Conversations for Curious Travelers

Cultivating Awe as Travelers with Tracy Smyth

• Trip Scholars | Erica Forrest • Season 1 • Episode 2

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Awe & Wellbeing • Solo Travel • Travel Experiments

In this inspiring episode of Conversations for Curious Travelers, Tracy Smyth, travel coach and founder of Travel Bug Tonic, shares how awe, curiosity, and solo adventures have transformed her travels—and her life. We explore how to approach each trip as a personal experiment, why travel is a profound learning environment, and how moments of wonder (even in your own backyard!) can ripple into lasting personal growth.

Whether you're planning your first solo journey, curious about mindful travel, or looking to cultivate awe in your day-to-day life, this episode offers heartfelt insights and practical tools for the journey.

🌱 This Week’s Small Step to Enhance Your Next Trip

Go on an “awe-venture.”
Wherever you are—at the beach, in your backyard, or on a walk around your block—slow down, notice something new, follow your curiosity, and reflect with gratitude. These micro-moments of awe build the awareness and presence you’ll take with you on your future travels.

💭 Reflection from the Episode

“What if the key to meaningful travel, and a meaningful life, starts with intentionally nurturing our own wellbeing?”
Let that question guide your week. Journal about it, walk with it, or talk it through with a fellow traveler.

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Transcript: Cultivating Awe as Travelers with Tracy Smyth

Welcome to Conversations for Curious Travelers, a Trip Scholars podcast. I'm your host, Erica Forrest. In each episode, we explore how travel helps us learn more about the world and ourselves. If you travel, not just to escape, but to grow, connect and understand you are in the right place.

[00:00:23] Erica | Trip Scholars: welcome back to Conversations for Curious Travelers. Today I am excited to welcome Tracy Smyth to the show. Tracy is the chief enthusiast behind Travel Bug Tonic, and a Certified Travel Coach specializing in intentional travel that stretches perspectives and boosts wellbeing. She fuses her insatiable curiosity, wellbeing research background, and deep passion for adventure into crafting joyful journeys and awe inspiring experiences. Tracy, welcome to the show!

[00:00:56] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: Thank you so much for that. It makes me want to go travel!

[00:01:01] Erica | Trip Scholars: Me too. Me too. Yeah, I am especially excited to have you here because I so admire what you do and the way that you see the world and think about travel. And then in addition to being a fellow travel coach, we're also friends and we've gotten to meet up in person. I know we both live in a part of the world, British Columbia in Canada and the Pacific Northwest in the United States. And the natural beauty here is just so extraordinary, and I know that we have both been deeply inspired by it and that we both include this focus on nature in our coaching. So I love all those overlaps.

[00:01:40] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: I do too. And I enjoyed meeting you. That was a couple years ago now, wasn't it?

[00:01:45] Erica | Trip Scholars: Yeah, it was, and it was really wonderful. I'd love to hear a little bit about how you got started traveling and how that led into what you do now with Travel Bug Tonic.

[00:01:57] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: Sure. Well, my dad was in the military, so I was one of those kids who moved every two or three years of my life growing up. So childhood all the way into early adulthood. I was moving a lot. We didn't actually go on a lot of travels, or trips I guess, or vacations as a family. But we were always either moving somewhere new, exploring this new place or leaving.

And I, I do, I really believe looking back that all vows experiences kind of, I flipped a switch my DNA or something that, that really helped me appreciate from a very early age. New,. Newness, like novelty, new experiences, meeting new people, being exposed to new cultures, trying new foods, like all those things that, that, that sense of appreciation for new really has stuck.

And I, and I believe that that has. Transformed over my life into a passion for travel as well. And, but I'm, I'm a pretty normal person. I live in a small town in Canada,I have two now grown sons who are incredible. Our lives were busy. My husband had a career, I had a career, you know, so I'm pretty, I'm pretty normal. And we tried to travel as much as we could here and there, but, you know, life happens. And it was when I was I, when I turned 50 actually, a lot of women or a lot of people, like, that's kind of a milestone where you go, okay, what's this next, next chapter going to look like?

And for me, that happened to land right during the pandemic.

[00:03:32] Erica | Trip Scholars: Ah.

[00:03:32] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: Like a lot of other people, the pandemic also kind of shifted people's lives. So here I was going, okay, what's gonna be my next chapter? And I was pretty sure that I was always sure that travel was gonna play a role, and then there I couldn't.

So what that did for me was help to focus me in terms of so what am I going to do about it? Why? Like, why do I want to do this so much? And what does the research say? So I turned to research and writing and the whys behind why I wanted to travel and what I could do about it and how that was affecting my well being.

So Travel Bug Tonic ended up being my blank page, I guess, or my space in which I could share what I was learning about myself.

[00:04:17] Erica | Trip Scholars: I know a lot of us have learned from what you've shared, at Travel Bug Tonic, and,

[00:04:22] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: Mm-hmm.

[00:04:44] Erica | Trip Scholars: But before we get into that, I would love to hear a little bit more about when you took that first solo trip.

[00:04:53] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: So that was during that time I was trying to uncover what was making me tick. And I was kind of leaning into a lot of my curiosity about travel and solo travel came up as well. So here I was a 50-year-old woman. And looking at solo travel,  it never really even crossed my radar except I had a few friends I guess who had done some solo travel.

But I got curious and I was overwhelmed by the benefits that either people's experiences or what the research was kind of suggesting. The reasons why solo travel can really support people's wellbeing or, or personal development. So even though I couldn't go anywhere because we weren't going anywhere in the pandemic, I designed my own first solo journey.

I. And it also happened that I was doing my travel coaching certification at the time. So I kind of coached myself,

[00:05:45] Erica | Trip Scholars: smart.

[00:05:46] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: I put myself through the process to design a journey that was really very personal to me, to explore this area of being on my own, but also traveling without being too far from home.

And so I designed a four day 80 kilometer end-to-end Hike on Vancouver Island. Vancouver Island does not have the infrastructure for a Camino or another long hike.

[00:06:13] Erica | Trip Scholars: no.

[00:06:13] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: So I, yeah, so I found a wonderful trail and I used Airbnb maps and zoomed in to see like, could I find a bed?

Because I didn't want to camp,  find a bed that I could sleep in that wasn't too far from the trail. And so I designed it myself and I did it and it was such a great ex. Experience. I, and I ended it going, I'd like to do this again. So I made a commitment to myself that every year I was going to do a little solo traveling.

It's gonna look a little different just to explore like, I don’t know who I am as a traveler and what, what I like.

[00:06:48] Erica | Trip Scholars: Oh, a brilliant solution to finding a way to do that solo travel in the midst of the pandemic.

[00:06:55] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: Right. Yeah.

[00:06:56] Erica | Trip Scholars: Did you backpack or did you have somebody help transport your goods?

[00:07:00] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: I backpacked. But because I wasn't cooking or anything, I didn't have too much to carry. Like one Airbnb I ordered.

[00:07:10] Erica | Trip Scholars: That was smart, right? When we were having food delivered to the doorstep and

[00:07:15] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: That's right.

[00:07:17] Erica | Trip Scholars: not even able to thank the person directly.

[00:07:20] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: That's right. Yeah.

[00:07:21] Erica | Trip Scholars: What a very clever solution. Vancouver Island, for any of our listeners who aren't familiar with it, is just a place of exceptional natural beauty.

[00:07:31] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: It is.

[00:07:31] Erica | Trip Scholars:Much of it is also quite rugged. And there's a lot of wildlife and everything. What was that like for you to walk through that on your own?

[00:07:42] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: Well, interestingly enough, that part is in my comfort zone because I spend a lot of time, because I live here, a lot of time in forests, you know, just outside my house I saw a cougar the other day and I've seen bears and you know, that kind of thing. So that part was in my comfort zone.

It was. Actually going into the city. When I met you, that was my second solo trip, to Seattle. That was out of my comfort zone.

[00:08:04] Erica | Trip Scholars: Okay.

[00:08:05] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: So the wilderness was really good, but I mean, I also have some skills in terms of awareness and I know what to do. And, and people knew where I was. You know, I approached it in a very safe way.

[00:08:17] Erica | Trip Scholars: So you were moving into that space with the intention of being alone in nature, which you are probably thinking about where you live. You probably have an opportunity to do that in shorter ways. What was it like to do that for four days, just with your mind and yourself in nature like that?

[00:08:38] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: It was incredible and it was one of the things that I was curious about, like what? Would I solve all the world's problems being alone and quiet for that? And I didn't actually, and I decided, I didn't want to listen to music or an audio book or anything like that. I had those just in case, but I didn't want to.

And what I discovered, and I could never have anticipated this, was that it actually became very meditative and I just got quiet and my, skills of noticing and observations, which are pretty decent, became amplified so much more in the, the quiet and the pace and the, the rhythm of my walking.

Yeah. So that was one of the things that I took away and really appreciate so much to know that I can do that.

[00:09:25] Erica | Trip Scholars: Yeah.

[00:09:25] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: Mm-hmm.

[00:09:26] Erica | Trip Scholars: the patterns of thought in your mind

[00:09:28] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: Mm-hmm.

[00:09:28] Erica | Trip Scholars: really being cognizant of both. I mean, in the rainforest, the tiny moss and the little insects that can survive on the moss, all the way to the grandeur of those trees and the vistas that we get to experience. You had all of that happening.

[00:09:46] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: Yes. Yeah.

[00:09:47] Erica | Trip Scholars: at once.

[00:09:48] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: And one of the things, another thing that I noticed was I thought, well, it's Vancouver Island. The forests are the same or whatever. But I really noticed the subtle changes even, you know, across, say I walked 20 kilometers one day, and I noticed subtle changes in the environment, which maybe I wouldn't have in the same way in a group chatting or on a smaller hike.

So I really appreciate it. It was in March and so spring was just kind of starting to think about coming.

[00:10:17] Erica | Trip Scholars: Yeah. Peeking out here

[00:10:19] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: Yeah.

[00:10:20] Erica | Trip Scholars: You must have had a fair amount of rain,

[00:10:21] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: There was a bit of rain.

[00:10:23] Erica | Trip Scholars: but you're used to that.

[00:10:24] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: Yeah. I'm not made of sugar.

[00:10:28] Erica | Trip Scholars: And do you feel like there were some fears that you were moving through or do you feel like it was more of kind of settling into yourself or a little bit of both?

[00:10:39] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: A little bit of both. Yeah, quite a the, the two kinds of fears that I faced, I guess, or, or maneuvered one was actually pre-trip. It was that last minute doubting of: I can't do this. Like the, the, it's actually going to be too hard. That kind of thing. So that process and going through that and some of the problem solving that I ended up doing to kind of make sure that I felt okay to do it.

I did. And then there was one moment I was actually just leaving an area where there were houses not too far. And I heard a funny noise. This is a, this is a very embarrassing story, but I'll tell it anyway. So I was walking, it was very early morning and very kind of foggy, walking along, and just leaving an area where there were houses and I heard a noise.

And it could have been a bear, it could have been a dog, it could have been a person so my anxiety definitely rose a bit and I whipped around and I didn't see anything and so I came back and I kept walking and I heard it again and I whipped around again and looked around. And then I suddenly, after probably three or four times doing that, I realized it was my ponytail on the inside of my hood that was swishing.

So I had a huge, big laugh at myself and it was just, it was a perfect, like, okay, Tracy, you got this!

[00:12:02] Erica | Trip Scholars: Yep. Yep. I mean, your instincts were spot on. That is what they're for. We have that whole set of instincts precisely to be able to, you know, get out of the way of a bear or a cougar.

[00:12:12] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: Yeah.

[00:12:13] Erica | Trip Scholars: So much of, you know what, what we are concerned about is in our own control, like our ponytail.

[00:12:21] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: That's right.

[00:12:23] Erica | Trip Scholars: That's a great story. Yeah. And so now you have gotten to take a few more of these solo trips. I bet you keep uncovering things about yourself and your understanding of the world with each one.

[00:12:36] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: I do, I do. And my husband is my favorite person to travel with. And so I, I, solo travel ended up being another way of traveling that kind of opened up the world a little bit. Differently I could be able to see differently than when I was with him or with a friend or something like that.

And so it's a compliment. It's part of the array of ways that I enjoy experiencing the world. My second solo trip was to a city then I did some house sitting on an island. And then I went to France. So I've kind of slowly experimented, in different ways where my comfort zone is and where I wanna stay, and then where I wanna push it a little bit.

[00:13:17] Erica | Trip Scholars: Yeah. Yeah, that's a wide array of ways to do solo travel.

[00:13:22] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: Mm-hmm.

[00:13:22] Erica | Trip Scholars: Knowing you, I'm sure that you're very thoughtful about what you're hoping to get out of each of those different kinds of travel,

[00:13:29] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: Mm-hmm.

[00:13:30] Erica | Trip Scholars: And that you bring it back to your life and now when you travel with your family or travel with your husband or friends.

[00:13:35] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: Exactly.

[00:13:36] Erica | Trip Scholars: That's all wonderful. Would you share a little bit about what your background was before you became a travel coach?

And, and that interesting work that you were doing before.

[00:13:46] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: Sure. Well, I will try to, my career was very varied and very rich and would take a whole podcast to dissect all the different things that I did. But the essence of it was working with the research around human development and wellbeing and brain science and kind of.

Translating that into ways that either communities or cities or individuals could actually use that information to make change. And so that was very much in areas of community development. Project management, that kind of thing. But it was the whole process of using academic research and positive psychology and brain science to, okay, so what are we gonna do about it?

[00:14:36] Erica | Trip Scholars: Bringing it out of the ivory tower, and having it become really applicable to people's lives.

[00:14:41] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: Exactly. Yeah, exactly. And, combining things and synthesizing multiple sources so that it actually makes sense. Because sometimes academia can be so narrow in terms of, you know, what they're studying, but taken in, you know, a wider context, how can that become actionable.

[00:15:00] Erica | Trip Scholars: You know, thankfully they are narrow so they can go deep into it. But it is taking somebody like you to be able to bring it all together and see how all of those tools can be applied. And all of that research can be applied to a particular person or a particular community. And I think that whole space is one of the most exciting frontiers that we're at right now as human beings, and that it holds so much promise.

And I just love that you are taking that and moving it into this space about travel. And so can you talk a little bit about that rich background that you have, why travel? Why is that where, where you wanted to share your expertise?

[00:15:43] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: Mm, well, I think partly because I was in that space in the pandemic going, I want to travel and I can. But I knew that that's a big part of who I am. And I personally really strongly believed that there's a connection between travel and wellbeing and I wanted to both learn about it from whatever anyone else was studying, but also experience it and experiment with it,

[00:16:11] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: to validate my beliefs, I guess, that both travel can be a tool to improve our wellbeing, but I also believe that when we pay attention to our wellbeing, we can also improve our travels as well. So it's, it's kind of like they go hand in hand both ways which is really powerful.

[00:16:29] Erica | Trip Scholars: Yeah. Yeah. Very powerful. So I know one of the things you have talked about is this idea of travel experiments. Could share a little bit with us about what, what you think about with travel experiments and how our listeners might be able to try one for themselves.

[00:16:49] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: sure, of course. So I kind of repel at the idea of being an expert at anything. I'm more of a scientist, and so the whole idea of experimenting really suits me. And so I like to experiment with different ways to travel. So a lot of times people think about travel as going to a place, and that that destination is kind of like the end of the story, I guess.

[00:17:13] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: To me it's the whole journey. It's the whole package. And I know it's the same for you and we also come to adulthood or anytime with our own narratives about what we think we should do or what we think we want to do even. But how do we know until we try it out?

[00:17:33] Erica | Trip Scholars: yeah.

[00:17:34] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: So that's how I approach travel, it is like, I haven't done that before. I wonder what part of that kind of traveling would suit me? And the kinds of things that I'm talking about is staying longer in one place. So previously I was kind of like, let's keep going, and see everything. There is something for that, and that works for a lot of people. But I wanted to challenge myself and, you know, there's probably some benefits. I read about some of the benefits of slowing down, and experiencing things differently. What if we stayed one whole month in one city and then another whole month in a second city?

And what would that look like and how would we learn from that? And so that was, that was another experiment that we did. Other ways are home exchange. So we have this narrative of staying in hotels or staying in air, like we have these ways that people just travel. Home exchange is a whole other opportunity of which I wasn't sure.

My husband and I were not sure if that was gonna be our jam. And so we tentatively practiced. Yeah, exactly. That's right. And then people come to our home. We don't have a second home, so they would come to our own home. And so it was tentative at first, but oh man, we are into it. It's not for everybody, but it's absolutely for us.

So that was another kind of way to travel. How do you, how could you do it differently? Or another example is up until last year, I had never been on a group tour.

No, I'd never been on one. Except I think when I was in high school and I went on one last year and I kind of picked and chose carefully. I've thoroughly enjoyed myself and there were things that I took away. It was a women's only expedition in the mountains of Morocco. It kind of was really very much what I was about, and it was a place that I didn't want to go to all by myself. It just worked really well. So that was another experiment.

[00:19:40] Erica | Trip Scholars: I think that's such a wonderful way to approach it. An experiment means you know, you're not tied to something. You don't have to hold fast completely to it. You are exploring, you're giving yourself that space to be open to new experiences and all of the experiments that you just shared with us are manageable choices somebody could make for a particular trip.

[00:20:07] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: Absolutely.

[00:20:08] Erica | Trip Scholars: Yeah. And I really appreciate how you were talking about how, you know, we have all of these external expectations of who we are or ideas about who we are because, you know, we've been conditioned in the culture and the space that we're in. And how by putting yourself in these situations, you get to experiment and explore.

Who you are outside of those definitions–  And kind of be reflective at this meta level about who you are and how you want to move forward.

[00:20:42] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: And how I am in the world. And to me, that's what travel is all about. It's such a learning environment completely. And so you put yourself in different classrooms, I guess, in different ways.

[00:20:55] Erica | Trip Scholars: that's a great way to think about it.

[00:20:57] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: Yeah.

[00:20:57] Erica | Trip Scholars: exactly. That each, each trip or travel experience is like a different classroom.

[00:21:02] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: Hmm.

[00:21:02] Erica | Trip Scholars: And it doesn't have to necessarily be uncomfortable to be getting something out of it.

[00:21:08] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: Absolutely not. No. And that is a thing that, as, you know, as a travel coach, is helping people realize that they don't have to totally jump out of their comfort zone to get things out of a wonderful trip. And there's different ways that you can do things differently or, or challenge yourself without doing it all.

Like I'm not a jump off the end of the dock into the deep water kind of person.

[00:21:32] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: There's, there's different ways you can tailor and personalize travel so that it does suit you. And there are also people who need an escape from their regular routine and they're not looking for personal development and you know, so people travel for so many different reasons and that's really the beauty of it too.

[00:21:50] Erica | Trip Scholars: I think that's always important to bring up that there are times in life when we might be traveling to escape. It doesn't mean that that is a bad choice or anything at all like that.

And I know you have a focus on especially serving women in the second half of their lives, people who are becoming empty nesters or are empty nesters. How do you help people in this space find the kind of travel experiments that might be good for them?

[00:22:21] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: Yeah, that has turned out to be the group that I tend to work with mostly because I am just kind of out there experimenting on myself and I am a middle aged woman that is an empty nester. So that seems to have fit, but I think. How I help is one is just putting it out there and people can pick and choose from my experiences you know, and learn indirectly, I guess through my stories or my resources and that kind of thing.

The other way I think that I help is this attitude that change and these kinds of transitions are an opportunity. It's an opportunity for us to be able to, you know. Pay attention and be more intentional about what it is that we want next rather than having life happen to us.

It's like getting back into the driver's seat after years of, you know, serving others, whether it's in a career or in a family or whatever. It's just an opportunity to not to reject or repel or anything of those roles, but it's more enhance it because it's, there's a new chapter that's, that is presented to you with with retirement or with empty nesting

[00:23:37] Erica | Trip Scholars: Yeah. I have found, so when I do travel coaching, sometimes I, if I'm just doing, you know, single sessions of coaching, it's helping people with a particular trip. But the long-term coaching so often seems to be people who are at these moments of major change, like those of us who are empty nesters or young adults or people moving through, a major shift in life

Or even, young new relationships. To have that opportunity to step out away from the confines of our, external forces that kind of help define who we are and emerge as who we are on our own. So I love that you work with empty nesters and, and women because so many people at the age we're at right now for decades, so much of we joyfully embraced the meaning in our lives and how we wanted to define ourselves was caring for our, or taking care of others, nurturing a family, having family trips where you're really focused on you know, meeting the needs of everybody in the group.

[00:24:50] Erica | Trip Scholars: And now we're. Recreating, redefining who are we now? And such a great opportunity to leave our day-to-day routine and really step into what feels good right now for me,

[00:25:06] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: Yes, absolutely. And it's not selfish. It's just another opportunity. We also live in, you know, a crazy world right now, and if this world was an airplane, the oxygen mask would be dropping. And we, and we know that the first thing you do is put the oxygen mass on yourself and help to improve your own wellbeing so that you can, you know, show up in in ways to help other people

[00:25:30] Erica | Trip Scholars: I completely agree with you and I think one of the things that kind of gets lost in translation sometimes when people are talking about working with a coach or having a trip where you're setting intentions, is that it is kind of a selfish experience and you know, is it self-indulgent to be so focused on myself, and I have found over and over that it is often by grounding ourselves and, you know, really stepping outside of the day-to-day responsibilities and paying attention to who am I, what do I want to do with this brief opportunity to experience life that I'm having with other people, to get to that point it brings us back into the world with such great intention and motivation and usually like a desire to make a difference. Do you, do you find that, that in, in your coaching, it's not just inward looking, it becomes something beyond that?

[00:26:32] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: Absolutely beyond that. And yes, I have experienced that as well as with myself. But it isn't, without that struggle, the struggle with the guilt struggle of because that's the narrative that it is selfish. And so getting through that struggle also is a good journey as well. And to be able to come out the other side and then experience that, yes, I'm actually, I'm recharged, I kind of, I'm clearer.

I have the energy to show up for whoever needs me as well. Or be creative or come back and create something beautiful like that. That's another way that it comes through. As well. It's not always, you know, caring for, for others, it's just giving back to the world somehow. Mm-hmm.

[00:27:15] Erica | Trip Scholars: Yeah. That the, the more we know ourselves and allow ourselves to be inspired by this astounding planet, the more we have to, to shine back out.

[00:27:27] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: And it's infectious too. The more, the more you are like beaming and it, it, it impacts me. And the more I beam and feel that wellbeing, it's infectious. Like and there's science around that as well. But it is infectious.

[00:27:43] Erica | Trip Scholars: Yeah. I just love how you infuse so much of what's happening in the scientific world with what you're doing. I know you talk a lot about awe and awe is I think one of my favorite parts of existing. I mean, it is the sense of transcendence, that ability to feel the magnificence of being alive. And you can travel all the way to Paris and have that experience, but you can also have it in your garden,

[00:28:13] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: Yes.

[00:28:14] Erica | Trip Scholars: And I love that you have that experience frequently, but that you have tools to help other people cultivate that in their lives and in their minds.

[00:28:25] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: I do, and I, I'm right there with you, that's probably one of my favorite parts of of science that I have unearthed and kind of dove deep into. And the fact that awe can be so mysterious, there's not one cookie cutter way to experience awe as well. And there's all sorts of tools that we can develop open ourselves and develop that muscle of experiencing more often in big ways and in little ways is phenomenal. And so, yes, I'm all constantly experimenting and sharing ideas of how to do that because that's probably the feeling even from way back when I first started as a child moving to a new place.

It's like that, Wow, I had no idea and I don't understand, but this feels really interesting. I think that is, has been a constant and it will continue to be a foundation of what my messages kind of and my tools,

[00:29:21] Erica | Trip Scholars: Yeah.

[00:29:21] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: surround around as well.

[00:29:23] Erica | Trip Scholars: Yeah. I was just reading an article last night. It was talking about you know, the big five personality traits that they've identified and one that they were talking about was openness.

Openness to new experiences and how that one is something that we can cultivate in our lives. And that one actually has been shown to help people enhance their intelligence and then, you and I know, it also enhances something much deeper, like this sense of gratitude, this sense of connection to the world.

[00:29:56] Erica | Trip Scholars: I love that that is something you help people do. Do you have any suggestions or day-to-day tips you might suggest that listeners can lean into to cultivate awe more in their lives?

[00:30:10] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: For sure. So I don't have a challenge right now, but I might bring it back. I had this challenge called Awe-venture and to help people go on awe ventures because I'm all about adventures and awe. So these are awe-ventures and, in a nutshell, you can do it anywhere. You should do it everywhere.

The basic ingredients are like slowing down practicing noticing more. Nature is not the only way, but it certainly is an environment that kind of opens up the window, I guess in, in terms of the ability to connect with all, follow your curiosity and and then also reflect with the deep sense of gratitude of what you've just experienced and like as a package like that is an adventure, right?

[00:30:54] Erica | Trip Scholars: It's it is and it's one of the greatest adventures!

[00:30:57] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: Absolutely. And it, and it can happen often, like out my door right now, there are some, new blossoms that I could have an awe venture just focused on, a new blossom in my garden or if I went to the beach and just watched and thought about the tide coming in and going out and, you know, there's, there's so many, many ways but just the fact that there's so many ways doesn't matter.

What matters is that people actually,practice them or try it out or implement it in their lives. Like you can have theories, but until it's actually implemented, it's not going to make a difference in your life. So just those simple things of doing that every day builds your muscle.

And then if you do go to wherever you go, those muscles are actually primed so that the awe that kind of comes a little more easily. When you're suddenly, you know, at a castle or something like that, it's actually even more enhanced because you have already primed all those skills of noticing, of slowing down and of being curious and, and full of gratitude.

[00:32:06] Erica | Trip Scholars: I am so grateful that you shared that I often think of my mind as a garden and that it requires constant tending. You know that we are hardwired to survive, so we are going to respond to things that are dangerous. Our mind is going to ponder how, how could I have done that differently? What should I have done? We have that natural fight or flight response. But if we tend the thoughts in our mind and strive to focus on the things that naturally induce awe or gratitude in our minds, we can grow like this astounding array of beauty in our minds. And it's not like a Pollyanna-ish view, ignoring the suffering and pain in the world, it's choosing what to focus on and then how you're going to respond. And I think with a well tended mind, then you can also travel and be witness to challenges and suffering in the world or in, in your home or in, you know, in your town. But that you areequipped to do something about it instead of, like, when we were talking earlier and you were talking about putting the oxygen mask

[00:33:25] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: Yeah.

[00:33:26] Erica | Trip Scholars: If we are in that constant state of fight or flight, we don't get to necessarily make the best choices about how to help in our community. But when we are centered in our minds, and appreciate how astounding it is to be alive we can act with intention and often a much greater ability to impact change.

[00:33:49] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: Absolutely. That's why we're friends. Because we think a lot alike  there, Erica, you know, beautifully said. And I agree. And I will emphasize that I guess in defense against being Pollyannaish, because I think that is kind of maybe a critique, that perhaps I have received sometimes about enthusiasm and optimism and that kind of thing.

But it's not being pollyannaish. It's about building a positive capacity so that we can, and without denying all the hard stuff that's going, on so that we are in a better place to kind of deal with it all. 

[00:34:28] Erica | Trip Scholars: It is so wonderful to get to talk with you about all these things that I know you not only think deeply about, but help people build tools around and have in their lives. If there are any women who are considering traveling solo and might not have done it before, do you have any tips for them?

[00:34:51] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: I do, to consider it! Because the, the really, and to read, to start by just kind of reading the compelling reasons why that it kind of should be on your radar. A relief that it doesn't have to look like the solo trips that you see on social media.

It's your own journey. That's what's most important. And, it provides a completely different perspective than sometimes when we travel in other ways. So I created  a little 14 day free email challenge for women who maybe have thought about it or are kind of thinking, but maybe interested in a solo child just to introduce.

Some of the, the concepts the research behind, you know, why, why it might be something you might wanna think about, how to practice at home and how to overcome some of those barriers and how to think about it in a way that you could maybe move forward towards a solo trip without it kind of totally pushing you away in terms of, oh no, that's not me.

Or, oh, you know, not a chance. So that's been fun.

[00:35:55] Erica | Trip Scholars: That's awesome. And we will link to that in the show notes and we will also link to the awe-venture challenge, if you bring that back.

[00:36:02] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: Okay, I will.

[00:36:03] Erica | Trip Scholars: sure that I add that in 'cause I love that you did that before. And think that it's something so helpful for all of us. But yeah, the 14 day challenge helping women prepare for solo travel. I know you've got some things in there both about mindset, but also some practical tools and all of that, so it's a super great resource.

[00:36:25] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: Awesome. Thank you.

[00:36:26] Erica | Trip Scholars: Yeah. And then Tracy, you also offer travel coaching. Can you tell us a little bit about your coaching and your coaching packages?

[00:36:33] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: Sure. I do some one-on-one coaching, and because travel is so varied, it really depends on the person. And so I really like to connect with somebody to figure out what works. 

Also, I have something called Ignite your inner Traveler. It's kind of a bit of a taster, I guess, and it's fill out a form, like a questionnaire with some key things and I get to take it and, and think about it and analyze it, and then we get to meet. I get to go deeper into what I find interesting and you get to talk and then at the end you get a bit of a lookbook. So I create three different kinds of journeys that I think would really align with you. Here's my thought process of what I hear a lot like would really bring you joy. And then you can react to that and tailor it as you as you need. So that's been super fun.

[00:37:49] Erica | Trip Scholars: Oh, that's such a great way to do it. And you're giving three different possibilities. And I would guess that each of those possibilities helps your client think about themselves in travel in different ways, and

[00:38:03] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: Yeah. Kind of like three little experiments.

[00:38:10] Erica | Trip Scholars: I love it. I don't know if you know, but I used to be a high school science teacher, so all this focus on experiments and science has been wonderful. And I, I think there is a lot of overlap and help in seeing it that way. you've given us a. A lot of inspiration for our own travels. For people who are interested in traveling like this, do you have one simple step that people could implement this week?

[00:38:39] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: This week would be to go on an awe venture, I think, and to practice those skills that are so fundamental for experiencing that. Those feelings of all, or gratitude or just awareness that then also can be, you know, packed in your suitcase with you as you go on a trip as well. And, and so again, that's, you know, slowing down, it's noticing really observing.

It's. Kind of leaning into your curiosity and, and then kind of reflecting about the whole thing with, with gratitude. So that's an awe venture, and you could do that this week by going to a new place or going into your backyard and seeing somewhere you've always been with slightly different eyes that it will, it will boost your wellbeing.

[00:39:27] Erica | Trip Scholars: Speaking from experience, I can definitely confirm that that is true and that it's such a great thing that you can carry with you to any future travels and life experiences.

[00:39:40] Erica | Trip Scholars: That's wonderful. Thank you.  And then we like to give our listeners a reflection on travel that they can dive deeper into on their own after the show. Do you have a favorite question that people might want to consider?

[00:39:54] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: I do, I did think of a question, so I'm just going to read it here. “What if the key to meaningful travel, and a meaningful life starts with intentionally nurturing our own wellbeing?”

[00:40:08] Erica | Trip Scholars: Thank you, Tracy. That's wonderful.

[00:40:09] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: Something to ponder.

[00:40:10] Erica | Trip Scholars: I love that. And I know we have listeners who are going to want to learn more about you and follow along with Travel Bug Tonic. Where can they find you and how can we follow along? 

[00:40:22] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: So I am most active with my community of subscribers and I send an email out maybe three times a month, three to four times a month. And so you can find you can subscribe through my website and that's also where all my resources and all my articles are. That's www.TravelBugTonic.com

[00:40:42] Erica | Trip Scholars: Right below. Yeah.

[00:40:43] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: And I am also variably active, if that's the right term, on social media because I also pay attention to my wellbeing in that regard. But I am at travel bug tonic on Instagram, Facebook, as well as Pinterest.

[00:40:58] Erica | Trip Scholars: And you post so many great things when you are active,

[00:41:02] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: Yeah. When I am active.

[00:41:03] Erica | Trip Scholars: I value the fact that you also take breaks from that for your own wellbeing. So that's wonderful.

[00:41:08] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: You bet.

[00:41:09] Erica | Trip Scholars: We will link to all of that and I encourage people to sign up for Tracy's newsletter. It's filled with great resources. Tracy, thank you so much for being here. I'm grateful for you, for your friendship, for what you bring to this space. And I know our listeners also got so much from today's conversation.

[00:41:26] Tracy - Travel Bug Tonic: Awesome. Thank you, Erica. It's been a pleasure to connect again.

[00:41:30] Erica | Trip Scholars: Thank you.

Thanks so much for joining me. I know your time is valuable and I'm truly grateful that you spent some of it here together. Please come visit me@tripscholars.com for free travel resources, workshops and travel coaching. And if you enjoyed today's show, please follow, review or share. It really helps other curious travelers find us.

Until next time, curious Travelers.




People on this episode

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Erica Forrest

Host
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Scott Rainey

Host
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Tracy Smyth

Guest