Wisdom & Wanderlust: Travel Tales & Life Lessons

[Live Better] The Pursuit of Happiness with Maria Baltazzi

In this episode of Wisdom & Wanderlust, Michael and Robyn chat with Dr. Maria Baltazzi, an Emmy-winning television show producer and a happiness and well-being mentor. Maria discusses how happiness is a state of mind that ultimately starts with a choice to be happy and how the key to happiness is mindfulness. She also explains how mindfulness is like a muscle that you have to keep working on and exercising if you want to get it stronger. Listen as she walks through her journey to happiness and shares her keys to living a more mindful and happier life.

"When I say happiness is a choice and as a state of being, it’s that you have the emotional tools, that skillset, to weather your challenges in the world in a more constructive, more mindful way." - Maria Baltazzi [15:42]

 

What You Will Learn:

• [00:01] Intro
• [03:47] How Maria is coping with the COVID-19 pandemic
• [06:59] What Maria got from her traveling experiences
• [09:53] If these experiences are impacted with what’s going on in the world
• [11:38] How much is happiness related to having priorities in order
• [12:39] What is happiness and how does it difference from peace
• [14:14] What sparked her interest in studying happiness
• [19:49] How to build happiness and how mindfulness plays into it
• [27:21] How to make meditation a habit
• [30:56] How to create more positive thoughts
• [38:33] How Maria felt success externally but was missing something internally
• [41:15] How she coaches others with similar experiences
• [46:52] People that have influenced the direction Maria has gone
• [49:55] The role travel has played in her personal growth and development
• [51:01] Her most memorable/life-changing travel stories
• [57:24] One thing that people can do travel better
• [1:01:28] Mediate and be grateful every day
• [1:07:18] Rapid fire questions
• [1:11:29] Maria’s one piece of advice for the listeners
• [1:12:21] Where to contact Maria
• [1:16:58] Why Zorba the Greek is her favorite book
• [1:18:04] Outro

Resources: 

• Stopping Automatic Negative Thoughts (ANTs) by Dr. Daniel Amen
• The Abraham-Hicks Emotional Guidance Scale
• Brian Johnson
• Rick Hanson
• The How of Happiness by Sonja Lyubomirsky
• Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis
• The Sojourn Experience
• 8 Good Things
• Insight Timer
• Explorer X
• The Camino de Santiago

[Travel Better] The Art of Transformational Travel with Jake Haupert

In this episode of Wisdom & Wanderlust, Michael and Robyn chat with Jake Haupert, co-founder of Explorer X and the Transformational Travel Council. Jake talks about how he met Michael and how they bonded over their shared philosophy of travel. He defines transformational travel and how to keep travel both enjoyable and life-changing at the same time. Listen as he shares the best practices of implementing change once travelers return home from these amazing experiences.

"It really comes down to those encounters and those moments where you connect with another human being. The relationship, the bond that comes from that, the walls that break down between you and within you, that does create that ripple effect of change. It can be small. It can be big, but it puts you on that path of learning and growth." - Jake Haupert [29:17]

 

What You Will Learn:

• [00:01] Intro
• [06:13] How Jake end up in the travel industry
• [11:50] How Jake and Michael met
• [15:37] The journey to help people answer their call and developing Transformational Travel Council (TCC)
• [23:20] How Jake defines transformation and keeps transformational travel approachable for all levels and styles of travelers
• [29:58] The balance between crafting the experience and leaving space for the organic and spontaneous moments
• [30:32] What it means to follow your path and travel with heart
• [37:33] Depth over distance
• [40:16] Being mindful vs being intentional in traveling and day-to-day living
• [43:32] The story behind the “Travel Better, Live Better” slogan and why it’s hard to implement changes back home
• [50:56] What are some things Jake and Michael have done to make changes
• [59:11] What Jake and Michael have learned in the past 10 years with their work
• [1:02:31] Rapid fire questions
• [1:08:07] Where to contact Jake and Michael
• [1:09:25] Outro

Resources: 

• The International Ecotourism Society
• Transformational Travel Council
• The Transformational Travel Journal
• Explorer X

Welcome to Wisdom & Wanderlust

In this episode of “Wisdom & Wanderlust Podcast,” Michael Bennett, Co-founder of Explorer X, and Robyn Goldblatt explain how their separate life journeys influenced their passion for traveling. Michael also talks about how he managed to combine psychology and education with travel, and how this combination ultimately led to Explore X.

Listen to how Explore X can help make your traveling experience life-changing. 

"And we got to the idea that transformational travel ... is this idea of bringing more mindfulness, more intentionality, bringing purpose to your experiences so that if you know that you want to create change in your life, travel is the best way to do it." - Michael Bennett, Ed.D. [23:50] 

 

What You Will Hear:

• [00:01] Intro
• [00:40] Michael’s story: Early interest in travel, college life, and career path
• [09:16] Robyn’s story: How her background nurtured her passion for travel
• [15:53] Transformational travel 
• [19:02] The beginnings of Explorer X
• [25:02] The philosophy behind Explorer X 
• [29:20] Wisdom & Wanderlust
• [33:53] Outro

Resources: 

https://www.explorer-x.com/