Burnout to Breakthrough: The Journey of a Solo Traveler

Grace Simmons: 00:00:00

Hello, travelers. My name is Grace Simmons and this is the Random and Wonderful podcast.

Settle in and listen to stories of wanderlust and transformation as you gain tips to inspire your next travel experience. The Random and Wonderful is brought to you by the Amethyst Palaver Hut, LLC.

Grace Simmons: 00:00:25

Amanda, welcome to the Random and Wonderful. Thank you so much for being my guest today. How's it going? Good.

Amanda Malm: 00:00:31

Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to be here.

Grace Simmons: 00:00:34

You are so welcome. Thanks for accepting my. My random call out.

So I was telling Amanda earlier that I had heard from Edwin, who was my first introduction to this Camino or like this pilgrimage as a traveler. And I was always curious about, well, how do you even find it? What does that even mean? So we'll get into all that, but I'm.

I'm excited that I'm meeting other people who have had either the same or similar journey. So each person's experience has been something different and unique and I'm excited to just to learn a little bit more about it.

So before we get into that fun story, Amanda, please tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do and how it relates to travel.

Amanda Malm: 00:01:20

Sure. So my name's Amanda. I live in Oklahoma.

wards the end of my career in: 2018

Well then, you know, fast forward a couple years. We had Covid world just kind of imploded and I found myself very burnt out. So I actually left engineering completely.

Left, stepped away completely from my career. Took a year off to focus on myself, a full sabb to heal from burnout. And now I coach others through burnout.

Either people who are able to take some time off and focus on themselves or they have to do it while still working. So, yeah, that's just a little bit about my journey.

Grace Simmons: 00:02:14

Nice.

Amanda Malm: 00:02:15

So that was. Oh, go ahead. I was gonna say I'm not really in the travel world. I just, I am very passionate about travel.

So I've always done like lots of weekend trips, lots of exploration. I've done some bigger trips, but I just believe that there's so much in this world to go do and. And it just brings so much joy to me.

I get like a kid when it comes to planning a trip, even if it's a weekend like yesterday we went to see Big Boy, the steam powered locomotive. And it was a half day trip and I was so gosh darn excited to see a train just because I could.

Grace Simmons: 00:02:50

I love that though. That was kind of a fun surprise for me anyway, where, yes, I'm interested to hear about your, your trip on the Camino.

But then I also got really giddy because I was like, oh my goodness, she's also a coach. Now I go to get into how like that works with development and all that good stuff. So, yeah, we'll talk about that.

Okay, about that a little bit more later. How did you even.

So going back to talking about burnout, what was that step of you realizing one, that you were burned out and then there was something that could be done about it?

Amanda Malm: 00:03:24

Yes, that's. That's a good question. That's a big question. So I worked in the defense industry, which is really tough.

And it's, it's a lot of high pressure, a lot of stress. And even through Covid, I was still going into the office every day. And I was also traveling for work all the time, 10 plus hour days.

And I am very much an empathic person and so stress and empath don't really mix. And then I also dealt Covid stuff. I dealt in the middle of the COVID stuff with a. I became a program program manager.

My boss died unexpectedly and I took over his role. And then my new boss made a sexually inappropriate comment and I had to deal with that and retribution.

And it was a very long and involved and very, very stressful situation.

And I actually still trudged it out for like another year and a half beyond that until I finally hit this one week where it was just a bad week at work. You know, we've all had those. And I kind of looked around and was like, eff it, I'm done. I've hit my moment. And so I walked away after that.

And honestly, that year break was really, really good for me. I was able to move in with my boyfriend so we had. We could stop doing the long distance.

I was able to play around with different types of exercise and figure out I love water aerobics. I never would have guessed that. I now do it like five times a week. And then I was able to read and just really focus in on me and.

And I watched things like my sleep improve. I stopped sn boring. My resting heart rate went down several beats per minute. You know, like all those good health indicators.

And it also made me realize how stressed out and burnt out. I had been, you know, I wasn't waking up in the middle of the night anymore in that cold sweat going, oh, God, I forgot to email this person.

You know, those things were gone and I was able to truly just relax. It was awesome. I very much needed it.

Grace Simmons: 00:05:24

I am like that.

Just you talking through the release of all these different things and some of those indicators, I think, unfortunately, when you're operating day to day within that mindset of, I must do this, I have to do that, you don't take the time to actually check in with yourself until either you've removed yourself from that situation or it gets really severe. Right. And you have to have a hard stop and consider what some of those signs were that you maybe missed.

So I'm grateful that you have had that chance to be able to take a step away. And unfortunately, they had to deal with all the things that came up to.

Amanda Malm: 00:06:02

Yeah, yeah, that step away was really good.

And I'm very grateful that I had that privilege and that ability to step away for a year to just focus on me and that I had a support system around me. And, you know, I have a bunch of fur children who just loved on me and loved having me around.

And my boyfriend was very, very supportive of, hey, what do you need?

You know, like, our communication skills truly improved and became really wonderful during that time frame because it was a lot of checking in of, hey, where are you today? What's going on? Like, you know, just, what do you need from me? What can I provide to you? And realizing, you know what?

This is that time in the relationship where I'm taking more than I'm giving, and he's okay with that. And so it was truly a beautiful year. It was. It was good. There were some hard moments, but I came out well on the other side.

Grace Simmons: 00:06:51

Wow. Well, let's get into your journey with the Camino. How did you find it? How did you even start? Like, where do we even begin with this?

How did you find the Camino?

Amanda Malm: 00:07:03

I am a terrible movie watcher.

And the reason I say that is I'll be watching a movie and there's like, a reference to, like, a random place or they're filming in some place that I'm like, oh, my God, that's amazing. And Pretty soon the TVs turned off and I am just, like, heads down, like, looking at photos and researching the location.

And I saw a reference to this Camino called the Way of St. Benedict in a movie. And I couldn't even tell you what movie it was. I don't think I ever even finished it because I next.

I then spent three hours researching the Camino and just became enthralled with this idea of walking through Italy like that. And, you know, I'd seen the way where it's all about the Camino de Santiago, and. And I was like, man, that sounds amazing, but it's like 500 miles.

That's a long ways. And so I kind of, you know, I researched the way of Saint Benedict in Italy and went, wow, that's beautiful. And then I kind of backburnered it.

A few months later, I'm out at a happy hour with some friends, and one of them turned to me. He was like, you're turning 40 this year. What are you doing to celebrate?

And before I even realized consciously what I was saying, I heard the words coming out of my mouth, going. Going to hike this Camino. And he was like, okay. And he gave me a look, and then he's like, you know what?

If there's anyone who will do something random like that, it is you. And the guy I was dating at the time was supposed to go with me, and then he backed out. We ended up breaking up. And I was like, you know what?

I'm going on my own. Screw it. And for the people who can't see me, I'm a very curvy girl. The biggest hike I'd ever done was, like, three miles.

And, you know, and it was fairly flat, so I truly wasn't really sure what I was walking into. And the people at REI were phenomenal because I went to the classes that they offered where they were like, hey, pack this.

Don't worry about packing this. I spent a lot of time working with the people in rei.

Like, you know, I think I spent a whole day on, like, getting my pack, you know, and, like, the right size and having it fitted. And they walked me through how every single strap works. What's the proper way to pack it? Like, I can't sing the praises of REI enough.

They did amazing with helping me. And, you know, then I spent probably about six months, like, figuring out, like, okay, how does this work? What does it look like?

You know, where do I stay each night? How do I get there? Like, the logistics portion?

And then wearing this new pack that I had and walking around Texas, you know, on the weekends for, like, six to 10 miles at a time, and getting a feel for. How does this feel on my back? Like, how does this feel in my body? And am I really doing this right?

You know, because there is a healthy amount of, what am I doing? You know, because it's one thing to do a hike like this, but then to do it as a curvy female alone in a foreign country, like, there's just.

off the whole month of May of: 2018

And it's a tiny little speck of a town called Norcia. Fortunately, by then, somebody had developed a guidebook in English. And I came to learn that they left a lot of details out.

Like, yeah, so it was really great for describing the trail and describing, like, hey, here's the places to stay each night, because you're in all these tiny, tiny little towns.

So you start in a mountain town and then you hike down the mountain, across a valley, up another mountain to another town, and there's really nothing in between.

And so you've got to make each town, if you're lucky, there might be like an agriturismo somewhere along the way that you could stop at if you needed to, but there really weren't a lot of those. And this, this particular Camino is not super well known outside of Italy, which means there's not a lot of, like, hotels.

It's not built up the way the Camino in Spain is built up. So you got to make your towns each day. And it also means logistic wise, you gotta, like, plan quite a bit in advance.

It also means there's not a lot of people on the trail, which is good and bad, because you really get that chance to, like, turn inward and dive into yourself and, you know, have time with your thoughts, which we don't always get in our busy lives. But it also means you're on your own on the trail if anything happens. So it was good and bad in both experiences.

Grace Simmons: 00:11:30

Yeah. How did you encourage yourself? How long did you take first off on this trip?

Amanda Malm: 00:11:36

Yeah. So the trail itself is about 170 miles, and it's broken up into a whole bunch of stages, broken up into 16 stages.

So it starts in Norcia, where he is, where St. Benedict was born, and then it ends in Monte Cassino where he is. I think that's where he's buried. And it's this trail that he walked several times in his life.

And so the stops along the trail, you know, some of them have to do with the villages just because it's the only village in the area. Others are important stops to the way in the life of St. Benedict himself. Like one of the big stops that I'd recommend everyone just.

Even if you don't do the hike that you go see is this area called secrid speco. Sorry, sacred speco, Just outside of the town called subiaco. And it's where he meditated in a cave for three years.

And so it's this beautiful monastery that's been built up on the side of this mountain. It's. I can't describe it. My words will not do it justice.

But you can walk up this mountain and you can walk in, and then you walk down into the bowels of the mountain and around all these curves, they have different rooms with altars and paintings, and it's just. It's very, very gorgeous. So, yeah, best stop of the trail. I'm not gonna lie. That that stop was. It still gives me chills when I think about it. I just.

I love that stop. So I will admit, like, this hike was much harder on my body than I thought it would be. So I only made it to subiaco. It was about.

About 2/3 of the way through the hike, About a hundred ish miles. And then after that, I ended my hike early because I ended up, like, having three toenails come off because the shoes that I had.

Texas is pretty flat, and I'd done all my hiking and preparation on flat turf. I should have thrown in a stairmaster, which is my bad. That is. That is a lesson learned on me.

But there was a lot of, as I said, up and down on the trails. And one of the first days on the trail, it was just downpouring. And so you're walking through this rain, and it's.

There's nowhere you can go hide or nowhere you can, like, seek shelter for a little bit. So it's like, well, I'm just going to keep walking. And ended up on part of the trail.

And it was a legitimate portion of the trail, but it was downhill rocky. And so here I am with my poles, and I ended up in the l between your forefinger and your thumb, that area of your hand.

I had bruises and then blisters on top of the bruises. And then my toes were hitting the front of my shoes. And so that section really just kind of destroyed me physically.

And so, which is why I ended after subiaco because one of the other people on the trail was actually a trauma nurse from germany who looked at my feet, and she was like, you're done. She's like, here's what you need to do to heal them. But you can't keep hiking.

And I was very grateful that I ran into her mentally to keep myself going because I was out on the trail quite a bit by myself. I would actually talk aloud to God.

Grace Simmons: 00:14:39

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Grace Simmons: 00:15:03

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Amanda Malm: 00:15:12

And one of the things that I had mentioned to you before this and put in the, the questions that you asked me beforehand was there was one day I was like, man, what am I doing here? Like, why did I think this was a great idea? And I was like filled with all those doubts like, what the heck have I done? You know?

And I'm like on the verge of like full on panic attack. And I just start talking out loud to God like, hey, I need some help, please help me. And all of a sudden a dog appeared.

And that dog, he could tell every time like my energy was failing and he would just circle around me and kind of do like these little yippee barks and just kept walking with me. And then every few miles like another dog would appear and it was like there, there was a handoff between these dogs and.

And they literally walked me all the way to the edge of town. And it was one of these where, you know, I get to the edge of the town and then you look and the mountain is like up. It's like straight up.

And I'm like, oh man. Okay, I got this. And where the dog walked away from me, I looked up and here's a car mechanic shop and the owner's looking at me and he was like ma'.

Am. And he said something to me in Italian and I was like.

And I must have looked roughly because next thing I know one of his employees comes out who can speak English, translates. And the owner was like, my people will take you up the mountain. And I was like, oh thank God.

And that was actually the last day that I hiked on the trail itself because the next day was supposed to be my 20ish mile hike to Subiaco and where I'd spent the night. They were like, hey, you know you can take a bus halfway. And it's like, oh great, perfect. And I Go to get on the bus.

And the bus driver's like, you can only buy a ticket for the full distance. And I was like, it's a sign. It's a sign. Yeah. Yeah. All right.

And, I mean, I still ended up walking, like, eight or nine miles that day by the time I went up to see Sacred Speco and then back down. And, you know, there's a lot of stuff there I wanted to go see.

So it wasn't like I just was sitting around in a park, which would have been glorious, but, you know, I was still walking quite a bit. I just wasn't actually on the trail itself. And another thing about the. The Camino is because there's so few people.

You're seeing maybe 10 people total each day.

And I'll never forget, and this is something I talk quite a bit about with my friends and family that first day that, like, I came into Rome after being on this trail for a couple weeks. Get to Rome, and it's like, oh, my God, there's smells and people and sounds everywhere. It was almost like a sensory overload, because you.

You've been able to just completely commune with nature. You're deep in your own thoughts. You know, you don't have a lot of, like, just humanity around you.

And all the people that I had been exposed to on the Camino were so lovely and so friendly and so helpful and really just restored my sense of, you know, just how wonderful people can be. The kindness of strangers. It's probably a better phrase. So then when I got to Rome, I was like, oh, my gosh.

Feeling a little overwhelmed now by being back in society. Yeah. Yeah.

And when I talk about the kindness of strangers, like, there were so many moments, like that gentleman who had one of his employees take me straight up the mountain, because it was about a mile straight up. There was another day, like, I'd been hiking, and it rained a lot. Apparently May is the rainy season, and did not know that in advance.

Grace Simmons: 00:18:37

Good note. Good note, right?

Amanda Malm: 00:18:38

Yeah. And, I mean, I had all of my rain gear, but, like, I had left this one town called Riti, and I was hiking, and, you know, you're along a river, and.

And it's just. It's really beautiful, and it's flat and it's farmland, and I've gone about eight miles, and it never stopped raining.

It's like that gentle downpour, you know, where it just. It just never breaks. And then I find myself, and it's the only stretch of the trail that was on a highway.

And I'm on the highway, and all of a sudden this car comes, this voice booms out going, you must be one of my pilgrims. And he's like, I don't have room for you in my car, but I'll be back in 20 minutes. Yeah.

And so each of these towns were really small, so there was only one or two places to stay in each town. And they all knew who was on the trail each day. And so all these people, they. They talked to each other between the towns.

They had what they called trail angels who monitored each section of the trail and who was on it each day, because you had to register that you were going to be on the trail. So they really kept track of who was there. They didn't want to lose a pilgrim that would kind of look bad for tourism.

And so this guy, he had looked out his window mid afternoon. He looked out his window mid afternoon and was like, oh, my gosh, it is. It's not stopped raining, my poor pilgrims.

And he just came and collected all of us, and he had coffee waiting, and he was like, it doesn't matter if you're staying at the other place. I'm just picking you all up. Yeah, it was so sweet. And then he.

As I said, he gave us all coffee and croissants, and then he gave us a little walking tour of his town because he was like, I want. I want you to see my town. And just that level of kindness, I experienced every single stage of the Camino.

It truly was wonderful just how open and caring and kind strangers were to each other.

Grace Simmons: 00:20:23

I've muted slightly because people have decided to cut grass right in front of my house, but I'm like, as you were talking, especially about the story of the little dogs coming to, you know, encourage you and take you into town, like, my eyes are filling with tears because I'm remembering some of those moments where, especially when you're traveling by yourself, and that's one of those things that you learn is while you are on your own, right? You have that peace and solitude. You're also on your own.

And so to be able to kind of have like, an answered prayer instantly of that encouragement and comfort and safety, I. Oh, my goodness. It's incredible, and it's so heartwarming, obviously, that you've had that experience and just was motivated to just keep going.

Amanda Malm: 00:21:10

Yeah, it really helped my faith to my. My belief in God and that.

You know, I'd grown up Catholic and went to church, read the Bible, but it's completely different to, you know, you start talking out loud and praying to God, and you get that immediate sign and realize that he's there and he's sending help. He is sending, you know, something to help you, something to encourage you. And it's like, I'd never really truly experienced that.

I'd heard others talk about it, but it is very different to experience it yourself, where you're just like, oh, oh, this is what that means. And it just. It deepened my faith so much. So I think back on that often.

Grace Simmons: 00:21:52

I'm glad you. You alluded to that, because I'm actually going to.

I was curious, what are some other things that you've learned about yourself through this experience?

Amanda Malm: 00:22:01

So one of the things that Camina taught me is I can just really do anything I set my mind to, and, you know, no matter how much, like, I prepare, things are never gonna go how you plan ever. You know, Like, I couldn't have anticipated that the toe box on my shoe was just a little bit wrong.

And, you know, I was gonna end up, like, losing three toenails and not be able to wear shoes for a couple months after I just wore sandals. Like, I couldn't have anticip. Anticipated that. I couldn't have anticipated just the. The feelings of being alone in the trail.

You've gone several miles, and you're like, what the heck have I done? You know, like, that part didn't even cross my mind because I'm a pretty independent person.

And then, you know, you get on the trail and, like, it's very humbling to have mother nature kind of kick your butt. And so hiking the Camino, I. I really learned, hey, you know what? There's a solution for everything.

It's probably not what I anticipated, but I'm also going to make it through no matter what and be the better for the experience.

So I can tell you, after that, like, I returned back to the States, returned back to my engineering career, and, you know, I really had a much greater appreciation for what I was doing. Unfortunately, like I will admit, I got burnt out after that, so I kind of had to relearn some of those lessons. But the trail itself taught me a lot.

A lot about myself. Of, you know what, When I need to just get back into nature, you know, and ask for help.

Grace Simmons: 00:23:36

Yeah. Do you have. And I know you're helping other people with their sabbaticals, but do you also take time off for your. For yourself?

Amanda Malm: 00:23:46

Yeah. So since I started sabbatical coaching, I do not do it full time. Okay. That is one of the hard limits.

I've set for myself of I'm probably never going to do like a 9 to 5 type of job again. And I do this for only a couple hours a day. The rest of the time I still focus on me. You know, like, working out is a priority.

Eating healthy is a priority. So, like, we've pulled all the processed foods out of our diets and I've become one of these bread making people. I never thought that would happen.

Grace Simmons: 00:24:12

But what's your favorite kind of bread to make?

Amanda Malm: 00:24:16

Honestly, just basic bread. It turns out I've got a lot of food allergens and so by doing things like making bread, I can keep all the food allergens out of our diets.

Yeah, it's been very interesting learning that. And that was another thing on the trail that I noticed, like, the food over there just truly was so much better.

And it never, oh my goodness, it never bothered me. Like, here I eat something that I'm like, man, that should be fine. And like an hour later I'm like, I don't feel so great.

And over there, like, I never once had problems, never had to reach for tums, never had to be like, oh man, don't know what hit, but I need some time.

Grace Simmons: 00:24:56

Yep.

Amanda Malm: 00:24:57

And also too, like in all those little towns, like, you get done hiking at the end of the day and you know, there's a handful of restaurants in each town if you're lucky. But it was some of the best food I've ever had in my life because all the food would come from within a few miles.

And I joke, like, there's this tiny little town called Trevi Van Nase.

I'm going to go back just for the pasta that I had there because she'd made it fresh that morning with olive oil from like, she pointed to the hill it came from. I mean, it was incredible.

Grace Simmons: 00:25:28

Yes. There's something about food. I've always thought.

I think one of the misunderstandings I had is like, oh, yeah, I feel great when I'm out of the country because, you know, maybe I'm walking around a little bit more or whatnot, are more active. But there's a complete difference between the way their food is local and it's cared for and what's in it.

And so you feel even better whether or not you're, you know, walking around or not.

Amanda Malm: 00:25:54

There's. I completely agree with that.

Grace Simmons: 00:26:00

Oh, my goodness. Now I'm thinking about food. Okay, what's one piece of advice that you would give someone who is curious about taking a sabbatical?

Amanda Malm: 00:26:14

Probably really dig into what do you want to get out of the sabbatical? You know, is it, do you want to go do something like hiking a Camino? Do you want to really take the time to focus on yourself?

You know, do you want to deep dive into something random?

You know, like you want to go learn the tango, or, you know, like you want to immerse yourself in some experience, like taking a class or learning a language, like, what are you hoping to get out of the sabbatical? Then you can plan around that. But if you just want to take a sabbatical, take a sabbatical.

It's like, I can appreciate that, but kind of, what's the goal here? You know, let's talk about the goal, the why, and then we can figure out the rest.

Grace Simmons: 00:26:56

On that same note, are there some mistakes that people make, maybe jumping headfirst into a sabbatical without having that intention or planning?

Amanda Malm: 00:27:06

Probably the biggest mistake is how to approach the conversation with the employer about taking that time off.

You know, because people get excited about a sabbatical and, you know, it could be that they're planning to take it off in six months and so they go talk to their employer. Now, most employers are thinking one to three month time frame. So six months from now, they're like, what, come back later?

Or they're like, oh, this is a phase, it's going to go, go, going to go away. Or, or conversely, there's also people who are like, hey, in like a week from now, I'm taking off like a couple months, and it's like, wait, what?

You know, there, there are ways to approach that conversation. And that's where I see most mistakes happen.

Grace Simmons: 00:27:50

You asked if I was compiling the stories that I kind of collect on this podcast into a book. So someone else has asked me about that and I'm. I'm not actively working towards a book, but I am very casually collecting stories.

I think there are so many different lessons that could be learned. And from my own personal experience, I use travel as like a way to build my confidence and strengthen my own personal and professional development.

And so the more I talk to people, I find it interesting how their experiences have also impacted them.

Maybe not in the same way that it has impacted me or I feel like made me better, but I think it's always interesting just to see the decisions that people have taken because of an experience that they've had.

And I think there's so many lessons that could be learned that I enjoy sharing and I enjoy having, like, conversations like this so even if I've met someone else who has experienced the same Camino that you did, I'm sure that your experience is completely different from theirs and there's still so much to learn within it. So, yeah, that's something that I'll, I'll always consider as far as writing a book.

But I don't know, like, this is my way of sharing these, these stories with other people.

Amanda Malm: 00:29:08

I like it. Yeah. And, and I love hearing about people's travels. I joke.

I am the biggest hype person when it comes to travel because I'm like, when someone's like, oh, I'm thinking about going somewhere, I'm like, tell me more. Why do you want to go there? Like, what are you gonna see? What are you gonna do? Where are you gonna eat? Like, tell me everything.

And it's like, I'm not trying to be super intense. I just, I love to talk about travel because it's, it's one of these, you know, adventures that we get to have in this world.

You know, we get the privilege of having. And there's so many places, I can't go to them all.

You can't go to the mall, but when other people go places, it's like, oh, I'll probably never go there. Or, oh, I've never even thought about that place. I'm like, tell me, tell me why you want to go there. How did it come to your attention?

You know, like, what is the draw for you? I just want to hear it all.

Grace Simmons: 00:29:55

Yeah, give me the details and send me pictures, please.

Amanda Malm: 00:29:59

Like, exactly, Exactly.

Grace Simmons: 00:30:02

Do you have a trip planned? Actually, speaking of, do you have anything coming up?

Amanda Malm: 00:30:08

So no big trips, but.

So my boyfriend and I's birthdays are a month apart and our anniversary is in the middle, so we are actually planning a four day weekend to Memphis to celebrate. So we don't do gifts. Instead, what we do every year is we plan a weekend away.

So last year we went to Dodge City, Kansas and explored, you know, kind of the beginnings of the Wild West.

Now we're going to Memphis to see Graceland, and we've just, we've got a bunch of stuff like that planned, and we're talking about getting an RV and really exploring more of the United States because there's so much here.

Grace Simmons: 00:30:42

Oh yeah, absolutely. That sounds so fun though. I like that.

While I do encourage international travel, there are so many little hidden pockets around the United States that people can enjoy. Especially for those who are uncomfortable with traveling or, you know, a long flight or something like that.

You could rent an rv, get a car, go explore some of your local areas and just see what's here because there's so much.

Amanda Malm: 00:31:10

Completely agree with that.

Grace Simmons: 00:31:12

Wow.

Okay, before I go, my personal favorite question, I always love to ask, what is a self care practice that maybe you incorporate into your travel or that you use for yourself?

Amanda Malm: 00:31:28

I do a lot of breath work, so I studied yoga for a long, long time. Or I should say I practiced yoga for a long, long time. And the breath work portions were always really good.

So like I found that they helped me focus and really come back to myself.

Because when you travel overseas especially and you know, you, you don't speak the language and you might get a little lost trying to read the maps, you know, there's always going to be that moment of what have I done? And I've always found if I can take a second and chill out and just focus on my breath, it all calms out and works out. So breath work. Okay.

Grace Simmons: 00:32:05

So are you still taking clients for your sabbatical coaching? What kind of clients are you looking for and how do people connect with you?

Amanda Malm: 00:32:13

Yeah, so I am still very much taking clients. People can connect with me through LinkedIn or Instagram, either one. And I think you'll probably hopefully link them in the show notes.

And I work with people mostly one on one because everyone's sabbatical is different. Everyone's need for sabbatical is different and I don't know how that could be done in a container format. So I prefer one on one. Excellent.

Grace Simmons: 00:32:38

Amanda, thank you so much for being my guest today. I really appreciate it and thank you for sharing your travel experience on the Camino.

Amanda Malm: 00:32:47

Yeah, thank you so much for having me. This has been fun.

Grace Simmons: 00:32:50

Hey there, Grace.

Grace Simmons: 00:32:51

Here.

Grace Simmons: 00:32:51

I hope you enjoyed today's episode and gained some useful takeaways. Thank you so much for listening and staying until the end. Don't forget to rate the show or share it with some friends. Have a wonderful week.

Take care and remember, be bold, be curious. Be ready to tell your story. You never know who needs it.

Grace Simmons: 00:33:09

Bye.

Grace Simmons: 00:33:10

Bye.