Avid traveler, Founder and CEO of travel boutique website Indagare, this journalist seeks peace, desert sunrises and a protective force field.
WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
I love Maya Angelou’s quote. “Hope and fear cannot occupy the same space. Invite one to stay.” I think the same applies to positive and negative attitudes. People tend to be hopeful and optimistic and that influences their views and choices, or they are fearful and negative. I prefer those who choose to walk on the side of hope and optimism.
WHAT WAS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU LEARNED IN HIGH SCHOOL?
Opportunities are made not delivered.
WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST PET PEEVE?
Complaining. I believe that the greatest control we have is in how we respond to things and problem-solving or finding a silver lining beats complaining every time.
WHAT DO YOU WEAR THAT MAKES YOU FEEL STRONG?
When I travel I wear a necklace with pendants from family and friends. Each charm represents someone important in my life, and I love carrying their energy and wishes with me; it feels like a protective force field.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE SOMEONE WITH A BROKEN HEART?
I would give them Elizabeth Lesser’s book Broken Open. She cofounded the Omega Institute, is much wiser than I am and makes a beautiful case in this book for how moments of devastation bring about rebirth. She is teaching at our Indagare wellness retreat in January at Mii Amo.
WHAT IS ON YOUR NIGHTSTAND?
A photo of my two children in a moment of joy and a pile of books including Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging by Sebastian Junger.
WHAT GIVES YOU GOOSE BUMPS?
Being in a beautiful place with other people who are filled with gratitude for the moment. On one of our Indagare Insider Trips this year, we took a hot-air balloon ride over the Namibian desert at sunrise, and we were all speechless at the beauty and our good fortune.
WHAT IS YOUR BAD DAY BACKUP PLAN?
I learned from my mother that two of the things in life that give me the greatest pleasures are pretty easy to procure: a great book and a great meal. In almost any circumstance, you can find solace in these, especially because, for me, a great meal can be a perfectly ripe piece of fruit or slice of cheese. My daughter has embraced this as her backup plan too, so it’s now a three-generations-old recipe.
HOW DO YOU DEFINE SUCCESS?
I know it when I see it, and it is not about money or power, but a sense of peace. The most successful people I have known are those who see each day as a gift and an opportunity to grow and to do things for others. The days that I get to do those things feel like days of triumph.
BEST ADVICE YOU HAVE EVER RECEIVED?
Follow your own compass not other people.
WHAT MAKES YOU FORGET TO EAT?
I never forget to eat.
FAVORITE BOOK?
West with the Night by Beryl Markham. She was a beautiful writer and a fearless adventurer, and I love the way she captured the beauty of East Africa, which is my favorite place—tied with Paris.
Photo credit Julie Skarratt
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