Worldly Women of Travel: Interview with Rebecca Cullen

The latest interview in our Worldly Women series features Rebecca Cullen.  I had the opportunity to get to know Rebecca in North Carolina just before her Sabbatical Adventure trip around the world.  When not exploring the globe, Rebecca makes the world a better place with her work as Principal at the non-profit grant-making organization, Arbor Rising.  It is with great pleasure that I share Rebecca’s interview with you.

Per August  2024 Interview  

What first inspired you to travel?

My grandmother (my mom’s mother), Eleanor Grace Bartlett Weingart Lapham, seeded my love for travel. As my mom says, my grandmother was always happiest when packing her suitcase. Throughout my childhood, I admired Grandma’s adventures across the world – Japan, India, Africa, Europe, Bermuda, Iran (at the time of the revolution)… wow. I knew early on that I wanted to explore the world beyond our country, lands where people spoke different languages and celebrated different rituals. Later in my life, Grandma and I traveled to most of the Virgin Islands (gotta love a beach) and made several trips to Norway to visit relatives in Oslo.

Tell us about your most meaningful, or pivotal, trip. Where was it and why was it meaningful?

I find it impossible to select one. My first taste of living abroad came during my senior year in high school during my semester in Antibes, France. My world expanded as I observed, up close, a culture different from my own. My seventeen-year-old self experienced a new kind of discomfort and joy when forced to rely on a second language to establish meaningful connections with other human beings.

When I returned home, my interest in foreign languages and cultures led me to study Russian throughout college. After graduating, despite some trepidation, I seized the opportunity to teach English at a boarding school in Siberia. Needless to say, my time in Siberia brought tremendous perspective. I built friendshipswith kind Russians who oozed generosity despite the fact that they were reeling from the recent fall of communism, a political system I had labeled as evil without fully understanding how people benefitted from predictable access to daily provisions. I also realized how challenging it was for Russians to speak my native tongue, a skill I naively took for granted.

Fast forward almost thirty years, my passion for absorbing different cultures led me on a three-month sabbatical adventure in 2019 (right before COVID shut the world down…) across nine countries: Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Singapore, and Myanmar. The warmth of humanity welcomed me throughout my journey, wrapping me in hugs across lines of difference. In particular, four sunrise experiences stand out when I consider how these travels shaped me: one over the temple at Angkor Wat in Cambodia, another over Ayres Rock in central Australia, another viewed from the top of a volcano in Bali, and the last from a hot air balloon ride soaring over the temples in Bagan, Myanmar. Each offered spiritual, poignant, breathtaking (literally in the case of the hot air balloon as I’m terrified of heights), and peaceful moments as my world opened wider.

How have your experiences traveling impacted your perspectives and actions once you return home?

Each time I return home from a trip abroad, I find more gratitude. Gratitude for: (1) connections with people with whom I would have never interacted had it not been for the trip, (2) personal growth experienced only when I push myself outside my comfort zone, (3) history lessons learned, (4) new foods tasted, (5) beauty experienced, and (6) reminders of who + what matters in life. Additionally, I always find myself grateful that I hit the lottery at birth in many ways.

What / where is next on your travel adventure list and why?

In December, I plan to travel to the Azores and France. The adventure will begin when I meet a friend in the Azores to hike and soak in the hot springs on the islands another friend raved about after her time there years ago. Then, it’s off to La Thuille, France to practice my French and ring in 2025 with my cousin Melanie and her wife Karine who call the French Alps home.

“Your experience will push you out of your comfort zone; perspective, growth, and gratitude will flow.” – Rebecca Cullen

What advice would you give to others considering an international trip?

Make sure your passport is up to date and go! Your experience will push you out of your comfort zone; perspective, growth, and gratitude will flow.

Rebecca, thank you for sharing your story, insight, and passion.  What a wonderful inspiration for us all!

Check out these links to learn more:

Angkor Wat – Cambodia

Arbor Rising – US non-profit grant-making organization

Ayers Rock – Australia

Bagan, Myanmar – UNESCO, YouTube video

U.S. Department of State – Passport application information