Embracing Solo Travel: A Journey of Self-Discovery and Personal Growth

Amy Stone [00:00:04]:
Welcome to the art of imperfect adulting.

Jennifer Corbeau [00:00:06]:
Thank you, Amy. Thank you so much for having me. I’m just very thrilled to be here.

Amy Stone [00:00:12]:
I’m thrilled you’re here, too. Are you ready for a fun chat?

Jennifer Corbeau [00:00:15]:
I am. Definitely.

Amy Stone [00:00:17]:
Yay. All right, so I start every interview asking people where in the world they are. So tell us where you’re joining me from.

Jennifer Corbeau [00:00:25]:
Well, right now I am in Boston, but I actually am from Albuquerque, New Mexico, and I did a solo cross country drive up to Boston to do some house sitting.

Amy Stone [00:00:37]:
Oh, very nice. All right, so it was. That’s. I love this already. That is a hint on sort of what we’re going to talk about in a minute. But before we get into the topic of the day, I do want to take a chance to learn a little bit more about your personal background. Tell us a little bit about your life outside of work, people who are important to you, pets, hobbies, whatever feels good. As little or as much as you want to share.

Jennifer Corbeau [00:00:59]:
Sure, sure. Well, I am a single lady of a certain age, as they say. No, we love that. Right? No, I am, I am single. I have two grown kids. My son lives on this side of the world in Rhode Island. My daughter lives in Portland, Oregon. And I’m sitting there in Albuquerque, New Mexico, you know, wondering what I’m doing so far away from my children. And I mostly, I mostly work, have a, you know, I have a, a little bit of family in Albuquerque, but ideally I love to travel around and hence the house sitting. I found this great site where I could just house sit around, and I am in the middle of one of those right now.

Amy Stone [00:01:49]:
Very nice. I interviewed somebody who’s coming up quickly on the podcast who did some house sitting, and she told me about one of the websites that helps people find and get matched up. So that’s an, that’s a very cool thing. There are some hints in what you’ve already shared about what we’re going to talk about today, which is that you once upon a time took an entire year and filled it up with solo. A solo traveling adventure. So that’s what we’re going to talk about today.

Jennifer Corbeau [00:02:18]:
Yes, I did. Ah, I can’t wait. It was the best decision that I could make.

Amy Stone [00:02:25]:
That is very cool. So I’m very excited to hear about this. I think this taps into a dream that many, many people have of checking out and traveling. So was it something that was a plan from the outset to take a year in travel, or was it something that started small and grew into a year?

Jennifer Corbeau [00:02:45]:
Yeah, Sort of. I mean, it certainly was not my first solo travel experience. I mean, I definitely started much smaller and. But I have, since I’ve been little, love to travel and I’ve always enjoyed. I like to say that it started when I was very young, when my parents stuck me on a plane when I was probably 10 or 11 or 12 or probably several times during those years, from New Mexico to. To Texas to see my. My grandparents. And I thought, oh, this is the way to do it because I don’t have to, you know, compromise with my siblings. I don’t. I get all the attention from my grandparents and, you know, other relatives. And I thought, this is fun. So I’ve enjoyed traveling since I’ve been little. And then when I went to England for the first time in 2010 and just fell in love with it when I got there, I mean, I. I like to say I fell in love with England, but really I fell in love with myself while I was in England. There was something about that trip. So I’ve tried to come back as much as I can. And so I’ve done several solo travels and to England. And yeah, I had an idea of. I wanted to do an extended period of time because I do have a dream of living there one day.

Amy Stone [00:04:11]:
Okay.

Jennifer Corbeau [00:04:12]:
And, well, maybe I’ll do an extended trip there just to see how it is to more, you know, it’s still. It’s still a holiday, but more live, you know, live there. And. And so I thought, okay, well, I can go for six months on my passport on a.

Amy Stone [00:04:32]:
Right. So that’s the. Because everywhere you go internationally is going to have slightly different rules changing all the time. But yes. Yeah.

Jennifer Corbeau [00:04:42]:
And then it grew. And then it grew to. Well, I can spend three months in IRE on my passport, so. Grew to nine months. And then it actually happened. I was taking a shower where often our good ideas, you know, come. And. And I thought, why just those places? Why not? Why not, you know, make it a full year and check out Western Europe, you know, France and Italy, and. And it was just a. It was just an idea. And I knew that I was, you know, I left. This might be going a little bit further. I left a relationship. I left the home. I put everything I had in storage because I just knew this was the right thing to do, to make it a whole year and just go for it.

Amy Stone [00:05:35]:
All right, so let’s get into the details because it’s a little bit of an eat, Pray, love kind of story then is why the way it shook out. So it Was. So it was an intentional plan that was at least somewhat scripted out before you hopped on the. The plane to do it. And so you set it up. How long ago was this?

Jennifer Corbeau [00:05:57]:
This was. So it was right near kind of it when travel was opening up again after the, you know, COVID lockdown. Yeah, so I went in from October of 21 to October of 22.

Amy Stone [00:06:15]:
Okay. All right. So I was gonna guess that it was. Well, if I was guessing when travel opened back up at 21, I traveled, I think the summer of 21 to. I’m not sure that that’s right. We did one cross country trip when everything was still closed down. And then the summer after that. Cause I had kids in school. We did a trip that had been delayed that required travel. So I forget what year that was. I probably have the years wrong. But so it could have been 20 and 21 or 21 and 22. All right, so it was a plan. Were you did a lot of things. How long did it take to plan it? This is probably impacted by lockdown a little bit. How long it took to plan. How long did it took you to plan this?

Jennifer Corbeau [00:06:56]:
Yes, because it was already a little bit planned. You know, the plan was already in the works a little bit because I also lead retreats to England and I had one for 2020, I believe. And then I had, you know, I thought, okay, no, I have to. I’m going to try for 2021. And that again, it still didn’t work. So okay, well, I’ll just do 2022. And so for a week in that, in that year, I led a retreat in England. So I’d already had planned to spend that extended amount of time just in England. I hadn’t quite. It took, you know, a couple years. So I’d been thinking about it for, you know, a couple years thinking about it and. But then really it was, it was in. I remember it was in February of 2021 that I decided, no, I’m going to do the full year and gonna.

Amy Stone [00:07:55]:
Do the full year.

Jennifer Corbeau [00:07:57]:
Yes.

Amy Stone [00:07:57]:
All right. So. And at the.

Jennifer Corbeau [00:07:58]:
When you, you know, I had several months, you know, before I went.

Amy Stone [00:08:04]:
That is amazing. So let’s go through some of the things that you had to do before you left, because you mentioned it. So you were in a relationship and you ended that relationship, or was that not related to the planning of this trip?

Jennifer Corbeau [00:08:17]:
Oh, that was absolutely, absolutely related. I knew that, you know, it was. I knew that it was coming, that it was time, even though it’s an absolutely wonderful man. But we just had these different lives and. Yeah, so it. That was actually the first thing to transpire. We were living together at the time and I’m packing my bags.

Amy Stone [00:08:48]:
You’re not invited.

Jennifer Corbeau [00:08:50]:
Well, that’s ex. Yeah, it was. And then we still lived together for that entire. The rest of the time knowing that we were going to be parting ways, you know, come October.

Amy Stone [00:09:02]:
Was that awkward? A little bit.

Jennifer Corbeau [00:09:05]:
Yes, it was. And it was, it was kind of sad, but I, I mean, it was very sad, but we both were. When I first brought it up, February, we both were kind of in this. Well, it’s so long, you know, that we were not even gonna really acknowledge it, you know, to each other, until which it really. We almost didn’t acknowledge it until the, the very end.

Amy Stone [00:09:34]:
All right, so that’s interesting. It sort of feels like the, the seasonal relationships you have when you’re. When you’re a kid and it’s like, well, I’m going to be gone for the summer, so, you know, do we stay together or do we break up? I’m going to college. Do we stay together? Do we do the long distance thing or do we break up? So that sounds like a grown up version of that. A little bit. In my head, if I was writing the script for this, that’s the way I would write it.

Jennifer Corbeau [00:09:57]:
I mean, it absolutely was because we, you know, we never got back. Back together in a full relationship, but, you know, we still kind of saw each other in this sort of awkward way after I got back. But it was, it was a, A break then.

Amy Stone [00:10:14]:
A cool break, A clean break is what I mean. The. Okay, so then you also. So you were living in. You were. You had a place to live, and so you moved out of that and put everything in storage while you were gone.

Jennifer Corbeau [00:10:27]:
Right.

Amy Stone [00:10:28]:
Did it ever flash through your mind that you might not come back, that you were doing a full relocation?

Jennifer Corbeau [00:10:32]:
Every time I travel, it flashes through my mind that I might not come back.

Amy Stone [00:10:38]:
Okay, so that’s interesting because it sounds like there’s a poll from, from, from. So you had, you had a very confirmed plan to spend an extended amount of time in London and then a pretty long time in England, Ireland, and then some touring through the other European countries. Was that the agenda?

Jennifer Corbeau [00:10:56]:
That was. That was it kind of what it was. I had planned to do England for three months, go to France and Italy for three months, and then, you know, maybe. Oh, actually, you know, I’m gonna backtrack there. My daughter and I had planned a train tour, Jerry, over the holidays. So I was gonna plan to meet up with her in London in December, and we were going to take a train all the way, you know, through France and Switzerland and into Italy. And so I made my way over to Italy, went to Rome, and she ended up not being able to do it because it was just. It was still. There was still so much Covid stuff. I mean, there was lots there with testing and. And at that point, Switzerland actually closed its borders to Americans. And so that part of the tour was going to be cancelled or, you.

Amy Stone [00:11:54]:
Know, so many unpleasant memories about how hard it was to travel at that time. So many, yeah.

Jennifer Corbeau [00:12:00]:
But it, you know, I got used to it. I got used to all the testing I had to do. So anyway, I ended up being in one of the things that I was not expecting in Italy for almost two months, when I was just expecting to be there for maybe, you know, maybe a couple weeks or.

Amy Stone [00:12:20]:
Okay, so let’s take a second and talk about the fact that you were doing this, because this is a good place to put this in here. Your daughter was going to come and meet you. But one of the things that makes this unique, this story unique, at least partially, is that you intentionally do this solo. You are by yourself. And when, when people think about being traveling like this, a lot of people do it in pairs and in groups and as part of groups, but you do it by yourself. So set out with your suitcase or two for a year and. And you, you. Your intention is to really just mosey on by yourself, by yourself. And you really enjoy that.

Jennifer Corbeau [00:13:04]:
I love it. I absolutely love it. And I want to say it’s not an either or. It’s not that I will only solo travel.

Amy Stone [00:13:12]:
That’s what I was going to ask you is like, do you have this, like, as like, rules, like no one is allowed?

Jennifer Corbeau [00:13:16]:
No. I mean, but when I have intended to solo travel, then, yeah, nobody’s allowed because I’m. I am wanting that time to really connect with myself. I’m wanting that time also just to do whatever the heck I want to do. Just for me, not worrying about. Because what I really notice is when I’m with somebody else, especially in a place that, that I’ve been and that I love. I am so focused on them and are enjoying it. And then, you know, where do we want to eat? When do we want to, you know, get up? What do we want to eat? You know, where do we want to go? All of those things. Is that person having a good time? Is that person enjoying it as much as I am? Where And I just realized such a stark difference. I. One of my first kind of solo travel memories or you know, transformational turning points is when I was in Los Angeles just by myself and I was at the beach. You know, being in New Mexico, we don’t see a lot of water.

Amy Stone [00:14:24]:
Sure.

Jennifer Corbeau [00:14:25]:
Being at the, being at the beach, the sun was setting and I just was in tears because it was so beautiful. I mean I just felt it, it was, I was so happy to be there. And I remember thinking while I was there of, I don’t think I would let myself feel this if I were with somebody else because, you know, it would be a lot about how do they feel? You know, what are they thinking? Are they going to think I’m weird, that I’m, you know, crying because I’m sitting and watching the waves? You know, all of those things that for me come up and just how appreciative I was to myself, that I was giving myself that time to just be there and be by myself. And, and so that was, that was huge. That I really can be who I want to be. I can get to know who I am and what I want and when I’m by myself and yeah, huge, huge gifts. I mean I’ve, I’ve come away from solo travel much more connected to myself, much more confident in, you know, what I’m able to do and yeah, much more trusting of myself, trusting of my body, you know, and that has always been huge of okay, this is, this is something that I can do. I mean, I do honestly consider solo travel to be the quickest tool of transformation that, that anyone can do. I mean there are all kinds of things that we can do that, that, yeah. That have these growth and you know, transformation, transformational possibilities. But I have found that solo travel has the quickest and part of that is because it’s not always fun, it’s not always comfortable. It’s not about, oh, I’m finally going to be by myself and it’s going to be wonderful this whole time. No, I mean that’s a.

Amy Stone [00:16:30]:
So let’s talk about some of those things. First though, I want to ask about in the planning phase because in my head it seems to me that planning a year long excursion and adventure is a little different than like a seven to ten day trip domestically. So what if any, if you remember what were some of your concerns, your apprehensions, your anxieties when you were, before you left, like when you were planning, what were some of the things that you were had bouncing around your head?

Jennifer Corbeau [00:16:59]:
Sure. So yeah, it is different. And I, I just realized I am allowed to do to set up as much or as little as that would make me feel comfortable. I’m not, definitely not one of those people that can just go anywhere and decide, oh, I’m gonna fall, find a place to stay or whatever. I like to have this kind of skeleton of where I’m going, how I’m getting there and where I’m staying. That part set up ahead of time. It. I certainly did not have everything set up a year in advance. It was maybe, you know, two weeks in advance at a, at a point. But some of the things I, yeah, that I was really, that caused a lot of anxiety was like my phone plan. How am I gonna, you know, how am I gonna figure out, you know, what kind of phone plan? I certainly can’t do, you know, the international plans on my cell phone that are, oh, just pay 10 doll, you know.

Amy Stone [00:18:00]:
Right.

Jennifer Corbeau [00:18:01]:
I had to figure out all of these things. It was, how, what am I going to pack? How am I going.

Amy Stone [00:18:07]:
I can’t imagine.

Jennifer Corbeau [00:18:09]:
And I have to say that I went with one kind of medium sized suitcase and a backpack for the whole year.

Amy Stone [00:18:17]:
But that is what I took when I lived abroad as a student. But I also shipped a couple of boxes that like arrived. Like I shipped my. Traveled in the summer, like the school year. And then we shipped a box, maybe two, I don’t remember, of winter stuff.

Jennifer Corbeau [00:18:34]:
Right.

Amy Stone [00:18:34]:
But other than that, I just had one, one backpack and one bag. And I like 10 months later, I did not bring very much of that stuff back. I left it. I was like, I never want to see these clothes again.

Jennifer Corbeau [00:18:47]:
That is absolutely. Yes, absolutely. Yeah. And so it was, what am I going to bring and what am I. Because now I know. And what I, you know, when I, when I encourage people to solo travel is only bring what you can carry because you’re not going to have help all the time. Even though I ended up having this kind of help throughout, I had lots of very beautiful synchronistic experiences. But yeah, that was the big, I remember the phone thing being huge. The insurance, what am I going to do? Okay, insurance and those kind of details.

Amy Stone [00:19:27]:
It was, I bet you that’s because for a year, right when you’re planning it in your head, it’s all going to be sunshine and rainbows, but in reality, at some point in the year, you’re going to get a cold and you’re going to need to talk to somebody about it. And those are the kind of things that. That’s Good forward planning. Like, how am I going to do this? And the phone plan and the medical stuff. Those are things that are, you know, that. That are hard to really finalize from far away.

Jennifer Corbeau [00:19:59]:
Right.

Amy Stone [00:20:00]:
There’s an element of. It’s like, there’s a piece of this that I’m gonna have to figure out when I get there. You know, people, like, go in the store and get this thing, and you’re like, okay, can’t do that till I get there. Sorry.

Jennifer Corbeau [00:20:09]:
Right. Yeah. And that’s it. That can be a little bit hard. Now, one thing is that I found. I found somebody to talk to. I found someone who. Who did kind of this travel coaching, told me, these are the things that you want to look at. Because, yeah, all I’m doing is I’m gonna go and stay in England for six months, and this is where I’m gonna stay. And not even really thinking about, okay, I gotta figure out these little details. So, yes. So I got help. Which was. Yes. Which was, you know, one of the best things that I could do for myself in that planning period. And. And she was wonderful. And, you know, so it was nice to talk to someone who had done it and then who knew, you know, okay, these are the things you might not have, you know, might not have thought about. This is how you get an international driver’s license. This is how.

Amy Stone [00:21:12]:
Sure.

Jennifer Corbeau [00:21:14]:
Those kind of things that I wouldn’t even, you know, she told me these are, you know, some brands of clothing you want to get. Make sure, you know, you get things that are packable. And, you know, she talked about the capsule wardrobe, that kind of thing about, you know, just taking a few things and making sure everything goes together. So all of those little things that. That. Yeah, I didn’t really.

Amy Stone [00:21:39]:
That is very smart, actually. The capsule, I didn’t think about it because when I. Like when I did my extended trip there I was. I was like a college student. So I had my existing wardrobe. There were limitations. There were limitations. All right, so you did share with me in the intake form that even though, like, as I’m thinking about it just sounds like such a dream, you know, to be able to plan this in this wonderful thing. You did openly share that there. This was not all easy. And you describe it as a profound experience of act of self love. So share with us some of the things that if you want to, you don’t have to share all of them. But a couple of things that came up that really were challenging and then how it really morphed into what you’re calling a profound act of self love.

Jennifer Corbeau [00:22:25]:
Yeah. I think it’s a big part of it was knowing that sometimes I was going to be lonely, sometimes I was going to be scared, sometimes I was going to make some mistakes, some big mistakes or some stupid mistakes. And this I didn’t know ahead of time. So this is what I had to learn through it. That, okay, these different experiences happen. And I had. Yeah. That I. That I was very insecure for lots of it. I was. You know, I didn’t know if I was doing it right because I. I see travel as this, you know, spiritual experience. And I want, you know, at the beginning to think, okay, I’m going to have all of these experiences, and then on the other side, I’m going to be something.

Amy Stone [00:23:21]:
Oh, and then. Yes. And then the. What happens is that you are you all the way through that.

Jennifer Corbeau [00:23:27]:
Well, see, that’s exactly right. One of my. Going back to why I did this, one of the reasons was because I was not happy. I was. I was not happy in my current circumstance. I was. And so I realized, okay, I could blame it on my relationship. I could blame it on this city that I don’t really like. I could blame it on, you know, these things because, yeah, I’m feeling this way, and it must be because of these external circumstances. And then I got to my favorite places in the world, and I still felt that way. Yeah, I still had that, you know, that kind of heaviness. And I realized, oh, right, this is something going on inside me. It does not have anything to do with Albuquerque or, you know, this man or the situation or whatever, but this is something within me that, you know, that, okay, I can. I’m being offered the opportunity to look at it because. Yeah, exactly. It’s a cliche because it’s true that wherever you go, there you are.

Amy Stone [00:24:37]:
Right. That’s one of the. That’s definitely. That’s the thing with those cliches and the platitudes. Like, even though they can feel a little obnoxious, sometimes, they’re a perfect match to describe what we’re experiencing. What did you do when you got lonely?

Jennifer Corbeau [00:24:51]:
I. Yeah, I did all kinds of things. Okay. I’m the. The, you know, most ideal side. I just let myself be lonely. I realized this is something that happens to humans. This is a normal human thing.

Amy Stone [00:25:08]:
Yeah. This.

Jennifer Corbeau [00:25:09]:
Something to combat or avoid or whatever. Sometimes we just get lonely. And what I realized on the other side of that moment of loneliness is that. Oh, when I got through that, I just even more got More comfortable being with myself. Like, okay, I like my company. I can do that now. I also at times watched a crap ton of Netflix because I was just didn’t know what to do with myself, which travel does, especially solo. Because when you take yourself out of your normal, everyday routine, all the ways that you comfort yourself, all the ways that you soothe yourself, when you’ve taken yourself out of that, even if it’s to a grand place, there’s that part of you that’s like, okay, this feels really weird.

Amy Stone [00:26:03]:
So it’s exhausting.

Jennifer Corbeau [00:26:05]:
It is. I got restless, felt unsettled. So. So, yeah, I watched. You know, I watched. I went through many different series on. On Netflix or, you know, what have you. Yeah, I, you know, complained. I, you know, I ate a lot of cookies and just. So those different things, which is also okay.

Amy Stone [00:26:33]:
You know, they are coping mechanisms.

Jennifer Corbeau [00:26:35]:
Yeah, it’s okay. And I got to know even more what those were. So when I was. When I was lonely, kind of the. Both of those now on the. That. That’s approaching loneliness. Loneliness and just kind of being with the lonely. I also. I’m not a very social. I mean, I’m social, but it. It’s gotta feel comfortable. I’m not one of those that I’m gonna go to a pub and just talk with, you know, the locals.

Amy Stone [00:27:05]:
Okay, all right. So I am. I am an extrovert. Okay? So I’m very comfortable with my own company. I like being with myself. I can do things by myself, but if I don’t have contact with people, I strike up conversations with strangers, like, immediately. Like, if I am by myself all day long working on a project, like, if everybody’s gone, I go for, like, a walk in the afternoon. I talk to strangers, I talk to animals, I talk to plant life. So, like, if you like, so. And that’s like. But I understand. I am the only person like this in my entire family. And I know everybody, like, so many people who are not like that, you know, and so I do understand that not everybody is like that. I am the person in every group that people are like, amy, go ask for directions. I’m like, okay, yeah.

Jennifer Corbeau [00:27:53]:
I mean. And I can do that. And I guess it just. It just depends. So what I found is I stayed in predominantly Airbnbs.

Amy Stone [00:28:03]:
Okay.

Jennifer Corbeau [00:28:03]:
And I found is I really enjoyed when I stayed with someone who wanted to chat. So, yeah, so I, you know, I. I started in these different Airbnbs and realized, oh, this is where I’m getting a lot of my social contact is through my Hosts. My Airbnb hosts. I did notice that I also talked to people at the store and that kind of thing. So it was, you know, I wanted that, but I would talk to my host. So what I started looking for. I always read reviews when I’m looking for where to stay are the people that are saying hosts are very friendly. Hosts, like to chat hosts or live in the building or next door or whatever. So that. Okay, that’s good then. I know. And I ended up staying with incredible people, making such good friends and having such amazing conversations. That. That, yeah, that kind of helped with the. With the loneliness part of it.

Amy Stone [00:29:02]:
Yeah, no, that is, I. That is. That is a wonderful. That is spectacular, actually, to meet the people. And it’s when somebody’s renting out a part of their house or offering to host, hopefully that is the type of person. It’s not always true. Sometimes you get the hosts that are. You wonder why are you doing this? But they should hopefully have the personality to do this. All right, so you started this with an intention, a lot of pre planning and a lot of ideas and some previous experience about some of the transformations that are possible for you that you had experienced on other times. What were you. What did you have an idea of what you were hoping would transform beforehand before you started this? And then the second part of this question is, what is sort of the transformation that. Now that you look back, that happened as a result of this year?

Jennifer Corbeau [00:29:49]:
I wanted to figure out life.

Amy Stone [00:29:56]:
Oh, just that. Okay, just that question 1. The meaning of life. And the answer to that. Do you remember from the book? Do you know the book the 42. There you go. Thank you. Then the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Universe. It’s the. A very old book. I don’t know if people still read it.

Jennifer Corbeau [00:30:14]:
I don’t know either.

Amy Stone [00:30:15]:
I hope they do. I hope they do. Douglas Adams, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Universe. Everybody should read it. That’s the meaning of life. 42. Okay, sorry I interrupted you, but that. You wanted to find the meaning of life.

Jennifer Corbeau [00:30:26]:
I wanted to know who I was. I wanted to come out on the other side being this confident woman who knew exactly what she was going to do. And, you know. Yeah, what. What do I want to do with my life? What do I want to be when I grow up? So I expected to be a grownup on the other side of.

Amy Stone [00:30:47]:
So wait, but your kids were already grown at this point? Like, how old were you when you took this trip?

Jennifer Corbeau [00:30:51]:
So my kids were already 26 and 20 okay.

Amy Stone [00:30:55]:
I just want to put it in context that we are all still waiting to grow up. Like, we. We are all still waiting to figure out what we’re going to do when we’re growing up. Okay, so that. Those. Those teeny, tiny little questions, those are the ones that you went into this trip with. Meaning of life. What am I going to do when I grew up? Who am I? How do I solve all the world. World peace? Was that on the agenda? Things that you were going to solve? All right, so.

Jennifer Corbeau [00:31:19]:
So I want to also say that. That. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Amy Stone [00:31:30]:
So what. As a result, though, so you did have some pretty big goals, which actually, my guess is that means that that’s actually a measure of the malcontent and discontent that you were feeling is really kind of probably what that is. That’s a reflection of the uncertainty and that you had when you left. That’s when we. When we feel that, that’s when we have those big questions. I mean, you could have just sat down and read some, like, you know, Camus and questioned your life choices in that way in a cafe in, like, New Mexico, but instead, you took a year, which is a much, much more fun way to do this. What now have. It’s done, it’s complete. You can look back, you have the benefit of some time. What. What are some of the transformations that you did experience as a result of doing this year?

Jennifer Corbeau [00:32:15]:
And yeah, I remember what I was going to say. I think what I realized is I had all these expectations. I wanted this trip to have purpose, okay, for business, for whatever. Because I have to say, and I think a lot of. A lot of people, especially women, feel guilty about doing something that’s completely where I am the top priority. I am the priority, the only priority for almost the whole thing. And so I thought, okay, well, I better turn it into where I’m, you know, documenting all the time and writing blogs and posting and all of this, because I need to make sure I’m doing something purposeful while I have done.

Amy Stone [00:33:03]:
I have to earn my pleasure.

Jennifer Corbeau [00:33:04]:
Well, exactly. That’s exactly right. And so. So at the end, I realized, oh, almost none of that happened. I had all these other things. But what I came out of it, like I said a little bit earlier, is just this amazing confidence. This, you know, just feeling like, oh, wow, I did something really cool.

Amy Stone [00:33:33]:
There were. I think it is cool.

Jennifer Corbeau [00:33:35]:
Yeah, there are a few little kind of more scaryish things that I navigated through, so I know that I can navigate through, because we can never guarantee on something like this, any kind of travel, that something might not come up and. But we can. We can pretty much guarantee we have the wisdom to get through it. And so I just was able. I navigated through things. I appreciated my body. I appreciated. You know, I really appreciated, actually, by the end that I was willing to give myself that gift and put myself as a top priority, which is hard.

Amy Stone [00:34:19]:
Yeah. And what’s funny is for the people who are younger who are listening to this, it’s not hard when you’re, like, 15 to make yourself a priority. Right. It’s this weird thing that when you’re young, most of us are very good at prioritizing ourselves, and then something happens. It does coincide with parenting a lot, but I can’t say that I’m going to blame it on, you know, parenting and step parenting, that there is this shift that it’s like, okay, well, obviously I only exist to serve others, and therefore all of my desires go on the back burner. And then some people call it a reawakening, which is the retraining to, like, put yourself back on the priority list. And some people never do it. Some people never do it. So it’s not something that you have to do, but it is a very, very common thread of conversation for many, many people. And I think that the benefit. And one of the themes of this podcast is that I think there’s. I wish that there had been more people telling me when I was in my early 20s to be proactive about this so that I was more prepared for the whole cycle of it. Right. I think that that’s. I think that that’s something that we can. We can do. All right, so this. You already knew that you liked solo travel. You put this together. You take this year, you do this, you actually have an entire business dedicated to helping other people do this. And I want to, like, let you talk about that for a little bit, what it is that you do and how people can find you online if they are interested in discovering solo travel, because it is a thing that a lot of people are really scared to do. And so having somebody who is willing to walk them through the process of it is, I think, a really special thing.

Jennifer Corbeau [00:36:10]:
Right? Well, yeah, thank you. Thank you for that. I called so actually a friend of mine because I was like, what am I going to call this thing that I’m doing? You know, I like to give titles to things, and. And she’s like, oh, it’s like a soul quest. And I thought, ooh, yes, this is my soul quest. And so after, afterwards, I developed a program called Spiral Path Soul Quests. And basically I’m bringing in, because it was so that I got that help ahead of time that I wanted to be that person to, to help women, you know, kind of to plan and, you know, their solo travel. But I want to take it a step deeper of how do you make it a really, truly deep, meaningful, spiritual, personal transformation experience? Because that we don’t always know, you know, what to do, like, how to do that. And so often people solo travel without realizing, oh, this is actually going to be something incredible and come out on the other side and think, wow, I really went through something amazing. What I want to do is help women know ahead of time. This can be a truly transformational experience. Here are some things that you can do to even go deeper into it. Here’s how to handle some of the hard stuff. Here’s how to make it even more beautiful. Here’s how to choose where to go. Here’s how, you know, and then it’s kind of. Here’s how to feel safe. Here’s how to get through loneliness, but here’s how to truly connect with yourself so that you can come out on the other side, you know, just even with even more of a homecoming into your own heart. And so I developed this Spiral Path Soul Quest solo travel coaching program where I work with women before, during, and then after. And that after is really important because we all do that. We all go, you know, to a retreat or to some really nice kind of travel and think, I feel great. How can I continue this feeling after I get back to, quote, real life? Which I hate that because I think it’s all real life. But, you know, that’s some of the.

Amy Stone [00:38:39]:
Right after you get back to the, the routine, the place where the habits. The habits are ingrained.

Jennifer Corbeau [00:38:44]:
Yeah, so. So, yeah, so I have this program set out where, where I am supporting throughout the entire, you know, entire thing. And yeah, it’s a. It’s really, it’s really beautiful. I’ve. I’ve had some great outcomes for different clients and that. That have just told me this program. It’s so many people have told me this is the program that I didn’t know I needed because, like, why. Why do I need kind of a life coach which is, you know, what I, what I include into it for my travel? I don’t get it. And then, you know, after working through this program, okay, now, well, not everybody will need it.

Amy Stone [00:39:31]:
Right? Some people. Some people will, Will move through it on their own. But for people who are, would like to do it and are having trouble matching up the pieces or figuring out what to do. That’s where a coach can be in. Anything can be really helpful. Right? So, you know, you take a, you know, you want to learn how to play, let’s do pickleball. Because everybody plays pickleball. Now, I don’t play pickleball, but many people play pickleball. You want to learn how to do it right. You can spend six weeks watching YouTube video videos and learn it on your own. But if you want to, you know, learn it quickly and have a more enjoyable experience, you might look to hire a coach. And that’s where, that’s, that’s pretty much transferable through so many things. Like that’s how you accelerate it. We don’t always call it a coach. Coach is a weird word. Right. But it catches a lot of things. Okay, so you have a wonderful special offer for the audience which is a discount off of the Spiral path Soul Quests. And people can reach out to you at by email and tell them that you’re on the show and it’s 25% off the price. That information will be in the show notes if you’re listening and in the email if you’re a subscriber@imperfectadulting.com, which everybody should be because it’s very, very nice. That’s a very generous offer. I want to say thank you for sharing that. So I want to say thank you for sharing the story of this year. Long trip. I think that it, I did it before, but I’ll say it again. It’s a, it was a bold, big dream to say I’m going to take a year and do this. And I think you just get kudos for having the courage and the nerve not just have the idea, but to execute and then come back and share with other people how to do the same thing. So thank you for sharing that you so much.

Jennifer Corbeau [00:41:11]:
It’s one of my favorite things to talk about solo travel because I, my. I dare say that I think solo travel is something every woman should try.

Amy Stone [00:41:22]:
I think. Yeah, I mean I, I think that it’s a, I think that it’s very courage building to do it. And I, I will say before we go into the final questions, I’ll throw in one last question and then we’ll do the rapid fire questions. When you told people that you were doing this long solo trip, what did you get pushback from people who were like, oh.

Jennifer Corbeau [00:41:45]:
I, I got a variety of, of responses. I got the oh, that’s great. That’s that support. I mean, I. From the people closest to me, they were all really supportive. I didn’t get any kind of, you shouldn’t do that. Even from my relationship. It was like, yeah, that’s. You need to do what you’re going to do. And then I got responses like, oh, that’s great. I would love to do that. I wish, I wish I could.

Amy Stone [00:42:16]:
Yeah.

Jennifer Corbeau [00:42:16]:
Or, you know, oh, I’m going to do that sometime. And then, oh, you’re so brave. That was one. That’s the one biggest things that heard. And it used to. Yeah, I used to not get it. I used. Because it felt very natural to me to just. Just do that. And so I didn’t understand. Oh, I don’t feel brave. But then I realized, oh, yeah, that’s.

Amy Stone [00:42:41]:
A. Yeah, a lot of people don’t do it. Many, many years ago, I was. I was flying the Cancun to meet my friends on Cozumel, and I did not. And I flew down by myself. Right. Which I felt safe the entire time. But people, many, many people were like, wow, you’re flying by yourself. And I was like, this is not like, like, why? Like, this is a highly tourist area. I like leave the airport, go to the taxi, get on the ferry and meet my friends at the hotel. But people are like that, aren’t you scared? And I was like, well, not until you mentioned that. Thanks for bringing it up, but no. All right. So that was what was going through my head. While you’re thinking that now it’s time to close this out. I’m going to ask you my three rapid fire questions just for fun. Answer with whatever comes to mind. Mind. Okay. Okay. Do you ever go to the movies in the theaters and if you do, do you have a favorite movie watching, snack or treat?

Jennifer Corbeau [00:43:37]:
Oh, gosh. Well, heavily buttered popcorn.

Amy Stone [00:43:41]:
Okay. All right. Then you can even do that at home when you’re watching movies. This is like, this is a question that I like. Right.

Jennifer Corbeau [00:43:47]:
Something different with that oil. That’s, you know, that’s.

Amy Stone [00:43:51]:
You only edit there. Yeah. Heavily body. And. And the movie theater popcorn is a special kind of heavily salted. It’s so salty. Oh, my goodness. All right. Would you describe yourself as a rule breaker or a rule follower?

Jennifer Corbeau [00:44:07]:
Ooh, I. I’m a rule follower.

Amy Stone [00:44:11]:
Okay. All right. That’s interesting because you did. That’s. I love that. Okay. What is your favorite sort of weather season of the year? What is your favorite season of the year?

Jennifer Corbeau [00:44:19]:
Fall. Their leads changing that. That really it’s, it kind of has that magical feel where you can feel when the, the season is changing and the leaves start to change. That. Yeah, that’s definitely my favorite time of year, especially in New Mexico.

Amy Stone [00:44:40]:
Wow. All right. I have to check it out. All right, that’s it. Jennifer Corbo, you have been an amazing guest today on the show. Thank you so much. Thank you.

Jennifer Corbeau [00:44:47]:
Thank you, Amy. I’m so happy to be here.