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September 15, 2025 45 mins

Tsvety Roo is a digital nomad and solo traveller on a mission to explore loneliness, self-discovery, and what it truly means to connect in today’s fast-paced world.

Her journey began when she made the bold decision to leave a successful career at a NYC agency, embrace minimalism, and step into life as a nomad. For the past two years, Tsvety has lived without a permanent home, travelling through 22 countries and visiting 37, uncovering how solo travel can lead not only to deeper connections with others but also to a more meaningful relationship with oneself.

Through raw honesty and lived experience, she shares how she broke free from isolation, embraced fear instead of waiting for it to disappear, and discovered the surprising power of meaningful connections with strangers. Along the way, she learned to slow down, stay longer in each destination, and even create “mini communities” that offered a sense of belonging.

What makes Tsvety’s story compelling isn’t just the places she’s been, but the profound inner transformation she’s undergone. Solo travel taught her to distinguish between loneliness and solitude, redefine what “home” means, and adapt with resilience when plans went awry. Travelling minimally—with just what she truly needs—became not only practical but liberating.

Her story is an invitation to step outside your comfort zone and discover how choosing the unfamiliar can transform not only the way you travel, but the way you live.

Let's enjoy Tsvety's story. 

To connect with her: https://www.tsvetyroo.com/

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Daniela SM (00:01):
Hi, I'm Daniela.
Welcome to my podcast, becauseEveryone has a Story, the place
to give ordinary people'sstories the chance to be shared
and preserved.
Our stories become the languageof connections.
Let's enjoy it.
Connect and relate, becauseeveryone has a story.
I had the delight of speakingwith Tsvety Roo, a digital nomad

(00:23):
and solo traveller who hasspent the past two years
exploring 22 countries anddiscovering the deeper meaning
of connection and self-discovery.
I especially love thisconversation because earlier
this year, Dave and I returnedfrom our six months travel
adventure, so I could reallyrelate to Swati's journey, her

(00:45):
search and her sweet and kindpersonality.
I know you will find her storyinspiring and full of practical
wisdom about embracing solitude,facing fear and creating
community wherever you are.
So let's enjoy her story.
Welcome, swati, to Last timewe spoke, you were in Bulgaria,
and now you're in Germany.
podcast.
Thank you for being here, thankyou for having me.

(01:05):
So you're a world traveller,obviously, and I know you have a
story.
So why do you want to shareyour story, the biggest?

Tsvety Roo (01:17):
mission for me is to inspire others and to not be
afraid to solo travel, andthat's what I've been doing for
the last two and a half years,and I want to breathe light into
this realm of traveling that alot of people feel haven't been
introduced to it yet and they'renot sure if they could do it

(01:40):
themselves.
And I'm here as a living proof.
You can solo travel.
You can do it the way I did it,which I'm sure we're going to
get into, or you can do it for alimited time, but basically
it's possible and it's sorewarding.
And I'm here to share thelessons that you can gain from

(02:01):
solo travel, all the benefitsand, yeah, to inspire, hopefully
, someone out there who's beenthinking about it and can just
start on their journeys.

Daniela SM (02:13):
Thank you.
And I read the other day thattraveling is like reading a book
, and if you don't travel, it'slike you only read the first
page.
I love that.
I got chills.
Yes, of course not everybodyhas to like everything.
Traveling is not the answer foreveryone, but there is a lot of
us who love to do it.
A friend of mine just postedthat she has gone into like 95

(02:36):
countries and now she's retiringfrom traveling to new places
and now she has decided to goback to those places that meant
the most for her and I thought,okay, well, what an interesting
new beginning for her.
You know, you just think that,oh, you want always a new.

Tsvety Roo (02:52):
Yes, exactly Just one of my countries, spain, I go
back to throughout and it'sbeen 20 years or so that I kind
of find my way to Spain,different parts of Spain, and
every time I go back I'm at adifferent place in life and when
you yourself have evolved andhave grown and you see you have

(03:14):
different priorities when youtravel to that same place.
And it's not the same.
Maybe initially.
It was when I was 20 is whenthe first time I went to
Barcelona I'm saying it with theproper accent and it was about

(03:36):
just checking off the touristattractions, that first time,
really absorbing a lot of itfrom a 20-year-old point of view
.
And then now, almost 20 yearslater, when I go to Spain I love
to indulge in the food, I loveto just listen to, for example,
how fast the Spanish peoplespeak to me, and I don't speak

(04:00):
Spanish.
I know a few words.
I don't speak Spanish, I know afew words, but it's just the
sort of it sounds like a song,like da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da, a
song that continues on.
I said do they take a breath atany point?

Daniela SM (04:15):
No, I know you notice different things and it's
what point in life that you'reat yes, that's true, that's true
, we do speak fast in Spanishand I think Italians and
Portuguese they speak reallyfast.
And so my husband, who hisSpanish is not his first
language, but he's French hewants people to wait to give him

(04:36):
a chance to talk, and thatdoesn't happen when my family's
together.
I always said to him once theybreathe, if they breathe, you go
ahead and you start talking.
And he's like no, they have togive me the time.
And I'm like well, good luckwith that.

Tsvety Roo (04:51):
Yeah, he has to make that opportunity, yes.

Daniela SM (04:54):
So, swati, tell me, when does your story start it?

Tsvety Roo (04:57):
started two and a half years ago when I pulled the
trigger to book a one-wayflight and it was to Spain, I
felt the most comfortable tostart one-way flight and it was
to Spain I felt the mostcomfortable to start my solo
travel experience.
I was to a new city.
It was to Malaga that I'venever been.
I was stifling this dream.
It started to feel real when Ibooked that one-way flight.

(05:20):
And to go back a little bitfurther to really when I made
the decision was nine monthsearlier.
So we're talking two and a halfyears ago is when I finally
booked the flight, but it wasnine months prior to that.
So this three and a half yearsin the making, sort of, is when

(05:41):
I had this long walk, ameditative walk in San Diego,
california, which is where itwas my last permanent location,
and I had this long walk and Iwas so lonely and I was so
depleted and I was so burnt outof just feeling disconnected

(06:01):
from life and I get emotional.
Feeling disconnected from lifeand I get emotional.
I'm sure you could probablyhear it in my voice.
Yes, I can feel it, but it wassuch a dark time and I had tried
so many different ways tocombat and to fix the problem.
And I took this long walk and Istarted to ask myself some

(06:23):
tough questions that I hadn'tasked before.
And it was what was really mydream?
What have I been stifling forso long?
And then, what if I gave myselfpermission to start living
towards making that dream happen?

(06:44):
And so these questions werevery hard.
There was a reason why I wasstifling them, because that
means you're admitting thatyou're not living in alignment
and that you're not livingtowards your goals.
And that's tough to admit andit's tough to say I've been
doing it wrong.
And it's tough to say, uh, I'vebeen doing it wrong.

(07:08):
Or, you know, you seem to tomake it hard on yourself to make
this shift in life, and it's abig shift, but I knew I had to
to do something towards it.
And I and I said I've alwayswanted to travel and I have.
I've traveled before with otherpeople, but this seems like it
was calling me.
I said I'm going to just do italone and then see what happens.

(07:29):
It took nine months to finallybook it after I had this
revelation of a walk.
It took nine months ofoverthinking of the fear before
pulling that trigger and then Ifinally booked that flight.
And then I finally booked thatflight, I made a drastic
decision to put everything instorage and not have a permanent

(07:50):
location, and so I just made itharder to go everything.
Look, have the job, have theapartment, look for the partner,

(08:13):
do the workouts.
I was trying so many differentavenues that living in the US is
sort of hey, if you do thesethings and you check them off
the list and everything looksgood on paper, then you should
be happy.
You shouldn't be lonely.
This is all making sense, butit wasn't.
It was not what my heart desired, it wasn't aligning.

(08:33):
I wanted to learn fromdifferent cultures, I wanted to
see the world and I wanted togrow so much and that being one
of my values, it was very toughbecause, becoming a solo
traveler without a permanenthome, you have to redefine a lot
of certain words that we'reused to Examples what does a

(08:58):
home mean?
Does it mean just one location?
What exactly is the definitionof home?
I had to sort of rework that.
Also, keeping and makingconnections, meaningful
connections, like can you dothat when you're constantly on
the road?
The most important one ishaving that new, reinvigorated

(09:23):
relationship with yourself.

Daniela SM (09:25):
So you said a lot of interesting things there, so
you had it all and you also.
I think it's interesting tomention that you were not born
in the US.

Tsvety Roo (09:34):
I moved when I was 10 years old, so most of my life
, that dual identity yes.

Daniela SM (09:41):
Yes, your original country is Bulgaria.

Tsvety Roo (09:44):
Bulgaria yes.

Daniela SM (09:45):
Eastern Europe.
You never traveled very muchsince you came to the US.

Tsvety Roo (09:50):
Yeah, I did travel.
It was a lot with my sister, myolder sister.
The travel bug had bit her andthen having that role model
really helped, so we traveledtogether.
She moved to Germany in my 20sand so it was sort of, oh no, my
travel buddy, where did it go?

(10:10):
And that was her dream to livein Germany.
So as a role model to followyour dreams, she is one of those
people that showed me the wayand it's amazing to have that in
my life.
I'm so grateful.
It took me a lot longer tounderstand what I was missing

(10:32):
and what I was stifling.

Daniela SM (10:34):
And then because you came from another country.
Were you in a culture withEuropeans mostly when you grew
up, or not?

Tsvety Roo (10:42):
Nope, I grew up in Michigan Detroit, michigan shout
out to the Midwest there were alot of sort of international
groups and through my sister sheliked to create an environment
for whether German or French andthat community I was exposed to

(11:02):
when growing up I'd saypredominantly Americans.
I love that because I reallywas embedded in the American
culture and still am, and that'smy dominant.
I feel definitely Americanbecause I lived there for 30
years.

Daniela SM (11:20):
I just ask you this because I know that all the
cultures, especially in SouthAmerica, are very into community
and Canada and where I am, inthe US, where you grew up, is
mostly very individualistic, andso when you talk about lonely,
I understand that, because Ifeel like people are very
individualistic.

Tsvety Roo (11:39):
No, I think from a cultural perspective.
That's what I've encounteredtoo when traveling, especially
just this year in the beginningof being in Thailand and in Asia
and just realizing when you cango up to people and they want
to help you.
They're not either.
They're used to it, especiallyin Thailand.

(12:01):
They're used to a lot oftourists, but also they're just
super friendly and they'recurious.
You know where are you from.
I get that question a lot.
If I need something, they helpme and then they want to know
more about me and it's reallynice.
And I think in the US we'vebecome so isolated and it comes

(12:24):
from the devices and it comesfrom, like you mentioned, the
individualistic culture, andit's not leading to great things
at all.
It's the opposite.
We're becoming more lonely whenit comes to finding a partner
where they're supposed to fillthat sense of community in just

(12:45):
one person.
That was an expectation I hadwhen dating in the US and that
didn't work out.
It's just impossible.
You can't have just a communityin one person.

Daniela SM (12:57):
We expect our partners to be a village.

Tsvety Roo (13:00):
Correct.
It's terrible because the moreI travel, the more I see these
communities.
Every person in a relationshiphas their own personality and
they have different needs andthey have interests, and it's
more open in that sense.
So I get a question saying whatif you are in a relationship

(13:20):
and you want to solo travel?
I've had this question beforeand I say I feel like it's like
everything else.
If you are communicating that Ijust need some time for this
weekend to go to the next townor just be on the beach and
relax and I'm not escaping you Ineed some time for myself and

(13:45):
you're able to communicate thatwith your partner, I think
that's honorable and it'sprobably good for your
relationship.

Daniela SM (13:53):
Well, also, when you look for your partner, like
you know, I met my husband.
I knew, having previousboyfriends, that for me freedom
and trust were most important.
You always dream, oh, if he wasromantic.
But I'm like, ok, I'm going togive that one up for trustworthy
.
I think that was so important.
And freedom.
And also I had a lady from inthe podcast.

(14:14):
She has her own podcast and sheloved traveling.
So they went traveling thefamily.
And then the husband and thedaughter says you know, mom, we
don't really like to do it asmuch as you.
And so the husband is like yougo and you do it.
It's not easy for other peopleto understand that's what she
does and she's happy with thatand the relationship for sure
helps that way too.

Tsvety Roo (14:35):
Yeah, I think it would be beneficial.
Just again coming back to that,so many benefits about solo
travel for me, and one of thembeing, when you spend this time
alone, it's coming back toyourself.
It's this solitude versusloneliness differentiating that
and I didn't understand thedifference.
And so now that I know whatloneliness was and I'm able to

(15:00):
look back in retrospect, I saidI was deeply, deeply lonely.
Solo travel has helped meunderstand and find solitude and
be okay, and not just okay, butbe empowered to take these
trips, to go to these differentcountries, to have this

(15:20):
confidence, to be able to justsit with my feelings, with my
thoughts.
Sit with my feelings, with mythoughts, without having to feel
anxious, without having to feelthis sort of I need to distract
myself with my devices.
I need to call somebody I need.
I need somebody to fill in thistime and instead just be in the

(15:42):
moment, and solo travel hasreally transformed that for me.

Daniela SM (15:46):
Yeah that's beautiful.
I think I'm still working onthat and you already have
achieved it, so congratulations.
Oh, we're all working on it,yes, but we always.
We're a work in progress,anyway, until we die, yeah.

Tsvety Roo (16:00):
And the crazy part is the more returning back to
yourself, reinvigorating, and itseems that it's such a positive
energy that the more people Imeet which is so wild.
I didn't think that would beanother sort of benefit, but
these meaningful connections ofjust being okay by yourself and
then all of a sudden you're justattracting all the different

(16:24):
people that are curious and thenstarting those conversations,
has been life-changing for me.
So the second point, the secondhuge benefit of solo travel for
me is making those meaningfulconnections and have so many
stories.
I don't know if we're going toget through all of them, but
there's so many stories of justmeeting random people, different

(16:48):
ages, different backgrounds andus connecting on these travels,
and I've learned so much aboutmyself in the process of
learning about these people.

Daniela SM (16:58):
Yes, the beautiful thing of traveling, of course,
is seeing new things, but theseexperiences with the people, for
me, has been the thing that Icherish the most.
Yes, that made the impressionof that place.
Oh, this lady that I met, thatshe helped us.
You know another lady who gaveme a hug when I bought her honey
.
You know things like this.
So, yes, exactly.

Tsvety Roo (17:20):
The next question is you know what's the favorite
experience?
Or from all of these travels indifferent countries and now I'm
up to 39, which is amazing,very grateful, blessed to get up
to so many countries you knowwhat are the favorite
experiences.
Every time I think about theconnections that I've made, or

(17:41):
just the random.
You know deep conversationsthat happen or, like you said,
where there's like a physicalsort of port.
While on this, whether it'sthrough a hug or whether it's
something that, like they'vesaid, that really resonated with
you and coming back to you, arevery much present as a solo

(18:03):
traveler, because you're notsure if you're going to see that
person again, and so you wantto really make the most of that
time together.
Wonderful, that's beautiful.
With a stranger and thenpotentially lifelong friend.

Daniela SM (18:19):
Okay, so you bought the ticket and you decided you
were traveling and you went toSpain.
How long you stay in Malaga,and what happened afterwards?

Tsvety Roo (18:28):
So I stayed in Malaga for about a month.
I didn't really have anythingplanned that first year.
I only knew sort of six weeksin advance of where I was going.
It was one of those things thatI embraced all the uncertainty
that came with this decision andI know from speaking with my

(18:50):
family and my friends they'rejust like what do you mean?
You don't have any plans beyondsix weeks.
How is that even possible?
What do you mean?
You don't know where you'restaying or which country you're
going, and so that was veryliberating initially, and I
think I just liberatinginitially and I think I just

(19:14):
went to an extreme because I hadbeen stifling the dream for so
long.
So now I was just like you know, I'm just going to just be free
.
After a while I started tofigure out which countries
really resonated with me that Iwanted to go see.
I also started to slow down.
I was going really fast throughcountries meeting.
I was spending two weeks only,or maybe even seven, eight days,

(19:36):
and your body gets tired.
Your body gets very tired.
That first year was intense.
You're switching cultures andpeople are speaking different
languages and you don't evenhave time to breathe and
sometimes there's jet lagbecause you're really flying to
a whole different continent.

(19:57):
This year, over the course oftraveling, I like to stay longer
in places, at least three weeks.
That way I get to embed alittle bit more into the culture
and take a breather and my bodyisn't as tired.
And I stayed three weeks inBali this year, one month in
Thailand and two months in backto Malaga.

(20:21):
And I like to return to someplaces because what ended up
happening is I created like minicommunities and coming back to
community being so important,being such a healthy aspect that
we keep not prioritizing and weshould Because these mini

(20:43):
communities, whether it'sthrough other solo travelers,
whether it's through locals thatI've met in these places,
whether it's through other solotravelers, whether it's through
locals that I've met in theseplaces, they are filling up so
much of that empty space.

Daniela SM (20:57):
It's amazing.
Yes, we were seven weeks inMalaga, I remember I went and
bought a bra into a littlecorner store that it was like.
It had like a triangle shape,so you come in from one door and
get out from the other.
If there were more than twopeople in the store you couldn't
really move.
I bought one thing and then Iwent back again and back again,
you know, and so we talked tothe woman who sells and she's my

(21:18):
friend now, and so I can, youknow that kind of thing that if
I go back, I will be like hey,hi, you know, and then the
butcher at the market, theTerrazana market, pablo, he will
tell me, here, I will make itfor you, this is how you do it,
and he will tell me how to cookit and stuff.
And so it was like every day,every two days, we would go and
buy something from him and not afriend, but kind of you felt

(21:40):
like he's the person you talk to.
So, yes, I know the feeling.

Tsvety Roo (21:44):
Yeah, yeah, like these many communities, it
doesn't even have to be withlocals.
So I have a new example thatjust.
I went to Croatia.
I was in Pula, and I made afriend.
I decided it was like I'm goingto do a hostel this time and I
go varieties, I go sometimesAirbnb.
If I'm able to splurge on ahotel room, sure, I'm not, it's

(22:09):
not against anything.
So I walk into this hostel.
I was like I'm going to savesome money this time and the
only person that was in the roomwas this woman and she kind of
looks up at me and I look downand she's like oh, I think
you're sleeping above me in thebunk bed.
I said, yeah, yeah, I think so.

(22:31):
And then how it happened in 10minutes time is we found out
that we were similar ages andshe felt so old and that she
feels like you know, over 35,you're just in a hostel, like I
can't, you know, sort of there'slike a judgment to it.
And I said you know what?
I'm not judging because I'm 39.

(22:54):
So her eyes opened up andeverything lit up and then we
ended up going to dinnertogether and we had like split a
liter of wine and and sothere's, at the same time, of
just you know, she, she.
She started to tell me that shefelt lonely on her travels as a
solo traveler for two and a halfweeks and I said, you know

(23:16):
she's like I'm so glad I met you.
You're turning around thiswhole experience that I had the
last two and a half weeks andI'm like that's, that's what
this is.
You know it's's.
You had to wait two and a halfweeks for us to meet, but now
your whole trip has changedbecause I'm here to say it's
been two and a half years andjust kind of being open and you

(23:39):
taking that step as a solotraveler, you're going to meet
some amazing people and makeconnections yes, be open to
everything all the time.

Daniela SM (23:47):
Not easy, but yes.

Tsvety Roo (23:49):
It's so great.
And the other example is thatshe felt so self-conscious about
being older.
She was, by the way, youngerthan me, she was 36.
And so, okay, you got threeyears less than me.
There's a point of think thatother people are judging us, or
are we judging ourselves?

Daniela SM (24:09):
Yes and so when you left.

Tsvety Roo (24:10):
you keep having a job.
So as a graphic designer, I'mvery lucky that I can work
remotely.
I can do freelance projects.
It's been good you got tomanage the time here and there.

Daniela SM (24:20):
So you went to Spain and after you picked the
countries that you wanted tovisit, so you actually jumped
from one continent to another.
How is your routine?

Tsvety Roo (24:28):
you wanted to visit, so you actually jumped from one
continent to another.
How is your routine?
When I do have a project, Idefinitely that's the priority I
try to stay longer in a place,so then I can do both and so
that way I can focus on that.
I had a project in Malaga a fewmonths ago and so I stayed
there two months.
I also had speaking engagement.
I worked around that, you know.

(24:50):
So there's no urgency to go seea certain place, and I really
want listeners to take away thatthere's a freedom about that as
well.
You don't have to go or likeput that pressure on yourself
that you're like I have to go toVietnam tomorrow, you know, to
go to Vietnam tomorrow, you know, have to see Morocco tomorrow,

(25:10):
you know, whatever it is, sothey're still going to be there,
flowing with what's working andwhat's aligning.
So if you do have a project andyou know, make sure to give
yourself the space, sit stillfor in a specific place for long
enough to finish that.
And then, if there's a desireto go somewhere and it's still

(25:31):
not aligning, for example,vietnam for me has not happened
yet, and it's not because oflack of trying, because there's
just so many things that happen,like the visa.
I didn't realize in time whichwas such a rookie mistake.
You're going to make so manymistakes too, and that's kind of

(25:52):
the part of this that theresilience of persevering
through all of these challenges.
I feel that now I've becomesuch a problem solver and I'm
super resourceful about okay,well, you know, if that doesn't
work, then maybe let's trysomething else.
Sometimes things just not meantto work out in Vietnam, hoping

(26:12):
it's next year will happen, butI didn't have the proper visa.
Then flight was delayed, thensomething happened three strikes
and I said, okay, I'm going tolet it go and I'm going to end
up just staying in Bangkok herefor the next three, four days.
And it was such a blessingbecause I really loved Bangkok
and so it's kind of pivoting issuper important.

(26:33):
And being flexible and adaptiveAll of these qualities they're
going to be needed in the futureand to have them and to
continue to hone them in thislifestyle has been great.
Yes.

Daniela SM (26:49):
I know that flexibility, adaptability are
super important, and I noticedthat for me I am adaptable.
At the beginning.
I may take a little while, likea day or two, and I will
complain a little bit, but thenI forget about it.
Okay, this is the way I am Justgo and complain and then you
will be fine in a day, you know,and so that's okay.

(27:10):
When you say that you're goingto make mistakes and I can
understand that, because youknow, we traveled, my husband
and I, for six months, but wewere two heads right, so I would
think about something, he wouldthink about something.
If I had to do it all.
It's exhausting and I probablywould have forgotten something,
you know, because I don't wantto think about it everything.

Tsvety Roo (27:30):
That's okay.
I had to learn compassion formyself.
I made silly mistakes, thingsthat oh, you know as a
professional solo traveler ifthat's even a thing now I think
I should put a name tag onprofessional solo travel.
You have to give yourself graceand be compassionate and say,

(27:51):
yeah, I'm not going to get itright all the time everywhere,
just knowing that you're doingthe best you can and you for
every mistake.
I'm sure I made 10 things thatwere correct at least.
I think that's another lessonof having compassion.
And are they really mistakes?

Daniela SM (28:10):
That's the other.
They're lessons, right, becausenow you're not going to forget
again, whatever you mean.

Tsvety Roo (28:15):
Yeah, I wouldn't have seen Bangkok if Vietnam
worked out.
Understanding that, because Ithink once we get so comfortable
thinking about sort of pre-solotravel, pre-me beginning on
this journey, about sort ofpre-solo travel, pre-me
beginning on this journey wejust want to control so much.
We're not as flexible and welike our routines and we like

(28:38):
the security that comes with itand the comfort Getting out of
that comfort zone and realizinghow much you can grow.
We're just taking that littlebit of step outside.
It's just priceless.

Daniela SM (28:47):
Yes, Something that I remember I liked very much
was important to me to have agood bathroom.
We were not very lucky everytime, but when I got it then I
enjoyed it really very much.

Tsvety Roo (28:59):
And that's okay.
Yeah, and I think people whenasking you know, what kind of
suitcase do you have?
What are the, how do you travel?
And I said I have a backpackthat I'm in love with, going to
the grave with me.
This backpack is so good.
I started with a big suitcaseand the backpack and now I'm
down to a smaller suitcase andthe backpack and I've left

(29:23):
things at friend's house andthen you just realize how little
you actually need as a solotraveler and you know family,
different kids, and you need alot more for myself.
You're just like, oh, I canreally, can really survive
without those 15 pairs of shoes.
It actually happened.

Daniela SM (29:44):
I got like maybe four pairs of shoes and we were
always wearing the same.
Especially if it was cold, Iwas wearing the same clothes
every time.
And so it was.
You know my husband.
He went to a city and I went toanother city to see a friend
and I sent him some pictures andhe was like, oh nice, wearing
the same clothes again.
And so we were laughing aboutthat.

(30:05):
When I came back home, I didn'tknow how to get dressed again.
But this was only six months,right, I was going to wear the
same thing I was wearing for sixmonths.
And then I'm like, no, look atyour closet.
I'm like, oh, my God, I don'tknow how to put this together.
How did I get dressed before?
And so it was just really funnyhow I was like my creativity,

(30:26):
because for me, me, I thinkgetting dressed is a bit
creative.
Right, you want, you want tocombine.
It was gone.
It took me a while to get backto.
Yeah.

Tsvety Roo (30:35):
I can relate.
Sometimes I go back to thestorage unit.
I was like, oh, I have suchcute things, oh.
And then I end up donating,like most of them, because I'm
like, oh, I haven't worn thesein the last year, so why are
they in the storage unit?
I think what I'm really gettinggood at now is, if I buy
something, I let go of somethingunless I'm really attached to

(30:59):
it, like the backpack For allthe people that I recorded that
are travelers, and you know Iwas.

Daniela SM (31:05):
I was recording a few before we go because I
wanted to learn from everyoneand I realized that everybody
has their own style.
There's nothing really wrong.
I mean this lady she has seensomebody who was traveling with
like a tiny little bag and shetravels with a big suitcases.
There's nothing wrong.
The wrong thing is you have tocarry it if you have more.

(31:26):
And for us I realized we hadone suitcase and one little
suitcase For me.
It was like God, I would loveto go to more places, but these
suitcases are actually for me.
I think the idea would be tohave a vase, somewhere that you
can leave things, and then yougo to little places with little
things for a week or two.
I don't think I will be theperson who can only travel with

(31:46):
a little tiny bag.
Yeah, and that's okay.

Tsvety Roo (31:49):
Honestly, that pressure another misconception
that people are like if I'm atraveler then I have to travel
light.
You don't have to.
It's easier, like you said, forsome places.
I still have my at least asuitcase and a backpack, so I
downsized but I still brought it.
It was fine, still made thelittle trip up the rice paddies
with me when I was in Bali.

(32:11):
At this place the taxi driverjust dropped me off at the
bottom of the sort of longdriveway up to the Airbnb and
he's like this is as far as I'mgoing to go and I said okay, and
so my little suitcase and mybackpack and I'm going up the
driveway.

Daniela SM (32:30):
Yes, I know we had so many stories like that.
Oh my God.
Look at the stairs.
Oh my God.
And so you know.
Thank God in once of that itwasn't really the address.

Tsvety Roo (32:44):
So I was like, okay, thank God.
Okay, yeah, it's okay, I havemuscles from, not from going to
the gym, but because I'mcarrying around either backpacks
, suitcases, bags, whatever itis, yeah.
And then obviously I am soparticular about the sizes of
the items because certainairlines allow you with, you

(33:06):
know, especially cheap airlinesyou have to look at the
centimeters and and it's, and itseems like this is overwhelming
.
But now it's just part of myroutine, I feel.
I go into airports and I dolike a large exhale, like, oh,
I'm home.
Okay, like you know, allairports are structured

(33:29):
similarly, obviously with thesecurity and then food, and I
feel like I can just hang upsome pictures now, at whatever
airport I'm in, I feel like okay.
So kind of finding that routineand a non-routine lifestyle has
been interesting for me.

Daniela SM (33:47):
And so you've been traveling for two years.
So you feel that you wanted tobe a nomad.

Tsvety Roo (33:51):
I didn't even know that's the definition that I
want.
I accidentally ended up hereand strategically I would say
there was nothing strategicabout it.

Daniela SM (34:03):
But you plan, so you plan to travel.
You just didn't know how long,or did you know?

Tsvety Roo (34:06):
Exactly.
Initially I thought it wasgoing to be three months.
Oh Yep, that's how much faith Ihad in myself.
I was like, oh yeah, this isgoing to be three months.
And initially I had a bigstorage unit with my couch and
my bed and everything.
I'm just going to come backafter three months.
And then three months turnedinto six, and then six months

(34:34):
turned into six, and then sixmonths turned into a year.
And then I downsized because Isaid maybe not so much and it
just naturally kind of startedto evolve.
And then I found a groove ofjust staying longer in places so
I wouldn't get tired physically, because your body does, I
would say every two months or sowhen I was traveling and
switching places very fast Iwould get sick.

(34:56):
And so that I learned you haveto slow it down a bit, not only
mentally but from a physicalaspect and now part of life.
I stay somewhere for a month ortwo and then go to the next
place.
Interesting.

Daniela SM (35:10):
So I thought for the six months that I wanted to
be a nomad and I realized thatwhat I want is to start all over
again in somewhere else.
That that starting is the newbeginnings is always something
that I really appreciate.
But I didn't like too much togo one place to another place.
We did that.
We were staying only a week,but it's because we didn't like

(35:32):
too much to go one place toanother place.
We did that.
We were staying only a week,but it's because we didn't find
a city that we want to stay hereuntil we got to Malaga and then
we were like, okay, we're tiredand we're staying anyway, and
this is a beautiful place.
So I was really excited and nowI'm totally in love with it and
want to go back.

Tsvety Roo (35:47):
I go back every year I think that's I call it.
I pay my pilgrimage to Malaga.
Oh, that's funny, it's great.
The next question that I getasked is you know how long do
you think you're going to bedoing this and when do you think
you're going to settle down?
It could be Malaga is my placeI'm not sure.
Right now it's hard to tell.
I'm not at the same place whereI have only six weeks planned.

(36:12):
I try to plan at least a couplemonths.
Now I'm too late Because it isstaying for longer in each place
I do have.
I plan to do Bulgaria for amonth again and then Finland for
a month in the coming months,because when we were traveling,
we were picking countries thatwere economical.

Daniela SM (36:35):
but you pick countries that you're curious to
, it doesn't matter the cost.

Tsvety Roo (36:38):
So, for example, it's Singapore.
It mattered because that's nota cheap country, so I stayed
only three, four days Goingthere was just a visit, unless
somebody calls me up and sayshey, I'm planning to travel for
a month.
You can stay at my place forfree, which is the biggest
expense in this traveling.

(37:00):
You can eat pretty cheaply,even in expensive countries, and
if you have a free place orvery low cost in an expensive
country, if somebody called meup from London, you can just
take care of my plants, which iswhat I'm doing in Finland in a
few months.

Daniela SM (37:19):
So you're house-sitting.
Yeah, I'm house-sitting, yeahbasically Okay, perfect.
Yeah, so when did you starthouse-sitting?

Tsvety Roo (37:25):
23,.
Yeah, six or seven months intoit.
I just reach out to friends.
I have a good community nowGood is probably an
understatement.
I have a very, very goodcommunity of travelers and
friends and people that I reachout to, especially when I start
doing research to a place Ihaven't been and I do as a

(37:48):
female solo traveler.
I do very heavy research Is itsafe?
Which parts should I go to?
Like, have you been there as asolo traveler?
So I reach out to my friends.
They connect me with whoeverhas been there and then I also,
you know, put it out there Like,are you going to be traveling?
Do you need somebody to housesit?

(38:10):
Also, homestays in Asia.
I did homestays in Bali.
What are homestays?
Homestays is when a family is.
They own the business.
Yeah, they live on the premiseand then they rent out.
You know the few, like, let'ssay, three or six rooms and you
still have your own room in abathroom.
But then you hear like the therooster at 3 45 in the morning

(38:34):
but so this is the same asrenting a room, isn't it?

Daniela SM (38:36):
yeah, but you it's.

Tsvety Roo (38:38):
It's like a.
They're like kind of minihotels in in bali, for example,
because they are still rooms.
You are are cooking yourbreakfast Very affordable.

Daniela SM (38:49):
I know that you're already telling me all the
questions that people ask youusually, but then I guess
something that will make peoplecurious is the fear that you
have of traveling alone, notjust for safety, it's just more
like I don't know, should I doit right?
And so you did say you have toget out of your comfort zone, be
adaptable, just do it, you know, do something that is that it

(39:11):
makes you afraid.

Tsvety Roo (39:13):
You know I love this because it's a perfect segue to
the third lesson that I learnedis embrace that fear.
Don't wait for it to go away.
It's not going to go away.
What happens is it starts toshrink.
It's not screaming in your ear,it's not as strong when you
commit to and you start doing it.

(39:34):
Because if I was going to waitfor my fear to do this which
obviously it took me nine monthsto actually book it to make the
first step there's so manydoubts, there's so much anxiety
that I mean, I'm not even thatmuch of an anxious person, but

(39:57):
it was such a big shift in theway I was living before, and so
you have insecurities about it,and so I didn't wait anymore.
I couldn't.
I said this fear is coming withme the suitcase, the backpack
and the fear All four of us weregetting on this flight and this
is happening.
And so eventually, what startsto happen becomes this fear

(40:20):
smaller and smaller.
There's still some doubts.
Should I go here?
Should I do that Makingdecisions?
Sometimes you know you have,yeah, you doubt yourself.
After a while it just becomessmaller because everything else
grows you grow, your confidencegrows, your resilience grows,

(40:42):
your ability to say you know,I've already done this for two
and a half years, or I'vealready.
I made that first step and Iwent to that country or I went
to that city, because you don'teven have to go abroad.
Maybe you don't even have apassport, and that's okay.
Maybe you just taking a firststep to having lunch by yourself

(41:05):
or dinner by yourself, I'mbuilding myself up, and then
maybe it's taking that tripBecause alone is so tough.
It's so tough.
So making it sound like, yes,you can do it and yes, you can,
but it's so tough, so I canrelate.
I've been there, you can do itthough.

Daniela SM (41:25):
Yes, and have you had the difficulty between being
friendly and other you knowguys, for example, or other
people thinking that you wantmore than just a conversation?

Tsvety Roo (41:38):
Yes, Culturally we as Americans tend to be overly
friendly, and then some culturesdon't really like small talk as
much.
So I have to be culturallysensitive now over the course of
time and say like, okay, so Ilike to look at the body
language, see if this person isjust you know like are they on

(42:02):
their computers and they justdon't like want to be left alone
, and they just don't want to beleft alone.
Now I look at that first and ifthey kind of seem open to it by,
let's say, they put their phonedown, they're kind of looking
around, or there's an indicationsometimes where you feel like

(42:23):
an energy of being open,Surroundings and looking at
people, sometimes listening.

Daniela SM (42:32):
That's a really good observation and thank you
for bringing that up.

Tsvety Roo (42:35):
I try to pretend in new countries that you know I
kind of put my shoulders back,walk with intention, have this
like I guess, fake it till youmake it confidence in a new city
, new surroundings, and it seemsto be working to deter a lot of
people that potentially arelooking for a victim.

Daniela SM (42:59):
Yes, yes, you said three things that you learned.
The fear was the third one andthe one and two.
Where can you summarize?

Tsvety Roo (43:06):
One and two was embracing solitude and coming
back to yourself, to makingmeaningful connections, getting
that courage to startconversations with.

Daniela SM (43:17):
And so what's next for you?
Keep traveling and you know, Iknow you're sharing your story
in different podcasts to inspireothers, but is there anything
else that you're thinking thatyou're going to be creating?

Tsvety Roo (43:28):
Yes, definitely, I'm going to start a book.
I knew you were going to saythat.
Oh my God, everybody's beenasking me about this.
I was just like, all right,well, I got to do it.
I also do one-on-one sessionson my website there's a link
below at Svetirucom.
Not only just inspire peoplethrough the podcast, but also I

(43:51):
can help you with your firststep figuring out what country
is the safest for you as a firstchoice.
Probably some workshops downthe road.
I have some free guides on thefirst steps of that.
Those are also on my website.
Different sort of materialsthat can help people, because
that is that's my mission.
I just I want to share thistransformation that I had with

(44:12):
others.

Daniela SM (44:13):
That's wonderful, and you have inspired me again,
so I appreciate it and you're anamazing, amazing woman so.
I am so grateful that you'resharing your story.
I'm grateful that we met now.
I guess you have a friend inVancouver and if we, if you
don't, come and visit here andit will be for free, thank you,
oh, my God, did not expect thisone.
We will certainly meet inMalaga, I'm sure.

Tsvety Roo (44:36):
Oh, yes, Malaga and, fun fact, never been to
Vancouver.

Daniela SM (44:41):
There you go.
It is beautiful, so wonderful.
, thank you so much for sharingyour story and all these tips.
I really appreciate it, and youinspire me, as I said to you,
so I think many people will getinspired too.

Tsvety Roo (44:56):
Thank you so much for having me.
Just a blessing Super grateful.

Daniela SM (45:00):
Thank you.
I hope you enjoy theconversation with Swati as much
as I did.
Her openness and courage are abeautiful reminder that
sometimes the scariest stepchoosing the unknown can bring
the most rewardingtransformations.
If this episode spoke to you,share it with someone who could
use a reminder of the power ofconnection and self-discovery,

(45:22):
letting the ordinary magicspread a little further.
Join me next time for anotherstory conversation.
Thank you for listening.
Hasta pronto.
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