Ep76_TravelMentalHealth_full
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Adam Gragg: [00:00:00] Welcome to today's episode of the Decide Your Legacy podcast. If you have found this podcast helpful, at any point, pull out your phones, give it a rating and review wherever you get your podcast content. It helps it grow organically and reach and help more people. Today I have a great topic for you.

It's on how travel can [00:01:00] improve your mental health, how travel can actually transform your life. And it's a follow up episode to one I've done in the past on travel before. So I'm really excited and I have a couple special guests and I, and I'm gonna introduce you in just a second here. But to share, first, share a couple risks that I've taken recently.

So one, and I tell, I share these with you because I believe that there's not much more damaging to your. Mental health and playing it safe and not much more, that can improve your mental health quickly than getting out there, taking risks, doing new things, going against your emotions and trying something, exercising.

Some different types of doing different types of things. So a couple of risks that I've taken recently as I played at a men's, in a men's golf club, and I wanted to avoid this. I woke up thinking, I do not wanna do this. And so I left really quickly. I even left my phone, believe it or not. But I went and played and had a good time.

It was really fast play. Much better golfers than myself. I didn't play very well at all, but I just [00:02:00] said, I'm gonna be around some people that are better than me, and I had a good time, so I did it, and I've been avoiding that for probably two years. Another risk that I took is that I, well, like I said, I went to play and I didn't have my phone, and so I didn't have the $50 cash to actually play with this men's club, and so I asked him for a rain check if I could.

Pay next time, whatever. I was embarrassed about it. I had to borrow somebody's phone on the golf course to call my daughter, and it was interesting, but I had a great time. One guy rolled his eyes at me, but who cares? You know? And so I'm Adam Gragg. I'm a legacy coach. I am a speaker mental health professional for nearly 25 years.

My life purpose is helping people find transformational clarity that propels them forward to face their biggest fears so they can live and leave their desired legacy. I talk about stuff that you can describe to your six-year-old, and they're gonna understand these concepts. And the reason I do I think that's important is because I once heard Brian Tracy say, if you can't describe a goal, one of your goals to a six year old, it's not clear enough.

It should be that clear and basic so that someone else can understand it, so that you can [00:03:00] understand. It takes out the ambiguity. I also challenge you to listen as not just a student, but as a teacher. Think about something you learned today, some insight you gained that you can teach to somebody else in the next 24 hours.

And. I want to challenge you as well. This is the podcast that you do not just listen to. So write down right now a place that you have wanted to travel. Maybe you've always wanted to travel there, Egypt, New Zealand. Just write down the name of that place. It could even be in your own country. Write that down.

Is it Spain, Italy, wherever. And I want you to think about, and right after that, write down or speak into your phone. What are some of your biggest fears about traveling to that specific place? So is it the cost? Is it money? Is it the language? Is it safety? You know, what are these fears that you might have?

Is it the food? Is it the travel itself, getting in a plane crash, whatever it may be. So write those two things down and as we go through this content, you're gonna actually start answering some of your own questions. Cuz I believe when we answer our own questions, we're much [00:04:00] more apt to follow through with our own advice.

Because we start believing, okay, I can do that. I just came up with an answer there. I can do that. I can actually move forward with my life. And so I have two special guests here. And so one I've had on the show before. Her name is Erica Gragg. She's actually my sister. And she's here on my right or is it my left?

I'm not sure. So Erica and Erica's traveled to over 85 different countries. She has led wellness retreats in nearly 40, and she owns two businesses. One is called Escape to Shape and the other is called Escape Artist Travel. I'll give her a chance to share. I'm gonna ask her questions as we talk today.

She's been for the last three years, I believe, rated by Cande Nast Magazine as one of the top travel experts in the world. So she's very experienced, has a lot of great content, and I think she's really gonna help on this topic of mental health, related to travel and improving your mental health with travel.

And so the other one is obviously someone very special to me and very special to the world. Her name is Emerson Gragg and she's my 16 year old daughter. She's never been on the podcast [00:05:00] before. And for a 16 year old, I would say she would qualify as a top travel expert. She's been to Europe with me twice.

She's been all over the United States, Hawaii a couple times. I would guess she's probably been to 15, 20 different states, many national parks. But she's learned to travel and travels really well. And so I should have my dog on the show as well, cuz he, he has learned to travel Max as well.

So once Emerson and I, for about two weeks, we run in an rv, went all over Utah. And Colorado National Parks had a great time, but learning how to pack light is something that's been a challenge for me. She's gonna have to do that next summer because she's going with her school to Ireland, Scotland, and Great Britain and can only take a carry on piece of luggage.

So, hey. Yeah, I, I admire that. That's my fear. That's your fear. Even though you travel so much so, Okay, so I'm gonna be asking them some questions. We are actually one last thing. We are doing this podcast from Italy. We're actually in Venice right now at the Cena Centurion Hotel. We are on the water. [00:06:00] So from the train station to the hotel, we took a water taxi.

And I'm gonna link in the show notes to some pictures from our trip if you wanna see where we're staying and then kind of see some pictures of us enjoying. Venice is an amazing place. We were in Rome, Florence, and after Venice we're gonna be going to hopefully Verona and then to Milan and then fly back to the U.S.

Okay. So let me start with a question for Erica. So Erica, what are, what are, what are some of the cool places you've been in the highlights over the last year?

Erica Gragg: Ooh, actually I've now visited nine over 90 countries actually since the last time I was on this podcast. And in this past year I was just in Egypt, which was incredibly fascinating.

Definitely a bucket list destination for many and for good reason. The culture's incredibly different than our own back at home. But the antiquities and the The history is just incredibly rich and it goes far beyond just the pyramids of Giza. Like the deeper you go into Egypt, the more there is to see.

So I would probably say that's the most [00:07:00] exotic place I've been to. I've also been to Morocco this year. I spent three weeks in Marrakesh, one of my favorite cities in the world. Very exotic as well. I've been to Turkey, I've been to Greece. I love Greece. Been to Italy, obviously. And I think that might cover it for this year.

This year was a light travel year for me with just those countries. Okay. What do you have, oh, I'm sorry. I was in Tanzania. Sorry. Yeah, I was in Tanzania. Tanzania as well. That's incredible. Safari.

Adam Gragg: What do you have planned over the next year?

Erica Gragg: I have Bhutan. I have Rwanda to track with the gorillas. The endangered gorillas, which is incredible.

Botswana on Safari. Greece. I'm gonna be spending some more time in Parros and anti parros and also discovering a few new islands as well. So maybe I'll share those in the next podcast. You're gonna discover 'em for the first time? Yes. I'm gonna go to them for the first time going back to Turkey.

Adam Gragg: So they're gonna name them after You

Emerson Gragg: like the Island America?

Erica Gragg: Yes, exactly. I'm Christopher Columbus, [00:08:00] that's what it's version Columbus. Yeah. Yes. So those are probably my top. I'm sure there'll be some other ones in there, but those are the ones that e going back to Egypt, going back to Morocco just discovered a new region of Italy that I had not been to called the Dolomites, which I've been sending a lot of clients to.

Ah mm-hmm. But finally was able to experience it for myself and truly magnificent. So

Adam Gragg: the Dolomites.

Erica Gragg: Yes. Spa

Emerson Gragg: Dolomites in English.

Erica Gragg: Exactly.

Adam Gragg: The longer I'm in Italy, the more my accent becomes Italian. It was like for a whole day. It was like I spoke in Italian, right? Or I tried, I spoke kind of. It wasn't good though.

You were, you told me to stop being annoying. That's what you said. Okay. So, so Emerson, what are some of the cool places that if you, on this trip, let's say mm-hmm. Some of your favorite places you've visited.

Emerson Gragg: Just on this trip?

Adam Gragg: Just on this trip. Or you can say last summer as well.

Emerson Gragg: Okay. So just like in general?

Adam Gragg: In general? Yeah.

Emerson Gragg: Okay. I think my favorite place that I've been like in my whole life, cuz I've traveled quite a bit of places, [00:09:00] but I really like, just the first time I stepped into Venice, I was like, oh, I love Venice so much. Like, it's just a dream. Just like there's so much history in Italy.

As a whole. So I think you just like see a lot and you learn a lot. And I really like stone hinge. When we went to Stone Hinge in England I loved Paris. I thought Paris was beautiful. Busy, but really beautiful. Mm-hmm. And definitely worth going to. Oh yeah. And I mean, London's beautiful, busy.

I mean, cuz we were there on the Queen's Jubilee, so it was like extra, extra busy. It was so it was, I don't know. I really love Hawaii too. Hawaii. Hawaii has a special place in my heart.

Adam Gragg: Yeah. Let me ask you this. So what are some tips on overcoming jet lag? I feel like jet lag is a fear that people have.

So what are your favorite tips there?

Emerson Gragg: Don't sleep

Erica Gragg: Well, I have two tips on that. My first one would be, if you can. Schedule your flight so that you arrive as late in the day as possible to the destination that you are arriving to. That significantly helps because [00:10:00] you land, have something to eat and go to bed.

You don't have to force yourself to stay up because tip number two would be. Which with a lot of the US to Europe flights, they do arrive in the morning. Tip number two would be if your flight arrives in the morning, try to, I would, if you can afford to do it, book that extra night so that you can land, go straight to your hotel power nap for four hours, no more than four hours, and get up and then try to stay up until at least like nine or 10 that night so that you've reset yourself, but you're not just dragging and like a zombie.

As well. So those would be my two tips. Drink lots of water. Try to get out and walk if you do have a day ahead of you to like walk for a bit. But yes, those would be my exercise always helps, you know, getting the body,

Adam Gragg: get some exercise right away.

Erica Gragg: Yeah, if you can. I mean, or go to bed, one or the other.

Adam Gragg: So what are your tips on packing light?

Erica Gragg: I don't have any. I was hoping that Emerson could teach me.

Adam Gragg: What are your tips on packing?

Emerson Gragg: I don't have any tips on packing [00:11:00] light, but I do have tips on jet lag. For me personally, just like not sleeping, like works good for me because then I'm really, really tired by the time I go to bed.

So I'll just like sleep really good that night and then I'll wake up and then I'll be more refreshed. It's like I didn't screw up my sleep schedule. Mm-hmm. Cuz for me, I'm like, I need my sleep. Like I I'm someone who goes to bed, gets up, like, I just, like, I'm not a late night person really.

And so I think just kind of like eating something. Mm-hmm. One really helps me, like getting water into my system. Getting some like protein. Cause then I'll just have like energy, like just getting energy so that I can mm-hmm. Go do stuff and then just do stuff. Yeah. Go see stuff.

I think on our first day we went to a cafe and then I think we walked around a little bit. We did in Rome and that really helped. Definitely. Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

Adam Gragg: Started off well, so

Erica Gragg: get you excited too.

Adam Gragg: So, you know, people, they often will plan travel because they have some kind of transformation that they want to make in their life. So they wanna get some space from things in their life. Cuz a lot of times we get so consumed with the busyness of life and our problems and mm-hmm our worries and the things that can go [00:12:00] wrong that we miss the opportunity. Yet I see people see that they have an opportunity, so they want to go to Egypt.

And how can somebody make the most of. Having that breakthrough on their trip, whether it's like a spiritual breakthrough, whether it's some clarity in their life, whether they want to make a change in their life. So how do they get to that place where they are most likely to have that breakthrough?

Erica Gragg: It helps to just allow yourself to be completely present to the experience of where you are.

So if you can allow yourself to really co disconnect from the life back at home that you have, mm-hmm. And that's waiting for you, and it will still be there when you get back home and really be present to the gifts of this travel experience, which doesn't mean that it will always go smoothly because flights get canceled or, you know, things happen along the way, although it rains on your parade sometimes or whatever it is. But if you can be very present to the actual experience of this trip that you're on and this moment and this day, and the gifts of that day, I do believe that there are huge transformations that can [00:13:00] take place.

I have also noticed on our Escape to Shape adventures and wellness that another ingredient that really helps people to disconnect from their life back at home and to have transformation is when all the details are taken care of for you, which isn't necessarily possible for everybody, but I notice like when you're on our trips, we tell you what you're going to eat and we, you know, curate every day.

And just like as a travel advisor, some of my clients allow me to really curate every single day for them. So the less decisions you have to make, the less. Room to, you know, I, you know, the less decisions you have to make in all honesty, because you make them all the time at home all the time. Yeah.

Yeah. You allow more room for yourself to get to reacquaint with your own self. Which also part of that is, I truly believe you should leave some room for spontaneity. Like I noticed you guys have had a schedule a pretty. You know, you've had a lot of things you've been doing in tours, but I've noticed every single location, you've also had a day where you just don't have any plans.

Yep. Yeah. And you see where the day will take you.

Adam Gragg: And during the day, I've taken naps almost every day.

Erica Gragg: Which is [00:14:00] so great. I mean, when do you get to take naps at home? You know what I mean? Like none of us do.

Adam Gragg: Not, not enough, not like, for sure.

Emerson Gragg: Yeah. Yeah.

Adam Gragg: No.

Erica Gragg: So being spontaneous, You know, allowing yourself to be really present, listening to your body.

Like, I'm tired, I'm gonna sleep. Oh wait, what? Maybe part of you is saying, no, don't go to sleep. You can go and explore, but no, you're being present that you're tired. Yeah. And you really need to take a break. So I think transformations can come when you have those ingredients.

Emerson Gragg: I agree with Everything you say, but I also think that something that's really important is journaling And I just think of this now because it's like a really, like hands on tip that you can do mm-hmm. Just journal what you did that day and let go of everything that you've been worrying.

So let's say that you just lost your job at home and you're like going on this trip you know, things are stressful. So just let all of that go and don't really dwell in that, because the more you dwell in it, the worse it gets. So just let it go and then go forward and then just be present in what you're doing.

And a lot of times for me, it helps me to be [00:15:00] present if I journal what I'm doing. Agreed. Yeah. Yeah. Because then I have this very clear and consistent idea of what is going on in my life. Yeah. And what I want. And you know, you can set goals for what you wanna do during the trip and you can like, honestly just completely disconnecting from your phone and like from things back in your life is like really good.

Absolutely. And like absolutely it puts you in the moment that you're in instead of what's going on. Yeah.

Erica Gragg: Those are really good tips. Yeah.

Adam Gragg: My screen time was down 67%. Wow over the last one,

Erica Gragg: but these are things we should probably try to take home with us too. No, I know.

Emerson Gragg: I need to too.

Erica Gragg: No, me too. Like less screen time.

Adam Gragg: I know.

Erica Gragg: More present and journaling. Absolutely. So absolutely. Some kinda like stream of consciousness.

Emerson Gragg: I need to listen to my own tips.

Erica Gragg: Yeah.

Adam Gragg: Well that's the thing is we, if we don't take our own advice, so in this podcast actually there's gonna be a link to a hundred great journaling prompts and it's gonna walk you through some tips on journaling.

I think that is excellent stuff for people. Mm-hmm. And I will tell you too, I decided because of this screen time thing, cuz I. I noticed myself being off my phone more, not as much as I'd like to, but I've made it a widget [00:16:00] on my home screen that shows me exactly like when I look at my phone, how much screen time I've been having.

And I think that's gonna help me as I go back. Yeah. And so I should do that. And one thing that people, people do, cuz you mentioned being present, you mentioned Emerson having some goals set. Mm-hmm. You know, some things that you want to accomplish on this trip. So I have some business things I want to accomplish and make time for and everything, but I find that if I focus on the vision and the outcome more than The problem in the moment.

So I, I focus more on like letting go of the emotions that I have and that I might feel and then I focus on, well what's the outcome? You know, the outcomes. I'm gonna have great memories with my daughter and my sister and my brother-in-law and I'm gonna have great food and the outcomes gonna be pictures.

And I know I annoy my family when I stop to take pictures of everything, but there's something to that for, I'll reflect on this. It's good we have them for, it's good. I have 'em. Yes. I mean, it's annoying and I get lost and I'm kind a half mile back sometimes, but it's so. Ask Erica, just briefly, will you talk to the audience about Escape to Shape and then Escape Artists Travel and kind of the difference between those [00:17:00] two businesses?

Erica Gragg: Sure, sure, sure. So Escape to Shape, we started about. 13 or 14 years ago at this point, and it's called Escape to Shape, adventures and Wellness. And it is exactly that. It is small group adventures in wellness. And wellness is more than just exercise and fitness and yoga. It is absolutely that, but it's also about eating healthy.

It's about meditation. We do journaling on some of the trips. It's about reconnecting to yourself. It's about connecting to others in a meaningful way. It's about getting enough sleep and rest and, you know, spa treatments. It's really nourishing yourself from the inside out. And we curate those in all the experiences.

From the moment that you arrive to the airport, we pick you up and the adventure and wellness begins. So it is a really rewarding program to run because we see some incredible friendships that are born that are blossoming out of this of this. And we also see people making huge decisions in their life, career changes, or discovering new passions or, you know, realizing it's time to let go of things that are not [00:18:00] so.

Serving them anymore. And of course we all get to explore and have fun, experience a new culture, and then escape artists travel, luxury travel advisors. So we plan private travel for, you know, fathers and daughters and mothers and sons and families and multi-gen and couples and honeymoons and solo travel and small groups and friends.

And it's, and it can be anything, anywhere anytime. And we work. Within, we try to work within the budget of our clients. I will say the travel has gotten more and more expensive over the past couple of years as the demands increased. So sometimes we have to be the bearer of bad news that people's budget does not align with where they're going.

But we always try to be very honest and upfront and do the very best that we can with the resources that they have.

Adam Gragg: I wanna plan a trip with my high school buddies. Mm-hmm. Somewhere in the world. And I wanna plan a trip with my college buddies somewhere in the world.

And then I'll plan a trip with my Amer, my, my adult Buddie buddies. Two separate trips. I mean, maybe three trips, maybe one is with my, my, my buddies in Wichita as well. So, but how, how would I go about, like, [00:19:00] let's say I have like, Seven guys and we wanna go somewhere, you know? How would you walk us through planning a trip like that?

Erica Gragg: I would probably hop on a call with at least a few of you who wanna make the help, make the decision, or narrow down the destinations and talk about how much time you have, how many people, how many rooms you're looking for. Is there a length of stay that you, or is there a distance you're willing to travel?

What are the interests? Here, are you looking for golf? Are you looking to hike? Are you looking to just relax on a beach? Are you looking to explore a new culture? So I would start there so that we could narrow down a couple of destinations and then I would work on fleshing out itineraries to show you what that might look like, to give you a sample of what a four day weekend or a week, day, week long trip would look like in this place.

And then we would, you know, refine it and fine tune it from there until we get it to the point where you're all happy with it.

Adam Gragg: Very good. And you know, the thought that just came to me too is, is is people that maybe don't have the resources to hire an [00:20:00] expert like you are, are you also saying that they're gonna relieve and they're gonna have more chances to have a breakthrough when they do more planning in advance so that someone is picking them up so they know where they're staying?

Yeah, I

Erica Gragg: I personally think if you don't have to think about those things, especially if you're a nervous traveler, if you're a nervous traveler, just to not have to worry about who's picking you up from the train station or you know, do I have a hotel? You know, just to at least have some key things.

Set that will help to Eli eliminate that stress. Yeah. But I do strongly believe that there is a lot to be said for someone. And I do this for a lot of clients too. They know they wanna go to, let's say Hawaii, and so I book them. A ticket to Hawaii or the hotel to Hawaii or both. But the rest, they just wanna have no plan at all.

And there is a beauty in having no plan too. Yep. Because I wouldn't say that that goes for every trip. It's your fir daughter's first time, both of your first time to Italy. Like you wanna have a bit of a plan Second time. Second time. That's true. I forgot about that. Yep. So it's, but it's your first time together and it's like you wanna have a bit of a [00:21:00] plan.

You don't wanna just, but now whenever I traveled Italy, I don't have a plan because I've been here so many times. So I didn't even know I was going to the do Metis until. Five days before I ended up in the dolo Metis. So you can, so there's a beauty to both. And I think that the more you travel, the less plan you, the less you need to fill in the space in between.

But it's always good to know where you're gonna stay, how you're gonna get there. And in certain locations right now, I have to say, even for my most savvy traveler clients that are coming to Italy this summer, you need to have a plan. Like you can't get into the Coliseum in the month of June anymore.

There are no tickets. And I'm not just talking about skip the line tickets. There are no tickets. Yeah, there's no tickets to academia to see the David in Florence left for the month of June. Like you have to have a plan if you're gonna come during the busiest time of year to some of these countries that are in such demand.

And you want to eat at good restaurants, we need to have a reservation. You know, there's just, it's just the reality of travel right now because the demand is so high. Or don't go to the places that are so in [00:22:00] demand, you know, go, yeah. Go someplace off the beaten path. For example, I have clients this summer that are going to Argentina in August.

That is not high season for our Argentina. They're getting great rates. They're not gonna have to fight the crowds. Yeah, they're okay with the fact that it's gonna be cold, you know, a bit colder than normal and they're gonna have a great trip.

Adam Gragg: And that's the crazy thing is, I mean, one of the things I've learned in life is that when everybody is doing something, It's very often the best thing to do is, is to do the opposite of what everyone else is doing.

You know?

Emerson Gragg: I agree.

Adam Gragg: You think about

Emerson Gragg: school, high school is the exact same way, right?

Adam Gragg: You think about everybody is on their phone and I mean, we're finding, finally finding out how much damage and we're getting some of the data from. The psychological studies, the neurologists, the brain studies and everything about how much damage this is actually doing.

Everybody's doing it. And I think in 10 years, you know, it's gonna be like, you know, okay, if you let your kids on their phone for more than two hours and you potentially are abusive, you know, I mean, it's like we, you know what everyone else is doing. Even today, we were in Venice and it was like everybody was in this one [00:23:00] certain part of Venice, and that's the most expensive parts of Venice.

Erica Gragg: Yeah.

Adam Gragg: And then we knew because of Francesco there was another, and because of Erica, because there was other parts of Venice we could go to where they weren't nearly as crowded, but they were just as good and just as nice and just as scenic. Yeah. So you do the opposite. And I mean that's the same way even with your emotions oftentimes.

So let's talk about anxiety cuz a lot of people have anxiety when it comes to travel. And I had you write down some of these fears. I can almost guarantee that some of them were anxiety and so. Okay. Yeah. So what is, when you're, when you're in a state where you're starting to feel anxious and you're traveling or even, you know, you're at school, whatever it might be, what are some tips and things people can do in that moment?

You mentioned being. Present in the moment, what are some things that work for you that you can do that could help our audience?

Emerson Gragg: For me, I feel like when I'm really anxious, like whether this is, if I'm traveling or if I'm at school, or if I am just like in, not in a good mood and I'm just anxious I, a lot of times like to take a step back from where I am and like disconnect from like the situation.

It's like I will go to the side and I'll take deep breaths, [00:24:00] I'll, you know, Depending on where I am, because sometimes you're in like very crowded situations where it's like you can't really leave and go and journal so you just kinda take deep breaths. You connect with. Yourself and you just get to a stable point of being to where you're able to calmly continue with whatever it is you're doing.

Because sometimes you are in those situations where you're with a bunch of friends and things get really stressful and you have to go away. So I feel like if, like when you're traveling and you're on a plane and you're like freaking out because like planes are scary and it's valid I think definitely not, not hyper-focusing on the fact that you're in a plane.

Oh my gosh, this is a plane I'm in. Like, what if, what if, what if? Don't sit in the anxiety, distract yourself. I'd say for me, yeah. Yeah, I will read, I. Or I'll listen to music or there's a bunch of movies you can watch if you're international flying. So like you can watch a movie, you can like, yeah, there's a bunch of stuff.

Just, just like distracting yourself.

Adam Gragg: It's like taking action is one of the most, is not the most important thing to deal with. [00:25:00] Anxiety. Do something different. Yeah. Get yourself moving, you know, get on a treadmill. I like to think if I start to learn something, It takes away the ability of my brain to worry, and it puts me in a place where I have to start focusing.

So reading a book where I have to learn something or looking at something that has, or reading something that has content that I'm interested in and forcing myself to read it. Sometimes, multiple times. I know I can't do it in the moment all the time, but Erica, what, you know, being present, I think that's confusing to some people, but I think you're, you're hinting on mindfulness there.

Yes, that's exactly it. Yes. And so what do you do when you're anxious in a moment? Like on a plane, you're, you're super anxious cuz of the turbulence. Yes. What would get you outta that? Nothing.

Erica Gragg: Yeah, I'm not the best flyer when it comes to turbulence, so I, you know, alcohol? No, I actually don't. Right. I mean, no. I would say that the mindfulness is exactly what I mean by being present.

It's just being mindfully aware of. This exact moment and trying not, Emerson mentioned it as well, trying not to get caught up in the what if, what if, what if, what if, which is a lot easier said than done, [00:26:00] obviously. But I do find that breathing techniques help. In yoga it's called pranayama. It's more, it's just, so what do you do as a breathing technique in the moment?

Like you are very, it's almost a, it's a meditative breath. I, it's, You know, it's like in, in being conscious of the inhale, conscious of the exhale, I oftentimes will try to say to myself, okay, count to 10 as you, each time you inhale and ex count one and exhale count two. And the moment that you start focusing on something other than the counting.

You have to go back to one again, and you'll find that it takes a long time to ever get to 10. But it's, it's to, to your point about having something to do, it is something to do with your breath. And it, it focuses the attention off of the anx what's making you anxious. And instead you have this inhale one, think to yourself, one, exhale out the mouth.

Think yourself too. And it's. I find that it takes me a really long time to ever get to 10. I have to go back to one a lot. But that's part of the practice and that's why it is a practice.

Adam Gragg: And you feel like a [00:27:00] failure sometimes when you do that kind of thing. At least I do. And I start, start again.

Erica Gragg: I usually get distracted.

It's, you know, it's just like any kind of meditation, you get distracted. You have to begin again. You have to begin again, begin again. But

Emerson Gragg: there's something like that. And then there's also there's this method called like the 4, 4,

Erica Gragg: 5 or four four something. Yes. The breathing. Yeah. You

Emerson Gragg: like inhale four.

Count to four, and then hold for four, five, hold for five, and then exhale for four. That helps.

Erica Gragg: Yes.

Adam Gragg: You sound like you're gonna be a legacy coach or a therapist.

Erica Gragg: Exactly. She does. She does.

Adam Gragg: I know.

Erica Gragg: Absolutely.

Adam Gragg: So if you found this podcast helpful so far, hit the link to shatterproof yourself. Seven Simple steps.

They're simple, but not easy. Okay. Seven steps to building mental health and toughness. And in this course, it's a 40 minute course video and it's a workbook. And I talk about dealing with your past, knowing your worth, changing your perspective, owning your emotions, taking care of yourself, building your posse, which means your friendship group and then creating your vision. So another question I have though, are there certain locations, cuz you hear about people going on pilgrimages or hikes or certain [00:28:00] locations that can help you grow spiritually? And I have a question for you and for Erica and Emerson.

I mean, how can you grow spiritually while you travel?

Erica Gragg: I, for me personally, anywhere that is in nature helps me to grow spiritually. And that's also the truth. When I'm even back home in Hudson or I'm anywhere, if spending time in nature helps to ground me it helps me to reset, it helps me to find my center.

I find it to be very, very, a very useful tool. It's not always accessible in every situation, but that also can be. Breathing in the sun, taking in visually the sunset or the sunrise. That is nature and that is available to anyone, you know, pretty much anywhere, provided that there is this, you know, you're not in the clouds or it's not, you know,

Adam Gragg: you grow spiritually anywhere.

Erica Gragg: You can grow intentionally. Exactly. I mean, I find that like Bhutan is very, there are certain destinations that do help to enhance the spiritual experience such as India, Bhutan pilgrimages, [00:29:00] such as you're thinking of Santiago in, in in Spain, well, it's also in northern France. It's also in France and in northern Spain, in France and in Portugal.

That community, Santiago, that is a pilgrimage. There's shorter pilgrimages that people can take as well. And what that really is, is that you have a destination, a physical destin, a geographic destination, but you also have a spiritual goal, like you are. You are mindfully moving. You're, it's mindful.

Adam Gragg: Yeah.

Erica Gragg: Mindful moving meditation. Yeah. So, there is this sense of, and there's a shedding of self too in a lot of those processes because it challenges you on really, really extreme levels, extreme hikes challenge you, you know, I've seen many people go through that when they're climbing in altitude, for example, like an aqua Chile or in other areas that have extreme altitude.

There's There's a goal in mind, but there's something, it requires not just physical strength. It requires emotional strength.

Adam Gragg: Emotional strength. And so what do you mean by the what? What are the challenges emotionally? [00:30:00]

Erica Gragg: Well, there is physical challenges too.

Adam Gragg: Yeah.

Erica Gragg: But emotionally it could be that it's breaking you down because the physical challenges are breaking you down to a much more raw level of yourself.

Yeah. And you're facing your fears a lot of times. I mean, maybe you're fearful of the cold, you're fearful of this is far more challenging than you thought it ever would be. It's uncomfortable. Yep. You know, There's people who hike Kilimanjaro, go through anyone who goes through those, those are pilgrimages to the tops of those types of mountains.

So, and they're not for the faint of heart at all.

Adam Gragg: So, so, and emotionally, I think my, I'll talk myself out of it, like this morning, I mean, I wanted to get up and run and I did, but I kept making excuses. Oh, I can, you know, I need to have a longer journaling time. I need to read this devotional longer.

And then I. Eventually got on the treadmill and I did what I wanted to do, but my mind goes, don't do it. You don't wanna do that. You know, but it's doing the opposite of that. So, Emerson, how can somebody grow spiritually on while they travel? Any id, any ideas? Because you have a bunch of [00:31:00] friends going on a mission trip right now to an Indian reservation.

Mm-hmm. Yeah. Oh, that's interesting. And they always come back. It seems that group comes back from church really inspired cuz they help kids but they also get to see a part of themselves. They get to experience a different culture. Cause it's on India, it's very, it's one of the poorest parts of the United States.

Emerson Gragg: Yeah. I think, I think when you are feeding into other people that are less fortunate than you are and like, pouring yourself out into people that. Are in need of it. You feel so much more refreshed as a person. But that's pretty basic. Everyone knows that. But like I think that there's more to it, there's more about seeing, like widening your experiences of the different types of life that people have to live and how different life is for so many different people.

And I think that can make you extremely mindful about how you are and who you are as a person in your life.

Adam Gragg: Yeah.

Emerson Gragg: And I think that makes you reflect a lot. And a lot of times when [00:32:00] we reflect, we change because we're reflecting, we're seeing what we wanna change. So then we're like, oh, we wanna change that.

So then, so I think it does kind of, especially when like a bunch of my friends, like you said, are going on that mission trip. I think they are going to see so many different. Types of people and people that are on different types of life and like journeys and different struggles. So I think that it kind of like puts, like it bears you, like to the real world.

And once you see the real world, you realize yeah. What it is that like you wanna change.

Adam Gragg: And I mean that, that is so powerful. Mm-hmm. And when you're in an interaction with somebody and you struggle with anxiety and you say, my goal in this situation is just to learn about them, it's not about me.

It's about them.

Emerson Gragg: Yeah.

Adam Gragg: How can I engage them? And that anxiety melts away because you start getting curious and they say something and then you're actually engaging in a conversation. You're getting to know somebody, and you're. Next question is not you thinking about what you wanna say to prove yourself.

It's actually more curio curiosity based on what they just shared. Yeah, it's like think of yourself [00:33:00] less and that gets you out of your own head and out of your own emotions cuz you're doing the opposite and then you're into the actual situation and you're present. That's mindfulness. That's one way of thinking about mindfulness.

So for both of you, one last question. So what is something in your travels over the last year that has been stressful and how'd you overcome it? One thing that's been stressful and how'd you overcome it?

Emerson Gragg: I think there's been a lot of things that have been stressful. If I just think about 2023 and the traveling, like to Italy. It was stressful for me to navigate such a big city like Rome and like with all these tourists and all these people, and I'm like, Scared that, you know, I'll get pick pocketed or someone will be creepy or whatever.

I think there's just like those things where you're worried and you just are like, ah, I don't wanna go out there, I just wanna stay in my hotel where it's safe. You know what I mean? But then you miss out on so much if you stay in that. And so I think just getting through that.

Once you get through the stressful and scary part, it's honestly not bad. I feel like the best way to describe it is like waiting into a [00:34:00] pool. If you slowly wait into the cold, it's gonna feel terrible versus if you just jump in and get it over with.

Adam Gragg: So just jumping in. Yeah. Nice. Erica, for you, stressful traveling.

How do you get over it?

Erica Gragg: For me, anytime I take, have to take a plane, it's stressful. But I get over it because I know that I love the joy of discovery. I love going to these other countries. I love discovering myself in these other places as well. So for me the, the biggest fear would be to not go and not to have a chance to experience the world.

Adam Gragg: So, so you focus on the vision and getting there.

Erica Gragg: Exactly.

Adam Gragg: And then how many flights do you end up canceling because of weather a year?

Erica Gragg: I end up postponing because of weather this year. I don't think I have postponed. Oh, only one? Yeah, only one. One that I can think of.

Adam Gragg: Oh, wow. Not bad. Okay. So, yeah, exactly.

So now I want you to think about what is something that you heard Emerson or Erica Gragg share today. Kind of cool. We all have the same last name. That resonated with you that you wanna remember from today? And I'd encourage you to write that down on your journal. Right [00:35:00] under that place you wanna visit and the fears that you wanna overcome.

And then I would encourage you to teach that to somebody or talk about it just casually with somebody, this is something I learned, or, wow, I didn't know that about traveling. Or, I got a new perspective on travel. Maybe even plan that trip. I don't know. Cuz I mean, it's you know, you only live once kind of thing, so hey, so take an emotional risk.

Based on something that you learned today, so you can remember my rule, 30% of transformational change is insight. You're gaining insight today, but that's only a small piece of it. 70% or more is action. Like Emerson said, just jump into the pool, just do something. Have me out to speak to your team live or over Zoom.

Again, subscribe to Shatterproof yourself. Don't miss that. You'll only get it through this link. And I'm gonna sign off today the way that I always do, thanking Erica and Emerson. Oh, by the way, how can somebody contact you, Erica, if they wanted to?

Erica Gragg: We have two websites. One is www.escapetoshape.com [00:36:00] spelled out, and the other one is www.escapeartiststravel.com.

Adam Gragg: Artists, plural?

Erica Gragg: Yes, artists, plural.

Adam Gragg: And what's, what's your email?

Erica Gragg: I'm erica@escapeartiststravel.com or erica@escapetoshape.com.

Adam Gragg: Okay. And if someone wants to reach out to you, Emerson, how could they reach out to you? From listening to this podcast.

Emerson Gragg: Just talk to my dad.

Erica Gragg: Yeah, there you go.

Adam Gragg: That's reach out to their dad, adam@decideyourlegacy.com.

There you go. All right, so I'm gonna sign off again the way I always do. And oh, one last thing besides this, if you really like this podcast, take a picture of it, share it on your Instagram stories at Adam Gragg. Love it to spread that way. And we did get past just last week, 10,000 downloads.

It took three years to get there, 10,000 downloads. Want to thank Erica and Emerson again? Sign off the way I always do. Make it your mission to live the life now that you want. Be remembered for 10 years after you're gone, you decide your legacy. No one else. I appreciate you greatly and I [00:37:00] will see you next time, not from Italy, from the United States.

Bye-bye.

Erica Gragg: Thank you.