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Episode #156: Rhiannon Hutton

Curator of Transformative Journeys

The Luxury Travel Specialist

Episode #156: Rhiannon Hutton
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Guest Bio

Rhiannon Hutton is the founder of The Luxury Travel Specialist, where she curates high-end, deeply personalized travel experiences for clients seeking more than just a getaway. With over two decades of experience in the travel industry, Rhiannon’s career began in a traditional shopfront agency and has evolved into a niche role centered around bespoke luxury journeys. Her own transformative experiences — including a life-altering incident during a trip to China — have shaped her mission to help others explore the world with purpose and confidence. Beyond her travel expertise, she is now an author and advocate for personal resilience, using her story to inspire growth, healing, and bold adventures through travel.

Show Summary

In this episode of the Big World Made Small Adventure Travel Podcast, host Jason Elkins speaks with Rhiannon about her remarkable evolution in the travel industry — from early days in a traditional agency to launching a business that specializes in luxury, intentional travel. She shares a pivotal story from her past: a harrowing hijacking experience in China that not only tested her courage but also reframed her entire outlook on life and travel.

Rhiannon opens up about the emotional and spiritual impact of that journey and how it led her to write a forthcoming book on resilience. She explains how trusting her instincts — both on the road and in business — has become central to her philosophy. The conversation also touches on her upcoming wellness-focused travel projects, designed to help others navigate trauma and discover their own strength through curated group experiences.

Key Takeaways

  • ✓ Rhiannon has more than 20 years of experience in the travel industry.
  • ✓ She transitioned from a traditional agency model to offering high-end, personalized travel services.
  • ✓ The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the shift to virtual consultations and online client engagement.
  • ✓ A hijacking incident during a trip to China deeply influenced her perspective on travel and safety.
  • ✓ She stresses the importance of listening to your instincts while exploring unfamiliar places.
  • ✓ Her personal experiences have inspired her to write a book about resilience and transformation through travel.
  • ✓ Rhiannon believes challenging experiences can serve a greater purpose in helping others heal.
  • ✓ She is developing future travel programs focused on wellness, growth, and group connection.
  • ✓ Her work aims to support people who have experienced trauma or life-altering events.
  • ✓ She views travel as a powerful tool for recovery, empowerment, and self-discovery.

What You’ll Find on The Luxury Travel Specialist

  • Tailored luxury travel planning for individuals and small groups
  • Personalized itineraries designed around comfort, culture, and adventure
  • Upcoming group journeys with a focus on wellness and resilience
  • Resources for travelers navigating fear or trauma through exploration
  • A forthcoming book sharing personal insights and travel-driven healing
  • Consultations that prioritize empathy, safety, and meaningful experiences

Learn more about The Luxury Travel Specialist and connect with Rhiannon at:

https://www.theluxurytravelspecialist.com.au

You can buy Rhiannon’s book on Amazon at https://a.co/d/0aQOp5Qw

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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.

Jason Elkins (00:00.938)
Welcome back everybody to another episode of the Big World Made Small podcast for the adventure traveler. So happy to have each and every one of you back here today. And I’m also super excited to have our guests today. Today we’ve got Rhiannon Hutton. Rhiannon is the curator of transformative journeys with Rhiannon Hutton, the luxury travel specialist. Did I more or less get that right Rhiannon? I felt like I stumbled through it a little bit.

Rhiannon (00:22.958)
Yeah, that’s pretty much right. That’s a mouthful.

Jason Elkins (00:29.062)
And we’re just gonna casually just call you Rhi so just so our listeners are not lost on that. So, Rhi, happy to have you here on the show. It’s real pleasure.

Rhiannon (00:34.358)
Yes. Thanks. Thanks for inviting me on.

Jason Elkins (00:39.456)
And let’s share with our listeners, where are you physically located? They might’ve been able to guess by the accent, but maybe not.

Rhiannon (00:45.216)
Yeah, so I’m located in Albury, Australia. So in between Melbourne and Sydney. Country girl.

Jason Elkins (00:50.518)
Very cool. Isn’t technology amazing that we’re able to sit here and have this conversation? I’m currently in Arizona, you’re in Australia, and there’s a time zone difference. So I appreciate you taking time out of your day to join us. It’s about eight o’clock, roughly 8.30 in the evening here. How about there?

Rhiannon (00:54.668)
No.

Rhiannon (01:02.368)
Yeah, what time is it then?

Rhiannon (01:11.242)
yeah, so about 2pm over here. Yeah, perfect.

Jason Elkins (01:13.078)
Okay, well then. Anyway, happy to have you here. We’re gonna really dig into your story, because I’m super curious about kind of how you got where you are now. But before we do that, let’s give our listeners kind of the, I don’t know, 30, 60 second elevator pitch for your business. What do you do and how do you help?

Rhiannon (01:24.398)
Mm-hmm.

Rhiannon (01:34.136)
So I post COVID, I’ve been in the industry for 20 years now. So I was in shopfront for about 10 years and then I launched into my own business 11 years ago. And ever since post COVID, I decided to niche down and go into the luxury space. And so ever since then, everything’s just gone gangbusters. And so I focus on immersive travel.

with a bit of class on the side.

Jason Elkins (02:06.677)
Very very cool. You mentioned something you mentioned a word I think I know exactly what it means but I don’t want to make any assumptions and maybe some of our listeners are wondering as well you mentioned shop front. So what does that mean?

Rhiannon (02:18.636)
Mm hmm. Yeah. So I was working in a storefront. so a shop basically. and I think, yeah, the industry has changed a lot. So we don’t necessarily need to have a store. everything is, you know, it’s what we’re doing now. It’s done online. a lot, I meet a lot of my clients online, either online or at a cafe in person, over the phone.

Jason Elkins (02:26.184)
Okay.

Rhiannon (02:48.268)
Some of them I’ve never seen their face before, to be honest, and it’s done on email and that’s the way they like it.

Jason Elkins (02:55.081)
Yeah, yeah, it’s things have definitely changed and I actually would like to have a conversation about the differences for you as far as in a shopfront dealing with people face to face and now that we’re doing things so much more remotely and by email maybe some video calls stuff like that. Let’s pause and have a conversation around that for a minute and then we’re going to go into your story. What’s the… because I don’t know I’ve never worked…

Rhiannon (03:07.042)
Mm-hmm.

Rhiannon (03:20.855)
Okay.

Jason Elkins (03:25.031)
in that role where I was meeting people face to face to help them with their travel experiences. So what is the major changes or what do you think might surprise our listeners about what’s changed?

Rhiannon (03:26.689)
Yeah.

Rhiannon (03:36.559)
to be honest, I think people are more trusting. It’s bizarre. Like when I was working in storefront, like people would come in and it’s face to face and very interactive. And, know, you would do the work in front of them. And if it was a long itinerary, you know, you’d tell them to come back and go over it together with them. But now it’s more, here’s what I want. They give it to you. They send it to you. Or we talk about it over zoom or at a cafe.

You go off and do your thing, come back and send it to them. And they just trust that you have it taken care of.

Jason Elkins (04:14.421)
Why do you think that is?

Rhiannon (04:16.214)
I don’t know, which is, I thought it would be the opposite, but it’s not. And it’s kind of nice.

Jason Elkins (04:18.101)
You

Jason Elkins (04:24.885)
Do you, I’m just guessing, just for conversation, do you think it’s because, well, I don’t know, maybe when somebody walked into the shop front back in the day, maybe they hadn’t done a lot of research, hadn’t read reviews, didn’t already kind of have a warm fuzzy feeling. They were just walking by, saw a travel agency and walked in the door and where now maybe the people you’re dealing with have been on your website, read some reviews and stuff like that maybe?

Rhiannon (04:40.046)
you

Rhiannon (04:51.736)
Yeah. I think a lot of it has come from, like I get a lot of website views, but I also, a lot of it has come from, referrals. a lot of my business is referral based. they’re trusting people previously as well. who have used me before. So I would say probably 80 % of my business is repeat clients and referrals for sure. Yeah.

Jason Elkins (05:07.158)
Jason Elkins (05:19.359)
That makes sense because if you’re in a shopfront and you meet somebody that lives just down the street around the corner and you help them with a trip and they maybe would give referrals but their friends aren’t down the street around the corner. So they’re a little less likely to come in and meet with you maybe. okay.

Rhiannon (05:33.358)
Yeah, yeah, that’s right. Yeah, yeah. So and you know, like a lot of if I don’t know a name or, you know, they’re from interstate or something, I’ll ask them, you know, how they how they found me or who referred them. And a lot of the times it’s my website. So it’s doing its thing. So yeah.

Jason Elkins (05:55.35)
Yeah, good. Very cool. Congratulations on the website doing its thing. That helps a lot. When someone comes to you already trusting you and feeling they chose you for a reason, could have, because in this world they can choose somebody from anywhere. It’s not, well, you live, you’re close by, so we don’t have to drive very far. All right, cool. Well, I appreciate you.

Rhiannon (06:00.578)
Yeah, that’s a hug.

Rhiannon (06:12.203)
Exactly.

Rhiannon (06:17.12)
Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. And so I have clients, I’ll have a lot of clients in Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney, all over. Yeah.

Jason Elkins (06:26.805)
All right, let’s dig into the good stuff. I don’t know how far we need to go back, but sometimes I ask and somebody says, well, I was born on this day in this place. And other times people come back and say, well, a few years ago I decided to get into the business. So let’s pick something between a few years ago and your birthday.

Rhiannon (06:36.579)
Yeah.

Jason Elkins (06:48.085)
far back do we need to go to get a of a feel for how you got.

Rhiannon (06:53.806)
Um, so we could probably go back about 17 years. so I was obviously, I was working in shop front then, um, I was working, it was just me and my boss and I was.

Jason Elkins (06:58.995)
Okay.

Jason Elkins (07:07.763)
Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, think we’re gonna have to go further back than that. I want to figure out how you got into the travel business in the first place. Okay, all right, go ahead.

Rhiannon (07:15.606)
Well, I was getting to that. I’m a Torian, so I’m very stubborn and persistent. yeah, I always knew I wanted to be in the travel industry. It was just a pool that I had and my auntie at the time was working for Ansett. So she was a flight attendant. She was a nanny. She’d worked overseas and then she became a flight attendant. And

Jason Elkins (07:24.245)
All right, I don’t want to interfere with your plan. Go ahead.

Rhiannon (07:44.975)
I thought that would be a really cool job. And this was when I was in like year 10 or something. And so I remember going, this would be really, really cool. And so in year 10, you do like a work experience. And so you get to go away for two weeks and you decide what you want to do and they take you on and you can experience different, different niches. And so my choice was flight attendant and working in a hospital.

So very different, very, very different. It was a children’s hospital. So I knew, I did my work experience for a week with Anzett in Melbourne. And I knew that that’s kind of the area that I needed to go. And I wanted to go and it was just pulling me. But I also knew that I didn’t want to live in a city. I’m a country girl. being a flight attendant,

Jason Elkins (08:15.529)
Yes. Okay.

Rhiannon (08:41.964)
was not after doing it for a week, I was just like, this is not what I want to do. I don’t want to be on it stuck on a plane serving people happy, sad, you it’s not great for your body either. I decided that that wasn’t going to be for me, but I knew the travel industry somewhere along the line was and

Jason Elkins (09:05.365)
Do you mind if I ask you this because I’m trying to imagine a week of being a flight attendant. Like did they actually like they put you on the plane and you went places or what was that week like? Because it kind of sounds pretty interesting.

Rhiannon (09:15.725)
Yeah.

No, not.

No, so it was a lot of behind the scenes. So I would go onto the plane before it would obviously take off. So it was setting up the plane and doing all of the stuff that you see, don’t say behind the scenes, obviously, you know, when people get on the plane and it’s all ready to go. So it was a lot of behind the scenes stuff. It was a lot of back office stuff. So you would go into the onset office and meet all the crew and do all the

crappy jobs, I guess, that people don’t want to do. So it was meeting all of the crew, the pilots, that sort of stuff, which was really, really cool. yeah, I knew then that that was not for me. And after obviously being in the industry, looking back at it, I was like, God, thank God I didn’t go down that line.

Jason Elkins (10:07.391)
Thank you.

Jason Elkins (10:15.167)
Did, had you been on many planes before that? Had you done any traveling? You had, okay. So you saw the front end and the back end, it sounds like by the time you made the decision that, yeah, okay, maybe this is not for me. All right. So then did you go do a week at the hospital then?

Rhiannon (10:18.476)
Yeah, I’ve been on a few. Yeah. Yeah.

Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly.

Rhiannon (10:32.178)
So I did a week at the hospital before I went to Melbourne. So, and I knew that that was not for me either. It was a children’s hospital and it was just too, too sad for me. So yeah, that was, I just knew that that was a no.

Jason Elkins (10:47.071)
Yeah, that’s a heavy thing and that doesn’t mean that you’re not a good person at problem. Well, no, I gotta be careful what I say, because who knows what’s listening, but it can be really, really heavy. And if you’re super empathic and compassionate, that could be really, really tough. So I get that. All right, but you decided travel, yes, but maybe not the flight attendant. So take us from there.

Rhiannon (10:54.636)
Yeah. Yeah.

happening.

Exactly. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Yeah.

Rhiannon (11:10.592)
Yeah, and so after that, obviously after year 12, I went through to year 12 and then I was kind of in Limbo. We were living in a small town of about 5,000 people, I think it was, and we had a, there was a travel agency in that town. It was the only one. And there was jobs that kept kind of popping up every now and then. And I had no experience.

obviously in the industry hadn’t done my diploma, hadn’t done anything. And, um, but my persistence was every time a job came up, I would put my resume in and, um, she’s like, Oh no, like you’ve got no experience and blah, blah, blah. And, know, you need to do your training. I’m like, okay. And, uh, so then the next time I put it in four times over about nearly 18 months and, um, she rang me and she was just like, my God, what is wrong with you?

And she’s like, can you stop putting your resume in? I’m like, well, give me a job. And so she did. She’s like, all right. And so I ended up. Yeah. So then I, got. Yeah, exactly. So then I got thrown into the deep end. I was learning on the job. And if you know the industry, like Galileo, the booking system is quite hard. If you’ve had no idea what it is before.

Jason Elkins (12:15.893)
Sounds like a good trade. I’ll leave you alone if you give me a job.

Rhiannon (12:36.961)
So learning that on the job and obviously doing my diploma at the same time, which took about three years to get through, obviously doing it part time.

Jason Elkins (12:47.561)
Was the diploma specific to working in the travel industry or was it a requirement?

Rhiannon (12:52.173)
Yeah, yeah, specific for the travel. Yeah. Yeah. So then I completed that and yeah, I worked for her for nine years, I think roughly about nine years. And like, I was thrown into the deep end a lot with a lot of different requests. And, you know, when she was away, I was manning the office by myself and like looking back, obviously it was incredible. It was an incredible experience.

And I like, honestly think it’s the best way to learn is to be chucked in the deep end and figure it out yourself.

Jason Elkins (13:28.437)
I was going to ask you that if you could go back in time when you’ve done it differently. I suspect things have changed. Well, I don’t know. I shouldn’t assume anything. Have things changed as far as the training that’s required to work as a trouble?

Rhiannon (13:33.571)
But I think it’s me.

Rhiannon (13:43.129)
don’t know if the training has changed, but a lot of things have changed airline wise for sure, with ticketing and all of that sort of stuff. There’s definitely more assistance and it’s not as manual as it used to be, it’s still, yeah, it’s not an easy job.

Jason Elkins (14:01.246)
you

Do you actually just go on to their lands websites now presumably or is there still a system that’s all that’s I mean what is what’s it like

Rhiannon (14:11.372)
Yeah. So there’s, yeah, no, so we don’t use, web based system we use. so there’s Galileo, Sabre, Amadeus. So there’s heaps of different systems and obviously what you’re trained on is what you use. So a lot of people will be using Galileo. Some are using Amadeus. it just depends on, you know, what you’re trained on and what you can handle. And I’ve used Gal since I started, and I haven’t changed over.

So, do you know what? hope it does.

Jason Elkins (14:42.069)
Do you think that’ll change with? Because to me, someone that doesn’t know anything about this, just seems like, why wouldn’t they just have a website? I mean, I can go on and in my head, this is a story I have in my head, you help me figure it out. In my head, I can go onto a website and find all the flights and all this stuff. So why would a travel agent have to use a much more complicated system?

Rhiannon (14:48.449)
Yeah.

Rhiannon (14:57.045)
Yeah.

Rhiannon (15:02.808)
What?

Rhiannon (15:07.168)
Yeah, I don’t know, because I had this conversation with actually a United Airlines team the other day about a question on a ticket for entry. And they said the same thing. We’re using web based. Why are you using and we’re like, well, this is what Australians use. We thought everyone was using the same kind of system. So I feel like it will phase out at some point, hopefully sooner rather than later.

Jason Elkins (15:32.96)
Well, maybe somebody’s listening to this right now that has some influence on how this is done in Australia or around the world or whatever. So, all right, so let’s go back. you, Trial by Fire, you started out working in the trenches as you were going to school. Did you have any opportunities? I mean, because I think a lot of people think, if I work in this business, there’ll be perks. I’ll get to go to all these places and do fam trips.

Rhiannon (15:35.63)
Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah.

Rhiannon (15:51.203)
Mm-hmm.

Rhiannon (15:58.19)
Yeah.

Jason Elkins (16:00.821)
and all that stuff, is that, was that the case for you?

Rhiannon (16:04.783)
Yes, it was. So I did get to travel quite a bit over my nine years there. Obviously, China being one of my first trips and it was surely one to remember or not remember. Yeah. Yeah.

Jason Elkins (16:24.745)
Tell us more. Help me understand that.

Rhiannon (16:31.298)
Yeah, so it, and I guess this is how everything rolls around really. So I think I was about, do you know what? This is, it’s funny because how your mind completely blanks out things over time and sometimes for good reason, but I think it was about 22, 23. And I, my boss had said to me, do you want to go to China?

on a fam trip and I said, oh, yeah, yeah, I haven’t been there before. It was not on my priority list of countries to visit. But you know, when these things come up, you just take them. So I decided to go and there was about, I think there was about 10 of us that went, all ladies and one guide that took us. He was Chinese Australian.

beautiful, beautiful man. And yeah, never met these ladies before. And that’s the beauty of these trips. You just, don’t know who you’re to meet and who you’re going to come across. And yeah, you can meet some incredible people. It’s, it’s good. So yeah, China was a, it was a eight day, I think ended up being eight day Beijing, Xi’an and Shanghai. So it was the triangle and it was interesting. It was,

kind of what I expected, but not. was, yeah. The list of must takes to China before we left was your own toilet paper, a bucket load of sanitizer, all these condiments that you must have in your bag at all times. So I was well and truly prepared, but I don’t think I was prepared for the kind of toilets and things we were gonna come across, yeah.

was very different. And do you know what, like, how long ago was that? Like 16, 17 years ago. You know, I’m sure a lot’s changed since then. Yeah.

Jason Elkins (18:36.839)
So that was your first trip. You said your first trip it sounds like with the job but had you had you been out?

Rhiannon (18:40.632)
First big one, yeah. Yeah, first big one I think it was. Yeah, yeah, I think there was a couple of small ones, but that was my, I think that was my first big one that I did. Yeah, shipped off on that plane and.

Jason Elkins (18:57.993)
I feel like there’s some stories in there, but I don’t want to push too hard.

Rhiannon (18:58.702)
It was a stagious love-hunt. It was not what I expected, that’s for sure. You’re the first one that I’ve told this story to, so publicly.

Jason Elkins (19:07.861)
So let’s.

Well, we didn’t get that far. I think you said the toilets were different.

Rhiannon (19:16.49)
Yeah, so we started in Beijing and obviously we did Tiananmen Square, the Great Wall, it’s all incredible. But not my cup of tea. We then went to Xi’an, where the Terracotta Warriors are. Just incredible. It was the most beautiful place.

The terracotta worries, if you haven’t seen them, it’s really eye opening. It’s hard to believe what they are and what’s there. But then, but that’s where my trip went downhill from there. I didn’t get to enjoy the last half of that trip.

Jason Elkins (20:03.207)
you eat? I’m just guessing. Was this because of something you ate?

Rhiannon (20:07.21)
No, I only ate rice when I was over there. We were fed eel and all of that sort of stuff. And yeah, I was I was a rice girl that time. So, yeah, so in Xi’an, we were meant to leave Xi’an. We stayed, I think, two or three nights, two nights in Xi’an. And we were then going to grab a flight to Shanghai.

Jason Elkins (20:16.949)
You stuck to the rice. All right. Do you wanna?

Rhiannon (20:37.902)
We had a morning flight booked to go to Shanghai and a beautiful guide He was he said to us. He was like, you know what? We’re early We’re too early for the airport like let’s go and see another temple. So if you’re like, my god All right. So we pulled up to this It was like a little there was a temple there and there was a little market concrete

all concreted around, kind of went in a half circle. And he said, Oh, you know, go and have a look at some shops and we’ll have a look at the temple. And then, you know, we’ll waste a bit of time and then we’ll head to the airport. So we all jumped off and we were in like a mini bus. And for some reason, we were all sitting at the back of the bus. Our guy was at the front. We were all just at the back, which was unusual. And so we all got off and

we were walking around and I said to one of the girls, I said, something feels off here. And she’s like, what are you talking about? And I said, I can feel somebody, like it doesn’t feel right. And she was just like, you’re crazy. Like, and I’m looking over my shoulder, was walking past these little shops and I’m looking over my shoulder constantly. And I just could feel.

something was not right and no one was behind me. No one was like looking at me. Anyway, so I kind of fobbed it off and I was just walking back towards the bus. We’d wasted a little bit of time and we were walking back towards the bus and there were some girls like the girls were in front of me and they stopped like abruptly and I said, oh, what’s going on? And there was this guy, he,

had no legs and he was so it was all concrete and he was pulling himself like along the ground and I’m like my gosh like the poor thing that’s weird what’s going on here didn’t think anything of it watched him go and then we proceeded to get on the bus and so this is where trauma kicks in because it will black out some

Rhiannon (23:01.934)
parts that you want to remember or don’t need to remember. So this is what I’ve learned along the years anyway. So we got back on the bus and I, from memory, there was a guy on the bus and he was Chinese. He was very tall and he had this beautiful suit on. He just looked like a real professional man. And our guide was on the bus.

And we pile on and as women do we’re chatting and talking about shopping and heading to Shanghai and everyone knows Shanghai is like amazing for shopping. And anyway, we saw this guy and we’re like, who’s that? And our guide was like, he’s just leaving. And I’m like, okay. Didn’t think anything of it. We all got on the bus, got on the back, up the back of the bus. And we said, what’s going on here?

And he’s like, he wants to go to the airport. so Ozzie’s being Ozzie’s, we were like, let him on, let’s go. And like, we were now mucking around and we knew that we had to get to the airport because we were, we were now pushing for time. And so he was like, I’m trying to get him off the bus. And we were like, okay. Just get him off, just tell him he’s got to go. Like we couldn’t really comprehend what was going on. And.

So he was like, I’m trying to get him off. And then things escalated really, really quickly. And Eric was talking Chinese with this guy. And I started to feel really uneasy. I knew something was really wrong. And I just remember sitting there going, all right, something’s off here. He’s not getting off. And we’re not moving. So something’s going on.

And so the guy in the suit had his back to us standing in the middle of the bus and our guide was like, that was bickering. And I don’t know if you’ve heard Chinese yell before, but it’s actually really, really scary. It’s so scary and they’re so loud and so what seems to be aggressive. And they kept going and going and going and we were like,

Rhiannon (25:30.266)
what is going on. And he just said he’s not getting off. And so this guy turns around in the suit and he opens his jacket and he’s covered in a bomb.

Jason Elkins (25:41.845)
Thanks

Jason Elkins (25:47.487)
Holy cow.

Rhiannon (25:49.771)
Yeah, so he has wires from head to toe. Yeah, yeah. And so what we didn’t realize was in one hand, he was holding a trigger. So he had his hand, yeah, like covered and we could only see it when he turned around. And so obviously, shock went through the bus. And I remember I was sitting next to one of the girls and

Jason Elkins (25:55.689)
us.

Rhiannon (26:20.298)
She was younger than me and she lost it. Like completely lost it. Screamed, cried, got her phone and I just said, well, like, don’t get your phone away. Like this, I feel like this is going to really aggravate him. Like we don’t know what’s going on here. And like she was just beside herself and yeah, we couldn’t, we didn’t know what was

going on, we knew we were in a lot of trouble. so our guide was trying to calm us down as best as possible, as well as try and disarm what was in front of us. And so I remember I was window side and I remember very, very quickly getting on the bus, there was no one around us.

But very, very quickly, looking out the window, there was hundreds and hundreds of people surrounding us, like just standing there. There was someone right there at my window, just looking up at me. And I’m like, what’s going on? Like, I was just like, I had no idea what was going on. But I knew, yeah, I knew we were in trouble.

And so we heard our guide going back and forth with this guy and it was just not calming down. And so we were just sitting there like in tears. I was trying to like stay as calm as possible. didn’t, I don’t think I touched my phone. I just sat still and just looked out the window. But then I was like, it was just, it was literally like,

my life had flashed before my eyes. And so I was thinking of everything possible in like a matter of seconds. And I remember looking out the window. And so I think that was the very first time that I actually prayed. And I just remember looking out the window and thinking to myself, wow, like this is, this is how we go. This is, and yeah. And so I was like,

Jason Elkins (28:47.135)
Terrifying.

Rhiannon (28:48.598)
It was horrifying. so, you know, your mind is incredible and it plays tricks on you. And it, you know, I was thinking to myself, well, you know, I’m going to be blown up into a million pieces. And I could, was literally picturing myself, the bus being blown up, everyone blown up, everyone being blown up.

Jason Elkins (28:50.453)
Yeah.

Rhiannon (29:17.77)
And that, but that was it. And then that was the end of my life. And I was just like, wow. Wow. And so I came back into, you know, my mind come back into the bus and myself, and we were just sitting there waiting for instructions on what was going on. because they were going back and forth bickering. And then we worked out that our guide was trying to convince him to let people off.

Um, one at a time. And so the bomber didn’t speak English from what I know. Um, but yeah, our guide was like, you know, from what we could gather was like, okay, you know, let her off. She’s old, you know, she’ll have a heart attack or, know, making up all of these stories. And, know, one by one, the ladies were getting off and I was like, Oh my God. Like,

Everyone’s getting off the bus. And so we weren’t really communicating with our guide either because he was concentrating on doing what he was doing. He was, you know, and so there was one point, a couple of girls had got off and I just remember looking out the window going, where are they going? Where have they gone? Like you couldn’t see them. They, the door opened and they were gone into the hundreds of people.

Jason Elkins (30:24.149)
He had his hands full, yeah. Wow.

Rhiannon (30:46.74)
No one could speak Chinese. So it was then I was like, my God, I hope they can get to the airport or I hope they can get to safety and I hope someone can speak English. And so in the meantime, the bomber started to get really angry and agitated and he, and I don’t know really what set him off. I think our guide had asked quite a few times for the next person to be off.

And you know, he was just standing in very close to us in the middle of the the bus and he was he leant down into his shoe with one of with his other hand and then he pulled out and he had a lighter and he was just like going like this. Like and as in like teasing us to say if you don’t shut up, like I’m going to let it go.

so then that sent another shockwave through everyone and yeah, it’s, it’s kind of hard to explain. Like the fear that runs through your body, but then the adrenaline kicks in and it just like, this, like, this can’t be it. And I remember getting down to, he got down to about, I think I was the third last one, on the bus and I know that he was talking, he was pointing at me.

And the guy was like, no, no. And I’m like, mm, yeah, I I got to get off. I’ve got to get off. But part of me, the other part of me was like, I don’t want to leave these other two ladies. Like it was just, it was such a hard situation. And so I, I remember him kind of like turning to the side in the middle of the bus. Um, and I just,

got my bag, I knew it had my passport in there and my phone and I just snatched my bag. I got up and like pushed past him and he grabbed my arm and I was just like, no, I’m out. Like I’m going. And so he grabbed me and just like, I don’t know what took over. There was some strength there somewhere and I just got off and I got off the bus. And then I just remember getting off and I just stood there.

Rhiannon (33:08.803)
looking back at the bus going, my God, like what’s going to happen now? And then, so I got off and I just stood in this pile of people. But thankfully the person that got off before me was also standing there hoping that someone else would get off. And so we decided that we were no help to anyone being there. So I don’t even know.

how we got a taxi.

someone got a taxi for us and we got a taxi to the airport. We were like, well, we can’t do anything here. We can’t be near the bus in case it goes. So, you know, we were kind of in a stuck situation. So we got in a taxi and drove to the airport and I just remember I finally got my phone out and I text home and I just said, look, I’ve been hijacked.

by a bomber. I’m okay, but don’t call me. And so you can imagine being on the other end the phone. Are you joking?

Jason Elkins (34:23.349)
That must have been a, I’m okay. There’s something bad happened, I’m okay, but just don’t call me. Cause you know, yeah. All right.

Rhiannon (34:29.23)
Yeah. Yeah. Don’t call me. Yeah. Yeah. So, um, cause I thought, well, you know, if they find out about this somehow and I haven’t told them, you know, I’m going to be in trouble. You know, I was like 22, 23 or something, but I was just like, just don’t call me. And of course they tried to call me and I didn’t answer. And, um, yeah. Yeah. So then I got to the airport.

Jason Elkins (34:40.307)
Yeah.

Jason Elkins (34:49.309)
I would have too, if it was my daughter.

Rhiannon (34:57.198)
And like the six, seven other ladies were there just all huddled together. And the two of us like walked in and it was just honestly, it was like a murder scene. Like one of the girls just broke down. Like she screamed, she fell to the ground. It was just like a whole lot of overwhelm. And your body just like takes over.

So we met up with the girls and we just waited. We just waited there. And thankfully, one of the older ladies that got off first, she had actually called the Australian Consulate Embassy, thankfully. And she had told them. And so we knew that things were getting underway.

And I remember this lady coming up to us, this Chinese lady. And she was like, what’s going on over here? Like she was Chinese, but she could speak English very clearly. And we’re like, oh, you know, we’ve just been hijacked by a violent. She’s like, oh, don’t worry about it. And we were like, what? Does this happen all the time? And she was just like, it’s fine. It’s fine. Like, so she was really trying to disarm what was going on.

And I don’t know whether it was because there was so much emotion and people were screaming and crying and didn’t want to scare everyone or what was going on. But she was really trying to do some situation, which was disappointing because we were like, hang on a second. Yeah, crazy. And so then we just waited there for I don’t even know how long. And I remember looking up at the at the board with all the flights, you know, departing.

and our flight had gone. And we were like, wow, now what? We don’t have anyone. Like we didn’t have our guide. We didn’t know what the hell we were doing. We’ve missed our flight. What do we do now? Anyway, so we waited around the front for about 10 minutes just in the check-in area. And then someone from the consulate had actually turned up and they were like, okay, we need to…

Rhiannon (37:21.763)
take you away. We’re like, okay. So they took us to some lounge in the airport, tucked away down the back blocks. And we just sat in there in like pure disbelief of, you know, what was going on. You know, obviously our guide and two other, three other girls were still on the bus. And yeah, I think that was the worst part. We just had no idea what was going on.

And it felt like an eternity to wait for anyone to turn up. And then one of the other girls turned up at some point. She walked in and she was, you know, she was obviously in shock. And then there was two more women left. Or was it one, two or one? And we were just waiting and waiting.

And next minute our guide came around the corner into the room and he had blood on him. And he was Chinese Australian, but he was like as wide as a ghost. And we were just like, wow, what’s happened? And we didn’t even, I don’t think we even went into the whole what’s happened? You know, are you okay? Obviously we’re like, are you okay? But there was nothing in us to go, what happened?

Where is such and such and you know. So he came in and was just, he was in a lot of shock and we were like, okay, where’s the other lady? And he’s like, she’s okay. And we were just sitting there for ages again. And she came around the corner and we were just like, my gosh, she was covered in blood. And we were like, wow.

Jason Elkins (38:50.067)
your brain.

Yeah.

Rhiannon (39:20.587)
or like you’re alive, but what the hell happened? And so then we kind of had like a little debrief, but it was very, it was extremely somber. There was just nothing left in the tank for any of us. And she, so it had turned out that from what we were told, the bomber was actually a taxi driver, I think, or he owned a taxi company.

And in Shanghai, there was actually a convention going on with the government about licenses and all that sort of stuff. So talk about being at the wrong place at the wrong time. We were his vehicle, basically, because in Xi’an, there is, I think, two or three security gates you get through before you actually get to the airport. And obviously being, you know, on a bus full of women, it was

easier for him to do that than to get to an airport where we had to go through security, which he knew he wouldn’t have gotten through. And we were his lifeline, basically.

so, and then we also found out after that, that where the bus was pulled up was directly in front of a police station.

Yeah, we had no idea at the time. No idea. No one looked. We didn’t like it was just not a thing. So and then so the next mission was, well, we want to go home. Like, Shanghai is not on the list. Let me out of here. Like we would just we all were just like, let’s go. And

Jason Elkins (41:05.077)
We’re done.

Peace out.

Rhiannon (41:17.615)
So our guide was like, well, we can’t do that. You now need to debrief with the consulate and embassy and that’s got to be done in Shanghai. And we’re like, oh my God, like, can you, are you for real? So someone had organized us to get on the next plane out. Obviously going to Shanghai, there’s a lot of flights there. so got on the plane.

and collected our luggage and we walked outside to our bus. And then I remember like walking out of getting our bags and obviously, you know, clearing customs and all that sort of stuff and walking to go outside. And I saw all of these, this media and I was like, like someone, someone famous is here, you know? And they were like, and then I heard my name and I was like,

What? What’s going on? And like the penny didn’t drop at all. Like I was, I was obviously still in shock and they were like, Rhiannon, Rhiannon. And I’m like, no, that’s not me. And so I just, you know, I didn’t even look at them. like got my bag put underneath, got on and we didn’t think anything of it. Like I think I said to the

our guide, was like, what, how do they know my name? And he kind of fogged it off. And so we got to our hotel in Shanghai. And again, we turned up to the hotel. How they knew this, I have no idea. There was media everywhere, everywhere. And so sitting on the bus, there was like a camera right there taking photos of me. I’m like, how do they know it’s my name? How do they know it’s me?

And so they were just like screaming at me. would like get off the bus and there’s like cameras in my face. And I said to our guy, I’m like, what’s going on? And he’s like, someone’s released your name. And I’m like, how? Like, how have they done that? And he said, you know, you know, through federal police and then the newspapers and everything, it’s they call it a wire apparently. So once

Rhiannon (43:42.116)
you know, it gets filtered through. Someone will go, I know that face. I know who she is. And it was, it was someone here locally who worked in the paper and he was the one that said, I know who that is. And yeah, so we got to our hotel and my phone, the hotel phone was ringing. My car, my family must know.

where I’m, you know, I didn’t give it, I, you know, never gave much information away when I was traveling, but I was like, oh, they must’ve worked out where I am. I hadn’t spoken to them. You know, they’re just checking in. They’re like, and I answered it and it’s like, oh, it’s the ABC. It’s, you know, Channel 10. And I’m like, oh my God. And, you know, I was racking my brain thinking how they got my hotel room for one, you know.

How do they know it’s me? All of that sort of stuff. And it just kept going well into the night. Like I had to take the phone off because I was just like, this is, this is ridiculous. And yeah.

Jason Elkins (44:48.617)
Wow, that’s pretty intense. I was not expecting this story. For anybody that’s wondering, we don’t have these conversations before we get on the call. Thank you. Thank you for sharing. That’s amazing.

Rhiannon (44:53.953)
Yeah.

Rhiannon (44:59.349)
No, and you know, I obviously want to reiterate that, yeah, like I, you know, want to ensure that, you know, this isn’t like a scary travel story. This is a, you know, a resilient story of, you know, just don’t let this kind of stuff.

Jason Elkins (45:12.127)
Yeah. You didn’t get out of the business. didn’t like, okay, no more travel. I’m done. Yeah. I get it.

Rhiannon (45:18.701)
Yeah, well, I could have done that. And that’s the thing. I, yeah, so that happened. And I’d spoken to my family and they were like, you know, there’s people that know. And I’m like, why are you telling people? And they’re like, we’re not saying a word, but media knows about it. I’m like, okay. Anyway, so we did the whole, you know, debrief and all of that sort of stuff while we’re in Shanghai and.

You know, our guide was like, let’s go shopping and take everyone’s mind off it. And we went into this market, this amazing market, the multi-level market. It was incredible, but no one wanted to be there. No one wanted to shop. You know, it was just, and being surrounded by people like, you know, Chinese are very in your face and all over you. And I was just like, get me out of here. Um, and so I can’t, I think we only stayed one night. can’t remember.

And then we got on the next flight out and yeah, I remember going to the airport in Shanghai and it was just like, you know, we were sculling vodkas. We were in the lounge and we were like sculling vodkas and there was like sleeping tablets going around and I was like, yep, I’ll have one of them. And it was just like, we just needed to wipe ourselves out and just get, get home because being, getting back on a long flight home, it was scary.

Jason Elkins (46:46.013)
I can imagine you even mentioned you mentioned leaving the airport Chang I ain’t going out you’ve seen all the press but then you got on a bus I’m just like if it were me I’d be I’m not sure what I get on another bus for a while how did how did all this impact your your next trip or your adventures since then is it does it still come up?

Rhiannon (46:47.299)
Yeah.

Rhiannon (46:55.339)
Yeah. Yeah, no. Yeah.

Rhiannon (47:04.143)
Oh yeah, did. Yeah. Yes, it does. And, you know, when I got home, we again, we were followed by media. We were not allowed to go out the front of the airport in Melbourne. I was chased halfway home by media. There was people on my doorstep at home. It was horrendous. But I remember, you know, I was, yeah.

obviously working for my boss then at the time. And I had had maybe four days off and she had, you know, called me and checked in and made sure I was okay. And she’s like, okay, when are you coming back? And I’m like, what? What are you talking about? Like I need some time. Yeah. I was like, I need some time. Like, why are you rushing me? And I was angry. Like I was like, give me some time. Like I’ve just gone through a massive ordeal and I was angry.

And she was like, and she said to me and she was like, if you don’t come back now, you will never come back. And I was like, like I knew, I knew then she was right, but I was just like, like how dare you.

Jason Elkins (48:14.645)
Do you think, I’m just curious from a psychology standpoint, you probably had a lot of built up emotion that you hadn’t really been able to release. So do you feel like you just released it kind of at her innocence? Like I’m pissed off at her, because you couldn’t really, I don’t know, what do you think? Turn this into a psychology podcast, but yeah.

Rhiannon (48:22.087)
yeah. Yeah.

No, yeah.

Rhiannon (48:35.918)
Yeah, yeah, definitely. Like it was a lot. Like it was only a few days at home. Like I couldn’t watch anything. Anything would set me off. So the thought of going back and facing people, you know, coming into the office was not my idea of a good time. So, but I, like I took it on board. was like, you know what? She’s right. I hate you for saying it, but she’s right. And so I did. And it was, it was horrendous. It was, it was horrible.

Jason Elkins (48:44.51)
Yeah.

Rhiannon (49:05.776)
but I, I pushed through and I remember that there’s been a few instances where it’s, you know, it’s been hard for travel, but you know, my next trip after that, I think it was Bali, which was, it was the, I think it was three years after the latest Bali bombing. so the security, you know, for good reason in Bali was crazy. Everything was being scanned.

You know, they were checking under the buses for bombs and all of that. So that just set me off. And, one thing I did, one thing I did notice is that I would automatically get at the front of the bus. I didn’t even think about it. I just literally walked on and sat at the very front. Literally. Yeah, literally. And it was always right next to the door.

Jason Elkins (49:56.224)
Right next to the driver. Right next to the door. Yeah. Yeah, I don’t blame you.

Rhiannon (50:03.277)
And people were like after that trip or towards that trip, people were like, come sit here. I’m like, no, I’m good. And they’re like, why are you sitting up the front? And I’m like, I’m not. And then I’d like look around going, I actually am. And my brain just was like, this is your safe spot here. And so every single trip, I would always sit at the front. There was an instance in Bali where I was getting a taxi.

from after dinner or something and the door automatically locked and I freaked out. Absolutely, like I freaked out. I’m like, get me out of here. And he’s like, I can’t stop. And I’m like, get me out of here or I’ll kick the door open. And so I got out and I was just beside myself. couldn’t, you know, I couldn’t do it. Yeah.

Jason Elkins (50:40.319)
Mmm.

Jason Elkins (50:56.425)
I’ve been in some of those cars, know, they just, the doors kind of automatically lock and I don’t like it, but I don’t have any, I don’t have any stories like you do to, so if I don’t like it, I can imagine what that, I’m not even sure I can imagine. I say I can imagine, but I’m not really, not really sure.

Rhiannon (50:59.799)
Or would that be like, yeah, yeah. No. Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So there’s been, yeah, there’s been a lot of, yeah, I mean, constantly, you know, my latest trip to India, was a, you know, India is funny, like, it’s a funny country. And we were driving along and again, I was at the front of the bus and this guy, I don’t think he was even wearing shoes on the highway. And he was like, stop, stop, stop. And my body just went, all right, we’re in trouble here.

I was frozen. And I said to the driver, I’m like, what’s going on? And he was like, looking at my face going, calm down, like, it’s all right. I’m like, what’s going on? And he’s like, it’s all right. Yeah. And the guy was like, stop, stop, stop. And so we all stopped. And then I looked out the window and there was this lady with like two or three kids. That’s what they do. They walk along the highway and I’m like, oh my God, she’s still walking. Why aren’t we going? And next minute, bang.

Jason Elkins (51:49.205)
You’re like, no, go, go, go, don’t stop. Yeah, yeah.

Rhiannon (52:10.304)
And it was that they’d let a grenade off into the rocks because they were doing road works. And that instant bang, just like, I was just like, like any loud noises, like sudden, I’m just a mess. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Jason Elkins (52:16.885)
Jeez.

Jason Elkins (52:26.709)
especially when you’re on a bus. Yeah, I can imagine that. I don’t know if you expected to share this story, but let’s talk a little bit because I also know that you’re working on a project that’s going to be coming out soon. I don’t know what’s in that project, but do you share stories like this? What do you want to tell us about your big project?

Rhiannon (52:41.56)
Yes. Yeah.

Rhiannon (52:47.352)
Yeah, so I have written a book. I was, the book came about by accident, to be honest, because I was going through a pretty tough divorce and I was seeing a counselor at the time and she had, she knew from what had happened and she had said to me, know what, Re, let’s just, I know you don’t think about this often, but let’s just do what counselors need to do. And they were, let’s just do some dot points about, you know,

the hijacking and then we’ll burn it and then just so subconsciously, know, you’ve done something about it and we’ll get rid of it anyway, I’ve done my homework went home and Sat up in bed and did some notes and I was like, yep burn this and But I was up until like 4 a.m I’d end up writing a book and I I Messaged my counselor. I’m like, I was I meant to write a book about this and she’s like what?

And I was like, I think I’ve written a book and she’s like, oh my God. She’s like, this is brilliant. And she goes, send it to me. And so I sent it like raw. was very, very raw. Obviously I’ve never written anything. And she was just like in tears. She’s just like, this is incredible. And she’s like, I think you need to publish it. And I’m like, no. And she was really backing me. Like she was amazing. And she’s like, I think you need to publish it. So anyway, somehow a publisher.

had reached out to me, I don’t even know how that happened. And they were like, we want to publish it. But I ended up not going that way because they just take so much money from you. it was, you know, at that time, it was going to cost a lot of money. This is about eight years ago. And I also listened to too many people where they were like, oh, this is, know, this could destroy your business or blah, blah, blah. And I was like, oh, really?

I don’t see it that way. And yeah. And I was like, and then, I started second guessing myself. I’m like, maybe they’re right. Maybe, maybe this would destroy my business. And so I stopped and I was like, I was kicking myself cause I was like, this would have been good. And then I let it go. And then 12 months ago, not even 12 months ago, something had reared up and I was at a conference and.

Rhiannon (55:13.678)
someone had mentioned, you know, writing books and all of that sort of stuff. And I just knew instantly in my gut, I was just like, I need to get this book published. And I had said to my partner, I was just like, I need to do my book. And he’s like, really? And I’m like, yep. And I go, I know, need to. And so I’ve literally rewritten it. I’m doing it myself, I’m self-publishing.

I’ve just finished my last chapter rewriting it and so I’ll self-publish that and it’s just about, it’s, do know what, it’s not even really about the story, it’s about, you know, just what you can overcome in, you know, the hardest times and also just trusting your gut. Like I knew something was off that day, I knew it, I called it early and I, you know, ever since then I have, you know,

Every time something has happened, it’s been right. Every time.

Jason Elkins (56:14.601)
What do they call those like the spidey senses or whatever, where you kind of just like, but I think it’s good to follow that because worst case scenario is you say, okay, something’s not right. I’m going to back out of where I’m at. Worst case scenario is not bad. You know, it’s like, okay, maybe you missed out on something, but at least you can. Yeah.

Rhiannon (56:18.072)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Rhiannon (56:27.064)
Yeah, yeah!

Yeah. And so then, yeah. And so then I just, when I decided that I was going to do the book, my intuition was just like, all right, well, how about we go into, you know, doing some group departures? I’ve taken women to Nepal before. I used Lisa at Cooker Compass and like her company is just incredible. so

You know, I’m good friends with her and a lot of other incredible representatives. I have some beautiful contacts. But, you know, we had been talking and I mentioned, well, you know what, I’m doing my book. How about we build this as, you know, like a resilience, you know, it doesn’t even have to be like that, but a trip to Bhutan. So it’d be like an eight day trip to Bhutan, but also taking

a couple of specialists with me as well. That would be, you know, in the psychological field, the Reiki, the yoga, all of that sort of stuff. So I do have two specialists in that field that I have been working with alongside Lisa to try and get this off the ground to see what it looks like. So yeah, watch this space.

Jason Elkins (57:51.83)
What a great story and you know I’m reflecting on our year and I’s first conversation you and I had and I’m sure you remember I was saying okay wait don’t tell me too much I know you’ve got a story I knew you were writing a book but don’t tell me too much because I want it to be spontaneous I want to be hearing it the first time and you’ve had me sitting on the edge of my seat for the last hour so thank you thank you so much

Rhiannon (58:00.495)
Yeah.

Rhiannon (58:05.975)
Yeah.

Rhiannon (58:10.263)
Yes.

Rhiannon (58:14.403)
Yeah.

Rhiannon (58:18.327)
Yeah, that’s good!

Jason Elkins (58:21.659)
It’s, you know, I think there’s, think you need to come back. I think we need to have another conversation. but cause we talked about that story, we talked about the books, this transformational stuff and we’re going to, you’re going to have some of this stuff on your website, I’m sure. Cause we’re going to have a link to the website, right? In the show notes. What else? What do you want to make? What did I forget to ask you? What else do you want to make sure that we cover, before we wrap up either about you, your, your story, your book, your business life in general.

Rhiannon (58:36.525)
Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Rhiannon (58:50.531)
Yeah, think, not much really. think it’s just, you know, just getting the point across of, know, trusting your gut. Don’t let, you know, things that happen to you even, you know, while you’re traveling stuff happens. It happens all the time. And really it’s just 90 % of the time it’s being at the wrong place at the wrong time. And you know what? I believe that what happened to me and the other girls that day, it was.

meant to happen. was, you know, I’m glad it was me and not one of my clients. And so I believe that that was meant to happen. I believe I was meant to write a book and I believe I was meant to, you know, build something incredible with, you know, group departures and working with specialists that, you know, specialize in trauma, resilience, all of that sort of stuff in the wellness field.

and see what comes of it.

Jason Elkins (59:53.632)
think it sounds pretty damn cool to be frank with you. And I’m thinking, you know, you have people say that this might hurt your business. I’m not saying that you’re doing the booker to help your business, but I’m I’m imagining myself, you know, if I’m a woman, I have to really stretch my imagination. But if I imagine that.

Rhiannon (59:55.949)
Yeah.

Rhiannon (01:00:07.137)
No! Yeah. Yeah.

Rhiannon (01:00:14.222)
Yeah.

Jason Elkins (01:00:16.615)
And I think going on a trip with you actually sounds pretty great. And I’d probably feel a little bit safer because you’ve got those, that really good spidey sense.

Rhiannon (01:00:23.991)
Yeah, that’s the way I, and honestly, that’s the way I think of it as well. you know, like I said, I’ve built, you know, my intuition has gotten so strong, since that day, I believe. And, you know, I love traveling. love it. And it’s, I’m just glad, you know, one thing I’m glad for is I’m glad my boss pushed me as much as she did. because I don’t even know, I don’t even know if I would have gone back into the industry, but probably my stubbornness may have.

Jason Elkins (01:00:27.732)
Yeah.

Rhiannon (01:00:53.807)
But you know, I know 90%, if not 100 % of the other women are not in the industry anymore.

Jason Elkins (01:01:01.557)
Yeah, I was wondering about that. I was going to ask that. And I can understand that. So, wow. What a story. And I’m excited to read the book when it comes out. And please make sure I’m on the list or I’m going to look for it wherever I need to find it because it sounds fascinating. And…

Rhiannon (01:01:04.877)
Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Rhiannon (01:01:17.827)
Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. And you know what, honestly, if I, you know, if 10 people read it and they get something out of it, I’ve I’ve done my job like that. I’m happy. Honestly, it’s not about selling books or, you know, building up my business. It’s really, you know, it was for me to write the book and get it done. That was, you know, for me to do. But the other part is for me to, you know, be able to help people.

Jason Elkins (01:01:43.157)
Yeah.

Rhiannon (01:01:47.727)
that have been in that similar situation or need help with, you know, the trauma or resilience or what to do next. you know, travel opens up so many opportunities and just opens your eyes to more.

Jason Elkins (01:02:04.757)
Yes, it does. Well said. That’s a good note to wrap it up on. Again, to the listeners, we’re going to have your website and everything right in the show notes. So click on that, go through and thank you so much, Ray. This was a really fascinating conversation and I’m also excited for our listeners to hear it as well for the same reason. Yeah, because it’s a great story of resilience and thank you so much for.

Rhiannon (01:02:20.751)
Thank you for having me.

Rhiannon (01:02:28.481)
I hope they like it. Yeah.

Jason Elkins (01:02:34.333)
sharing it. Look forward to chatting with you again soon. Thanks, Reed. All right, bye-bye.

Rhiannon (01:02:35.299)
Thank you, you’re welcome. Yeah, beautiful. Thank you. Bye.

 

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