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Finding Yourself Through Travel · Wellness In Every Season

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: We are talking about finding yourself through travel.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome to Wellness in Every Season.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_01: We talk all things wellness to help you align yourself, align with your goals, find balance in your life, and just recalibrate yourself.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_01: If you are listening for the first time, welcome, welcome.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_01: I'm so glad you're here.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_01: And let's get started in the rest of the podcast.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_01: Today I have with me Jennifer Corbeau, and she is with Spiral Path Journey.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_01: And let me read a little bit about her.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_01: I met her through a networking event and instantly hit it off, and I love what she's about.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_01: She works specifically with women who feel called to travel as a way of reconnecting with themselves.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_01: Her niche is using solo and intentional travel as a grounded, embodied, and spiritually meaningful path for women to come home to their inner knowing, cultivate self-trust, and move through the world with more presence, confidence, and reverence for their own lives.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_01: And she does solo travel, group retreat, retreat leader work.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_01: There's so much here that she does.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_01: And when we were talking at a networking event, she was talking about her own journey through this and some of the travel places that she does and why she chooses them.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_01: It felt super impactful and like it was very much led from the heart.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_01: So, Jennifer, first of all, thank you for being on.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_01: And then second, can you share with us your journey and why this has meaning for you?
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_01: I think people will connect with you the best through knowing this part.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, thank you, Autumn, for having me.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: I've just been really looking forward to this conversation.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: I love how sometimes those groups, uh the networking groups, we just find someone where we're like, okay, yeah, yeah, I want to get to know you.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm really happy about that.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: So thank you for letting me come on and talk about something I'm so, you know, not to sound cliche, but it's because it's true I'm so passionate about what travel can do for us.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: So I call myself an inspired living coach, and I just happen to use travel as my, I say my modality, you know, my vehicle of transformation.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: And all of what I do comes absolutely directly from my own personal experience and then what I have been able to see happen with other women.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: I've always kind of liked to travel.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: I remember being pretty young, maybe even 10 or 11, and my parents would stick me on a plane from New Mexico to Texas to go visit my family, my grandparents, and such.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: And I just loved that.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: It was so freeing and so I think that's when I really understood, oh, going somewhere by yourself is amazing.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you don't have to compromise, you you get all the attention on yourself.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: And so I love that even from being little, and so I would enjoy taking trips throughout my life.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: And then travel kind of took on a different meaning for me.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: And it was when I was married from when my children were kind of young and when they grew up, I was in a pretty difficult marriage.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: And I was based on my own stuff, my own trauma growing up, things coming into a marriage where we both had our own issues.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: I found myself very numb, depressed.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: I hated my body.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: All of these things were really difficult.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: And so I started using travel a little bit more like an escape.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: I just need to get away.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: I just need to be by myself.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: I was a very young wife.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: I just need some time to get away by myself.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: And often that meant maybe I would go away with my mom, or maybe I would take a workshop or something.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: Travel really was kind of a I just have to get away from this to something different so I could just breathe.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: And then travel began to take on even a more expanded meaning for me.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: And it wasn't so much I was trying to get away from something, but I was going to something because I realized how much when I would travel, I just felt different in my body.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: I felt more expansive, I felt more connected.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: And one of the most pivotal trips was back in 2010 when I went to England for the first time.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: And this was on a sacred sites retreat.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_00: Not that I was leading, but that I went on.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: My then husband was on that retreat, a couple friends.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: And so it was that was fun.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: But something about England, when I just arrived there, my whole body just kind of went, this is my place.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: So I felt a connection.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_00: I've always kind of felt the connection to the British Isles, something about just mystical and something really beautiful had always caught my attention.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: But this was my first time going, and my whole being just knew that I was home.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: And it was so beautiful.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_00: And I was still in after almost 20 years, I was still in this marriage, and I could tell it was almost at its end.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: I was starting to kind of come more into myself, but it was when I got to England that I thought, oh, I feel alive here.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: I did not realize how numb, how kind of dull my spirit had felt for years.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: It just had been so long, I hadn't really realized it until I got to England.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: And just everything, it's like my whole life was in this in beautiful color.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: And so there was something about, and I think we all have, whether you know it or not, there are places in this world that kind of we connect with.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: And me, it's the British Isles.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_00: Some people, you know, it's Hawaii, or you know, it just kind of, you know, we all have these different places.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_00: Who knows why exactly?
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_00: But there's these energetic connections.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_00: And I came back from England thinking, oh my gosh, I have to get back there.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_00: I had never felt so alive.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_00: And so I started more solo travel.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: The first time I did solo to England, that's when I remember sitting and I had walked up this hill and I was sitting on this bench overlooking some other hills in the distance.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_00: And I just thought, I just felt myself in this knowing that I'm a divine being more than I had ever known that.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: I thought, okay, this is a special place for me.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_00: I've got to get back as much as I can.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_00: So I created a business around it.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: And I thought, if I connect this much to this place and to this beauty, other women are going to also.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_00: So I started leading retreats and taking women to England.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_00: And it's I've seen that.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_00: I think that people that are feel a connection to me will also feel a connection to these places.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_00: And I started seeing that.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_00: I thought, okay, this is a really special way to travel because it's not just sightseeing.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: Of course, we go and we see some places that tourists go to, but we do it very intentionally, and that's why I say intentional travel, because it's so much more than just taking a tour and seeing places and going and buying stuff and souvenir shopping, but it's actually going and feeling who each person is, who you are in these really special places.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: So travel, and then I've done so much solo travel that I've realized, oh wow, there's something super special to this because I get to give myself my full attention.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_00: That's something that we don't necessarily do to put myself as a high priority.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: I'm spending the money, I'm spending the time, I am just going someplace just to be with me.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: And what a gift that is.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_00: It can feel really hard.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: It can feel like, oh, there's no way I can do that.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_00: But I tell you, doing that for myself has put me on such a solid path of loving myself and trusting myself and trusting my body, which is huge.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: All because I just allowed myself to take these trips and to just be with myself.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: And that doesn't always mean it was great and it was always relaxing or joyful.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, a lot of it was, but a lot of it was challenging because I was having to be with myself, be in my own mind, just sit with whatever is brewing that I could kind of detach from in my normal routine.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: Or, okay, I have kids or, you know, a husband or later after we did end up getting divorced and maybe other relationships, I could just focus on those things and maybe not deal with the stuff going on within me.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: But when you travel somewhere, it's like, okay, you have to because wherever you go, there you are.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_00: And when you're going somewhere and you're by yourself, it's like, okay, now is my chance to really listen to me.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_00: And I tell you, I've come through solo travel, I just I love my own company.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I consider myself to be my own best friend.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: I because I just have given myself that time to really cultivate and develop a so much more loving and compassionate relationship with myself.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that's the biggest gift I've gotten from travel and what I hope to support other women and doing for themselves too.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_01: That you rain your own stuff with you.
• 10:06
  unknown: Yes.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_01: And you're leaving, it's still a little bit here.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_01: But again, a great opportunity of you're away from all of the restrictions that you place on yourself, all the shoulds and the have to, the need to, yeah.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_01: Because you're taking yourself away from your normal schedule.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_01: And you have that really good opportunity to go, is it really have to?
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_01: Is it really a should?
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_01: Is it really a need?
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_01: Does it really belong to me?
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_01: Is this sense of my burning out?
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_01: Is it worth it?
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_01: Am I really aligned with my purpose and what lights me up?
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_01: And it sounds like that's what you really had happened with.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_01: Hold on, I'm now lit up here.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_01: Why can't I be this way at home?
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, exactly, exactly.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_00: And not only does it take you into that space, but it's also takes you from all the things that you use to soothe yourself, all your kind of defense mechanisms, all your ways of just feeling better.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_00: But that can be actually be really uncomfortable because when I don't have my normal, usual things around me, and now I'm here, it can be a little uncomfortable and unsettling, but that's also where just this amazing transformation can happen because you're like, okay, who am I now?
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: Who am I without those things?
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_00: And am I aligned?
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_00: Am I aligned with that life?
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_00: And am I aligned with what I'm choosing to do in that life?
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: And traveling somewhere, a lot of times people say, okay, well, I gotta get back to real life now.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_00: And I hear that a lot on retreats.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_00: And I just tend to say, hold on.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_00: This is real life because this is you getting to really get in touch with what feels true for you.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_00: That's real life.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_01: Really, our goal in life should be setting up our day-to-day life so we don't need a vacation.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_01: At least it let's set up the life that you don't need a vacation.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_01: When we had our surprise third pregnancy, and our house is suddenly too small, and we're looking at a new house, a new area.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, let's be in an area that has the things that we like when we're on vacation.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_01: Let's find we have a lake nearby that we can kayak on when the weather's nice.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_01: I really I find forest to be super soothing to me.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_01: My husband's a water baby, our kids are too, so we have all of that around us, and it's very helpful.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_01: Now, do I still need a vacation for my life and a vacation from parenting?
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_01: And I've had experiences, my husband encouraged this, gifted it to me, however you want to put it.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_01: He's an encouraging person.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_01: It's not like a he allowed me to type of work.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_01: But he said, I would love for you to take a vacation.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_01: We're done having kids, you're done breastfeeding, and I want you to feel like you're new again.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_01: And he even was like, What about if you go with this friend?
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_01: And he happened to recommend a friend who travels all the time.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_01: So she and I went to Iceland together, and it was an amazing experience to reconnect with who am I separate from all of my identity that I accumulated.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_01: I've been a wife for a while, but then motherhood.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_01: We're married to five years before we started having children, just took away like that.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_01: But motherhood can be all consuming, right?
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_01: So it was really nice to be with this one friend, and she gave me space to allow myself to okay, who am I outside of this?
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_01: What things do I like to do?
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_01: I was expecting it to be more of a slowdown vacation, it was not.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_01: It was a slow conversation.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_01: Lots of hiking and exploring, and it was amazing.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_01: I had this moment where I was snorkeling and I had a flashback to when I was a little kid, and I watched some kind of docuseries on some of the wonders of the world or something like that.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_01: I was super young, I don't know what it was.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_01: But I remember seeing on the TV and having that I'm never going to get out of the poverty that we're in, and I'm never going to experience my life.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_01: And then having that flash forward to I'm doing this right now by experiencing this is amazing, and reminding myself of all the ways that I've grown outside of all the conditioning that I had as a child, and having that very magical moment of, oh my goodness, I obtained this.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_01: And this is amazing.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_01: And as soon afterwards, as I FaceTime my husband is like, Oh my goodness, I had the experience, and I remember the TV.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_01: And anyway, a year later, that same friend, because I shared the experience with her, she had that experience when she was in Egypt with her husband.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_01: Feeling like she was never going to accomplish that.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_01: She's also from a divorced family with divorce income is harder.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_01: And having that, wow, I'm doing this as an adult, and I never thought I could do this.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_01: And what I love about that, it's sometimes it can be the places you go to, and sometimes you can be in the middle of doing something.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_01: Or having that break, having that breakthrough that you've been looking forward to.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_01: And I know that when you were explaining some of your retreats to me, you explained how some of the people on your retreats have had those type of breakthroughs.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_01: Share some of that with us.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_01: And especially for the people who are like, This sounds amazing in the concept, but they're not envisioning themselves doing.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, sure.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_00: Definitely, and how you said your experiences just illustrates it so beautifully because you're just in a different mindset, you're in a different body set, heart set, all the things when you are out of your normal day-to-day.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_00: And so that can trigger those kind of memories that can open you to those, oh wow, you know, I was not expecting this.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_00: And I mean, I love that you just found yourself in that just that moment of awareness that you are experiencing what you thought you never did.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_00: It wasn't you trying to build a life of, okay, I'm gonna build and just make sure that I can experience this, which is fine, but life just brought you there, you know?
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_00: And so that's so beautiful to know that yeah, you don't have to work so hard all the time.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_00: It's like life knows what it's doing, the universe knows what it's doing, your own self knows to bring you to these places where you all of a sudden go, oh wow, look at where I am now and I just got here.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, I've had different women, you know, just going through things that that are hard at home and just being able to not deny it or put it away or whatever, but just sort of let that be a little bit softer so that they can move into something different, a different kind of clarity, you know, and it happens in these different ways.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_00: I've had women, you know, I go to these sacred sites and especially in my England retreat, we we go to Stonehenge, we go to different circles, we go to some sacred sites in Glastonbury.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_00: There's a holy well there called the chalice well.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_00: It's so beautiful and it's so magical.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_00: And yeah, I had a woman who was there and just had started having these memories of her parents who had died and these messages coming through from her parents that was totally unexpected.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_00: And yeah, yeah.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_00: And it was so that she couldn't really talk about it at all during the retreat.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_00: It was just like I had this experience.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_00: I think she probably just wanted to hold it for herself for a while.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly, exactly.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_00: I had one woman, I love this story so much.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_00: So I do a walking retreat, and it's like it's a pilgrimage, and I do it in Ireland.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_00: And last year I did it in County Wicklow, which is on the east side of Ireland, of the Republic of Ireland.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_00: I have these retreats as solo walking.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_00: So I want everyone to walk by themselves because there's this term that I learned several years ago, and I thought this is amazing.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_00: It's called solviture ambulando.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_00: My Latin pronunciation is is what it is.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_00: Anyway, it's it's an old Latin term and it means it is solved by walking.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_00: And I just realized, oh, totally.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_00: Anytime something I'm just feeling off or something's going on, if I just go on a walk, I feel better.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe I got clarity, maybe I got some kind of answers of okay, this is how I'm gonna navigate through this, or maybe I just feel peace.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_00: Like, okay, it's not as big of a deal.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_00: But I'll always feel better.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_00: I always get some great awarenesses and inspiration when I'm walking.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_00: So I started I'm gonna do these retreats.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_00: I've been on some solo walking tours by myself, but I thought, no, this is gonna make a good retreat.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_00: Anyway, people were a little unsure about hiking by themselves, especially in a foreign country, but I just knew what it could do for these women.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_00: And so I got a little bit like, I'm this is how it is.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_00: You need to know you will be walking by yourself, you will be hiking by yourself.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_00: And one woman, she was terrified, she just was terrified of hiking by herself, even though it was a trail that was very well marked.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_00: You know, people on it just had something in her that was just terrified of other people or animals or whatever, but I just knew.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_00: And so I just like this is how we're doing it.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_00: So you're gonna go.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_00: And so she spent maybe a quarter, half of the first day just terrified and looking around, making sure where are we?
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I didn't know this in that moment, just how freaked out she was on the hike.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_00: But what she said happened was when you're by yourself, you really see synchronicities and signs.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_00: And she was walking along, and all of a sudden she reached the part that I think it was called the veil of Clara.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_00: And immediately she just relaxed because she remembered that when she was a little girl, she heard about Guardian Angels, and she just decided to name her Guardian Angel Clara.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_00: And so completely just at ease and just felt this connection to feeling safe and to just feeling supported.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_00: And it's like that that just completely switched off the fear, and the rest of the day she was ready to get out there, she was excited, and so just this little something that was kind of uncomfortable, but getting through it rather than just denying or stopping or going home or whatever helped her process that fear in such a beautiful way that it was like, oh, it was gone.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_00: So people have these just really beautiful, often mystical experiences.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_00: And it also can be just something really subtle, like a woman just realizing, oh wow, I made a decision to spend the money.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_00: You know, going on an international retreat is not cheap.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_00: So I spend the money.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_00: I'm doing this, you know, by myself and for.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: Myself and that can create such a shift.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_00: I had a client who did my solo travel program and she didn't realize like what is that, a solo travel coaching program?
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_00: Like people, like I don't even know what that is, but what it is is just I I help coach in how to again make it a really meaningful experience and how to kind of get through the challenging parts, how to really take in and be in the energy of the place.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_00: She had never done anything like that for herself, but she ended up just having such an internal transformation.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_00: She ended up healing a lot of her relationship with her mom.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_00: She just realizing how her whole life had just been such a beautiful dance of experiences to help her heal through a lot of stuff.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_00: And that wouldn't have happened if she was with other people.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_00: Or it may be, but it would have been very different.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_00: But again, just that time to yourself has such an impact, I think, that people may not even really realize.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_01: Makes me think about the time where I feel like I need to have constant noise.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_01: I'm afraid to say what's happening when you have music in the car or people around you, and you can't be left alone, or you start to feel that bubbly anxiousness coming up, or however it feels for you.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_01: But when we take that time, and we might need to do it slowly, quietly, or jump right in face first feet first with a retreat like this of no, you're going to take this time.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_01: And it's not just you're going on a hike or a walk, you're doing it somewhere that's more sacred.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, exactly.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_01: Feel the spirit there, and you can feel that love and kind of that thing enveloped, and it allows you to open yourself up.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_01: There's so much to it.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_01: I've been in different places that have been very sacred, especially living here on the East Coast.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_01: So much more here.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_01: And it's interesting how you have the spirit feels slightly different in each place and how amazing it can be, and how there's times where my husband knows that I like to wander off sometimes, and I'll just at this point our marriage, I'll just give him a look, and he's like, Yeah, go ahead for a little bit.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_01: And it's just so amazing to be able to do that.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_01: And then I've also traveled alone, and the first time I did that, I think I was 18, 19, and it was my first time flying alone, like the whole thing, and it was across country, and it was scary, but it was also super fun.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_01: I ended up having somebody next to me who were super nice, and I was upgraded to a much better seat, so I had no idea what to do.
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_01: So the guy next to me was explaining it.
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_01: It was just nice to remember this is who I am separate from everybody else.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_01: And then when I did it again a couple years ago, my first time doing it since being a mom, and it was a little nerve-wracking.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_01: And I wasn't flying that far, I was going from Maryland to Boston, so like super quick.
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_01: I was going to a conference where I didn't know anybody, and that was a little disconcerting.
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_01: And I decided to get a private dorm room for the conference because it was at a college campus.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_01: I'm really glad I did that, so I don't have to worry about if anyone's snoring or whatever.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_01: But nobody was there in the dorm.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_01: Thankfully, I picked the room I was assigned.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_01: But anyway, it was just amazing to have so many opportunities to sit with myself and to really discover who I was.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_01: I took time out from the conference.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_01: I should have been in some of the classes, and I decided you know what?
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_01: I'm actually over full from all of the content that I just need to sit and absorb.
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_01: And from being a mom, and I had just graduated from college recently, I just needed a minute.
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_01: So I actually took a walk and sat on the main river that goes through Boston.
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_01: I don't even know what it's called at this point.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_01: But it was amazing to see other people kayaking.
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_01: And that's when I had that realization of I almost drowned as a kid.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_01: So my husband had been against me kayaking alone, which it's what I really prefer to do.
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, the quiet and the peace and the water.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_01: And in our last house, we lived on the edge of a reservoir, so it would have been a very short drive to go there.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_01: But he was always, no, I don't think you have the muscle mass in your arms to be able to like lift it over our huge FCV.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_01: He was right.
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_01: I don't want to hear that to do that by myself.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_01: And he was worried that with me not being that great of a swimmer and my fear of being in water, once it gets up to my neck, I'd get anxious.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_01: So anyway, when I was sitting on the river, I've taken swim lessons, I've gone kayaking and done just fine, and I love it.
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_01: And a friend of mine who had breast cancer loved kayaking, but she suddenly couldn't lift up her kayak anymore.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_01: She bought one that rolls up.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_01: If no ones exist, then I don't need to lift on top of my car and they can fit in the trunk, whatever.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_01: So all these reasons that my husband's giving me, I'm like, no, because of this and because of this and because of this.
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_01: So I texted him and I said, I am getting a kayak.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_01: You can help me choose or not, but I'm getting one.
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_01: So instead of being a question this whole time, it's like, I'm doing this.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_01: That was like my biggest, like, I'm doing this for myself because I know it'll be so good for my physical, mental health, spiritual health, all of that.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_01: I feel spiritually energized when I'm out in nature.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_01: As well as I'm religious, all of that, go to church, but the other half of what I need is being out in nature.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_01: And I have since formed some friendships where I'll go out with them kayaking.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_01: I usually do it like one or two people at a time because otherwise it's just I'm not absorbing the energy of nature.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_01: That was like my biggest shift from that trip.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_01: And I've had other shifts going on trips and remembering this is what I like from the trip.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_01: I need to apply this to my life daily, weekly, whatever.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_01: And it's been really huge.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_01: And also remembering that I don't need to do everything with my family.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_01: For instance, my oldest of all of my children, he is the one who melts down when I try to go hiking with my family.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_01: So I found some girlfriends and I go hiking with them.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_01: And I used to do this when I was single.
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_01: I took my dog and I would go hiking.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_01: So as soon as my youngest is in school full-time in the fall, I'm gonna take one of my dogs out and go hiking with him.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_01: And I'll take some bear spray with me too, since I'm in bear country.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_01: And I love that I can take things that I love in my daily life and take it with me on vacation.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_01: And I can take the things I love about vacation and put them in my daily life.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um, remembering the biggest thing about vacation is that there's time to be active, but there's also time to sit and reflect.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_01: And that I think is the biggest thing of what we need to bring into our daily lives that we don't do enough that leads to burnout, adrenal fatigue, snapping at other people, snapping at ourselves, everything else.
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, that's such an a nice evolution of your story of just realizing how important it is to just get that time.
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_00: And I love how you said that how sometimes it can just be so like kind of anxious and restless and unsettled to to be by yourself, but and that is often what stops people from doing it, not really realizing that there's something on the other side of that's really special.
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_00: And if you can, I mean, and it's not either or.
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_00: It's not okay, if you are gonna solo travel, you can only solo travel or only with families.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_00: It is a nice balance, but you do get that time, and on that other side of that restlessness and that kind of just yeah, a little bit of buzzy is truth, is a lot of truth, and which can be scary because it's like, well, I don't really want to know how I really feel, you know, or I don't really want to be honest with myself about things.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_00: So sometimes it's truth that can be a little uncomfortable, but very important.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes it's the truth of, oh wow, I really love my own company.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_00: I think I have a great sense of humor.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_00: I really love this.
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_00: It's kind of important to let yourself be in that unsettled bit and then see what's on the other side.
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_00: That's a skill that will serve you for the rest of your life to be able to be with yourself.
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_00: Nature just holds us in such a way that it's just natural.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_00: It's like you can't help but relax, connect with yourself while you're connecting in these beautiful places.
• 31:17
  SPEAKER_00: We're so lucky to have these just incredibly beautiful places to have and to just be.
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_00: So I love that.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_01: I think the biggest thing that we tell ourselves is we can't afford it.
• 31:30
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_01: But really, can you afford not to?
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_01: Because my husband and I went to Hawaii very recently.
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_01: We had somebody watching our kids, and it was a double couples vacation.
• 31:48
  SPEAKER_01: Oh we were able to spend time as couples together, couples apart, solo time.
• 31:56
  SPEAKER_01: It was a really great mix of all of that in the week that we were there.
• 32:01
  SPEAKER_01: And I would not recommend Hawaii if you live on the East Coast.
• 32:05
  SPEAKER_01: I would have done Bobas or something else.
• 32:07
  SPEAKER_01: But our friends invited us.
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_01: Otherwise, we would have shown somewhere much closer.
• 32:11
  SPEAKER_01: But it was so amazing to do a lot of things that I've always wanted to do, especially because last time I was there, I was super pregnant with my oldest.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_01: It was nice to actually be able to do the hike, everything else, and to do some of the things that made me nervous, knowing that my support human was with me.
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_01: My husband's very encouraging with things.
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_01: He does the push a little bit, give me space, push a little bit, he does it perfectly.
• 32:41
  SPEAKER_01: At this point, marriage, but it was nice to have those moments to reflect, and it was nice to bring that back home to our kids and say, this is why we wanted to do it alone, because for one thing, it's really good for our marriage.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_01: If we can't have a good marriage, then you guys have a good example.
• 32:59
  SPEAKER_01: And if we are peaceful and calm within our marriage, it will trickle down peacewise.
• 33:04
  SPEAKER_01: And also, we did things that you guys don't like to do because you guys don't like flying.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_01: We flew with him last year, and my oldest was the one who freaked out about the plane.
• 33:14
  SPEAKER_01: He's a calm child, so it's weird that he freaked out about the stuff.
• 33:19
  SPEAKER_01: And some of the activities we did our kids were not happy about, even though they chose them with our trip last year.
• 33:25
  SPEAKER_01: So it was that reminder that we went for a longer flight, we were in the car a little bit longer, and we did hiking.
• 33:33
  SPEAKER_01: Some of the things you guys don't like to do.
• 33:35
  SPEAKER_01: So if you want to do this stuff with us, you need to be out for an adventure.
• 33:38
  SPEAKER_01: And then recently, with that same couple, they were camping and they invited us because it's close to our house to just come for the afternoon and have dinner with them.
• 33:47
  SPEAKER_01: And it's a place that we camp at, so we'll be there next month camping.
• 33:51
  SPEAKER_01: But that reminder to the kids that you're safe enough, go off exploring on your own.
• 33:55
  SPEAKER_01: And some of the kids were very fine doing that, and some of our kids were a little more nervous.
• 34:00
  SPEAKER_01: That reminder of I used to do this as a kid.
• 34:03
  SPEAKER_01: My mom would be setting up camp.
• 34:05
  SPEAKER_01: And one instance in particular, there was a huge rock face, and she took forever and would get crabby and be like, just get out of my hair.
• 34:12
  SPEAKER_01: So she looked around, wondering where I was.
• 34:14
  SPEAKER_01: I was the top of that mountain, looking down at her, like, huh?
• 34:19
  SPEAKER_01: So it's that reminder for our kids that they can do that.
• 34:22
  SPEAKER_01: They're safe enough, we can hear you, especially when you're in a forest that echoes enough that you can kind of especially when the leaves are still just coming in, like it holds it differently.
• 34:31
  SPEAKER_01: But we we as a general society condition our kids wherever they can't wander too far, they can't explore themselves, they can't be by themselves for very long.
• 34:41
  SPEAKER_01: And plus, technology really encourages us to be on it all the time.
• 34:47
  SPEAKER_01: So our kids wanted our phones, and we're like, no, we're out in nature.
• 34:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, we have Wi-Fi because we're close to our house, we're in our element.
• 34:54
  SPEAKER_01: Go enjoy nature.
• 34:55
  SPEAKER_01: And if you need help, here's a soccer ball.
• 34:58
  SPEAKER_01: That kind of thing.
• 34:59
  SPEAKER_01: Here's a hammock.
• 35:00
  SPEAKER_01: We always have a hammock on our campus.
• 35:01
  SPEAKER_01: What are we doing for ourselves?
• 35:03
  SPEAKER_01: And then what are we encouraging the next generation?
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_01: That puts us more in connection with ourselves, with nature, with our surroundings, and just really tuning in.
• 35:15
  SPEAKER_01: And I feel like that's the whole purpose behind what you're doing with your solo travel and your retreat.
• 35:22
  SPEAKER_01: And I find it interesting that you choose women because women tend to be the most people-pleasing, the most selfless, do everything to the point of there's nothing left for ourselves.
• 35:37
  SPEAKER_02: I love that you cater towards women.
• 35:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, because it is it's asking a lot to say do this just for yourself, spend a good amount of money, spend a good amount of time, and just for yourself, not for anybody else.
• 35:56
  SPEAKER_00: And that can be a big ask, and it's also really an important one.
• 36:03
  SPEAKER_01: It can be scary too.
• 36:05
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 36:06
  SPEAKER_01: Like you said, it's worth it to get to the other side.
• 36:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 36:09
  SPEAKER_01: Tell us where to find you.
• 36:11
  SPEAKER_00: Sure, sure.
• 36:12
  SPEAKER_00: So I am on social media, can find me probably most of the time on Facebook, and it's the Jennifer Corbo, T H E J E N N I F E R, C O R B E A U.
• 36:29
  SPEAKER_00: My website, it's Spiral Path Journeys, and that's J-O-U-R-N-E-Y-S.ai.
• 36:39
  SPEAKER_00: And so that's going to be my website.
• 36:41
  SPEAKER_00: You are also very welcome to just email me, tell me your stories, ask any questions, and can reach me at jennifer at spiralpathjourneys.com.
• 36:52
  SPEAKER_00: So my website is spiralpathjourneys.ai.
• 36:55
  SPEAKER_00: I would love to hear your experience about what happened to you when you were taking some time just to be with yourself.
• 37:04
  SPEAKER_01: Well, thank you.
• 37:04
  SPEAKER_01: And hopefully all of you can see why I wanted to connect Jennifer to our podcast and wanted to share her with you guys.
• 37:13
  SPEAKER_01: I know that there are so many that have been in my position where you have just lost yourself with the grind of life, and you really need a break.
• 37:26
  SPEAKER_01: And it's a soul deep break where a day's not going to do it.
• 37:31
  SPEAKER_01: This is what you need.
• 37:32
  SPEAKER_01: I have been on several retreats.
• 37:34
  SPEAKER_01: I've been on some vacations with just a girlfriend, with my husband, as a family, and there has been something different each time.
• 37:46
  SPEAKER_01: Of course, it's a different location, but because of who I'm around or not around during these different experiences, it has really helped me to form relationships with different people.
• 38:00
  SPEAKER_01: And then when I'm by myself, that relationship with myself.
• 38:03
  SPEAKER_01: And that really is the bedrock of relationships with other people, and it helps you to heal so much stuff.
• 38:10
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 38:17
  SPEAKER_01: When you really dig into that, it's because of something back here that you're not realizing.
• 38:23
  SPEAKER_01: And that's the great thing about spending time on yourself is that it allows you to shine.
• 38:38
  SPEAKER_01: All of the things that I tell myself to really plug back into the positive voice instead of the negative voice.
• 38:46
  SPEAKER_01: So I am so grateful that you're here and that you allowed this, and that you're my first person talking about traveling.
• 38:54
  SPEAKER_01: I'm so glad it gets to be here because I have connection with you.
• 38:58
  SPEAKER_01: I hope that you felt that as well.
• 39:01
  SPEAKER_01: Please share this with other people who you know are struggling, who keep saying one day they'll take that vacation time.
• 39:08
  SPEAKER_01: Or most of all, the people who have vacation time, but their employers don't expect their employees to use it.
• 39:15
  SPEAKER_01: Share this with them because they get this vacation most of all.
• 39:18
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 39:19
  SPEAKER_00: Can I share one tip?
• 39:21
  SPEAKER_00: So often the question is, well, I don't even know where to go.
• 39:26
  SPEAKER_00: So this one tip is to that's when you listen to your heart.
• 39:31
  SPEAKER_00: You think about, okay, is there a place I've been dreaming about going?
• 39:36
  SPEAKER_00: Is there when I watch a movie and I see the location, does my body just gasp?
• 39:41
  SPEAKER_00: Do I get a little teary when I see a picture in a magazine of a forest or a beach?
• 39:47
  SPEAKER_00: It's because I just know and I love saying this, and sometimes people are like, huh?
• 39:52
  SPEAKER_00: But it's the place that you feel called to is also calling you to it.
• 40:00
  SPEAKER_00: And so it's like, okay, I don't know why I just have seen this castle in Scotland.
• 40:07
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know why it just is speaking to me.
• 40:10
  SPEAKER_00: It's because that place is going, hey, I have something here for you.
• 40:15
  SPEAKER_00: Come visit me or the beach because the water's like, come visit me.
• 40:20
  SPEAKER_00: We're gonna commune, we're gonna connect.
• 40:22
  SPEAKER_00: And so that's a really just a good way to, you know, don't worry about what other people say is the best place to go, or what somebody says, oh, this is the top place to travel as a no, turn inside and listen to what has been calling you either very quietly or even loudly to come and visit.
• 40:44
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 40:46
  SPEAKER_01: And if you are afraid to travel solo, this is where you talk to Jennifer, because you will be going solo and you will have solo experiences, but you'll still be around other women.
• 40:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 40:57
  SPEAKER_01: What I loved about when I went to the retreat and I didn't know anybody is I had time alone, but I also had time with people because I need a really good balance of both.
• 41:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, I make sure on all my retreats to make sure there is that balance.
• 41:11
  SPEAKER_00: So thank you, Autumn, for having me.
• 41:13
  SPEAKER_00: I love talking about this, not just because I've enjoyed my own experiences, but I have seen how much it can enhance others' lives and it's really powerful.
• 41:23
  SPEAKER_00: So thank you.
• 41:27
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much for listening to this episode.
• 41:29
  SPEAKER_01: I hope that you found the answers that you needed and you had some amazing aha moments.
• 41:37
  SPEAKER_01: Please share this episode with others because it helps us align ourselves and then better align the world so that we can seek the healing that we really are looking for.
• 41:47
  SPEAKER_01: As part of the legal language, I am a certified life coach with a bachelor's in applied health.
• 41:54
  SPEAKER_01: That is what I am leaning on for this.
• 41:57
  SPEAKER_01: This is general advice taken aside.
• 42:00
  SPEAKER_01: See you in the next episode.