Guest Bio
Janet Scalzo is the Owner and Chief Adventurer of Canyon Calling Adventures for Women, a company dedicated to creating active and enriching travel experiences exclusively for women. With over thirty years in the travel industry, Janet took over Canyon Calling in 2014, bringing her expertise and passion for empowering women through adventure. Under her leadership, the company continues to provide immersive, multi-activity trips that foster camaraderie, confidence, and personal growth.
Show Summary
In this episode, Janet Scalzo shares her journey from a lifelong traveler to leading one of the top women-focused adventure travel companies. She discusses how Canyon Calling designs trips that encourage women to step outside their comfort zones while exploring some of the world’s most stunning destinations. Janet also reflects on the value of all-women travel experiences, the changing landscape of adventure tourism, and the importance of fostering connection and empowerment through shared adventures.
Key Takeaways
- ✓ Empowerment Through Travel – How adventure builds confidence and fosters independence.
- ✓ The Power of Women’s Travel – Why all-female trips create unique connections and shared experiences.
- ✓ Cultural and Active Exploration – Blending adventure with meaningful cultural interactions.
- ✓ Adapting to Travel Trends – How women’s adventure travel has evolved over the years.
- ✓ Curating Life-Changing Journeys – Designing trips that balance challenge, relaxation, and discovery.
What You’ll Find on Canyon Calling’s Platform
- ✓ Adventure Travel Packages – Multi-activity trips featuring hiking, kayaking, and cultural immersion.
- ✓ Upcoming Trip Listings – Details on upcoming group travel opportunities.
- ✓ Travel Stories and Testimonials – Insights from past travelers on their experiences.
- ✓ Meet the Guides – Information on experienced trip leaders and their backgrounds.
- ✓ Booking and Contact Information – Details on how to join a trip or inquire about future adventures.
👉 Visit Canyon Calling’s Official Website to explore their offerings and learn more about Janet Scalzo’s contributions to women’s adventure travel.
Learn more about Canyon Calling Adventures for Women and connect with Janet at:
https://www.canyoncalling.com/
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Podcast Transcript
This transcript is auto-generated on recording, and has not been edited by a human. It may contain lots of mistakes, crazy words, and stuff that makes no sense. The host and the guest are not responsible for the accuracy of the transcript.
Welcome everybody to another episode of the Big World Made Small podcast for the adventure traveler. So happy to have you back joining us on another episode. And today I’m super excited to have Janet Scalzo I’m not sure Janet, did I say that with the proper Italian accent? Did that sound good?
The nice inflection, very nice. It’s scatting. Very cool. And we’re not here to talk about Italy today. Maybe we could. Maybe that’s another episode. I don’t know. I have a feeling you probably have some things to share about Italy. And super excited to discuss what we agreed to talk about was your business. And that’s Canyon Callings. See, OK, help me out here. Canyon Calling Adventures for Women.
Jason Elkins (07:27.886)
We take small groups of women all over the world on active vacations. Fun, affordable, active vacations for women. That’s my elevator speech. Oh, that was so much better than I could have done, even if I’d gotten it right. I think I was so caught up on the Italian accent, I forgot what we were talking about. So anyway, so thank you so much. That’s a great summary of kind of what you’re doing. And I want to know how you got into doing what you’re doing, because that’s super important. Most tour operators that are in this space have…
an interesting story about how they got there, what they’re doing and what inspired them. So I’d love to hear about that. Okay, Jason. Well, first off, thank you so much for having me. This is always a lot of fun. Yeah. So Canyon Calling has been around since 1996. I am not the founder of the company. I acquired it in 2014. So coming up on 10 years under my leadership and it was originally a love child from a pink Jeep.
operator in Sedona, Arizona. Yeah, we’ve all been on a pink Jeep tour in Sedona. Yeah, she used to drive groups of co -ed groups around on the rocks and she noticed something different. If she experienced a female -only group, they would ask more questions. They were more comfortable.
They’d arrange a lunch afterwards. You know, it was kind of an instant bonding thing. So she got the idea, the concept, and it’s not a brand new one at the time. There are some other companies out there that have been around for as long as we have, very few, but a few. And she created Canyon Calling Adventures for Women. She operated that for almost, right around 18 years or so. And I was traveling in Sedona.
I had been in the corporate golden handcuffs for about 20 years, all related to travel, hospitality, technology, operations. Just, you know, I love the travel industry and we met, really funny story if you’ve got the time. We’ve got the time. The floor is yours. Okay. All right. Well, I’m okay. So I’m sitting in a pizza pub and I notice a table of women over across the, um,
Jason Elkins (09:48.91)
the bar and they were kept looking at me. And so finally I turned and waved to them and then they came over as they’re going out to pay their check. I said, we’re so sorry that we’re staring at you, but you really remind us of a friend that we have. She lives in Minneapolis, which I lived in at the time. She lives in Minneapolis and her name is Janet. And so of course that was like, okay, this is a totally Sedona moment. And we laughed and she said,
If you land here, because if you’ve visited here more than three times in Sedona, you usually end up living here or at least dreaming about it. So if you land here, you know, give me a call. You got a friend and the business card was Canyon Calling Adventures for Women. So I go, it’s the founders car. So I go, this is back in 2013. So I go back to Minneapolis, back to my corporate job and it is just in my heart and soul. So I gave her a call and say,
Do you want to partner? Do you want to, you know, anything else? Help with the business. She said, I want to sell it and move back to New Zealand. So long story short, quit my job, sold my house, moved across the country and bought this business. And it’s been just beautiful ever since. And help me figure this out, because I maybe I missed something or maybe I didn’t. So the friend, Janet from Minneapolis,
Apparently I have a doppleganger. So there’s two Janets in Minneapolis that look alike. Okay, all right. That they knew. Yeah. Yeah, but that’s what they were looking at before and that’s what got the introduction and that’s how I met the founder and that is how I came to acquire the business. Gotcha. So the other Janet wasn’t the founder of Gannon Calling that happened to also live in Minneapolis. Yeah, okay. I’m a little slow on the uptake sometimes, so thanks for.
Thanks for bringing me up to speed. That is super cool. And you know, you already mentioned kind of, you know, that she had an observation that when she had a group of women, it was a different experience. And when you were describing a group of women sitting at the pizza parlor and that they came over and actually engaged in conversation with you, I’m like, yeah, that’s a woman thing. Yep. So I’m seeing all the connections.
Jason Elkins (12:13.454)
And honestly, I’ve been in this long enough and I’ve actually, I’ve spent a lot of time with women on trips. I spent a lot of time in the fly fishing travel business. And oftentimes we’d have group trips and the guys would come and go fishing and the ladies would go do the other tours, the other activities. Not that some of them don’t fish, because obviously they did. But I always really enjoyed hanging out with the people that were not so focused on fishing. How many fish they caught, how big the fish was.
And the groups of ladies were always so much more fun to go hang out with. And I wasn’t a spouse, so they didn’t care what they said. They just said whatever they wanted to say. They didn’t have their boyfriend there, their husband. And it was just so much fun. And I’ve often thought, man, I would love to have a travel business for women. But people look at me and they say, Jason, that’s creepy. So I didn’t do it. And I can also understand the why.
the white behind that. So I’m not surprised to hear you say that. And I also want to hear more about, cause you were already working in hospitality, tourism, it sounds like marketing, that type of thing. How did you get into that? What was the before that? Oh, before that I was working with a company called Carlson companies. Now that I’m bringing your way back, right? I recognize the name. Carlson wagon, Carlson wagon, right? Yeah. Carlson finally was.
was one of their purchases in the travel industry. I was back even before all of that. So I started out as a travel agent and then worked in their call center. So my corporate life was primarily with Carlson Marketing, Carlson Fog and Lead, Carlson, Carlson, Carlson corporate. Yeah. So, but it took me all over the world, you know, numerous positions, tons of experience, wonderful experiences. And,
It just got to the point where I sat down and decided, this is not what I want to do with the last third of my life. And this, so I went to Sedona to think about things, right? Gotten the vortex, got my juju on and, and, and met the con. That pizza spot right there in the vortex. And for those anybody that’s listening and is not familiar with Sedona, it’s the, you know, maybe you could probably describe the vortex. Actually, you know what? I think that’d be interesting.
Jason Elkins (14:37.326)
Tell us what a vortex is. Well, a vortex is a recognized energy area. Um, and it usually is either male or female depending on the energy, which way it spirals. Um, Paige, what was her name? Paige masters, I believe was the one that coined the term in the eighties, but yes, Sedona has known, um, vortices in the region and
And it’s just, there’s water running under the city. Oak Creek Canyon is through there. So of course, water always brings up this, the energy conversations. And then of course, the iron and the red rocks and long story short, it all comes together to be a very spiritual and just a really beautiful place. Especially if you’re looking for guidance within yourself and.
So that’s what I did. I went there and I sat on a red rock in a vortex. And the next day I met the founder and here we are. And here we are. So cool. Yeah, it is a special place. Having lived in Arizona, lived in Phoenix, every time I go up to Sedona, it’s just a special place. I didn’t really fully grasp the concept of the vortexes or vortices, I guess if it’s plural, vortices. Yeah.
Um, and I get it though. You can’t, I don’t think you can go there and not get the sense of just, uh, I guess I’m just going to say magic or connection or whatever it is. So, and I know, and as you already mentioned, um, it’s not uncommon to go there to kind of figure out what am I going to do with the next third of my life or whatever portion of it that you think you’ve got left. Um, so that’s, that’s pretty cool. When was the first moment?
But you and you did get into tourism as it sounds like your first job was as a travel agent, correct? Yeah, yeah, travel agent. There was an association of travel agents I worked with, but it was all to do with travel and hospitality. And I just loved it. Love people, you know, love traveling, love discovering different cultures, eating the food. Yeah. Did you know that as a child growing up or when you were in?
Jason Elkins (17:02.094)
At what point in your life did you just kind of like, oh, that’s my thing? Probably four or five. Oh, I love it. Because I would run away and have adventures on my own. And then I would come back when it was dark. But I would come back with some tadpoles and some leaves and perhaps a few animals. And yeah.
It was destiny. Your parents probably knew all along. Yeah, she’s going to go do something. I don’t want to say crazy. I say crazy in a good way. Yeah, that’s super cool. Okay. So you left the corporate world. Did you move right to Arizona? I what was… I did. You live in Tucson, right? You moved right to Sedona. Moved to Sedona. Yeah. I’m a bit of a gypsy. So I’ve been here for less than 10 years.
And I’ve been in Sedona Flagstaff, Mesa, and now Tucson. But yeah, we originally landed in Sedona, stayed there for about a year and a half. Beautiful place, wonderful energy, but not real conducive to, you know, there’s no public airport. Little things like that. Yeah. But it was a great place to start, work with the founder for the first year.
So we had a really smooth transition. And yeah, it’s just. What did the business, what did her program look like as far as the tours he was offering and how has that changed since then to now? Is it, I mean, it’s not the same because things change, but I’m curious, like, how does, like, what did you do to change the business from where it was and to where it is now? Well, a number of things really.
First off, I hired help. And yes, so which of course, by duplicating yourself, you can expand the business because I wanted to offer more tours. I wanted to offer soft adventures, which we do. We’re introducing retreats in 2024. We’re doing slow travel. I’ve got a lot more international travel and I’ve got a group of
Jason Elkins (19:22.334)
wonderful women all over the world that helped me bring this to life. Yeah. That’s very cool. Yeah, thanks. We have a lot of fun doing it. Women owned, women led, women operated. Well, we let the dudes in once in a while, you know, like a rafting guide here or there, but a fishing guide, perhaps. Well, hey, sign me up because I meant it when I said that earlier, what I was saying, it’s like anybody.
that’s been in tourism for a while, especially adventure tourism, I think would agree that there is a difference. There is a difference. The dynamics of the group are huge and the group of women is just a lot of fun. I mean, they’ll say things that guys are just too intimidated to, if they don’t, you know, their self -esteem, they don’t want to admit they don’t know something. Yeah. Yeah. So, all right. So what’s the biggest lesson you learned? I don’t want to…
Maybe we can call it a mistake, a problem, something that came along. They got, man, I wish I, cause I trust you’re the type of person that learns from those things and sees that as opportunities. And opportunities happen. And I know I’ve made quite a few in my life, but as far as your business, especially buying a business that yes, it’s tourism and it’s a little different than what you were doing for sure. So what was the biggest like mistake you made or the biggest lesson you learned early on?
other than you needed to hire people. Yeah, yeah. I heard that loud and clear. Yeah. Well, I don’t want this to sound bad, but we had one, one mail guide, which we didn’t really agree to, but certain circumstances, it had to happen. And we had a mail guide.
with us for nine days on a trip and it changed the whole dynamic of the group. So that will never happen again. I don’t know if I cannot ask this. You don’t have to answer this, but you were maybe avoiding answering this, but I don’t have a filter. Okay. Yeah. Certain circumstances we agreed to, we had to agree to. I heard a lot of resistance there and I’m thinking what’s behind that? Can you tell us any more about that or should we just move on? Well, I…
Jason Elkins (21:44.814)
tell you a little bit about it. The company of men changes the dynamic of the group. You brought this up as well. If you just got a bunch of women together, I mean, they will be giggling and pouring out their hearts within the first hour. When we’re out hiking, it’s not come on, come on, keep up. It’s you know, let’s stop. Let’s take a group photo. Oh, look, there’s a deer.
And yeah, you know, we’ll get there when we get, you know, that kind of thing. We support each other and there’s not the competition that you likely see in a coed group. They’ll eat more, they’ll eat harder, they’ll laugh harder. I mean, it’s just, it’s a, it’s just a whole different thing and love the dudes, but it is a nice break when we get away and just, you know, be girls again, really. Hey, and.
I hear all that and I’m curious, did you feel compelled, like obligated to hire this particular, and we’re not gonna mention any names or specifics, but I, and the reason I’m asking is, because sometimes in the world, you know, there’s pressure for companies that traditionally hire women to hire men. There’s pressure for companies that hire men to hire women, to welcome them in and equality and all this. So.
I actually imagine trying to run a business where we’re women -led, we only hire women. I can imagine there might be some pressure. So that’s what I’m sensing when you say that I felt like we had to hire this guy. So what is that? And we didn’t hire him. He’s an owner of a company that helped us put together the trip in an international destination. And I think his intent was very good. And he wanted to come.
and meet me because I go on all of the international trips the first time that they’re, well, all the trips, the first time that they’re run to make sure everything is as it should be smoothly operated, deliverable, hotels check, restaurants check, activities, goods, safeties, and you know, all of that. And I think his intent was to spend some time with the owner of the company and it,
Jason Elkins (24:03.31)
It did not go very well, just from the sense that he was offended if the women didn’t want to go on a hike. And I’m like, hey, it’s your vacation. I’m not going to make you go. You want to sit at the beach and have a piña colada? You do you, girl. This is your vacation. So yeah, so that was a little bit of friction there, but you know, it was smoothed out. It was nothing horrible. He was just, he was not a bad person. Just the dynamics are different.
And he was just part of the deal. And I appreciate that you shared that because that probably was a really good lesson that impacted so many things along the way. And we can be grateful when those things present themselves because sometimes we don’t pick up on lessons. We keep kind of I’m speaking for myself now. I’m just kind of keep making the same mistakes and have to do it 20, 30 times before I finally realize, oh,
Maybe I maybe I’m bringing something into the group that doesn’t fit with the group. And I should have addressed that the first time instead of the 20th time. So good on you. That’s cool. Thanks. I love that. Do the women that join you, do they like already immediately understand why it’s women’s group and they just like are all about it? Or do they just kind of sign sometimes just accidentally show up and then change their perspective? Do you have women that contact you and say, well, why can’t?
I bring a partner or what kind of things come up as you see the women? Yeah, they can bring a partner as long as it’s a woman. Yeah. But no, most of the women that are looking for this type of adventure are very intentional in their search. And there are quite a number of them out there now. Many of the companies are very well run and there’s new ones every day. So, I mean, it’s becoming more popular.
10 years ago, it was totally new to me. And it’s still new to very many women that I speak with as well. But it’s becoming more popular. But yeah, they know what they’re signing up for. And they’re either like, I’m gonna bring a sister. I’ve had a grandma bring her granddaughter. Of course, we only take them 18 years and over. But it was a graduation present. So, you know, we love the multi -generational,
Jason Elkins (26:26.974)
energy as well. So you just see a little bit of everything. Yeah, no, it’s, it’s, it’s super cool. So and I’ve got an opportunity to, well, before I ask that next question, in the fly fishing space, we saw that as well. There’s a few amazing fly fishing operators out there that are women that lead groups, there’s one called Real Eyes and don’t even need to mention names, they’re out there. And it’s always super exciting and fun for
Like I’m not on the trip, but I see them doing it. I think, yeah, that’s cool. My mom, you know, is single and I’m talking to her all the time. Like, hey, you should go on one of these groups, you know? And I completely get it. I think it’s great. And I’m going to ask you this. I also think there’s some people that don’t understand men only trips. And so.
Is it fair to say, okay, well, if women only trips, if there’s a real good reason that women should go on women only trips, is there equally a good reason that men should go on men only trips? I’m sure you’ve thought about this more than I have. So what are your thoughts on that? Oh yeah. This was about year two when I was in this space and I thought I should really have a men’s option and an opportunity, you know, men’s trips and, and just, you know, a different arm of the business.
And so I started interviewing brother -in -laws, brothers, friends. Hey, Bob, would you go on a trip, show up, spend a week with men that you’ve never met before, share rooms and go out and do stuff together? And they’re like, no, not only no, but hell no.
So it was just resounding feedback. I know I thought it was a good idea too. Jason, would you do that? Would you show up not knowing any? Here’s 10 men. We’re going to go out in the woods for a week. See, that’s where like I could unpack this. I’m like, okay, well, it’s underneath my preconceived ideas and notions. Yeah, I get it. And I’ve led men’s trips, but primarily because of the activity, not so much because of the men.
Jason Elkins (28:49.998)
Like it wasn’t we didn’t market it as a men’s trip. We’d say we’re going to the Amazon and we’re going to fly fish for Peacock Pass. And just they just kind of self select that way. So, yes, I would go on a trip with a bunch of men. But honestly, if it was marketed as a trip for a bunch of men, I would have all kinds of stories in my head about what that means. And some of them are and some of them are not very flattering to men in general, if I were to share what I think that might mean. So, yeah, I probably would not.
go to a company that says we do men’s trips to South America. I’m like, yeah, I don’t think that’s for me. So yeah, I get it. And I also get why people have ideas and attitudes about, oh, men’s trip, it’s just cause you guys wanna go do something you shouldn’t be doing. And women’s trips are like, oh, because you wanna go like be yourselves and relax and have fun. Well, women are innately tribal, right? We sit in circles.
We, you know, men sit next to each other, women sit facing each other. It’s the whole, you know, it’s very, look at that little primordial thing at the back of your neck. It’s the communication. It’s, you know, it’s just, it’s there. And it’s, I’ve heard that the women’s like the part of the brain that controls, you know, speech and communication for women, it’s like three times larger than a man. And men have another part of their brain that’s probably three times larger.
So yeah, I get that. That’s super cool. Because I suspect you just have seen all kinds without going into sharing any personal stories about people that are on your trips. But I can just imagine the revelations that have come out of your trips, the honesty, the vulnerability, the conversations that some of these women probably haven’t had, have been holding inside for 20 years. Now we’re getting a little off topic, but.
holding these things inside for 20 years in a marriage that may or may not be right, whatever. Yeah. And then they’re around a bunch of women. And for the first time, they feel like they can really share how they feel because they couldn’t share it with their husband. They don’t want to share it with their father. They don’t want to share with their brother. They don’t want to share it with their friends back home because their friends back home know their partners. And it’s like, it’s like therapy. You’re really a therapist, aren’t you? It is. Yeah, that’s one of our many roles here.
Jason Elkins (31:10.048)
We’re a mobile therapy unit. But what’s great is women will sign up for therapy. Yeah. So it’s a good business model. You tell a guy, oh, we’re therapists. You’re going to come on this trip and share all your deep dark secrets and emotions and be yourself. No, thanks. Yeah. They’ll run away with like their hair’s on fire. No, this is yeah, it’s very empowering and it’s very like I keep I come back to the the tribal. But it really is. And we’re all about, you know,
Just be yourself and enjoy each other, enjoy yourself, do this for you. We’ve had women come on trips that are going through, you know, they’re at a crossroads in their life. They’ve lost grown children, all the tragedies and all the best that life can throw at you. And they come on these trips to reinvest in themselves. And, you know, they just sit back, somebody else is driving.
planning, picking the restaurants, just telling me what I need to wear tomorrow and what to throw in my backpack. And they’re happy as larks. And then, and together, you know, and they, and they make such wonderful bonds, great friendships, and they come back on these trips time and again with their new friends. So it’s, you know, it’s, it’s just, it, you can tell I’m excited about this. One of my greatest passions is the travel is fabulous, but the connection and the.
the empowerment of women is really at the heart of what we do. I love it. Because you’re kind of really taking a whole other level because I believe that adventure travel and this type of tourism is about connection more than any other one thing. It’s not about the river, the mountain, the, you know, the places that not the animals, the nature, it’s all part of it that combines, but it’s really about the connection. So even for guys, and you know, because.
We like to connect. We maybe connect differently. And you’ve taken it to another level of connection that really, it’s like adventure tourism squared. And when I say adventure tourism, I’m not talking about skydiving or wingsuiting in Switzerland or scuba diving with sharks off the coast of South Africa. For me, adventure travel is anytime you step outside your comfort zone with an open, curious mind.
Jason Elkins (33:31.982)
It can be literally anything. I’m in Columbia right now. I had an adventure travel trip last night when I finished some recordings last night. And I walked three blocks down at about 10 o ‘clock at night and found this little kind of a restaurant, I guess. It’s basically a guy’s house. And he’s cooking chorizo and anarepas and potatoes on his front porch. And there’s five or six very inebriated Colombians.
enjoying themselves. And I sat right down in the middle of them and I said, what’s for dinner? And, and that was adventure travel to me. That was just, you know, that was just as good as jumping out of an airplane as far as I’m concerned. So yeah. And, and then the connection part, you just, you’re able to combine the two. That’s what’s really, really cool. I’m happy we’re having this conversation. What’s so for the woman who may be. So for my mom, I may mom, are you listening? I hope you’re listening to this. Um,
that’s sitting there thinking, you know, I want to connect. I, you know, maybe I’m single. I don’t do a lot of stuff, but I want to connect. But I don’t know, like a group of women, I don’t know if it’s not natural to them. I think you’ve already covered a lot of things, but is there anything else that you would add to somebody that’s maybe a little skeptical or a little bit concerned that would kind of ease their concerns? Yeah. And I think.
of that would be maybe if you’ve never done a woman’s trip before and you’re not ready to be a roommate with somebody you don’t know, even though it works out beautifully. And we rotate roommates at each change of lodging so everybody gets to know each other. Yeah, but we also offer single rooms. There’s a supplement, but if you want to come on a trip, haven’t really experienced this, not quite sure, and then get your own room.
and then you’re with the group during the day and then you can crash in your own space at night. I think that would be a really good way to go. Perhaps take a shorter trip and or try a soft adventure unless you’re really fit and wanna get out there. I’ve never tried, for example, somebody who’s never tried zip lining through the jungles of Arenal in Costa Rica, you gotta do it. It’s a bucket list thing that you gotta do.
Jason Elkins (35:49.614)
You know, but if somebody wants to just, okay, let’s just do some hiking in Joshua Tree National Park and then go to Temecula for a wine tasting, you know, there’s different adventures. And I hear also a lot, Jason, that people, women, that they’re afraid of holding me, holding you back. How fit do I have to be? All of that stuff. And I hear that so often. It’s so common as women, especially of a certain demographic that, you know, you don’t want to impose, you don’t want to be, just come on and have fun.
And I would encourage anyone just give me a call. I’ll talk you off the ledge because we’re just out there to have a good time. You know, you don’t need to bring your makeup or your hairdryer or any of that crap. Let’s just throw our hat under or throw our hair under a hat and get out and explore nature together and have some laughs.
I love it. I’m shocked by this conversation. I don’t know why I’m shocked by this conversation, but I, so for anybody that’s listening to this podcast, they can’t see your face, Janet. That’s, that’s the part of it, right? Because communication, words, tone of voice, maybe they’re getting some of that, but you’re just the energy in your face and the passion for what you’re doing. I just want to point it out so people can hear that I’m sitting here watching you on a zoom screen and I see it in your face. And I think I’m literally sitting here thinking, I mentioned my mom, but I’m also thinking, you know, my daughter, you know,
And other people I know in my life, I’m like, I just literally just there for a moment. I was like, oh, my daughter would enjoy this. I don’t think she’s ever, I mean, she has groups of girlfriends and they’ll go, dude, you know, she’s pretty outdoorsy. And, but to, but actually a trip like what you’re describing is really like, I’m imagining her in Costa Rica with a bunch of women of different ages, you know, so she might be a little younger than the average women in the group. My mom might be, my mom might be a little younger. She might listen to this. So I’m going to say my mom’s very young too.
And, but there’s a mix of people that from different backgrounds and what a great opportunity to open up and have those conversations that would probably feel awkward in other places. So that’s, that’s pretty cool. Okay. I think I beat that horse to death. Thank you for that, for, for indulging me. And I want to discuss a little bit about you mentioned you’ve managed to drop in a few different types of trips. I’d like to get a full.
Jason Elkins (38:05.678)
kind of breadth, you know, not every trip itinerary, we, you know, I think we probably could, we could probably do a bunch of episodes discussing every trip in detail. And I want people to get a full breadth of kind of what it is you’re doing, where you’re going, maybe some of your favorites, something you say might prompt somebody to say, ooh, I’ve always wanted to go there, women’s trip, cool. And they’ll make the connection that they might not otherwise make if I don’t ask this question. Okay, yeah. Well,
I would say to start out, do something domestic. One of the domestic trips in the US instead of just jumping into an international trip. If you’ve traveled a lot, check out our international trips. Oh my God. We’ve got a new Greece, Greek Island hopping trip that is to die for. I don’t know if you’ve been there recently. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Oh my.
The foods of it, you know, and that and we’re all we’re also foodies, by the way, Jason. So nobody goes hungry on our trips and we eat primarily at restaurants and you can order whatever you want off the menu. So, yeah, it’s we accommodate all day. Actually, I you mentioned that for a reason because you’ve been doing this for a while and I sense the experience. And that’s why you mentioned that. But as you said it, I was like, oh, that’s a good point, because that’s the other thing with women. I believe this my story.
is that they tend to be a little bit more particular maybe about food choices. They are a little bit more likely to try and stick to some sort of diet where guys have a food shortage, not always eat the healthiest food or whatever. But the flexibility of dining in restaurants, like you said, where you can order, whether you’re…
a vegan, you’re not doing, you’re doing keto, whatever you’re doing. Because there’s so many women, I’ve worked in this business long enough to know that when I read dietary requirements for people, in the trip planning stage, it’s usually the woman that has the dietary requirements. And I’m not knocking that, I think it’s good. I think it actually means that they’re more self -aware. Think about what they’re doing more than guys.
Jason Elkins (40:16.558)
But that’s a good point is that ability to not have to worry about, oh, well, what if I go on the trip and they put steak in front of me every night and I have to, I don’t want to be that one person like holding you back, right? You mentioned that already. I don’t want to be that one person that’s the, you know, the person on the trip that’s always complaining and never has what she needs. So that’s good. Flexibility is good. Yep. A lot of flexibility. You know, there’s.
I don’t know where to start. I mean there’s so much to choose from. I love the domestic trips. We do a lot in the western U .S. Maybe perhaps a little partial to that because we’re very familiar with it, but it’s also some of the beautiful, most beautiful country, again, it’s opinion, in the states. So we offer a lot of trips to the western U .S. That would be a good place to start. Maybe a shorter trip, maybe a soft adventure.
get your single supplement lined up if you want. Otherwise just jump right in and join the fray, you know, that most of them do. It’s built for solo travelers. So they don’t have to pay a single supplement. Like I say, we roommate them and then we rotate them at each change of lodging. Do women think about snoring? I don’t know why that’s coming up. For me, it’s coming up. Yes, I can imagine. I think women are sensitive to that.
Right? Guys can snore and guys just get away with it. Like, we don’t, okay, we snore or whatever. But I know I’ve been, I’ve known enough women in my life to know that they don’t want other people to hear them snoring. Yeah. So we tell them, bring your pap, you know, if you have a, what do you call it, apnea machine, they’re getting smaller these days. Bring your bright strips, get your own room, room you with another snore. You know, we always figure it out. Very cool.
I love that. All right. Sounds good. So south, so Western United States, rafting, right? Some tracking, just rattle off a few things that like keywords that people like, oh yeah, that’s something again. Whitewater rafting, we love to zip line, hiking. We’re also water babies. So we’ll do kayaking, SUP, cut some canoeing. Northern Idaho.
Jason Elkins (42:31.054)
Wow, I just thought it was all about potatoes for the longest time. And then I took a trip there. It is stunning in the Sawtooth Mountains. So yeah, we do a lot of water sports there and zip. The rafting on the Payette is gorgeous. And then of course we do the Rogue River, Crater Lake. We sprinkle in national parks. We’ve got a national parks collection. So those are a lot of the US, there’s Key West.
There’s Asheville. I mean, there’s there’s a little bit of something for everyone. Minnesota, for example, where I am from. I do a fall foliage trip every every October back to Minnesota. And we’re up in the boundary waters, canoe area. So we’re up there and enjoying the fall foliage, spotting a moose or a bear here or there. Yeah, it’s just.
It’s just amazing. It’s a big, beautiful world out there. We’ve also added, I gotta tell you, Croatia. We’ve had Iceland forever. One of the finest guys in Iceland works for us. She’s just a gem. Italy, Tuscany. We love our places where there’s incredibly good food. Janet, I have not eaten all day, so please, we can’t go too far into that conversation.
Just the word does get in my mouth water. So thank you so much for that. No, we will. We will talk more about that because I’m interested. And OK. And you mentioned Costa Rica. Anything else in South America? Costa Rica, we have a trip to Peru. I shouldn’t say anything else. Anybody listening to this? I know that Costa Rica is not in South America. I guess I got to throw that out there or they’re going to quit listening to my show. Yes. So anyway.
So what do you have in South America? In South America, we have Peru. We’re looking at Galapagos. In Central America, we’ve got, of course, Costa Rica. We just we’re going to be announcing a new Panama trip. We reinvigorated the itinerary. And it’s I personally, I think it’s it’s amazing. It’s going to be running in April of 2024. So just a little off shoulder season so we don’t we don’t get throngs of tourists.
Jason Elkins (44:52.362)
You know, we like to do, we choose our departure dates for not only the weather, but you know, impact of tourists and, and, um, yeah, just the best time of the year to go really. Okay. Very cool. And so Europe, South America, Central America, obviously North America. Um, what are you doing?
Do anything else that people should know you’re doing? Yeah. Alaska, Canada, Mexico. Of course, this is also all of North America. I want to ask you about Mexico. Yeah. Because there might be somebody here listening that has a preconceived idea about some places in the world. And we’re talking about women and women trips, group trips and safety is the word that tends to come up. I don’t know, in my world, maybe not yours.
What do you like just Mexico? What do you think people should know about Mexico around the word safety? I know that’s very open. Yeah, don’t love the water. Perfect. I love that response. I can second that. Yeah, yeah, that’s yeah. You’re in Colombia right now, right? You know what’s interesting? What’s interesting here is in Medellin Colombia. Yeah, water is amazing. Like I’ve.
I don’t drink bottled water. I’ve spent about a total of a year over the last two years. And yeah, just straight out of the tap. Tastes amazing. So I don’t know, I’m just mentioning that. I’m not sure about other places in Columbia, but so anyway, so Mexico, yeah, watch out for the water. Yeah, watch out for the water. Stay in groups. I mean, it’s common sense stuff, right? Jason, it’s common sense. And when we’re on tour in Mexico, we have an organized…
tour itinerary, we have hired drivers. So we’re not hopping in taxi cabs and doing all this. We have local guides. So they take us to the places that we, you know, for dinners and for to see the sites, to go snorkeling. I mean, everything is pre -arranged and set up ahead of time. So it’s not like we’re walking off a cruise ship and then going up to some dude that’s hanging out.
Jason Elkins (47:10.862)
by the side of the road with a sign saying you want to go do you know, want to go to work? Yeah, want to city tour? Yeah, right. Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, we stay together. And if anybody wants to wander off on their own, you know, it doesn’t happen very often. And thank goodness, nothing has happened, you know, unsafe with us that where there are any repercussions, but yeah, just stay together.
I’m not suggesting that you always have to go with a tour operator to be safe in Mexico. So anybody listen to that, that’s not what I’m saying. And it’s a great idea because you also just have access. Because if you’re by yourself in an area where you feel like maybe you’re not safe, you’re going to really limit your experiences. Like I’m not going to leave, I’m going to be in my room by 6 PM every evening because I don’t know what’s out there. But you go with someone like you, Janet.
I have a sneaking suspicion your groups have probably been out eating street tacos a little later in the evening than maybe someone would do if they were traveling to Mexico by themselves. Is that probably true? I encourage that behavior too. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. And when you’ve got somebody with you that’s like, yeah, this is great. Either you should go do this or we should go do this. Let’s go do this. You’re much more likely to do it when you’re by yourself and you’re thinking, okay, I’m.
brave and strong and I’m not afraid of anything. I’m going to go to Mexico by myself. But then you’re sitting in your room because you’re really not sure. Like, cause you know, cause you’re also the other part of you is I don’t want to be stupid. Fine line. Sometimes I don’t want to be that person that went out to get tacos. And, and then later on somebody’s like, well, you should have known better. That’s the worst neighborhood and the worst city in the whole country. And you’re like, okay.
So it is good to have some local advice. And one of the things, we talk about Mexico and we used to, the company I was working for, we’d send quite a few people to Mexico and quite often, and these are fishermen usually, and they’d be on the phone and, well, I don’t want to go to Mexico. And they’d go to Belize, they’d go to other places, but they get this, they see some news or they get a story in their head about one particular thing.
Jason Elkins (49:25.582)
Well, I don’t want to go to Mexico. And it was so hard for me not to sometimes say, you know what? I was there three weeks ago. You would have been amazed at the number of. Again, I’m trying to say this. Women traveling in the airport, like if you go to the airport in Cancun, it’s like and you see just a wide variety of people that are adventurous, that are confident, that are with their friends or even by themselves.
And when you go there and you see what’s happening there, it’s hard not to say to this big, tough fisherman guy, like, dude, if you just go there and look around and see everybody, all these big, tough women that are not afraid to go, maybe, maybe change your story. Lead a horse to water. Yeah. It’s, I remember the conversation was about Belize.
And I had lived in Belize for a while and I was having a conversation with this guy. He said, well, I heard something about something happened on the border with Guatemala. So I really don’t want to go there. And I kind of already knew where he was from. And I said, where do you live? Remind me where you live. And he said, I’m in Oakland. And like three weeks earlier, there was a big shootout thing with the guy. It was, you might even remember hearing about it. There was a big thing where a few police officers.
didn’t make it through the day. And I was just like, it was so interesting to me that we can, you know, that we can live in some of these places in the U S and have these ideas about other places in the world, just, just completely based on a news story or something like that. And it’s, we just, if we’re not willing to put ourselves out there a little bit and go explore and see for ourselves, what’s really out there. It’s, it’s kind of sad, I guess, really where I’m going with that. And so anybody listening to this, I just encourage you to do something, you know, especially.
group trip with you. I mean, that that would be amazing. Amazing way to do it. Yeah, travel opens your mind and your heart and your eyes. And yeah, so that’s why I named my business Big World Made Small podcast. Because I recognize that the world feels really big until you start traveling. And then the more you travel, the smaller it gets. I actually, I came up with the name when I was in Asia this past, I guess, past summer.
Jason Elkins (51:42.03)
And I’d never been to Asia and Asia was so far away. I’d always wanted to go. It was like, Oh my God, I always want to go to Asia. I’ve been to a bunch of places. I always want to go to Asia, but it seems so far away. And don’t get me wrong. The plane flights, long flight. But other than that, other than that, it’s not so far away. And you get there and you realize, Oh my gosh, this is the place that I imagined as a fantasy for so long to come here. And I’m here and I can come back anytime I want. And you know, I mean, it’s like,
we can go to all these places that we think are so far away. And then you go there and you’re like, I mean, this picture behind me for anybody, you know, I know some people are just listening, but I’m sitting in front of a backdrop of a mural in Penang, which is also known as Georgetown in Malaysia. And I use this as backdrop because to me, that was a big adventure to go to Asia. And there’s these two kids sitting on a bike and.
the little girls riding the driving, steering the bike, riding the bike. And it looks like a little brother’s on the back and he looks terrified. And it just has everything about adventure to me. And like, I can imagine this girl being a tour guide someday, right? It’s like, let’s go. on, buddy. Hang on, we’re going for it. And so anyway, I just think travel is, I think I also read something that’s like the only thing that you, I don’t remember the quote, but I just saw it recently.
I just, I think it’s the best way to spend money that there is. And my, one of my key philosophies is travel because money returns, time doesn’t. Yeah. Yes. Yeah. Exactly. Cause that’s what travel really is, is about the time. And I’m not, I’m not ignorant enough to realize that, you know, resources as takes financial resources, oftentimes to do it. And if you have those financial resources,
I think it would be a shame not to take advantage of it. Of course, I’m living full time on the road, so I’m not like everybody. And I recognize that not everybody in the world, including many people in my family, don’t necessarily see it the same way. But for me, it’s pretty amazing. So I just always encourage people to do it. And even if you’ve never done it, just go do it. Just check it out. I’ve got somebody I’ve worked with, actually a single lady that I’ve worked with in the past.
Jason Elkins (53:59.022)
on some projects that just took her first solo trip with a group of women to Mexico. And she had to get a passport for it. She had never traveled outside the country. The resources were not an issue. Time, not an issue. She’d been retired for a while. She really realistically could go anywhere in the world she’d want to go, but hadn’t. She got a passport and she went to Mexico with this group and just, she was so excited. I’ve had a lot of conversations with her about it. And she was just like, Oh my gosh, Chase, I had no idea.
And she’s like, she’s just like so thirsty now. And that wasn’t even an organized horror per se, it was more of a retreat with a coach that she’d been working with. And it was just like, it was so cool to see, you know, cause I did zoom calls where they’re so cool to just see the look on her face when she came back and she’s like, wow, I had no idea. And it’s so, it can really be life -changing and you see it every day with your clients. And yeah, what else should I be asking you? We’ve been talking a lot about that stuff.
Great stuff. What else would you like? Where did I not? What did I not ask you that I should have asked you? Or what do you think the people listening to this really need to hear before we wrap it up? You know, I think the last story that you just told about this woman who finally got her passport and went on her first international trip. I know some people that same same situation, never been out of the States.
The world is a beautiful place, especially the people and all the creatures that are in it. And you go out there and start traveling and you’ll truly become a global citizen. It’s, it, it just, like I say, it opens your eyes, it opens your heart, it opens your mind. And if you have any hesitation, just step off the ledge and jump into it and do it. And.
You could change your life. Have you ever? I mean, I was talking about this with someone earlier today. It’s like, there’s very, very few people in the world that I’ve ever met that regretted any trip. Like even, even if things went sideways and they had some experiences that they were not planning, very seldom do I hear people say, man, I wish I had not gone. I wish I never would have gotten my passport. I wish I wouldn’t have met these people that I met. Yeah. Yeah.
Jason Elkins (56:21.454)
when even when bad things happen, because you know what bad things happen at home, you can be you can fall off your toilet and get hurt. That’s right. So it’s like, okay, I know things happen. I know people might say, well, I went to I went to Africa and I sprained my ankle when I jumped down off of the, you know, the the Land Rover or something. Okay, and maybe it was a pain in the butt to get treated because you didn’t have the hospital or the urgent care right after I get that completely. But you got a great story. Yeah, you got
You gotta grace every time I, every time I see somebody with a cast, I look at them and I think, man, I hope they have a good story behind that. Yeah. Right. Yeah. And it’s so disappointing. And I’ll ask, cause if you haven’t figured it out, I just ask, it’d be like, do have a good story behind that? And they’ll say, Oh, I stubbed my toe in my bedroom or something like, and make something up. You gotta come, you gotta come up with something. And I know what happens, but it’s like, you gotta come up something better than that. And when they’re like, yeah, I was, you know, I went, I was.
Yeah, I went mountain climbing and a rock hit me in the head. And that’s why I’m a little slow to respond to questions. I’m like, OK, that’s a cool story. I mean, I shouldn’t share this, but. I got robbed in Mexico, I’m going to show this anyway. I got robbed in Mexico. By a police officer, and I’m not saying this to scare anybody. But I got robbed by a police officer. I went to get tacos. They stopped me and I looked like maybe I was out buying something else. I don’t know. They stopped me and.
Very nice. They were very nice. Pulled my wallet out of my pocket, took the money, put the wallet back in the pocket. So, okay, you’re free to go. And honestly, it sounds like that might scare some people listening to that. But I was like, man, $60 is all it costs for that story. For that experience. I spent 60 bucks to get robbed by the cops in Mexico. I can tell that story the rest of my life. And, you know, it’s like, and I’m not saying bad things don’t happen in the world.
And you do need to pay attention. I learned, I learned that I should not walk down really dark, quiet streets when I’m in Mexico. Well, that was 60, maybe 20 with maybe a 20 in your pocket. Yeah. Well, yeah. Yeah. Cause I could have, I could have got, I could have got the tour a lot cheaper. The experience could have been a lot cheaper if I’d only had 20 bucks in my pocket. They were nice though. They put the Guatemala and Quesalas back in my pocket. I guess they didn’t want those. They asked me why I had them. I that’s a weird question.
Jason Elkins (58:47.086)
And then I understood later when I looked at my wallet and all the US dollars were gone, but it was, but you know, I’m not, it’s not appropriate behavior. I’m not condoning it. They shouldn’t have done it. It’s kind of an, I’m going to say an asshole move. And okay, that’s the worst thing that’s happened. I’ve been traveling full -time for two years. That’s the worst thing that’s happened to me. And I’m laughing about it and sharing a story about it. And it’s like, okay, it cost me 60 bucks. So sometimes even the things that you don’t expect,
you don’t want to happen can, you know, I don’t know. I don’t have any hard feelings. Yeah, but absolutely. I’m like saying great story. Go to Mexico, just keep away from the dark streets. And the other point of that too is like, it’s not necessarily like the people we think we might have to worry about are not always the ones we need to worry about. But at the same time, they, you know, I didn’t feel like I was in physical danger. I just felt like, well, that’s inconvenient. Yeah.
And then the next night, this is actually the other part of the story, the next night I left my place and I was with a friend, traveling with a friend, and we left to go down to the beach and swim. And I left my phone in the room, I left my credit card in the room, I left like everything in the room except for the key to the room because of what happened the night before. Right? So I’m thinking, oh, I’m being smart. I’m not going to make that mistake again. Left everything in the room, went down to the beach, we went swimming on the beach and…
lost the key, the key disappeared to the room. We spent most of the night walking around trying to find somebody. I had one PayPal card, which is not a real credit card. It wasn’t an ATM card. You couldn’t get cash out of the machine. I had a PayPal card. Could not find a hotel that would take a credit card. Finally found one, but was very reluctant to do it without an ID because of course I didn’t have any ID with me. Yeah, so that was.
That was the second part of the story. And we did find a place. We got a room to spend a few hours before the sun came up. And we were able to go back and find the landlord to get me into the place. But you know what? It was a great adventure. That was my birthday. That was actually my birthday. And I was like, was the most unique birthday experience I’d ever had. It was pretty amazing. So anyway.
Jason Elkins (01:01:04.366)
Thank you so much for being here. I love what you shared. I think you add a whole nother layer to, like I said, the connection involved in this big world that we’re making small through adventure travel. So thank you so much, Janet. I really appreciate you. Thank you so much for having me. It’s been a lot of fun. Let’s do it again. Sounds good. I’m up for it. I’ll see you soon. Jason. Thanks. Cheers.
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