Lover of Adventure, Freedom, Connection and Travel
Hi, I’m Elle. I’ve experienced the transformative power of travel and my mission is to support others to find the freedom and change they seek.
I believe that travel is both an outward and inward journey that builds resilience and perspective.
I believe that with intention and reflection, travel has the potential to be transformational.
As a travel coach I support people through life-changing travel experiences.
my LIFE IN travel lessons…
It can take a lifetime to make sense of your journey
My wanderlust started with leading backyard adventures for my siblings in our suburban New Jersey backyard and with an affinity for National Geographic. By high school, I didn’t feel I fit in. Seeking a romanticized idea of adventure and connection, I went on a five-week community service to Africa. I came back with absolutely no idea how to process everything I’d experienced. The juxtaposition of poverty, inequality, beauty, and humanity between Tanzania and the US was overwhelming.
I found it difficult to have meaningful conversations about my experiences with my friends and felt acutely aware of my own privilege for the first time in my life. I had feelings of judgement, guilt and frustration. I also had a strong desire to keep seeing more of the world. It is no understatement to say that trip changed the trajectory of my life.
The world is a kinder place than you were led to believe
Throughout my travels, countless kind strangers have gone out of their way to help me or take care of me. I’ve been offered everything from directions, to friendship, meals, a warm bed, or a ride, often by people with far less resources than me. Rather than fear the world, travel has taught me to trust that most people are trustworthy, and that we have far more in common than not. In turns, this has inspired me to be a more generous, thoughtful person.
Global perspective
I majored in international development in college, and on the anniversary of 9/11 I was in Brazil on my junior year abroad. That spring, I was enrolled in university in New Zealand while the US was invading Iraq. Both experiences were uncomfortable and directly challenged what I had been taught about my own country. I’ll never forget seeing an image on the front page of the newspaper of an American soldier carrying a wounded Iraqi girl. It was a perspective on the war I knew I never would have seen had I been in the US. It impacted me so much I saved that paper and still have a copy of it somewhere.
There is nothing I can’t handle
The summer after college I had an internship with Save the Children in Bangladesh. I was young, naive and totally on my own. It was extremely intense. I went from being highly independent to being escorted everywhere. Then my host mother died suddenly, and I was in the middle of a family tragedy, living alone and doing everything alone. Flooding caused the streets to flood, and the office was closed. There was a terrorist bomb attack that further closed the office for days. My only contact with the outside world, away from the office, was to walk to an internet cafe in my neighborhood. I spent a lot of time alone, fending for myself in a place everyone told me was hostile. At the end I knew if I handled this, I could handle anything.
There is No Right Time
I came back to the US with the intention to just be 22 for a while. I didn’t know what I really wanted. I thought about the Peace Corps and global travel but I didn’t have any close friends who’d done it. I didn’t know where I would go — it was too big and too scary.
I moved to Colorado. Among many random things, I worked for a magazine, I taught international education, and I did AmeriCorps. Finally, I felt pulled to go back to school and planned to get a job overseas when I graduated. But that spring, my dad passed away. When I got a job offer in Nicaragua, I spontaneously burst into tears reading the offer letter. I realized I didn’t really want to be away from my family.
I got a job in Washington, DC with an international nonprofit, but my job had no travel. While I met some amazing people, it torpedoed my self-confidence. I was the definition of stuck. Everyday before work, I would stare up at the huge metro escalator and tell myself, “This is not my life forever” as I forced myself to walk up all those stairs.
Eventually, I got a new job (also in DC) that involved some travel in Latin America, and I was happier for a while — until I wasn’t. I couldn’t justify my life to myself anymore. I was burnt out and disconnected from myself. I saw my friends either marrying or devoting themselves to their careers, and I didn’t think either was my path.
I knew in my heart there were alternative paths, but I couldn’t see them. I didn’t have examples of other options. I was tired of denying myself the freedom I craved but had been terrified to pursue. I knew that if I tried to figure out my future while staying in my comfort zone, I would never get out. So, I pushed myself out of my own nest. I quit my job. I sold my condo and gave away most of my belongings.
The Only Way Out is Through
I finally gave myself permission to study yoga, something I had loved for over ten years. I made an intention to myself to live in the now.
The idea of backpacking solo still felt scary. It was the one big travel adventure I hadn’t done. I had fears about what I’d do with so much unstructured time, about being alone, and about what people would think of me. Eventually, I set out with a vague intention to travel for a month or so. It ended up being six months through seven countries in Southeast Asia, including teaching yoga, studying massage, my first silent meditation retreat, and experimenting with plant medicine. I had moments of synchronicity with strangers. Moments I was overjoyed to be exploring on my own. Moments of creative inspiration where I attained an expanded view of reality. And then there were moments where I felt lonely, disconnected, and lost. Mired in confusion and self-doubt. I saw patterns in myself that persisted no matter what beautiful location I was in. I learned that wherever you go, there you are. And I came closer to accepting all those parts of me.
I came back to the US full of a bigger sense of possibility for my life. I had spent a lot of my journey evaluating my career, relationships, family and lifestyle. I thought about how I really wanted to live my life.
I moved home for a while, enrolled in a coaching program, started teaching yoga, and set up my consulting business. I built the foundation to live the location independent lifestyle I’d always wanted. Eventually, I set out as a full-time digital nomad, embarking on a new challenge of working full-time while traveling.
My mission is to spread the message of freedom to others
I started Beyond the Itinerary to support travelers, no matter what stage of your journey. My mission is provide the support that I would have appreciated so many times on my own journeys — someone to believe in my dream, share my wins, to be a source of stability and consistency, to help me process the roller coaster of emotions, to help me make sense of what I’d learned and help me integrate it into my life.
I am very much still on my own journey. It’s not a straight line and there is no one path to healing. I’m constantly learning more about myself and this world. Each one of my experiences has made me more resilient, patient, thoughtful, and open-minded. To you, I offer my curiosity, thoughtfulness, and encouragement.
A life of freedom and adventure is yours for the taking.
Qualifications and Background
I’ve traveled through all 7 continents and over 35 countries. I’ve slept everywhere from the floor of simple huts in rural Africa, hostels in Thailand, to Airbnbs, to all-inclusive resorts. I’ve been a volunteer, backpacker, study abroad student, holiday maker, and now I travel and work as a digital nomad.
I’m an Associate Certified Coach (ACC) with the International Coach Federation and received my coach certification through the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC). I am also a Certified Erotic Blueprint Coach™, with a focus on empowering men and women to own their authentic sexuality, as well as a Certified Accelerated Evolution™ Trainer-in-Training and RYT-200 Kripalu-trained yoga teacher.
I studied international development as an undergrad at Bates College, and earned my Masters in Sustainable International Development and MBA in Nonprofit Management from the Heller School for Social Justice & Management at Brandeis University. I’ve spent my career working with internationally-focused nonprofits. My perspective on travel has a lens of social justice, sustainable tourism, and global dynamics.