Transformative Travel for Wellness

Transformative travel is a type of adventure that helps you step out of your usual routine and see the world from a fresh perspective. It expands your horizons, leading to personal growth.  

Join us 🎧 as we explore the world 🌎 of transformative travel with coach @Sonia Cruz Oro:

✈️ Enriching experience for wellness

💡Catalyst for personal transformation and healing

🧘‍♀️ Integrating wellness into travel itinerary

🏠 Applying practices at home

Tune in to discover valuable tips 💡 on making travel more meaningful and purposeful, leading to a more fulfilling life 🌟

🌟 🌟 🌟 If you liked this episode and would like to learn more about wellness training and workshops offered by 9 to 5 Wellness, email us at info@aeshathair.com. You can learn more about our programs at: https://toneandstrengthen.com/workshops-trainings/. 🌟 🌟 🌟

My passion is helping organizations create a culture of wellness, and I do this by setting up health programs that prioritize the most important asset they've got – their employees. Cheers to a healthier and happier journey ahead!

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Transcript

 Hello, everyone. Have you ever thought of traveling with a purpose? Well, that's exactly we are going to learn about today with our guest. So let me welcome  Sonia Cruz Oro here. She is a transformational travel coach. And I'm just so excited to have her here with us. 

Hi, the pleasure is mine. Thank you for having me.  Thanks for joining us, Sonia.   I am curious about your journey, like what was the inspiration behind starting Travel Awakens?  Okay, so my background is not in travel. My background is in corporate IT.  So many people, when I explain, uh, you know, the story, they are surprised about this difference, but actually I explained it that I was my first client. 

When I was working in the corporate and, you know, we're going up the ladder and trying to get promotions after promotions. Actually, I even changed countries. I'm originally from Spain, but I live in Ireland because of a promotion. So I arrived at a point of my career that I didn't want to go in this direction anymore, but I didn't know what to do with my life.

So I turned into my passion. I embrace my passion for travel. My two passions always have been travel and personal development. I also study psychology and, you know, I love coaching and all that is about mindset. So I start traveling and I invested, uh, one year. I did, uh, 15 trips to 11 countries in that 12 months and I changed my life as a result.

So at that point I realized this was my calling. And since then I got certified in travel coaching and I created Travel Awakens.  Wonderful. Wow. 15, countries in 12 months,  12,  11 countries in 12 months. Yeah, but 15 trips overall. 15 trips overall. I'm just curious. , name some of the,  top countries, your favorite countries that you visited. 

Well, all around Europe, and I also visited, , the U. S., of course. I went to Egypt, I went to Dubai. Many fantas I could not pick one, you know, every one was different. But, uh, yes, I checked, different countries that I never visited before. So I really enjoyed, and for the first time, I was feeling I was living my life.

And that was, uh, part of that, the transformation I, I got from it, personally and professionally as well.  Wonderful. So, um, for our listeners and my audience, what is transformational travel? How would you define it?  So it's important that the person is traveling with the intention. It's very important that the intention here when you are embarking on a transformational trip to make a positive change in your life.

And of course, we are talking about lasting change, otherwise it would be temporary, right? And,  For example, if a person, , you know, in their daily life, they feel  burn out at work, right? And they want to take a trip and they want to go on a wellness trip, or they want to, you know, uh, have a weekend away and, , enjoy spa.

And that would be fantastic and relaxing. But if they go back home and they don't change anything,  sooner than later, they're going to be in this state of burning out again, right? Because they, they have been falling back to the old habits.  And patterns. So transformational travel is using this platform.

The catalyst travel is a powerful catalyst for change using it with intention and also bringing back the benefits and the insights back home.  Is it based actually in the concept of the hero's journey? I don't know you heard about the hero's journey, but it's used in many movies and books and well researched for by Professor Joseph Campbell as well.

So is this hero that leaves home? Leaves the known the familiarity to embark in this adventure in the unknown, and he's going to overcome, you know, obstacles and enemies and also is going to make allies and friends, but after all, he's going to go back home, change transformed, and he's going to share the, you know, the gifts and all the benefits with their friends and family.

So this is the based, transformation of travel is based in this concept. Because it's really proved how people change as a result of adventure experiences like travel.  So how can people get ready for a journey of self discovery and personal growth? 

Yeah. So the first thing I always recommend, because many people start with the destination, right? And where are you going to go? And they start asking friends or family, you know, where they enjoyed or researching online. Nowadays, we have all the information very accessible, but not a journey is going to be the same.

Your personal journey is not the same. You cannot compare with anybody else. So the most important thing is that you start with the why. Not with the where, but with the why. Okay, so why do you want to travel? Is there any change that you are seeking? Is there anything you want to, you know, have that you don't have?

Or you are, you know, trying to get some distance for something? What it is?  And also don't stay in the superficial aspect of travel because, , It's very typical that people say the first thing that comes to their mind, you know, I need time for myself. Yes, but why you need time for yourself? And then you start asking why several times until you arrive to the, to the real reason, the root cause is like the, the, why the reason behind the reason, right?

So start there  and then don't stop. You know, don't, don't stay the superficial aspect of travel, but go deeper and actually really. You know, get yourself immersed in the experience because I always say that the experience must move you. If the experience does not move you, it's not going to change you.

If you just travel and, you know, get,  you know,  see everything behind the camera and observe like a spectator, it's not going to transform you. You have to be part of it. You have to engage with the community, talk to local people, actually do good research before. traveling, because you have to understand what you are going to see.

Otherwise, it's not going to move you, right? So do this research before previously, not only physically or intellectually, but also emotionally, spiritually, you know, is a holistic preparation.  And after, after the experience, just because you go back home, It does not mean it's the end of the journey. You have also to implement, incorporate, taking in the body, incorporate, yeah?

So it's bringing back these benefits and insights that you have realized, what you have realized about yourself, about others, about the world, and how you can implement this to your life. So making sure you don't go back to status quo.  Yeah   that you have to, when you come back, Now don't go on to the old patterns, right?

Don't start following the patterns again. And you have to incorporate those positive changes that you experienced during travel.  If somebody had this intention of,   getting better or, ,  you know, chasing wellness, as I say, because a lot of people are feeling burnt out, as you know, , after COVID and then, going back to work and, , just adapting to the new normal.

, and a lot of my clients do come to me for wellness solutions. So if somebody is looking for travel as a wellness solution, what kind of wellness activities would you recommend during travel?  Yeah, this is something that we discuss in the coaching sessions, because what I do with my clients is I prepare them before the experience with coaching sessions and we deep into the reasons.

, Right. So we start with why. So this would be very, you know, generic. I cannot say a reason that,  you know, would satisfy everyone. We need to look at the real reasons, but it's true that everybody nowadays, we are very connected with technology, but we are very disconnected from, from ourselves, from who we are and what we want.

So using travel as a way to reconnect and remember who we are, because sometimes we lose ourselves, especially when we are. At crossroads at life, you know, maybe, uh, in, in some life transition or even career transition that we don't know what's next. So taking time for yourself and not,  overwhelming, you know, the, we sometimes we put a list of things we want to check, you know, our checklist and we, , put the diary, lots of, , things we want to see.

So depending on what you're looking for, this would not be the best, , advice.  and always is good to dedicate time to connect with nature and being, you know, outdoors and spend time in nature and being mindful when you are there, not in our head, but in our body, time to slow down. Right. And, and really Be in the moment, being present in the moment.

So I think all this is already very healing, but when you combine it, you know, with travel with, with these, , you know, outside of your comfort zone, , it's even more powerful because you are not in the program, in the automatic autopilot that you are in your familiar environment, in your routine. So it's much more powerful and also easier to be present when you are away from home. 

Yeah. Yeah.  That you have the ability to disconnect. , and then nature is just so therapeutic. I just love spending time in nature and that can really relax and calm us.   If I'm, I know that I'm a very spontaneous kind of traveler. I try not to plan a lot. Like there are a couple of things on the itinerary that I would like to definitely, you know, put on a famous place I want to see or a famous site,  but mostly my plan is open.

What do you think about that? Like, should people be? Planning their trip, like should every day or every hour be planned? Because I know a friend, she plans almost every hour of her travel. And I feel like, you know, I would be stressed out  if I was doing that.  Yeah, no.  There is, there is no right or wrong.

Okay. So everybody will, will know the why and what they are looking after,  looking for, , trouble in this experience that they are planning, but it's true that the key is in the balance. Yeah. So if you don't plan anything at all,  if this is what you want, it's fine, but, you may be find yourself spending time of the precious time that you are in your vacations trying to, you know, fine.

Something to do, or, you know, accommodation. So there is something that you can do in advance. So you don't need to spend time and you can really enjoy and be present. So it's true that the, the, the things that you plan, then you can just relax and, and trust that, that all this is looked after. Yeah. But the other side is also true.

So if you plan too much, you don't leave space for serendipities or things that can happen, coincidences that happen. This is the beauty of travel. Sometimes we meet people. You know, our plans change, so it needs to be a little bit of flexibility as well. So the way you say it, you know that it is. One thing I want to do this day and the other things are gonna just trust, , and let go and see what happens.

So making a list of, , you know,  things that you want to do for sure.  And you make sure that you don't go back home without having done these things or seeing these things. But the rest of the time you just can be present and let travel guide you to the next step. 

So I like to immerse myself in the culture in the new culture that I'm visiting, like the culture of the country. I like to learn how to cook one of their famous dishes. Or I want to go to a local spot. So To eat.  And what happens mostly is I end up being at the tourist spots  because they're the most famous one.

So I look up Google something and it would be, you know, in the middle of the most crowded street. So any,  you know, suggestions for how to find those local spots where you can immerse yourself into the culture. Yeah. Well,  the best recommendation I can tell you is to speak with local people because they know the local places.

And sometimes when we do that, we tend to ask, , what do you recommend? Right? And this is not the best question necessarily, because when you ask a local person, what do you recommend me to go for dinner or to go to listen to music or, you know, whatever you want to do, the person first is going to try to, you know, keep the level up. 

It feels like they are the, , the ambassador of their country or their city. So they're gonna say, okay, let me think. She's a tourist. So what she must like, you know, and what they can recommend her that she's happy. And she doesn't come back to me and say, Oh my God, where did you send me? Right. So they want to satisfy you if you say that.

So if you want to make sure, because then maybe they send you to things that are not necessarily the most local, but are the most well known and touristic, right? So you want to make sure that you go to the local places. The best way to ask a local person is where do you go?  Right? Instead of what do you recommend me is where do you go?

Where do you go for dinner? You know, where do you bring your family or your friends when they visit you to go for dinner? Or where did you go Saturday night to listen to music or to dance? is where do you go? When you ask this question, the person does not feel any pressure, you know, to keep any level.

You're not going to go back to tell them, Hey, I didn't like that because you just ask, where do you go? So it's very easy. They just tell you, look, I usually go there. I don't know if you will like it, but they will go there. So if this person, this local person goes to this place, chances are more local people will go to this place.

So here you are, you just discovered the local. You know, secret, uh, gems, hidden gems of the place.  Oh, wonderful. Wonderful. Yeah. Just, you know, asking a local person. And, um, what if it's a country where, you know, the. Language is not English, like it's a non English speaking country, what do you recommend then?

. No, look, nowadays there are many ways to You know, speak with people and translation as you said, but especially, you know, in places that if you go to a accommodation, hotel, restaurants, these are the people who are more used to tourist or who are more used to foreign people and chances are they will speak English.

So I want to start there. You know, to the places that are, , yeah, , waiters or receptionists of the hotel or, you know, on otherwise using technology and using the tools that we have to translate.    I tried to learn some words of the other language too, even if it's just saying hello, thank you, , sorry. 

Or, you know, just common words too. I've tried that. And that, that's good. That actually increases That's a very well, good practice. Yeah. And it shows respect and that you are interested. And it's likely that people will open their doors and They will be more likely to help if they see you are making the effort to at least learn these basic words.

So, yeah, I like that. Yeah, so tell us more about your business. You know, , are there any events coming up? You know, what, what, we'd just love to hear more about your business here. Yeah. So as a travel coach, what I do, well, I explain already what is transformational travel. So I basically support people who are at crossroads at life, wanted to step away from the routine and the daily, you know, , noise to find these answers within themselves.

Sometimes it's finding clarity. Sometimes it's healing. The reasons are very different, but I help them with coaching,  uh, online, right. Uh, before the experience.  During the experience as well. Sometimes when there are long trips, for example, if I have clients doing sabbaticals or career breaks, you know, that maybe they hire me for one year.

So we prepare before we do the, uh, the coaching sessions, also during the experience to check and make sure they are on track with, uh, their goals. And then we meet after for the incorporation of the benefits and making sure they don't go back to status quo. But I also organize trips and retreats or pilgrimages like the one that is.

, coming now in October, where I do the same system, right? So I prepare the people before, but in this case is group. Yeah. So in coaching, you do one to one with the pilgrimages and retreats. I do this,  coaching in group. So I do online the preparation before then I travel with them, right? The difference with the coaching is I don't travel with my client, , that they are doing, , you know, relocation or sabbatical, but I travel with the people who are joining my retreats and my trips. 

And I prepare them before I am there with them during that week, usually it's a long a week long trip. And then I do the coaching online again after, right? So yes, the upcoming event that I have is a pilgrimage to Camino de Santiago. We call it Wellness Camino because this is what it is. So we make sure the people get crystal clear about the intentions and what they want out of this experience before.

And we prepare mind, soul, and body. for the experience so they can get this transformation that they are seeking, whatever this means for them. And also after we will connect for the, um, you know, learnings and insights back home. But, , this is, I don't know if you ever done the Camino before, or you heard, heard about it, but this, uh, well, St.

James Way in northwest of Spain,  and we are going to do the a Portuguese Camino, which is the one that goes in the coast from Portugal to Santiago. And we will walk the last hundred kilometers. So it's a five days  walk, but it's a seven, seven days  pilgrimage.  

So there's physical activity involved. So you're immersing all the senses, right? Now you're Practically there. I just love that. And that's such a huge part of just wellness in general. And now you combine it with a new experience. That's even better.    I never thought of, , travel transformational coaching.

As a group activity till you just mentioned this. So when you coach, every person can have a different intention, but then you guys come together and work towards your own goals and still be part of the community. Is that how it works? Yes, that's right. Yes. So, uh, you know, when I give the content or I ask, uh, the, the powerful questions for them to reflect about it, everybody will journal.

So this is what is part of it is journaling. And it's not always writing most, most of the people use the, you know, a book,  pen and paper, but, , you can also journal with audio. You know, you can journal with video, you can journal with, uh, you know, pictures, drawing. This is very personal, but it's about, , documenting the story, documenting what has happened, because if you are not going to go back home the same way that you left home, so it's important to, you know, note every step and all these changes that have happened, especially when we are back home, we can look back and note these things and then go to the plan of action.

So definitely everybody is in their own journey, but the thing is, we are on the same page. Everybody's there because they want to make a positive change in their mind in their life. And they want, they are ready to invest in themselves. And, you know, they, you know, they don't want to travel maybe on their own necessarily.

They want to do it part of a community and communities is a good, important part also of the transformation.  with like minded people. And as you said, walking, you know, when you walk, you get out of your head and you are more in the body, which is what we are trying to do here. Be mindful, slow travel, and, uh, powerful conversations.

Yeah. When we are,  we are clear about what We are looking for. And then the signs and the, you know, uh, serendipities are more visible to us when we are out of our head and we are present.  I'm thinking of all the powerful connections you'll make with the people around you. , I'm curious now, like how big is the group?

, like what's the average si size of the group for a retreat like that? Yeah, it can be minimum eight people and maximum 14, 15 people. This is  going to keep it small because it's important to go deep right with everyone. So sometimes also with some, you know, people will include some one to one sessions as well. 

So I do the group sessions, but then if somebody wants also, they can get, uh, you know, personalized sessions. Um, this is optional on top of that, but, uh, yeah, it's important that they have time time for everybody.   Sonia, if somebody wants to work. with you, um, and you know, wants to  get on their journey of self discovery and personal growth through travel,  where can they find you?  I think the best way to, to find me is on my website, travelawakens.

com, but I am also on social media. I'm on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn. Sonia, Kruth, Oro, just, yeah, send me a message and I would love, uh, you know, to, to chat with you and see if I can help.  That's awesome. Thank you so much for joining us today. I learned so much about transformational travel coaching and how actually we can use travel, which a lot of us do right on a yearly basis.

We. We go on vacations at least once or twice a year and how we can use that as a tool for incorporating wellness and connecting with our inner self and getting more clarity on our goals and where we want to go in future. So thank you so much for all the info you shared with us and thank you, Sonia.