Around-the-World Solo
Have the courage to travel around the globe solo for, in her words, women and world peace? If you’re wondering what that would look like, here’s the?tale of the tape:
I’ve known Mary Beth McCabe now for over a decade. We met through marketing circles in San Diego. While she’s a fan and a subscriber of this newsletter, I had no idea she was going on an epic adventure until she responded back to last week's “weekly dose of courage” newsletter.?
As Mary Beth shared below, she did what she did for a few reasons. My favorite quote from our back-and-forth conversation??
“I hope to move the needle in a small way, showing women can travel solo. So few do.”
She shared a lot below in our “10 Questions”.
She told me she stayed local, acted local, and carried only a personal item, not a carry-on.?
If you ever wondered what you could achieve in one summer, look no further to our conversation below.?
Courage IS regret insurance.
1. First off, congratulations! Tell me about your adventure. How long had you waited to go on this adventure??
I?had been planning it for about 15 months. It started out by thinking about round-trip airline tickets and why not just keep going all the way around the world. I had never had this length of time off from work. While traveling, I could still care for Sun Marketing clients' needs, but my teaching was on hold for three months.?I took a 90-day trip to every time zone in the world, starting in San Diego to the Philippines, Asia, and finishing in Iceland. It was from May 7 to August 7. ?It took a lot of courage to complete this epic adventure solo.
2. Why You? Why Now? Why go Solo?
I've been solo before; as early as age 15, I went solo to NYC. I stayed there for three weeks with friends, pre-cell phone days. What an experience that was.?Now seemed the best time for me, as I'm an empty nester, and my husband did not want to travel out of the USA. If I didn't go now, I might have missed the window of access, health, and courage that it took. I went solo because I didn’t know anyone with the same availability and mission.
3. What did you hope to achieve on this courageous mission?
4. Many stories carry the same theme. The hero thinks the treasure is one thing, and it often turns out to be something entirely different.
The?treasure is not in counting countries or sites visited. The treasure is in the stories that came from the people I met. ?One of the comments I heard often was I needed to learn how to pack light, so I tried to teach others how to do this. I carried a “personal item” weighing less than 15 lb./7kg, and it was a small backpack that could go under the airplane seat in front of me. I was on a budget, and this saved hundreds of dollars in baggage fees.
5. I’m sure you made many friends along the way. Share a few that really stood out.?
In my first country, the Philippines, my daughter, age 28, met me at the airport from Taiwan. She and I traveled for the first week together. That was great as a starting point. She went back to Taipei, and I went to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. It wasn't until ten weeks later that I landed in an English-first country and could converse with ease.
In Agra, India, I was hosted by a SERVAS family who was having a wedding. Their daughter was betrothed in an arranged marriage, and I was invited. I was, unfortunately, unable to go to the wedding, but the morning I left, we got stuck in traffic (which included cows, rickshaws, and semi-trucks), and I saw but missed the bus to Dehli, which left early. However, we had a high-speed chase and caught up with the bus at the next stop about 10 miles away. It was dramatic and quite an adventure that was unexpected.
In a town near Tel Aviv, Israel, I was hosted through SERVAS by a mom and her two kids. We went to a peaceful protest rally with plenty of kids and dogs at City Hall, where I did not understand any of the speakers, but by being there, I knew that they cared about their community and rights.?
6. What did you learn about yourself?
I learned that making decisions is probably the best skill to have when traveling solo. Unless I made a decision, I was not going anywhere.?
I also learned that I could do much more than I had expected. ?Resiliency was one of my takeaways from this adventure.
7. Often, when we are courageous, it builds up the muscle and makes us crave to do it repeatedly. Does that ring true for you?
The courageous muscle has been working hard. I read your book, Return on Courage, and that also inspired me to make this journey.?An example of this is that by the end of the trip, I was getting better at navigating using the many tools on my smartphone. I was getting lost less. I was excited to use these tools instead of dreading it.
8. If you could go back and tell yourself something just before you boarded that first plane, what would it have been?
Great question. Bring an ATM card, just in case! It would have been so helpful if I had brought a debit card. I did not use cash much at all after leaving Asia, but it would have been helpful instead of currency exchanges, where I got a terrible exchange rate.
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9. How does all this apply to unlocking courage at work?
As I prepare to teach college classes this fall and help my clients, I believe I will be a better listener, more patient, and have a better world perspective. Barriers that I saw before, I look at as opportunities. For example, I was dreading the transition to teaching the newest version of Google Analytics, G4, but now, I feel that this is a challenge instead of a hurdle. I’m teaching myself the content and will teach others how to use it as they build their commercial websites.
10a. Best food? Best place you stayed? Best weather?
Food? I’m not a foodie, but I did enjoy the pizza in Florence. Thin crust with just the right ingredients and gelato daily. The butter and creams in Ireland and Scotland were really tasty, too.
Best stay? Cochin, India. The family sent their driver to pick me up at the airport. They had many servants who were able to help me adjust to the different food tastes. They had separate meals without chilies for me.
Best Weather? Iceland. The rest of the trip was very hot, so the final stop was cool but not cold. It was pleasant every day, even a bit rainy, which was refreshing.
10b. Worst food? Worst place you stayed? Worst weather?
Worst food? Chennai, India. It was like a fire in my mouth, even when I asked for not spicy. The chilies were too hot. I ate from a jar of peanut butter here for two days.
Worst place I stayed? A no-name Manila Hotel, which was really a hostel trying to upgrade. I should have paid more and booked outside of the city.? The “kitchen” was a broken tiny refrigerator and sink. Nothing more than that, which was dishonest. A repairman walked into my room without knocking. I complained for days and got little response.
Worst weather? Cambodia, because it was just really humid and sticky all the time.?
BONUS Question:?Any final words of inspiration for others thinking about pushing themselves into something courageous?
If you have a goal, break it into pieces so that you can take it one at a time.?
Reward yourself with mini-milestones. I had a few massages on my trip for physical therapy and as a mental reward for staying the course. They were inexpensive in Asia.
Courage Week Is Coming
September 6th-8th, 2023
The world needs more courage. Kicking off Wednesday, September 6th, we’ll bring you content that helps you be more brave at work and home. Join us for our inaugural online “Courage Week” which will include the return of?The Courageous Podcast?(September 6th) and a “live” September 8th?Courageous ActionChat. Leading courageously can be hard. If you’re interested in participating, please let us know?here.?
THE COURAGEOUS PODCAST
The Courageous Podcast Season 2 is in the books. If you missed our sit down with the NFL’s Tim Ellis , Peloton’s Emma Lovewell , Uber’s Danielle Hawley , General Mills Nicole Ayers, or any of our wonderful guests, it’s not too late to get your learn on from any of our 45 Season 2 Guests. Season 3 will return in mid-September.
Missed the last 5 episodes?
Thanks for stopping by for your?Weekly Dose of Courage ! Don’t forget to?hit subscribe ?above or below to be notified when the next issue comes out.
Ryan Berman is the founder of Courageous; a think-feel-do change consultancy based in Southern California. With 25 years in creative business, Ryan believes your “future is safe with change”. Ryan is a speaker, practitioner and authority on the subject who has been featured in Entrepreneur, Fast Company, Inc and Forbes. Ryan has spoken on the topic all over the country including at Google, Procter & Gamble, Kellogg’s, Kraft Heinz, Logitech, Discover Card and charity: water. Ryan also hosts?The Courageous Podcast ?where he talks with leaders from around the globe to uncover what it means to be courageous in today's world. His book,?Return On Courage , shares why companies need to unlock courage while providing practical tips on how organizations can operationalize courage today.?Learn more at?couragebrands.com
Mentoring marketers, teaching, and travel. Researching AI uses on mobile.
1 年Ryan’s book and his presentation leveraged me to get unstuck during Covid lockdown. I re-read my notes in his book and it made me smile, years later. :) I serve with courage.
Founder | Board Member | CEO | COO | Integrator? | Manufacturing | Supply Chain | Digital Transformation | Speaker
1 年Started traveling solo at age 13. It reenergizes my soul and gives me perspective. Thank you for sharing.
Perspectives Coach | Transforming Employees into Leaders and Working Parents | On a mission to help you retain talent and advance more women into leadership positions | Workplace Culture | Certified Fair Play Facilitator
1 年Such a good read. I am currently on a 9 month adventure, spending a month at a time in different locations across the US. Me, the dog and all of my possessions in an SUV. People have used he word brave and courageous to me and they don't resonate. What Mary Beth McCabe did is so much better. Such different navigation with language and currency, etc. AND I did find commonalities in setting 'rules' for the travel, living like a local and not a tourist.
Passionate | Creative | Driven | Event Marketing & Management | Marketing Communications | Internal Communications |
1 年Yes!!! Love that you interviewed her! Mary Beth McCabe is amazing & has so much knowledge to share! ????