Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast Next Chapter, Anywhere - Field Notes on Culture, Travel, and Starting Again

NIna and I talk about what we've learned the last six months and whether or not we think we're on the edge, or on the edge of success!

What if the path you chose is the wrong one? And how long are you willing to sit with uncertainty before deciding it is not working?

In this episode, Nina and Cynthia have an honest conversation about the fears that surface when you leave a familiar career and try to build something of your own. Cynthia shares her fear that she may be investing her time, energy, and money in the wrong direction, while Nina reflects on the fear that drives many of her choices: reaching the end of life and realizing she never fully believed in herself or tried.

They talk about the discomfort of slow progress, comparing yourself to other businesses online, missing the confidence and financial security of a former identity, and learning to recognize success before it looks the way you expected.

This conversation is part business reality check, part identity crisis, and part accidental therapy session between two women building their next chapters in real time.

What fear is shaping the decisions you are making right now?

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 unsolicited advice, and explaining your work to people who only understand a traditional 9-to-5. We also get honest about the peaks and valleys of chasing a dream before the success is fully visible.

For the entrepreneurs, creatives, career changers, and anyone in the messy middle: we see you.

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 and resistance can feel harder than the action itself. They compare being pushed into change versus choosing it, explore doubts about being on the right path, and debate failure, pivoting, and how to define success as entrepreneurs. They emphasize living in the present, listening to intuition, surrounding yourself with supportive people, and remembering past resilience, while looking ahead to travel plans, taking the podcast on the road, and future retreats.

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 really about what happens when you slow down enough to actually be somewhere. The woman at the vineyard who moved people to tears talking about springtime. The conversation at the long table that nobody wanted to end. The moments that don't photograph well but stay with you for years.

We talk about what worked, what we would do differently, and why "Instagram is inspirational, not aspirational" should be on a t-shirt. We also get into the pressure to perform the perfect trip versus the deeper thing people are actually hungry for when they travel.

If you have ever looked at someone's travel feed and thought, I want that feeling, this episode is for you.

Next Chapter Anywhere is hosted by Cynthia of Sojourn & Soirée and Antonina of EMBODY by Antonina.

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 on how travel strips away your usual context, and what happens when you are no longer defined by your role, your title, or your routine.

A conversation about perspective, discomfort, and the quiet ways travel changes how you see the world and yourself.

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.

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 join the Foreign Service after meeting a diplomat. Nina reflects on traveling to Poland with her mother, connecting with her heritage through Krakow and Warsaw, visiting Auschwitz, and experiencing unexpected hospitality from locals they met on a train, which reinforced the idea that being open to human connection creates meaningful experiences. They invite listeners to share trips that changed them and to follow along for future conversations and travel.

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

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