1.
CLOSING KEYNOTE
Lola Akinmade
Åkerström

2.
buzz words
we travel bloggers are familiar with…

3.
YOLO

4.
FOMO

5.
RTW

6.
Live like a Local

7.
SELFIES

8.
GLITCH
FARES

9.
spontaneity of travel
+
sense of wanderlust
These words inspire our work as travel bloggers…

10.
As travel
bloggers, we
live + breathe
travel

11.
That constant need
Always be on the road
Exploring
Reporting back with enviable selfies

12.
other words…

13.
“I love you”

14.
“Will you marry me?”

15.
“Oh crap…”

16.
“It’s not you. It’s me”

17.
“Millennials”

18.
“Please accept my condolences”

19.
“It’s terminal…”

20.
Words that can
completely
change your life

21.
TRANSITIONS

22.
TRANSITIONS
AS
OPPORTUNITIES

23.
Discovering opportunities within challenging
transitions to fully live out passions

24.
Transitions = Very scary things
They cause anxiety

25.
Three (3) reasons
travel bloggers fear
TRANSITIONS

26.
(1) People will think we have “settled”

27.
Do you know what
quickly kills a travel
blogger’s “street cred”?

28.
Not travelling

29.
We hop back on the road
prematurely
We don’t give ourselves time
to fully accept our transition

30.
(2) We fear we will
no longer become relevant

31.
Remember Baby Boomers?
Can you
guess who
irritated
the heck out
of them?

32.
GENERATION X
Who is currently getting under their skins?

33.
Millennials

34.
Growing older induces
fear of transitions
What we’ve worked so hard
to build no longer becoming
relevant in today’s social media
climate

35.
So we keep pointing out the “faults”
of the younger generation

36.
Transition is inevitable
Embrace who we are
Find our own place and dig in

37.
We can choose to become
bitter
by fighting the inevitable
and risk destroying all
we’ve worked so hard
to build…

38.
Or….
Elegantly transition
into the next stage
of our professional
lives…
SANTA 4.0

39.
(3)
We fear we will no
longer be
perceived in the
same light before
we became
caretakers

40.
Not always about
your own minions.
Playing role of
caretaker to
someone you love
A dear friend or
family member

41.
People make
assumptions
about you before
ever approaching you

42.
What happens when
life hands us
(avid travellers)
more
responsibilities?

43.
When we need to break
away for awhile to take
care of loved ones?

44.
Responsibilities as light as housesitting
someone else’s pets

45.
Regardless of the weight
of the responsibility, it
momentarily transforms us
into caretakers

46.
“If we do not care for others, who
will care for us? We should answer
those questions by reinventing
ourselves yet again – competing
fiercely, but caring deeply too”
Anne-Marie Slaughter

47.
Key phrase -> Reinventing ourselves

48.
TRANSITIONS
AS
OPPORTUNITIES
(1)

49.
(1) Transitions are opportunities to
transform and reinvent ourselves

50.
How many of us are
subconsciously defined by
what we do and
don’t even realize it?

51.
My transition to Sweden

52.
Think about it…
How do you introduce yourself
when others ask you who you
are?

53.
Do you pick your
“work” first or
your “character”
traits first?

54.
Certain -> Uncertain = Strengths
Problem
solver Versatile
CreativeQuick study
Team
player

55.
Because that is what
transitions do…
They bring who you truly
are to the surface based
on how you react to the
transition

56.
If you don’t like the traits that are
brought up to the surface…
Opportunity to reinvent yourself

57.
TRANSITIONS
AS
OPPORTUNITIES
(2)

58.
(2) Transitions are a second chance to
drop the façade

59.
Opportunities
to shed any
personas that
are weighing
you down

60.
Are you playing “extrovert”
when you really are an
“introvert”?

61.
You can only perform for others
for so long
Transitions can help
you break free of that

62.
After having my first child, I was
still trying to prove to myself and
the world that I could do it all
effortlessly

63.
WHY?

64.
TRANSITIONS
AS
OPPORTUNITIES
(3)

65.
(3) Transitions are opportunities to
connect with and create communities

66.
Transitions are often detours
Sometimes those detours
are more scenic and rewarding

67.
They can
eventually
get you back on
your path and
passion in a much
stronger way than
you’d ever
anticipated

68.
Shifting responsibilities + transitions
Temporary homebase
Settle into communities
Create our own communities

69.
Question?

70.
“Patience is key. We develop
relationships not for immediate gain
but for long term community which
ultimately leads to work and other
opportunities”
Leigh Shulman, Writer, The Future is Red

71.
My relationship with Sweden

72.
Who was this
foreigner who
was so
curious
about her new
home?

73.
“It’s most important to have the attitude of a
traveler: curious, interested, constantly
seeking new experiences, and paying
attention to the little details.
No matter where you live, there are beautiful
places to discover in your own backyard and
in your region; you just have to be open to
finding them”
Christine Amorose, C’est Christine

74.
TRANSITIONS
AS
OPPORTUNITIES
(4)

75.
(4) Transitions are opportunities to
give your passions roots

76.
To travel for the
sole sake of travel
is not the sole
purpose of our
existence.

77.
Three (3) examples
from within the
travel blogging
community

78.
AKILA PATRICK

79.
BACKGROUND
• Passionate about
exploring culture
through food
• Took tons of food
tours while traveling
from locals to learn
culture and stories
• Discovered pregnancy
while in Prague, about
3 years into their long-
term travels
• Moved back to Atlanta
within four months.
TRANSITION

80.
www.atlantafoodwalks.com
“Every time I came back to Atlanta, I wondered why no one had started a
food tour here because Southern food has such a rich and complex
history. Much of what we eat in the South today is what was eaten at the
founding of the nation.
I found that history fascinating and I thought others would, too, so I
decided to launch Atlanta Food Walks. Our tours focus on culinary
storytelling and telling the story of the city and the places we walk
through the lens of food.”
Akila McConnell

81.
BETHANY
+
RANDY

82.
• Journalist +
Photographer ->
Fulltime travel
bloggers
• Noticed lack of secure
pockets in women’s
clothing
BACKGROUND
• Creating travel
supplies was easy
because they knew
what other travelers
needed.
• Based in Boston close
to family
TRANSITION

83.
www.speakeasytravelsupply.com
“Without Beers & Beans, Speakeasy
would never have become the success
that it is and without Speakeasy we
would’ve not been able to stay self-
employed and grow personally.
I have always considered Beers & Beans
my baby. Now, Speakeasy is her little
sister, and they both need each other to
grow and thrive.“
Bethany Salvon

84.
The Future is Red

85.
• Fulltime traveling family
• Professional writer + Yoga
instructor before blogging
• Now based in Salta,
Argentina – New landscape
to explore while developing
a stable life for kids.
BACKGROUND
• Daughter stopped wanting
to talk to other kids.
• Said "Why say hello when
I'm just going to have to
say goodbye?"
• Broke their hearts and
knew they couldn't keep
moving around in the same
way.
TRANSITION

86.
www.creative-revolution.com
“Creative Revolution allows me to travel regularly and see new places. I can
also bring my family with me.
You learn incredible things by living deep in a new country. You have to
learn to live by new rules. Since I often return to the same countries for
retreats, it allows me to develop community and roots in those countries as
well.”
Leigh Shulman

87.
Transitions help us build expertise
with some form of anchoring

88.
Passions grow roots through:
Patience + Communities +
Connections + Focus

89.
Think about building a house…

90.
You really can’t raise its walls
if its foundation is
constantly moving…

91.
TRANSITIONS
AS
OPPORTUNITIES
(5)

92.
(5) Devastating transitions are opportunities to
truly reflect and reprioritize

93.
There is no right or wrong way
to mourn loss*
* - As long as you’re not physically or emotionally harming someone else

94.
No one really needs
advice beyond warm
comforting arms
telling us all will be
okay in the end

95.
It’s okay to take a break, step back
from it all, and reassess offline
relationships

96.
While loved ones want to see us happy…
They also want us to be there for them in their
deepest times of need

97.
Pamela McNaughton
Savoir Faire Abroad

98.
Made the conscious and
loving decision to break
from fulltime travelling for
over a year to be with her
father who was dying
from Alzheimer’s.
Excerpt from
heartbreaking post

99.
Out of sadness -> Pamela’s New Love
Urban Guide Québec
www.urbanguidequebec.com

100.
So, to summarize…

101.
Travel itself is not
the answer

102.
It is the avenue
we choose to
live out and
express our
passions

103.
What would you still love to do that
you can bring both on your travels
or do while at home?

104.
Those unique traits you can do while
traveling and while at home are the
semblances of your true passions

105.
Candace Rose Rardon
The Great Affair

106.
“Travel itself is not an answer. It can’t save you from
yourself, or the demons that you have. You will bring
them along with you as you roam.
You can’t absolve yourself of your responsibilities or
the monotony of routines that will reappear the
minute you stop moving.
And if you travel to escape darkness, it will eventually
find you”
Jodi Ettenberg, Legal Nomads

107.
We need to stop subconsciously
apologizing for our life transitions

108.
Do you know who I feel does
transitions really well?

109.
Sample blog titles
from

110.
“Why I left New York and moved to Austin”
“Why it’s time to hang up the backpack”
“Starting again in Chiang Mai”
“Searching for a more balanced life”
“How I finally came to terms with the homebody inside me.”
“Home: The death of the nomad”
“The end of my solo travels”
“And then, I moved to Stockholm”
“And then, I didn’t move to Stockholm”
“And this is where this journey ends”

111.
Transitions are chances to
grow and explore more of
what you want and leave
behind what you most
definitely don’t want

112.
We need to
elegantly:
Own the choices
we’ve made
Be unapologetic
about them
Be honest
with ourselves

113.
Most of us travel because
we are curious beings
We have an innate curiosity to
explore, experience, and share the
world we see

114.
Do we suddenly become less curious
beings because we have to stay in
one place for awhile?

115.
If so,
then it’s time to reassess our motives
for travel and be completely honest
with ourselves

116.
Transitions aren’t about
giving up dreams
They are about
sharing those dreams

117.
“You hurt yourself,
you hurt your lover,
Then you discover,
What you thought was
freedom is just greed.”
Gone - Bono, U2

118.
There’s a very thin line between
freedom and selfishness

119.
Don’t live lives of
regret but rather,
expand our
approach to
tackling life
changes
as they come

120.
We need to become
serial opportunists
because at every end,
there is a beginning

121.
Ending with a quote from
Marc and Angel Hack Life’s
40 Lessons for Finding Strength in
Hard Times