Patty Farmer: 00:00:00

Hello, everyone, and welcome to this week's episode of the Marketing Media & Money Podcast. I'm really excited because this week we're going to talk about one of my favorite topics, which is travel, right? We're going to talk about how to embrace time freedom, and how travel can enhance your entrepreneurial journey. And I think that is really important because we're all talking about how much we want to travel. I hear it every single day. But how do we make it happen? Do we have to wait to wear retired? Or is it something that we can actually prioritize? And do right now? So today, I brought on somebody who is a good friend of mine, somebody who's living that dream, she made the decision for herself and made it happen. And now we are going to hear how she did it. And I'm going to be able to put her in the hot seat and get her to answer some of the questions I think we all are asking. So let me tell you a little bit about her. So Linda Beach is the adventurous founder of travel fashionistas a bespoke to work a boutique, specializing in immersive small group travel experiences for women. In 2016. Linda sold her spa schools, Ava way nearly everything she owned and moved to an island off the coast of Belize. With over 20 years experience hosting retreats worldwide. she transitioned to an online business inspiring others to live a freedom lifestyle, and teaching them how to design and lead profitable retreats. After a few adventures years as a digital nomad. She now calls sunny Hilton Head Island, South Carolina home, and when she's not off exploring, she treasures spending time with her three adult kids and her two adorable Branson's. And here's the fun fact about Linda. She was on the wheel of fortune, way to the bonus round and won a trip to Aruba, some cash and a car. And that sounds super exciting to me. So thank you so much, Linda for being here with me today.

Linda: 00:01:51

Thank you for having me, Patti. I'm so excited to talk about my favorite topic.

Patty Farmer: 00:01:57

Oh, I know, this is my favorite topic, too. So I really love it. So let's kind of jump right in. So why do you think that entrepreneurs and business owners? Why we don't prioritize it more? Why is it important for entrepreneurs to sometimes focus on being rather than doing right? And I think travel actually can facilitate that shift? I know it has for me, but how do you feel sometimes being rather than doing how travel can actually be the shift for that?

Linda: 00:02:31

That's a great question to kick off with. Because for years and years, I've been an entrepreneur my entire life, I've never worked for anyone else. And I never gave myself permission to really travel very far from home, it was always a quick getaway. And I found that those times that I went away, I'm a big scuba diver. So I would typically go to the Caribbean, that I was able to just like drop in to the location really immerse myself into whatever country I was visiting. And focus on just being because I was busy all the time. As you know, as an entrepreneur, we're always doing doing doing, but we don't give ourselves permission to be and I think it's really hard to give yourself that permission when you're close to home. You know, it's kind of like working from home, you know, I'm like, you know, the office is right here. But, you know, when I traveled that was like, my first level of permission was I actually am physically out of town. And so that was us, like, Okay, now I'm out of town. And, you know, back then when I first started traveling, we didn't have smartphones, it was really hard for people to get in touch with me, which was actually a lot of freedom in that. So I think it just helps us you know, recharge and focus on just like rejuvenating ourselves so that we can come back better and more motivated to run our businesses.

Patty Farmer: 00:04:02

I think that's so true. Really unplugging. There's freedom in that in itself, right, just being able to unplug not just, you know, travel where you really get to unplug, right, I think there is a lot of freedom. And I think that is something that we really need to do. I also think that sometimes you know, we've all heard the expression, you need to work on your business and in your business. But I think sometimes it's hard to do both. When you're close to home, right? You just get kind of caught up in it. Your office is really, really close. You're easy to reach, like you said, but there's something about getting away like I know for myself, that I have like some criteria for myself when I leave and I go on a trip. I don't read any personal and business development books. I give myself permission as you said, to read fiction, right? It's something that actually makes me happy to sit on a beach and read some books that I've been waiting to get to now that you can't choose to do personal development if you want to But like really have that freedom to be able to do that. And a lot of times when you just be, instead of do, it actually helps you to ideate. And to dream. And to help you to remember, you know what, while I'm sitting on the beach, wow, this is why I'm doing what I do. And it helps you to really be able to have that time away from your business, or maybe it's your family, whatever the case may be. But you have the time to think about why you're doing what you do, and what else you want to do, and to dream about. The next thing. So I feel like really being instead of doing can pretty much be the greatest gift you give yourself.

Linda: 00:05:41

I agree, I agree totally. Because I always get a new perspective. When I allow myself that freedom, I come up with a lot more ideas. I'm a creative person anyway. But when you get away from the busyness of your business, it just allows for more like downloads, basically more information, more creativity to flow through you. Because you don't have all of this other outside interference.

Patty Farmer: 00:06:08

I agree. That's why I always take a journal with me because I always get all Bing is great ideas. And it's like when you're at home, and you have these ideas, like we're like, oh my gosh, that's a great idea. And we want to run in, go into the office and start working on them. But when you're travel, you actually have the time to kind of let it grow and, and really think about not just the idea, but how do you want to do it? And what would that look like. So if you just have a journal or something, I can write it down and continue on, and then know that I can open my journal when I get home. And I've just added to it. And I'm more relaxed, and I don't have any stress and and it's just such a wonderful time to be able to do that. So it's kind of like when you're on a plane. I know that has to do with travel, right? It's like literally the plane and you have the mask, right? You put yours on first. So this is really something that we do I actually think it's even good for our health too, and especially for women. Right, I think it is really important. And then you told me that you prioritize travel, I think that is super powerful, right? So what motivated you to actually prioritize travel as part of your entrepreneurial journey, not just to one or to dream about it, but to actually make it a priority, and then do something about it.

Linda: 00:07:28

While I think there was like an aha moment, when I was running three businesses and all the employees and the things that come along with it, and I wasn't getting away unless it was business related. It was a business conference, some type of learning environment, tax deductible, you know, was always a friend of mine. And then one day, I realized that I was starting to get really burned out, and I didn't have a passion for my business anymore. And so I took some training to become a life coach. And part of that training was living into our dreams, like what was my big dream. And I hadn't asked myself that for a long time. And from the very beginning of being an entrepreneur, my dream was to somehow travel more. And yet here I was traveling less and less and less. So I just put a stake in the ground and said, What can I do, in order to make travel a priority in my business. Now, I did something very daring. And I don't necessarily recommend that everyone sell their business and move to developing country in the Caribbean. That was pretty extreme. But for me, that actually had been a dream of mine for a long time. And that created a huge shift and momentum for me to be able to make travel a priority. And part of my I mean, basically my business, you know, of travel,

Patty Farmer: 00:08:53

Which I think is really important. Because I know that I had a similar experience. There was a time when I said you know what, I'm working hard. Here I am in my business, this is what I love to do. And I asked myself one day, Patti, what you teach is that you want to be doing things that bring you joy and feed your soul. Right? That's what I really teaches. I think that's really important. And then you want to design that lifestyle. And for me that did always include travel. So I asked myself, How can I incorporate that into my business, which is the reason I became a speaker. So you're gonna thought, Oh, if I become a speaker, then I'm able to do that. And so that really worked for me. So for 14 years now, I've traveled all over the world as a speaker, and I have been able to incorporate that into my business. But even with doing that, sometimes I could go on trips all over the world. And when I come home, my husband will say Oh, did you see this or did you see that? And I'm like, No, I didn't see any of that. Because I was actually at the event that I was seeing Looking at, and I didn't always get to go and see all of the things, right. So then the next level of that was oh, now every time I speak in travel, I'm going to add a few days at each end, for me to be able to do that, that was like the second step in the evolution of making that a priority in my business. And that really worked for me. And I thought that was the end all be all of how I was going to do it. And I've loved it. And that really did it change until I met you. And once I met you, all of a sudden, I thought to myself, wow, look at how she's doing this travel and look at how she has these retreats, where they're not really all about business, you know, and I thought I didn't end to tell you the truth. I didn't even know if I could do it. I mean, I decided to do it. And in order to do it, I took or asked anyway, two of my closest friends who both happen to be clients, and said he wanted to come on this trip with me. And actually, it was Teresa's idea first. And I thought, okay, and I wasn't sure if I could do it. But if they were there with me, I thought, oh, yeah, I can. It turned out to be like the greatest experience of my life, because even though they were my closest friends and my clients, we didn't talk about work the whole time we were there, we actually just use that time to deepen the relationships that we had built by sharing an experience. And through that, just talking about what was important to each other, I just feel like that really enhanced it. And then you brought a different type of experience in travel, where we got to go to all these places and do all these things, and things that I probably never would have done. And places I never would have went to. And I've been to Italy so many times. But when I went to Italy with you, I saw all kinds of things. And I got to see it through a whole different perspective. And I just remember one time being in my room and opening the window and seeing the sea. And just thinking to myself, Man, this is phenomenal. And I spent that time every single day with myself in the morning before I met everybody and I got to walk on the beach, and I got to do all these things. So I really feel like you opened up for me a whole different way to travel, and really be able to balance that. So how do you balance the demands of running a business with a desire to take regular, rejuvenating trips, because that was so rejuvenating? For me and I got so much clarity, and so many ideas and all those things I said previously, but we do still are running a business. So there is always a balance. So what are some of the ways that you can balance both of those things and still have everything you want and get to travel to?

Linda: 00:12:52

Hmm, that's a really good question. I want to start by saying that when I first started doing retreats, I was still of the mindset that you had to learn something that comes from the hole, you know, I'm not giving my poor self permission to just have an experience that isn't necessarily about learning something. Although those retreats are phenomenal. I love to go on learning retreats. So I thought to myself, as a retreat coach, I always teach my students that a retreat has to have a transformation in order to qualify, buying definition as a retreat. But honestly, travel in and of itself, is a transformation. So during the early times of leading retreats, I finally got to live out one of my bucket list trips, and that was to go to Italy. And I chose to go for three months, you can go for 90 days with the EU, you know, visa and I was like I'm going for 89 days. Because I had sold my business I had that freedom to do that. I just figured I would work and and travel. Except and I'm a smart cookie. Let me tell you, I got to Italy, and everything. I screwed everything up. Like I didn't understand the language. I didn't understand how to ride the trains. I missed the buses I and I was so confused about why why is this happening? Now? I did some preparation, but I wasn't allowing myself to like, just like pay attention drop into this experience. And take a breath, you know, and I find that so many of my friends go on these trips and they just rush through but what happens if you don't take the time to learn these things or have someone guide you that you waste a lot of time missing trains and missing buses. So I'm telling you this because that's what motivated me to create a shift in my business, to helping them to taking women and empowering them to travel more by helping them feel confident around their travel experience. And as you know when you are with me I handled things like trains. But I also taught you like, here's how you read the the train monitor. And here's how you validate your ticket, and all of those kinds of things. So I don't know if that answers your question. But so, yeah, I feel like I say try

Patty Farmer: 00:15:15

It, did it, I really, and I really do think there was balance. And I have to tell you, for somebody who has spent the last five years traveling globally, all over the world, and to Italy many times, it really gave me the chance to be able to kind of put myself into the role of the other person on the other side, right? You know, what is that like to experience it, not as a speaker or a host or any of those things? And I have to tell you, it was a great experience for me, because you are right. A lot of times when people talk about traveling, the things that they are fearful of that get in their way is because they are scared about the trains. And they are scared about how do we do this? And how do we take the metro and what if this happens, or what if that happens, and I have to tell you, the fact that you provided so many opportunities to do so many things, but that we had the choice of which things we wanted to do and which things we did it. So it wasn't like when you're on a real tour, you know, we're on you're on a bus and they get off and you have 20 minutes, take a picture. You know, that's it like that at all. I mean, every place we were there, we were there for two or three days. So we really got to experience it. And you did have some super fun stuff for us to do, you know, learning to, you know, have this chef and making pasta and from that to going to Portofino. And I mean, we were I've never been on Metro and a training, and a boat, and all of those things, all those things, I didn't have to worry about how to do them, they were all just there. And I could just say, oh, yeah, that sounds good. Or, oh, no, I'm gonna step this one out. And I want some time to myself a little bit, or whatever the case may be, you even made it so that we could choose to stay in a room with somebody bring somebody or have our own room, which is what I chose to do. But I feel like because of that, how phenomenal a gift is that to be able to say, Oh, I'm gonna go on this trip, I'm gonna allow myself to be, I'm just going to think about what are the things i i want whatever that is, whether those are business or not, but to know that somebody else is taking care of everything. And if anything came up, they'd be able to take care of that, to me, that is just so powerful

Linda: 00:17:38

And I think that's what retreats are about. So you know, this is a great segue into how to choose the type of experience because, you know, not everyone might, you know, may not want to go on the type of experience you had. But as an entrepreneur, when you're thinking about prioritizing travel, the first thing you need to do is really look at, you know, what are your goals for the experience, you know, are you wanting to go and I know people that go to Silent retreats. Like that doesn't resonate with me because I live by myself. It's silent all the topic, I could do it. I don't even that's good, either. But yeah, silent retreats. Now, if you talk about a spa retreat, I'm there because my background in Spa, I always include some type of spa experience. And I'm actually developing some that are specifically like spa spa spa spa, because for me, I can't get enough of that.

Patty Farmer: 00:18:30

But we have three I have three massages while I was with you, that was phenomenal.

Linda: 00:18:35

You know, some people want to do volunteer travel experiences, some people really need to have something that helps them dig deeper into their, you know, their big why or, you know, that's experiential, or, you know, with a life coach, but there's so many opportunities, so many different types of retreats and travel experiences. I think the first step is trying to figure out what what is your goal, what are you want to experience, right? And then looking into, you know, what your, your opportunities are, I went on an adventure retreat once and it was, it was in Belize, which is where I live, but it was in the jungle. And I was like, I'm not so sure about this. Now I'm pretty adventurous. I'll try a lot of things. But, you know, as I get older, there's certain things that I might not want to try to jump out of a plane when I lived in Belize, you know, but I went on this retreat to push my boundaries to really like I climbed into caves and repelled up waterfalls and you know, a giant spiders on cave walls that might not be for everyone, but honestly and it was scary and it was challenging, but I came out of there feeling so incredibly brave and accomplished that I took that experience back into my business because I'm like if I can do that I can do anything. Right. So you know looking at the different opportunities that are available with travel and what is your what are your goals? and your motivation is really the first step, you know, and then creating the time, the space in your busy calendar, like you have to put a stake in the ground, you have to pull out your calendar and go, Okay, when can I go and just put it in there, and nothing's gonna move it cemented in your calendar, you're gonna wants us there, especially when you start like buying tickets, your plane fare, you know, it's a, it's a done deal. Once I buy my plane ticket, it's a done deal. It'll take an act of God to change it.

Patty Farmer: 00:20:31

Now, I think that is really important. I think one of the things that were really nice too, is like, for me, one of the things that I'm always looking for, is I'm looking for ways to recharge, like my energy, my creativity, but I don't want to do it alone. When I go and speak. And I travel all over. Yes, when I'm at those retreats, I'm with other people. But a lot of that time I am by myself, right. And so I like being around other people, that was really fun for me, because you could choose how much and how little of that you want, which I thought was really a lot of fun. And so also getting to try all kinds of different food and different experiences. That was really a lot of fun for me, too. So I You're right, knowing why you're doing it, how long you feel comfortable being away, really, you know, was I think the very first time, the very first time I went to Italy, I went on a sabbatical for a month. That was super fun. But I mean, I am married. And so it was kind of hard to you know, you can't just be away from home for a long time. Right, you know, but I think that there are a lot of different ones. So I know that, you know, I've heard you talk about adventure travel, cultural immersions creative retreats. And I think all of them in some way, shape or form contribute to an entrepreneur's personal and professional growth in some way. And I think a lot of that depends on how open they are to that experience. So can you speak to that?

Linda: 00:21:56

Yeah, yeah, I love creative retreats, because I'm a creative person. And I find that if I go on a retreat, where the theme might be cooking classes, or painting or photography or writing, that it helps me in all aspects of my business, you know, because when you're really revving up the creative side of you, you can bring that back and integrate it into your business, cultural immersion. That's a really good one. Because I feel like when we're traveling to other countries, and we're really dropping into the culture and taking time to meet some of the locals, which I love to do, when I travel, we can gain some really new perspectives on how other people live. I think it increases our empathy toward everyone, you know, our employees, our fellow entrepreneurs, our family, it's a really great growth opportunity. Sometimes I like to go, I was trying to incorporate nature's well, because, you know, I'm surrounded by nature. But often I sit in my desk all day, and I don't go and put my toes in the grass. Again, these opportunities afforded us a chance to go and do the things that we don't normally give ourselves permission to do. That's why I think it's so important. The permission to travel, you know, that's my, my buzzword is that somebody needs to give us permission if we're gonna give ourselves permission. You know, I think that that's the first key, though, you have to give yourself permission, right? You know, your spouse, your employees may say, yeah, go away, go away. And yet we say, Oh, I can't, you know, I mean, I'm the boss, I can't do that. So you have to stop and give yourself permission.

Patty Farmer: 00:23:42

I think that's important. I think one of the biggest transformations and shift that happened to me while I was with you on that trip, was that one of the things I realized it was actually kind of sad, actually, is that when I was traveling before that as the speaker, not the times that I wasn't speaking, because I travel a lot, not as speaker. But in some of the times that I traveled as a speaker where I was alone, a lot of the time, I realized that because I was by myself. I wait. I mean, I was I'm worried I went and took trains and went and did all kinds of stuff to see the things that I wanted to do. However, what I realized, but I didn't realize it till I was with you. And it was a different way was that I was taking pictures of things. And I was actually doing things, I would see it and I would take pictures. And I was thinking of it like, oh, I want to share it with the people back home. And oh, I'm going to put it on Facebook and, and oh, this is what I'm going to do and show you know, whatever, and show my family but they weren't there. And I realized, actually, I didn't realize it at the time until I went with you when you're with other people. Right? I realized that I really wasn't experiencing it. I was just taking pictures of it was wanting me to save it. So I'd go back and look at them and then go oh yeah. And then I realized when I've linked with you You heard it was so much more immersive. And because, you know, Teresa and Krista were with me, and I got to spend so much time with you and the other women who were really fun that because you were having conversation with other people, and you were seeing their perspective, and the way they were looking at us, and you had these, like deeper conversations, and you shared it. And I really felt like I got so much more out of it. Because when we were looking at things, we got to say, Oh, my goodness, isn't that beautiful, and then somebody else will say, Oh, and look at that. And, and so I really felt like I took so much more away from it, I felt like it was so much more transformative for me, being able to share it in the moment, and not just come home after you've been gone this long, and then try to recreate it in a meme, or on Facebook, or just telling somebody about it, who didn't get to experience it right, you know, and so you don't want to sound really bad by saying oh, and I did this, and I did this, you know what I mean? And it was really a difference.

Linda: 00:25:55

100%. And I love the opportunities, we had to sit down in a small group of like minded women, and talk about the experiences of the day. And that's a really good time to share your perspective. You know, what did you think about this experience? So that's definitely something whenever you travel, if you travel in a small group to really talk about how you felt in a place, you know, not just what you saw, but how did it make you feel, I really love the feeling I get when I walk into an amazing church. And I can just sit there and just soak in the atmosphere. And I wonder about the people that were there, you know, hundreds of years ago, and what was it like for them? Yet somebody else might be mesmerized by the statues or the chandeliers. And so talking about everyone's perspective, helps you open your mind to different perspectives, I love it.

Patty Farmer: 00:26:49

And then you see things that you might not have seen, like, for all the times I've been to Italy, I don't think I ever would have thought to go to an opera. But they did. And that was so fun. I loved it so much. And then the discovery of what they had found there when we got to see that afterwards was just so like amazing to me. And so I just really feel like it says there's a lot of different ways to travel. And I really like think we should all kind of embrace all of them. So you can find the one that works for you. And it doesn't have to be just one. So can you share some examples? Maybe I mean, maybe that's not the right word. But some examples of destinations that can offer like maybe a mix of relaxation, cultural enrichment, professional development, like what are just a different examples of destinations because like, I know that when I was looking people would say, oh, you should go to Costa Rica, you should go to Costa Rica. I know. That's a big destination. A lot of people like to go to Costa Rica. For me. I was like, I don't want to be in a room that when I wake up, there might be like, some bug on the wall or something that would ruin the trip for me. Right, you know, and stuff. Like I'm adventurous, but I don't like insects. And you know, I told my husband what's Oh, I'd love to go to the rainforest. My husband just laughed. And I said, What's so funny, he's like, you're so scared of bugs. He's like, as soon as you saw bug, you'd be freaking out like you see a cricket you almost have a heart attack, right? Yeah. So obviously that was right for me.

Linda: 00:28:17

Oh, no. And that's so gray. Because that's exactly the key is what's right for you. When you told me and another conversation about like Costa Rica was off your list. Because of bugs. I was like, Oh, she's coming to Italy with me because there's bugs everywhere paddy but there's not as many bugs in Italy as there are in Costa Rica.

Patty Farmer: 00:28:35

I will give you I didn't see one. I got even one. Yeah.

Linda: 00:28:40

I had a retreat in Tuscany once. And the very first night, one of the participants called me at midnight, and I ran to her room, because I'm always there, you know, if you need something, and she was standing on a chair yelling about a bug on the curtain, and I swatted it down and I was like slugs been dead since 1982. You know, like we're in a kind of the countryside, you're going to see an occasional bug. But, you know, back to your question about, you know, what locations can offer you all of that. It's funny, because that first time in Italy, where I stayed three months, and I messed everything up. It transformed my business. It was only six years ago. I can't believe that like Facebook pops up the memories. It was like six years ago, and I'm like, Are you kidding me? Because I've been back probably 10 times and created a business where most of my retreats are in Italy. So of course my first answer to that question is going to be Italy because it offers you know all types of opportunity for cultural immersion and relaxation and ocean and mountains and shoot oh my god, the food. And it's a huge country. So I mean, I've as many times as I've been back and I've navigated all over I haven't covered all of it I endeavor to do so. But you know, it's going back to what are your goals and aspirations like what do you want to get? Out of an experience, some people are like, oh, yeah, Caribbean. But for me, I've been to the Caribbean over and over and over again, I love to scuba dive. But there's something about going to a country that's eons old, that has the kind of history that we don't have in America. And if you're, you know, you're listening from another country, you know, you're probably nodding your head. We're a relatively new country. And so the first time I saw a church that was hundreds of years old, I cried. I just, you know, I was hugging pillars going, This is crazy.

Patty Farmer: 00:30:32

It's been here for hundreds of years, you're speaking, you're speaking my language. That was really too. That's how I kind of feel about Hawaii, people talk about Boeing in Hawaii, and stuff like that. And not that I have anything against Hawaii, but it's like, why are you going to Hawaii? And then when they tell me the reasons why they're going, Oh, the beautiful water and, you know, we can go, you know, scuba diving and snorkeling and stuff. And I'm like, Well, you could do those things in other countries, like, you know, now, I do realize sometimes it's about the money. But I'm going to tell you that I think traveling to other countries, I think a lot of times people think oh, it's so expensive that I can't I don't think it's really all that much more, especially if you plan a little it's not really it is amazing to me, I always come back every time I've been to Italy, which has been about six times now. I always have lost weight while I'm gone. I always come back with. I always think about more money that I thought I would that I didn't spend. And I shot too. So believe me, like I shop. But really honestly, it's not as expensive. I'd been to Hawaii many times I spent, you know, like, I think that I think that is just something that people think but it's not actually really 100% accurate. I mean, if you want to spend money, you can spend money anywhere you go. Yeah, that's just true at all.

Linda: 00:31:46

I mean every location, every destination in the world will give you the opportunity to have culture. I mean, there's culture everywhere. So like, you have to look for it in some places. You know, Hawaii has some amazing cultural heritage. There's anywhere anywhere, but so back back to like, what is your goal? What do you love, you know, and then start looking for a retreat or an experience that might have some of these elements. There are hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of retreats every year all over the world. So you shouldn't have difficulty finding one that aligns with what your your dreams and your goals are for having a travel experience.

Patty Farmer: 00:32:27

I know I think I remember when it when I first decided to travel. And I asked myself that question. And I remember saying, beach, it's really important to me, I wanted there to be water. I wanted there to be agriculture because I really love agriculture stuff. And I love architecture. I really really am big on architecture that's super important to me. Food good food is important. I wanted to try all kinds of different foods. And I love gelato like in Italy my goal was that I was going to eat gelato every single day. And I did and as a sidebar which was just kind of funny was there was a girl that was with us on the trip Aney that it was her personal goal to have gelato it she would go to these places where we would go and have gelato and we'd all be picking this berry there's are are some really great flavor and she would have some of the weirdest flavors. I can't believe they made gelato we've never more than

Linda: 00:33:28

I know like zucchini or weird vegetables

Patty Farmer: 00:33:32

She called she just had some that I just couldn't believe it like I'd never good. And that was like her thing. And it was so funny. And we went to round as a group to all kinds of gelato places. So she could try all this different gelato, which was so fun. And through that I found like I think Christo was really important to Krista that she wanted to go to a bookstore and she wanted to find a book that she wanted to bring home that was in Italian that was really important. So we looked at a lot of them. And I have to tell you, I don't think I would have done that. And one of the most amazing things that I found is that a lot of the books in Italy, they actually the pages around the edges, have photos, or they're painted or whatever. But like the whole book is beautiful. And inside the words, but the book itself all around. The pages all have pictures and stuff. So like of course I had to have one of those. But that's the thing when you go with other people, you're going to do things and see things that you might not have done and experience something that you might never have experienced because it was somebody else's thing and you were with them. And so you just kind of went along and said oh that sounds good. Yes, that's jump in here and look in that bookstore, and then you see something so I have to tell you. It is so fun to do it and do it with other people and not Don't have any worry about where everything is and checking in and how we're going to get our tickets and go to the thing. It's like the best of both worlds, you get to do all the things you want to do. You get to experience new things. And you get to do it in the most stressless. Just fun environment. So yeah, I think it was great. For me personally, I think it was great for my business. And I have to tell you, we were gone for three weeks when I was with you. And when I got back, like I kept thinking, I totally unplugged. I totally unplugged. And when I came back, my business flourished while I was gone, you know, the fact that I wasn't on social media for three weeks, no biggie, it was like, I had told people, I was going to Italy. So I have to tell you, I thought the experience made me personally better and my business better to?

Linda: 00:35:48

Well, I'll tell you, you were very open. And that's really important when you're traveling in a group. Because you know, I've had some travelers come with me that didn't want to do something somebody else wanted to do. They were just like, oh, no, not doing that. And they were open to that. But you were and I think that's another thing, if you travel in a group experience, that you just kind of be open to whatever, because you never know what that experience is going to bring you. So, you know, it's talked about when you got home from your trip. And I think that's really important because I was thinking about all the different business trips I've been on. If you go to these events, and they give you a notebook, and you have your, you know, so much information poured into you while you're away. And then you come home all motivated, I'm going to implement this, and I'm going to implement that. And then often you don't. So I think when you have this type of experience that you had, or you go on a retreat, that when you come back that you need to set aside a little bit of time, first of all, for jetlag, it always hits me really hard when I'm coming home from Europe, but to just reflect on the experience, and maybe talk about it with certainly the people that you went with, I love that, you know, we had a WhatsApp group. And often I have a Facebook group where we can share and revisit the exciting things that we did and share photos. But talking about it with your loved ones in your friends at home that didn't get to go, you know, helps you to kind of enjoy the benefits of the experience. But also journaling about it, you know, what did you take away? You know, revisiting, I like to do things in order. I'm very orderly, you know, like on day one, what, what was my experience? And that's where photos can come in handy when you look back and go, Okay, you know, what did I do on this day, I like to journalists, I go, and I gave you guys a journal for the experience so that, you know, those that like to journal can keep track of what we did. I think that's helpful when we return home to kind of integrate the experience into our life.

Patty Farmer: 00:37:58

I know I love that, because on my phone, I have an iPhone, and I'm sure androids do it as well. I love that every day. At the end of the day, we just popped all of our pictures in an album for that day. So when you when, and you looked back all your photos telling you where you were right then and so we have an album for each one of those days. And then as a group, we were all like sharing photos and all that kind of stuff, which meant that somebody might have got a different photo of something you saw, and then you get to see it in a different way. It was just really a great experience. And I really felt like one of the things that you really provided for us beforehand, which I really love is that we got to meet each other you had these zoom calls. And then I really loved the day that you actually showed us all the gadgets of things that we could take to make it easier for us. I was like, Oh my gosh, some of those were just like amazing and really made a difference. And I'm thinking man, how did I ever travel without some

Linda: 00:39:00

I'm not, you know, I'm obsessed with travel accessories. I've, I have a page on my website, that's just all the things I've literally have purchased everything on that page and tried it out. And if it didn't make the cut and went back, it's not on that page. So I just I'm always trying to find a more an easier way to travel the best suitcase the best backpack and then share that information because that first trip to Italy. I took 100 pounds of luggage, a giant suitcase, a small suitcase, a backpack and then some kind of portable carry bag cooler thing. And I have a photo of me when I first got there I was in the train outside of Venice going Hi, no I have a lot of luggage. And this is at the beginning of three months but I want to have my organic skincare and lots of change your club. And then two months later I dumped my half of my luggage in a at a place in Rome. Before I just couldn't didn't handle it. It was so stressful. So now I'm just like, let's, let's figure out a way to make this experience less stressful. Again, that's something I love to share with the women.

Patty Farmer: 00:40:10

Why don't you guys can all pick on me because I did come with a suitcase of suitcases when I was. And it wasn't even just us all we can make fun of me, because I am a traveler, right? And I know, but I had seen this suitcase that somebody had. And it was a square suitcase, right? You know, so mostly suitcases. And it was square, and I've seen it at the air for, you know, like months before I went. And I loved it because it had a longer like handle. So you could put your backpack and it even had it. So if you had a smaller suitcase, it slid on it. And so I thought, oh my gosh, that is like amazing. So I purchased it. And you kind of told us what kind I was like, oh, no, this is going to be amazing. Well, let me tell you, I love this suitcase still, but not for international travel. Because it didn't fit in anything that was so gracious about my luggage was traveling, it was on a trip all by itself all over the place. And what we had to do to for my luggage because it didn't fit under anything. It didn't fit in the luggage things it was kind of a sort of kind of a nightmare. But now I can laugh.

Linda: 00:41:13

It was yeah, we in your suitcase and so and see on the trains.

Patty Farmer: 00:41:17

Yeah, so it was really crazy. So that was kind of a learning experience, too. But I still love the suitcase just not for international travel, I realized that that is definitely not the thing. So yes, that was actually kind of funny now, right. And actually, Christa and Theresa have made memes about it too, that we send back and forth to each other funny. We haven't posted it but we send it back and forth to each other because she had this whole suitcase and one of Teresa says This is Krista. Krista is like, Come on hurry, we have to get to the train, we need to go see you know where we're supposed to be. And then treat this like But do we have time to stop for coffee and Patty saying, I need to catch up with my luggage. I'd love to get away. Like it's so funny, like these memes that they make. And we keep sending it back and forth to each other. I should probably send him to probably really laugh. But super, super funny. But now that we're talking about some resources, let's kind of you know, you did have some resources. I love being able to go to that page. I needed purchased a few things after I've been home that I didn't think I could take before but now I'm like, Oh no, I absolutely have to have that. But what kind of resources or recommendations do you have for like online resources, maybe some travel communities for gathering some insights, you know, that will really kind of help us because you know, for everything that you've done in all the different kind of travel you've done, I'm sure you actually have some, some good insights for people about resources. And we all lovers, right? Well,

Linda: 00:42:46

I mean, this might sound obvious, but the first place I go is YouTube, because there's been somebody that's made a video about wherever you're going. And there's probably 100 People that have made videos. So I always look at YouTube first, because I want to get like a visual feeling about the destination. There's even people that have made videos, and I've tried to do this myself, but I didn't try out so good. But they meet videos of them getting off of the plane in Rome, and walking all the way through the airport and walking you to the train. You know, these are very helpful that people that aren't familiar with how to navigate through a large airport like Rome and to the train stations. So I start there. Pinterest is another great resource for finding all kinds of information about a destination. Certainly asking your friends and family and colleagues you know what they suggest but my very favorite place to get specific information are different Facebook groups. I will there's 1000s of travel Facebook groups, like for instance for Italy there's one called Italy travel planning. So if you go into the search bar and you put Paris travel you can even get down specific to cities you know, there's a lake Garda travel group that I'm a member of now because I'm going taking a group to Lake Garda in October. So search and you know, travel group are, are ya have a particular destination and join these groups. So I can go into a group, let's say the Italy travel planning and I can type as everyone anyone ever stayed at this particular hotel? Has anyone been to the Amalfi Coast where which town should I stay in? What first search it because somebody's asked it and it's been answered. But you get real unfiltered advice from people that have actually been there. So it's not like you know, reading reviews where you're not sure is that a real review? Or you know, is that their cousin that just reading their hotel, you'll get people telling you what their experiences like. And then I use a lot of apps. So you're talking about like things to help you. In fact, the the journal that I'll be sharing with everyone has a list of apps that I use Use when I travel, there's apps for everything. There's even an app to help you find toilets. In Italy, which is important to me, you know, I want to know where the bathrooms are. There's apps to help you pack and to keep in to tell you where you can store your luggage when you don't want to carry it around. So, definitely, those are some of my hot tips.

Patty Farmer: 00:45:21

Well, I think that sounds great in thinking about those tips and about the gift that you actually have for everyone. Yes, I have to tell you, I got a sneak peek of it, since I knew that you were going to be giving it away. I wanted to go check it out. And it is phenomenal. And you're right, it has a lot, a lot of good things in it. So yes, tell us a little bit about this journal. And for those of you that are listening, all you got to do is look below, there's a button right there for you to get it. So no problem. So tell us a little bit about it.

Linda: 00:45:53

Well, it's called permission to trout, permission to travel. It's a journal that helps empower women to dream big to plan and navigate a transformational journey. So I love journals. I like anything with checklists and tips and space for me to write and really explore my dream. So I created this journal, as a way for women, particularly to give themselves permission, especially entrepreneurial women, as we've talked about, we often don't give ourselves permission to just go away for something that isn't necessarily business related. So it's a wonderful journal, and I'm sure everyone will enjoy it, they can download it.

Patty Farmer: 00:46:39

And yeah, thank you so much. You're so generous, but before we sign off, so what are some of the places now realizing obviously, that my podcast is evergreen, and you never know when somebody is going to be listening to it? So not necessarily what is your next trip? But where can they go? Like they can go to your website to see all of the things that you have coming up? So if they're thinking about a trip, and like you said you have your little store there where they can find all those travel assessories? What is your website where they can find that?

Linda: 00:47:14

Travel fashionistas.com So a travel fashionista is someone like me who's passionate about travel. Like I said, my tours or my trips are women only. I do occasionally put together private trips for groups, small groups that include husbands, but often the women are okay with leaving the men at home and coming without them. So travel passion needs to stop calm.

Patty Farmer: 00:47:43

As well as that. And what's the best way for people to connect with you?

Linda: 00:47:46

Well, if you go to my website, there's a place that says where you can book a call to chat with me, you can find my email address there. You can download some freebies. Yeah.

Patty Farmer: 00:47:58

I love it when you make it so easy. So thank you so much, Linda, it has been such a pleasure to have you on the show. It was such a pleasure to travel with you, I can't wait to do it again. It was so easy to not just refer to but really when I asked you if you would come on the show and really share all these different things. Because it's really important to me that people design the lifestyle they want to live and if time travel, you know, I mean if time freedom and travel is important to you, like I don't see any reason why you need to wait like you can do it now. No, thank you so much for making that easy for people. You're welcome. And in fact, you know

Linda: 00:48:35

You ask me like, Where? Where are the locations that I go to? I typically focus on Italy and France. But you asked me recently about Greece. So because of that I'm expanding and doing going into Greece, probably Portugal. So what's so fun about it is that, you know, my people that travel with me want to usually want to come back and do it again. And they want to go some worse. So that kind of motivates me to create these new trips. So that's what's so fun about too. But anyway

Patty Farmer: 00:49:05

I can't wait.

Linda: 00:49:07

I can't wait either. And I'm honored that you had me here as a guest, and I appreciate it.

Patty Farmer: 00:49:13

Thank you so much. And to my audience. Thank you so much for tuning in. I know this was a great show. Was it that like really? I just know it was I just know it was the context was so good. It was so great to share Linda, with you. I have to tell you, she's become near and dear to me. And I really love it when I get to have someone on the show that is just so easy for me to share. So thank you so much for spending this time with us. I look forward to spending time again with you next week. And if you enjoyed today's episode, and I'm sure you did, please like subscribe and review the podcast on your favorite listening platform. And also if you haven't checked out our sister magazine, the marketing media Money Magazine, please go grab your free copy there at www.m3digitalmag.com. Until next week thank you so much have a great day