Why I Added Travel Coaching to my Coaching Practice
The sun was setting over the South China Sea.
Blues, purples, pinks, and golds stretched across the water as I rode on the back of a motorbike through coastal Vietnam. Fishermen headed out to sea. Children played near the road. The smell of the ocean mingled with the scent of food from nearby vendors.
It should have been a simple travel memory.
Instead, it became one of those moments that changes you.
As I rode, memories from years of international travel flooded my mind. I thought about eating frites from a street cart in Paris, drinking ataya tea in West Africa, and the everyday experiences that had shaped me while living on three continents. I was thousands of miles from home, yet somehow connected to every place that had become part of my story.
What surprised me most was the emotion.
Tears slipped down my face beneath my sunglasses as I processed loss, change, grief, gratitude, and hope all at the same time. After a season of significant transition and rebuilding, I realized that this trip was doing something deeper than providing a vacation.
It was helping me heal.
You can read the full post I wrote about that moment here: [alifeoverseas.com]
That experience became one of the reasons I decided to add travel coaching to my work.
Travel Is About More Than Travel
Over the years, I’ve lived on three continents and experienced everyday life in France, Senegal, South Africa, and the United States. I’ve also explored Honduras, the Caribbean, Turkey, Ivory Coast, Vietnam, Canada, and Botswana.
I’ve hiked waterfalls and mountains and game parks, all therapeutic in their own way.
I’ve sat on safaris where the vastness of the landscape reminded me how small my worries were.
I’ve wandered through ancient ruins and thought about the generations of people who came before me.
I’ve experienced the uncomfortable growth that comes from navigating unfamiliar places, cultures, and languages.
What I’ve learned is that people rarely travel just because they want a trip.
Often there’s something deeper happening.
A couple may be longing to reconnect.
A retiree may finally be ready for the bucket-list adventure they’ve dreamed about for decades.
A family may want to create memories they’ll talk about for years.
Someone considering a solo trip may be searching for confidence, courage, healing, or a fresh start.
Sometimes a destination simply won’t leave your mind, and you aren’t entirely sure why.
The Gift of New Perspectives
Travel has a way of creating space.
It pulls us out of our routines and gives us room to notice things we may have been too busy to see.
It creates opportunities to reflect, pray, process, celebrate, grieve, dream, and grow.
Sometimes the breakthrough happens at a famous landmark.
Sometimes it happens over a cup of coffee in a small café.
And sometimes it happens on the back of a motorbike beside the South China Sea.
The trip itself may last a few days or a few weeks, but the lessons often travel home with us.
Why Travel Coaching?
As both a Professional Life Coach and Travel Coach, I help people intentionally explore the connection between travel and personal growth.
Travel coaching isn’t just about where you want to go.
It’s about why.
It’s about understanding what you’re hoping to experience, learn, celebrate, heal from, or discover.
Together, we can think through:
- Bucket-list dreams
- Solo travel
- Couples getaways
- Family adventures
- Retirement travel
- Recovery and rest
- Personal growth and transition
- Reflection after returning home
Travel coaching creates space to dream, plan, process, and reflect so that travel becomes more than a vacation. It becomes part of your story.
Travel Has Shaped My Life
Looking back, some of the most meaningful moments in my life happened while traveling.
Not because the destinations were perfect or the journey easy.
But because travel gave me space to pay attention.
To grieve.
To celebrate.
To learn.
To heal.
To listen.
The motorbike ride along the South China Sea reminded me of something I never want to forget: travel can be a powerful catalyst for transformation if we’re willing to engage with it intentionally.
That’s the heart adding Travel Coaching to what I offer.
From dreaming to planning to going to returning, I help people make travel meaningful.
Because sometimes the journey changes much more than your location. Sometimes it changes you.