Travel Thru Grief

20/07/2024

A few weeks ago I went to a KFC that wanted either my credit card or the exact amount because they weren't making change for a $20. Who heard of such a thing.

Fast forward to yesterday's Microsoft issue that messed with airports, banks, ATM machines and more.

So when traveling, people more and more were not taking cash but depending on their credit cards and things like Google Pay, Venmo, Pay Pal, Apple Pay, etc.

What is the ratio of going old school with cash and new school with cards/tech to get thru a trip when neither seem to be 100% okay or full proof?

30/04/2024

Stay Tuned. It is almost here!!!!!!!!!!!

26/04/2024

In addition to the grief we have when we lose someone, on a daily basis, moments happen that trigger a Good Grief moment.

Traffic, dropping/spilling a beverage or a plate of food, dealing with co-workers, and just things that exhaust our bodies and spirits.

We don't think of that as grief but in essence, it is a moment that takes away our joy. Those moments may stay in your memory as muscle memory or a trigger. They add up. Over time, we may not recognize why we react.

Add those type of moments while you are grieving for a loved one. Your coping skills have changed. Maybe the one gone was the one that could calm you down in the car. Or on a bad day, the drink spilled and they helped you clean it up. Coming back to joy all of a sudden seems to take longer but you can't understand why.

This is when a support community helps you recognize the little things. Travel Thru Grief is here to join others for that support. Together we can practice mindset renewal. We can share the things that surprised us and how we took steps to heal.

In addition to the regular grief we experience in life, GOOD Grief is a GOOD place to start and how travel soothes our central nervous system.

22/04/2024

Piggy bank, a box, a savings account or even the cookie jar. You may not be ready to travel immediately when someone passes. But saving can happen anytime. Making yourself a priority is a challenge when you are left to care for kids or a parent by yourself. However, it is so vital to give yourself a break, to reset, to just be with your own feelings. A time to test the waters or just sit by the water. There is no expiration on grief. But there are times by accessing your dreams that give new energy.

Funds for travel are really investments in your healing.

20/04/2024

When we grieve, we want to find a way to honor and memorialize those we lost. What a great tribute to purchase a bench where all who share it can be at one with your loved one.

I know my friends from college are currently raising money to buy one on our campus for a friend that recently passed and we did it for two others in the last few years. I feel like they are with us when I see their bench and can go to that spot to talk with them.

In Louisville, benches in the Olmsted Parks provide a peaceful respite from the busy world around us. They are the perfect places to stop and reflect, and you can make one of these benches a tribute to a loved one.

You can reach us at 502-456-8125 to learn more about tribute gifts.

Maybe there is a spot in your town where you can buy a bench and it can become that place you continue to share with your loved one.

20/04/2024

When you grieve, it is so hard to start over. One thing I have learned is that it is important to be in motion. Taking a walk or finding a way to be active outdoors brings new energy which eventually can turn into an outlet of peace.

My hometown of Louisville, KY has some of the best parks in the nation and are affiliated with the Olmsted Parks (same designer of Central Park in NYC).

Finding a place in your own town is a great place to start with healing and a great way to start exploring if you aren't ready to travel yet. It builds the muscle of curiosity and adds to your fascination vault of experiences.

This is just a few spots in town that bring these feelings to light. Maybe you have a great park or neighborhood in your area or a lake or river or hill or mountain. Anything nature always allows us to connect with the insects, butterflies, and critters like fish and squirrels, birds and even foxes or deer, etc. Something about standing there in the quiet watching a deer move thru the woods that is magical.

Travel thru grief is movement of our bodies into movement of healing.

20/04/2024

Travel can start in your own back yard.

A festival, an event, a landmark, a place that shares energy with the past.

For me, the smaller airport is that place. It represents possibilities and stories, the past, present and future. A representation of adventure. Where are they going? Where have they been? A throwback to watching Casablanca and relationships at all phases.

Today is the Thunder Over Louisville air show and fireworks. It is the 35th anniversary. I was 20 when it started. In college and the biggest fireworks display in North America was happening right here in my town. It still holds that title and continues to grow annually. For a decade I had a front seat view from my workplace. Memories with my dad as my guest I will always cherish. And the air show is top notch. We have had Blue Angels, Thunderbirds and even the Stealth bomber.

Starting over in grief is hard. But a day like today that has blue skies and Spring hugs with jubilee and community helps for a time. You can feel connected in all kinds of ways to whatever you choose. Something else can hold your attention and fill your soul with something new.

Travel thru Grief has numerous ways to travel as we adjust and choose. Literally. Emotional travel is a concept for your memories to rejoice.

17/04/2024

14/04/2024

One of my best friends since I was 5 years old has been a pastor for over a decade now.

When he starts the service, I always see my friend thru all the years and different stages and things we have been thru.

But somehow every service when he preaches, something changes and I know God has called him. Somehow, he goes from being that kid that went thru it all with me to a voice that God uses to share his message and the Word.
Today, he was sharing a story about a seminary assignment about telling his life story. The sermon took me many different directions about my own story. He shared the story of Jesus sharing his story and showing his scars and has risen.

My own story includes physical, emotional and spiritual scars. They are so much a part of my story as well as this day I celebrate my 11th anniversary with my boyfriend who passed away.

Today's story from eleven years ago changed my whole life. How I went from being classmates with him to both of us finding love.

I think I tell my story pretty well, but tend to do it in pieces. Not sure I could stand for an hour to tell it, but you never know. Will have to practice doing that verbally anyway. In writing, maybe I am a little more confident to do it longer.

So scars and stories go hand in hand. My podcast Travel Thru Grief is about ready for its launch - FINALLY. I think today's sermon kind of helped me get that finally locked into place.

Grieving leaves giant scars, voids and so many questions. Thru my podcast, I hope to bring hope and a way for each of you to find comfort.

30/03/2024

Today is Virtual Vacation Day

Some things you can do before going on a virtual vacation is to make a travel binder or a scrapbook and create a list of the travel programs and documentaries you’d like to see.

Experience a virtual vacation
On this fun day, you can invest in buying a good-quality virtual reality headset. Many virtual reality apps can take you on amazing virtual tours.

Share your Virtual Vacation Day with the world
Share the experience of your virtual holiday on social media, using the hashtags or .

29/03/2024

"The pain will leave once it has finished teaching you". - Bruce Lee.

I heard this quote on the Today Show today and it just ran immediately to my core.

I think of all the grief in the world and the pain that causes. But I also have watched myself learn SO MANY THINGS. Since we say we are always learning in a lifetime, that probably means that the pain stays with us for a lifetime too.

But how the pain feels I think can change. We know daily, that there are so many ups and downs at a drop of the hat and that grief washes over us in an instant. No rhyme or reason, no known trigger, it just happens.

So knowing that the pain won't go away but we do have the choice in how to live with it, we must seek healthy ways to cope.

For me, travel has been a way to help me cope. I encourage travel because of the opportunities that bring clear messages to our learning. Travel allows us to take action, to seek and pursue a beauty and peace like no other. We get to grow inside of our healing in new ways.

19/03/2024

I was watching the movie Wuthering Heights. Toward the beginning of the movie, the character Cathy needed to urge Heathcliff to leave a house they had trespassed on after being bitten by a dog.

It struck me when she said: Go on, Heathcliff. Run away. Bring me back the world.

When we are grieving, so many times we want to run away.

But the line about bring me back the world took on so many meanings for me.

When we travel, we do just that. We bring back that piece of the world with us. We can share it with others grieving along side of us. We can share it with the new opportunities because of this new perspective. We can find healing when we travel because we are giving something new and as Cathy said in the movie, make the world stop right here. This is me now. Standing here with you, this is me forever. We know Heathcliff left and who he became was different than Cathy. He grew and searched. He had to leave love behind. But she was always with him.

We do that when our loved ones pass. They are always with us. Our growth can only come from taking a step in a new direction, a new endeavor, a new perspective. Healing is in the motion and rotation of the earth. Time and space to gain the breath that takes us thru grief and bring back the world to honor the love.

12/03/2024

Many times we feel like healing will never come. We certainly don't think travel will help until we are in the final stage of acceptance.

But what if traveling could help you in each stage of the grief process.

When we are in the denial phase, just even feeling like ourselves is a struggle. All the new things we have to deal with because someone is missing that use to do or be those things. We feel unbalance, we don't know which way is up, we just have such sorrow.

Traveling during the denial phase for some may look like running away from the problems but it is also a form of self care. Giving yourself time to just breathe. To be away from the reminders and the stress we have at home and work.

When we are in the anger phase, something like a new activity or being in motion like a hiking vacation moves our body to let out energy that has built up inside. Even just a weekend away doing movement helps us recenter and new energy can come in.

The Bargaining phase and travel - now this is an interesting one to me. My boyfriend who passed away and I had many plans including a cruise that got canceled by the 2020 pandemic. He was gone and prior to the pandemic I had to make a decision if I was going without him. It was an impossible choice for me as it wasn't how I wanted to experience my trip. To be without him. Well, I must have bargained in a bizarre way because the cosmos cancelled not only my trip but everything. I had a reset for an entire year at home alone. When the world began to open up in 2021 - one of the first things I did was schedule a trip and have been traveling ever since.

The phase of depression - This one I wish I could tell you goes away. It doesn't but what it does do is help you learn about your new reality. It is a time to make new connections and foster old ones. Traveling helps you come in contact with people to work thru the depression. Going to places that give you new conversation starters and experiences. New people to help support you. When I went to Ireland in 2023, I was with nine women who listened and brought new joy to me. They helped me navigate my depression by helping me experience things I might have been too shy on my own to try.

Acceptance - Travel thru grief. You made it thru the other four stages. It isn't easy. It feels impossible and you don't want to act like you have forgotten the person who has passed away. But you also don't want to forget that you are still here. You get to accept that you are allowed to have a permission slip that says I AM HERE and I get to create my new normal. I get to do things that help me heal. I get to change things that walk me thru the grief cycle and allow me to boost each element of my present and future.

The cycle isn't a one and done. It isn't linear and in order. You will bounce back and forth, you will at times skip steps.

But travel is a way to acknowledge where you are in the process. Travel is a way to be out of your daily grind. Travel is a way to find your breath and regulate the tempo for what you need. Travel is healing and yours in whatever capacity suits you.

04/03/2024

For some, it is almost time for spring break. But you don't have to be in school to take a break. Especially when you are grieving. Travel can help with grief even just taking a break from it.

Break time is crucial in your healing.

Where is a place that allows you to feel? The beach, the mountains, the country, other?

Even in your own yard or a park is a great place to start. Set yourself up for a solo picnic. Buy a hammock for the new season. Play frisbee with the dog. March is a great time to fly a kite.

Trips can be vacation but also a time to reingage with play and fun. Make a date with your inner child.

Time for a break.

23/02/2024

Short layovers that make you sweat running or long layovers and crowded sitting areas at airports you end up on the floor.

I am learning too, but upgrades or more travel miles do get you closer to an airline lounge with more comfort to wait it out.

The expectation one is a choice. The reality one is a choice. Either way, keep the shoes on.

Which do you choose and why?

13/02/2024

I have been to New Orleans a couple of times but never for Mardi Gras.

What is your number one event on your bucket list?

09/02/2024

Over the course of time, Travel Thru Grief will cover many topics.

These are just a few that will be on the podcast.

My hope is that you find community with one another in this group, share your stories and feel this is a space of support.

Each person is in a place of their own with what they are dealing with, what they will face and the spot in the ebbs and flows.

Grief is a sensitive and personal thing for each person. For some, it may be new and the first time they have ever felt like this.

I know that triggers exist and out of respect, please know that it is never my intention to make you feel a certain way that is pain. If you find yourself struggling in the past, I would suggest that grief counseling might be needed. In this group, we are future forward based and will be your next step when you are further along in that pain.

There is a difference between a grief counselor and a grief coach.

A grief counselor focuses on your pain and your past.

Grief Coach
Focuses on the future. They focus on helping you get back up on your feet and achieve personal growth after the loss.
Focuses on action. They help change your behavior and improve the way you think about your life.

This is where this group will benefit you. Taking action such as travel to shift some of the absence, void, numbness in the existence that may have evolved and so much more.

Grief is unique in what and how we experience life, whom we become and even letting go of who we once were in a lot of ways.

I support each of you in your journey and it is my hope that you find that breath that just let's you feel like you again.

06/02/2024

Two years ago today, I was in South Miami, FL staying at the gorgeous National Hotel. We were just feet away from the beach and ocean. The pool behind me was gorgeous and lit up at night. On this trip, I attended a life coaching retreat and met 74 women, many who have remained friends to this day.

Travel continues to help with my grief getting me out of a rut, a place to sit with my thoughts and just feel a real ocean breeze.

Choosing a new setting helps with the shifts grief brings.

01/02/2024

A new venue to grieve will allow you to start healing. A new viewpoint with a view.

30/01/2024

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30/01/2024

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Travel Thru Grief is a podcast program about how travel can help you thru your grief. There are many types of grief that we will explore including grief on...

30/01/2024

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30/01/2024

Today on National Plan a Vacation Day, I found a little history of how this day came to be and even how vacations came to be.

HISTORY OF NATIONAL PLAN FOR VACATION DAY
Geoffrey Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales,” published in the 14th century, contains the earliest known reference to the concept of vacation. The word ‘vacacioun’ is used in the prologue of the “Wife of Bath” chapter, which refers to spare time. Until the 19th century, the word ‘vacation’ was used by Americans the same way the English used it, meaning “vacating a place.” At the time, it referred to when teachers and students had to vacate the school premises and go out. Vacation was also seen as a sign of privilege, as it still is for so many today.

Gradually, the vacation came to include the middle class as well and started to stand for a general time of leisure and respite. One of the not-so-well-known turning points in the history of American travel occurred in 1869. A young preacher from Boston named William H.H. Murray published one of the first guidebooks ever about the wild Adirondack Mountains region. By exploring the Adirondack Mountains, which cover a massive expanse of lakes, forests, and rivers in upstate New York, Murray developed the very innovative travel idea (at the time, it was seen to be outrageous) that an excursion into the wilderness of nature could be pleasurable. This idea inspired treks and excursions where people from cities sought out the peace and quiet of the natural world.

The need for this day became especially important when survey findings revealed that Americans were not using their vacation days since 2015. This was, in turn, negatively affecting their health, relationships, and even companies.

30/01/2024

Today is the offcial National Plan For A Vacation Day

Planning the rest of the 2024 calendar and maybe even part of 2025.

Staycations need to be planned now too. Hometown attraction tickets, lunch dates with friends on the calendar, ask for time off work,

Where do you want to go? I'm ready.

Founded in 2018 by National Day Calendar® and the U.S. Travel Association.

24/01/2024

I can't remember who said it, but I like the quote. I think it fits what I personally needed going thru all types of grief which is something travel has done and continues to do for me.

When everything changes, change everything.

21/01/2024

When you dream of traveling, do you think of the beach, the mountains, a big city, a small town, the country.

What activities do you find soothe your soul? An adventure seeing new sights, somewhere just to decompress and rest, some sort of physical activity like snow or water skiing, just fishing off the boat or shore?

Is there a place other than home that feels like a second home when you visit it?

When you are grieving, there is no harm of just thinking of those places and activities until you are ready to go. Like a good book, it can help you look forward to the future.

Blue skies always cheer me up in the moment. It helps center myself. Then I think about myself in a plane up in those skies. I remember the first time I went above the clouds as it rained below us, yet it was blue up there with white puffy clouds and so much sunshine. It was so beautiful.

20/01/2024

“Look at the bark of a redwood, and you see moss. If you peer beneath the bits and pieces of the moss, you’ll see toads, small insects, a whole host of life that prospers in that miniature environment. A lumberman will look at a forest and see so many board feet of lumber. I see a living city.” — Sylvia Earle

I feel like this group: Travel Thru Grief Community is that Living City. We are the entities behind the experience and legacy of what was lost. We are what prosper in our own being.

In my own loss, I felt like my environment had become miniature. So many pieces living inside it. But travel brought me to a living city which is shared by the population of the earth.

Travel helped me seek and find behind the moss. There is a "host of life that prospers".

17/01/2024

Upcoming Topics on the Travel Thru Grief Podcast.

Let me know what topics you would like to see on the menu regarding travel, grief and healing.