't make their values the priority , whereas you did , you and continue to do .

Susan Sherfield 25:05

Well , and the other thing is , you know again , unless you're independently wealthy or you know you're very successful . I mean , we all live on a budget . Yes , we do , and so , but it's a matter of saying do you know where your money goes ? A lot of people I mean it surprised me , a lot of people don't know where their money goes , and so just to track it , I mean like every penny for just a couple of months , and really understand where your money goes , and then to say , well , where can I start , you know , making changes in order to have this trip become a reality .

Dalia 25:42

Yep , yep . Oh , I love that , which is funny because I always end each episode about the same , which we're getting close to time and I want to be respectful of that Advice . What advice would you give to somebody just in general

Tomorrow Is Not Guaranteed

Dalia 25:56

? It can be about travel , it can be about making your priorities match your values . It can be what life advice would you give to anybody that is listening to this podcast , knowing that the audience is mostly women ?

Susan Sherfield 26:09

Tomorrow is not guaranteed . You know . I know too many people who think you know say I'll get to it tomorrow , I'll do it next year , I'll do this in retirement . And I know too many people who never got to do that and you just never know when life is going to throw a curve ball at you . And you know , I don't . And they say you know , you know when you get to the end of your life , most people don't say I regret doing this . They regret I have regrets that I didn't do this . And so that's why I said you know , I tell people all the time if this is something you want to do , you need to make it happen when you still can .

Dalia 27:15

You know again . You never know when your health might impact you or you know any number of things could come up and you know in fear . But it's more to live in alignment with what you value and to make that a priority , despite what life throws at you , because you can always make the excuses , but you can't choose when your time's up up .

Susan Sherfield 27:40

That's it . But I think too many of us assume that , oh , I'm going to be able to travel into my retirement or we live longer . You just never know . Or it might even be I want to take that trip with my best friend or with my family , or you never know what could come up in their lives as well .

Dalia 27:53

Yep , very good point . I don't know many people that travel alone , so that's a very good point .

Susan Sherfield 27:59

Well , unfortunately , I do travel alone .

Susan Sherfield 28:01

I'm not knocking it , but still you've got to . I think you need to think of those things . And again , that's part of it , because I one of my best friends , who I often travel with , she , has some medical issues and I have some limitations and what's funny is we balance each other out . They're very different , but we balance each other out and we talk about if this trip is our last trip , which trip are we going to regret not taking ? Where's the place that we go ? Dang , I really wanted to go there and we are making it a priority now , when we still have our health , we're still able to . And then , if there's some other places we don't get to , and at least we say , hey , you know what , those top locations , those top places we were able to go to .

Dalia 28:50

You had those experiences . Oh , I love that so much . And there we have it , she Sweet Society . What a powerful conversation with Susan from onepassionfortravelcom .

Dalia 29:02

Susan has shown us that travel isn't just about seeing new places . It's about experiencing life fully and creating memories that align with our deepest values . Her journey reminds us that life is too precious to postpone our dreams or delay our joy . I think we can all take Susan's profound advice to heart . You are not promised tomorrow . In a world that often encourages us to sacrifice today for some distant future , these words call us to presence , to intention and to live authentically right now . Whether your passion is exploring far-flung destinations like Susan , or something entirely different , remember that aligning your daily choices with your values isn't just a luxury . It's the very essence of a life well-lived . Susan , thank you for sharing your wisdom , your adventures and your perspective with our community today . Until next time she's Sweet Society , remember to live boldly , love deeply and , as we are going to say on every episode from here moving on , your life is your message to the world . Make it extraordinary .