TBEX Europe 2016, Keynotes & Closing Session, Lola Akinmade Akerstrom
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Transcript of TBEX Europe 2016, Keynotes & Closing Session, Lola Akinmade Akerstrom
CLOSING KEYNOTE
Lola Akinmade Åkerström
buzz words we travel bloggers are familiar with…
YOLO
FOMO
RTW
Live like a Local
SELFIES
GLITCHFARES
spontaneity of travel+
sense of wanderlustThese words inspire our work as travel bloggers…
As travel bloggers, we
live + breathe travel
That constant needAlways be on the road
Exploring
Reporting back with enviable selfies
other words…
“I love you”
“Will you marry me?”
“Oh crap…”
“It’s not you. It’s me”
“Millennials”
“Please accept my condolences”
“It’s terminal…”
Words that cancompletely
change your life
TRANSITIONS
TRANSITIONSAS
OPPORTUNITIES
Discovering opportunities within challengingtransitions to fully live out passions
Transitions = Very scary things
They cause anxiety
Three (3) reasonstravel bloggers fear
TRANSITIONS
(1) People will think we have “settled”
Do you know whatquickly kills a travel
blogger’s “street cred”?
Not travelling
We hop back on the road prematurely
We don’t give ourselves timeto fully accept our transition
(2) We fear we will no longer become relevant
Remember Baby Boomers?
Can you guess who
irritatedthe heck out
of them?
GENERATION X
Who is currently getting under their skins?
Millennials
Growing older induces fear of transitions
What we’ve worked so hardto build no longer becoming
relevant in today’s social mediaclimate
So we keep pointing out the “faults”of the younger generation
Transition is inevitableEmbrace who we are
Find our own place and dig in
We can choose to become bitter
by fighting the inevitableand risk destroying allwe’ve worked so hard
to build…
Or….
Elegantly transition into the next stage of our professional
lives…SANTA 4.0
(3) We fear we
will no longer be
perceived in the same light
before we became caretakers
Not always about your own
minions.
Playing role of caretaker tosomeone you
love
A dear friend or family member
People make assumptions
about you beforeever approaching
you
What happens whenlife hands us
(avid travellers) more
responsibilities?
When we need to break away for
awhile to take care of loved ones?
Responsibilities as light as housesitting someone else’s
pets
Regardless of the weight of the
responsibility, it momentarily
transforms us into caretakers
“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
Key phrase -> Reinventing ourselves
TRANSITIONSAS
OPPORTUNITIES(1)
(1) Transitions are opportunities totransform and reinvent ourselves
How many of us are subconsciously
defined by what we do and
don’t even realize it?
My transition to Sweden
Think about it…
How do you introduce yourself when others ask
you who you are?
Do you pick your “work” first or your “character” traits first?
Certain -> Uncertain = Strengths
Problem
solverVersatile
Creative Quick study
Team player
Because that is what transitions
do…
They bring who you truly are to the
surface based on how you react to
the transition
If you don’t like the traits that are brought up to the
surface…
Opportunity to reinvent yourself
TRANSITIONSAS
OPPORTUNITIES(2)
(2) Transitions are a second chance todrop the façade
Opportunities to shed
any personas that are weighing you down
Are you playing “extrovert” when you
really are an “introvert”?
You can only perform for others for so long
Transitions can helpyou break free of that
After having my first child, I was still trying to prove to myself and the
world that I could do it all effortlessly
WHY?
TRANSITIONSAS
OPPORTUNITIES(3)
(3) Transitions are opportunities to connect with and create communities
Transitions are often detours
Sometimes those detoursare more scenic and rewarding
They can eventually
get you back on your path
and passion in a much
stronger way than
you’d ever anticipated
Shifting responsibilities + transitions
Temporary homebase
Settle into communities
Create our own communities
Question?
“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
My relationship with Sweden
Who was this
foreigner who was so
curious about her
new home?
“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
TRANSITIONSAS
OPPORTUNITIES(4)
(4) Transitions are opportunities to give your passions roots
To travel for the sole sake of travel is not the sole purpose of
our existence.
Three (3) examplesfrom within the travel blogging
community
AKILA PATRICK
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
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
BETHANY+
RANDY
• 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
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
The Future is Red
• 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
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
Transitions help us build expertise
with some form of anchoring
Passions grow roots through:
Patience + Communities + Connections + Focus
Think about building a house…
You really can’t raise its walls
if its foundation is constantly moving…
TRANSITIONSAS
OPPORTUNITIES(5)
(5) Devastating transitions are opportunities to truly reflect and reprioritize
There is no right or wrong way to mourn loss*
* - As long as you’re not physically or emotionally harming someone else
No one really needs advice beyond warm
comforting arms telling us all will be okay in the
end
It’s okay to take a break, step back from it all, and
reassess offline relationships
While loved ones want to see us happy…
They also want us to be there for them in their deepest times of need
Pamela McNaughtonSavoir Faire Abroad
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
Out of sadness -> Pamela’s New Love
Urban Guide Québec
www.urbanguidequebec.com
So, to summarize…
Travel itself is not the answer
It is the avenue we choose to
live out and express our
passions
What would you still love to do that you can bring both on your travels or do while
at home?
Those unique traits you can do while traveling and while at home are the semblances
of your true passions
Candace Rose Rardon
The Great Affair
“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
We need to stop subconsciously apologizing
for our life transitions
Do you know who I feel does transitions really well?
Sample blog titles from
“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”
Transitions are chances to grow and explore more of what you want and leave
behind what you most definitely don’t want
We need to elegantly:
Own the choices we’ve made
Be unapologetic about them
Be honest with ourselves
Most of us travel because we are curious beings
We have an innate curiosity to explore, experience, and
share the world we see
Do we suddenly become less curious beings because
we have to stay in one place for awhile?
If so, then it’s time to reassess our motives for travel and be completely honest with
ourselves
Transitions aren’t about giving up dreams
They are about sharing those dreams
“You hurt yourself, you hurt your lover, Then you discover, What you thought
was freedom is just greed.”
Gone - Bono, U2
There’s a very thin line between freedom and
selfishness
Don’t live lives of
regret but rather,
expand our approach to tackling life
changes as they come
We need to become serial opportunists
because at every end, there is a beginning
Ending with a quote from Marc and Angel Hack Life’s
40 Lessons for Finding Strength in Hard Times