I was in a conversation the other day, and someone mentioned The Wizard of Oz — one of my all-time favourite films. And just like that, I said, “Oh, I wish I had those ruby red slippers so I could click my heels and be wherever I want to be.”

It made me laugh, but it also made me think — because actually, we do have something like that now, don’t we?

Thirty or forty years ago, travel felt like a far-off dream for many of us. It was expensive, it was complicated, and the world didn’t feel quite as open. In fact, the world was a completely different place — getting visas was more difficult, and your options were far more limited.

But now? Now we carry our own kind of ruby red slippers in our pockets. One click on a phone, one moment of courage, and suddenly — we’re off.

Across continents. Into cultures we’ve never known. Facing the unknown with wide eyes and an open heart. While you can now see more on social media, it doesn’t — and can’t — replace the impact of real-life experience: travelling, living, and being in another culture and country.

Travel today is magic. Not because it’s perfect, but because it’s possible. And that possibility changes everything.

Clicking Into New Worlds

We can step off a plane and within hours find ourselves in a place where the language, the smells, the food, the rhythm — everything — is different. And there’s something so incredibly beautiful and powerful about that.

The way we shift. The way we soften as we relax into new surroundings. The way we become a little more humble, a little more curious, and a whole lot more alive.

I spoke the other day of childhood memories and that wide-eyed inquisitiveness we had. Travel brings that back. Suddenly, the everyday becomes extraordinary. Even something as simple as a bus journey feels novel, fun, full of surprises.

One of my favourite things to do is head to the food and produce markets, supermarkets, fruit stalls — I love seeing what’s on offer. I want to taste the difference. To pay attention.

Before I travel, I always read up on the local history, food, even maps. I want to understand. To connect. To move through the place, not just over it. I try to get some simple phrases into my head, then practice them — most likely incorrectly — but it doesn’t matter, because I am seeking out connection to another human in their language. Last time in Rome, I tested out some small phrases in a new language. It felt different — the sounds of the words — but I loved it! I like to seek out local foods, and last time while there I found out about an incredible street food called a Trapizzino, and hunted down the relaxed little shop that served it. I sat up at the bar with locals having an Aperol Spritz. Bliss. Those ruby red slippers had me sitting there, big smile on my face!

Learning By Living

I’ve stood at intersections in Tokyo, jumped the gun, and watched a crowd follow my lead too soon. I’ve jaywalked in America without realising it was illegal, and got told off by a cop. I’ve been taught that to eat with my left hand in India is impolite (go read up why...) and been told that to point my feet the wrong way, at people and NEVER at the Buddha, in Thailand would cause offence.

These moments stick.

They humble us. They make us pay attention. They teach us that there are other ways to live, to be, to connect.

Travel isn’t just an external journey — it’s an internal one. It’s how we strip back the layers, notice what no longer fits, and discover new ways to live with more awareness and purpose. This is transformational travel in its truest form.

It’s not about escaping. It’s about awakening.

Why We Need to Step Outside the Bubble

Every time I travel, I learn something about me.

Not just about where I’m going, but about where I’ve come from — and who I want to be next.

In Sri Lanka, I took a five-hour bus journey with no air con, music pumping from the get-go at 6am (I learnt not to sit near the speaker next time), a parade of onboard salespeople and entertainers — a magician, a singer, food vendors, and even a minor incident with a rickshaw. Everyone got off the bus. No shouting. No stress. All resolved. And on we went.

These experiences are the magic that brings growth.

Because the comfort zone isn’t just a physical place. It’s a mindset. It’s a script we’ve followed without question. Same routine day after day. And when we step outside of it, even briefly, we make space to ask:

Why do I do it that way? Do I still want to?

From Teen Spirit to Midlife Rebellion

When I was a teenager, I went backpacking to break free. That was my first rite of passage.

Now, in midlife, I’ve come full circle.

This shift into midlife — with menopause — has moved something in me. Not just physically, but emotionally and spiritually. It’s like adolescence all over again, but wiser.
A time of reckoning. Releasing. Returning to self.

Travel has become my portal again. Not to escape, but to become — on a personal journey of transformation.

To become more curious. More conscious. More alive. More me.

We don’t talk about midlife and menopause as a rite of passage. We talk about ageing, invisibility, symptoms, and decline. But there is such power in this moment. Permission. Possibility. A second becoming.

The chance to click your heels — not to go home, but to create a new one. One that fits.

The Real Magic

I grew up surrounded by stories. My mum worked in a psychiatric hospital filled with staff from all over the world. I heard different languages, tasted unfamiliar food, learned that there were countless ways to be human.

That belief never left me.

Travel is how I honour it.

And now, in midlife, it’s how I honour myself.

So yes — maybe I do have ruby red slippers.
And maybe you do too.

Click Your Heels. Choose Yourself.

You don’t need anyone’s permission. This is your rite of passage. Your moment for midlife empowerment, self-discovery, and purposeful living.

Click your heels. Choose yourself. And start the journey that changes everything.

Ready to travel with purpose?

Join my newsletter Letters from a Midlife Butterfly launching August 4, and step into a global community of women ready to rediscover themselves through transformational travel.

Let’s rewrite what it means to be midlife.
Click your heels. Let’s go.