Traveling Halfway Around the World to Spark My Why
Every September since 2016, I have had the good fortune and great team support to leave my adventure marketing agency behind for 3 weeks to co-lead a Women’s Buddhist Pilgrimage Tour to Eastern Tibet with my Tibetan sister guide.
The tour is a unique adventure spirit journey, rich in cultural immersion and transformation opportunities. It is a keen example of why I love adventure travel and how it can have positive impacts far beyond the traveler’s individual experience.
Right before I departed on my 3rd trip this past September, I talked with Marilyn Ball on her Speaking of Travel podcast in a follow-up interview with her about how the tour has impacted me since we started it in October of 2016. Marilyn first interviewed me in the summer of 2016 when it was just a unique idea I was about to launch.
In this 2nd podcast, I shared with Marilyn what lessons my sister travelers and I have learned from our Tibetan sisters, and how Liquid Spark Foundation grew out of my synchronistic connection to a brave and visionary young Tibetan woman guide and our shared mindset for people, place, and planet. I started Liquid Spark 10 years ago in order to help more people experience the benefits of adventure travel and outdoor recreation—through helping our clients reach these customers. My Tibet travels get me out from behind my desk into my own direct experience of the transformative power of connecting people from completely different cultures and lifestyles.
Taking time to remember my ‘why’ sparked my heart and my business. It also sparked a foundation that provides full, four-year scholarships to college to young Tibetan women from rural villages.
I couldn’t have left each September without my amazing Liquid Spark team that wholeheartedly supports my travel. A huge thank you to them for this transformative gift of my annual Tibet adventure travel pilgrimage.
From Speaking of Travel Podcast, August 10, 2018:
Liquid Spark Foundation founder Julie Thorner leads small groups of women through Eastern Tibet with a mission to connect with women on the other side of the world and learn a different way of life. She began the non-profit foundation to help provide education sponsorships to Tibetan young women to go to college, as well as fund projects at the nunnery they visit based on the needs and interests of the nuns. With the help of a few tour guides in Tibet, Julie designed a tour that includes home stays with village women and nuns as well as plenty of hiking and exploring the culturally rich region of Tibet.
Listen to the podcast interview here.
