The Big Trip of 2013 (inspiration - part 1)
If I put myself back to a previous phase of like, circa 2011 or so, life looked so very different. It wasn’t bad - don’t get me wrong, just different. I was a hitting a stride in my corporate marketing career, having fun with friends, traveling a bit, and overall setting out on a life-path I thought I was meant to live.
Then June 2012 hit, my Mom got sick, and everything I thought was important in my life was put into question, including the life-path I was on. To read more about this moment, and a quick preview of how it shaped this business, click here.
As the near loss of my Mom started to sink in (BTW - she’s alive and kickin’ today!) I started to really think about my life. As I look back it was a surreal to be second-guessing my life-path when I was just getting started with adult’ing, but these three questions continually swirled in my head:
If my time were to end abruptly, and much earlier than planned, what would I have accomplished, and what good things would people have to say about me? (For more on these questions, read this post about bucket lists and eulogies!)
Am I passionate about, and proud of, the work that consumes so much of my days, energy and attention?
Am I architecting my life in a way that allows me to show up for my friends and family the way I want to?
Other forces were also at work: I was also going through a challenging break-up, had enrolled in a life-changing course called heartspark, and moved in with my Mom to help with her recovery. With so much life in transition, and big questions swirling in my head, I realized I needed to take a pause from the life-path I was on to really focus on discovering What’s Next for me. I know, I know - a mid-life crisis or sabbatical in your mid-20’s sounds crazy, but it’s proven to be one of the best decisions of my life. Here’s what I did:
While living with my parents, and working full-time, I was able to save quite a bit of money (read this post for advice!)
After about a year of saving + planning I quit my job and set-out on a 5 month solo journey that started in Turkey and made my way West through Europe. BRIEF PAUSE: now the details of this epic trip are too big and glorious to include here, so at the bottom of this post is a link to the Part 2 of this blog post, and where you’ll find all the details about the trip!
This travel experience gave me the space to explore what was important to me, and while I didn’t come home with a business plan in mind, or major epiphany that you’d expect from this moment (according to a Hollywood movie) what I did come home knowing are four very important things that I have come to view as my professional ‘north stars.’
I wanted travel to be part of my world. I became addicted to learning about different cultures, customs, traditions and people face-to-face vs. on the internet or in books; my curiosity was indulged and I didn’t want that to stop.
I wanted the flexibility to serve my friends, family and community. I don’t ever want to take a conference call from a hospital waiting room again.
I want to serve my community, and be known for something that matters to them.
I want my success patterns (the things I’m naturally best at, a term I learned in heartspark) to have a big stage in my life.
Essentially I redefined what it meant for me to be ‘living big’ by identifying these north stars, and upon my return I set about exploring the various ways of bringing these north stars to life.
I started by working at a French bakery part time - that wasn’t it, but it was fun to be part of customers daily routines and eat pastry every day! I tested being a traditional travel agent — it was fun to be in the travel industry, but I didn’t have the freedom to design client trips the way I wanted to. I also explored working with an existing tour operator, but I wouldn’t be traveling with clients in that role, which wasn’t appealing. Along the way I did freelance work in my previous industry (marketing) to pay the bills.
Eventually I tested being my own tour operator, and that’s where the magic started. I designed a trip that strung together my favorite memories and experiences from past travels in Costa Rica. I brought women together who otherwise might not have crossed paths and introduced them to a new world view. I enabled travel to happen for many solo travelers who didn’t want to travel alone, and for women with super full lives that didn’t have time to plan an authentic vacation. I was there — I was traveling! And I designed the trip working from a new home office, taking mid-day break for yoga and afternoon coffee breaks with friends. I saw how my new roadmap for ‘living big,’ and the north stars I identified on my big trip, were coming to life. My success patterns were firing on all cylinders. To read more about the first Hosted Adventure to Costa Rica in 2014, click here.
Since that first trip Living Big Travel has hosted over 35 adventures for small groups of women. In late 2019 the business pivoted to focus on our Travel Design service, but only because what it meant for me to personally ‘live big’ was shifting - but the north stars outlined above; what I first came to understand on this 2013 solo adventure, are still true.
To read about the specifics of the 2013 trip, including where I went, what I saw, etc. hop on over to Part 2 of this post!
Cheers to ‘living big’ + following your north stars!
Mary + the Living Big Travel team