With a single decisive click Julia Chien chose the unknown. Chien found herself staring at a computer screen, hesitating between a round-trip ticket and a one-way flight to Costa Rica. That moment of uncertainty—”Should I change this ticket to roundtrip? Is this stupid of me to book a one way ticket not knowing what the plan is, where I’m going?”—became the catalyst for two years of solo travel that would fundamentally reshape her understanding of herself and what life could look like.
Her story illuminates a universal truth about personal transformation: sometimes we must physically remove ourselves from familiar environments to discover who we really are beneath the expectations and patterns we’ve constructed. Julia’s journey from Vancouver to destinations across three continents reveals how solo travel becomes a powerful vehicle for breaking free from limiting beliefs and embracing calculated risks that lead to authentic self-discovery.
What began as an escape from the end of a long-term relationship evolved into something far more profound—a complete reimagining of what life could be when freed from conventional timelines and geographical boundaries.
Breaking Free from the Fixed Mindset
The decision to purchase that one-way ticket emerged from a convergence of life circumstances that many will recognize. Julia had recently ended a healthy three-and-a-half-year relationship where values and life goals had gradually diverged. She had spent the previous year pouring herself entirely into building her remote dietitian practice, working 80-hour weeks until she “sort of lost myself in it.” Additionally, after years of managing chronic eczema that had previously restricted her travel, her health was finally stable enough to support extended time away from home.
“I think prior to traveling, I was. I had more of like a fixed mindset, I guess you would call it, where it’s like, okay, I stay in Vancouver, I raise a family, I buy a house. You know, I’m never gonna leave,” Julia reflected. “And I think a lot of my friends who’ve grown up here, it’s like, that’s their life, right? It’s like, you’re born in the city that you grew up in and you start a family. And that’s what life is supposed to be like.”
This fixed mindset represents a common trap that keeps many people anchored to predetermined paths, even when those paths no longer align with their evolving values and desires. Julia’s recognition that she was “more unconventional” and wanted to “explore” challenged the narrative she had inherited about what adult life should look like.
The practical elements that enabled her departure—working remotely, minimal possessions, flexible living arrangements with her sister—demonstrate how circumstances sometimes align to make dramatic life changes possible. But it was her willingness to act despite uncertainty that transformed possibility into reality.
The Evolution of Calculated Risk-Taking
Solo travel inherently involves risk, but Julia’s journey illustrates how our relationship with risk evolves through experience. Her initial nervousness about traveling alone to a country “where people think it’s unsafe” gave way to increasingly adventurous choices as her confidence grew.
The progression is telling: she began with two weeks in a small beach town, staying in a safe Airbnb with a pool, focusing on simple pleasures like surfing and ocean time. But as her comfort with uncertainty expanded, so did her willingness to embrace more challenging experiences.
“I absolutely did. I mean, there are times where I’m like, I could have got myself really injured,” Julia said when asked about her risk-taking adventures. Her near-drowning experience while surfing in Costa Rica—getting caught in a “washing machine” of waves and thinking “if I’m not coming up for air, I am drowning”—illustrates both the real dangers of pushing boundaries and the profound lessons that emerge from surviving them.
These experiences taught her to distinguish between reckless endangerment and calculated risks that promote growth. Her later adventures, including spelunking through underwater caves in Guatemala, show someone who had learned to assess and accept uncertainty rather than being paralyzed by it.
Discovering Identity Through Solitude
One of the most significant aspects of Julia’s journey was learning to be alone after years of being in a relationship. This transition from coupled life to solo existence required developing entirely new social and emotional skills.
“At first, I was just doing everything on my own. I was actually really nervous to go out by myself to meet people,” she explained. “And then it starts to get lonely when you’re traveling alone. Very lonely.”
The evolution from isolation to connection became a crucial part of her self-discovery process. She learned to push beyond her comfort zone by attending digital nomad meetups and going to bars alone, eventually building a global network of relationships that enriched her travels.
This progression reveals how solo travel creates conditions for authentic self-knowledge. Without the familiar social roles and support systems of home, travelers must develop new ways of navigating the world that rely entirely on their own resources and judgment.
Amy Stone’s question about whether Julia could have had this spiritual healing experience without taking the geographic plunge highlighted the essential role of physical displacement in personal transformation. “I think if I just stayed where I was at the time, I would have never grown. I would have never experienced all these amazing things and learned more about myself and how to be alone,” Julia responded.
Redefining Success and Life Timelines
Perhaps the most profound transformation in Julia’s story was her complete reimagining of what constituted a successful adult life. After returning to Vancouver for her 30th birthday, she made the definitive decision to sell her belongings and commit to nomadic living indefinitely.
This decision challenged every conventional marker of adult success—home ownership, geographic stability, traditional relationship timelines, and career trajectory. Instead of following the expected path of “you’re born in the city that you grew up in and you start a family,” she chose to prioritize exploration, self-discovery, and the flexibility to shape her life according to her evolving values.
The emotional challenges were real. “I did have a couple mental breakdowns, but it always made me realize that, like, I’m very grateful to be able to have these experiences,” she acknowledged. These moments of doubt—wondering if she was “on the right track” while watching friends “having kids and families”—represent the internal tension many face when choosing unconventional paths.
Yet her ability to work through these doubts and continue pursuing her chosen path demonstrates how solo travel can build resilience and self-trust. Each successful navigation of a new country, each problem solved independently, each moment of loneliness overcome, contributed to a growing confidence in her ability to create a life aligned with her authentic desires rather than external expectations.
The Transformative Power of Geographic Freedom
Julia’s story ultimately illustrates how geographic freedom can become a catalyst for psychological and spiritual freedom. Her journey from that initial one-way ticket to Costa Rica to traveling across multiple continents reveals the compound effect of consistently choosing growth over comfort.
The practical skills she developed—managing work across time zones, navigating currency exchanges, building social connections in new environments—were secondary to the deeper transformation occurring. Each month in a new location, each challenge overcome alone, each moment of beauty experienced without familiar context, contributed to a fundamental shift in how she understood herself and her possibilities.
Her current status—back in Vancouver temporarily before heading to Asia—suggests not a return to her old life, but rather someone who has learned to move fluidly between different phases of existence. The fixed mindset that once kept her geographically and psychologically anchored has been replaced by a dynamic relationship with both place and possibility.
For those considering their own departures from conventional paths, Julia’s journey offers both inspiration and practical insight. The one-way ticket becomes a metaphor for commitment to uncertainty, for choosing growth over security, and for trusting that the path will reveal itself to those brave enough to take the first step into the unknown.
This article was inspired by an interview with Julia Chien and Amy Stone on The Art of Imperfect Adulting podcast. To hear more compelling conversations like this one and receive special offers from our guests directly to your inbox, join our email community today.
Solo Travel: Interview Transcript Julia Chien with Amy Stone | The Art of Imperfect Adulting | September 2025
Amy Stone [00:00:06]:
Welcome to the art of imperfect adulting. I’m happy you’re here. Are you ready for a fun chat?
Julia Chien [00:00:12]:
I’m super excited.
Amy Stone [00:00:14]:
Yay. All right, so I start all of my conversations by asking my guests what part of the world they’re call home. Where are you?
Julia Chien [00:00:21]:
I’m in Vancouver, bc.
Amy Stone [00:00:23]:
I love that. I love that I was tipped off from your email address that it might be Canada, but you never know. These days you really never know. So. So next question. Still warm up. Just for fun getting to know you, I want to ask, what is the last compliment that you gave someone? It can be something small, it can be earlier today, but what’s the last kind thing you shared with somebody else?
Julia Chien [00:00:46]:
Actually, my mom.
Amy Stone [00:00:49]:
Very nice. And what, and what, how did you compliment her?
Julia Chien [00:00:52]:
Well, she generously gave me a ride to the gym yesterday. She’s really busy. So that was nice. I was like, thank you mom for, for doing that. She didn’t have to do that.
Amy Stone [00:01:01]:
So very nice, very nice. I love it. Yes. No, appreciation is. As a mom who has driven people around for a long time, I speak on behalf of your mom. Thank you for the compliment. Thank you for seeing us. There are times where you feel like a taxi driver for sure. All right, so the topic of the day is how a one way plane ticket set you on a path for an amazing adventure that you call challenging, spiritual and healing. For first question, share with the audience. I know part of the answer already because I read it on your intake form. But share with us, what was the destination of that one way plane ticket?
Julia Chien [00:01:39]:
Beautiful. Costa Rica.
Amy Stone [00:01:41]:
So and were you in Vancouver then? So it was Vancouver to the San Jose.
Julia Chien [00:01:48]:
Yeah. Yeah. So it was Vancouver stopover in the United States and then San Jose.
Amy Stone [00:01:53]:
All right, very good. Okay, so we’re going to back up to before you did this because I have some questions, I have some questions about this. Obviously stuff was going on in your life because you did not do a round trip ticket and that was not, I think, accidental. Right. So let’s do talk about what was going on in your life at the time that had you click one way instead of round trip on this ticket.
Julia Chien [00:02:20]:
Yes. So where do I even begin? Because I feel like it’ll be a little bit of a long story.
Amy Stone [00:02:24]:
But yeah, so there were three things you told me and then you can go through them because it’s. Sometimes it’s easier that way. Right. You said a breakup from a long term relationship, a year going all in in your business and healing from a health condition. Right?
Julia Chien [00:02:40]:
Okay. Yes. So in 2022, this was the end of the year. That’s when I booked the one way flight to Costa Rica. I had recently left a. It was a healthy long term relationship of three and a half years earlier on in that year. And at the same time I’ve always been working online with my business, fully remote with my work. And during that time I just felt like a calling to just leave. For some reason I was just like, okay, I just want to see outside of where I grew up because I’ve been in Vancouver all my life and I remember looking for a ticket and I was like, oh, Costa Rica sounds like something that was called to me. And I was hesitating to buy a one way ticket because I’ve never traveled alone by myself before, let alone to a country where people think it’s unsafe. Right. I mean, of course there’s certain parts that would be considered that, but that’s what led me to wanting to, to book this one way ticket was because of this breakup. And I was trying to discover, you know, life outside of where I grew up because I’ve been so used to being here in Vancouver and I never really traveled as much as I wanted to. So there was that. And then being fully remote with my work, I was, I was like, why not, why not travel and why not, you know, look at experience other places, other countries while I can work at the same time? It’s, it’s, it’s, it’s very nice to be able to do that. And then speaking on to healing from a chronic condition. So I grew up with eczema and it used to be really, really bad. I went through a whole journey. But this was back in 2015 when I started my holistic healing journey. And I could never really travel as much that time with my, when I was growing up with my parents because I would always have to worry about my skin, worry about carrying my steroid cream. So that one way ticket, having my skin being the best it’s ever been, kind of led me towards more of that confidence around being able to travel and do things for myself, if that makes sense.
Amy Stone [00:04:56]:
It does, it does. All right. So the health condition became, got under control and so you no longer felt like you needed to be stationary to manage it and stay healthy and, and you became aware of the fact that if you were remote, you could be remote. You didn’t have to be at home in Vancouver for your job because it didn’t matter. And then you have this breakup now. So the breakup was a long relationship. It was Three years was, and you say it was a healthy relationship, good relationship. Did you think before the breakup that it might be a forever relationship or was it just like, okay, this is just a relationship and it’s over?
Julia Chien [00:05:37]:
A really good question. I did feel like it was going to be a forever relationship and then near the end of it, so the last few months before the official breakup, things just weren’t aligning in terms of our values and what we wanted in life. And I think actually, you know, thinking back now, starting my business actually impacted our relationship in a way where we just didn’t. We were just weren’t in alignment anymore.
Amy Stone [00:06:08]:
Okay. All right. So even though it was a healthy relationship, it’s a pretty big shift because there’s at least a part of your past where you were like, oh, this is it. I’m never gonna do this again. This is forever. And so that was a big emotional shift. Okay, so if you had to describe your state of mind. You’re surfing online, you’re looking at the tickets, so on and so forth. I’m curious, can you describe your state of mind on that day that you bought the airplane ticket? Because I’m curious, what made you choose one way instead of doing, you know, three weeks and coming home?
Julia Chien [00:06:46]:
Oh, I love this question because I remember being on the page and being like, should I change this ticket to roundtrip? Like, is this stupid of me to book a one way ticket not knowing what the plan is, where I’m going?
Amy Stone [00:07:01]:
Yeah.
Julia Chien [00:07:02]:
And I think I just did it. I was like, you know what, I can always book a ticket back home if I hate it.
Amy Stone [00:07:09]:
Okay.
Julia Chien [00:07:10]:
Right. What is there to lose?
Amy Stone [00:07:14]:
Okay.
Julia Chien [00:07:15]:
It’s not like I’m going too far away. Right. It’s still relatively close enough to fly back home if I really needed to. And there’s nothing in Vancouver that I’m bound to like. I didn’t have like rent that I had to actually worry about because at that time. Well, sorry, I. I did have rent that I was, I was paying, but I was actually living with my sister at the time because after the breakup I needed somewhere to go.
Amy Stone [00:07:40]:
Yeah.
Julia Chien [00:07:41]:
Generously let me stay at her place for like, like it was like 6, 600 bucks a month or something like that. So I didn’t have to worry about, you know, subletting or leasing or things like that. So I didn’t really have anything needed to keep me in Vancouver. That makes, if that makes sense.
Amy Stone [00:07:56]:
No, it does. And that was one of the questions I had on my mind. I always ask people who Make a shift from being fixed to being on the road for a while. Like, very pragmatically, like, do you have a house? Like, where. Where was your stuff? Like, like, where did your stuff go? So you had been staying with your sister, renting a place with your sister. Did your stuff stay there or did you put it in storage?
Julia Chien [00:08:18]:
Yeah, so I have very minimal things because actually when my ex partner lived together, a lot of the stuff, it was his stuff, like his furniture, his couch, his tv. So I didn’t have to move anything. So all of my things were just my clothes and like my. My NOW desk and my imac. So I didn’t have very much to store.
Amy Stone [00:08:36]:
Okay, so. And it just stayed with your sister while you were gone. All right, very good. So this is happening in 2022. And what was the. What was the call to Costa Rica as opposed? Like, were you looking for like something island, something exotic? Had you been dreaming about Costa Rica? Like, share with us what. What was it? Or did you just pick it because it was the available ticket online?
Julia Chien [00:09:00]:
I think I was. So I was definitely looking for tropical places. I love places that are hot. I just thrive in heat.
Amy Stone [00:09:07]:
What time of year was this? What is this in the winter?
Julia Chien [00:09:10]:
Yeah, it was November.
Amy Stone [00:09:11]:
Okay, so it’s a very. So I live in the. I live close to the tropics. So like, yeah, when it gets cold. When it gets cold, people come south. You want to go more place. Okay. All right, so yes, sorry I did interrupt you there, but. All right, so it’s November. You’re looking for someplace tropical. Anything else?
Julia Chien [00:09:29]:
I’ve been to Mexico, so I was like, oh, maybe I should try something new. Like I’m thinking about like the. The different countries and yeah, it just. It just called to me. I don’t know a straightforward answer with that, but.
Amy Stone [00:09:44]:
No, if that’s what it is. All right, so then what were your plans when you got there? Like, did you have a hotel reservation, an Airbnb? What were your. What were your thoughts about what you were going to do in the beginning when you got there?
Julia Chien [00:09:57]:
I just wanted to be by the ocean. I love the ocean. It’s super healing. For me, that was like my main goal, to be around the ocean and be in heat and nice weather. So I booked an Airbnb that had a really nice pool. So I had my own little, little house and had a pool shared with the owner that lived just right around it. And then that was the plan, just to get there and see kind of how things went. It was amazing.
Amy Stone [00:10:25]:
All right, so now with Costa Rica, you actually have a choice of which ocean to be like. So you can be on the east, east or west coast in Costa Rica. So where did you, what part of Costa Rica were you in?
Julia Chien [00:10:37]:
I was start.
Amy Stone [00:10:38]:
I mean, you may have gotten to more, but tell me where.
Julia Chien [00:10:41]:
Yeah, I went to Playa Grande.
Amy Stone [00:10:43]:
Okay.
Julia Chien [00:10:44]:
Which is on the west. Yeah, west coast. It’s Pacific Coast. Yeah, Pacific Coast. It’s right above Tamarindo.
Amy Stone [00:10:51]:
Yeah, been there.
Julia Chien [00:10:52]:
Pronouncing it right?
Amy Stone [00:10:53]:
Yeah, I think so.
Julia Chien [00:10:54]:
Yeah. It’s like a 30 minute drive from Tamarindo to Play Grande. It’s a very small town, actually. It’s very quaint and cute.
Amy Stone [00:11:02]:
Recommended. So you had a, you had a project then to get there because you flew into San Jose and then you had to like, because it’s, you have to drive across. So you got there. Tamarindo is like a surfing town.
Julia Chien [00:11:12]:
Yes. Yeah. So is Grande. Yeah.
Amy Stone [00:11:14]:
Oh, it is. Okay. So very. Yeah. So that’s. I like my, I’ve done, I’ve done a surfing lesson in Tamarindo. That’s my connection, which is very nice because it’s one of those places where the waves are like timed like consistent and timed like every. It’s like you’re in an amusement park, except it’s natural. And so all the surfing instructions, like line up with all of the people like me from hotels and it’s like super consistent. They can just send you off. I had a great day. I had a wonderful day. I’m a big fan. All right.
Julia Chien [00:11:45]:
I love surfing.
Amy Stone [00:11:46]:
I can’t even say I know enough about it to say that I love it, but I had a wonderful time. It was a really great place. I do, I. So it was super, super fun. Okay, so you’ve got your stuff with your sister. You book a one way ticket, you go to the beach. How long do you stay there? You just chill for a while. Like, what’s the beginning of this journey?
Julia Chien [00:12:02]:
Like, I stayed there for two weeks in this small little town and I got to know some of the locals, some of the people that I’ve I guess moved down to, like from the States to that area as well, because there’s a lot of property that people own right in Costa Rica. I surfed, I ate some Costa Rican food. It was just very quiet, peaceful. There’s a lot of cute cafes and restaurant in that town. And then, yeah, I swam in the, in the pool, in the ocean and enjoyed it. Enjoyed it. Yeah.
Amy Stone [00:12:39]:
So was this for the first two weeks, was it really more like vacation than. Than like, working remotely, or were you still working?
Julia Chien [00:12:49]:
I was definitely still working, definitely.
Amy Stone [00:12:51]:
So the whole time working remotely?
Julia Chien [00:12:54]:
Yeah. But the beautiful thing is I make my own schedule, so I didn’t have to work five days a week for eight hours. Like, I definitely had full days off to explore, to walk around and stuff, so.
Amy Stone [00:13:05]:
All right, very good. So now all I know about the next part of this journey is that you say you spent the next few years traveling solo. You spent a couple weeks in this small town that I’ve already forgotten the name of. And then what happens? Like, what happens next?
Julia Chien [00:13:25]:
So I fell in love with traveling alone. And I was like, you know what? I’m gonna continue this indefinitely.
Amy Stone [00:13:32]:
And did. Was that like a very. Like, you were like, I am gonna do this for as long for indefinitely, or was it just like, I’ll go to the next place and try some more?
Julia Chien [00:13:41]:
It was more like that, I’ll go to the next place and try some more and see kind of how it went. But you know how some people, the first time they travel alone, they like, absolutely hate it and they just need to go back right home right away. I didn’t have any of that. I didn’t miss home.
Amy Stone [00:13:56]:
Yeah.
Julia Chien [00:13:56]:
Homesick. I was just like, let’s freaking go. Let’s go and explore.
Amy Stone [00:14:01]:
Okay.
Julia Chien [00:14:02]:
So I ended up flying down to Colombia because my friend at the time had been living there. So I went down to Colombia and I visited there for few weeks. And then I did a whole, like, world tour after that. Like, after Columbia, I went around Central America. And then 2023 was, like, the most travel I’ve ever done.
Amy Stone [00:14:25]:
Okay, all right, so you start with. You start. You start in Costa Rica. Couple week. How long were you in Costa Rica? Total?
Julia Chien [00:14:34]:
Two weeks.
Amy Stone [00:14:35]:
So two weeks in Costa Rica, just on the beach. That’s the only part of Costa Rica you saw?
Julia Chien [00:14:38]:
Yeah. Didn’t move.
Amy Stone [00:14:40]:
All right. Yeah. So you didn’t even do the rainforest and the cloud forest. Okay, so did you see. When you were in the beach town, did you get. Do you have monkeys in your beach town?
Julia Chien [00:14:52]:
Don’t remember seeing monkeys, but we did go. Go to a waterfall. I can’t remember the name of it. And there were monkeys there in the forest.
Amy Stone [00:15:01]:
Yeah, that’s it. So when we were. We stayed. When we stayed near the beach, there were howler monkeys, which is just closely, Closely tied to my memory of coastal.
Julia Chien [00:15:09]:
Oh, my gosh. Yes, yes, yes, yes. Now that you’ve mentioned it, yes. Every morning at 5 morning, they would. How it would be. I didn’t know what it was then.
Amy Stone [00:15:18]:
Very loud. Very, very loud.
Julia Chien [00:15:22]:
How can I forget that?
Amy Stone [00:15:24]:
You’ve blocked it from your memory, that is. All right, all right, so at any point. All right, so. So at any point were you thinking, did you. Did it flash through your mind? Like, you. You were like, oh, I’m. I don’t miss home. Let’s keep going. Did it flash through your mind? Like, oh, I could. I could go back first. I could go back and then go to another place. Like, did it occur to you, like, to go back instead of go to the next place? Or were you just like, next, next, next. All right, very good. So I’m talking to. I’m gonna. I’m talking to Julia about taking some time and traveling solo and how it was an adventure. And I’d like to invite everybody who’s listening and watching to join us in the conversation. If you head to Instagram and YouTube, you’ll see that I posted a discussion question. You can jump in and answer it and join in and share with us what you think. I’ll be there in the comments. Maybe Julia will too. Other people from the imperfect adulting community will be there. It’s super fun. All right, Julia. Picking up where we left off. So how were you deciding how long you wanted to stay in the various places? And you shared that you went from? You picked Costa Rica because it called to you. It was a destination you really wanted to go to. You picked Colombia because you had an acquaintance there, somebody that you knew. How were you picking where to go to from the next place? And how were you deciding how long to stay?
Julia Chien [00:16:47]:
Again, a really good question. So my next place after that was Guatemala. I’m trying to remember why I picked it. I think so A factor for sure is, like, distance. I didn’t want to fly too far. Being in South America and Colombia, I was like, oh, there’s Argentina, that would be cool. There’s Brazil. But I was a little further away to fly, so I chose Guatemala, you know? You know, I can’t tell you why I think it probably. I definitely did some research about, like, what to see. And I’m very much drawn to. Actually, no, sorry. I do remember. I’m very much drawn to being in nature.
Amy Stone [00:17:26]:
Okay.
Julia Chien [00:17:27]:
And being around ocean, being in the forest. And I did some research in Guatemala and learned that there’s a lot of really beautiful places to stay and places to see. Antigua is a very cute colonial town. And it was like a three hour flight from Columbia direct. So that was that was my next destination. It’s actually one of my favorite places out of all the places I went to.
Amy Stone [00:17:52]:
Okay, and was that how you kept deciding or as you kept going in this journey? Like, is that, was that sort of the factor? Like, what’s close? Where can I be out in nature? Like what were the things that helped you decide where to go?
Julia Chien [00:18:06]:
Yeah, I would say proximity. If it’s like an easier flight based on where, where I was, where I was previously. Obviously safety is important as well. Nature.
Amy Stone [00:18:18]:
All right. Yeah, Very good, very good. And how long, how did you decide how long to stay in each of the places?
Julia Chien [00:18:25]:
So Guatemala I stayed for, originally planned for two weeks and I extended for an extra week. And the only reason why I had to leave Guatemala because I would have stayed there is it was actually my 30th birthday in 2023 and my friends had already been planning my 30th party back home in Vancouver, like weeks in advance. So I was like, well, I can’t miss my own birthday and I should probably see my friends. So I.
Amy Stone [00:18:50]:
So you flew home?
Julia Chien [00:18:52]:
I flew home. Like I think it was like two days before my birthday and then that was in February.
Amy Stone [00:18:58]:
All right, so that was. So that was one of the questions I had is was this a non stop point, like, you know, here and then there, like hopscotching around the globe where. Or did you take time to come back for your birthday, for holidays, to see your family, that kind of thing?
Julia Chien [00:19:13]:
Yes, we were getting there. So yeah, I did end up going home for a little bit.
Amy Stone [00:19:16]:
Yeah. And so like, so this start, you started November, you came home for your birthday. I don’t know exactly when that is, but did you come home for like holidays or did you choose to do those like on as a nomad in foreign countries?
Julia Chien [00:19:31]:
So when I went back in February, that was when I made the decision to not live in Vancouver anymore. So as, as I went back to celebrate my birthday, that was also the time that I was moving out of my sister’s selling that I had because I was officially leaving, leaving, leaving Vancouver for good. And that was April. We did like a little farewell party for me and then I went off again.
Amy Stone [00:19:57]:
Okay, so this is really interesting. Okay, so you, you leave in November, you’re gone November through February. And that in hindsight, that’s like the trial run. So you take the one way trip you do these couple months when you come back for your birthday. Part of that is that you’re like, all right, I’m going to go for this and do it. Put everything in storage. Get rid of everything. And I don’t know if I’m ever coming back.
Julia Chien [00:20:24]:
Yes.
Amy Stone [00:20:24]:
Okay. All right. Wow. How did that feel? So what did your friends and family say when you made that announcement when you were like, I’ve been gone. I’m leaving again. I don’t know if I’m coming back.
Julia Chien [00:20:37]:
Well, I think my parents obviously always want me to be around. It’s their daughter. Right. And we come from a family of three girls, so it’s. And they’re getting old. And my little sister, my older sister, they’ve. They’re off on their own, too. They’re not traveling, but they don’t live. We don’t live close to each other. So obviously it was a bit sad for them. But, yeah, they weren’t against or anything like that. They were just like, be careful. You’re safety.
Amy Stone [00:21:05]:
Okay. And how about your friends?
Julia Chien [00:21:08]:
Friends, yeah, they were like, go, go. Enjoy life. Live life.
Amy Stone [00:21:13]:
Love it. All right. Love it. Okay. So you are. You already told. You already said this. So you’ve got your own business and you can set your own schedule, but there’s more to working on the road than just being able to set your own schedule. Like, so let’s talk a little bit about how you manage that, going from country to country. Because just going from, like, town to town in Canada or the United States, like, from air, you know, you show up the Airbnb, whatever. There’s issues. Like, how did you manage the, like, logistics of having appointments and doing your work and being nomadic in different countries every few weeks?
Julia Chien [00:21:48]:
Honestly, it’s a lot. It’s a lot to move around every three to four weeks. It’s amazing. I’m very grateful to people to do that back then. But it does affect your schedule because when you move into a new place, you’re, like, settling in.
Amy Stone [00:22:02]:
Yeah.
Julia Chien [00:22:03]:
You try to get used to the area. Like, you’re trying to figure out, like, food. And I don’t know if, like, you want to get a gym pass. Like, you’re just getting used to the area and getting to know people because you’re also alone. Right. So wasn’t too difficult because I actually worked not very much. I feel like in 2023. And I would schedule my calls on certain days. That’s always kind of been my schedule. Like, I don’t take calls on Mondays and Fridays with my clients, so I kind of had that more time.
Amy Stone [00:22:39]:
The long weekend.
Julia Chien [00:22:41]:
Yeah. Yeah. So it wasn’t too bad. It was just kind of the constant moving around and Packing definitely does throw things off a little bit.
Amy Stone [00:22:47]:
And did you run into things with connectivity issues or did you have backup plans for if you had bad connections in places?
Julia Chien [00:22:56]:
Yeah, so Guatemala had a couple times where the hotels I was staying at didn’t have the best WI fi, so I’d have to. It was a little bit, it was challenging a little bit in that sense.
Amy Stone [00:23:05]:
Okay, and any, and how did you manage? Like I switching, switching countries every couple weeks, changing currencies, you know, dealing with credit cards. How are you paying for things and, and, and running your business? And I mean, beyond the fact like I, the first thing I popped in my head is I was like, the first thing I do when I get to the Airbnb is I’m like, okay, what is the coffee plan for the next morning? Like, you know, like. But then there’s also, and there’s like, okay, is there WI fi? Like, am I going to be able to do these things? So. But yeah, like how did you handle like, you know, day to day transactions? Like, was it, would you, I mean, did you have, or maybe was it the same. Did you just use credit cards in your bank at home or were there any issues?
Julia Chien [00:23:47]:
Yeah, so I use combination of my card and cash. Some places only take cash or they, if they take card, it’s. They put like 5% on it.
Amy Stone [00:23:57]:
Yeah.
Julia Chien [00:23:58]:
There’s ATMs that you can pull out money. I find that that was the best way in terms of not, not kind of losing out on the exchange fees that you would get from the airport, for example, though there’s always a limit of how much you can take out. And then if you have a bank that takes a lot of fees from you, then it does add up. But thankfully for me it’s, I get a reimbursement of like $20 every, every month. So it worked out well in terms of pulling out cash. And now I have a bag of cash of like different currencies. Got like Guatemalan, I’ve got Colombia, I’ve got like Thailand, like Baht.
Amy Stone [00:24:36]:
We have a, we have a, we have a drawer with a little like dish with the coins because you can’t convert the coins, right? Like, and so we have all these random coins from our 30 years of travels which, you know, the, the combined. Right. The total amount in this, in this little bucket is probably, you know, $7 or whatever. It’s like nickels and pennies from other, from other places. But the most hilarious thing is that we always say that when we go back to places where we’ve been. We will, like, take it with us and we never, ever, ever do. Yeah. Ever, ever, ever. It’s like, there’s like. It’s like the, ah, we have pesos. Ah, did we remember the pesos? No, we did not. We do not. Okay, so. Okay, so you. You. We’re talking. We’re talking about this as solo travel, but let’s talk about what that actually meant for. For you, because I’ve talked to a variety of people who are nomadic, and it actually can mean a different thing from different people. So let’s talk about, like, you were like, what was it? Were you alone, like, all the time? Were you making friends along the way? Were you joining up with groups? Like, how. What was it like? What did solo travel mean for you in 2023?
Julia Chien [00:25:43]:
So interesting because it kind of changed over the. Over the time of me having more experience traveling solo. At first, I was just doing everything on my own. I was actually really nervous to go out by myself to meet people, and I didn’t really. Yeah, I just spent a lot of time alone and, like, eating by myself and going to cafes by myself. And then it starts to get lonely when you’re traveling alone. Very lonely.
Amy Stone [00:26:09]:
Yeah. That’s what people say. Yeah.
Julia Chien [00:26:11]:
Yeah. And so I started making the effort to go to events like meetups, for example, for digital nomads, and going to the bar by myself. I’m like, okay, maybe we’ll just go and dance and meet people. And that actually worked out amazing because I met so many amazing people throughout my traveling journey. And now I, you know, if I ever want to visit somewhere, like, they would offer me a place for to stay, like, it’s. It’s. It’s. Yeah, it was really nice being able to. To meet people along the way and actually form, like, good relationships with. With the people that I’ve met.
Amy Stone [00:26:51]:
Very interesting. All right, so do you speak Spanish?
Julia Chien [00:26:55]:
Very. I would say basically not very much.
Amy Stone [00:26:59]:
Okay. All right, so. And did you. And did you travel? So you went through Central and South America. Did you then hop to other countries, or was that. It was where most of your travels in those.
Julia Chien [00:27:11]:
So I actually ended up flying across the ocean to go to Europe. So I did Europe and then Asia.
Amy Stone [00:27:18]:
Okay, so you really went all over. So Central America, South America, then through Europe and then Asia, and then did you go down to Oceana to Australia? Okay. All right, so. But you. You in Africa. Did you hit Africa?
Julia Chien [00:27:31]:
I did not hit Africa.
Amy Stone [00:27:33]:
All right.
Julia Chien [00:27:34]:
Not yet, at least.
Amy Stone [00:27:35]:
Not yet. All right, so very good. So. And were in you this whole time. So once you did that one trip back to Vancouver, you’re like, I’m out. That was 2023. From that point forward, were you backpack on your back, going place to place, or was there any time that you set up that you either came home or were stationary for like more than six weeks?
Julia Chien [00:27:59]:
So in April, I booked a one way ticket again to Nicaragua.
Amy Stone [00:28:03]:
Okay.
Julia Chien [00:28:04]:
And then every month it went to a new place. So I ended up going back to Costa Rica, actually.
Amy Stone [00:28:09]:
So every. Every month. That’s interesting. Have you heard of the 30 days in a wake up?
Julia Chien [00:28:15]:
30 days in a wake up. That sounds like.
Amy Stone [00:28:18]:
So it is. It was. I don’t know if it still is, but pre pandemic, it was a program that you could sign on to for like a year or maybe more. And so it was curated. They would handle the details for you. But it was like you would, it was like for 12 months you would, they would, they would put you in a spot and then after about 30 days, you would go from that to the next place. So, and one of the. So when I heard about it, like, so it’s like one of the things I heard about it because during lockdown, I thought it was like somebody that I was trying to find the end of YouTube because there was nothing else going on in the world. And there was somebody who was talking about how they had done that. And that part of the thing was it’s like 30 days is enough time to become familiar in that one location and then you’re ready to go on. Yeah.
Julia Chien [00:29:05]:
Yes, that is very accurate.
Amy Stone [00:29:07]:
So you just stumbled onto that rhythm though.
Julia Chien [00:29:10]:
I did, because I, you know, now that you mentioned it, at the 30 day mark, I’m kind of like, okay, what do I do now?
Amy Stone [00:29:17]:
Right. All right. So that’s so about a month in each place. Mostly in like one city within a country or were you sort of bouncing around within the country in that month?
Julia Chien [00:29:28]:
I did like small trips for a few days.
Amy Stone [00:29:30]:
Trips?
Julia Chien [00:29:30]:
Yeah. Day trips? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Amy Stone [00:29:32]:
Oh my goodness. That. Okay, so. And what. How much stuff did you have with you?
Julia Chien [00:29:38]:
I had one little suitcase.
Amy Stone [00:29:40]:
Oh my gosh. Did you like replace it? How so? And then how long were you traveling before you brought this to a close? Like, was it. So it’s 2025, this is 2023. So was it two years?
Julia Chien [00:29:54]:
Yeah, it’s been two years. Last year I stayed in one place for eight months.
Amy Stone [00:30:01]:
Okay. And so all right, so before the eight month mark though, when you’re traveling with one backpack, did you like Replace the stuff in the backpack. Because I lived out of a very big backpack for about nine months, and I was a student, so I didn’t have any money. And at the end of those. Like that. At the end of that school year, I, like, threw all of those clothes away. I was like, I never want to see these clothes again. I was like. I was like, how to make room for all the things I bought for the return trip. Throw all of this away.
Julia Chien [00:30:27]:
That’s funny. Yeah, that’s exactly what happened. So April until August. So August came around, and then my friends from Vancouver actually wanted to do like a friends trip, so we met halfway in Mexico City.
Amy Stone [00:30:39]:
Okay.
Julia Chien [00:30:40]:
And I flew from Colombia, and one of my friends, I bought a. I bought a big suitcase and I got it shipped to his house and he brought it down for me. And that was like my. My new suitcase with, like, it was empty. Right. So I just bought stuff along the way and.
Amy Stone [00:30:54]:
Yeah, and did that. That’s very, very good. All right, so you describe this as a spiritual and healing adventure. So what is that? What does that mean? Like, what is. What does that mean? Like, what changed for you along this. Along this exploratory trip?
Julia Chien [00:31:13]:
You know, a lot of it was like, self discovery and really figuring out what. Who I am, what I like, and what my life is going to look like in the next few years. And traveling brought that up for me because I think prior to traveling, I was. I had more of like a. A fixed mindset, I guess you would call it, where it’s like, okay, I stay in Vancouver, I raise a family, I buy a house. You know, I’m not never gonna leave. Right. And I think a lot of my friends who’ve grown up here, it’s like, that’s their life, right? It’s like, you. You’re born in the city that you grew up in and. Sorry, you grew up in the city that you’re born in and you start a family. And that’s what life is supposed to be like. And I always felt like I’m. I’m more unconventional. Like, I want to. I’m a risk taker. I like to do crazy things. I like to explore. And traveling really showed me like. Like what. How much out there, there is that we haven’t really seen as. As. As people. Right. And it was healing in the sense where I kind of finally was able to do things for myself, if that makes sense. Because I realized that I. I poured so much into my business and growing it that I sort of lost myself in it. I was working a lot, like 80 hour weeks and serving, serving, serving my clients, which I love. But I started to kind of lose myself in the process and I started to not really do things for myself. So it was healing in the sense that I got to work less and travel and have fun and do the things that I like. But in the, in those moments, it was hard because you’re doing things alone or I was doing things alone and it got very lonely and I started to wonder, okay, am I on the right track? Like, I see all my friends, they’re having kids and families, like, what the heck am I doing? Yeah, I did have a couple mental breakdowns, but it always made me realize that, like, I’m very grateful to be able to have these experiences.
Amy Stone [00:33:32]:
Yeah, it is. So the nomadic, the idea of the matic life. I love to travel and I love to explore, but the pressure of being nomadic is a little bit different than just taking one single vacation. Because as you are setting up in one place, you’re just there for two to four weeks, you’re researching the next place. There’s no break, there’s no like, relax in a set spot. And so I do think that that’s an interesting thing. I think it makes the process much more strenuous for the people who are doing it. I think that doing it by yourself, you’re not sharing that emotional and workload with anybody other than yourself. Like, where will I go next? Where am I going to stay? What am I going to eat? What are the adventures I’m going to go on? And so to me, when I think about it, I think about, it’s very easy, I think for that to become a little bit overwhelming and be like, oh my gosh, why am I doing this? I should just go home and do what my friends are doing. But then I think that, you know, the other side is that the people who are at home are probably like, oh my gosh, is this all, Is this the thing to do? Should I do something else? This is like the process of life and discovering ourselves. Like, right, am I doing the right thing? So that’s it. So you describe yourself as a risk taker. What are some of the adventures that you, what are some of the adventures that would fall under your risk taking this either before you started traveling or as you traveled, like, did you do any wild and crazy things?
Julia Chien [00:34:56]:
I absolutely did. I mean, there are times where I’m like, I could have got myself really injured.
Amy Stone [00:35:03]:
Share, do, share. So you surfed in Costa Rica. What else did you do?
Julia Chien [00:35:07]:
I almost drowned in Costa Rica. That was the scariest thing that’s ever happened out in the ocean. I don’t know if your listeners will, will understand the washing machine.
Amy Stone [00:35:21]:
Okay, sure, sure. Yeah, like so. But you got topsy turvy in the surf.
Julia Chien [00:35:27]:
Yes, I, I got too confident. I went out deep into the ocean while my instructor was instructing someone else closer to the shore and I try to catch a wave and it, I nose dived deep into the ocean and I got washed four times in a row.
Amy Stone [00:35:48]:
Yeah.
Julia Chien [00:35:49]:
And I only had like millisecond of time to breathe. And I remember on the, the fourth one, I was like, if I’m not coming up for air, I am drowning. Like that literally crossed my mind. I’m like, I’m drowning. And thankfully at that time, my ex boyfriend at the time saw that I was struggling and he was okay, we need to take you back to shore. And then that was actually the last time I surfed. So.
Amy Stone [00:36:17]:
Yeah, no, well, it sounds, that sounds. I’ve never been through that, like through anything that intensive, but I have been tossed by waves and there was that moment of, you know, you’re out of control, you don’t know which way is up, you’re pretty sure that it’s never going to end and you just realize what a wonderful luxury it is to be able to breathe all of the air around you all of the time.
Julia Chien [00:36:40]:
Yes, yes. Until you get washing machined.
Amy Stone [00:36:43]:
Yes. Yeah, yeah.
Julia Chien [00:36:45]:
So that was one risk that I took. There are a couple other ones where I went. I did this tour inside a cave in Guatemala that honestly wasn’t. I would like, I don’t know what’s the right word? I’m trying to, trying to say it was, it was, it was an adventurous tour, but it could have been dangerous, if that makes sense.
Amy Stone [00:37:12]:
Yeah. Was it in the context that I’ve done several things in Central and South America that they, you know, like, it’s fine. Other people are doing it. You know, you look, you look around, you’re like, other people are doing this, doing it.
Julia Chien [00:37:23]:
Yeah.
Amy Stone [00:37:24]:
But then you’re also like, I’m not sure if this would pass the inspections that happen where I live and call home. We were, I was one place with like my kids in a cenote in Mexico and we were climbing up this rickety wooden thing that they were going to jump off of into water. And I was like, there’s no safety railings, there’s no life. I was just like, I’m just going to go with it and cross my fingers you know, it’s going to be fine. Other people are doing it. What could go wrong? Right.
Julia Chien [00:37:56]:
Yeah. That definitely happens a lot when you’re there in those spaces.
Amy Stone [00:38:00]:
Slightly sketchy, but fun. Cave tour in Guatemala. Anything else that was, like, pushed your risk buttons that you were like, wow.
Julia Chien [00:38:09]:
Um. I’m trying to think if there’s anything.
Amy Stone [00:38:12]:
I mean, just traveling from place to place by yourself, doing that, that is more risk than a lot of people do. So I’m just curious.
Julia Chien [00:38:20]:
Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. I would say just like doing tours and stuff that they weren’t. Some of them are kind of. Yeah. Like, so because.
Amy Stone [00:38:29]:
Just because you don’t know what it’s going to be when you make the reservation, you’re like, sure, let’s do this. And then you get there and you’re like, unexpected.
Julia Chien [00:38:35]:
Yeah. Like the cave tour that. The water. There’s water in the cave, so there’s certain parts you have to go through really small holes and you would like.
Amy Stone [00:38:44]:
That is not funny.
Julia Chien [00:38:46]:
It’s a small hole into the water, and you have to find your way out to breathe. It was just crazy.
Amy Stone [00:38:51]:
Oh, my God. No, that is not for me. I. That is the. There’s one thing. It’s so funny. All the things. Even as a small child, when I was. It’s like, I was like, I will do any of these things in a different combination. It’s like, so go underwater, fine. You know, scuba, fine. Go in. Okay, fine. When you put all of those things together for me, I’m like, rejected. I have no desire. Cave diving, underwater, spelunking, it’s totally. It sounds just absolutely terrifying to me, so. And on the other hand, other people love it. Other people love it, and I love it. For them, they can have all of the spelunking reservations. I’m not trying to get on the list. Okay, so do you think that you could have had this spiritual healing experience without taking the plunge and doing this travel, or was that just kind of the. The thing that needed to happen, that you needed to get out and spread your wings in a geographic sense?
Julia Chien [00:39:44]:
Yeah, I think thinking back, I needed to. To do that because I think if I just stayed where I. Where I was at the time, I would have never grown. I would have never experienced all these amazing things and learned more about myself and how to be alone. Because I’ve always been with my partner. Right. For almost four years. So, yeah, it was very much needed.
Amy Stone [00:40:07]:
One of the things I think is really interesting about the story you’ve told today that was coming up for me, while you were talking about it is that I talk to a lot of people who have a similar realization that you have that it’s like I’m on this path and I don’t know if it’s the right path for me and I feel like I’ve lost myself and. But the thing that gave you the sense of losing yourself was building a business. I hear about this a lot from people who are in long term careers and also people who have spent a lot of time as caregivers, either for aging parents or children. But yours was in a slightly different thing, which is you are building a business. And I think that’s really interesting just because it opens up the idea that this is something that happened in a bunch of different ways and that the path of reaching outside of your comfort zone is how you break the habit, maybe is how you break the chains. Okay, so are you still traveling or you’re back?
Julia Chien [00:41:04]:
So I am back as of May in Vancouver, but I am off to Asia in October and I have a small trip for two weeks. But yeah.
Amy Stone [00:41:12]:
All right, so you came back to sort of retool and reestablish a little bit. And are you staying with your parents or did you rent an apartment? What’s going on there?
Julia Chien [00:41:23]:
Yeah, I’ve got my parents place right now, which is really nice.
Amy Stone [00:41:25]:
Awesome. That is very. Thanks. Absolutely. No, there’s. Listen, that’s the way to do it and it’s the way to do it. All right, so in a second we’re going to do a final fun question, but we talked about the fact that you built your business, that you worked while you were gone. That that’s one of the things, you know, that’s one of the reasons you were able to do this for such a long time. Because people hear stories about nomads and they’re like, oh my God, how, How do you make it happen? Right? Tell us, tell the audience what it is that you do and if they’re curious and either want to learn more about what you’ve done or work with you, how they should follow up with you.
Julia Chien [00:41:57]:
Yeah. So I am a registered dietitian based in Vancouver and I specifically specialize in helping people get to the root cause of their chronic inflammation. For example, gut issues we look at in practice. And I support a lot of people with skin issues as well. Having my own personal journey with eczema. I combine functional nutrition testing, nervous system regulation to help people take control of their health and their symptoms in a, in a non restrictive and balanced way. As well, when it comes to food, very nice.
Amy Stone [00:42:35]:
Yeah. And how do you want people to reach out to you if they’re curious?
Julia Chien [00:42:38]:
So I’m kind of everywhere, but I’m most active on Instagram.
Amy Stone [00:42:41]:
All right, beautiful. Beautiful. All right. So you do have a special offer for the listeners, which is a journaling guy journaling guide for busy entrepreneurs. And so you say your business thrives when you do. This guide was designed to help you manage stress, avoid burnout, and create more success without sacrificing your wellbeing. Normally, you sell this for $29. It’s free for the audience. There’s a link in the show notes wherever you’re listening or watching the show. And the easiest way to get the links is always to be subscribed to the imperfect adultic email list, because then you don’t have to hunt up a pen or open the show notes. It just comes right into your email box and you click on it. Easy peasy lemon squeezy. All right, are you ready for the last three questions, Julia?
Julia Chien [00:43:23]:
I hope so.
Amy Stone [00:43:26]:
All right. Do you. I love that you’re a dietitian, because this is even more fun. I write these questions like I write these questions truly, before I do anything else in every interview. And it always cracks me up when I have accidentally aligned it with somebody’s. Something somebody says in the interview, do you like ice cream? And if so, what is your favorite flavor of ice cream?
Julia Chien [00:43:47]:
Well, first of all, who doesn’t like ice cream?
Amy Stone [00:43:49]:
I’m sure there’s somebody out there that doesn’t like it. You gotta. There’s endless possibilities for the humans.
Julia Chien [00:43:54]:
So, yes, I am a caramel chocolate girly. Okay, Caramel and chocolate.
Amy Stone [00:44:01]:
So do you. Vancouver. Is that where do you guys have salt and straw? Is that an ice cream chain up there? I think it’s Canadian. Might be Toronto. I don’t know. So salt and we have a. We have. There’s an ice cream chain down here. I think it’s Canadian, but maybe I’m wrong about that. Somebody will correct me. But they have a fantastic vanilla salted caramel thing that is like really, really. It’s like. It’s really very good. All right, so if you had to pick one pace on the globe and only one to give your current title of most amazing in quotations marks, which do you choose.
Julia Chien [00:44:35]:
Based on places I’ve been or.
Amy Stone [00:44:37]:
Yes. What you can make the criteria of how you’re going to decide, but, like, one place of mo. That you’re going to call most amazing today.
Julia Chien [00:44:44]:
Oh, this is so hard.
Amy Stone [00:44:46]:
I know.
Julia Chien [00:44:47]:
Every single place is so different. Oh, my goodness. I’m gonna see Guatemala.
Amy Stone [00:44:54]:
Okay. All right. What part of Guatemala were you in?
Julia Chien [00:44:57]:
Antigua.
Amy Stone [00:44:58]:
Oh, nice. All right. Very, very good. All right, number three, what is a recent book that you have read or listened to, if you do audiobooks that you would recommend to a friend or in this case, everyone who’s listening to the show?
Julia Chien [00:45:12]:
I’m currently still reading the book, the Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins.
Amy Stone [00:45:16]:
All right. Very good. And are you enjoying it?
Julia Chien [00:45:19]:
It’s amazing.
Amy Stone [00:45:20]:
Very nice. Very nice. That’s it. Julia Chen, thank you so much for being an amazing guest on the show.
Julia Chien [00:45:27]:
Thank you so much for having me. It’s been a pleasure.