Newsletter – December 2024

Happy Holidays to you and yours!
(even if you don’t celebrate a Dec holiday or live in the Gregorian calendar)

The year has come and gone and I have finally seen snow in 2 years. I hope this holiday season is bringing you just as much joy as it has me! 🎊

So for the fun of it, this year: 

• I sent clients to 36 different countries around the world
• I visited 14 countries; 12 of them new for me
• I slept in 57 different beds
• I sold well over $300,000 in travel

Time of reflection is quite powerful for me and I believe that is a common human trait between us. In combination, lessons and experiences are even more powerful when shared with others.  So I’d like to take this opportunity to share with you a few of my favorite memories from 2024. I hope they inspire you to go after your dreams, take some risks, and to enjoy your life.

Read on either way 🧞

Swimming with Sharks in Sri Lanka

In 20 years time when I’ll have inevitably swam with more sharks than I can count, snorkeling with a few black tip reef sharks will seem like child’s play. However, in 2024, it’s topped my favorite moments chart.

We took one of the first boats out to Pigeon Island, a nature reserve near Trincomalee, Sri Lanka, and were some of the last to leave that day. I spent so long in the water during a hot, equatorial summer’s day that I subsequently spent the next 10 days only laying on my sides and stomach (iykyk). 

I think the reason this was such a big moment for me wasn’t just that I was swimming with an undervalued prehistoric creature on an exotic jungle island, but the fact that 5 years ago I had never even swam in the ocean. I was too scared. 

I grew up in the furthest state from the coast, so that didn’t help, but even when I would spend time at the beach growing up, I wouldn’t get in. I remember once when I tagged along on a family vacation to south Texas with a childhood friend, we walked into the ocean mearly dipping our feet in with all our clothes still on and I panicked. 

Those anxieties I felt growing up— I now understand— were simply a fear of the unknown seeping out. 

Traveling opened me up to facing my fears head on. Those first few times swimming in the Mediterranean Sea with my friends in my first months of traveling healed me as if I had dipped back into my childhood and filled it with pleasant, happy encounters with water. That led me to snorkeling in Mexico and later body-boarding in the Canary Islands, which eventually led me to pursue my Open Water scuba diving certificate in Egypt in 2023 (and further, earning my Advanced certificate right after). This new relationship with water gifted me a whole new world of things to explore. 

Once the fear went away, I began dreaming of all the things I wanted to see and understand below the water. Crossing off “swim with sharks” from my bucket list has been life affirming and life changing for me. 

In 2024, my 5th year of traveling the world, watching the sharks swim by showed me that the world really has changed me.
 

Watching Theyyam Ceremonies in India

Going to India is an extremely special experience no matter how you slice it. But getting to experience such a unique and extravagant religious ceremony was an absolute highlight of my life— and therefore year. 

You may not know (but probably aren’t surprised to hear) that I received my bachelor’s degree in Anthropology. It’s likely that my love / fascination with human culture is what drives my desire to travel the world. 

There are a million and one reasons to travel, but the one that truly gets me is that I get to learn first hand about this silly species of ours. I’m amazed by all the ways we have learned to worship and find meaning in life. Once I learned of these ceremonies where the Gods supposedly come down to earth for a short time to bless and heal— and we just happened to be able to attend during the short Theyyam season (Jan/Feb in Kerala)— I took full advantage of the opportunity.

What I found most interesting about this experience was how the intensity of tranced dancers inhabited by *actual* Gods was met with the casual setting of relaxed onlookers. Sitting amongst the local families, I found that the multi-day ceremonies resemble hanging out at an annual family reunion.. except the activities are held throughout the middle of night; adults kept awake with coffee mixed with jaggery and chicory (sugar and smoky flavors) and children fed sugary popsicles.

However casual it felt, I knew that everyone in attendance was participating in their own ways, be it asking for prayers, waiting for offerings from their preferred God, or catching up with their neighbor and playing with the other children in silent prayer.

I relish these times when I’m accepted as a foreigner to participate in sacred rituals with no second thought as to whether or not I belong. 

Solo Campervan-ing Around Finland

It’s no secret that traveling by campervan is my favorite way to travel. There is just nothing quite like the freedom of the open road with a bed [and kitchen] on wheels. And even though I’m happy to be traveling with my partner most of the time, I value solo travel so much. There is no growth and freedom of mind as there is when you travel alone. 

Thanks to my good friend, Amin, I was able to hit the road for nearly two weeks in his beloved “Christina Camperlust”, working and exploring on my own.

In that time I drove, camped, hiked, kayaked, worked, did yoga, picked wildflowers, bird watched, sipped coffee next to various lake, snapped photos of a large variety of mushrooms, read multiple books, and simply enjoyed the fresh air of pine-covered Finland. 

Even though I traveled solo at other times of the year, this particular trip will stay etched in my mind as a favorite memory from 2024 because it combined almost all of my favorite activities while giving me much needed R&R after many moons in bustling Asian countries. Not to mention that I got to get to know a country I hardly knew anything about in such an intimate way. 

First Familiarization Trip in South East Asia

One extremely important necessity as a travel advisor is first-hand experience. Getting to know suppliers, hotels, tour operators, and other partners around the world in person has given me unparalleled knowledge to advise my clients appropriately.

I absolutely love my career because I get to help people experience the world in new and exciting ways. I don’t see what I do as sales but as genuine support as I believe that travel changes lives and in turn, the world. This trip proved to me that I’m on the right track; that what I’m doing does mean something— to my clients and to my partners and their local communities.

US Road Trip & Too Much to Recount

Visiting home after two years brought its meaningful lessons and filled my heart with nostalgia and extra love for my family. And as a bonus, I got to continue showing my partner— who had only been to the States with me once before this year— more of this beautiful country. 

The US has so much to offer in terms of natural beauty and I was happily reminded of that when we set off for two weeks around Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico. Ending 2024 with meaningful time with my family and sharing more of these spectacular places with my partner will forever be a highlight of this year.

———

On top of all these wonderful experiences, I’m proud to say there’s a lot more where that came from. I had way too many amazing days this year and wish I could scream to the world about them all. Alas, you’ll just have to trust me… and follow along on the next adventure.. Africa! 

No matter your plans for 2025, just remember that I’m here for you in whatever capacity means most to you.

I can’t wait to get you on your next adventure!  

Happy New Year 🎊