December 17, 2024 • 45 mins
Stephanie Zito takes us on an extraordinary adventure from a childhood with little travel to conquering the globe with 153 countries under her belt. Sparked by her grandparents' tales and a teacher's mesmerizing slideshows, Stephanie's journey truly launched when a friend encouraged her to study abroad in London. Her story is a testament to how travel can transform us, offering lessons in embracing the world's endless possibilities and turning exploration into a force for good.
Step into the world of travel evolution with Stephanie as she reflects on how technology and accessibility have reshaped journeys over the decades. From the frugal days of backpacking to indulging in luxury escapades, Stephanie's experiences span solo adventures, family trips, and expatriate living. She shares the challenges of aging as a traveler and the importance of adapting one's approach over time. With a guiding mantra of "See the world, change the world, have fun doing it," she is committed to making purposeful and positive impacts on the places she visits.
Stephanie is not just a traveler but also an entrepreneur and humanitarian. Learn about her venture, Color Cloud Hammocks, a fair trade company that supports women seamstresses in Ethiopia. Her humanitarian work spans water and sanitation projects to tackling social issues like child marriage, offering insights into the complex world of responsible travel. As she shares tips for solo adventurers and imparts wisdom on navigating international trips, you'll find yourself inspired by her balance of nervousness and excitement—an invitation to embark on your own journeys with newfound courage.
Follow Stephanie @wanderingzito
www.wanderingforgood.com
https://colorcloudhammocks.com/
https://www.cherylbeckesch.com
Instagram @solotraveladventures50
Facebook community: Solo Travel for Women Over 50
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, hello, sister travelers, I have an incredible
guest on today.
Her name is Stephanie Zito.
She is a lifetime traveler,full-time humanitarian
consultant, author, entrepreneurand professional travel hacker,
who lives according to hermission statement of see the
world, change the world have fundoing it.
(00:22):
Originally from the US,stephanie lived around the world
have fun doing it.
Originally from the us,stephanie lived around the world
traveling full-time from 1997to 2013, before dropping an
anchor in portland, oregon,where she currently stores her
orange to me.
Carry on between trips alongthe way.
She has lived on ship for fiveyears, founded color cloud
(00:43):
hammocks, a fair trade woman-runhammock company in Cambodia,
authored two travel guides theHoneymoon Hack and Upgrade,
unlocked the unconventionalguide to luxury travel, starting
her own consulting business.
She's a certified travel agent.
Stephanie has also worked fornumerous humanitarian
(01:05):
organizations around the worldand has now been to brace
yourself 153 countries and allseven continents in her long,
lifelong quest to go everywhere.
So enjoy our conversation,folks.
Welcome to Solo TravelAdventures for Women 50 and
(01:26):
Older.
I'm Cheryl Esch, your host,solo travel advocate, freedom
traveler and coach.
This is your passport toadventure.
Yeah, so I just loved your bioand I'm so glad we had a chance
to connect.
You've just been really I'vebeen following you on Instagram,
so you've been a littleinspiration to me, but I always
(01:48):
like to start my interviews withjust an origin story having you
go back to tell us, share withus, what got you into travel.
What is your earliest memory?
Maybe you know what sparkedthis passion that you have as
this world traveler, as we willfind out soon.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
Well, I, you know I actually didn't grow up
traveling.
My family I grew up in theNortheast and my family went to
Florida twice a year forvacation and the only part of
the world I saw was the parts inEpcot when it opened.
I went to Epcot the year itopened and you know my mom used
to laugh joke because when wewent to Disney World, small
(02:27):
World was always my favoriteride.
And my sisters hated it and theywould let me ride it by myself
and I would just ride it incircles as a kid.
She's like I should have knownyou were going to wind up the
way that you did, but I didn'ttravel.
It just never seemed reallyaccessible to me and my
grandparents traveled.
So that's some of my earliestmemories of like being aware of
(02:48):
travel.
My grandparents are Italian andwe'd go back and visit family
members and we'd sit in theirbasement and watch slideshows.
But there was never any part ofme that felt like, oh, I really
want to go here or like I coulddo this.
And then I remember in sixthgrade I had this social studies
teacher who was a world travelerand he show us slideshows in
(03:15):
school of the places he went.
And I think my very firstmemory of me wanting to go
somewhere was when he showed hispictures of his trip to Egypt
at of the pyramids in Egypt Wow,and I was like, oh, yeah, that
would be, that would be cool.
But it never even like therewas no spark, like I could do
that.
And you know, fast forward, Istudied French very poorly in
(03:38):
high school and I used to thinkthere was a picture of Mont
Saint-Michel on the front of myFrench book and I was like, if I
could go to Paris before I die,like that's my dream, like
maybe I'll go to Paris on ahoneymoon or something, and yeah
.
So I kind of had that likeParis before I die, you're not
(03:59):
alone, nothing.
And so I was like, yeah, okay,and you know, went ahead, went
to college and my freshman yearin college I became friends with
another person in my Frenchclass actually, and she had kind
of grown up with travelingparents and she like, like
(04:21):
pushed me and was like youshould like do this study abroad
trip, you should do this studyabroad trip.
And I was like, whatever,anyway, I got a scholarship to
do the study abroad trip.
Oh, and I went to London January26th uh, 1993 was the date of
my first passport stamp andthere was something about that
trip where I was like like yourlife is not the same.
(04:43):
And I think to me it wasn'tthat.
Like I discovered I had awonder for travel.
I think for me that trip waslike it's accessible to you,
like it's not far, like itwasn't hard to do this.
And we, I mean we traveledevery spare chance we got during
(05:06):
that trip.
We urled across Europe and wewent back the next January.
That was actually my firstpoints and miles trip.
Was that next January?
We went back and you know, Ijust like I just haven't stopped
since.
So it's been 30, 31 years and Ijust keep, adding on, keep
adding on and I haven't lost anyof the wonder.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
That's amazing.
I just had a similar story.
I didn't.
I grew up in East coast Samething.
Florida was pretty much prettymuch for Virginia, sometimes
Virginia beach, but yeah, that'ssimilar and it sounds about the
same time.
I got my first stamp I think itwas 91, though and so I've had
that passion probably since.
But I love your story and Ihear a lot of folks that you
(05:52):
know they didn't necessarilystart in, you know, with any
kind of travel experience, andthen suddenly this world opened
up, as you said, like findingout that it is accessible and it
is accessible.
Finding out that it isaccessible and it is accessible,
and you just have to, you know,be creative sometimes, maybe,
in finding that way to get towhere you want.
So love that.
And you, like you said, youhave not stopped.
(06:17):
So you have 153 countries underyour belt, which is so
impressive.
I'm, like so many people youknow they had had this goal to
like see all, all the countriesthe UN recognizes before they
die, and you are really close.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
I've been to Paris a lot of times.
You've been what and I had arepeat.
So I've been to Paris a lot oftimes.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
Yeah.
So I'm sure, I'm sure, you'vebeen to other countries more
than once, so that's amazing.
And out of those countries, I'mnot going to ask you what your
favorite is, but I always liketo hear which one surprised you
the most.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
Oh gosh, so many have surprised me.
You know just one that justcomes to my mind.
I recently went to El Salvadorand I loved it.
I was like this is CentralAmerica's best kept secret.
I mean, obviously El Salvadorhasn't been safe for much of our
(07:14):
lifetimes to travel to, but Ilove the places that are still
rugged.
I loved traveling back in theday when you had like a book and
you had no idea where you weregoing and you just got lost and
whatever you found was what yousaw.
El Salvador was a little bitlike that.
(07:34):
There's some areas wherethere's some infrastructure, but
because it hasn't really beentouristed like Guatemala and
Honduras, it's like it feelsstill like that magical, like
you're actually exploring justthe way people live versus like
(07:57):
you're exploring this, butthere's lots of handicraft shops
that are there for tourists atthe same time.
I really loved it.
It's kind of a magical placeand you could find yourself just
at places where there was nopeople.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
Yeah, I agree, and I'm so thrilled that it's
becoming a more safe place.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
I've actually been to El Salvador.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Wait, but back in the 90s, so when it was not like
you said, the infrastructure wasnot there.
But you know, we lived amongthe locals, which I do love that
when I go to visit a place.
So you know there was no, notouristy, anything about it.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
So it's still like that.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
Yeah, so I love that.
Excellent.
I want to know how has sinceyou've started traveling.
So we were probably in yourI'll just your twenties, maybe
right, when you startedtraveling roughly 19.
Okay, you're 19.
And I won't say how old you arenow, but I obviously the way
(09:00):
that you travel.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
This is an over 50 podcast.
Right, it is yes, yes.
So, of course, yes, I make thecut.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
You make the cut.
Okay, from that you know earlyyears of traveling to how you
travel now.
How has that changed?
Speaker 2 (09:14):
You know, I feel like it is.
It's always changing, right,like you change as a person, and
I mean think about how much haschanged since 1993.
Yes, you know, like I used tohave to, you know, I joke with
my niece in 1994, I went toChina and my niece was born when
(09:37):
I was, and I had no idea shewas born, because you had to go
to the post office and make acollect call was the only way
you could communicate withpeople.
So like there's it's sodifferent, like technology has
changed so much stuff and Ithink technology almost in a way
(10:00):
has has made you had to be haveto be a little more planned,
especially if you're going tobusier places, because there's
like people book things inadvance, whereas you couldn't do
that before you got off thetrain and, you know, looked for
a place to stay exactly um.
So I would say there's that bitlike just the way technology has
changed, um the number.
(10:23):
I feel like the number oftravelers has really increased
in just recent, just recentyears.
Travel I feel like travel hasbecome a lot more accessible and
for me, like when I firststarted traveling, I did do a
lot of like backpacking, superon a budget.
(10:45):
I had zero money.
You know, we would eat rice,because if you ate rice then you
could spend like well, I was astudent, so we had like a, we
had like a food allowance and ifyou spent all your food
allowance on rice then you coulduse your food allowance to
travel on the weekend.
So just going from a place,from having, you know, scraping
(11:08):
by to get places, and then Ihave.
So I also do humanitarian workand for me, like I, so I've done
like budget, super budgetbackpacking.
I've done like expat living.
I lived in Thailand andCambodia, I lived in Sudan, I
(11:30):
lived on a ship in West Africa,so I lived in lots of different
places, kind of as more of a, anexpat, and still traveled from
those different places.
But that's like a wholedifferent type of travel, like
really kind of being immersed ina place for a longer period of
time.
And then, you know, I've alsodone I do a lot of work in
(11:56):
teaching people points and milesas a way to make travel
accessible to them, and so I'vedone the whole gamut of, you
know, luxury, luxury travel.
You know, flying on the Emirates380 and taking a shower and
doing all that crazy stuff, andso I've really gotten to
experience everything from, likethe grubby backpackery, you
(12:22):
know, eating bread to taking ashower in the sky, everything in
between very short stays, verylong stays, and I like doing it
all.
So I met my partner duringCOVID and up until then I had
almost always been a solotraveler or had traveled with,
you know, friends here and thereand and have done a tiny bit of
(12:44):
group travel not that much, butsince I met him I've also been
able to.
I do still solo travel,actually quite a lot, but have
been able to do trips with himand trips with the two girls as
well.
So I've been able to likeexperience like the joys and the
highs and lows of family travelas well.
(13:04):
You know, traveling with apartner too.
So that's kind of my evolutiontoo.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
So you have experienced, like you said, from
all the gamuts of budget toluxury and solo family.
You know a couple that'samazing.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
And I also feel like what you're willing to put up
with when you're 18 to travelmight not be what you're willing
to put up with when you're 51to travel.
I agree with that 18 to travelmight not be what you're willing
to put up with when you're 51to travel.
I agree with that.
I just did some crazy long haulovernight flights on the last
trip I took and I was like it isnot as easy for me to do a 15
(13:48):
and a half hour you know flightin economy and get off the plane
and go side seeing the next day.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
Yes, yeah, I felt the same way For some reason when I
came back from my trip thispast fall.
I had three planes, longlayovers and literally it was 24
hours of travel and after I gotoff the plane and I landed back
in the U S I was like, yeah, Idon't think I can do that again
(14:17):
anymore you know, I'm just liketoo old for that one.
Maybe one layover is fine, youknow, but this is, this is too
much.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
Yeah, it's pretty harder for the upgrades now and
I sleep on less air airportfloors.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
Oh well, that's good to know.
Less airport floors oh well,that's good to know.
You have an amazing missionstatement.
First of all, I love that youhave a mission statement, but I
also love the middle part of it.
So I'm just going to say yourmission statement is see the
world, change the world, havefun doing it.
So I want to talk about thechange, the world part, because
(14:51):
I actually feel like timing oftalking with you is perfect,
because when I came back fromthe Camino trip I just did this
fall I felt just this longing tohave some of my travel be more
purposeful in that it would havea more positive impact of
(15:12):
wherever I'm going.
Right, so just kind of feelingthat nudge to really investigate
.
That's more for my own self.
So I'm curious to how did this?
First of all, how did yourmission statement come about?
And then I want to talk aboutthat middle statement and how
you are actually living that out.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
Mm-hmm.
Well, my, you are actuallyliving that out.
Well, my mission statement cameabout just out of my own
confusion, because I feel likein modern times it is very
normal that people have likeside hustles and you know, you
might like be a traveler and youknow a banker and different
things.
But yeah, I would say, like adecade ago, when people asked
(15:52):
like what do you do?
And I'm like, well, you know, Iwork for a humanitarian
organization and I started ahammock company and I teach
people how to use points andmiles and I write for credit
card websites, I was like whichone, which one of them?
They're like huh, and so I waslike a little bit like, and I
was working on, oh, andeverybody was a blogger too.
(16:14):
So I was working on, oncreating my website and I was
just like, how, how do I, how doI tell one story about what I
do?
Speaker 1 (16:26):
And.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
I was like, and so I thought, like, what, like, what
drives me to do the things thatI do?
What is kind of what is myumbrella?
And you know, because, like,being a person who, like, writes
about credit cards and being aperson who, like, lives in
Africa and, like, helps peopleunderstand poverty and war you
(16:48):
know, like they't normally likethe same, grouped in the same
category, and I was like youknow what?
The reason I like to writeabout credit cards is because I
think it's a way that makes whatI get to do and see accessible
to other people.
So if I can help make the worldaccessible to people, that is
(17:11):
going to help people broadentheir worldview much more than
anything.
I can, like, tell somebody thatthey should think, and so that
was just kind of my umbrella oflike all the different things
that I do kind of fall underthis see the world, change the
world, have fun doing it.
So, and I was like so, and whenI think about things that I
(17:34):
want to do, I'm always like, dothey kind of fall into that, you
know, and is that part of who Iam?
So that's kind of that's whereit came about and it's just
something that's really stuckwith me and has resonated.
I think I wrote that like 20years ago now, and so it's just
something that has resonated andkind of continued to guide me.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
I think it's important that people have their
own personal mission statement,even if it doesn't relate to
work, because, like you said, itthen helps you filter through,
you know, things that might notfall under that.
You know, should I do that?
Well, it doesn't reallyencapsulate this part of my
mission.
(18:17):
So you know, having that yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
I was going to say I've been very lucky that I have
been able to kind of build alife and a career that kind of
just go together.
And you know that's not, it'snot necessarily the way everyone
does it and it's not the wayeveryone wants to do it or
should do it, and but yeah, butI think even I just want to
(18:46):
encourage people who have a verydifferent life.
I know I listened to podcastsand I'm like I'm doing it all
wrong, you know.
But I just want to encouragepeople who you know, who have a
my life is not normal, who havelike a normal life, that there
are lots of people who stilltravel, who you know live, can
(19:08):
live a very mission, who do livea very missional way and have a
have a nine to five job or amore more typical job.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
Yeah, no, you're right, yeah, and with remote
work, you know anymore it's it'spretty pretty easy at this
point.
Yeah.
So let's talk about apparently,uh so, the the change the world
part.
I would imagine the color cloudhammocks was part of that part
of that.
You know, maybe thatinspiration tell us about the
(19:39):
color cloud hammocks.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
Color cloud hammocks is a.
It is a women don't fair tradehammock company that I started
with two of my friends.
I started it while I was livingin Ethiopia.
The inspiration for it actuallycame about in Washington DC.
I lived in Washington DC for acouple of years.
(20:04):
I owned a really fun colorfulhammock that I had bought when I
was in Africa somewhere and Iloved this travel hammock.
I took it everywhere and Imoved to DC after living in
Sudan and it wasn't the easiestplace for me to live.
You know people talk about likereverse culture shock and oh
(20:26):
yeah, I literally was living inDarfur.
I went from one of the mostdifficult places of the world to
one of the most prosperousplaces of the world and I will
say DC has also changed a lot inthe last 20 years.
But when I moved from Sudan toDC I was like Sudan is was one
of the worst places and thepeople were so happy and so kind
(20:46):
and I moved to DC and literallyno one looked up from their
blackberries blackberries.
That's when it was yeah, I wasjust like I was just kind of
dumbfounded when I was there andI really just struggled and I
lived in.
I lived on Capitol Hill in alittle row house and on our
(21:07):
corner we had a tree and ourfront porch and I would hang my
hammock between our front porchand our tree and I would sit in
my hammock and people would comearound the corner or walk down
the street and they'd like lookup from their Blackberry and
they would talk to me and I waslike hammocks are magic, oh.
(21:28):
And I was like we need to sellhammocks in Washington DC.
Hammocks make people happy.
And so, um, my friends and I,my two roommates I was living
with at the time um, we likebought a sewing machine and we
like figured out how to buyripstop nylon and we, um, we
(21:50):
sewed our own first hammock andit took us about four days and
we were like this is really cool.
But you know what?
There is no business plan here,because we'd have to sell these
for like seven thousand dollarsa piece to ever make any money.
Like it took us so long to doit.
So we were like that was a funidea and kind of like you know,
pack, pack shit up, set it aside, and I moved.
(22:13):
I was working for a humanitarianorganization and moved from DC
to Cambodia.
And I'd been living in Cambodiajust a few I don't know,
probably a few weeks, month orso and I met some women who had
started their own seamstressshop and I just I don't even,
and I was walking through themarket looking for linen to make
(22:34):
pants or something and I foundnylon and I was like I found a
way I can make hammocks.
And so I did.
I bought nylon in the marketand I took it to these women who
had just started their ownlittle shop and drew pictures of
what I wanted.
And that's honestly like itjust started really small, and
it still is small.
(22:55):
But you know, it was like inthe very early days of Facebook.
We just we launched the wholething over Facebook.
Okay yeah, and it's just kindof gone over time, and my
friends were still back here inthe States and I would ship the
hammocks and they would sellthem, and that's kind of how we,
(23:16):
that's kind of how we started.
And so we were able to supportthose women who had started
their own little shop and, youknow, pay them a fair wage to
make, and then so we did thatfor quite a while.
Eventually, I left Cambodia westill did it for from Cambodia
for a while, and then one of mybusiness partners moved to
(23:38):
Ethiopia and she does.
She and her husband started acompany that does investing in
businesses in Africa.
Okay, it's another superinteresting, but they actually
wound up investing in businessesin africa.
Okay, is um another superinteresting, but they actually
wound up investing in thisfamily-owned, uh sewing company.
Oh gosh, um, we actually wereable to, um get fabric made.
(24:07):
It was one of the problems thatwe had in ethiopia, in cambodia,
was you could you only gotwhatever, whatever was in the
market and, um, you know, like acompany like cotopaxi that
makes everything in whateverrandom colors and random colors
is part of their market, right.
But when we were selling to likethe university of minnesota and
(24:28):
they wanted hammocks in red andyellow, right, well, they would
put in an order for 30 hammocksin red and yellow.
Well, they would put in anorder for 30 hammocks and we'd
be like, sorry, there's no redin the market today.
So it became a challenge and sowe were looking to kind of like
shift so we could be and do alittle more retail.
And we found a way that wecould do it in Ethiopia.
And then one of the partnerswas based in Ethiopia.
So then they were made inEthiopia by women, but we could
(24:49):
do it in Ethiopia.
And then one of the partnerswas based in Ethiopia.
So then they were made inEthiopia by women, but we could
do them in more quantity andcontrol the colors.
So wonderful.
Speaker 1 (24:59):
Yeah, just continued.
Just a different country andyeah, that's amazing.
Are there some other?
You said you were involved witha lot of humanitarian.
What's some other ones thatyou've done?
Speaker 2 (25:13):
Well, so for a long time I mean professionally I've
worked kind of for NGOs for mostof my career I currently in
2013 is when I left Cambodiafull time and moved to Oregon,
which is where I'm based now,and in 2013, I just started I
went out on my own as aconsultant.
(25:47):
So I work for differenthumanitarian organizations now
and my like water and sanitationprojects and I just did a big
project on child marriage, kindof just like different,
different issues, but not from amarketing perspective where I'm
telling you like a sad story,so you give me money, from a
(26:08):
perspective of like how are we,how are we telling, how are we
explaining the issue to peopleso they understand it?
And understand it in a way thatthey can kind of know what the
challenges are and what some ofthe good practices are and what
some of the goals are, withoutbeing, you know, a super nerdy
(26:29):
technical expert in that area,being a, you know, a super nerdy
technical expert in that area.
So but before I startedconsulting, I worked.
I worked full time in human inthe humanitarian world.
In Cambodia I worked as aregional communications manager
for.
World Vision, which is a childfocused organization.
Um, we covered in our region.
(26:50):
We covered 16 differentcountries and we worked with the
local.
So in each country we had localcommunications people and
they're the ones who aregathering the stories going out
in the communities.
Um, but I had some reallyinteresting experiences getting
to work with them, coming upwith, like strategies for their
(27:11):
country, helping do training andcapacity building on like how
to tell different stories.
You know what kind of storieswere interesting to people Did
like it was in the very.
I mean, I helped so manycountries like learn how to use
social media and start to usesocial media, because that was
(27:33):
the era that I was there.
Speaker 1 (27:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:35):
Yes, so lots of different things.
We did a lot of, like emergencycommunications training.
You know, in Asia there's allkinds of cyclones and things
that you never hear abouttyphoons and cyclones and um, so
making sure those offices wereequipped in, like how to
(28:06):
communicate when those differentkinds of crises occurred.
You know that they wereprepared like if CNN was there.
There's also, I also feel likethere's, like you know, a
lifespan for everything, and oneof the big goals of some of
those jobs, too, is, like, ifyou're there in like the role of
an expat because you have askill set that someone else
(28:29):
doesn't have, you know to liketo to bring it to a place where
you've imparted that skill setto another person who already
lives there, and we can do thatwork.
Speaker 1 (28:40):
Yeah, but that's so rewarding in being able to pass
that on and use your skills thatyou've acquired, you know, to
use it sort of in that travelindustry, humanitarian industry,
you kind of like put ittogether.
I love that.
I love when people are able todo that you know, use like some
(29:00):
skills that they've gotten, youknow, like you said, from a
normal job.
Speaker 2 (29:04):
Yeah, I worked in a PR high tech PR firm was my
first job.
Okay, so joy or fulfillment.
Speaker 1 (29:11):
Yeah, so you're using all these skills and you know,
keeping it, you know, involvedwith your travel is is so
exciting for me, as I I wouldlove to be able to sort of be
able to do that, you know, withsome skills that I have.
Speaker 2 (29:26):
I will say so.
Just another thing is, like youknow, that's it's not something
that everyone's able to do,like the world needs lots of
people to not work in thehumanitarian industry because
there's many other industries.
But I will say like I thinkit's just as important to be a
(29:47):
good traveler when you travel.
Let's talk about that, yes,treat a place like like you
would treat your own home, oryou would treat better than your
own home and leave places youknow in any way you can like
better than you found them.
And you know, for me, one ofthe things I try to remind
myself is like you know, youknow like I'm a, I get a good
(30:10):
kick out of bargaining.
Like I just find it fun, andyou know I have lots of
bargaining experience because Ihad a bargain to buy tomatoes
when I lived in Cambodia and I'dget really mad if they were
charging me more than they weresupposed to.
But also just like rememberinglike that when you're, when
(30:31):
you're buying things indifferent countries, like like,
pay a fair price.
Like it's fun to get a deal,but like so many of the people
who are selling things inmarkets are living like hand to
mouth.
Like, like you don't, you don'twant to get ripped off.
I'm not saying like get rippedoff, pay them too much or you
know, but like, just like,educate yourself.
(30:55):
Like learn about like as muchas you can.
It's hard, but like like learnwhat's a fair price.
Make sure, when you walk awayfrom something, that the person
who's selling it to you alsofeels good about the transaction
.
You know, be respectful aboutthe transaction.
You know be respectful liketake care of, take care of
(31:15):
places, and I mean it's silly tosay that, but you know like I,
like walk around.
I'm like, oh, you know like I,sometimes I feel like we, as
travelers, are just completelyclueless because we're operating
in our own little world.
Speaker 1 (31:35):
So, just like being being aware, you know, yes, no,
I love that and thinking, youknow, obviously, buying local
and, you know, trying to supportthe local economy, versus,
maybe going to a big grocerystore or something that might be
in the area.
You know, go to the, go to themarkets, you know, go to the
farmer's markets and stuff.
Yeah, yeah, I love that advice.
Yeah, I'm a true believer ofthat too.
Just really being mindful ofthe you know where I'm traveling
(31:59):
and how I'm, you know leaving.
If I'm leaving anything behind,you know making sure it's, you
know, positive.
Yeah, exactly, just, you know,and I think that leaves you, as
a traveler, to feeling fulfilled, as, I mean, I personally would
feel that you know that you'renot just countries that you know
(32:20):
were demanding or you know werejust rude or whatever.
You know, whatever it might beRight.
So I'm trying to be mindful ofthat when I travel as well.
(32:42):
So, yeah, love that.
Speaker 2 (32:43):
One other thing I would say is I think one of the
places people immediately jumpto when they think about like
doing kind of humanitarianthings when they travel is like,
oh, can I volunteer somewhere?
Can I volunteer somewhere?
And it's, it's, it's not.
It's a little bit of a trickyone too, and I would say, if
that's something that you'reinterested in doing, um, take
(33:10):
time and do some research, yes,and ask the local organizations
about it.
And you know, like when I livedin Cambodia, I know there was
like one of the organizationsthere was like kind of doing
like a anti-voluntourismcampaign, because there was
there was really negative stuffgoing on and like they would,
(33:31):
they would like people wouldcome into town and they'd feel
bad because there were so manystreet kids and they'd want to
go volunteer at these localorphanages where there were
these options to volunteer.
But what the average touristwho's coming in, is going to be
there for a couple of days andwants to do something didn't
know in Cambodia was a lot ofthese kids in these orphanages
(33:53):
aren't orphans and they're justlike you know, it's like a money
making operation and parentsare putting their kids in these
in these places to as a way tokind of generate.
It's like a tourism industry andyou know you come one day and
you teach them the alphabet andthen you move on to your.
You know, you move on toBangkok and then the next
(34:16):
tourist come one day and theyhave some white person who comes
in and teaches them thealphabet, and um, so just I
would say, do some research tofind out, kind of like, if
there's anything dubious in thatarea.
There used to be some goodresources around it and I can
(34:37):
maybe look for them afterwards,Okay.
Speaker 1 (34:40):
Yeah, no, it's, I think it's.
I agree it's important to doyour research and make sure
you're I mean, I would say, workwith a reputable company that
actually kind of organizes thosekinds of things, so that you
know you're not.
You know, cause if you think,if you do it by yourself, you
know you have that there's thatchance you're going to be
getting scammed, as we call it.
(35:02):
You know, and I wouldn't wantyou to have that kind of
opportunity.
You know that's that sort ofexperience.
So I agree.
So, yeah, if you have someresources, I would love to, um,
you know, maybe include those inthe show notes.
Um, I, I know a few um, but I'dbe curious to know what kind of
what you're recommending um aswell.
(35:22):
So that'd be great.
Um, well, what would you?
What advice would you give to awoman solo traveler going out,
maybe for her first solo trip?
Speaker 2 (35:37):
I would say, if it was a first solo trip I actually
gave this advice to someoneyesterday Okay, good, I would
say, do a practice trip.
That's what I always tellpeople.
You know, if you are, you knowyou're thinking about going on a
trip and I mean it could be.
It could be that you're veryexperienced doing solo trips at
(36:00):
home and this is your firstinternational trip.
It could be that you've done alot of international travel but
you've never gone solo.
It could be that you've nevertraveled before at all but you
really like this is the bucketlist thing for 2025 for you.
So recognize that everybodystarts in a different place and
(36:21):
so blanket advice, you know,might not be the best thing for
you.
So remember, you're startingwhere you're starting and I
would say, you know, dosomething that stretches you to
the next step, like if you'venever been anywhere.
I would not recommend, you know, taking a solo trip to Saudi.
(36:42):
You know, but if you know, ifyou have traveled a ton
internationally in group tripsand this is just your first trip
and you're already likecomfortable navigating
international airports and taxisand that kind of stuff, you
know, then yeah, it will be,you'll stretch yourself.
(37:03):
But that might be this you know, going solo from already
international traveling isn't agiant step.
If you've never really done abig, a big trip solo, you know
maybe like take a smaller stepbefore you like take your next
step, like, have you ever done asolo trip at in this, in the US
(37:27):
, in your own state?
You know, like right, likethink about what are the things
you're worried about.
If you're worried about, likewhat am I going to do?
Like, if I have to, like eat bymyself in a restaurant, or
people worry about differentthings, like are you worried
about being lonely?
Like do a week-long trip, justlike a week-long road trip.
Or you know a week-long, acouple days, like somewhere else
(37:50):
in the US and do a trip andjust like kind of address that
thing you're scared of or thething you think you're worried
about Before you, you know levelit up, yeah, and you know if
you're doing, if it's like afirst international trip, you
know then maybe start somewherethat you have some affinity
(38:13):
towards.
Or you know, like you speak thelanguage, like going to the
person who I was talking toyesterday they want to do their
first trip to Ireland and I waslike that's great, you know, and
she was like Well, I'm worriedthat you know I've never
traveled international solobefore and I'm like you're a
great solo traveler.
You drove across the countrytwice this year, like, like
you're not going to be scared inIreland you know she will be
(38:36):
fine, yeah.
And so so.
So start with a trip that's.
That is already going to be agreat trip, right.
So the so, the like, lessen thechallenges and, you know, take
a take, take the right size,step for you.
Speaker 1 (38:55):
I like how you put that.
We're all starting at adifferent place.
That's very true.
You know, like you said,there's different levels of what
your experience in travel ingeneral has been right to start
with, and then you know where,where you've been.
You know, like you said, is itlocal?
Is it your first international?
Speaker 2 (39:13):
You know, I love it, it's perfect, it's perfect,
don't listen to the negativityof people who are, who want to,
like, put their own fears on you.
Amen to that.
Sorry, I just yeah.
Yeah, it's true, like, and youknow being nervous is the right
(39:35):
feeling.
You know, like you don't getnervous if you're doing
something that you've donebefore.
You know you get nervous whenyou're doing something a little
bit new.
But I will say, like, even whenI went on my trip to El Salvador
and I just went on a trip toTimor-Leste, you know people are
like.
People who know me, who knowI've been to 153 countries, are
like are you sure?
(39:55):
Like isn't that really unsafe?
And then I go to sleep at nightand my brain's like am I going
to die?
Should I not be going on thistrip?
Am I dumb?
And I'm like I know it so andI'm like no, you've done your
research, you know it's the sameplace and you know you have to.
You have to take chances andyou're always going to be
(40:16):
nervous doing super exciting,amazing things.
So be prepared to be nervous,but don't let anyone project
their fears on you.
Speaker 1 (40:24):
Yes, thank you.
I love that.
And they say nervousness andexcitement are actually built
from the same.
You know feeling and emotion,you know so.
You know you might feel nervousbut there's an excitement in
there too.
So where are you off to next?
Anywhere special or any any newplace.
Speaker 2 (40:46):
I just came.
I did 14 flights in November.
I'm so tired oh my goodness,and then I hosted my family for
Thanksgiving, so I do well today, actually, that we're recording
.
This is travel Tuesday.
Yes, exactly I have a list offlights that I'm going to check
out today.
I have a lot of things on the.
(41:09):
These are my on the wall.
These are my trips I'm planningfor the year.
My niece is getting married, soI actually have quite a few
trips that are related to tothat.
So a lot of US-based trips.
But for my next internationaltrip, I haven't exactly figured
(41:29):
it out yet.
A little bit harder once you'vedone.
153 countries and you're tryingto do new ones.
Yeah, about 40 left to.
Yeah, and I try to do five tosix a year.
I'm not trying to do likeeverything as fast as I can.
My dream is to do it before Idie and, um, hopefully, you know
, if I need to do it while Ifinish, while I'm 90, one of my
nieces, who are both travelers,will take me um, but I think I
(41:54):
would really like this year.
I would really love to go toDominica.
It's my only country left inthe Caribbean.
I have not been to Guyana orSuriname, so those are two that
are high on my list.
Um, there's some really hardones that I'd love to go to
Venezuela, to Angel Falls, not asuper easy one.
(42:15):
It will also be interesting tosee you know just how things
change, correct?
Speaker 1 (42:22):
Yeah, because right now Venezuela is not safe.
Speaker 2 (42:24):
Exactly.
And to see how that changes andalso just to see how things you
know shake out internationallyover the next month with the
change in administration andstuff.
I have a friend who wants to goto Saudi with me, and so that
is high on my list.
I'm saving.
I haven't been to Peru orEcuador, which are two pretty
(42:45):
easy ones, oh well.
So, I'm saving those for when Ineed them.
Speaker 1 (42:50):
Peru was amazing and actually it is.
I just did an episode.
So you know, it's becoming atrend in 2025 to go to Peru,
because supposedly I didn'trealize this, but the movie
Paddington was filmed there.
(43:10):
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, so peopleare being inspired by this
movie, like to go to peru, andI'm like, oh, wow, okay, well,
you know, yeah, yeah, that'sreally funny that is funny right
, I do a project for uh, unicefuk and paddington is their
spokesperson.
Speaker 2 (43:29):
Oh okay, I'm a huge.
In fact, we we have aPaddington instead of an angel
on the top of our Christmas tree.
Speaker 1 (43:34):
Okay, well, I hate to say this, but I think that
needs to be your next place.
Speaker 2 (43:40):
So I feel like that one might need to be a family
trip, though.
Okay, okay, I've shared thePaddington love with these, with
this group.
Okay, well, awesome, that'sreally interesting.
Yeah, I think it comes out hereon January 8th.
Speaker 1 (43:59):
I really am a Paddington nerd.
Okay, we'll see.
There you go.
Where can people find you?
Do you have a presence onsocial media where?
Speaker 2 (44:02):
they can follow you.
I'm easiest to find onInstagram.
Okay, it's at wandering Zito Z,like zipper, I T O and I also
have a website,wanderingforgoodcom.
Okay and um, I the the hammockstore still open.
Colorcloudhammockscom.
Awesome.
Okay and um.
(44:24):
Yeah, those are my main, thoseare my main places.
Speaker 1 (44:27):
Okay, all right I think you have a few blogs up
there, a little bit.
Speaker 2 (44:32):
there's a few there I I had to rebuild it after COVID
, so it's growing and changing alittle bit.
Speaker 1 (44:40):
Yeah, Well, it's been amazing.
I just love this.
Thank you for sharing yourexperiences, your expertise and
even just the whole heart of howyou travel.
I think I love that and it'scome through in our conversation
here.
I've enjoyed it.
Stephanie, thank you for yourtime.
Speaker 2 (44:58):
Lovely to talk to you too.
Speaker 1 (44:59):
Yes, and I'm sure we will.
I'm hoping we cross pathshonestly, oh, definitely.
Speaker 2 (45:05):
Definitely.
Speaker 1 (45:06):
I would love that.
All right, thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (45:08):
Thanks, bye-bye.
Speaker 1 (45:09):
Hey, sister Travelers , did this podcast inspire and
encourage you or move you to getout there and travel?
Wonderful, there are three waysyou can thank me.
First, one is leave a writtenreview for the show on Apple
Podcast.
Two, share the show with yourSister Travelers, your friends,
(45:30):
your family.
And three, subscribe to theshow so you never miss an
episode.
And thank you again forlistening to the show.
Sisters, be fearless, take theleap and get out there and have
an adventure.
Well, hello, sister travelers, I have an incredible
guest on today.
Her name is Stephanie Zito.
She is a lifetime traveler,full-time humanitarian
consultant, author, entrepreneurand professional travel hacker,
who lives according to hermission statement of see the
world, change the world have fundoing it.
(00:22):
Originally from the US,stephanie lived around the world
have fun doing it.
Originally from the us,stephanie lived around the world
traveling full-time from 1997to 2013, before dropping an
anchor in portland, oregon,where she currently stores her
orange to me.
Carry on between trips alongthe way.
She has lived on ship for fiveyears, founded color cloud
(00:43):
hammocks, a fair trade woman-runhammock company in Cambodia,
authored two travel guides theHoneymoon Hack and Upgrade,
unlocked the unconventionalguide to luxury travel, starting
her own consulting business.
She's a certified travel agent.
Stephanie has also worked fornumerous humanitarian
(01:05):
organizations around the worldand has now been to brace
yourself 153 countries and allseven continents in her long,
lifelong quest to go everywhere.
So enjoy our conversation,folks.
Welcome to Solo TravelAdventures for Women 50 and
(01:26):
Older.
I'm Cheryl Esch, your host,solo travel advocate, freedom
traveler and coach.
This is your passport toadventure.
Yeah, so I just loved your bioand I'm so glad we had a chance
to connect.
You've just been really I'vebeen following you on Instagram,
so you've been a littleinspiration to me, but I always
(01:48):
like to start my interviews withjust an origin story having you
go back to tell us, share withus, what got you into travel.
What is your earliest memory?
Maybe you know what sparkedthis passion that you have as
this world traveler, as we willfind out soon.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
Well, I, you know I actually didn't grow up
traveling.
My family I grew up in theNortheast and my family went to
Florida twice a year forvacation and the only part of
the world I saw was the parts inEpcot when it opened.
I went to Epcot the year itopened and you know my mom used
to laugh joke because when wewent to Disney World, small
(02:27):
World was always my favoriteride.
And my sisters hated it and theywould let me ride it by myself
and I would just ride it incircles as a kid.
She's like I should have knownyou were going to wind up the
way that you did, but I didn'ttravel.
It just never seemed reallyaccessible to me and my
grandparents traveled.
So that's some of my earliestmemories of like being aware of
(02:48):
travel.
My grandparents are Italian andwe'd go back and visit family
members and we'd sit in theirbasement and watch slideshows.
But there was never any part ofme that felt like, oh, I really
want to go here or like I coulddo this.
And then I remember in sixthgrade I had this social studies
teacher who was a world travelerand he show us slideshows in
(03:15):
school of the places he went.
And I think my very firstmemory of me wanting to go
somewhere was when he showed hispictures of his trip to Egypt
at of the pyramids in Egypt Wow,and I was like, oh, yeah, that
would be, that would be cool.
But it never even like therewas no spark, like I could do
that.
And you know, fast forward, Istudied French very poorly in
(03:38):
high school and I used to thinkthere was a picture of Mont
Saint-Michel on the front of myFrench book and I was like, if I
could go to Paris before I die,like that's my dream, like
maybe I'll go to Paris on ahoneymoon or something, and yeah
.
So I kind of had that likeParis before I die, you're not
(03:59):
alone, nothing.
And so I was like, yeah, okay,and you know, went ahead, went
to college and my freshman yearin college I became friends with
another person in my Frenchclass actually, and she had kind
of grown up with travelingparents and she like, like
(04:21):
pushed me and was like youshould like do this study abroad
trip, you should do this studyabroad trip.
And I was like, whatever,anyway, I got a scholarship to
do the study abroad trip.
Oh, and I went to London January26th uh, 1993 was the date of
my first passport stamp andthere was something about that
trip where I was like like yourlife is not the same.
(04:43):
And I think to me it wasn'tthat.
Like I discovered I had awonder for travel.
I think for me that trip waslike it's accessible to you,
like it's not far, like itwasn't hard to do this.
And we, I mean we traveledevery spare chance we got during
(05:06):
that trip.
We urled across Europe and wewent back the next January.
That was actually my firstpoints and miles trip.
Was that next January?
We went back and you know, Ijust like I just haven't stopped
since.
So it's been 30, 31 years and Ijust keep, adding on, keep
adding on and I haven't lost anyof the wonder.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
That's amazing.
I just had a similar story.
I didn't.
I grew up in East coast Samething.
Florida was pretty much prettymuch for Virginia, sometimes
Virginia beach, but yeah, that'ssimilar and it sounds about the
same time.
I got my first stamp I think itwas 91, though and so I've had
that passion probably since.
But I love your story and Ihear a lot of folks that you
(05:52):
know they didn't necessarilystart in, you know, with any
kind of travel experience, andthen suddenly this world opened
up, as you said, like findingout that it is accessible and it
is accessible.
Finding out that it isaccessible and it is accessible,
and you just have to, you know,be creative sometimes, maybe,
in finding that way to get towhere you want.
So love that.
And you, like you said, youhave not stopped.
(06:17):
So you have 153 countries underyour belt, which is so
impressive.
I'm, like so many people youknow they had had this goal to
like see all, all the countriesthe UN recognizes before they
die, and you are really close.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
I've been to Paris a lot of times.
You've been what and I had arepeat.
So I've been to Paris a lot oftimes.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
Yeah.
So I'm sure, I'm sure, you'vebeen to other countries more
than once, so that's amazing.
And out of those countries, I'mnot going to ask you what your
favorite is, but I always liketo hear which one surprised you
the most.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
Oh gosh, so many have surprised me.
You know just one that justcomes to my mind.
I recently went to El Salvadorand I loved it.
I was like this is CentralAmerica's best kept secret.
I mean, obviously El Salvadorhasn't been safe for much of our
(07:14):
lifetimes to travel to, but Ilove the places that are still
rugged.
I loved traveling back in theday when you had like a book and
you had no idea where you weregoing and you just got lost and
whatever you found was what yousaw.
El Salvador was a little bitlike that.
(07:34):
There's some areas wherethere's some infrastructure, but
because it hasn't really beentouristed like Guatemala and
Honduras, it's like it feelsstill like that magical, like
you're actually exploring justthe way people live versus like
(07:57):
you're exploring this, butthere's lots of handicraft shops
that are there for tourists atthe same time.
I really loved it.
It's kind of a magical placeand you could find yourself just
at places where there was nopeople.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
Yeah, I agree, and I'm so thrilled that it's
becoming a more safe place.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
I've actually been to El Salvador.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Wait, but back in the 90s, so when it was not like
you said, the infrastructure wasnot there.
But you know, we lived amongthe locals, which I do love that
when I go to visit a place.
So you know there was no, notouristy, anything about it.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
So it's still like that.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
Yeah, so I love that.
Excellent.
I want to know how has sinceyou've started traveling.
So we were probably in yourI'll just your twenties, maybe
right, when you startedtraveling roughly 19.
Okay, you're 19.
And I won't say how old you arenow, but I obviously the way
(09:00):
that you travel.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
This is an over 50 podcast.
Right, it is yes, yes.
So, of course, yes, I make thecut.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
You make the cut.
Okay, from that you know earlyyears of traveling to how you
travel now.
How has that changed?
Speaker 2 (09:14):
You know, I feel like it is.
It's always changing, right,like you change as a person, and
I mean think about how much haschanged since 1993.
Yes, you know, like I used tohave to, you know, I joke with
my niece in 1994, I went toChina and my niece was born when
(09:37):
I was, and I had no idea shewas born, because you had to go
to the post office and make acollect call was the only way
you could communicate withpeople.
So like there's it's sodifferent, like technology has
changed so much stuff and Ithink technology almost in a way
(10:00):
has has made you had to be haveto be a little more planned,
especially if you're going tobusier places, because there's
like people book things inadvance, whereas you couldn't do
that before you got off thetrain and, you know, looked for
a place to stay exactly um.
So I would say there's that bitlike just the way technology has
changed, um the number.
(10:23):
I feel like the number oftravelers has really increased
in just recent, just recentyears.
Travel I feel like travel hasbecome a lot more accessible and
for me, like when I firststarted traveling, I did do a
lot of like backpacking, superon a budget.
(10:45):
I had zero money.
You know, we would eat rice,because if you ate rice then you
could spend like well, I was astudent, so we had like a, we
had like a food allowance and ifyou spent all your food
allowance on rice then you coulduse your food allowance to
travel on the weekend.
So just going from a place,from having, you know, scraping
(11:08):
by to get places, and then Ihave.
So I also do humanitarian workand for me, like I, so I've done
like budget, super budgetbackpacking.
I've done like expat living.
I lived in Thailand andCambodia, I lived in Sudan, I
(11:30):
lived on a ship in West Africa,so I lived in lots of different
places, kind of as more of a, anexpat, and still traveled from
those different places.
But that's like a wholedifferent type of travel, like
really kind of being immersed ina place for a longer period of
time.
And then, you know, I've alsodone I do a lot of work in
(11:56):
teaching people points and milesas a way to make travel
accessible to them, and so I'vedone the whole gamut of, you
know, luxury, luxury travel.
You know, flying on the Emirates380 and taking a shower and
doing all that crazy stuff, andso I've really gotten to
experience everything from, likethe grubby backpackery, you
(12:22):
know, eating bread to taking ashower in the sky, everything in
between very short stays, verylong stays, and I like doing it
all.
So I met my partner duringCOVID and up until then I had
almost always been a solotraveler or had traveled with,
you know, friends here and thereand and have done a tiny bit of
(12:44):
group travel not that much, butsince I met him I've also been
able to.
I do still solo travel,actually quite a lot, but have
been able to do trips with himand trips with the two girls as
well.
So I've been able to likeexperience like the joys and the
highs and lows of family travelas well.
(13:04):
You know, traveling with apartner too.
So that's kind of my evolutiontoo.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
So you have experienced, like you said, from
all the gamuts of budget toluxury and solo family.
You know a couple that'samazing.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
And I also feel like what you're willing to put up
with when you're 18 to travelmight not be what you're willing
to put up with when you're 51to travel.
I agree with that 18 to travelmight not be what you're willing
to put up with when you're 51to travel.
I agree with that.
I just did some crazy long haulovernight flights on the last
trip I took and I was like it isnot as easy for me to do a 15
(13:48):
and a half hour you know flightin economy and get off the plane
and go side seeing the next day.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
Yes, yeah, I felt the same way For some reason when I
came back from my trip thispast fall.
I had three planes, longlayovers and literally it was 24
hours of travel and after I gotoff the plane and I landed back
in the U S I was like, yeah, Idon't think I can do that again
(14:17):
anymore you know, I'm just liketoo old for that one.
Maybe one layover is fine, youknow, but this is, this is too
much.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
Yeah, it's pretty harder for the upgrades now and
I sleep on less air airportfloors.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
Oh well, that's good to know.
Less airport floors oh well,that's good to know.
You have an amazing missionstatement.
First of all, I love that youhave a mission statement, but I
also love the middle part of it.
So I'm just going to say yourmission statement is see the
world, change the world, havefun doing it.
So I want to talk about thechange, the world part, because
(14:51):
I actually feel like timing oftalking with you is perfect,
because when I came back fromthe Camino trip I just did this
fall I felt just this longing tohave some of my travel be more
purposeful in that it would havea more positive impact of
(15:12):
wherever I'm going.
Right, so just kind of feelingthat nudge to really investigate
.
That's more for my own self.
So I'm curious to how did this?
First of all, how did yourmission statement come about?
And then I want to talk aboutthat middle statement and how
you are actually living that out.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
Mm-hmm.
Well, my, you are actuallyliving that out.
Well, my mission statement cameabout just out of my own
confusion, because I feel likein modern times it is very
normal that people have likeside hustles and you know, you
might like be a traveler and youknow a banker and different
things.
But yeah, I would say, like adecade ago, when people asked
(15:52):
like what do you do?
And I'm like, well, you know, Iwork for a humanitarian
organization and I started ahammock company and I teach
people how to use points andmiles and I write for credit
card websites, I was like whichone, which one of them?
They're like huh, and so I waslike a little bit like, and I
was working on, oh, andeverybody was a blogger too.
(16:14):
So I was working on, oncreating my website and I was
just like, how, how do I, how doI tell one story about what I
do?
Speaker 1 (16:26):
And.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
I was like, and so I thought, like, what, like, what
drives me to do the things thatI do?
What is kind of what is myumbrella?
And you know, because, like,being a person who, like, writes
about credit cards and being aperson who, like, lives in
Africa and, like, helps peopleunderstand poverty and war you
(16:48):
know, like they't normally likethe same, grouped in the same
category, and I was like youknow what?
The reason I like to writeabout credit cards is because I
think it's a way that makes whatI get to do and see accessible
to other people.
So if I can help make the worldaccessible to people, that is
(17:11):
going to help people broadentheir worldview much more than
anything.
I can, like, tell somebody thatthey should think, and so that
was just kind of my umbrella oflike all the different things
that I do kind of fall underthis see the world, change the
world, have fun doing it.
So, and I was like so, and whenI think about things that I
(17:34):
want to do, I'm always like, dothey kind of fall into that, you
know, and is that part of who Iam?
So that's kind of that's whereit came about and it's just
something that's really stuckwith me and has resonated.
I think I wrote that like 20years ago now, and so it's just
something that has resonated andkind of continued to guide me.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
I think it's important that people have their
own personal mission statement,even if it doesn't relate to
work, because, like you said, itthen helps you filter through,
you know, things that might notfall under that.
You know, should I do that?
Well, it doesn't reallyencapsulate this part of my
mission.
(18:17):
So you know, having that yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
I was going to say I've been very lucky that I have
been able to kind of build alife and a career that kind of
just go together.
And you know that's not, it'snot necessarily the way everyone
does it and it's not the wayeveryone wants to do it or
should do it, and but yeah, butI think even I just want to
(18:46):
encourage people who have a verydifferent life.
I know I listened to podcastsand I'm like I'm doing it all
wrong, you know.
But I just want to encouragepeople who you know, who have a
my life is not normal, who havelike a normal life, that there
are lots of people who stilltravel, who you know live, can
(19:08):
live a very mission, who do livea very missional way and have a
have a nine to five job or amore more typical job.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
Yeah, no, you're right, yeah, and with remote
work, you know anymore it's it'spretty pretty easy at this
point.
Yeah.
So let's talk about apparently,uh so, the the change the world
part.
I would imagine the color cloudhammocks was part of that part
of that.
You know, maybe thatinspiration tell us about the
(19:39):
color cloud hammocks.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
Color cloud hammocks is a.
It is a women don't fair tradehammock company that I started
with two of my friends.
I started it while I was livingin Ethiopia.
The inspiration for it actuallycame about in Washington DC.
I lived in Washington DC for acouple of years.
(20:04):
I owned a really fun colorfulhammock that I had bought when I
was in Africa somewhere and Iloved this travel hammock.
I took it everywhere and Imoved to DC after living in
Sudan and it wasn't the easiestplace for me to live.
You know people talk about likereverse culture shock and oh
(20:26):
yeah, I literally was living inDarfur.
I went from one of the mostdifficult places of the world to
one of the most prosperousplaces of the world and I will
say DC has also changed a lot inthe last 20 years.
But when I moved from Sudan toDC I was like Sudan is was one
of the worst places and thepeople were so happy and so kind
(20:46):
and I moved to DC and literallyno one looked up from their
blackberries blackberries.
That's when it was yeah, I wasjust like I was just kind of
dumbfounded when I was there andI really just struggled and I
lived in.
I lived on Capitol Hill in alittle row house and on our
(21:07):
corner we had a tree and ourfront porch and I would hang my
hammock between our front porchand our tree and I would sit in
my hammock and people would comearound the corner or walk down
the street and they'd like lookup from their Blackberry and
they would talk to me and I waslike hammocks are magic, oh.
(21:28):
And I was like we need to sellhammocks in Washington DC.
Hammocks make people happy.
And so, um, my friends and I,my two roommates I was living
with at the time um, we likebought a sewing machine and we
like figured out how to buyripstop nylon and we, um, we
(21:50):
sewed our own first hammock andit took us about four days and
we were like this is really cool.
But you know what?
There is no business plan here,because we'd have to sell these
for like seven thousand dollarsa piece to ever make any money.
Like it took us so long to doit.
So we were like that was a funidea and kind of like you know,
pack, pack shit up, set it aside, and I moved.
(22:13):
I was working for a humanitarianorganization and moved from DC
to Cambodia.
And I'd been living in Cambodiajust a few I don't know,
probably a few weeks, month orso and I met some women who had
started their own seamstressshop and I just I don't even,
and I was walking through themarket looking for linen to make
(22:34):
pants or something and I foundnylon and I was like I found a
way I can make hammocks.
And so I did.
I bought nylon in the marketand I took it to these women who
had just started their ownlittle shop and drew pictures of
what I wanted.
And that's honestly like itjust started really small, and
it still is small.
(22:55):
But you know, it was like inthe very early days of Facebook.
We just we launched the wholething over Facebook.
Okay yeah, and it's just kindof gone over time, and my
friends were still back here inthe States and I would ship the
hammocks and they would sellthem, and that's kind of how we,
(23:16):
that's kind of how we started.
And so we were able to supportthose women who had started
their own little shop and, youknow, pay them a fair wage to
make, and then so we did thatfor quite a while.
Eventually, I left Cambodia westill did it for from Cambodia
for a while, and then one of mybusiness partners moved to
(23:38):
Ethiopia and she does.
She and her husband started acompany that does investing in
businesses in Africa.
Okay, it's another superinteresting, but they actually
wound up investing in businessesin africa.
Okay, is um another superinteresting, but they actually
wound up investing in thisfamily-owned, uh sewing company.
Oh gosh, um, we actually wereable to, um get fabric made.
(24:07):
It was one of the problems thatwe had in ethiopia, in cambodia,
was you could you only gotwhatever, whatever was in the
market and, um, you know, like acompany like cotopaxi that
makes everything in whateverrandom colors and random colors
is part of their market, right.
But when we were selling to likethe university of minnesota and
(24:28):
they wanted hammocks in red andyellow, right, well, they would
put in an order for 30 hammocksin red and yellow.
Well, they would put in anorder for 30 hammocks and we'd
be like, sorry, there's no redin the market today.
So it became a challenge and sowe were looking to kind of like
shift so we could be and do alittle more retail.
And we found a way that wecould do it in Ethiopia.
And then one of the partnerswas based in Ethiopia.
So then they were made inEthiopia by women, but we could
(24:49):
do it in Ethiopia.
And then one of the partnerswas based in Ethiopia.
So then they were made inEthiopia by women, but we could
do them in more quantity andcontrol the colors.
So wonderful.
Speaker 1 (24:59):
Yeah, just continued.
Just a different country andyeah, that's amazing.
Are there some other?
You said you were involved witha lot of humanitarian.
What's some other ones thatyou've done?
Speaker 2 (25:13):
Well, so for a long time I mean professionally I've
worked kind of for NGOs for mostof my career I currently in
2013 is when I left Cambodiafull time and moved to Oregon,
which is where I'm based now,and in 2013, I just started I
went out on my own as aconsultant.
(25:47):
So I work for differenthumanitarian organizations now
and my like water and sanitationprojects and I just did a big
project on child marriage, kindof just like different,
different issues, but not from amarketing perspective where I'm
telling you like a sad story,so you give me money, from a
(26:08):
perspective of like how are we,how are we telling, how are we
explaining the issue to peopleso they understand it?
And understand it in a way thatthey can kind of know what the
challenges are and what some ofthe good practices are and what
some of the goals are, withoutbeing, you know, a super nerdy
(26:29):
technical expert in that area,being a, you know, a super nerdy
technical expert in that area.
So but before I startedconsulting, I worked.
I worked full time in human inthe humanitarian world.
In Cambodia I worked as aregional communications manager
for.
World Vision, which is a childfocused organization.
Um, we covered in our region.
(26:50):
We covered 16 differentcountries and we worked with the
local.
So in each country we had localcommunications people and
they're the ones who aregathering the stories going out
in the communities.
Um, but I had some reallyinteresting experiences getting
to work with them, coming upwith, like strategies for their
(27:11):
country, helping do training andcapacity building on like how
to tell different stories.
You know what kind of storieswere interesting to people Did
like it was in the very.
I mean, I helped so manycountries like learn how to use
social media and start to usesocial media, because that was
(27:33):
the era that I was there.
Speaker 1 (27:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:35):
Yes, so lots of different things.
We did a lot of, like emergencycommunications training.
You know, in Asia there's allkinds of cyclones and things
that you never hear abouttyphoons and cyclones and um, so
making sure those offices wereequipped in, like how to
(28:06):
communicate when those differentkinds of crises occurred.
You know that they wereprepared like if CNN was there.
There's also, I also feel likethere's, like you know, a
lifespan for everything, and oneof the big goals of some of
those jobs, too, is, like, ifyou're there in like the role of
an expat because you have askill set that someone else
(28:29):
doesn't have, you know to liketo to bring it to a place where
you've imparted that skill setto another person who already
lives there, and we can do thatwork.
Speaker 1 (28:40):
Yeah, but that's so rewarding in being able to pass
that on and use your skills thatyou've acquired, you know, to
use it sort of in that travelindustry, humanitarian industry,
you kind of like put ittogether.
I love that.
I love when people are able todo that you know, use like some
(29:00):
skills that they've gotten, youknow, like you said, from a
normal job.
Speaker 2 (29:04):
Yeah, I worked in a PR high tech PR firm was my
first job.
Okay, so joy or fulfillment.
Speaker 1 (29:11):
Yeah, so you're using all these skills and you know,
keeping it, you know, involvedwith your travel is is so
exciting for me, as I I wouldlove to be able to sort of be
able to do that, you know, withsome skills that I have.
Speaker 2 (29:26):
I will say so.
Just another thing is, like youknow, that's it's not something
that everyone's able to do,like the world needs lots of
people to not work in thehumanitarian industry because
there's many other industries.
But I will say like I thinkit's just as important to be a
(29:47):
good traveler when you travel.
Let's talk about that, yes,treat a place like like you
would treat your own home, oryou would treat better than your
own home and leave places youknow in any way you can like
better than you found them.
And you know, for me, one ofthe things I try to remind
myself is like you know, youknow like I'm a, I get a good
(30:10):
kick out of bargaining.
Like I just find it fun, andyou know I have lots of
bargaining experience because Ihad a bargain to buy tomatoes
when I lived in Cambodia and I'dget really mad if they were
charging me more than they weresupposed to.
But also just like rememberinglike that when you're, when
(30:31):
you're buying things indifferent countries, like like,
pay a fair price.
Like it's fun to get a deal,but like so many of the people
who are selling things inmarkets are living like hand to
mouth.
Like, like you don't, you don'twant to get ripped off.
I'm not saying like get rippedoff, pay them too much or you
know, but like, just like,educate yourself.
(30:55):
Like learn about like as muchas you can.
It's hard, but like like learnwhat's a fair price.
Make sure, when you walk awayfrom something, that the person
who's selling it to you alsofeels good about the transaction
.
You know, be respectful aboutthe transaction.
You know be respectful liketake care of, take care of
(31:15):
places, and I mean it's silly tosay that, but you know like I,
like walk around.
I'm like, oh, you know like I,sometimes I feel like we, as
travelers, are just completelyclueless because we're operating
in our own little world.
Speaker 1 (31:35):
So, just like being being aware, you know, yes, no,
I love that and thinking, youknow, obviously, buying local
and, you know, trying to supportthe local economy, versus,
maybe going to a big grocerystore or something that might be
in the area.
You know, go to the, go to themarkets, you know, go to the
farmer's markets and stuff.
Yeah, yeah, I love that advice.
Yeah, I'm a true believer ofthat too.
Just really being mindful ofthe you know where I'm traveling
(31:59):
and how I'm, you know leaving.
If I'm leaving anything behind,you know making sure it's, you
know, positive.
Yeah, exactly, just, you know,and I think that leaves you, as
a traveler, to feeling fulfilled, as, I mean, I personally would
feel that you know that you'renot just countries that you know
(32:20):
were demanding or you know werejust rude or whatever.
You know, whatever it might beRight.
So I'm trying to be mindful ofthat when I travel as well.
(32:42):
So, yeah, love that.
Speaker 2 (32:43):
One other thing I would say is I think one of the
places people immediately jumpto when they think about like
doing kind of humanitarianthings when they travel is like,
oh, can I volunteer somewhere?
Can I volunteer somewhere?
And it's, it's, it's not.
It's a little bit of a trickyone too, and I would say, if
that's something that you'reinterested in doing, um, take
(33:10):
time and do some research, yes,and ask the local organizations
about it.
And you know, like when I livedin Cambodia, I know there was
like one of the organizationsthere was like kind of doing
like a anti-voluntourismcampaign, because there was
there was really negative stuffgoing on and like they would,
(33:31):
they would like people wouldcome into town and they'd feel
bad because there were so manystreet kids and they'd want to
go volunteer at these localorphanages where there were
these options to volunteer.
But what the average touristwho's coming in, is going to be
there for a couple of days andwants to do something didn't
know in Cambodia was a lot ofthese kids in these orphanages
(33:53):
aren't orphans and they're justlike you know, it's like a money
making operation and parentsare putting their kids in these
in these places to as a way tokind of generate.
It's like a tourism industry andyou know you come one day and
you teach them the alphabet andthen you move on to your.
You know, you move on toBangkok and then the next
(34:16):
tourist come one day and theyhave some white person who comes
in and teaches them thealphabet, and um, so just I
would say, do some research tofind out, kind of like, if
there's anything dubious in thatarea.
There used to be some goodresources around it and I can
(34:37):
maybe look for them afterwards,Okay.
Speaker 1 (34:40):
Yeah, no, it's, I think it's.
I agree it's important to doyour research and make sure
you're I mean, I would say, workwith a reputable company that
actually kind of organizes thosekinds of things, so that you
know you're not.
You know, cause if you think,if you do it by yourself, you
know you have that there's thatchance you're going to be
getting scammed, as we call it.
(35:02):
You know, and I wouldn't wantyou to have that kind of
opportunity.
You know that's that sort ofexperience.
So I agree.
So, yeah, if you have someresources, I would love to, um,
you know, maybe include those inthe show notes.
Um, I, I know a few um, but I'dbe curious to know what kind of
what you're recommending um aswell.
(35:22):
So that'd be great.
Um, well, what would you?
What advice would you give to awoman solo traveler going out,
maybe for her first solo trip?
Speaker 2 (35:37):
I would say, if it was a first solo trip I actually
gave this advice to someoneyesterday Okay, good, I would
say, do a practice trip.
That's what I always tellpeople.
You know, if you are, you knowyou're thinking about going on a
trip and I mean it could be.
It could be that you're veryexperienced doing solo trips at
(36:00):
home and this is your firstinternational trip.
It could be that you've done alot of international travel but
you've never gone solo.
It could be that you've nevertraveled before at all but you
really like this is the bucketlist thing for 2025 for you.
So recognize that everybodystarts in a different place and
(36:21):
so blanket advice, you know,might not be the best thing for
you.
So remember, you're startingwhere you're starting and I
would say, you know, dosomething that stretches you to
the next step, like if you'venever been anywhere.
I would not recommend, you know, taking a solo trip to Saudi.
(36:42):
You know, but if you know, ifyou have traveled a ton
internationally in group tripsand this is just your first trip
and you're already likecomfortable navigating
international airports and taxisand that kind of stuff, you
know, then yeah, it will be,you'll stretch yourself.
(37:03):
But that might be this you know, going solo from already
international traveling isn't agiant step.
If you've never really done abig, a big trip solo, you know
maybe like take a smaller stepbefore you like take your next
step, like, have you ever done asolo trip at in this, in the US
(37:27):
, in your own state?
You know, like right, likethink about what are the things
you're worried about.
If you're worried about, likewhat am I going to do?
Like, if I have to, like eat bymyself in a restaurant, or
people worry about differentthings, like are you worried
about being lonely?
Like do a week-long trip, justlike a week-long road trip.
Or you know a week-long, acouple days, like somewhere else
(37:50):
in the US and do a trip andjust like kind of address that
thing you're scared of or thething you think you're worried
about Before you, you know levelit up, yeah, and you know if
you're doing, if it's like afirst international trip, you
know then maybe start somewherethat you have some affinity
(38:13):
towards.
Or you know, like you speak thelanguage, like going to the
person who I was talking toyesterday they want to do their
first trip to Ireland and I waslike that's great, you know, and
she was like Well, I'm worriedthat you know I've never
traveled international solobefore and I'm like you're a
great solo traveler.
You drove across the countrytwice this year, like, like
you're not going to be scared inIreland you know she will be
(38:36):
fine, yeah.
And so so.
So start with a trip that's.
That is already going to be agreat trip, right.
So the so, the like, lessen thechallenges and, you know, take
a take, take the right size,step for you.
Speaker 1 (38:55):
I like how you put that.
We're all starting at adifferent place.
That's very true.
You know, like you said,there's different levels of what
your experience in travel ingeneral has been right to start
with, and then you know where,where you've been.
You know, like you said, is itlocal?
Is it your first international?
Speaker 2 (39:13):
You know, I love it, it's perfect, it's perfect,
don't listen to the negativityof people who are, who want to,
like, put their own fears on you.
Amen to that.
Sorry, I just yeah.
Yeah, it's true, like, and youknow being nervous is the right
(39:35):
feeling.
You know, like you don't getnervous if you're doing
something that you've donebefore.
You know you get nervous whenyou're doing something a little
bit new.
But I will say, like, even whenI went on my trip to El Salvador
and I just went on a trip toTimor-Leste, you know people are
like.
People who know me, who knowI've been to 153 countries, are
like are you sure?
(39:55):
Like isn't that really unsafe?
And then I go to sleep at nightand my brain's like am I going
to die?
Should I not be going on thistrip?
Am I dumb?
And I'm like I know it so andI'm like no, you've done your
research, you know it's the sameplace and you know you have to.
You have to take chances andyou're always going to be
(40:16):
nervous doing super exciting,amazing things.
So be prepared to be nervous,but don't let anyone project
their fears on you.
Speaker 1 (40:24):
Yes, thank you.
I love that.
And they say nervousness andexcitement are actually built
from the same.
You know feeling and emotion,you know so.
You know you might feel nervousbut there's an excitement in
there too.
So where are you off to next?
Anywhere special or any any newplace.
Speaker 2 (40:46):
I just came.
I did 14 flights in November.
I'm so tired oh my goodness,and then I hosted my family for
Thanksgiving, so I do well today, actually, that we're recording
.
This is travel Tuesday.
Yes, exactly I have a list offlights that I'm going to check
out today.
I have a lot of things on the.
(41:09):
These are my on the wall.
These are my trips I'm planningfor the year.
My niece is getting married, soI actually have quite a few
trips that are related to tothat.
So a lot of US-based trips.
But for my next internationaltrip, I haven't exactly figured
(41:29):
it out yet.
A little bit harder once you'vedone.
153 countries and you're tryingto do new ones.
Yeah, about 40 left to.
Yeah, and I try to do five tosix a year.
I'm not trying to do likeeverything as fast as I can.
My dream is to do it before Idie and, um, hopefully, you know
, if I need to do it while Ifinish, while I'm 90, one of my
nieces, who are both travelers,will take me um, but I think I
(41:54):
would really like this year.
I would really love to go toDominica.
It's my only country left inthe Caribbean.
I have not been to Guyana orSuriname, so those are two that
are high on my list.
Um, there's some really hardones that I'd love to go to
Venezuela, to Angel Falls, not asuper easy one.
(42:15):
It will also be interesting tosee you know just how things
change, correct?
Speaker 1 (42:22):
Yeah, because right now Venezuela is not safe.
Speaker 2 (42:24):
Exactly.
And to see how that changes andalso just to see how things you
know shake out internationallyover the next month with the
change in administration andstuff.
I have a friend who wants to goto Saudi with me, and so that
is high on my list.
I'm saving.
I haven't been to Peru orEcuador, which are two pretty
(42:45):
easy ones, oh well.
So, I'm saving those for when Ineed them.
Speaker 1 (42:50):
Peru was amazing and actually it is.
I just did an episode.
So you know, it's becoming atrend in 2025 to go to Peru,
because supposedly I didn'trealize this, but the movie
Paddington was filmed there.
(43:10):
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, so peopleare being inspired by this
movie, like to go to peru, andI'm like, oh, wow, okay, well,
you know, yeah, yeah, that'sreally funny that is funny right
, I do a project for uh, unicefuk and paddington is their
spokesperson.
Speaker 2 (43:29):
Oh okay, I'm a huge.
In fact, we we have aPaddington instead of an angel
on the top of our Christmas tree.
Speaker 1 (43:34):
Okay, well, I hate to say this, but I think that
needs to be your next place.
Speaker 2 (43:40):
So I feel like that one might need to be a family
trip, though.
Okay, okay, I've shared thePaddington love with these, with
this group.
Okay, well, awesome, that'sreally interesting.
Yeah, I think it comes out hereon January 8th.
Speaker 1 (43:59):
I really am a Paddington nerd.
Okay, we'll see.
There you go.
Where can people find you?
Do you have a presence onsocial media where?
Speaker 2 (44:02):
they can follow you.
I'm easiest to find onInstagram.
Okay, it's at wandering Zito Z,like zipper, I T O and I also
have a website,wanderingforgoodcom.
Okay and um, I the the hammockstore still open.
Colorcloudhammockscom.
Awesome.
Okay and um.
(44:24):
Yeah, those are my main, thoseare my main places.
Speaker 1 (44:27):
Okay, all right I think you have a few blogs up
there, a little bit.
Speaker 2 (44:32):
there's a few there I I had to rebuild it after COVID
, so it's growing and changing alittle bit.
Speaker 1 (44:40):
Yeah, Well, it's been amazing.
I just love this.
Thank you for sharing yourexperiences, your expertise and
even just the whole heart of howyou travel.
I think I love that and it'scome through in our conversation
here.
I've enjoyed it.
Stephanie, thank you for yourtime.
Speaker 2 (44:58):
Lovely to talk to you too.
Speaker 1 (44:59):
Yes, and I'm sure we will.
I'm hoping we cross pathshonestly, oh, definitely.
Speaker 2 (45:05):
Definitely.
Speaker 1 (45:06):
I would love that.
All right, thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (45:08):
Thanks, bye-bye.
Speaker 1 (45:09):
Hey, sister Travelers , did this podcast inspire and
encourage you or move you to getout there and travel?
Wonderful, there are three waysyou can thank me.
First, one is leave a writtenreview for the show on Apple
Podcast.
Two, share the show with yourSister Travelers, your friends,
(45:30):
your family.
And three, subscribe to theshow so you never miss an
episode.
And thank you again forlistening to the show.
Sisters, be fearless, take theleap and get out there and have
an adventure.
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