How Does Travel Change You?

People often describe travel as life-changing. But what exactly changes?

In this episode of The Honest Pause, we're taking a pause to explore the ways travel shapes us—sometimes in big, obvious ways, and sometimes in subtle ways we don't notice until much later. From navigating unfamiliar places and meeting new people to challenging assumptions and gaining perspective, we're discussing why stepping outside our everyday routines can have such a profound impact on how we see the world and ourselves.

We talk about confidence, adaptability, cultural experiences, travel mishaps, and the lessons that come from being far away from everything familiar. We also explore whether travel truly transforms us or simply reveals parts of ourselves that get buried beneath the routines and responsibilities of daily life.

Whether you've traveled across the world, across the country, or simply taken a weekend away, this conversation is about the growth that happens when we leave our comfort zones and say yes to new experiences.

Take a pause with us as we reflect on the journeys that shape who we become.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Hey everyone, welcome to The Honest Pause. I'm Carol Rothri, actress, intuitive coach, and your co-host for Real Meaningful Conversations.

SPEAKER_00 0:09

And I'm Miriam Tyree, entrepreneur, business strategist, and your partner in navigating life's ups and downs.

SPEAKER_01 0:16

Here we talk about what happens when you hit pause, when we reflect and embrace the messy beauty of life.

SPEAKER_00 0:23

So whether you're here to reflect, recharge, or just have a good laugh, we've got you covered. Let's get started. Because you've done some fantastic and wonderful things and gone on amazing adventures. So what's sort of that amazing trip?

SPEAKER_01 1:04

They're all amazing. I mean, every everywhere you go, there's always something to be amazed about. But for me, like I automatically go back to you know England. I just love the old country and I just really resonate with that. And there's just something really strong. I have a strong pull for that. But when I think of one other trip that I so enjoy would be Australia. I mean, it was just so full of color and sounds and all of these amazing creatures that you would see in a book or in a movie. And there they are right in front of you. Um, the people were lovely, the water, I mean, everything can kill you there too. That's the only thing, right? Okay. It's like, you know, everything in this fabulous country can kill you, from the littlest, tiniest little frog to this little spider. But it's so beautiful. I loved, I loved it. And um, I mean, there's so many different takeaways, you know. There's just been so many places I've been. Everything come I come back with a memory and a um a soft spot for just about everywhere I've been. It's hard to sort of pinpoint one, but those two in particular are what come come to my mind. What about you?

SPEAKER_00 2:19

I think travel has in general just changed my life. It has rewired my brain in so many different ways. And I would travel a lot more and live, I think, more like a gypsy if I could, but I can't. Uh, but I do try to travel as much as possible. We went on this amazing trip to uh all three in this one trip. We went, we started in Istanbul, and so we were in Turkey, and then we went to Dublin, and then we went to Egypt, and it was just one of the most amazing experiences, not necessarily just because of what we were seeing and what we were doing, but because of the other people that we met. So whether it was locals or the people we were on a tour with or doing an activity with, we have made lifelong friends who we have then traveled to other places with on that trip and on our other trips. And so traveling is in my blood. It for me makes the world feel so amazing. It makes the world feel both like incredibly large and incredibly small because you can find such beautiful common ground with people all over the world and have made incredible friendships with people I met at an airport or you know, just random places, and we've met up later in life or gone on trips together, and that has been amazing. And because we love travel so much, we are gonna be hosting a number of travel retreats, and we're really excited, and we hope that you will join us on them. So make sure that you are following us on Instagram, check out the show notes so that you can get those updates of where we're gonna be going. But travel really does change you, and that's what we're gonna talk about today is how travel changes each and every one of us and really shifts our worldview through these incredible firsthand experiences, but also connection to community and sort of empathy and understanding for people who are different but also very similar to us, I think.

SPEAKER_01 4:44

Completely and just the um do you get the awe factor? I remember I was in Rome and I I went to always obviously to the Coliseum, but it was on my own. And I just remember standing there in awe. Like because the whole history of it, I've got goosebumps thinking about it. I remember placing my hand on these various, you know, pieces of this structure, and and I mean, I call it feeling the energy, but just that whole, how many people, how many people centuries ago touched this very scene, right? And I just oh, I've got goosebumps. That is the magic of travel for me, being able to be in places with so much history, you know, like our countries are are so young in comparison, and that's what just excites me and just makes me I want to keep traveling and experiencing and seeing and witnessing and learning. I love I love all of that about the travel.

SPEAKER_00 5:48

And I I think I have traveled to the same place, and I think having gone to Rome and been in those places, I like to plan my trips where there are specific things I would really like to see and specific things I would really like to do, but I plan my trips to be a little bit of that and a little bit of exploration and getting lost because many of the most beautiful things or the most beautiful moments are because I like wandered down a street or I met people or whatever happened, or I randomly I have had some like interesting things happen on trips. I've like ended up on random islands and with groups of people on a boat, and who knows? But those things happen because you're willing to get a little lost and you're willing to sort of deviate from your plans. I think some planning is good and a little bit of exploration and getting lost too is is really great. What part of your personality do you think comes out most when you travel?

SPEAKER_01 6:56

Uh definitely the little girl in me, just wanting to. It's like I turn into this sponge. I just want to take in as much as I can. Um, and I get so excited and I will sit there. I love to just sit in different, like you say, you get lost. Some of those amazing little alleyways um you wander through. You're all of a sudden you look and you go, Oh my gosh, I gotta go in here. And you're in this little place where they create clothes. It's no, there's not a store where you can sample and look. You're looking at, you know, beautiful fabrics, and and you're being, and it's this tiny little place that produces so much magic and beautiful pieces of of clothing or artwork and handmade things. That's look at me, I get so excited. I just love and I want to talk to the people. And I always want to say, tell me a little bit about growing up here. I've always been one of those. What was it like and the schooling? And I can sit, I would just sit and spend time with these, you know, people, and sometimes there'd be a language barrier, but the magic of being able to still communicate, you know, without isn't it a isn't it a fabulous thing that we have this ability to do? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:13

Have you ever been, you know, on a trip and you have felt more like yourself than you do at home?

SPEAKER_01 8:22

Oh, come, yeah, completely.

SPEAKER_00 8:25

I find that too. I find that oftentimes when I go somewhere, I'm like, why am I not living my life like this? Like this is amazing. I want to just be here. And I think a lot of the times we sort of define ourselves by our routines and our job and our responsibilities and our relationships, and travel can strip that away. And so it really allows you to just be you, and I just love that.

SPEAKER_01 8:59

I'm getting so excited thinking about it.

SPEAKER_00 9:00

I know I get so excited about all of our trips, and we we want you to join us, we want to hear from you of where you want to go. What has there ever been something that you've eaten or tasted or experienced on a trip that you just wish you could have more of? I have like so many of these.

SPEAKER_01 9:19

Well, there's so many of those.

SPEAKER_00 9:21

I just want to go back to.

SPEAKER_01 9:23

It's like, well, you've you've been to Paris, and you know how I mean, we have the same foods in our countries. We, you know, we can go, but there's just something about standing in this place outdoor, and you're gathering up your vegetables and everything and the the different languages, and and it's it's coming out fresh. There's just something, I don't know, I maybe you have a theory on this, but you can have a croissant here at a beautiful French bakery or whatever pastry, but being in that country with our cheeses and the breads, there's just something so different, even down to um, and I've spoken with a number of people who you know are celiac, and myself, I sometimes have a sensitivity as well. There's something about the baked goods there, the breads, that don't affect me the way they do here because of the processing, or you know, it's just so different.

SPEAKER_00 10:24

Um and they're often better than going to France and just eating bread and butter.

SPEAKER_01 10:29

Like bread and butter, I don't know. And cheese, cheese, and you just break it off, and you're like just taking a bite of this and a little bit of that.

SPEAKER_00 10:39

I I think there's certain experiences and things and like ways that people live in other places that just feel so good to me. I recently was in the English countryside, and I don't know, it's just I want to romanticize my travel all the time, right? It is amazing, and I think a lot of people romanticize travel, and I'm like, good, go do it. Travel can be amazing, but I think the flip side of it is that there can be delayed flights and exhaustion and stomach bugs and getting ill and getting lost and arguing with travel companions. And as someone who has traveled a lot, a lot, a lot, um, both domestically and abroad, I think every single possible travel disaster has happened to us. Like we have had every kind of illness. Um we have had all of the flight delays, we have had trips that haven't always felt magical. We have had to get emergency passports in foreign countries.

SPEAKER_01 11:49

Oh my gosh, that's like a nightmare for me.

SPEAKER_00 11:51

I kid you not, I don't know that there isn't because we have traveled so much, and because we have traveled to countries that aren't necessarily all first world or second world countries, and because we have try just traveled a lot, we have had many disasters while traveling, but I would never say, oh, that trip still wasn't magical, or oh, we didn't have a great time. I mean, like we joke about you know, some of these trips of like the series of unfortunate events that happened, but we're also the kind of people that we're like I don't know, yeah, all right, if we miss our flight, we miss our flight. We'll figure it out. We have missed flights, right? I have been stuck in the airport in Panama. I have had random experiences, but we just don't let those things get to us because I think we're so seasoned that we are experienced in like if you're gonna travel as much as we do and you're gonna do it with children or two places that you know have unpredictable weather, like we've gone to places and it's rained the whole time, right? And there have been some bad dark moments for sure. Um I will say the passport one in it was pretty bad, but ultimately, I mean, I I could just do like 20 episodes on like on uh we should do that mishaps. Oh god. We joke sometimes that Nick is the worst traveler ever. Um I'll share one story. One time we were coming back from Turks and Caicos, and this poor man had had a series of unfortunate events, and one of the things that had happened was as we were getting ready to leave, and he's putting like the checked bag on the thing to weigh it, he somehow snagged the suitcase on his shorts and ripped his shorts open. And the checkout ladies just like laughing, and this had been after like a series of unfortunate events. I mean, it was just hilarious. I don't know, earlier that day like stepped in dog poop. So earlier that day, he'd like stepped in dog poop, and on top of it, he had been eating like chocolate ice cream and it had dripped all over his new shirt, and it was just like one of those days, and so there were like a couple moments where like this is really tough, this is tough. Um but we always turn it around, and I will say we've been sick a lot of places too, but travel it, it's it's all about your mindset and your your attitude, and I think travel can really strengthen relationships and expose a lot of flaws in them, but it teaches you so much, doesn't it?

SPEAKER_01 14:57

It teaches us so much.

SPEAKER_00 14:59

It teaches yourself. Have you ever met someone on a trip who you just like will never forget, or you've had just like beautiful conversations with? I I totally have.

SPEAKER_01 15:10

I have met some amazing people, and I believe those things happen for a reason. Something is I just there's just a connection, and there can be silence, you know, throughout most of the the journey, and then something will come up and that the conversation will start where I've just sat there going, wow, tell me more. Like just and then you know you you'll never see them again. And there's I feel some there was this one person in particular, uh, elderly person, and I remember thinking, Oh, I'm not finished yet, I want to hear more. Like there's there's you you have that connection, and those are cherished moments, you know. Uh, and then you have, like you say, your disaster moments, uh, traveling to Australia with London when she was like three, and something didn't agree with her stomach, and you know, you know where I'm going with this. So it's all over me. It's yeah, oh man. So there's always something. There's always something that you're gonna go out. Oh gosh, I'm not gonna do that again, and then there's more so of the that was so worth it, absolutely worth it.

SPEAKER_00 16:21

Okay, a couple of rapid fire questions we'll both answer. So what is one place that everybody should visit at least once?

SPEAKER_01 16:29

Definitely Australia.

SPEAKER_00 16:32

I'm gonna go a little bit different. I'm gonna say Turkey.

SPEAKER_01 16:40

That too. Okay, but I'll stay with mine.

SPEAKER_00 16:43

Yeah, okay. What is one place that you would never go back to?

SPEAKER_01 16:52

Okay, I can say this. We were in um, I forget where the hell we were. Was the recent one? Where did we go? London was with us, my daughter, and all I know is that we went to this Belize, Belize, which is, I mean, everybody has different experiences. For for for me, for us, we went to this cute little place where we had to take a little hopper, you know, little plane to get to that other smaller island. Um, I would not go back there again. I was eaten alive by sand fleas. Oh, Miriam, I've never experienced anything like it. I was it was horrific. It was so bad. So bad. Were there beautiful aspects to it? Absolutely. Would I go back? I don't think so. I enjoyed seeing the the nice parts, but that just did me in. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:48

I don't know that I have a place that I wouldn't go back to. I think there are so many places that I want to still go that many places that I've traveled, I don't feel like I need to go back for a little while. And then there are certain places that call to me over and over again. Okay, what is one place that you desperately want to visit that you haven't been to?

SPEAKER_01 18:15

Oh my gosh. I want to go to Greece, believe it or not, I haven't been there. Um, I've always wanted to do uh the Great Wall of China, but uh Machu Picchu, there's so many other places that I want to go to. So many places.

SPEAKER_00 18:32

I want so I will say Machu Picchu has been a trip that we have tried to do multiple times now, and our trips every single time have been canceled. So like it was canceled for COVID, and then there was another weather issue. So we have tried and booked and paid for three trips and haven't been able to go. So I that is on my list just because for whatever reason we can never seem together, right? So one day, one day, and I will think I say I think the other one is I really do want to do the Camino one day.

SPEAKER_01 19:08

Oh, that is my that is my bucket list, yeah. Bucket list. We should do that, but we can't take the kids.

SPEAKER_00 19:14

I've been to those countries, but I haven't done that, like truck, yeah. Um, all right, beach, mountains, city, or countryside. This is hard for me. This is that's hard because I like it all right now.

SPEAKER_01 19:26

How I'm feeling, I would say beach. Um, but countryside. Oh, I love the countryside.

SPEAKER_00 19:32

I'm in a countryside vibe. That's what I want. That's what I'm really wanting right now. Yes. I want. Um, are you a road trip person or you're like I'm ready to get on a plane?

SPEAKER_01 19:46

Both. I think there's there's great aspects to both. I love, I love there's there's just something special about a road trip. You know, I I you know I love it. I do. I love road trips.

SPEAKER_00 19:58

In fact, I think I'm gonna I'm a bit tricky let's go on a road trip.

SPEAKER_01 20:03

Let's do it.

SPEAKER_00 20:04

I think that would be really funny, and people would love to see us do that. We're gonna do a podcast. Let's do it. On a road trip, yeah, let's do it. Should you know, there is a place I'll tell you offline that I want to drive to. It is 11 hours.

SPEAKER_01 20:21

That'd be an 11. Just think of the segments of this podcast weekend.

SPEAKER_00 20:26

We'll stop.

SPEAKER_01 20:27

But let's talk about that. I'm gonna do it.

SPEAKER_00 20:30

Okay. Well, we hope that you love travel as much as we obviously do, and that you will join us on one of our upcoming trips. So make sure you're following us on social media to see where we're gonna be going.

SPEAKER_02 20:48

Road trip, thanks for spending time with us today.

SPEAKER_01 21:15

We do hope you're feeling inspired, entertained, or at least had a moment to breathe.

SPEAKER_00 21:20

And if you did enjoy your time with us, do us a little favor, leave a five-star review wherever you're listening, and let the world know what you love about the show.

SPEAKER_01 21:31

We'd really love to connect with you beyond the podcast. So you can find out uh all the details about staying in touch with us in the episode notes.

SPEAKER_00 21:39

And hey, if you're interested in working with us or you just want to chat, all the details are there as well.

SPEAKER_01 21:45

We'll see you next time. And remember, you are never too busy to take a pause.