Bold Moves and Multilingual Adventures - Regina Winkle-Bryan from Bold Spirit Travel : 135

Imagine your late grandmother appearing in a dream and urging you to learn a new language. For Regina from Bold Spirit Travel, this dream set her on an extraordinary path of personal transformation. Regina shares her immersive experience in Costa Rica, where she overcame language barriers and thrived in a non-English speaking environment.

Her journey took her from Costa Rica to Guatemala and finally to Barcelona, where she had to master both Castilian Spanish and Catalan. Moving to Barcelona marked a pivotal point in her life. It was there that she met her husband and advanced her career as a journalist and travel blogger. Regina also explores the challenges and beauty of being multilingual in a cosmopolitan city like Barcelona. She reflects on her ongoing efforts to learn Catalan and navigate a diverse linguistic landscape. Her passion for adventure led her to create all-women travel groups, fostering a sense of community and connection among travellers. Her story is about the courage to step out of one’s comfort zone and embrace solo travel, language learning, and community engagement.

Regina Winkle-Bryan founded Bold Spirit Travel, a company that connects women through adventure. She leads many Bold Spirit Travel trips along with a team of talented guides. Bold Spirit Travel persevered through the COVID-19 pandemic by transitioning to online travel experiences with global guides and chefs. Regina has visited over 35 countries and currently calls Washington state home.
This episode is packed with tales of bold moves, cultural adaptation, and the creation of lasting bonds through travel.
Let's enjoy her story.

To connect with Regina/ Bold Spirit Travel https://www.boldspirittravel.com/

Transcript

Daniela SM: 0:04

Hi, I'm Daniela. Welcome to my podcast. Because Everyone has a Story, the place to give ordinary people's stories the chance to be shared and preserved. Our stories become the language of connections. Let's enjoy it, connect and relate, because everyone has a story. Relate because everyone has a story. Welcome.

Daniela SM: 0:32

My guest is Regina Winkle Bryan, the founder of Bold Spirit Travel, a company that connects women through adventures. It was lovely to speak with Regina and learn about her persistence in learning Spanish, even though it didn't come easy to her. Through her perseverance and curious personality, this episode is all about daring move, adapting to new cultures and building strong bonds while traveling. Regina shares some fantastic tips with us, like not taking things too seriously. She is coming from being a perfectionist. If you have a dream, she says, look around and talk to people who have achieved it, and it doesn't matter what it is a business, an adventure, find a mentor. And also she says do not be afraid to fail. Don't stay down if you get knocked down. These are beautiful pieces of advice that she gave. I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I did. Let's enjoy her story.

Regina Winkle-Bryan: 1:29

Welcome, Regina to the show. Thank you so much for having me. I've enjoyed listening to your podcast over the past year, and I'm delighted to be here.

Daniela SM: 1:37

Yes, thank you. Thank you. I know you were listening to some of the episodes, so I appreciate it. So I know you want to share a story. And also, this is Regina from Bold Spirit Travel, which I love the name and I love your website, so we will put everything in the show notes afterwards. Although I know I'm the one who asked you to come over, I want to know why you want to share your story.

Regina Winkle-Bryan: 1:59

Yeah, I'm hoping that my story will inspire everybody, but especially other women, to make bold moves in their lives. Maybe that means they go on a solo trip for the first time. You know, that's something in my experience that has been really. It's really scary for people to go to an unknown place and different language and go alone. And what will that be like? It can be really scary. Maybe I inspire them to learn a new language. They've been thinking, oh, I've always wanted to speak Italian or whatever it is. Maybe some of your listeners have always thought about moving abroad and that's a pretty big bold move as well. Or even doing something locally in their community to get out of their comfort zone and make new friends, meet new people, expand their social circle, whatever it is, and we all have that thing that's like, oh, I'd really like to do that, but it kind of scares me. Whatever that bold move is, I'm hoping that my story will nudge people in that direction, because if I can do it, you can do it?

Daniela SM: 3:05

Yes, exactly. And you know what? I have a bold friend who just took off for a year on her own to travel and kind of be a nomadic in a way. I am so impressed it is possible, yes, so that's why we're here.

Regina Winkle-Bryan: 3:19

That is a bold move, absolutely yes, and sometimes you just need an example. Like your friend. You watch, you know, oh, there she goes and how did she make that happen? And a whole year. You know there's so many logistical pieces. But if we have an example somebody's story they've done it before then suddenly it becomes more of a realistic goal, doesn't it?

Daniela SM: 3:40

Yes, and I've been interviewing a few people that are nomadics and have been traveling. Yes, and I've been interviewing a few people that are nomadics and have been traveling and I realized that everybody, like a diet or like your life, everybody has their formula and everybody has to have their style, and so you just have to get some tips and the basics and you go to make your own. So, regina, tell me, when does your story start?

Regina Winkle-Bryan: 4:03

I've been thinking about this question and there's probably lots of places along my you know during my life that this started and this probably has happened to you where you look back and then all the dots start to connect and when you're living a certain experience, you think you know this isn't going to matter 20 years from now, but then it does. I think I want to start with a woo-woo kind of experience, something a little outside the box kind of spiritual. I think this is where it starts, at least partially, and it's with a dream. I don't mean like the dream of having my own business or the dream of moving abroad, I mean a real dream. When I was asleep, I was a young woman I had a dream about my grandmother and she had just died, and so it was quite vivid. I don't know, was she visiting me from the spirit world, maybe, who knows? But she was there and she gave me one very clear message, and that message was go learn Spanish. She told me that those were her words Go learn Spanish. I woke up and I thought well, that's weird. I don't speak Spanish, I'm not studying Spanish. My grandmother did not speak Spanish, didn't seem to have any interest in learning Spanish. So why? And I thought about it and I couldn't get it. I couldn't shake it and so I signed up to take Spanish classes.

Regina Winkle-Bryan: 5:28

I started and I was like the worst student. I was just just felt stupid all the time. I was not a natural language learner. It was just humiliating for me, pretty much on a daily basis and I would study and everybody else in my class seemed to just get it. I was often in tears but I just kept going and it's kind of amazing to me even now, thinking like I just kept going because of that dream. It took a really long time but eventually I thought I'm not getting any better. I'm just going to the university taking classes. I'm not really getting that much better. I'm going to up the stakes a little bit and I'm going to go to Costa Rica take classes there and I'll be in an environment where everybody speaks Spanish. And I have to learn, because that's the only way I'll be able to get by is by speaking Spanish.

Daniela SM: 6:21

And how old were you at this time?

Regina Winkle-Bryan: 6:23

I was in college, so I don't know around 20, probably a young adult, and so I go to Costa Rica and I live with a family. They only speak Spanish, there's no English. And then I really realized I do not know Spanish. I was just struggling and I would go to classes at the Costa Rica, at Costa Rican University in San Jose. It was kind of the same story, but probably things were starting to connect in my brain, right. The other experience that I had while doing that trip and it's not that big of a deal really to go and study a language abroad, you know a lot of people do that, don't they? But it was for me. I didn't have examples of other people doing that I was incredibly anxious to go to a foreign country and struggle in this language that I was not excelling in.

Daniela SM: 7:13

But also you didn't really have a reason to besides your dream from your grandmother. Why would you be doing this? That's what I mean. You are pushing through. It's not like a passion.

Regina Winkle-Bryan: 7:36

It's not like you didn't thought about traveling in the past, so it's quite fascinating story trips before not with the same intention and definitely not studying at a Costa Rican university, right. So I was super scared. I did so much research. I interviewed other people who had been to Costa Rica or been to Central America, and how do I do this? So I was trying to be really informed before I went, and that's a skill set that still serves me now is, first of all, if something scares you, that doesn't mean that you can't do it, and also if you are feeling very anxious about something, sometimes talking to somebody else or doing a lot of research can help before you take that big step.

Regina Winkle-Bryan: 8:17

And then I went and I started going to my classes and, unfortunately, my cohort of other young, you know, students, young adults. They were not welcoming to me and I don't know why. You know, sometimes that just happens in life and you don't fit in. And while I did make a few friends there kind of other outcasts that experience of kind of not being part of the clique really stuck with me and made the experience more difficult. Especially when you're young, you really want to, you know, be part of the group. You and friendliness is incredibly important to me, and I know what it feels like to be on the other side. Doesn't feel good, right? None of us want that. So there were many lessons in this kind of normal sort of study abroad trip. There are all these sort of internal challenges that I needed to meet. Okay, so what if you don't fit in? Then what happens? Well, I did like I said. I made some great friends and we were in touch for many years.

Daniela SM: 9:27

Did you learn Spanish?

Regina Winkle-Bryan: 9:28

No.

Regina Winkle-Bryan: 9:29

Nada no bueno ahora sí, oh, never mind, but not then, no. So then I come back from Costa Rica and I'm like my Spanish isn't even that much better, but I loved being in Costa Rica, even though, honestly, it wasn't that great of an experience. I was kind of, you know, left out and I was struggling with Spanish and I was in San Jose, which is the big city, but I did get to go to the beach and I got a little taste of what solo travel could be. There was another lesson in this, which was it takes many, many years sometimes for something to work, something important. It takes many years of dedication and that is true with language, unless you're one of these people who's really just a natural and I know I have friends like that and it can take many years to see the results in many things.

Regina Winkle-Bryan: 10:24

That was another one of those lessons in Costa Rica Doing something that makes me anxious do it anyways the importance of feeling welcomed and finding your people and then putting in the time. If it's important, put in the time and it will pay off. So I came back. I don't speak Spanish. I ended up going back again and this time I worked in a beautiful place called Monte Verde, which is in the cloud forest in Costa Rica. I bet some of your listeners have been there before.

Daniela SM: 10:55

Yeah, I've been there too.

Regina Winkle-Bryan: 10:57

Yes, you know how beautiful it is there yes it is.

Regina Winkle-Bryan: 11:00

So I worked there in a bilingual school. Again, I'm trying to learn Spanish. Eventually I move on from there and I go to Guatemala and I lived there for two years in Guatemala. So this dream my grandmother go learn Spanish. And I keep going right Costa Rica, costa Rica, again then Guatemala and then eventually Spain where I lived for 10 years. So I had in total 13 years living in Spanish speaking countries. I know the suspense is killing you, but yes, I did eventually learn Spanish. It only took 13 years.

Daniela SM: 11:40

What do you do in Guatemala?

Regina Winkle-Bryan: 11:50

No, I worked in a couple of different places. The place that was most important in what I ended up doing later I worked in this boutique hotel, this beautiful boutique hotel, and I helped them with their art gallery and also with their marketing. During that I met a lot of travel writers and journalists who we would host at the hotel. I got to see what their lives were like, and these are people coming from all over the world, from Portugal, from the United States. Here they are in Guatemala and they're writing about Antigua and Guatemalan culture and they're staying at this beautiful hotel. I was working at it, kind of planted a seed, and then at the same time I was doing a lot of writing. I had kind of a group newsletter thing going on. This was before blogging was big and the internet wasn't the same as it is now. I would send all these updates about my adventures in Guatemala, and there were many. I also traveled all over Central America. It's close by right. Everything's close by.

Daniela SM: 12:43

But at the time that you were there, it was a bit of an issue between El Salvador and Nicaragua and Honduras. No, you traveled around there too.

Regina Winkle-Bryan: 12:51

Yeah, nicaragua. I didn't do a lot of travel in El Salvador, that was a little more iffy. I did go there, though, traveled all over Guatemala back to Costa Rica, went to Panama briefly up to Mexico quite a bit. Also, I was in my 20s and my perception of danger was not the same as it is now, all these years later. I was having a great time. So I'm writing about all my adventures in Guatemala. And then, eventually, it was time to move on and I moved to Spain, to Barcelona.

Daniela SM: 13:23

Oh so, but then you have another challenge here, because it's not the Latin Spanish that you have heard, and on top of that, there's Catalan in Barcelona. So what happened?

Regina Winkle-Bryan: 13:33

You're exactly right. So here we are back to language class again, and I wasn't that informed about Catalan before I went. I'm sorry to say, but it's true, you're exactly right. So the Spanish in Spain is different from the Spanish in Guatemala or Costa Rica or Latin America. So suddenly I had to learn vosotros and all these words, frankly, that we would use in Guatemala or Costa Rica or Latin America. So suddenly I had to learn vosotros and all these words, frankly, that we would use in Guatemala. They do not use in Spain, or they mean something completely different, which is inappropriate, you know, in some cases. And so it was like all over again.

Regina Winkle-Bryan: 14:08

But the good thing was I knew I could do it because I had done it before, and I think that's part of making the bold move. You're scared, you do it anyways, you show yourself that you could do it because I had done it before, and I think that's part of making the bold move. You're scared, you do it anyways, you show yourself that you can do it, and then, each time you have to do it again, it becomes a little easier, doesn't it? You're right, is my Catalan great? No, and I did live there for 10 years and I'm married to a Catalan, but I can understand some Catalan. It's not like I'm. I've got some Catalan, you know. It's a completely different language from Spanish. So there's that.

Daniela SM: 14:43

So it's like learning two new languages in a way. Regina, I was born in Barcelona, really yes, and then I moved to Venezuela. When I was eight months, I was in Venezuela, went back to Madrid, oh my gosh. So I had both of your experiences. I don't speak Catalan, though my cousins do, okay. So then you were in Barcelona. You meet your husband. Now you speak Spanish and a bit of Catalan.

Regina Winkle-Bryan: 15:08

Eventually, I see I had been in Barcelona for five years before I met him, so I was there alone for quite a while just doing my thing. This is when I really started working as a journalist. I did a lot more writing. I started working for magazines, writing specifically about culture and design and travel In English. In English, yes, always in English. At one point I even did translations from Spanish into English, but I would never write more than emails. Or, yes, always in English. At one point, I even did translations from Spanish into English, but I would never write more than emails or stuff like that in Spanish.

Regina Winkle-Bryan: 15:39

My writing ended up taking me all over Europe and different parts of the world writing for magazines, partially because I had met these writers when I was working in Guatemala and I thought well, I write, maybe I could do that. What happened with that is people were reading my work and then would write to me. They would find me and write to me and ask me for advice. Hey, you know, you walked the Camino de Santiago, because that's why I did it the first time was for a magazine assignment. You did it. What should I do? Should I do this or that?

Regina Winkle-Bryan: 16:09

The other thing that started happening more and more. I started a blog called the Spain Scoop, which was pretty popular for a while there, when blogging was a big thing. It doesn't exist anymore. I wrote a guide called Eat Guides to local eateries and food experiences in Barcelona. So I was cultivating all of this expertise in guiding, helping travelers. Eventually, that changed into where I am now, which is a travel company. I don't know, it took a while for the light bulb to go on, but once it did, it's like people ask me for advice all the time. I've been to amazing places all around the world. Why don't I take them to these places? And that is how we get to Bold Spirit Travel, which is my company, which I run now.

Daniela SM: 16:55

And so how long ago was it that you started?

Regina Winkle-Bryan: 16:58

Well, that's a whole other challenge. I started Bold Spirit Travel in 2019. So that's after 10 years in Spain and Guatemala, Costa Rica, traveling all over parts of Asia, India, most of Europe. I went to Morocco, but other than that, I haven't seen much of Africa.

Daniela SM: 17:17

But you travel for traveling or you were traveling for work, both.

Regina Winkle-Bryan: 17:22

It was very built into my work and to my lifestyle. So I specifically pursued work that would allow me to explore, and that's still true now. That's been true for years, right? Obviously, I have a travel company, so I do a lot of traveling, and then I would explore for pleasure as well. As a journalist, I got to go to lots of really interesting places. So, anyways, I started Bold Spirit Travel in 2019. And then, four months later, it was late, and four months later it was late, late 2019. So a few months later, covid hits. All travel is halted and game over before it's even begun. Right?

Daniela SM: 18:03

But you were doing something before.

Regina Winkle-Bryan: 18:05

Yeah, and what happened is I pivoted. This is a skill that I have, I think I try to be innovative and see different angles. You know, covid happened. I didn't want to close my business, I had just opened it and see different angles. Covid happened. I didn't want to close my business, I had just opened it, and so instead, we went online.

Regina Winkle-Bryan: 18:19

I started to host all of these online travel experiences and what happened is all these guides in different places around the world, they suddenly had no work. The chef in Rome that's teaching cooking classes to travelers is no longer doing that. There are no travelers, there is no work. I started collaborating with these guides and, for example, that chef we did online cooking classes so he, through the magic of the internet, would be in Rome in his kitchen and then I would have all of our guests all over the United States, mostly tuning in and they would do that class. We did virtual visits around the Alhambra and Granada of Rome, of the Gaudi sites in Barcelona, and we just connected with all of these guides. And then a bunch of people who were at home, obviously feeling isolated and bored and dreaming of travel. But that wasn't going to happen and these classes were super popular.

Daniela SM: 19:19

How interesting. Who would have thought yes?

Regina Winkle-Bryan: 19:21

And also we charged for the classes and so we were able to pay the guides, who were all out of work, so it was a way for them to make some money to keep, you know, doing their thing, and for people to have an enriching experience and also meet other people online. So some of the classes would have a networking aspect and the Bold Spirit community just grew and grew and grew because of these classes. We had a women's travel book club, which we still host even now, all these years later, and we still do online classes. So this very week, I'm going to do a session about Portugal and I have a woman coming on who walked the entire Camino de Santiago over 50 days. She's going to be talking about that. So it's something that I never planned to do.

Regina Winkle-Bryan: 20:09

It was really successful and it's something we still do, and I got so many emails from guests during that time telling me thank you so much for having these classes. I am so alone. I'm a single woman, I live by myself, I can't go out, I'm retired, so I'm not working, and I just look forward to these sessions each week. Wow, yeah. So when COVID lifted, there was a huge community of bold spirit, guests, participants students who were ready to travel In 2021, the second half of 2021, off we went. We've been going ever since.

Daniela SM: 20:43

Wow, incredible, how you took something that it was a restriction and you made it even better. Amazing, this came naturally. You didn't even think about. Oh, were you like thinking how can we make it better? How can we make it different?

Regina Winkle-Bryan: 20:56

I think I had the advantage of not knowing what I had lost and something else that was really magical. That happened because of COVID. All of these other tour companies who had been in business for many, many years suddenly had no work right, and so I joined a group of women through a company called Journeywoman. I don't know if you've ever heard of them. Maybe your listeners would like to check them out. They've been around for a really long time I think 30 years and they're Canadian. Anyways, journeywoman A bunch of us were affiliated with them. We started talking to each other and meeting almost weekly. All these people who usually would be really busy running their tours suddenly were not, and we created this group and camaraderie and I learned a lot from them. You know, some people did go out of business.

Regina Winkle-Bryan: 21:47

Of course, I had just started, so I didn't have that much to lose, right, because I didn't know how good it could get or how bad it could get. Well, that was the worst it could get. According to them, some of them had been through 9-11. But it was just all up from there for me, because I started at the very worst moment. I think that again we go back to. You can do things that are difficult, but you don't have to give up. Just keep trying, keep going. Yeah, I was terrible at Spanish. Okay, we'll go to Costa Rica. Go to Guatemala Still not great. Okay, let's go to Spain. Eventually you're going to get it. Just keep on trying. Different angles, put in the time.

Daniela SM: 22:26

So what happened? So you were 10 years in Spain, and then what? You decided to go back to the States.

Regina Winkle-Bryan: 22:32

Yes, eventually, after 10 years, at some point in Spain, I met my husband and we lived there for a while together with his trilingual dog, who then became my dog. She was a German shepherd. We brought her and came to the United States, to the Pacific Northwest, which is where I'm from. I grew up here. It was time for me to return home, after 13 years away. I just wanted to be around my family. You know I missed them and I missed the Pacific Northwest and maybe this has happened to you where you feel like your time is done in a place. What felt right at one point 10 years later didn't feel right anymore. It was time to go.

Daniela SM: 23:13

How was that? Coming home? Because you have changed your way of seeing the world, because you've been living in different countries. So how was that?

Regina Winkle-Bryan: 23:21

Yeah, you're right, it is different, isn't it? And it's nice to meet other people who also have that experience of living abroad or an international outlook, because that's something that we share. But mostly it was really good coming back. I was ready to be back here. My husband had only lived in Catalonia, so he was ready to try something new as well. He told me this story that when he was a little kid he would always draw pictures of big mountains and big rivers and big trees, and that is what we have here in the Pacific Northwest. So he felt like he was stepping in to this dream that he had had as a child. He says it doesn't bother him that it rains so much, especially compared to Barcelona, where it's sunny most of the year, and we've been here for almost eight or nine years now.

Daniela SM: 24:13

But you said that you want to belong, like when you were trying to belong in Costa Rica. Once you come back home, do you feel that you belong 100%.

Regina Winkle-Bryan: 24:23

Oh yeah, I know that's one of those things. When you live abroad it's your perspective shifts, so it's like you don't belong in the one place and you don't belong in the other place either. At first I felt more out of place. Now it's been quite a while. I felt that more when I lived in other countries. This is my new home, but I don't really belong here. But when I go home I don't really belong there. I remember that feeling.

Regina Winkle-Bryan: 24:52

I travel a lot, so when I feel restless here, I feel like oh, I, you know, I miss this aspect of my old life in Barcelona, which is my second home, for sure, because I was there for so long and we have family there. Of course, his whole family is there. Luckily, I can go back and I do all the times. I spend a lot of time in Europe, so I still feel like I'm there and I can go between the two places. And that's a gift that comes from language and it comes from taking these big leaps and saying I'm going to just go and live there and I'm going to figure it out. And people ask me about this a lot oh, I really want to move to Mexico, I really want to move to Portugal, but I just don't know. You can do it Even if you just go for a year. Lots of people do it. It doesn't have to be 10 years of your life and then, once you're there and you're living it, usually it's not as scary as you thought it was going to be right.

Daniela SM: 25:46

No, it's our head that makes it worse than what really happens or what it will be. Yes, I know what you mean. I mean I feel like you know, I grew up my father was German, I was born in Spain, I have a lot of mixed culture and I feel that the best gift they gave me was languages and a passport nationalities. So that's pretty awesome and you're right. Like a place.

Daniela SM: 26:12

Sometimes you think, okay, I'm done with the time in this place. I never thought of that until recently, but I think also it made other changes. You know, our kids are older now and I feel like, okay, I've done already 28 years in Vancouver, wow. And I feel like, okay, it is time for something else. I wanted to stay in Europe. When I was in Venezuela, I went to Miami, then I went to Montreal, then I went to Switzerland and so I came here. So I felt like I never had the opportunity to live in Europe. But I feel like I want to go back and have that experience a little different now that I'm older and see how I see the world.

Regina Winkle-Bryan: 26:55

Well, certainly, lots of people do it. Also, we have to be careful with not creating these stories in our heads that stop us from from making the next move, even doing something simple like taking a solo trip. I speak to guests on the phone, you know, every week, and something I hear from women all the time is that they are really scared about going alone and everything. So it's baby steps. Right, we start with one thing. That's a frightening, frightening, and then we move on to a bigger goal after that.

Daniela SM: 27:30

Yes, and also every different stages are for different people. It's not like being a nomad, for example, is like the best life. It's not for everyone and not everybody has to always travel. Some people don't want to travel right, but we have to respect that. Not because we like to travel that we're better than them, it's just we're different.

Daniela SM: 27:50

But it is true that these kind of little start with little trips once you do it. Like my mom, she was afraid and she did travel for six weeks. She went to Europe and she's 78. She was 78 when she did it and you know I was like wow, look, you did it. But now I said, are you doing it again? It's like no, no, she's scared again, right, so we need to need to help her as well. That is awesome that you are helping people, and so tell me a bit more. So you, you started now your business and now you are taking people. So how do you do it? You, you put a package and people see this is the package that I want to do and you go with them.

Regina Winkle-Bryan: 28:31

So you're constantly traveling, I don't always go with them. Now I have trusted guides in many places, kind of connected to what we were just saying with the baby steps. One of the trips that we do is the Camino de Santiago and, for those who don't know, the Camino de Santiago is a pilgrimage trail that cuts across Spain and the destination is Santiago. Okay, and there are many different trails, not just one. Some people have seen the way with Martin Sheen and they think, oh, that's the French way is the only one. There's lots of different ones and people walk it.

Regina Winkle-Bryan: 29:06

So we do a trip that's nine days, the last 100 kilometers, and I bring this up because it's a way to get your feet wet with something that's much bigger. Most people can take 10 days off and walk a hundred kilometers if they, if they train for it over seven days. But the larger Camino is 45 days to 50 days or more to do the whole thing. So that requires a lot of time off work, a lot more training, a lot more logistics. But if you can get your feet wet with something small, then we can move into something much bigger like the Camino.

Regina Winkle-Bryan: 29:44

So, for example, the Camino I've done it quite a few times now, but I don't do it. We're about to run one in a few weeks with a great group of women and I have a couple of really great guides who are leading it. I won't be on it. We're getting into our Italy time. I take people to Italy and I will be on a few of those trips, but not all of them. It's too much for me to go on all of the trips and also run the other aspects of the business.

Regina Winkle-Bryan: 30:10

Of course of course I do go on some each year. I'll be in Portugal. I'll be leading a trip to Portugal this year.

Daniela SM: 30:16

When you started, you had to go to all of them. Yes, how many trips you had in a year.

Regina Winkle-Bryan: 30:21

Well, we started small I think I did in 2021, maybe five trips or something like that, and people were very still very hesitant to travel, or maybe not even five, and there were a lot of restrictions in place. We had to do all this testing and bring forms and it was very complicated. Yeah, at first I'm on all of the trips because I want to check it out, make sure it's a good fit for my guests. But then it became obvious that as we added more and more trips, as I added more trips, that I couldn't be on all of them. I'd be gone all the time, like you say.

Daniela SM: 30:54

Yes, and Regina, have you figured out? Is there another Camino somewhere else, something similar anywhere in Europe? It's just the only one in Spain. I just feel that maybe there's somewhere else that it hasn't been touched yet.

Regina Winkle-Bryan: 31:05

Oh geez. Well, there are lots of different long distance hiking trails, you know in it throughout Europe. There's one that I did with a group. Actually, this is one of the most beautiful trips I've ever been on and it's in one of my favorite places in the world, the Costa Brava, which is north of Barcelona. There's a long distance hiking trail between fishing villages along the Mediterranean Sea and we did offer it one year. I don't have it this year, but hopefully I'll bring it back eventually. It's just mind-blowingly beautiful and when you get hot you can jump into the ocean and you know there's great food. So there's that one. That one's in Spain.

Regina Winkle-Bryan: 31:50

What did you have? A name Called the Camí de Ronda. It's not very well known. If people want to email me about it, I'm happy to talk about it. That's one, actually, that a long time ago I wrote about this trail for when they used to have the magazine and Delta Airlines. I wrote all about it for Delta Airlines and I received lots of emails from people like how do I do this? How can I make this happen? Because it's not as well known as the Camino, but it is spectacular.

Regina Winkle-Bryan: 32:21

Then, of course, there's a lot of hiking in Scotland. There's the West Highland Way. I'll be taking people to Scotland in 2025 for hiking in the highlands. Different environment than Spain, for sure, colder, rainier, but also beautiful. There's quite a bit of hiking in Italy. Of course there's the Cinque Terre, but my specialty has been Spain. That's where I've done the most hiking because that's where I lived for so long. We'll also do Iceland. We'll be doing hiking there Not the same where you're hiking long distances every day, but doing really interesting things like hiking over a glacier so cool.

Daniela SM: 32:59

And are you always in the need to get new trips, or is that okay with what you have? It are your desires.

Regina Winkle-Bryan: 33:06

Yes, my desire is to keep growing, adding experiences for myself, but also, principally, for my guests. So I have many people who will come on one trip. We'll do the Camino, and then they come with us to Costa Rica. I guess that's a full circle moment as well, something I never expected. I do not lead trips to Guatemala at this point, but we do lead a very popular winter trip to Costa Rica and, yes, we stay for two nights in Monteverde, which is where I lived all those years ago, working up in the cloud forest, and I certainly never thought you know as a young person there that I would be bringing groups of women there all these years later and getting to show off all the beauty of Costa Rica.

Regina Winkle-Bryan: 33:55

So it's partially, you know, it's that. It's that people go on one trip and then we want to explore something new and come on a different, see a different place. So I'll often ask guests where do you want to go? And what they've told me recently was Japan, greece and Scotland, like, not Bali, not no, that's where they want to go. So that's the feedback that I've been getting. I, you know I ask people what do you want to see?

Daniela SM: 34:20

Okay, because they want to be with you and you're making a group or you're making already a community.

Regina Winkle-Bryan: 34:25

Yeah, I feel very flattered that guests want to come back again and again. I think that has to do with how we plan the trips, but a huge part of it is that they are small trips, all women. There's a reason for that. It's really hard to get to know everybody if you've got 30 people on your trip first of all, and that's when people start to break off into cliques and it gets. Yeah, it's just hard to get to know people. But if you're a small group, then you really can get to know people over the course of a week or 10 days. Right, we have a lot of meals together, conversations this is how we connect with one another. And then they are all women trips.

Regina Winkle-Bryan: 35:12

What I found is that, especially, there's a few things. So some women who have a spouse, for whatever reason, their spouse doesn't want to travel this is something I've heard a lot. Hey, my husband doesn't want to go anywhere and I'm tired of waiting for him, so I'm going, because time is slipping by and I haven't been to Italy. Okay, so that's one part. The other part is, if you are a solo woman, single woman, and you go on a all genders trip, you're very likely going to be with a bunch of couples. There might be some other single people there, but and that can be very uncomfortable. So if you go with all women, then you know that some are married, some aren't, but it's all ladies Also. They're looking to make friends. I think all of us are.

Regina Winkle-Bryan: 35:56

There's a big problem these days with feeling disconnected. There's not enough community. Even if they have lots of friends back home, those friends maybe don't want to travel. So if you come on a trip where everybody wants to be adventurous, hopefully you're going to meet another friend who also wants to do that next trip with you, and it doesn't need to be with me. I get photos from people from past guests and they're in Panama together because they met on a trip with me and now they're traveling together to different places or they're going on a hike together and I love to get those pictures because that's really the thing that's most important to me, the aspect of the business that's most important. Yes, I love to travel. Yes, I love showing, teaching people how to travel, but we're going to go back to that sense of belonging, community, friendship that is so meaningful.

Regina Winkle-Bryan: 36:47

Yes, yeah, that's community friendship that is so meaningful. So if I can create a space where people feel welcomed and then they create connections with one another, that's the deeper work.

Daniela SM: 36:58

Yes, and you inspire that. So that's amazing, Something that will be never forgotten, right, so that has more meaning than having just a business. You know you're building a community which is beautiful.

Regina Winkle-Bryan: 37:13

I think so, I feel really, yeah, fortunate to get to do this work and all the people who I meet, all the wonderful women I meet during our tours.

Daniela SM: 37:22

And when you say small groups, what is small?

Regina Winkle-Bryan: 37:24

No more than 15, like usually 12 to 15 max.

Daniela SM: 37:29

How do you learn about?

Regina Winkle-Bryan: 37:30

that number. Research, talking to other tour operators, just what I can actually handle as a guide. I do private trips sometimes too, and I have had larger groups. The purposes of of bold spirit and and creating community and connection. It has to be small.

Daniela SM: 37:48

Do you have to fit me with a group, or because maybe I'm unbearable and difficult and you don't want to deal with me? How does that happen?

Regina Winkle-Bryan: 37:56

I speak to almost everybody who comes on a trip. We speak on the phone so I get an idea. Most people are great. However, we do set expectations for the trip. We have an orientation. We also meet each other on Zoom before the trip, so women get a chance to introduce themselves and see who the other guests are. If somebody is giving some red flags, I would definitely pull them aside and talk to them about it. But one of the expectations for these trips is that if you come on a trip, you're going to do everything in your power to be welcoming and kind to other guests, because it's a group trip. If you don't want to be with a group, then you should do a trip on your own. Most people who sign up they want that, and so they're friendly and they have open minds.

Daniela SM: 38:44

Yes, and I think it's interesting and actually very convenient that you get to meet people with the technology now before the trip. So you get like this pump, like okay, this is good. I already saw all these 15 ladies, it's great, and so you don't go with the first day of anxious. You already hi, how are you? I met you on Zoom. That's awesome. And are you also having trips where all your guests are Spanish speakers?

Regina Winkle-Bryan: 39:09

Oh, not yet. That would be interesting. I have had some requests for that, but it has not happened yet. We have some wonderful Spanish speaking guides who are bilingual. Not yet. Maybe in the future, daniela, I don't know.

Daniela SM: 39:21

Okay, well, we have to work on that, then. Great, you gave some good advice about being bald, and I really appreciate it, because I think it's no matter what he's referring to. It's actually life is like that. You have to hold the fear and confront it and go for it and then it will go away. Your personality obviously has done that. You never stop Anything else that you suggest or that you will advise people about your life.

Regina Winkle-Bryan: 39:52

I think I come back a lot to the fact that we really shouldn't take things so seriously. I tell myself this as a kind of recovering perfectionist. Sometimes I can get real wrapped up around whatever issue and then step back and it's like we don't need to take it all so seriously. If you have a dream of you know, maybe you want to start a business, just look around. There's people running businesses everywhere, just everywhere around you. Lots of people are doing it.

Regina Winkle-Bryan: 40:21

Try it on the side, while you still have your main gig. Put a toe in. Start talking to people who have already done it, and that's true with starting a business or with going on a big trip or, like what you were saying, living a nomadic lifestyle. Speak to someone who's already done it. That's been really helpful to me, having mentors for sure. This is a big one actually not being afraid to fail. Don't take yourself so seriously and don't stay down if you get down, right. So I never would have learned Spanish if I had been afraid of failure because I was just failing all the time. I would definitely not have my business if I had.

Daniela SM: 41:00

Oh you're a host.

Regina Winkle-Bryan: 41:00

Oh yeah. You are very somebody else, I know I think about that and that dream too. When I met him, we spoke to each other in Spanish for sure he does speak English, but we mostly speak in Spanish.

Daniela SM: 41:12

Oh really.

Regina Winkle-Bryan: 41:13

We speak to our dogs in Spanish.

Daniela SM: 41:15

Yeah, what relationship you had with your grandmother that she came back in that dream. I wanted to ask that since the beginning.

Regina Winkle-Bryan: 41:24

Well, we were very close. She lived in Southern California. She was definitely an inspiration to me. She is somebody who lived all over the world, and so she was an inspiration in that way too, and maybe my story starts way back with all of that. There's a history on that side of my family people living internationally in different cultures so she was an example of that. That can happen, that you can do that.

Daniela SM: 41:50

For the story that happens with your grandmother. Did it make believing in anything else that you didn't before?

Regina Winkle-Bryan: 41:55

Oh, you know, like in the spirit world or something like that, I don't know. It was right after, not long after she died, and if you speak to other people who've had loved ones, pass on. Sometimes it seems like they do visit from the other realm, right, and there's conversations that happen. In this case, it was just that piece of advice about Spanish. Frankly, it changed my life.

Daniela SM: 42:17

Yeah, that's right.

Regina Winkle-Bryan: 42:18

It did. It led to this whole other career, my marriage. I don't know what I would be doing right now had I not followed that. Failed and failed and failed. But eventually I did not give up and eventually here we are.

Daniela SM: 42:31

Yeah, you finished college before you went to the Malay again.

Regina Winkle-Bryan: 42:34

Yeah, I was pretty much done with school at that point. I was in my early twenties, ready to continue the adventure.

Daniela SM: 42:40

What did you study?

Regina Winkle-Bryan: 42:41

I studied English, english literature, so it all kind of makes sense, doesn't it? Because then I was a writer for many years. Still, I don't write as much as I'd like to now I write. Most of the writing I do is for my business, or I have a newsletter, so I send that out, but maybe someday I'll write a book. I'd like to do that.

Daniela SM: 43:00

Yes, I think so Sounds like you have a book already. I don't know, yeah, maybe, Well, we could say that your grandmother was ahead of the time because, you know, in the States now it's 50% people speak Spanish, so maybe she was seeing the future.

Regina Winkle-Bryan: 43:16

Absolutely. It's really useful to have another language, whether it's Spanish or something else. As you know, you're trilingual.

Daniela SM: 43:29

It is difficult, though, when English is your first language, because everybody wants to speak English, so it's always helpful when you want to speak English and you speak other ones, right?

Regina Winkle-Bryan: 43:33

I think that's true especially for my time in Barcelona, because once I was in Barcelona I spoke Spanish yeah, I got better and better, but I had a grasp, at least at that point and then I speak English, obviously, and then Catalan was on top of that, and Barcelona is a very cosmopolitan city. There are people there from all over the world speaking many languages. When you walk down the street you hear all these different languages, which is part of the beauty of that kind of city in Europe and it's something I miss often. So my opportunities to practice Catalan were not very many, because I had two other languages I could use to communicate. And I did take Catalan courses there were I don't know if this is still true now and learn Catalan. And I tried, and I think if I had lived in a little village outside of Barcelona, I definitely would have become fluent, but in the big city the idea is to communicate. So if we could talk in Spanish, great. If we could talk in English, great. And then Catalan was the last choice.

Daniela SM: 44:44

Yeah Well, regina, thank you so much for sharing your story. It is just definitely a book that needs to be written now and we will put all the information, the show notes, for people that want to travel with Ball Spirit Travel and take your tours. That sounds amazing.

Regina Winkle-Bryan: 45:01

Oh, thank you so much for having me on and I wish you lots of luck on your next great adventure. I hope that you continue the podcast so that we can all hear updates about where you are and what you're doing.

Daniela SM: 45:13

Yes, definitely. This is my hobby and I don't want to stop doing it because it's amazing and I've been missing amazing people like you. So we will continue this and preserve it, because now I cannot stop it.

Regina Winkle-Bryan: 45:24

No that's right.

Daniela SM: 45:26

Thank you. I hope you enjoyed today's episode. I am Daniela and you were listening to, because Everyone has a Story. Please take five seconds right now and think of somebody in your life that may enjoy what you just heard, or someone that has a story to be shared and preserved. When you think of that person, shoot them a text with the link of this podcast. This would allow the ordinary magic to go further. Join me next time for another story conversation. Thank you for listening. Hasta pronto.