Who We Are

Have you ever felt like there must be more to life than the day-to-day grind? Have you done everything “right” – school, career, relationships – and still feel like something is missing? Maybe everything has turned out exactly how you thought it would. Or maybe nothing has. But you find yourself feeling like this can’t be it. Or better yet, maybe you feel like this was never really the path meant for you to begin with. Maybe you’re on a path someone else set for you, a path that you have gone down thinking if you could just follow it well enough, it would end up fitting at some point or leading you somewhere that felt aligned. But it hasn’t. And you’re starting to suspect it never will.

If this is you, I understand. Because this is my story too. I always had the sense that the 9-5 and climbing the corporate ladder wasn’t for me. I felt caged and claustrophobic thinking of being in one place everyday, my time dictated by someone else and having to fit in the important stuff – the things that really energized me and spoke to my soul – in the margins of a life that I didn’t connect with. But I went along with it, thinking that my aversion to this life path was a “me” problem that I could somehow will myself to overcome and would eventually fit into, if I just tried hard enough and stayed the course.

And this wasn’t just my story professionally. I did everything “right” in my personal life as well. I graduated with honors, got married, paid off debt, saved, tried for a family. But the structure of it all began to erode, built on a fading foundation of “shoulds” and “supposed-tos”, and soon the whole thing came crumbling down. Miscarriage, divorce, financial instability, an unclear future, immense loneliness. It was truly a dark season of the soul. 

It was in that season I realized that I no longer had a sense of who I was. And there were parts of me that I had let go. Important parts, parts that I remembered vaguely, that I had somehow replaced, unconsciously, with the world’s expectations of who I should be. A desire for travel was one of those things I had let go of. But now, as I sat in the shambles of a life I had worked so hard to build, I couldn’t get over the idea that there was a whole, wide, beautiful world out there with so much to see, so many things to learn and so many people and cultures to connect with. Most importantly, I had a very strong intuition that connecting with the world in a broader sense would lead me back to me. The real me. The person that existed underneath society’s expectations of me, but who I had lost touch with from years of believing other people’s truths over my own. 

And so I embarked on a mission to test this intuition. And guess what? It was right. Shocking, I know. What I have continued to discover and confirm on my travels over and over again, is that the more I create space in my life and prioritize new experiences, the more I transform – and not necessarily into something new, but into something that’s at the very least new to me:  the most authentic version of myself; the person I am and was always meant to be, but that got lost in the shuffle of doing what I was “supposed” to do, rather than what was meant for me. In other words, the more I wander, the more I return home to myself. 

The best part? Embarking on this journey of travel, exploration and self-discovery doesn’t just make me happy (but man, what a great perk!). It helps the people around me, my community, the world. I’ve learned that I best serve others when I’m tapped into creativity and flow, when I’m prioritizing the things that make me feel alive and when I’m caring for myself with renewed energy. The world needs me — the real me, all of me — to bring my unique experiences, stories, expertise, and curiosity to it. And I need that from me as well. I owe it to myself to see what life would be like if I weren’t hiding and holding back so much, if I were trusting myself, following my instincts and allowing myself to prioritize what sets my soul on fire. 

Which leads me to travel and my belief that it is one of the most impactful tools for learning about the world and yourself. You could book a trip right now to probably just about anywhere and get something out of it if you want to. AND, I believe there is a different way to go about it. A way to bring intentionality to your travel that helps you connect with your “WHY” and go into your travel experience with a clearer sense of what you actually want to get out of it.

This is where travel coaching comes in. Just as you would put intentional time and effort into the logistical planning of a trip (booking flights, finding lodging, creating itineraries), travel coaching helps you put intentional thought into your mental, emotional and spiritual preparation for travel. (And I believe starting with this part can actually make the logistical part easier.)

If any of this resonates, I hope you won’t hesitate to reach out. We are waiting to hear from you, specifically. Your instincts and desires aren’t crazy. The voice that’s whispering (or perhaps yelling) that there is more for you isn’t one to be silenced. It’s connected with who you are at your core. What if you listen to it? Or at the very least, get curious about? We can’t wait to dive in with you.

With deep gratitude,

Tiffany Musick

ICF Professional Certified Coach (PCC)

Founder, Compass Travel Coaching