Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Annie Munson
33 Plays7 days ago
Join Alasdair and Annie as they talk about the importance of travel, making it happen whatever your budget and the lifelong impact meeting people from around the world has!
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to the Podcast
00:00:02
Speaker
Hello and welcome to the Outdoorsy Educator podcast, where learning gets a breath of fresh air. I'm your host Alistair, and each week I talk with people from all walks of life to explore how education, the outdoors, and real-world experiences shape who we are.
00:00:19
Speaker
From classrooms to campfires, trails to town halls, we dig into the lessons that move us, challenge us, stick with us, and can make the world a better place.
Meet the Guest: Dr. Andy Munson
00:00:36
Speaker
And on this week's episode of the Outdoorsy Educator podcast, we have Dr. Andy Munson. Andy, how are you today? I'm just doing fabulous. Wonderful. Well, we work at the same university. We're both here at Texas Women's University, but our paths only fairly recently crossed as I was preparing to present at our TEDx event. And I couldn't be happier that our paths did cross because I've got a funny feeling you have some wonderful stories to share with us. But before we get into those, why don't you tell our listeners a little bit about who you are?
Role Overview: Executive Director for International Affairs
00:01:11
Speaker
Sure. So I have worked at Texas Women's University for a Nunez- 18 years going on 19 very close to 19 years and um i currently am the executive director for international affairs and the easiest way to explain what that means is that Amy Nunez- department kind of oversees all things international some things we are directly. Nunez- responsible for and then are a handful of other things that we are a touch point or a resource to. help support international other international efforts that are going on around the university. So it's a very interesting role to be in, and we see lots of exciting and different things all the time, as you can imagine.
00:01:54
Speaker
Yes, and absolutely. I can imagine just just the stories and the lives that you're touching with this work. Is it mostly students who are going to study abroad, or is it students coming in to study at TWU, or a bit of both?
00:02:08
Speaker
It's both, absolutely. So we have direct oversight for our students who are studying abroad, going other places in the world for a short period of time, two weeks or up to, you know a full year, really. And then we also have direct oversight for our international students that are coming here to earn a degree. So students from around the world coming to Texas Women's University to earn their
International Community at TWU
00:02:32
Speaker
full degree. And we, you know, we have students from like 52 different countries right now so we have you know pretty wide diverse population coming to this amazing university to earn one of our amazing degrees i had no idea it was that many because i mean just in terms of numbers texas women's university is not a huge place i mean it's not small by any stretch but it's not a massive that's a lot a lot of countries yeah it really is we're really lucky to have that kind of um
00:03:02
Speaker
diversity. You know, we're bringing the kind of that the world to our students here on campus through our international students, which is really, it's incredible. I haven't seen it this year, but last year on campus, it always just made me smile when I pulled in in the morning. And I would drive past or ride my bike past the student parking. And there was somebody with a personalized vanity license plate.
00:03:26
Speaker
And they said Kiwi something. And they had New Zealand stickers on their car. And it always made me smile. Just thinking our little, you know, a little dot on the map here in Denton, Texas, and the world is coming to us.
00:03:39
Speaker
Yeah, it's really amazing. And it's really, you know, it's just an opportunity for all of us to, to learn things and ah get exposed to people and cultures and ways of being and food and all these things that we might not, might not get exposed to otherwise, right?
00:03:56
Speaker
Absolutely. Sometimes we can go out into the world. us It's equally as valuable, I find, when the world comes to us. Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely.
Andy's Media Career Journey
00:04:04
Speaker
But you've not always been in academia. um I was fascinated to learn you had, i don't know if it's, I think it's fair to call it a previous career in the media.
00:04:13
Speaker
um Could you talk to just us a little bit about that of what you did? Absolutely. i um I started out, well, my bachelor's degree is in communication with an emphasis in radio television. And so i started out at news station as a reporter and fill in anchor. And, you know, I was just famous, right? Right. works But um so, yeah, i I kind of fell into that.
00:04:45
Speaker
that career path in a really kind of interesting And I'll tell you that story really quickly. um My senior year of high school, i was I was very involved in high school. just, you know lots of things, anything, any organization or any club or anything I could do. I'm like, yes, I want to do that. And one of the things I volunteered for was to help with like the senior night, you know, the senior graduation night. and
00:05:16
Speaker
my role was to go and promote this event through the media and you know, for fundraising and i don't i don't, I can't remember all the purposes, but I had a an interview i was doing at our local TV station, one of our local TV stations.
00:05:35
Speaker
And, you know, the director of the the news director was the person interviewing me. So the noon TV show, you know, so kind of soft news. Right. And so he interviewed me, asked me about the events, so on and so forth. At the end of it, he said, what are you doing for college? And you know what are you planning on studying? And I said, well, i haven't, I'm undecided. I'm going to get to college and kind of figure it out. And he said, you should go into the news business. Like you did a really great job on this interview. Have you ever thought about that? And of course I had not. And so he said, um why don't you intern here at the TV station? And just see if it's a career path that you want.
00:06:18
Speaker
And so I did intern there and it was so intimidating, but it like it was fast paced and exciting. And so that's exactly what I did. That's the the the major that I chose and earned my bachelor's degree so that I could go into that field. So that's kind of how I landed there.
00:06:37
Speaker
And and where where was this, if you don't mind me asking? Was this local here? I've got a funny feeling you are from up north somewhere. Okay, so I love that you say this because i I'm from Indiana, but we moved to Texas when I was 10 years old. So I've been in Texas longer than I've been anywhere else. So this was actually in Odessa, Texas. And that's where I grew up was in West Texas, in Odessa, Texas. But i I don't have a super strong Texas accent, or at least I don't think I do.
00:07:07
Speaker
But I think that part of that is part of my Indiana roots, but also when I was in college, you know, we had elements of our coursework that helped us kind of have a generic sort of sound right that you didn't necessarily have a very distinct accent. So there were there were exercises and and different things that we did to kind of sound neutral. You definitely don't sound like you spent your formative years in Odessa. We can say that. There you go. It's funny. It's a complete sidetrack. I was actually having a conversation with my dad the other day. I bought a pile of records, just somebody was selling a whole bunch of them. And one of them was um news reports from a
00:07:53
Speaker
give or take 100 years ago, kind of went through World War I, World War II. And we were my dad's and ah in academia, and we were just talking about the different accents and not necessarily ah an English accent or an American accent, but really a newsreader's accent and how it's changed over the last 100 years, what's expected of a newscaster, right you know, that sort of thing. and it was So it's really interesting to hear that there is that sort of neutrality Yeah.
00:08:24
Speaker
You know, and this was in the 90s. So who knows? what like Who knows what they're, you know, there may be a more, um there may be more space for people to just have the accent that they have, you know, I mean, I don't know today, but, and, and by the way, I love accents. So I, you know, like, why can't I have a really cool accent, but maybe someone somewhere thinks I do. I don't know. Well, that's the thing. People have said that to me most of my life. And I'll say, you have a cool accent. You're just maybe not in the right place for it to shine. You just need to go somewhere else. Then you have the cool accent. I go home. I don't have an accent. So it's that's what it is. um Yeah, i find it very interesting. and I've got it. Yeah. as
00:09:03
Speaker
an interest in accents in the the sense of how they've developed. and and And literally in this conversation that I mentioned the other day, my dad and I were talking about how two people on the same street can grow up with different accents.
00:09:19
Speaker
Absolutely. And the why, the why behind that. And it's something I'd like to dig into. Yeah, absolutely. It's fascinating. So you spent a part of your career in the media. And then how did the transition happen from that into academia?
Transition to Public Relations
00:09:33
Speaker
Yeah. So I, there's so many things I loved about being in television news. And then there were so many things that did not align well with who I am as a person. So for example, I'm, I love working with other people. I'm very collaborative and that, and that industry at the time,
00:09:56
Speaker
um and maybe it was the TV stations that I worked at, it was not, there was not a whole lot of collaboration. It was like, you identify your stories, you go get your stories, you write your stories, you read your stories, you know, that sort of thing. Very independent, um which was fine. I mean, I learned a lot from that and there are elements of that that I enjoyed.
00:10:15
Speaker
But in addition, you know, if you think about what what it is that we see or hear when we're watching or listening to the news, there's a lot of heavy stuff right right a lot of heavy stuff and so there was a point where i just felt like oh this is not you know it's just not feeding my soul it was right you know crime war politics death you know i mean there were it was just seldom that you got to do the warm fuzzy stuff now there are certain
00:10:52
Speaker
areas in media where I could have moved into to do that warm, fuzzy stuff. But at the time I thought, you know, i am going to explore a different different avenue with my degree. And I moved into a public relations position. So I moved out of the news business into a public relations position for a nonprofit organization. So instead of being the one interviewing, I was now being interviewed and and promoting this organization. And and it just felt so good. I was like, okay, this is more, this is more of a style, all right right? Because I knew the work that I was doing was impacting people's lives in a positive way.
00:11:31
Speaker
But I still got to use my writing skills and my communication skills and all of those things. So um this is kind of where I know you're going to ask me about a ah some travel components in my life, but the it was that time in my life where after I worked for this public relation in this public relations role for a while. I mean, I was 25 and I thought, is this all there is to life going to work at eight o'clock in the morning and being done at five
Life-Changing Sabbatical and Travel
00:12:02
Speaker
o'clock? And like, is this really what life is going to look like forevermore? And that's when I kind of started um questioning, maybe I should just do something really different and take advantage of being young and single and all of these things and go travel. And so we'll talk about that in a minute, but took a little, you know, a sabbatical. And when I came back from that, then I was ready and I had some clarity about where am I headed.
00:12:31
Speaker
i went back to get my master's degree. After my master's degree, I got a job in higher education and then, you know, I've been in higher education ever since eventually earned my doctorate and, and here I am. So that's the very,
00:12:46
Speaker
quick version of that story. yeah and i've I've never really thought about that with newscasters and and reporters. I think that's interesting. yeah My mum, my sister, they're both nurses. And I think sometimes about the mental toll.
00:12:59
Speaker
it's not It's not just the mechanics of being a nurse, but you how to leave that at work. And I am sure there's systems in places for people in the healthcare care field you know to help with that.
00:13:11
Speaker
But it must be quite a burden on a lot of people working in the media because I'm sure you do see the worst of the worst. And being able to leave that at work must be really difficult to do.
00:13:22
Speaker
you know, it's just, it's it's a career where you have to carry some heavy stuff emotionally and, and, and the hours difficult. And, you know, if you think about, I now have said this to my children and I said, I wish someone would have said this to me, but, you know, I never thought about what would it look like? What would my day look like working? as a reporter, right? And, and I either worked the morning shift, which, you know, that I had to be there like four o'clock in the morning when I did that, right? Which meant going to bed at like eight or nine at night. And so, or I worked the evening shift, you know, where I came in at like two o'clock in the afternoon, but I wasn't done until 11 or later. You know, I mean, there are some other shifts that, that are a little more reasonable, but
00:14:17
Speaker
I just thought, you know, no one ever told me i what it would look like, or I never asked what it would look like, you know, and so that there were elements of like that as well, like the actual just um structure and I was like, I don't know that this is going work for me long term.
00:14:34
Speaker
you know? front Right. Yeah. I could only, you can only do that for, I mean, I'm sure there's some people who could do it for decades, but that's got to, you got to be burning the candle at both ends most of the time.
00:14:46
Speaker
Right. yeah it's just Yeah. It's about like what works for you. You know what I mean? There are plenty of people that's their jam and that's great, but it, I just, it became clear to me. i wanted to explore and see, are there, is there other other things that,
00:15:01
Speaker
align better with who I am and how I walk through the world. And you know what? Turns out there are. sounds It turns out you you might just have found it. Right. Yeah. So you mentioned a sabbatical. and That's when we talked in person. That was what made my ears park up. Yeah. um And coincidentally, I spoke to somebody yesterday, ah or two people, a Dutch couple who are currently on sabbatical and they are living in a van for a year.
00:15:26
Speaker
and it will actually be the previous week's episode to this and and it was fascinating hearing about that that break from work talk me through this that journey of your of your sabbatical and then we'll get into where you went sure absolutely so again i'm 25 years old working in public relations and loving that job but also just kind of thinking you know what like where am i headed in life what you know what what's this going to look like? How am I going to have some meaningful experiences? How do I make the most of my life? And I have a very, very dear friend who is, has just really been almost like amused to me through, know, we met in in college and, um and he is from South Africa. And so we were just chatting one day and I'm, you know, pondering all of these things with him. We get very intellectual when we chat. And then, and, and he said,
00:16:20
Speaker
Annie, you gotta, you should travel. Like you should travel. should go and and see the world and um you can come back and figure out where your career is headed. And I and i was like, okay, yeah, this sounds lovely.
00:16:34
Speaker
but I mean, I have bills, I have an apartment, I have rent, I have a car payment. I mean, like, you know, I'm an adult. I've got all the things now that right that we, you know, that we work toward having. And so he said, well, you know what?
00:16:50
Speaker
Figure it out. If you can, if you can get yourself to Cape town, South Africa, I've got a place for you to stay and I've got a car for you to drive. And so i started thinking about it and I was like, why why not? Right? Why not? So I sold my car.
00:17:08
Speaker
i I mean, this is the universe telling me that I needed to do this. I went and looked at my apartment lease to figure out, okay, like, what do I have to do to get out of this lease? they had, they had put the wrong date on my apartment lease and that they put like the end date as the same date as the start date. Right. So, I mean, my lease was never valid.
00:17:30
Speaker
I didn't even know that. And then I was like, great. And so, I mean, I, so I didn't have to pay anything or do anything to get out of my lease. I was like, Oh, look, looks, looks like the lease is over. I'm out. Um,
00:17:42
Speaker
I had a big yard sale and like sold everything that I owned that wasn't sentimental. So I'd have some cash in my pocket. And then i was, i just, you know, got a, got a ticket to Cape town, South Africa, one way ticket. it And I was like, here I go. so i um,
00:18:01
Speaker
my friend was not in Cape town at the time, but he had, um, he had some friends that lived there and they had a space for me to stay. And my friend's car was there. And so and faith his, his buddies had the keys to that car. So he said, just, you know, get yourself to the airport, look for ah a guy holding a sign with your name. And that's my friend, Andrew, and he'll take you to, and, you know, figure it out. I'm like, okay, great. So I did just that. And, um,
00:18:31
Speaker
And it just kind of launched me into this experience that truly undeniably transformed me as a human. Like, it's hard for me to even put into words.
00:18:45
Speaker
Now, was this your first time traveling like that, you know, internationally? And it's not not a typical destination, South Africa, you know, for a first place to go.
00:18:57
Speaker
Absolutely. Now i I had been out of the country. i'd been to Canada and Mexico. Right. So, oh, and actually I've been to England as well, but, um, but I had done all of those things with other people, right. Or I had, you know, I'd flown somewhere to meet other people. I was, but this was solo, right. I mean, this different, I knew my friend's name is Russell and I knew Russell was, you know, had these connections for me in Cape Town, but they weren't going to like entertain me. They were just going get me from the airport to to the house and then I'm on my own. Right. So it was definitely the first time. And this was in 1998. Okay. So no, 99, definitely 99. And so, um yeah. So, I mean, there's no cell phones. If I wanted to use the internet, I had to go to an internet cafe and pay yeah per minute, right. yeah the internet
00:19:49
Speaker
So it's a, it was a different, a little bit of a different experience for sure. Yes. And I started traveling independently a bit around that time. And i guess every generation says this. I'm actually really glad that was my experience. Yeah.
00:20:07
Speaker
You know, having to physically look at the guidebook and things like that, you know, rather than having everything in my pocket as wonderful and as convenient and all of that. it's I'm really glad I had that formative experience that sounds similar to you. Oh, absolutely.
00:20:23
Speaker
And then, so you're, you're in Cape town, you've landed there, start walking us through this wonderful journey. Oh gosh. So the day I arrived, I mean, it's a long flight. Okay. Right. Very long. and yeah The day I arrived, you know, I i walk, you know, out, I get off the airplane. I walked to try and find Andrew and I,
00:20:47
Speaker
remember, I mean, it was so different. Talk about culture shock, right? I mean, there's a lot of culture shock going on. And I remember thinking, what have I done?
00:20:59
Speaker
Why is this, this girl from Texas? yeah Why have i landed myself here in Cape Town, South Africa? But that lasted for about, you know, three minutes, right? Until I, until I kind of gathered myself and I was, I just felt like this extreme excitement about this is the adventure of a lifetime and I'm gonna wrap my arms around it and it's just you know I'm just gonna see what it has what it brings to me so you know I took probably the first don't know week or two trying to get myself just um familiar with with
00:21:39
Speaker
my surroundings and you know okay I'm driving a car on the other side of the road i was going to ask when when you said Russell had a car i was going to ask you about that yes and not only am I driving on the other side of the road it is a manual all right now I did know how to drive a manual so certainly know how to do that but now i' i'm like shifting with my the other hand hand instead of my right hand which I am very right-handed so I mean, so many experiences, you know having to figure out where am I going get food from? And like you know certainly, things with certain things are familiar, lots of things that are unfamiliar. um So you know just getting getting some grounding and getting some foundation for the first few weeks. But then I decided, you know I'm here. I'm just going to start checking stuff out. So I started driving around as you know um and just going as many places as I could on day trips. all right
00:22:37
Speaker
And then I eventually so thought, you know, I'm going to, I'm going to do some bigger explorations. And so I found a group that, you know, it was a, we we literally rode in seats that were bolted in the back of a truck that had like a canopy over it. So, you know, safari sort of thing, but we literally rode in the back of that from place to place to place to place. through Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. I mean, like this, it was probably maybe yeah maybe three months or almost close to a month worth of travel where we camped at night and we were in the back of this truck riding from spot to spot, you know, when we weren't camping, exploring, whatever. So
00:23:29
Speaker
i you know, I engaged in that and that took me through all these other countries. And when I came back into South Africa, I connected with some of Russell's family and then another, you know, in Johannesburg, I connected with some of his friends in Durban and then eventually made my way back down to Cape Town. So this whole big adventure was about three months.
00:23:54
Speaker
and It's just fascinating. And you've already alluded to the fact, of course, there's going to many new things. Is there anything that particularly stands out for you as a, I'm not in Odessa anymore kind of moment?
00:24:09
Speaker
Oh my gosh. Just every second of it.
Lessons from Solo Travel
00:24:12
Speaker
The landscape is just beautiful and so diverse through all of those countries. And I mean, just really every second of it. And I i think
00:24:24
Speaker
There were so many moments where even small things helped me recognize or learn or identify something about myself I just hadn't noticed before.
00:24:40
Speaker
You know, and I mean, that's why when I say like it was transformative, it's just, yes I came back an absolutely different person.
00:24:52
Speaker
In what way? Because um I've got no doubt you did, but I'd love to dig into that just a little bit. How it transformed you? So one one example, and this is seems so simple, but i you know, driving on the other side of the road and navigating all the places I went to you know i would arrive someplace again no internet right i mean no no um cell phone navigating me there i'm looking at maps paper maps right and i would arrive someplace and i would think to myself i got here like i got myself from point a to point b and and you know i mean something seems so simple but i felt like this i can i can do complex
00:25:44
Speaker
unfamiliar, uncertain things. look at Look at me. i can do something that um seems challenging and you know and and I can do it successfully.
00:25:55
Speaker
Another example, and this this is probably a more profound sort of moment. I remember being, think I was in Namibia and um I remember seeing some children playing And they their toys were made out of what my perspective was at the time was trash, right? So tin cans, cardboard, you know, wires, whatever.
00:26:24
Speaker
And i saw these children playing with these toys. And my instinctual reaction was in my head. I did not say this out loud. Of course. um but Oh, how sad their toys are made of trash.
00:26:40
Speaker
Mm-hmm. However, in the next breath, you know, my all of a sudden I had this like thought where I was like, wait a second, wait a second. This is such a U S centric view just because they're not made out of plastic and they don't say, you know, Tonka on them or whatever. right i I stopped and I thought these children are happy and they are loving the games that they're playing and how incredible that they are repurposing things that we would toss out and think have zero value and how creative, how incredibly creative that they could take a tin can and make it into wheels on ah ah a truck that they've made and attach a wire to it and be able to you know drive this truck around. So it was like in that moment that I thought, need
00:27:37
Speaker
i need to be very aware of not looking at things through centric lens, but also having the attitude of different can just be different.
00:27:52
Speaker
doesn't have to be good or bad. don't have to put a value judgment on something. It can just be different and and accepting it for what it is and trying to ask the question of why and understand it. And there's just so much more value in that. And i mean, that I mean, that attitude, it can be applied to so many things. And it has created a space for me to be so much more open and understanding and accepting and curious. And it has just, I mean, that is one of those, it's probably one of the most profound things that I can tell a story about that gives you an example of what I'm talking about. But there's so many things like that, food, clothing, ways of being, ways of living. I mean, all of these things. It's just really incredible.
00:28:44
Speaker
I love it. It just reminds me of, and the the quote is attributed to somebody else, but the television, the Apple show, Ted Lasso, and he talks about being curious, not judgmental. And it sounds like, not that you were necessarily being judgmental in a negative way, but get that shift of just curiosity. It does wonders for us, I think, when we can look at life through that lens.
00:29:06
Speaker
Yeah. And being aware of your lens. I mean, that's the thing for me is that like, I just didn't have an awareness of my lens until I had an awareness of my lens. And then I, and then I had to be, so you know, i I just made a decision in the moment.
00:29:20
Speaker
I am going to be intentional about being aware of my lens and trying to change my lens and asking questions and expanding and broadening my view. And I mean, it's just been really something that is,
00:29:36
Speaker
changed the direction of my life because I, because I had that awareness. I love it. And you've you've done something and said something that you maybe didn't realize. Maybe you did. There's actually a very common thread amongst people I talk to and all, you know, just for the podcast and in life, there's three sentences that come up a lot when I talk to people about travel and they start with, it was so simple. It was so silly or it was so small.
00:30:02
Speaker
And you said one of those, because what I found, and this this has surprised me the longer I do this, when I talk to people who have been to incredible places all over the world, they usually don't talk about the thing they they often went to see. People who went to South America and they've seen Machu Picchu. Right. Yeah, that was amazing.
00:30:21
Speaker
But let me tell you about the people. Let me tell you about the food we ate. Let me tell you about the bus ride up the hill. let me and And it truly is those small moments that stick with us. Yes, going to Paris and seeing the Eiffel Tower is amazing.
00:30:35
Speaker
But it was that meal. It was that conversation you listened to having a coffee. Those things, I find, are what stick with people. And it seems like that's happened with you.
00:30:46
Speaker
Absolutely. and And honestly, I think that's another element that came out of this experience, although this has always been part of who I am, it really, I don't know, caused this element of me to b blossom and grow and it became foundational in who I am. But that, i you know, I don't, I've never been someone who really was into material things. You know, I have always had this value of having a connection to people and nature and, and, and such. So, you know, when i travel, I want to connect with the people and the place. I don't necessarily want to see all the touristy stuff. I mean, i can see it, but i don't want to spend all my time there because but for me, i want to get a sense of what it's like to
00:31:47
Speaker
live there. It's hard when you're doing a like short visit somewhere, right? But if you can just get a little window into and, you know, and, and connecting with nature is super, super important to me. And, and those things don't, it doesn't take a lot of money to do that when you're traveling, right? To wander around and see the, the natural beauty and to have a, to,
00:32:16
Speaker
to make your own meal because you went to the grocery store and, you know, got the food from there and that sort of thing. So that, you know, certainly i already had some elements of, of who I am and how I operated that aligned with that, but being in ah and Africa and all, you know, all these countries in Africa just really reinforced that that's the way that I enjoy travel.
00:32:41
Speaker
I had a friend, and this is going back 20 years, and he went to London. And yes, he did see a couple of the touristy things. But before he went, he made the decision. He was going to get on the subway each day and ride to the very last stop of each line and just get out and that he was going to find somewhere to eat yeah and just walk around because that's where the people are.
00:33:03
Speaker
that's I have done that so many times um the in the U.S. and in other and you know other places. Yes, you go to the end of the line and that's where you start to see what real life looks like. It's the best. And you find the best restaurants there as well. Right. Because of the restaurants for the people who live there. Yeah, absolutely. So you, you come back to Texas at, ah in your own words, a different person. How does this, you know, transcended into your current career? Because you, you can't leave that part of your life behind because it's going to change you. How has it changed the way you work and live today?
Inspiration for Empowering Women
00:33:40
Speaker
Yeah, i I wish I could remember the moment, but i remember being in Africa and thinking every woman needs to travel solo and I'm going to find a way to support women and travel, connect with women who want to travel. I mean, I didn't know what it would look like, right? But I mean i remember having this thought like,
00:34:04
Speaker
I have to do more with this for other women, right? So i come back to Texas. I, you know, um I have a, I get a couple of different jobs just trying to, you know, get some money and get my feet back underneath me. I eventually go back and get my master's degree. um and And that leads me to working in higher education.
00:34:26
Speaker
um i I, when I come, when I came to TWU, I was, i was's working as an adjunct teaching and then eventually moved into a role in student life, student affairs.
00:34:44
Speaker
And so supporting students through so a very variety of services. And that is the part of my career that I think started to put me on the path. Well, I know it definitely started to put me on the path to where I am today. So In student life, I didn't, I wasn't doing anything related to international, but I was working at a woman's university, right? So I'm getting, I'm starting to fulfill part of that vision, right? Where I'm working with women and supporting women.
00:35:21
Speaker
and And eventually, because I went back and got my, or I was getting my doctorate, it opened up some other career opportunities at TWU and One of those was working in international. It was and a new role that TWU was creating that hadn't existed before.
00:35:44
Speaker
And because I was close to finishing my doctorate, I almost had the credential to qualify me for it. right But he said, you should apply for this. And I thought, well, you know, I'm sure they're going to be looking for someone who actually has experience working in international. And my colleague was like, No, they're building, they're building a new area. i had done some things in my previous role where I was kind of building and growing some aspects of, of that role that had never been there before. And so my colleague was like, you have done some building and growing. You're just going to do that now in a different context. And I thought, well, okay. all Right. Tossed my name in the hat and, and, and
00:36:32
Speaker
And they, they picked me, you know, and truly when I, when I, you know, talked to my former boss about like, why did you hire me? She's like, because i had seen that you could build and grow an area and I needed you to build and grow a department. So, so there I am. I'm, I've landed in this role where I'm working with women and I'm helping them get exposed to the world either by traveling abroad or, you know, bringing others here.
00:37:06
Speaker
and for, you know, our international students, when they come here, this is their study abroad, right? You know, right so yeah, that's kind of how I landed in that role. and and it just was able to fulfill this, you know, vision I had, I suppose, when I was in Africa. Yeah.
00:37:26
Speaker
I love it. It's so much of what you're saying resonates with a conversation I had maybe two months ago with a wonderful woman called Amanda Black. And she was in Australia, and I might get the details a little fuzzy. She was there and she she's from California, lived in Australia for a couple of years and was broke, wanted to travel. And she's she found that there was a ah gap in the market for women who They weren't necessarily, I can't remember how she phrased it beautifully. They weren't like scared to travel, but it just felt a bit intimidating. Right. So she arranged a group trip, I think to Bali.
00:38:01
Speaker
And, you know, she thought, I think the story goes that if she could get 10 or 12 people to pay, it would kind of offset her cost. Right. And she now runs a very successful company called the Solo Female Travel Network. Right. And it's about linking women together to travel to travel. And again, they go to the most incredible places.
00:38:23
Speaker
that's not That's not what sticks. It's this this sisterhood um and the relationships. um So I love how that similar story tends to transcend.
00:38:35
Speaker
Absolutely. That makes perfect sense. I think it's just just a beautiful thing. So if if there's somebody listening who thinks, know i I need to travel before I get you know the the house, the mortgage, the kids, that this the if that's something that they're thinking they would like to do, what advice would you have for them?
00:38:55
Speaker
Well, you know, I always say you can spend a lot of money to travel or you or you can be pretty cost conscious, right? So Keep it simple. Find some place that you can go to fairly inexpensively that feels relatively comfortable. So maybe if going to a place that the primary language is a language that you don't speak that feels too uncomfortable, then don't do that. Right. Go someplace where they speak the they speak your primary language. um stay in a hostel. People, you know, always like, oh, the hostels. I'm like, no, this is like the best place, especially if you're traveling solo.
00:39:38
Speaker
you meet instant friends, right? Instant travel companions that you can wander around with. It's just such an incredible experience. People from all over the world and and eat from the grocery store, right? I mean, so there's just these ways that you can kind of keep the cost manageable. And, and, you know, I know cost is just one element, but it's often ah an element that we hear people saying, this is
Andy's Vision of Success
00:40:06
Speaker
my obstacle. yes If fear or uncertainty are your obstacles, well, you know what?
00:40:13
Speaker
That's okay. That's really normal. And I challenge you to think about all the times that you have been uncertain, afraid, uncomfortable, and you've pressed on through it.
00:40:28
Speaker
And, and, you know, what did it look like on the other side? i used to, you know, there's so many times in my life where i was kind of a scaredy cat, believe it or not, like as a child, i was a total scaredy cat about so many things. And I just got to a point in my life where I thought everything I want is on the other side of of this fear. And so I've just got to get past it and I'm going to get to where I want to go. And so if you can just,
00:40:56
Speaker
remind yourself of all the times you've done something that was uncomfortable, you know, all these, these, these feel, you know, you've gotten past these feelings that are holding you back. Um, I mean, we've, we've all done that in small ways and big ways. We just have to remind ourselves and then you can do it again, right? You can do it in a different context. You can use those skills that you used last time to get past that, to get past it this time.
00:41:21
Speaker
And, you know, and maybe you don't want to travel solo. Maybe if that's just too much for you you, you go with a buddy and go, you know, again, go someplace that's easy to get to, seems relatively familiar, and you just start building your confidence and your understanding and your abilities, and then you're off. Like, then there's no stopping you.
00:41:39
Speaker
I love it. I love it. It's, ah I mean, sage advice, not just for travel, but even just day to day, you know, trying just to get to that other side of fear. Amazing things can happen.
00:41:50
Speaker
That is exactly right. Well, we're coming towards the end of our time here. But as I forewarned you before we got on the air, i do have three questions for you. You can look through any lens you wish and with these. The first one I always like to ask my guests is how your personal definition of success has changed over the years.
00:42:10
Speaker
Yeah. i I love this question because let me go back to my friend, Russell. Yes. He and i would would philosophize about success when we were in our undergraduate programs. And for me, success has always been, i want to do things that are meaningful and impactful.
00:42:32
Speaker
Always, right? I mean, i have had to resist the urge to try, um I've had to resist the pressure, I guess, society saying no, success means big title, big paycheck, all of those things. Now, to be clear, i certainly have spent time in my life chasing those things. And, um and, and came to realization that instead of trying to be important, I really want to do important things, right? So
00:43:08
Speaker
You know, I, success still for me means that there are people out in the world that will say, i had an interaction with Annie.
00:43:19
Speaker
Annie shared some insight with me. Annie helped me achieve ABCXYZ. That means I have been successful, undeniably for me. Right. I love that. I love that. yeah it's it's It's your legacy.
00:43:33
Speaker
Absolutely. isn' there yeah Yeah. I always remind myself that, you know, at some point somebody else is going to, i hope, live in this house and all of that. But the impact you have on other people is what is is what remains.
00:43:48
Speaker
Yes, absolutely. Yeah. Second of all, I was curious if there is a book in your life that has been particularly impactful, right?
00:43:59
Speaker
is a good question and again you can take any direction you want not necessarily the best book you know but just one that maybe you think about from time to time gosh I think there's so many this is hard um
00:44:16
Speaker
you know I'm just gonna go back to it book I read my children which i don't know so the giving tree you know it's a common book that people talk about. I, you know, I just, I don't know. I think there is just this element in me of trying, I'm not always this, but trying to be others centered and, you know, this like
00:44:40
Speaker
giving and providing for others. Now, obviously in that book, in the the, the, that's kind of sad because the tree like gives everything it has and, you know, I mean, all of those things, but i don't know. I mean, there's this element of like,
00:44:56
Speaker
we're We're all here on this earth. And if we were all here, at least putting portion of our energy and into helping each other, giving to each other. and um and I believe in the human race. And I do think that we all do this to a large extent. Sometimes yeah I think we get sideways and we get off track and we need to refocus on, you know, let's let's be in this together and let's see how we can help each other. Let's lift each other up because none of us make it through this life on our own.
00:45:25
Speaker
you know, and, yeah and so let's, let's do the work to help everybody get across the finish line in a really wonderful way. I love it. I love it. It is. It's it's a wonderful book for those who have read it. It is one that you read and then you think about because it applies to so many aspects of life.
00:45:45
Speaker
Right. My final question for you, and I always frame this a little differently for each guest, but if you were going to go on a, an international excursion of your dreams, I always say spouses are not, you're not allowed to answer with your, your good spouse, but if you could take somebody on the trip with you, they could be dead, alive, famous, not famous, somebody, you know, somebody you don't know, and you get to travel with them and pick their brains for a couple of days. Who somebody who would be somebody you would love to travel with?
00:46:16
Speaker
Hmm.
00:46:21
Speaker
Okay. Well, you know, I'm going to say my mom and here's why my mom wanted to be a flight attendant and so that she could travel and see the world and have these experiences and, you know, through a chain of events that did not occur for her. She was a teacher.
00:46:45
Speaker
so she gave back to hundreds of children and, you know, really changed their lives. And so she did some really wonderful things in her, in her career. Um, But now she talks about how wish she wishes she would have traveled more. And i would love to take her, which by the way, we have some travel plans in the future. so Wonderful. I'm trying help her fulfill these dreams now, um now that she's retired. So, ah but I would, I would take her and you know, help her fulfill those dreams, but also to have that dedicated time to pick her brain about
00:47:25
Speaker
her, you know all the things in life that, that we just have never sat down and talked about and, and to see and experience with her, the transformation that travel would have, because I know what that looks like. I know what it looks like for me. I've seen it with students and that sort of thing. So just to be in, you know, in tandem with my mom, having those experiences. So that's not only a hypothetical thing, we're going to make that happen. So,
00:47:55
Speaker
I love the white gift that will be to be able to see your mom's experience of travel like that. That's just amazing. Yeah. I love it. Andy Munson, I cannot thank you enough for spending this time with me. It's been an absolute pleasure.
00:48:10
Speaker
I loved it. Every second of it. Thank you for letting me talk about these wonderful moments in my life. It just really brings me joy. My pleasure. Thank you.
00:48:22
Speaker
Thank you again to this week's guest and I hope today's episode was as enjoyable for you as it was for me and perhaps even inspired your next adventure. If you did enjoy the show, please be sure to subscribe, leave a review or follow us wherever you get your podcasts. You can find more information at theoutdoorsyeducator.com or follow us on Instagram, TikTok or Facebook. Until next time, thank you so much for listening to The Outdoorsy Educator Podcast.