Starter Girlz Podcast

Redefining Home: 2 Years, 22 Countries & One Backpack (with Tsvety Roo, Solo Traveler & Digital Nomad)

• Jennifer Loehding • Season 7 • Episode 93

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What does it really mean to redefine home? In this inspiring episode of the Starter Girlz Podcast, host Jennifer Loehding sits down with Tsvety Roo — a solo traveller, digital nomad, and minimalist who left behind a high-powered corporate career to explore 22 countries over two years… with nothing but one backpack.

If you’ve ever wondered how to travel solo as a woman, how to start travelling alone, or how to turn loneliness into a life-changing journey of self-discovery, this conversation is for you. Tsvety shares her powerful transformation from “empty success” to fearless freedom, offering practical solo female travel tips, safety advice, and the mindset shifts that helped her embrace fear instead of waiting for it to disappear.

What you’ll learn:

✅ How to overcome fear and take your first step into solo travel
✅ Why minimalism can create more freedom and joy
✅ The mindset shift from loneliness to empowering solitude
✅ How to start small before committing to long-term travel
✅ Safety tips for solo female travellers and digital nomads
✅ Lessons from visiting 22 countries with one backpack
✅ How to redefine home and success on your terms

This episode is more than a travel story; it’s a guide for anyone ready to step out of their comfort zone, whether you’re planning your first solo trip, embracing the digital nomad lifestyle, or looking for a new perspective on personal growth.

🔗 Learn more about Tsvety Roo:
www.tsvetyroo.com

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Tsvety Roo:

And then finally I got to a point where I decided to take this long, turned out it was a very meditative, introspective type of walk. It was six hours San Diego walking, beaches, streets, neighborhoods that I've never been to, but that's okay and I sort of it was very therapeutic and cathartic. And I finally dug deep inside and I asked myself basically three questions.

Jennifer Loehding:

Welcome to the Starter Girlz podcast, your ultimate source of inspiration and empowerment. We're here to help women succeed in every area of their lives career, money, relationships, and health and well-being while celebrating the remarkable journeys of individuals from all walks of life who've achieved amazing things. Whether you're looking to supercharge your career, build financial independence, nurture meaningful relationships or enhance your overall wellbeing, the Starter Girls podcast is here to guide you. Join us as we explore the journeys of those who dare to dream big and achieve greatness. I'm your host, jennifer Loehding, and welcome to this episode. All right, welcome back to another episode of the Starter Girlz podcast, where we spotlight the dreamers who rise above limits, take brave steps forward and build success on their terms. I'm your host, jennifer Loehding, and wherever you are tuning in today, we are so glad to have you. So let me ask you this question today what if loneliness wasn't something to avoid, but a gateway to discovering who you really are? My guest today made a bold decision to leave behind comfort and convention, choosing instead to explore the world and herself through solo travel. What she found along the way just might change how you view freedom, connection and courage, and so I am so excited to chat with her. She's such an amazing woman. I just I love her spirit and she's beautiful and I can just tell I wish we were in the same place because I think we would be great friends. But you guys are going to get to hear from her in just a few minutes, but before I do that, I do need to do a quick shout out to our sponsor.

Jennifer Loehding:

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Jennifer Loehding:

And with that, I do want to tell you to head on over to startergirlz. com. I say this every single week. And why do I tell you that? Because one. If you have missed any episode. It is a great place to catch up on all of them, even the ones in the beginning. You can find them there. It's also a great place to sign up for our community newsletter and, of course, keeping the know of what's coming out and what we're talking about. And then, lastly, if you are an aspiring entrepreneur, or maybe you you know creator, you're already on the road and you want to know what may be impacting your success right now. I've got a free two-minute quiz over there that I created. It is fun and it will tell you what your number one success block is that may be impacting your success right now. So head on over to startergirlz. com and do what you need to do over there. All right, so let's get this thing rolling.

Jennifer Loehding:

My guest today Tsvety Roo, a digital nomad, solo traveler, an inspirational voice for anyone navigating the discomfort of change or the weight of loneliness. After walking away from a high-powered career in New York City, sveti embraced minimalism and set out on a nomadic journey that's taken her through 22 countries and 37 destinations over the past two years. Along the way, she's discovered how the unknown can be our greatest teacher. Her story is one of transformation, vulnerability and self-discovery, proving that sometimes the most radical act we can take is simply choosing ourselves, and so I am so, excited,Tsvety, to welcome you to Starter Girlz. So I know this is going to be an amazing conversation. So here we are Welcome to Starter Girlz.

Tsvety Roo:

Oh my goodness, thank you so much. By the way, your intro is incredible. I don't even know what else to say for the rest of the time here.

Jennifer Loehding:

Those are fun. They're fun. I always have a great time crafting those things out. So I know I feel like you know I say this every. I think every week we talk, we have a little talk about these, these bios, but I'm like maybe like in another life that should be my job is just to MC people, you know, like just welcome people onto the stage, kind of thing, you know make a killing.

Tsvety Roo:

You're so good. Thank you for having me. This is such an amazing opportunity. I can't wait for our conversation me. This is such an amazing opportunity. I can't wait for our conversation.

Jennifer Loehding:

It'll be epic. Yes, absolutely Okay. So for our audience, you know, before we got this thing airing, I asked Tsvety where she was at locally and she said she's still in Bulgaria, but she's about to take off again. So, betty, tell us where you're headed, tell our audience where you're headed next.

Tsvety Roo:

Oh, of course, yes. So I'm currently in Bulgaria. It's Eastern Europe, right above Greece. I know a few folks with geography. It's just like where is Bulgaria at?

Jennifer Loehding:

Right.

Tsvety Roo:

Yeah, a lot of the European countries are so small and sometimes you're just a little bit like oh, there's so many over there and I'm headed to Croatia next and I haven't been surprisingly with all my travels. And I can't believe I haven't been surprisingly with all my travels, I can't believe I haven't hit that one up. And then I go to Slovenia and then a little bit of Germany Back to Germany.

Jennifer Loehding:

Yeah, how fun. I don't know if I shared with you. My one middle daughter got to go to Germany last year, and so my family my grandmother, was full-blooded German and so we have a lot of German in our bloodline and I think it's so cool. I have never been able to go there Like so many people have been able to, and it's on my bucket list to travel there. But while she was there I told her it was so funny because she was traveling the train system and she said it was so hard to travel because there was no English and of course they're looking up on their phone all the German language. And she messaged me and she's like this is so hard. And I'm like, okay, just suck it up and go get me some gummy bears.

Tsvety Roo:

So she said this recently oh, there's so many people that speak English in Germany. Yeah, my tip, of course, like we're. If we're going to dive into tips, yes, we will.

Jennifer Loehding:

Yes we will translate right away.

Tsvety Roo:

I, I do the um. I like I get a sim card, an e-sim um there's, there's all the different ones. You can get like an e-sim. You don't actually need the physical um sim card, but you can just like get it on your phone, uh, and then from there, using that, you get internet and from there you Google Translate, which is obviously like just kind of scanning, and it just if there's something you don't know. I mean, these days, travel is so it's so much easier than it's ever been. English is everywhere. I'm surprised that you know everywhere you go.

Jennifer Loehding:

I think it was just in the train station that she was talking about. Once she got out of the train station. Yes, people spoke. I mean, I'm sure they spoke English in there. She just said they weren't all that friendly offering up information and I you know I've heard that, Like I said, we have German in our culture.

Tsvety Roo:

So I've kind of heard that she was like they're not real friendly giving out the information there, you know. So it is it's all good.

Jennifer Loehding:

They had an amazing time, it's all good so I think a few countries would definitely be fall into. You have to start the conversation first.

Tsvety Roo:

Yeah, yeah, I'm sure, yeah, it's not. No one's gonna come up to you, uh, and most of the time, if you do start and if you are sort of asking like a vulnerable question, like, oh, I, you know, I I'm not sure where I am, people tend to want to help. Yeah, that's pretty universal, and that's one of those things where it just it's amazing that, like one of the lessons also that I've learned, is how much, um, most of the time, people are willing to help or are going to kind of go a little bit out of their way. And I have a story about this really fast.

Tsvety Roo:

I'm going to jump into the story You're fine.

Tsvety Roo:

You're fine, go ahead. You're fine. I was in Valencia, spain. You don't say like the sea, you say it with a th Valencia, valencia, yeah, valencia, valencia, yeah.

Tsvety Roo:

And somehow I ended like I was using the Metro, the public transport there, and I kind of like snuck in without. It was all a little confusing and I just snuck in. So I got on the and I was like, huh, I wonder where to pay. Like I couldn't pay inside. You're supposed to pay when you enter and when you leave you're also supposed to kind of like scan the thing, but because it didn't register, like I don't know how, I snuck in without paying for the entrance, but it didn't register, so it wasn't letting me out.

Tsvety Roo:

When I was like, I kept like hitting my credit card and I was just like you're like help, help, I want to get out of this metro please. I mean, I know I snuck in, but I didn't even see where, like I don't know how I did it in the first place. So I'm just kind of looking around for, like somebody and this lovely lady with her daughter, they like they saw kind of like please let me out, look at my face. And so, yeah, they went over, they bought like a ticket, and I was like, oh, let me give you some like money for this. And they're like no, no, no, and they scanned it for me and they let me out. It was so sweet Wow.

Jennifer Loehding:

Wow, so nice. Well, you know it's interesting because I was having this conversation with a couple of people last week. How you know, so oftentimes we think different and we're going to get into your story in just a minute. But I want to say this how we think, so, people all over the world are very different than us, right, and really, yes, culture is different, you know, demographics or things are different, right, but we have the same universal needs, right, and so it's interesting, like I will talk to people from all over the world and I will be like, when I get done with the conversation, I'm like, wow, I'm like there's so much like us, right, because you realize that everybody really is alike. Even though we live in very different places, you know, we all have the same need for love and affection and caring for our families and having food and all the safety, and you know all the basic same things all over the place, and so it's kind of neat to have those, um, and I would like to add to that that human, uh need for connection.

Tsvety Roo:

Yeah, it's very it's. It's such a binder between all, binding agent of sorts between all of us and and that's, uh, one of the things, one of the things, one of the lessons. So I learned three things on my solo trips, and so the three things, and I love how I did this three and then I germinated like this Okay, for those listening, I'm kind of doing the little, the three letters, and I know that there was like a movie with Quentin Tarantino, that that was like the big plot of the movie, movie with Quentin Tarantino that.

Jennifer Loehding:

that was like the big plot of the movie the difference between the two.

Tsvety Roo:

Anyway, it's cultural notes and it was. It's so crazy. Okay, so the three lessons. So the first one is the transformation from loneliness to solitude, which I had no idea those were even different things. Yeah, we're gonna get into that. Then second lesson is making these connections. I would just mention meaningful connections throughout the world, with with people that are from different backgrounds, different ages, just sort of having these deep conversations where we're all, we're both vulnerable and I've never felt so like, so seen in my life before and by making these connections. And then the third one is embracing the fear.

Tsvety Roo:

And so we can start with the first one, which is the reason why I started solo traveling, living basically out of a suitcase, sometimes a very small suitcase, because I just do even a carry-on one that I don't even take the big one. Yeah, I have a storage unit in San Diego, and to say I had a very traditional life is very true. I had the job. It was in. The job was in New York, but I was working out of San Diego and I've been a graphic design for a long time and I was sort of like, okay, I have a great job, I have a car, I love my car. I had a cute apartment in San Diego.

Tsvety Roo:

Everything Check, check, check Looked great on paper, successful, yeah, so much missing, so much emptiness inside, so much unfulfilled dreams. It just so stuck in life. So everything from the outside looked good. Inside was just like nothing. I have side was just like nothing. I have numbness, all these symptoms of loneliness, all of the sort of weight that I was holding on to and it was. I'm getting emotional every time that I talk about it. I get emotional because it was such a heavy, empty feeling and I know a lot of people out there are experiencing this and I know the statistics are crazy and anywhere you look, it's like a third of the world is experiencing loneliness right now. It's crazy as it is, and so, from that, I tried everything, I tried to go on as many dates so I can find a partner. I tried to, you know, do working out, I tried, oh, I focused only on work. You know, especially in the States, right, it's just like, yeah, just throw yourself into work and everything else will will figure it out.

Jennifer Loehding:

No, we know that doesn't work.

Tsvety Roo:

Yeah, yeah and that's just the recipe for burnout. Um, but and so I I tried everything and then finally I got to a point where I decided to take this long Turned out it was a very meditative, introspective type of walk. It was six hours San Diego walking, beaches, streets, neighborhoods that I've never been to, but that's okay and I sort of it was very therapeutic and cathartic and I finally dug deep inside and I asked myself basically three questions of there's lots of threes now that I think about it.

Jennifer Loehding:

We're on the threes today.

Tsvety Roo:

We're on the threes today, and it was, I feel, like I had to pause for these ones. It was first one what made me feel alive? Yeah, I didn't know, uh kind of how to ask myself that. And I didn't, and I thought that I was doing everything right and I didn't know exactly where to even begin to find out what made me feel alive. And then, from then, trying to like second question what dream have I been stifling? What have I been putting in like the back burner, like well, when the time is right, that's when I'm going to do it. When everything else fits perfectly, that's when I'm going to do it. And so that was the second question. And then the third question is what if I stopped waiting for permission to go after what I want?

Jennifer Loehding:

Those are good questions, and you know what? Nobody's taught to ask those questions. That's why they're difficult, right Like we're not taught to do that, correct.

Tsvety Roo:

So, yeah, good for you, thank you. I mean, I've been ignoring them. I they're just because they're so hard and because, like, oh well, you know, I've been doing what every the easier thing, which is like kind of following everyone's opinions and everyone's thing, but I never really dug deep and I know it's so hard for people and once I did that it took another nine months to actually book. So I wouldn't say I wouldn't, I wouldn't be saying like, oh, as a solo traveler, I decided to just, you know, change my life. Went on a walk, ask myself three questions change my life. No, it was a journey. It was like a nine month baby.

Jennifer Loehding:

Did you have like just a defining moment then, after that Like cause you know, like when I talk about like these defining moments, like when I was stepping down from my like I was stepping down from a role position that I had probably, like you, leaving a job, I was stepping down from what I felt like was, at the time, my high profile Cause I was in leadership. It took me like six months to make that decision, but then one day I woke up at like five in the morning and I remember sitting up in my bed and telling my husband I was like today's the day and I just that was the day I made the decision that I was going to let it go.

Tsvety Roo:

Yeah, it was one of those things. Yeah, I just like you. You, I think I was just at a point where I couldn't overthink about it anymore. Yeah, I could not. It was nine months of overthinking and I spoke to my therapist about it and I gave her this idea and I'm sorry if you hear a baby by the way.

Jennifer Loehding:

It's totally fine, cause I got it's okay, we get it. I got stuff going on. I'm like trying to tune it out back. There's okay, we get it. I got stuff going on. I'm like trying to tune it out back. There's great. Thank goodness for quiet apps on things. You can shut things down. Okay, sorry about that.

Tsvety Roo:

I can't even hear it. You're okay, I can't. Okay, it's fine. And uh, yeah, no, it was just very much like, oh, I am so, uh, it's, it's enough, it's enough, I've overthought about it, I, I, I have to just book this flight. Now I have to click the button and I think that is the hardest part, which is what I try to help people with. If you do want to start traveling, it doesn't have to be as long as I have or as extreme as I have, putting all your stuff into storage or anything. So this is what I try to help people through my website one-on-one sessions that you just have to take that first step, take that leap, just click and you know you're going to follow through.

Jennifer Loehding:

It's just making that decision, anything really that we do in life. It's like just making that, because once you make it I don't know about you, but like I'm assuming you probably feel the same way. I mean, I think we most of us do kind of have the same. Once we make it, then it's like okay, now. It's like the decision's made, now we have to just do what we need to do to support the decision. It's like that. It's like because I don't know it's.

Jennifer Loehding:

It's like that crossing over Is and forth, because I think we don't want to fail. So then, if we take accountability right but here's a cool thing I want to say about that, shadi, I think, because you've had to make these really bold, like you know, transitions that you're, you're yeah, you're okay. You're getting more comfortable with okay. If it's not, I'm okay with it. Right, because I'm going to learn something while I'm there. I'm going to figure something out, for you know what I mean. You're getting okay with that, cause I think the more we make those, the more comfortable we become at accepting responsibility for our decisions. Either way, you know you nailed it.

Tsvety Roo:

I had, uh, I gave myself three months tops. I said, you know, I'm probably I'm only going to last three months, like how had zero faith that I would be two and a half years later. All right, you know. Now looking back I was like, wait, that's not, that's not very nice. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I didn't have basically the belief in myself that I would last any longer than three months and it just kept evolving and it kept giving me.

Tsvety Roo:

I kept growing as a person and sort of blossoming in ways that I wasn't able to in my traditional lifestyle that I had built. And so, yeah, one of those big transformations going from being lonely. For many years I lived in New York City, I lived in San Diego beautiful cities, surrounded by people. Yeah, loneliness, there's something about being in these huge cities sometimes when you are far away from family or you have very limited amount of friends and it hits you that you're by yourself but you're surrounded by so many people, and so there's something about that too tattoo. And then I had I was experiencing it for years and then transition, transforming it through solo travel is kind of spending that deliberate time by myself for myself and discovering new parts of the world and see and kind of growing as a person in that way just brought me back to myself.

Jennifer Loehding:

Yeah, yeah it's. You know, I have a friend here and I have lots of friends that have done traveling. But I have a friend here that was from Canada and she talked about, I think, when she was 18, she went on this whole solo travel thing for a long period, basically backpacking by herself, and she said she learned so much doing that because she, here she was, you know like basically kind of like this introvert, very scared of this, and then goes on this and it just it made her become more confident and I think there's so many, so many. I've not done this personally, but my kids, like I said, I told you offline, my kids are travelers and um, and I just I'm amazed at that that they just, you know like, when my daughter, my middle, went, you know, on her European travel this was the first time she had traveled really outside of the States and she went with a friend and they just, you know like, basically they flew in to Ireland. They had a place when they got there but they knew nowhere else they were going to stay.

Jennifer Loehding:

Beyond that they were. They flew into Germany and basically they just traveled by. You know, they had their suitcases, but they traveled and they found a location along the way, would stay there and when they got ready to pack up to go to the next one, they would look for a location, hop on the train and go to the next place and ended up going all the way from Germany, I think, down to Switzerland and then up into Paris and then flew back into Amsterdam and so it was like this whole just experience of them and they had so much fun. And then she went to Japan and said she had a great time there. She loved Japan, you know, thought that was just eclectic and fun, and they got to you know, play. I guess they stay up all night there or something and have fun because she had a great time, you know. But I think it's just made them very, you know, I won't say it just gets you culturally aware of what's outside of the space that you're in.

Tsvety Roo:

Yes, it opens. It opens the world up to you, literally, I mean it. Just you're, you're seeing people who are also probably traveling, who are from different places. So not only are you kind of experiencing the new country you're in, but then another traveler comes in and let's say, you know, if they're in Germany, this traveler is from Taiwan, and so you get to learn about Taiwan and in the way it just it's so much, it's fulfilling. I think it's super fulfilling.

Tsvety Roo:

And then, if the whole idea about starting is because a lot of people my age and I'm almost 40, and I know we've talked about this, uh, off camera, but it's, it's a little, it's a bit different than kind of the 22 year old backpacking person right, because there was a lot more um built up expectations for certain milestones that I had to hit at this age and oh, we, we, we put a lot of pressure on ourselves as we get older, right to well, why aren't you doing this? And etc. Etc. Whatever those are? And and then I had a lot of people who kind of um say like, well, aren't you too old to be doing this, the travel? And I was like, well, obviously nothing else has worked. Guys like this is. This is what I'm trying to get through for everybody.

Tsvety Roo:

And the solo travel now opened up my eyes to myself and and also realizing what kind of uh life that fulfills me. And I didn't know that before I didn't, I didn't know the values that I, uh, that I was so strongly attached to. And now, like you, you figure out your values, you figure out, uh, so many parts of myself have grown. So, like you were saying, you know, there's, there's a the level of adapting, adaptability everywhere. So you're traveling, you're going to have things that don't go quite as planned, and so I have to keep adapting and maneuver and and figure out. And I'm huge problem solver. Now, yeah, I bet, I imagine, yeah, imagine, yeah. So when you, when you see that your flight's delayed, you're probably gonna miss your connecting one, you're just like, oh, maybe, maybe I shouldn't go to Vietnam right now reroute yes, no, I agree stories about like the universe basically navigating for me there's.

Tsvety Roo:

There's a part where you just learn to let go, and I didn't do that as much before I I thought I had to control everything and I was doing all of the things in order, the safe, the comfort zone. That's part of you being controlling over your environment, the outcome, how you lead your life. But now I've learned to sort of put my hands up sometimes and say I probably should just let and see what happens here, let things go, and maybe it wasn't meant for me to go to this country, maybe it wasn't meant for me to, let's say, go to a specific other one, and it just once I started to do that. Some experiences have been very much like wow, this is weird, I wouldn't have met, let's say, one person if I had decided to push and go to Vietnam and I wouldn't have made this connection. It just there's so many things, one after another, that probably wouldn't have happened if I went down the path of being controlling and not letting go.

Jennifer Loehding:

Right, yeah, there's so many, I think, great takeaways from this. But I want to go back to even like when you were talking about finding your values, because I think that you know, no matter what it is I think like part of the work I do this is, one of the main things we get into is is figuring out, like what is important to us right, because so often it's like we go and we do all the things we think we should be doing, like get the degree, you know, do the marriage, have the kids, like we have this whole planned thing that we think we should be doing right, and we realize that we're not always content in those paths, and so I think everybody has to find their way and I don't think it's anybody's place to tell somebody else how that way should be. I think that's an internal thing that you asked. Really, those three questions you asked were powerful because those are the questions I would tell my clients, because we're not taught to do that, we're never, we don't go through, you know, grade school that with them going. I mean, maybe when we're little we talk about what do you want to be when you grow up, right, and then somewhere along the line. We lose all that because we start saying be practical, okay, go be a doctor, an engineer, a lawyer, an accountant, do all the you know.

Jennifer Loehding:

But if anybody wants to do solo travel or be a musician or be an artist or you know, we sort of kind of tell people that's fairytale, like you can't do that, you can't. You know, and I here's my thing on this. Whatever it is you do, if you can't figure out how to do those things you're like you're talking about and you still got to do these things over here, do these things over here, but figure out a way to find that to incorporate some of these things are important to you in your life, because you're going to be much happier doing the things you hate doing If you're incorporating some of the things that are important to your value system. Right, and for you, obviously, travel is. You wanted to see the world and that that was some kind of a calling you probably didn't know until you started doing. Then you realize, oh my gosh, that was what I needed to be doing. I don't know why it took me so long to figure it out.

Tsvety Roo:

You know, exactly, even nine months to make that first, uh, one way ticket, uh, yeah, there's so much fear with all of this. I think that's the biggest issue, the biggest challenge. Right, and I've heard a lot. You know, why aren't you afraid to travel by yourself, especially as a woman? And I say, you know, I didn't wait for the fear to leave. Yeah, you just did it. Anyways, the three things that embracing the solitude, making those meaningful connections and then taking the fear with me, it was the suitcase, my backpack and the fear. All four of us we got on the flight together, all four of us we got on the flight together. And, over time, that fear of, okay, what's going to happen? I don't know anybody in this city, how am I going to make this work? And so, as it continued over the last two and a half years, that fear became smaller and smaller, the fear of the unknown and the uncertainty and not having the security, the comfort blankets that we wrap ourselves around. And so that I say, don't wait for that fear to go away.

Jennifer Loehding:

Yeah, if you're going to be waiting, you're going to be waiting a long time for that fear to go, yeah, and if you're wanting to do some, I mean the fear is there anyways, right? So if you're wanting to do something, bad enough, you're just going to have to recognize that it's going to be there. I think you know another thing too, shvedi and I'm sure you do this anyways is that you just assume that. I mean, you kind of already talked about this. You said you know things didn't go a certain way, but you made a really good spin by saying I recognize that when things didn't go that way, other things came into my space that may have not have happened had those things gone as planned.

Jennifer Loehding:

So I think the whole deal here is just embracing the idea that something's probably not going to go as planned, right, like something's not. And if you just assume this is no different than in business, really, if you think about it like your venture, let's compare that to business. If you just assume, going into something new, that there are going to be hiccups, there's going to be problems. You know I used to when I was in Mary Kay. I'd always say there's potholes on the road, because no matter where you drive, you're probably going to hit a hole.

Jennifer Loehding:

Right, you're going to hit something, so I tell my consultants that you're going to hit a pothole. Just assume that you're going to have a setback somewhere. Your job you mentioned this adaptability your job is to adapt. Your job is to figure out how you're going to get around under, through whatever you need to do, but get through the freaking pothole, get through it. So if you just come in with the mindset that I'm going to have these things happen, but I am confident enough that I have the skill to get through whatever it takes to get through and the more you do that, as you've done, the more the easier it becomes to do that. So it's really just building that confidence up to say I know it's already going to be there, but I'm okay with that because I'm skilled, I know what to do to get through it, I'll figure it out. Right, I'll figure it out.

Tsvety Roo:

You just encompassed that so well. It's exactly. That's such a big lesson and it's so interesting that solo travel taught me that. I haven't seen that in any books anywhere. By the way, people keep asking me when am I writing a book? You?

Jennifer Loehding:

do you need to write one one day, you need to put something together. You would have probably so many stories to tell too. Just all the story. You can just put a whole book on stories you've learned.

Tsvety Roo:

Talk about the lessons and the stories 100%, and I mean just the most random situations leading to such beautiful moments. And as my mind keeps shifting, as the definition of what a home is or what being alone means all of these definitions I definitely could write and talk about for hours is just how we're so tied to just one aspect of it, and especially, for example, the home one. And because a lot of people ask me we're like, don't you miss sleeping in one bed, I'm like fair point, yeah, no, this is good, but what? I think that's just like I wouldn't even call it a sacrifice anymore, but it's like a small sacrifice for me to live and to continue to grow as a person and to to see more, um, different people and and and continue this more open lifestyle. Yeah, and if that means that I don't sleep in the same bed every day, and then that's what that means. I mean it just.

Tsvety Roo:

For me that's not a, that's a very, very small sacrifice. And I know for a lot of people I just be like, oh no, I, I couldn't do that, and you, there's so many other things that they're just I'm not comfortable with that. But then kind of coming back to like my value of, of who I'm becoming and how I'm growing through this experience is so much stronger than tying it to just comfort and to being stuck to that life that I was before. So it's overall the idea of home, just because it's so comfortable there and it's safe and it's great. But what I've learned is that I can make these mini homes everywhere I go in in the mindset and just shifting my idea of what a home is and what a home is supposed to be and how it's supposed to feel.

Jennifer Loehding:

Yeah, well, and the thing, the truth be told here, is that you can decide any time to stop traveling and make a home. That's the thing I mean. This is not. You know, this is where you're on your journey right now, and I've known several people that have been like this, been travelers, and then at some point they decide okay, now I'm ready to settle down, I feel like I've done enough. I mean, the thing, my thing is this it's like I would tell my kids I would be like go travel, go do the things you want to do. And when you're ready to settle down and you feel like you've done, you've had some experiences, you know, then do that.

Jennifer Loehding:

Because I don't know that we were encouraged, you know, to do that when I was young. That wasn't really the norm. Maybe it is in other countries, but here in the States I don't feel like that was the norm. Be like, hey, after school, go off and travel, you know the world and all. And it was like you go to school, you get married, you have kids, you have built, get a house, all the things Right. And I, I it's, it's fun Cause I watch my kids and obviously they're not doing. You know nearest what you're doing. But it's fun because I watch their experiences and what they're doing and it's so fun Like I'll you know when they go out, I'll be like send me pictures so I can see what's happening.

Jennifer Loehding:

Cause I'm like what's it like there, what's the weather, what's the like? When my daughter she's in Paraguay right now and I'm like what's the weather there and like what's the ground look like? Cause I've never been like I want to know. She's sending me pictures of like. She's like well, it is like a really nice restaurant here, like because we have no concept right, because we're in our, in our space and we don't have concept of what it's like outside of that. So I sort of feel like I get to kind of curiously live through them, you know, and see, watch them kind of travel through the world.

Jennifer Loehding:

So it's fun and you and to you, I say you've got the space and the time to do it in the drive, do it when you're ready to settle down and go back into a bed.

Tsvety Roo:

in one place you can always go back to that again Exactly, and that was also my thinking when I started this too. I was like I could always come back. There's still things in storage unit.

Jennifer Loehding:

Right, san Diego is great, by the way. I've been there a couple of times too. I like it there too. I would ask you a question, because let's talk about this like minimalism idea, because I actually talked about this in my book, like and I talked about it from the point of letting go of what isn't necessary, like I realized whenever I was back in 2012, when I I don't know that I realized it right at 2012, but I did eventually realize this that whenever I got diagnosed with this crazy medical condition I had, you know, this nerve condition I had, this practitioner was like, what you know, were you doing at the onset of all this?

Jennifer Loehding:

And I got kind of offended by it because I thought what? Like I'm running a business, I'm being a mom, like I'm doing all the things, well, then, later on, you're doing everything. Right, I was doing okay in my career at that time. But then I realized, you know, in hindsight, when I later on down the road, when I was writing out my book, when I started coming to this realization, that there was a lot going on in my life that wasn't really healthy. Like I was running a lot. We were going from point A to point B. I had three kids 16, 12 and eight multiple activities and I was like homeroom mom, field trip mom, the PTA mom. Sometimes I'd go on the same field trip three times with each kid, you know, in one week, because they all were going, but they had to go in different groups, because they were in different age groups, and so there was just a lot of running around.

Jennifer Loehding:

Yeah, and we were in the fast food lane a lot, just a lot of, I feel, like unhealthy patterns going on, and I realized in that moment that it was contributing to what I was doing. And so in my book I went back and I talked about this idea of, in my sense of minimalism, letting go of things that were not necessary to my happiness, to my health, to the things that were important to me. And one of those things for me at that time was narrowing down the activities my children were doing, like really coning in on. Do we really need to be doing? Because they were good, they excelled at a lot of things, and then it became really hard to determine which thing to make them pick, you know. And so it just got down to we need to get down to the bare minimums, pick the main thing that you really truly there's the question you enjoy doing, right?

Jennifer Loehding:

I don't know that I said those words exactly, but it was like what is the thing that you really enjoy doing, you know, and so we did. We kind of honed down. But minimalism is a big thing because it ranges all the way to what you're saying putting everything in storage, letting everything go down into the bare bags and traveling. So I'd like to know from you because our audience listening to this may go like what is this, what was this like for you that you've said so much in this? But maybe tell us a little bit about just that part of it, like letting it all kind of sit aside and in, you know, going it was scary, I'm not gonna lie.

Tsvety Roo:

It was sort of, uh, I, just when I put my things in storage I realized I was like, oh well, that I can't. Really it's not going to be easy going back to that life. But I, I feel like, subconsciously, I did it on purpose. I made it harder for myself to go back to this life, where I was feeling so stuck and so empty and I didn't want to go back that the fear of going back to that life was bigger than the fear to put everything to, to be a minimalist and to give this a go. And so when that happens, when those, the, the balance beams sort of shift, where it's like I, my, my fear is bigger to live the way I used to live then, to go into the unknown and to put everything like just minima, minimalize my life. That was kind of the turning point and I said, okay, I, you know, maybe I can live a little bit more. Uh, a little bit I know how I'm, I'm making it sound Cause I know it's good Uh, maybe I live a little bit more out of a suitcase for a little while and, like I said, like I didn't think it was going to end up being two and a half years.

Tsvety Roo:

I started small, and that's another thing about you know, when you start with a smaller goal, in a way it's a little bit more achievable, and that's what they teach us, right. And so I wasn't thinking, okay, I'm going to live out of a suitcase for two and a half years. I was thinking, let's just do three months. And that's the same sort of mentality that I try to teach people when they start to think about. Maybe they want to do a solo travel trip, and so I say, well, how about you start having lunch by yourself? Or maybe you take a day trip to the city in your state that you haven't been to yet, and you kind of start building up that confidence and you start to figure, you start to spend time with yourself and you start to realize like, okay, I'm going to put the phone down, this is going to be intentional, like I'm going to be putting myself as the person that I want to reconnect with, and I think that's so.

Tsvety Roo:

We're not doing that enough. We're always distracted by the phones. We're constantly sort of distracted by what we got to do Checklists, doing whatever email that comes through from work. I got to fix this and so I wasn't giving myself permission to spend any time by myself before. It was too scary, it was too unknown, no-transcript.

Tsvety Roo:

They're saying, okay, I'm a solo traveler, like I'm going there solo, but they spend like their entire time kind of being connected back to the States, or or they're on their phone checking their email, like, oh, I got to do this for work. And then it kind of defeats the purpose of the travel experience, because then you're, you're just in, let's say, you're in Portugal or Spain, but you're really doing the same things that you were doing in the States. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I said, uh, that was another very mindful, intentional portion of how I wanted to do this experience is that I was like, yes, I'm going to still be connected to my family and my friends, but I'm taking this time for me. I'm going to kind of put the phone down whenever I'm eating and see and just look up, see if I can make connections, see, see what's going on, just the presence. And then from that, that kind of opportunity that I allowed to open up to the world. And that's when I met so many people and just had incredible experiences that way.

Tsvety Roo:

Yeah, it's awesome so yeah, like not closing yourself off and not doing your same patterns that you do at home. But while you travel is really important too.

Jennifer Loehding:

Yeah, okay. So one other thing I want to ask you before I want to ask you a fun question. So somebody's made up their mind and they're ready to embark on this and maybe they're not going to do that. They don't have plans to go the two years yet. They're just going to do like a sweaty, rude decision here where they're going to say I'm not even going to put it in the storage yet, but they're just going to go traveling. So let's talk about some safety things really quick, because I know this is important, important to you as a solo traveler. So maybe a few pointers for somebody traveling so they know what to do, what to kind of prepare for and make them, put them at ease a little bit.

Tsvety Roo:

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So number one do your research. So I would say, pick a country. Maybe that's the one that you have always wanted to go to and you know why do you want to go. To know your why of why you want to get there. Just generally like, maybe it's like, oh, the beaches are lovely and uh, okay, so you know why. Do your research around the cities, the, the public transport, um, what kind of you know, is it dangerous, is it whatever? You know? So that kind of there's so many forums and reviews online Early on.

Tsvety Roo:

I made a mistake when I went to Cyprus is because I didn't realize that they have their big. Their biggest holiday is Easter and so they celebrate pretty largely. Yeah, yeah, they're huge on their Easter, especially on the Greek side of the Island, and so I got there the day after Easter and so I couldn't. It was like getting taxis was difficult, uh, getting to my Airbnb, the wifi wasn't working. I called and I said you know, I have things like I need to stay connected, I have projects to do. And she's like, yeah, no one's coming till Wednesday and this was.

Tsvety Roo:

Monday and I was like oh my goodness, talk about letting go. Talk about adapting Call the. Airbnb. I was like you guys need to put me somewhere else where there's Wi-Fi working. Then that place had these ginormous ants. I mean like the craziest stuff.

Tsvety Roo:

They're all like the trifecta of network, anything wrong but, I didn't do my research about that particular city of being super new and they were just still building a lot of it, like a lot of resorts around it and everything. The infrastructure wasn't settled. I didn't do my research around the holiday or how that impacted the whole transportation wise Didn't do. There was just so much that I learned from that experience about OK, you have to be prepared, especially as a solo traveler, because these things are going to happen. You have to rely on yourself whenever these type of situation comes through and then from so, once you do that, once you do your research about everything and specifically also like the type of neighborhood that you stay, I almost stayed in Lisbon, portugal. I had a neighborhood where, fine during the day, but at night the ladies come out. You know, some working ladies come out yeah.

Jennifer Loehding:

And I'm like I'm not part of that party.

Tsvety Roo:

I'm a hard pass on that one.

Jennifer Loehding:

Yeah, yeah.

Tsvety Roo:

And that's because I read all of the kind of the reviews that are for individual places. And so then the uh, then the second most important so do research. And second most important, follow your instincts when it comes to situations. So I don't go down dark alleys in any country, and that's, you know, even in the States, right? Sure, if it looks very kind of sketchy, I'm going to go all the way around. You know, I'm good, I don't need to put myself in situations where that is.

Tsvety Roo:

And then, obviously, following your instinct for that way and you have to it just it seems like it's common sense but being a little bit more reserved about these things, kind of being aware of your surroundings, I have now developed a sort of sixth sense that I met a few people here in Bulgaria and they were saying something like oh, do you guys remember the street that we passed? And I would be like, yes, because now I pay attention to my surroundings to a very astute level and then I kind of listen better. It's just there's, you know, being aware is very important too. Yeah, and then the third one that I think has helped me I will never know, but I believe so is the whole body language and the way I walk, yeah.

Tsvety Roo:

You know, don't kind of walk with intention.

Tsvety Roo:

Um, don't seem meek or kind of don't make yourself smaller, uh, kind of pretend like you know where you're going and you know 90% of the time. I've never been to this city, I don't know a single soul in it and I just pretend like I've been there before. Sure, and that's huge when you think that in your mind, like I've been there here before, I've done this, Even though you have to come around a couple of times around the block until you find your actual destination. Still, that attitude makes such a big difference. Because I think when people see you that you're walking with confidence, you're walking with intention, you've got your shoulders back, you're just like I've got things to do, I've got places to be. I had a lovely guy on a plane give me a compliment. He's like do you do martial arts?

Jennifer Loehding:

I'm like no, no, I'm just a traveler. I's like, do you do martial arts? And I'm like, no, I'm just a traveler.

Tsvety Roo:

I got it down. I've never done martial arts in my life, but he's like you look like you can beat up somebody. I'm like that is exactly what I want.

Jennifer Loehding:

That's what you want. You've got well and I think these are great. I think what you've just said is important really. I mean anywhere here even too. I think it's always good to be, because we, you know, I've taken self-defense classes, but I've also been in, like you know, I was in a class not too long ago where a policeman came in and was talking about, like what do serial killers look for?

Jennifer Loehding:

Like it was that like Ted Bundy's and stuff, like all the names we've heard and all of these things you're talking about. Like this walking cop, they look for certain women, they look at the way they walk, they look at these kinds of things. Now, we're not talking serial killers here, but these things transfer across that Obviously, how we project our voice and talk and all those things. People are like I'm not messing with that one. You know like I don't want to even go down that. That one's going to be just way too much work. You know, if you're walking like you're, these are, these are really just all great things that you're talking about. I think here it just can make a difference in, you know, the safety of where you're, anywhere you're at, really.

Tsvety Roo:

Yeah, I mean, and then like obviously don't draw attention to yourself. Yeah, I don't, I don't get drunk by myself.

Jennifer Loehding:

Yeah.

Tsvety Roo:

Especially in new areas, sort of common sense for most of the time you know it's, it's not. This is now I don't look at as a vacation. Uh, because I know like when people travel it's like oh, I'm going on vacation, I'm gonna let loose I'm just gonna like, you're like, I'm exploring, I got things to do, yeah I was like, yeah, you know, this is part of my life now.

Jennifer Loehding:

So so this is just every day, so.

Tsvety Roo:

I'm not going to be all sloppy drunk every day.

Jennifer Loehding:

So I would be like you too. I wouldn't. I don't even like to get drunk anyway, so I wouldn't for me, I just don't like it. So I would want to be full capacity, so I can explore and be, you know. So you're in a very vulnerable position.

Tsvety Roo:

Yeah, yeah, especially by yourself, especially by yourself, but you can totally drink, which is what happened. I met this incredible girl from South Carolina when I was in Bali just now, in in January, and uh, we just like we ended up being those uh two people that they didn't. So in Bali they do guides, you know tour guides. Yeah, they take you around to the different, the waterfalls and the main attractions there. And it turned out that she was a solo traveler and I was a solo traveler, and both of us didn't want just our own guide, and so they put us together because, they wouldn't put us with the couples because they would be feeling or whatnot, and I was like this is so unfair, I feel.

Tsvety Roo:

So you guys got partnered up, we got partnered up. It was so fun because I had these flip-flops with the American flag from Walmart. I was wearing those and I got into the car and as soon as she saw them, she's like I think we're going to be besties for the rest of the day.

Tsvety Roo:

And we did. We drank our little lychee martinis. I'm sure I'm saying that long Lychee, lychee it's. It's one of those fruits that it's like tomato, tomato, yeah Right. Yeah fruits, that it's like tomato, tomato, yeah right, yeah, no, it was amazing. That was a great connection from the other side of the world and, uh, I hadn't met an american for a while there and I was like, oh my god hi it was cool, what um?

Jennifer Loehding:

one last question I want to ask you, like what has been your favorite place so far, your favorite favorite travel destination, travel destination?

Tsvety Roo:

I'd say the. The most recent one that really pops up really fast, um, is Northern Thailand, like just the city of Chiang Mai. Oh, my goodness, I don't. It's something about it, not so there's. The food is amazing. I love thai food. Um, it's so. Uh, it's still you, you're, you're. You're able to get around totally fine with english. Everyone speaks english and but it's held on this heritage, traditional, the thai traditions. There. You kind of see the Buddhist monks walking around all the different temples. It was fascinating to me. I really loved Northern Thailand. Awesome, that's awesome.

Jennifer Loehding:

Well, this has been amazing and I know you and I could talk forever because I'm sure you've just got so many stories. You can be like tell us another story, tell us another story, another, another. We have to save it for another time. Right, we have to do it again. If somebody listening, yeah, if somebody listening to this today wants to get in touch with you, maybe they want to follow you, your journey, reach out to you. I don't know Whatever that looks like, where would you like us to send them?

Tsvety Roo:

Both my Instagram and my website, and it's Tsvety Roo and it's TsvetyRoo, and I hope you have the link down. We'll get it in the show notes. Okay, great, yeah perfect. Yeah, Because I, you know, I got to spell it a little bit, you know yeah.

Jennifer Loehding:

I want to just make sure they know where I always say just say it at least, so they know, kind of, but we'll make sure when we get the show notes in there that we have it in there, svetirucom or those are the two places Please get in touch with me.

Tsvety Roo:

I love hearing from people and I also would love to hear what's stopping you just for doing this by yourself. That's also fascinating to me. You know, a lot of people come up to me and say like I could never do what you do, and I say, why? Like talk to me about it? Right, let's dig deeper. And is it that you think it's not going to be fun? Is it you? What is it that's kind of?

Jennifer Loehding:

like the unknown. Probably for most people it's just the not knowing Right Big bass. Well, you are definitely an inspiration and I love it. I think it's cool. If you're enjoying it. I say all the power to you, girl. Just do your thing, have fun. And when you're ready, you can go get the bed again and get back into the traditional home again, but in the meantime, explore the world and do whatever. Do whatever makes you happy. You have an opportunity, so go for it.

Jennifer Loehding:

Exactly. Oh, thank you. Yeah, thank you. I appreciate all your knowledge and wisdom too. That's great too For anybody you know. Kind of I think this is a good story, even for somebody just maybe sitting on the fence, about starting anything. Really about like, just make that decision and accept and be adaptable, you know, and just and it'll be, it'll work out, you know it'll, you'll learn.

Tsvety Roo:

Yeah, please don't be hard on yourself about your age or like, oh, I've, I've never done something like this before. Well, that's okay, you know. They just just kind of be um more compassionate with yourself, and I think that's so. We're not doing that enough. We're distracting ourselves too much, uh, and we're distracting ourselves from finding out what's good for us, and I think once you kind of unleash that, you're going to be able to find so many different parts of yourself and grow so much Good stuff.

Jennifer Loehding:

All right, and of course, we do want to say to our audience we appreciate you and thank you, of course, for tuning in. We hope you found this episode both inspiring I can't talk today and informative and, of course, if you do, you know what to do. Go, do all the things, hit the like subscribe comment button, share it, do whatever you feel inspired to do so we can keep sharing all these amazing stories. And, as I always say, in order to live the extraordinary, you must start, and every start begins with a decision. You guys, take care, be safe, be kind to one another and we will see you next time.

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Jennifer Loehding

Host
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Tsvety Roo

Guest