Today we’d like to introduce you to Ciara Turner-Ewert.
Hi Ciara, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Ever since I could remember, I’ve been a creative soul who’s been obsessed with travel. When people ask where my passion for travel began, I like to say it began when I was eight years old. During third grade, I remember my teacher asking her students to create a self-portrait embodying the ubiquitous question you ask every child —what do you want to be when you grow? To this day, I still remember drawing a picture of my future family in front of the Eiffel Tower. While I didn’t have the words to describe what I wanted to be at that age, I knew the intersection of travel and creativity is where I wanted to be.
Fast forward to my adult years and this love of travel took on a different meaning after being concussed from playing collegiate sports. Travel then became a vehicle to understand how to heal this newfound brain injury, attract the life I wanted by relearning and unlearning certain habits, and learning how to advocate for my health (i.e., mental, physical, etc.) Through this healing journey, I founded a wellness travel blog called Wellness Travel Diaries (https://wellnesstraveldiaries.com), where I share outdoor adventure travel guides, mindful travel hacks, and yummy gluten-free eats.
My expertise has paved the way for me to write for many publications including Essence, USA Today, Fodor’s, Health Digest, Travel Noire, and much more. When I’m not writing and creating content, you’ll find me supporting other aspiring travelers’ writing and travel goals, as I’m a certified transformative travel coach.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Show of hands; have you ever heard the saying “if you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans”? Listen, if you’re raising your hand, you’re not alone. Trust me, I get it and I’ve been there. I’ve found that the smooth road is often an illusion to what we think success looks like. When we compare ourselves or our journey to others, it’s easy to think their path looks easier than ours. But in actuality, we just have different paths. We all go through struggles, pain, and setbacks — but I’ve found it’s what you do with those setbacks that can define or transform your journey. When I tell people that I’m a travel blogger and writer, it’s often romanticized. People tell me how dreamy my job is, how they would love to do what I do and travel all the time. But with any journey, there will be struggles. So while I love my job and its dreaminess, it wasn’t a smooth road to get to where I’m at.
We don’t talk about how while, yes, you get to travel, there may also be days when you’re in a beautiful location but stuck at the computer all day. Or you may have tight deadlines working with an editor, or that you have to constantly put yourself out there even when it’s scary or when you feel like no one is seeing your work. It’s in those moments of “unsexiness” that your work is actually being defined, but that’s also where the struggle lies.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a wellness travel blogger and writer who’s visited over 34 countries and 20 national and state parks. I love traveling the globe, exploring new outdoor destinations, and immersing myself in different cultures. When it comes to my content, I specialize in three things: storytelling, joy, and nature and adventure. What I mean by this is that my work is all about uplifting, educating, and inspiring people in the community to develop deeper connections with themselves, others, and the land as they navigate traveling through new and familiar terrain. It’s meant to expand the perspectives of your mind, body and spirit, helping others bring more vibrancy and healing to their life’s journey. I believe this is what sets my work apart from others and it’s what inspired me to become a certified travel coach whose expertise helps others pursue a career in writing and travel. Building a business with freedom to travel wherever I please is a true passion of mine, but building a community to encourage others to do the same is what I’m most proud of. In 2023, I’ll be focusing on working with aspiring writers to help them develop a plan and strategy to build credibility, confidence, and momentum in the travel space.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
This is a tough question because the first thing that pops up as the key to success is confidence, but for me this couldn’t be further from the truth. I’m a big believer in “fake it till you make it”, however the underlying message in this motto is the true key to success — ambition, consistency, discipline, and trust. Ambition will give you the internal drive to keep pushing forward even when it doesn’t make sense and I’ve learned that the more specific you are, the better the outcome. On the other hand, consistency requires you to keep showing up, while discipline provides the external framework to make it happen. However, the most important quality that led to my success was trust, trust in God (or the universe) that my biggest dreams and goals are pursuing me just as much as I’m pursuing them. This continual reminder to trust my timing and the process lead to my biggest breakthroughs when it comes to healing, writing, and building a travel business.
Pricing:
- This month I am offering discounted strategy calls to help aspiring writers and travel creators step into 2023 with a clear vision on how to reach their goals. This is for you if you’re interested in:
Getting your content and stories seen in front of the right audience
Building a routine you feel energized by creating a strategy to help you build confidence
One on one personalized training to improve your writing skills. Then this is exactly what you need… before 2023 hits. To snag this awesome deal, send me an email with the code 25OFFVoyageLA to get the discount. In the meantime, happy writing!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://wellnesstraveldiaries.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/wellnesstraveldiaries
Image Credits
Ciara Turner-Ewert from Wellness Travel Diaries
