Why I Travel: The Transformational Power of Wonder
“Exploration doesn’t just take us outward. It calls us inward — to who we are, and what we care about.” SS
Join Us Live: October 24th, 1400 EST
I’m thrilled to share that on October 24th at 1400 EST, Cady Coleman — former NASA astronaut, author and dear friend — will join us live on YouTube for Pioneers of the Possible.
Together, we’ll talk about courage, curiosity, and what space and polar exploration have in common: both remind us that Earth is not simply a planet we live on, but a living system we belong to.
The Longest Goodbye
A few months ago, I wrote a blog post called What Astronauts and Explorers Share-The Longest Goodbye —a reflection on letting go: of expeditions, of people we love, and of the versions of ourselves that once fit perfectly but no longer do. What struck me most in the movie The Longest Goodbye was the way Cady Coleman talks about distance. She’s been to the International Space Station, floating above the only home any of us have ever known—and yet the hardest vector isn’t up; it’s back.
The film lingers on that liminal space where mission ends and the rest of life begins—the tender handover from acute purpose to ordinary days. That edge is familiar. I have stood there many times, still half in the field, half in the kitchen, trying to metabolize everything the ice taught me without breaking what I love at home.
That story became a bridge to a deeper question: why do I keep traveling?
After more than thirty years exploring both poles — as a guide, historian & expedition leader — I’ve realized that I don’t travel to escape. I travel to come home.
Why I Travel
I travel because movement invites reflection. Because awe — that rare, humbling sensation of standing before something vast — rearranges the furniture of the heart. I travel because curiosity keeps me alive.
In Antarctica, I learned discipline. In Svalbard, I learned stillness. In the Canadian Arctic, I learned humility.
Each place demanded a different part of me, and each time I returned home changed — not by what I saw, but by how I saw.
“If you can’t feel it, you can’t heal it.”
The Shift to Transformational Travel
There’s a growing conversation in adventure and ecotourism about transformational travel — journeys that shift not just where we are, but who we are. It’s more than sustainable travel. It’s intentional travel: choosing experiences that awaken empathy, curiosity, and care.
According to the Transformational Travel Council, of which I am Advisory member, this kind of travel “begins inward, then ripples outward.” Guiding in the polar regions or speaking with students about citizen science, I’m not offering information — I’m offering transformation.
I want them to feel the why behind the what:
Why protect what we love? Why bear witness to melting ice? Why keep believing in possibility when the headlines tell us not to?
Because connection changes everything.
When we fall in love with a place , a thing or a community— truly, viscerally — we protect it.
Travel as a Mirror of Our Humanity
Travel, at its best, isn’t about escape. It’s about belonging.
When we strip away comfort and routine, we remember our dependence on one another. We see how every human story — from Inuit elders in Cambridge Bay to astronauts orbiting Earth — is part of one shared narrative: the survival and flourishing of our planet.
The Courage to Be Changed
Transformational travel isn’t always comfortable. It asks us to surrender. You can’t hide behind control when your ship is surrounded by sea ice or when a katabatic wind howls across Antarctica. You have to let go — to trust.
Travel changes us not by what we see, but by how deeply we are willing to feel.
I’ve seen this happen again and again with those who journey north or south — teachers, scientists, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, dreamers. Standing on the deck, watching a glacier calve or a humpback whale breach, they often fall silent or scream with joy. Then comes the awe….
Travel Close to Home
Not all journeys require passports or polar gear. Some of the most transformative moments happen right in our own backyards. Here on Vancouver Island, I walk the forest and mountain trails and the local beaches — hearing wind through the spruce trees, waves crashing against rocks, bald eagles calling overhead. I have to pinch myself.
The Earth speaks everywhere if we listen.
“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” — Marcel Proust
Join the Journey
🛰 Pioneers of the Possible — YouTube Live. Guest: Astronaut Cady Coleman
Date: October 24, 2025. Time: 1400 EST/ 1100 PST (free to all)
A conversation on courage, curiosity, and what connects us from space to sea ice.
🌏 Svalbard with Wild Women Expeditions — June 15–25, 2026. (** 20% off until Oct 30 2025)
I’ll be joining as Polar Ambassador, guiding an extraordinary group of women on a voyage through Arctic fjords under the midnight sun. Together, we’ll explore, reflect, and rediscover what it means to travel with purpose, joy, and reverence.
Fellow Canadians on a memorable voyage to Svalbard
