317. There’s So Much Life to Enjoy: Travel, Curiosity & Adventure with Roz Sobel

[00:00:06] Welcome back to Girl, Take the Lead and I'm your host, Yolanda Canny. Today's guest is someone I've known for almost 50 years. My dear friend Roz Sobel. We originally met through a work interview. I was supposed to convince her to take a job with my employer and she didn't do that. But somehow we knew the friendship was worth keeping.

[00:00:30] And when I later moved across country to New York, knowing only one person, that person was Roz. Even back then, she was my travel girl. Today, after 30 plus year career in international marketing and sales, Roz has created a life filled with travel, curiosity, creativity and adventure.

[00:00:53] And part of the year in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico discovered mixed media art after leaving corporate life and eventually turned her lifelong passion for travel into another career as a pro level travel advisor with Fora Travel.

[00:01:10] But our conversation is more than where to go or how to plan a trip. We talk about what travel can open up in us. New cultures, new relationships, new perspectives, and sometimes even new parts of ourselves. And Roz is a pretty simple message for all of us. Don't put it off. There's only so much life to enjoy. Anyway, here's my conversation with Roz.

[00:01:36] There you go. Roz, welcome to Girl Take the Lead. Well, thanks. I'm excited to be here. So I think we first should tell our audience a little bit about us because- Uh-oh. Uh-oh. We have known each other for, what did I say? 48 years. Mm-hmm. Long time. Long time. Long time.

[00:02:03] And I think we're a great example of work friends. You didn't actually, we didn't actually work together, did we? You just interviewed. I know we did not work together. Right. But we got to know each other. That's right. You were assigned to try to make me take the job with your former employer. The very first one, Carnation Company.

[00:02:30] Exactly. And I didn't. But it was the start of a beautiful friendship. Yeah. I think it was so fun. And I think our energies just clicked right away. I remember picking you up in my convertible Volkswagen, going down the 405 in LA, getting you around a little bit. And you just seemed like you were having a great time. And I was so sad that you didn't take the job.

[00:02:58] But then we figured out you were going to New York. You were moving to New York. And you and I had stayed in contact. And then I said, I'm going to. And you were the only person that I knew in New York. The only person. It was destiny, Yolanda. You were so gracious with me. I have just, you know, you were kind and including.

[00:03:27] And you met all your friends that you had because you had grown up there. You had grown up in New York. That's right. And forever grateful for the little trips that you took me on to Club Med for a day. Oh, yes. For the day. For the day. Well, in fairness, so that your listeners know, at the time I was working in marketing for Club Med.

[00:03:55] So if there was room on the charter, employees could take advantage of that. So we went down to Turks and Caicos for the day. You did. You called me and you said you got your passport ready. And I went, what time do I have to be there? Right. We had such a good time. And you were the travel woman even then.

[00:04:19] And our conversation today is going to be about travel and your career now. Let's introduce you a bit more. A lot about us growing up together, but not so much about what you're doing now. So, Roz, would you tell them? Sure. So I was born and raised in the New York area, as you alluded to.

[00:04:42] And then went to school for six years in the Midwest before beginning a 30 plus year in international marketing and sales, mostly in kind of corporate America.

[00:04:56] And then in a crazy effort to slide into retirement, I decided to dust off my undergraduate degree and got recertified to teach Spanish, which I ended up doing in the Seattle area in middle school, which was by far and away the hardest job I've ever had.

[00:05:23] Before retiring and moving to central Mexico, where I now spend about six months of the year when I'm not traveling. Currently, which is in the town of San Miguel de Allende. But when I first got to Mexico, which was essentially in 2019, I decided to take up mixed media art. You can see a piece of it behind me, actually.

[00:05:53] Since it seemed that everyone in the town there was an artist. And I was retiring and I thought, what am I going to do? So I thought, well, I'm just going to try this. So I took online classes, a lot of videos on YouTube videos.

[00:06:14] And then I pursued some workshops, including overseas, to learn different aspects of art because I had had zero art training or education. So I did that for a bit. I even was accepted in some juried art fairs.

[00:06:35] But then one day I saw a Facebook ad that just popped up into my feed for this new online travel agency. And I decided to apply since I thought, well, if I can become part of an agency, I can save some money on my own travel by the commissions that maybe I would earn.

[00:06:57] And so since June of last year, I've been a travel advisor for Fora Travel, which is a five-year young host agency, which was founded by three entrepreneurs and already has $3 billion in bookings worldwide. So they've done an amazing job. They have amazing support.

[00:07:25] And I discovered that it wasn't enough for me to plan my own trips. I love doing it so much that I started planning for others because people that I knew were like, oh, why don't you help me plan this trip? So now I have the systems and support to do that. And the more you do it, it's like you get hooked. And I do more and more.

[00:07:52] So in less than a year, I've booked over $100,000 in my own bookings for myself and clients. And I'm loving it. I just love it. So that's where I'm at today. And I mentioned when we were kind of talking to each other that you were a travel girl when I met you.

[00:08:20] Tell us a little bit more about when the travel bug really got you because it happened for you quite young, I think. It did, actually. So it started for me when I was 16. And what happened was, as was popular in the Northeast at the time, my parents started sending me to sleepaway camp when I was eight years old.

[00:08:49] And I chugged along there. And when I turned 16, it was common that the campers would become camp counselors. And I was starting to get a little bit bored with that situation. Same kids and campers and the same location. And but my parents, they kind of didn't know what to do with me because, you know, the summer was their time to have some freedom without a kid at home. Right.

[00:09:17] So they said, well, what do you want to do? And there weren't really a lot of work opportunities based on my age locally in suburban New York. So I started perusing the back of the traditional New York Times printed magazine where they used to promote all of these trips and camps and travel experiences.

[00:09:44] And I stumbled across this organization, which still exists, by the way, called the Experiment in International Living, which is based out of Vermont. And it promotes experiential learning by sending students to live with families overseas. That's not the only thing that they do at this point. But at that time, that was their primary focus. And so I proposed it to my folks.

[00:10:11] Well, how about I go to Mexico and live with a family and learn more Spanish? Because I had started studying Spanish in what it was called at the time, junior high school, not middle school, junior high school. And so I already had my foot in the Spanish door. And I proposed to them Mexico because it was also the cheapest place due to its proximity to the U.S.

[00:10:36] And you could kind of bus down from Texas as opposed to flying globally to someplace far away. So I ended up going to live with a family in this tiny town in central Mexico. Funny that I'm in central Mexico now. And the town was called Irapuato. And it's in the same state as where I live now, about an hour away. And that's where it all started. Whoa. So amazing.

[00:11:05] And no mistakes that it's almost like a complete circle for you to come around. It is. Totally. So tell us a little bit about travel today because I think people have perceptions about it being pretty difficult to do. But what are your thoughts there? You mean difficult in terms of the environment, what's going on globally?

[00:11:30] Or difficult in terms of booking and how to make the arrangements and that sort of thing? I think it's all of that. You know, like the environment. So maybe we tackle the environment first. Like what do you think? Sure. Well, you know, a lot of people are reading that travel has slowed due to the economic environment, not only in the U.S., but globally. As well as the unrest in the Middle East currently.

[00:12:00] But based on my personal experience recently, not only in Europe, but also even in Mexico, things are packed and booked. And, you know, I still sense that there's some pent up travel demand when people couldn't travel during COVID. And there may be a little bit of hesitation.

[00:12:25] And yet people are still going because they feel like they deserve to go after things were so limited during COVID. So rates continue to be pretty high, especially in top tourist destinations.

[00:12:44] But if you're kind of flexible or you're willing to go in the off season or maybe do something sort of last minute, you can definitely still find things that rates that are reasonable to keep going and get out there. Good.

[00:13:05] And then working with someone like you would assume make it so much easier for somebody. Well, you know, a lot of people have this notion that working with a travel advisor will cost them more money or I can do this on my own. I can look for it, you know, by putting in a bunch of prompts into AI.

[00:13:34] But what doing it on your own or or just using AI tools that will get you so far. But what somebody like myself can do being a travel advisor with this amazing host travel agency for us.

[00:13:53] We have not only the tools to make it more efficient and more expedient, but also the my fellow travel advisors and their clients. We have a whole system where reviews are written by advisors who visit places and do things as well as their clients.

[00:14:19] So we can give very specific feedback to help people avoid mistakes when they're traveling. But also it goes beyond that.

[00:14:29] For example, if someone uses me as a as their travel advisor, I can create a complete soup to nuts plan that will help them discover places that they may not know to even think about on their own.

[00:14:50] But also when you book, for example, refundable hotels for a has an amazing system where we can we receive updates of pricing. And so if the price drops at a hotel, I'm going to call you up and I'm going to say, yo, you know, it's your hotel that you were going to stay at is now one hundred dollars less. I'm going to rebook you at the lower rate.

[00:15:17] So that's one thing I can also at certain times get you certain perks that you may not be able to get on your own, whether it's free breakfast or, you know, early check in late check out, just all different kinds of things, even money off at the at the hotel that you may be staying at. So there are definite advantages.

[00:15:40] And you as the traveler are not paying extra money to do so, by and large, because it comes from mostly from the the suppliers, the hotel or the the hotels or the activity groups and things that you'll be doing or transportation.

[00:16:04] So it just also sounds like there's things go wrong. Things that happen, you don't count on exactly that. You could have a real person. You help me through that and to also like brainstorm and help me. What are my options? And things do happen.

[00:16:30] I mean, flights get canceled and or beyond that, you know, you get to a hotel and it is far from what you expected or, you know, your room is not to your liking. I mean, there are certain connections that we have as a large host agency that we can.

[00:17:00] You know, help fine tune those things, but also things like, you know, a client of mine booked a a non refundable stay in a hotel in Spain. And all of a sudden had a medical issue.

[00:17:20] And I in working with the hotel, I was able to have them waive the non refundability by providing documentation to the hotel of the physical, the medical issue that my client had. And they were able to have them waive the non refundable. And they were able to get their money back. It's a little bit harder to do that on your own.

[00:17:46] And so, you know, without belaboring the issue, you know, there are a bunch of different ways that I love to get involved and support my clients so that their travel is just easy. And you can go there without really thinking about any negative issues and just enjoy yourselves.

[00:18:12] So what questions do you think a person should ask themselves before they start planning a trip? Because I think sometimes we can get caught up in the romantic nature of travel. Which is, oh, it's going to be beautiful. Right. Oh, there's a lot of that. Right. Right.

[00:18:38] And you're not in touch with what you really want from your trip. Sure. Well, I think it starts even before you think about the actual trip is how much am I willing to how much time am I willing to spend planning it? Because it's no secret that it takes if you want it to be problem free, it takes a lot of time.

[00:19:07] And I'll give you an example. I recently I may have shared this with you previously. I recently went on a trip with some women friends to do a major hiking trip in Italy. It's called the Via Francigena. It's sort of like the Camino, if you're familiar with that in Spain.

[00:19:31] It's the Camino of Italy starts actually in the UK and it ends up in Rome. And we didn't want to stay in youth hostels. I wasn't feeling so youthful that I wanted to stay, you know, in a place where I didn't have bathroom. And so it took me to do a 10 day trip.

[00:19:57] It probably took over 100 hours of planning time just to get the logistics just right. So there were no surprises. I don't believe in surprises. It's one thing to be flexible and open to new, you know, to different experiences. But I don't want any negative surprises like we get there and the bridges close that we're supposed to walk over.

[00:20:24] And therefore, we have to do 40 extra miles in order to get to the next place we're supposed to stay. I don't like those kind of surprises. So the amount of time that you're willing to put into it is in planning is definitely a thing to think about right up front. The other thing is, what kind of trip do you want? Do you want to sit on a beach the whole time and do absolutely nothing?

[00:20:55] Do you want to, you know, be going to some sort of workshop to learn something new, whether it's a language or art? How much do you want to challenge yourself? Do you want to get totally out of your comfort zone? Like when I went on a trip to Japan with an old friend of mine who spoke the language fluently, I spoke nothing.

[00:21:21] And I felt like a humbling idiot because I couldn't communicate for the entire time that we were there, you know. So, you know, it just it really depends on like how far you're willing to to go in terms of what you want to learn, what you want to do, how much do you want to see and at what pace?

[00:21:49] You know, are you the kind of person that wants to pack and unpack once? Do you want to stay three nights in a place or do you want to be one night in multiple cities? So let's talk about some of the benefits of traveling, because I think we can forget. We can neutralize trying to get through TSA and all the airport stuff. Right, right. What's going to be on the other side of that?

[00:22:17] What's the benefits that you see a lot of your clients that they're getting? From their trips, you mean? From their trips, yeah. Yeah. Well, to me, what I hear people saying most is that, first of all, gosh, I should have done this sooner, which seems to be a common statement post-travel for those who haven't traveled a lot.

[00:22:46] But even for those who do, I think what I hear most is people saying, God, I feel like I'm a bigger person, like I connected to a culture that I never thought I could connect with. And of course, some of it depends on how open you are when you go.

[00:23:09] But personally, by going to different countries and trying to learn some of the languages across or along the way, I feel like it opens my mind to things that are so different.

[00:23:33] And the way I'm not going to be different than the way I was raised or my upbringing in suburban New York. And even here in Seattle, which is where I spend time when I'm not in Mexico and I'm not traveling overseas.

[00:23:52] You know, after a while, your sphere can get tight or more closed.

[00:24:03] And for me and for my clients, traveling seems to open that up so that there's new life and new just new experiences coming into one's life that you may not get staying in the environment that you live in regularly. And that's kind of what it's been for me.

[00:24:32] I always feel so invigorated and enriched by connecting with people who like may I may be the first American that they've met because I do tend to go off the beaten path a lot to places where are that are not so touristed.

[00:24:53] And to me, it's been a lot of people who like may I may be the first American that they've met. And I was limited vacation time.

[00:25:20] And I was not necessarily in a career that I could say to you, oh, my God, I love this. You know, it was rewarding and I liked it. But doing this travel thing is like so me. It's just I just love it. And people who know me know that this is like something that I am very passionate about. Yeah.

[00:25:49] Well, I think we'll give our listeners and viewers an opportunity to see how to follow you. But one of the things that I have loved following you is seeing all the pictures that you put up for us to kind of go on the trip with you. Right. See things that, you know, are beautiful and and sometimes ordinary and the food. Right. Right.

[00:26:18] It's it's just so wonderful to take the trip with you. I mean, I feel like virtually I've been doing that. I also kind of think that the part about opening yourself up. You know, I have had the opportunity to interview people from around the world on this show.

[00:26:38] And I am like always amazed at how much we have in common, because I think the common sense is we don't have anything in common. Right. We're so different from each other. But when we connect, as you said, we see how similar we are and how how we all care about the same things.

[00:27:03] And there's a lightness to it when you share that with another culture. For sure. For sure. I totally get that. Yeah. Well, I see that even now living in the middle of Mexico. While there are a lot of expats who live in the town that I'm in, because I do speak the language, I have the good fortune of being able to connect with the locals.

[00:27:30] And the heartfelt connections that can be made when you can, you know, exchange with them, to me is invaluable.

[00:27:49] For example, we were just invited in Mexico to attend the first communion of this couple family that that we've met. And we were the only Americans there. And because I do speak the language and we've been able to connect and it's been so rewarding for me.

[00:28:19] And it kind of almost makes you want to cry thinking about it. They invited us, you know. So I feel very fortunate. Yeah. In situations like that. Well, I think this might be a difficult question for you, but what has been your favorite destination? Oh, I knew you were going to ask me that. You have gone to Asia. You've gone to parts of Europe. You're in Central America.

[00:28:49] I mean, what? Okay. Can I straddle? Can I straddle the fence with my answer? Of course. I've gone to a place one, two, three times. I'd probably pick a big city. And I'd pick, I'd say two of my favorite big cities to visit would be Tokyo and Buenos Aires.

[00:29:19] Absolute favorites. I love them both for different reasons. I mean, Buenos Aires is easy for me because of the language. But I also love it. And the Italian and English and Spanish influence and the food is amazing and the culture and the tango. And I mean, it's wonderful.

[00:29:41] And Tokyo, for kind of the opposite of that, you know, it's like I don't speak the language, but it's like it's mind-blowing. You know, when you get to one of those intersections in Tokyo and they, you know, and when the light turns red and there are like 10 streets that seem to come into this intersection.

[00:30:06] And I'm sure you've seen it in shows or videos or movies or whatever, where people are crossing in every which direction. And there has to be, I don't know, it could be a thousand people, you know, at that moment crossing the street, you know. So I love both of those.

[00:30:24] But if I'm talking about spending more time and like a chunk of time, like a month or two months, I love to go to places that are off the beaten path a bit where it's not highly touristed and where I feel I can live it more like a local.

[00:30:50] And see it through the eyes of local people, which I've done recently. And I'm already scheduled to do that for two months next year in Italy, for example. You love Italy, don't you? I do love Italy. I love it. Yeah. Yeah. So is there anything else you'd like to cover before we end our episode?

[00:31:19] Oh, gosh, yo. You know, I would just say carpe diem. You know, it's like seize the moment.

[00:31:32] And if this is something that speaks to you in terms of new cultures and new discoveries and, you know, and there's so many ways to travel, whether it's slow travel and walking and hiking and adventure travel, like, you know, climbing or or doing some of these tracks.

[00:32:01] Or you're the kind that loves to go to museums in bigger cities around the world. It's like, go for it. Because things wait.

[00:32:17] And I think back to the time when people, when I was in corporate America and people would say, oh, my God, you know, I have seven days left of my vacation time this year and I'm not going to have time to use them. And I remember I never left a single day on the table. Never, never, ever.

[00:32:42] I used to plan it out so I could maximize my time away by straddling the national holidays like Labor Day or Memorial Day. So I get out one more day in a week's vacation. Carpe diem. Just go for it. And, you know.

[00:33:03] Well, I have so appreciated your energy because that your energy today is no different than when I met you. Really? Isn't that amazing? And then the chemistry between us is right there. And I'm just so grateful. Me too. I'm just going to have Roz on the show. We're going to talk about travel. It's just perfect. Oh, you're so sweet. You're so sweet.

[00:33:33] So, Rozzy, I'm curious. What would you tell your 20-something self today? I mean, along the lines of carpe diem, I would say go for it. And don't put things off because other things will wait.

[00:34:01] And, I mean, it sounds so trite, but it's kind of like there's no good time as the present. I wish that I perhaps had the luxury then to do like a gap year.

[00:34:19] But even a gap year between jobs or perhaps pursuing at that time in my life a job and employment that really made me tick.

[00:34:41] I did something more traditional and something that I felt like I would earn a good living and that was more expected. And looking back, like, I mean, at that point, nobody, people would have thought I was nuts if I said, oh, I want to become a travel agent. And at that point, they were agents. They weren't advisors.

[00:35:08] So, the nature of the business was quite different then. But, you know, maybe I spent 30-plus years in jobs that I might have been more enriched had I done something else.

[00:35:28] So, I would say to my 20-something self, don't turn away from an opportunity because you're expected to do something. Pursue what you really want to do and what really makes you tick. I think that's what I would say. So, Roz Sobel, how can our audience reach you, follow you, contact you?

[00:35:57] Well, I think you put things out there that will give the exact information. But very easily, if you just Google me at Raz Sobel, R-O-Z, and then S-O-B-E-L, with For Travel, my webpage with the agency will come up.

[00:36:22] Similarly, if you put in Roz Sobel and Global underscore Vistas, that's my Instagram account. And either way, you'll be able to find me. And if you go even to the Instagram page, you'll see in my bio the Fora page where to connect with me. Yeah. And I'd love that.

[00:36:52] Lastly, you know, I asked my guests to go to our website, our online store and pick something and I send it to them. And I've already sent you something that I've made. Yes, I loved it. For Roz Sobel about adventure. And I call it kind of travel girl. So she's going to be on the site for everyone to see and I'll include it in the episode as well.

[00:37:16] But I think I was so inspired by what we get, what the benefits are, you know, from having the adventure, having, doing the exploration, I hope. And remind us of the quote. I stumbled on it. It's often attributed to St. Augustine of Hippo, which was a philosopher, frankly, that I hadn't heard of from 400 AD.

[00:37:42] And the quote is, the world is a book and those who don't travel read only one page. And I've loved that. Yeah. So I've put that into the card on the front just because I thought it was beautiful. Thank you very much. And so, Razzie, I love you. And thank you so much. Love you, babe. I can't believe we've known each other this long. I know.

[00:38:12] I know. And shout out to Roberta, who's also- That's right. I know will be probably watching. Miss her. Miss her. Haven't seen her in a while. Yeah. Oh, but anyway. Thank you. Thank you so much for having me on. That was really sweet of you to invite me. I loved it. And I know our audience is going to think like, hmm, trouble. Should be looking at that.

[00:38:38] Any viewer of yours, I would welcome reaching out to me. I'd love to help plan an amazing experience. Sounds perfect. Thanks, Razzie. Thank you. Raz, thank you again. What a gift to have this conversation after knowing each other for almost 50 years. Here are three takeaways. One, travel can make our worlds bigger.

[00:39:07] Raz talked about how experiencing other cultures has opened her to people and ways of living that are different from her own. And sometimes I've discovered through this podcast is that when we really connect with people who may initially seem very different from us, we often discover how much we have in common. Travel gives us another opportunity to do that.

[00:39:31] Two, planning and being open to the unexpected can actually live together. Raz is definitely a planner. She doesn't want the kind of surprise when you arrive and discover the bridge you need to cross as closed. I get that. And thoughtful planning can also give us the freedom to be present once we get there. To wander, explore, meet people, and leave room for experiences we couldn't have anticipated.

[00:40:00] Maybe planning doesn't have to eliminate surprise. Maybe it can create space for the good kind. And three, don't keep putting off what makes you come alive. When I asked Raz what she would tell her 20-something self, she said, go for it. Don't turn away from an opportunity simply because you're expected to do something else. I think there's something there for all of us, whether it's travel, creativity,

[00:40:28] a different career, learning something new or an experience we keep telling ourselves we'll get to someday. How long do we want to wait? There really is so much life to enjoy. And there was one more gift in this conversation that I wasn't expecting to think so much about afterward. Friendship. Raz and I met because our lives happened to intersect around work almost 50 years ago.

[00:40:58] Our paths have moved closer together and further apart over the years. And here they are intersecting again. It has me thinking about the people who enter our lives, the time we share, the ways our friendships change, and what they leave with us. So that's where I'm going to go next. Our next episode is a soundbite called The Gift of Friendship.

[00:41:24] Until then, stay curious, keep leading with your heart, and as always, take the lead.