Next Chapter, Anywhere - Field Notes on Culture, Travel, and Starting Again

So… what do we do all day? This week, we’re pulling back the curtain on the invisible labor of entrepreneurship and reinvention. From marketing, websites, content, networking, events, travel planning, and endless tiny decisions, building something from scratch is a lot more than people see from the outside. We talk about leaving behind old identities, navigating self-doubt, dealing with unsolicite...

Hosts Cynthia (a former diplomat building a new chapter through travel and wellness) and Nina (a curator focused on place, people, and shared moments) record from Portland, Maine and discuss “the waiting room” as the in-between space of life transitions. Nina shares how multiple friends divorcing and her own career upheaval have highlighted how the brain resists change to stay safe, and how fear a...

We just got back from Italy and we have thoughts. In this episode, Antonina and Cynthia reflect on leading their first group trips to Sicily and Tuscany and get honest about the gap between what travel looks like on Instagram and what it actually feels like on the ground. Spoiler: you cannot do pilates in a vineyard. You should not try. But beyond the highlights and the laughs, this episode is rea...

What does travel really teach you that you can’t learn the same way at home? In this episode, we move beyond surface-level takeaways and talk about how travel shifts your perspective in a deeper way. Nina shares a powerful experience traveling through Israel and the West Bank, and what it revealed about identity, place, and the common threads that connect people across cultures. Cynthia reflects o...

What happens when the thing that defined you no longer fits? Cynthia reflects on leaving a decades-long career in government and diplomacy, and the identity that came with it. Nina shares what it feels like to build something new while still holding onto a more traditional path. This is a conversation about transition, uncertainty, and learning to answer the question “what do you do?” in a new way...

A former diplomat and longtime educator explore what it looks like to reinvent your life and follow new paths, through the lens of culture, travel, and the ways we experience and come back to ourselves along the way. Together, they reflect on how stepping outside familiar roles can reshape how we see the world and ourselves. Follow us on Instagram: @sojournandsoiree and @embodybyantonina

Hosts Cynthia (former diplomat) and Nina (curator and founder of Embodied by Antonina) discuss travel experiences that truly changed them. Cynthia shares how a semester abroad in Cairo became four to five years, sparked her love of Arabic and the city’s energy, led to formative travel in the Middle East including visiting the West Bank during Palestinian elections, and ultimately inspired her to j...

A former diplomat and longtime educator explore what it looks like to reinvent your life and follow new paths, through the lens of culture, travel, and the ways we experience and come back to ourselves along the way. Together, they reflect on how stepping outside familiar roles can reshape how we see the world and ourselves. Follow us on Instagram: @sojournandsoiree and @embodybyantonina