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Speaker 1: Hey, y'all, it's doctor Joy, host of the Therapy for

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Speaker 1: Black Girls podcast. Traveling and seeing new parts of the

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Speaker 1: world can do a lot for your mental well being,

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Speaker 1: but traveling alone can also reveal parts of yourself that

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Speaker 1: you might not have known were in you. It pushes

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Speaker 1: you out of your comfort zone, teaches you to trust

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Speaker 1: your instincts, and allows you to truly answer the question

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Speaker 1: what do I want. In this final installment of our

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Speaker 1: travel mini series, brought to you by Chase Fire Reserve,

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Speaker 1: we're discussing how exploring the world's solo can transform the

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Speaker 1: way you see yourself. So when I think about solo travel,

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Speaker 1: I often think about our guests from session to eighty

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Speaker 1: eight of the podcast, Jessica Nabano, who is the author

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Speaker 1: of the beautiful book Catch Me if You Can and

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Speaker 1: has traveled all around the world. We talked about setting

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Speaker 1: intentions for travel, because I think sometimes we think about

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Speaker 1: travel and we're like, oh, Okay, I can go to this place,

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Speaker 1: I can go to that place. But how often are

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Speaker 1: we intentional about what we want to do and how

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Speaker 1: we want to feel when we travel. I talked recently

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Speaker 1: about my experience of going to Unrivaled in Miami for

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Speaker 1: their inaugural season at the beginning of this year, and

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Speaker 1: it was the first solo trip I had taken that

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Speaker 1: was purely pleasure. Like I often travel solo for speaking

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Speaker 1: engagements and like work stuff, that was the first time

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Speaker 1: I had actually traveled by myself purely for pleasure, for

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Speaker 1: fun things, and so I think that solo travel is

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Speaker 1: one of the best ways to actually increase confidence. It

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Speaker 1: is why one of the only regrets I think I

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Speaker 1: have about undergrad is that I did not study abroad,

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Speaker 1: because I think that study abroad and solo travel, especially

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Speaker 1: when you are younger in your life, really sets you

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Speaker 1: up for just seeing the world in a very different

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Speaker 1: way and also being connected to yourself and your confidence

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Speaker 1: and your strength in a very different way. And so

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Speaker 1: I think that there are very few other ways that

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Speaker 1: you can gain the kind of confidence you can that

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Speaker 1: you can do when you are traveling solo. And it

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Speaker 1: doesn't have to be far, right, like I just went

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Speaker 1: to Miami, so it wasn't a huge trip. But I

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Speaker 1: think any amount of time where you are navigating the

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Speaker 1: world by yourself, especially if it's not something that you do,

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Speaker 1: often really forces you to step out of your comfort zone.

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Speaker 1: It forces you to maybe talk to strangers, It forces

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Speaker 1: you to get comfortable maybe with getting lost or doing

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Speaker 1: things that you wouldn't typically do. And I think that

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Speaker 1: it is in those moments the little pieces of yourself

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Speaker 1: that you didn't know existed are revealing themselves to you.

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Speaker 1: I also think it just makes you feel proud of yourself,

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Speaker 1: especially if it feels like something that's really uncomfortable for

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Speaker 1: you and you're like, I don't know, I wouldn't typically

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Speaker 1: do this, but then you do it, and so that

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Speaker 1: really goes a long way, I think in setting the

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Speaker 1: groundwork for understanding and being clear about your ability to

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Speaker 1: do hard things and that you are okay on the

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Speaker 1: other side of it. And so I see solo travel

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Speaker 1: as just an excellent way for you to increase your

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Speaker 1: confidence and to gain competency and trust in yourself. Now,

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Speaker 1: I know, especially when we're talking about traveling to other countries,

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Speaker 1: but really even in the country, there are lots of

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Speaker 1: concerns about like safety, racism and is this going to

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Speaker 1: be a place where I am welcomed? Am I going

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Speaker 1: to be okay in this place? And those are very

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Speaker 1: valid concerns. There are no shortage of online resources. The

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Speaker 1: Exodus Summit, which is a community founded by two women

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Speaker 1: who have moved to other countries and all so do

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Speaker 1: an incredible job of helping other Black women think about

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Speaker 1: moving to other countries and planning to move to other countries.

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Speaker 1: They have great resources for all the things that you

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Speaker 1: can think about in terms of which countries feel okay

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Speaker 1: to travel to, what do you need before you travel

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Speaker 1: to this place? Like, just excellent resources because I think

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Speaker 1: that that is something that is important to be vigilant about,

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Speaker 1: right like where are you going to go where you

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Speaker 1: can have a joyful experience but also be safe. So

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Speaker 1: the safety piece, I think is one part of it.

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Speaker 1: But I also think that many of us just get

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Speaker 1: really really anxious when we think about I'm going to

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Speaker 1: be by myself, like in this place. Like many of

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Speaker 1: us struggle with doing things just like maybe even going

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Speaker 1: to the movies by ourselves, or like going to dinner

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Speaker 1: by ourselves. So the idea that you would be traveling

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Speaker 1: to a different state, a different country by yourself feels

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Speaker 1: like a very false step. But I really want you to,

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Speaker 1: you know, kind of challenge those anxious thoughts when they

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Speaker 1: come up, because the anxiety can exist, and you can

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Speaker 1: also push pass that fear to give yourself a joyful experience.

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Speaker 1: And so one of the things that I think about

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Speaker 1: if you feel like, Okay, I don't know that I'm

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Speaker 1: quite ready for solo travel, but I want to do something,

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Speaker 1: is to participate in a group travel experience but with

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Speaker 1: people who you do not know. So Dimitrio Lucas, who

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Speaker 1: is the host of the Ratchet and Respectable podcast, often

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Speaker 1: organizes these trips where women will go and have a

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Speaker 1: group experience together. Christina Rice also has a company called

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Speaker 1: om Noir where she retreats across the world for women

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Speaker 1: of color, but also helps others host retreats for different

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Speaker 1: kinds of experiences. And So, if you want to do

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Speaker 1: solo travel but you feel like I don't know if

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Speaker 1: I'm quite ready to do like this thing by myself,

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Speaker 1: I think that this is the next best experience is

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Speaker 1: that it is still kind of solo in that you're

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Speaker 1: going by yourself, but you are also then going to

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Speaker 1: be in community with other people who who did something similar, right,

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Speaker 1: Because I think that that is still a way for

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Speaker 1: you to flex that confidence muscle but maybe feel a

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Speaker 1: little more supported and that you will be with other

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Speaker 1: people who are also doing a similar kind of thing,

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Speaker 1: and so you gain the confidence, but you might also

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Speaker 1: then gain some community of other people who are looking

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Speaker 1: for maybe some changes in their life or who have

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Speaker 1: similar goals that could be helpful to you as you

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Speaker 1: are continuing on this journey that we call life. If

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Speaker 1: you don't do a retreat experience or a group trip,

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Speaker 1: I also think though that there are just typically lots

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Speaker 1: and lots of information, lots of activities that you can

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Speaker 1: look into for when you are visiting a place. Right, So,

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Speaker 1: I know a lot of us just do a lot,

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Speaker 1: We do a lot of research before we do anything,

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Speaker 1: and so I know that if you're planning a travel

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Speaker 1: experience somewhere, you are also going to do research about

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Speaker 1: like what kinds of classes exist, Are there different experiences

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Speaker 1: that you want to take part in, are there exhibits

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Speaker 1: that you'd like to see? Like? I think that that

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Speaker 1: also can help you to feel more confident about your

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Speaker 1: travel itinerary when you actually have a plan for what

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Speaker 1: you're going to do. Now, if you are just wanting

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Speaker 1: to kind of go see a place and you are

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Speaker 1: like more of a go with the flow kind of person,

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Speaker 1: that is also totally fine, but I think having a

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Speaker 1: bit of an itinerary is also helpful to manage some

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Speaker 1: of the anxiety that may be coming up related to

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Speaker 1: traveling somewhere by yourself. I also have been just very

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Speaker 1: encouraged to see so even in our Patreon community, we

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Speaker 1: had a conversation recently about people traveling solo and like

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Speaker 1: the tips and tricks that they have employed to kind

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Speaker 1: of set themselves up to have good experiences, but also

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Speaker 1: people who are considering it and then asking questions of

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Speaker 1: other people. And so I've just been very encouraged by

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Speaker 1: the conversations I often see black women having online in

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Speaker 1: supporting each other through these things that we maybe want

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Speaker 1: to try but maybe don't feel like we have the

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Speaker 1: nerve to do that. And so I encourage you to

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Speaker 1: do that as well. Is to find online or in

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Speaker 1: real life where you can ask questions, right, like, there's

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Speaker 1: nothing wrong with being afraid, but there's also nothing wrong

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Speaker 1: with getting the answers to your questions. And so online

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Speaker 1: spaces in real life spaces where you can ask questions

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Speaker 1: of people who have traveled solo, like what's the good

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Speaker 1: first place to go? Do you want to try a cruise?

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Speaker 1: As your first solo experience, like there is no shortage

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Speaker 1: of ways to do this for yourself. If this feels

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Speaker 1: like something that would be really enjoyable to you, something

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Speaker 1: joyful to you, and something that you feel like would

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Speaker 1: really help to build your confidence. And if you're listening

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Speaker 1: to this and you are somebody who's been super adventurous

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Speaker 1: and has tips and tricks to share with other wanna

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Speaker 1: be or soon to be solo travelers, we would love

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Speaker 1: to hear that. And likewise, if you're somebody who is

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Speaker 1: thinking about taking your first solo experience, we want to

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Speaker 1: hear what questions do you have and are there other

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Speaker 1: people in our community who might be able to help

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Speaker 1: answer that for you. Thanks so much for tuning in

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Speaker 1: for this conversation, and a huge thank you to our

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Speaker 1: partners at Chase Fire Reserve for sponsoring this mini series

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Speaker 1: all about traveling solo and centering joy. Whether you're a

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Speaker 1: seasoned solo traveler or trying to build the confidence to

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Speaker 1: do it for the first time, I hope our conversation

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Speaker 1: left you with some helpful tips to navigate the experience.

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Speaker 1: For those of you preparing to travel solo sometime in

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Speaker 1: the near future, I'm wishing you a restorative, reflective, and

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Speaker 1: ieopening journey. Until next time, take good care,