My Backstory

I’ve experienced more traumatic experiences over the past few years than I have in my entire life! If you have not previously read my story, allow me to quickly review:

• May, 2015-My mom passed after an extended six-month battle with various illnesses and complications after a stroke. Her death was absolute devastation for me because aside from my husband, she was my best friend.
• March, 2016-My dad passed from a sudden heart attack the day after Easter, even though I am convinced he died of a broken heart. His death was an absolute shock because we had such a wonderful Easter Sunday with him.
• November, 2016-My grandmother was diagnosed with Dementia and Alzheimer’s. Then in April 2017, I took formal responsibility and became her Legal Guardian and caretaker.
• January 2017-I took a graduate course in Buddhist Meditation to help with my grief and stress. I think I saw glimpses of my Inner Goddess during some of the meditation assignments.
• May 2017-I decided that I needed to retreat and balance after all the grief and responsibilities I’d been dealing with recently. So I asked a girlfriend who lives in Arizona if I could visit for a few days. While there, I participated in a healing ceremony with a Shaman in Sedona. This is where my idea for travel therapy was birthed.

My Experience with Professional Therapy

Those traumatic events changed me. I no longer felt the happiness and joy I once had. I strayed away from any social activity with family and friends. I experienced deep darkness I’d never felt before. I wanted desperately to get back to my joy and happiness. So I explored several avenues to help me regain my happiness. My first step was to talk with a professional therapist, which certainly helped. However, I needed more. Therefore, I tried art therapy and began painting again, which was soothing. Yet again, I still needed more; I mean, I was SO far away from my authentic self, I had to pull out all the stops. I was determined to reclaim my joy.

One of my professional therapists’ methods was to recall all of the fond memories of my childhood. Doing this helped me balance my emotions of grief with happier emotions. Oh, I had so many fond memories of my younger years. My mom, dad, two brothers, and I were extremely close. My parents were the epidemy of love and affection, which may be why I was so lost when they passed. We did not have much in terms of material possessions, but what we had was much better. We had two loving parents that would move heaven and earth for our happiness.

Past Memories

Even though we didn’t have much, my parents found creative ways for us to travel still. Our church would always visit different churches in different cities, so we traveled with them often. It was usually just overnight, but it was still another city away from home. Additionally, my dad’s family is from Alabama, so we would travel there for family reunions. Those were typically weekend trips. Also, my great aunt and uncle lived in Campbellsville, KY, on a farm. So we would usually visit during spring break. It was only about an hour or so away, but it was away from our everyday life and in a different environment.

Once we got older, we still kept traveling as a family. Of course, as adults, we had more means. We would have family meetings to plan our vacations. Our vacations had to be within driving distance because my parents did not like to fly. So we would load a 15 passenger van, which we jokingly called the church bus. My husband, son, parents, grandmother, uncle, brothers, my brother’s partners, nephew, and I would head for the open road. Nashville, Atlanta, Virginia Beach, Myrtle Beach, St. Louis, Hilton Head, and Savannah were just a few places on our list of trips. We were even on vacation in August 2005 when we had to evacuate from our beach house during Hurricane Katrina.

After completing the memory recall exercises my therapist recommended, I did start to feel better. Just thinking about all the good times and experiences we had traveling created this amazing healing energy. I thought that if I had this much joy just thinking about my travel memories, then wow, physical travel may be what I need.

My Angels

Anywhere the Wind Takes Me

As a part of my healing journey, I was regularly attending full moon drumming circles. Each time I went, the hosts would always talk about how they could not wait to move to Sedona, AZ. They described it as one of the most peaceful and spiritual places on earth. For the past three years, I’d been searching for peace, so Sedona seemed to be the answer. Since I do not believe in coincidences, I knew this was a Divine message. My life changed forever after meeting with that Shaman.

I had never been on vacation alone before, but that didn’t scare me. I knew that merely being away from all the chaos would soothe my soul. So I began planning immediately. Now keep in mind that we would stay within a 12-hour drive when we traveled as a family. This meant we never visited out West. So I knew that I wanted to see as much as I could because this would be my first time on vacation west of Missouri. My trip began in April 2017, and I jam-packed it with stops in Sedona, Phoenix, Southern California, and Las Vegas. This trip was the best vacation of my entire life. I named it “Anywhere the Wind Takes Me.” Of course, I missed my parents, but I also got in touch with my Inner Goddess and began healing; hence, “travel therapy.” Not to be confused with a physical therapist who travels. No, my therapy IS traveling.

California or Bust

Since my girlfriend and I had such a fabulous time together, we decided to retreat together every year. The following year in 2018, we went to Santa Fe, NM. I flew out first to do my solo healing for a few days, then she joined me, and we hit the town! During my solo healing, I attended a Shift Network virtual summit each day. I receive so much clarity and guidance from my Inner Goddess throughout that summit. This is where the next path on my healing journey began.

Near the ocean is my favorite place to be ever! I find it so peaceful and calming. When I was traveling with my family, we only traveled in states bordering the Atlantic Ocean. So we only experienced East Coast beaches, which are great because it’s a beach nonetheless! However, when I was exposed to the Pacific Ocean during my “Anywhere the Wind Takes Me Trip”, I was in awe of the stark contrast and beauty. I knew I wanted to be near it as often as I could.

After my parents died, Christmas died in my heart. So, the first Christmas without them in 2017, we hit the road for California! Since I had already been to Southern California, we decided to visit Central California in the Monterey Bay area. We had a wonderful time; it was so therapeutic for all of us. So much so that during that trip, we came to another life-changing revelation. We wanted to LIVE in California! The following Christmas in 2018, we visited Northern California in the San Fransisco area. After visiting Southern, Central, and Northern California, we decided we liked Northern California the best for our new home.

The Mother Road

July 1, 2019, we packed up our whole life, cashed in our 401ks, left everything we knew, and set out for the open road! I had been planning this trip for about six months, so I knew exactly how I wanted it to feel. I wanted to see and do as much as we could along the journey. So I planned our trip to travel during the entire month of July. I’d always wanted to explore Route 66, and what better chance to do so than this?

Our trip began in Chicago, IL, with just my husband, dog, turtle. We then stopped in St. Louis, MO, to meet some family for dinner. Next, we met one of my husband’s friends in Tulsa. We celebrated the Fourth of July in Amarillo, TX. We bathed in hot springs near Albuquerque, NM. We visited the Petrified Forest in AZ. By mid-July, we had our first detour to Sedona, where our son joined us for the rest of the trip.

Additionally, my girlfriend came up from Phoenix to hang out with us for a couple of days. Next, we took a train to visit the Grand Canyon and returned to the Mother Road. After crossing into California, we took another detour to Palm Springs, where we visited Joshua Tree Park. Then another detour to San Diego so we could start our journey of the Pacific Coast Highway. At the end of July, we did all the touristy stuff in L.A., Hollywood, Venice Beach, Long Beach, Santa Monica, and Malibu. We arrived in Sacramento, CA, the first week of August 2019, where we decided to settle.

Then the Pandemic

All was well at first. I made new girlfriends quickly, recreational marijuana is legal, and I visited the beach at least once a month. I was living the life of my dreams! I was healing even more, and it was pure bliss! Then six months later, in February 2020, COVID-19.

The first few months, I found creative ways to deal with the devastation of not being able to spread my social butterfly wings. However, with my self-diagnosed ADHD, that got old fast. By summer, I decided I needed to keep my mind occupied, so I bought Rosetta Stone and started taking Spanish lessons. Additionally, I began playing Rock Band drums. Music “therapy” may be another type of therapy I may explore further. I found music to be so therapeutic. However, by November, I was clearly frazzled. All of the healing work I had been doing on my journey slowly started to revert to that dark space. My Inner Goddess was not going to allow that to happen this time, though. So with Her guidance, the Inner Peace Program was created because She knew I needed to regain that peace.

By March 2021, our client list had increased. We developed a unique mediation where we guided women to meet their Inner Goddess. It was phenomenal hearing the descriptions our clients would share afterward of their Inner Goddess. However, I was just a bit jealous because my Inner Goddess had never revealed Her image to me. Every time She came to me, She was an indigo orb of energy. Yet, during the third week of March, She finally revealed her complete image in a Kundalini meditation to show me the next path along our journey. WOW, Her beauty is beyond explanation. But I can tell you she is a mermaid! If you read the description of a mermaid as a spirit animal, the next path of our journey will make so much more sense! It certainly did to me; as a matter of fact, my whole LIFE came into focus entirely! Contact us if you are interested in meeting your Inner Goddess.

We are incorporating the “art therapy” piece into our travels. So, you can view those artworks in our virtual galleries, where our art is updated each year during our annual exhibit. Additionally, you can purchase our “travel therapy” art in our online store.  Remember, not all who wander are lost. See you down the road, friends!

STAY CONNECTED

No information on this site is intended to serve as professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

We care about your well-being, so if you need assistance beyond our experience, the following is an additional resource:

SAMHSA’s National Helpline, 1-800-662-HELP (4357), (also known as the Treatment Referral Routing Service) or TTY: 1-800-487-4889 is a confidential, free, 24-hour-a-day, 365-day-a-year, information service, in English and Spanish, for individuals and family members facing mental and/or substance use disorders. This service provides referrals to local treatment facilities, support groups, and community-based organizations. Callers can also order free publications and other information.