Travel and Personal Growth: Niki Rakowitz of CARE Travel On Why & How Traveling Can Help Us Become Better Human Beings

An interview with Maria Angelova

Journal of your travels. Write about your day, and your experience that day. Be detailed and try to incorporate the 5 senses about your day (sights, sounds, scents, touch, tastes). You will be so impressed in a year when you go back and read through your journeys.

Thankfully, the world is open for travel once again. Traveling can broaden our horizons and make space for people to become more open-minded. How can travel give us the opportunity for personal growth? What are some ways that travel can help us become better human beings? As a part of our series about “How Traveling Can Help Us Become Better Human Beings”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Niki Rakowitz, Certified Travel Industry Executive and owner of CARE Travel.

As the owner and visionary of CARE Travel, Niki Rakowitz is devoted to making travel a transformative experience for all. With over 20 years of experience, Niki’s passion and expertise shine through in every personalized trip she designs. As a certified Travel Industry Executive (CTIE) and a Travel Counselor (CTC), Niki understands that true luxury goes beyond pampering and involves crafting unforgettable experiences. Niki’s impact transcends travel as she’s committed to empowering women in business. She shares her inspiring journey of entrepreneurship, guiding her mentees to surpass their dreams.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive into the main focus of our interview, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood backstory?

I was raised by my grandparents from the age of four years old, because of many medical issues that included asthma and being severely underweight — yes, you read that right — underweight! If you know me today, you will never believe that for most of my life, I was on diets to GAIN weight! As a teenager, the medical issues continued and even got worse. At about age 17, during my sophomore year of high school, I was diagnosed with a very rare bone disorder called Camurati Engelmann’s Disease (CED for short). Lucky me, there are only about 300 cases in the WORLD, it is that rare! Learning to navigate my life with medical challenges, and a condition that no one really knows or understands, is hard both mentally and physically. One that has not been an easy road for me. Depression, anxiety, and fear haunt me often, however I fight daily to focus on the positive in my life and all the things I can do.

What or who inspired you to pursue your career? We’d love to hear the story.

I have always cherished the memories that I have from my childhood vacations with my grandparents. I believe that these vacations created a “travel bug” in me from a very young age…this travel bug along with my passion of helping others has been my vision since I was about 12 years old! To date, my biggest accomplishments as well as my biggest struggles come from being a business owner.

None of us can achieve success without some help along the way. Was there a particular person who you feel gave you the most help or encouragement to be who you are today? Can you share a story about that?

This one is difficult for me, as I feel all my drive and motivation has come from my personal mentality. While my friends offered the most support, always encouraging me to do what made me happy. No one, from family to friends thought I could make it in travel, while they supported me, it would not have called it encouragement. It did not come until the past few years, when I found that encouragement I longed for when I was starting out. Now I feel like I have some of the most amazing supporters and cheerleaders on my team. Maybe this is why my hearts passion is so strong to be there to cheer on others in their dreams.

It has been said that sometimes our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share the funniest or most interesting mistake that occurred to you in the course of your career? What lesson or takeaway did you learn from that?

So many mistakes, and lessons learned that have helped me grow! I would say that one of my personal mistakes was (and sometimes still is) trusting others wholeheartedly until proven otherwise. I feel I need to work harder at the concept trust is earned before given. I have trusted a lot of people only to be taken advantage of. Don’t get me wrong I do NOT feel my overly kind heart is a mistake, I simply need to have better boundaries established.

Can you share your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Why does that resonate with you so much?

“The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page” Saint Augustine

This one is deep for me, as the more I travel the more I feel this. The world is so big, with such a vast array of cultures, history, stories, and personalities. I find if I never had these travels where I am immersed in different cultures and history, I would not be as open minded and inspired to always learn more with an open heart, without these experiences.

What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? How do you think that might help people?

Elevate — Piloting your own Journey Retreat is my passion project! This is a women’s business owners retreat where we come together to share our struggles (business and personal) as I feel women face different challenges than men, and women need the connections and support. Learning to find our passion and definition of success in life is different for each of us. And I want to help women navigate this journey with a cheerleading team behind them. While this vision has been pushed off until 2025, it is going to be epic.

OK, thank you for all of that. Let’s now shift to the core focus of our interview about travel and personal growth. Let’s dive deeper into these together. Based on your research or personal experience, why do you think travel can lead to personal growth? Can you share a story?

While it is proven that travel enhances our personal growth, I have a personal story to share. Back in 2006, when my husband and I were getting remarried (a story in itself for another time lol) in Jamaica, we had a butler level room to be pampered for our special day. Our Butler was amazing, Dwayne was not only kind and took amazing care of us, but he was also personable, and we grew to love him through our connection. When my husband and I came back to Jamaica from a different resort, Dwayne was there — fate, I believe. However, this time we got to meet his family, so we left the resort to experience Jamaica as the locals do. It was so amazing to see and feel the culture and love of Jamaica. We are so connected to Jamaica that Dwayne asked us to be godparents to his daughter! Talk about an honor and a connection to a different culture.

A recent survey from Psychology Today showed that over 80% of participants found that travel helped them with problem-solving or decision-making. Why do you think this is true for so many people?

Our lives become so chaotic and routine, doing what we have to do to get by day after day. Escaping that routine and having a change of scenery, cleans the clutter and cobwebs of our day to day, allowing new ideas to flow in and change our perspective. When your perspective changes you see things that you have previously taken for granted. When you see the same things every day, you tend to become blind to what’s right in front of you. But when we change your environment, when you travel — we suddenly become more aware of what once seemed ordinary.

Do you think travel enhances our mindfulness, optimism, or sense of gratitude? How? Can you please explain with an example or story?

Yes yes yes! When we travel, we come face-to-face with people who are totally different from us in how they talk, what they eat, what’s important to them, even down to something as basic as whether you wear shoes indoors. Without travel, we are isolated from these eye-opening experiences and we’re less likely to develop understanding and empathy for others. We might not even realize what we don’t know until we are confronted with something new.

Surely not everyone who travels automatically becomes an exemplar of human decency. What are a few reasons why some people completely miss out on the growth opportunities that travel can offer?

Some people travel to “say they have traveled”, versus traveling with the realization that their vacation is about the actual experiences. Anyone can travel to a “beach” in the Caribbean, this does not mean those people will come home connected to the growth of travel. However, if your taking a beach vacation in the Caribbean, and you step outside the hotel/resort/villa and visit a local town for a dining experience… you will have a different perspective of that destination.

Thank you for that. Now for our main question; What are your “5 Habits You Should Develop In Order Make Travel Into An Opportunity For Personal Growth?”

Oh I love this question! Some of the best travel habits I recommend if you are looking for personal growth:

1. Journal of your travels. Write about your day, and your experience that day. Be detailed and try to incorporate the 5 senses about your day (sights, sounds, scents, touch, tastes). You will be so impressed in a year when you go back and read through your journeys.

2. Slow Down — Slow down your days, we are so used to being on the go go go. Take a deep breath and sit where you are and observe. You will find so many aspects that you have taken for granted. Something as sitting quietly on the beach at sunrise or sunset, feeling grounded as you watch the world wake up (or go to sleep).

3. Give Back in Destination — This can be as simple as taking some school supplies with you in a backpack to share with a local school. Or you can do more hands-on activities such as reading to children, helping animal shelters walk animals, orphanages with clothes, working in communities building houses. There is a plethora of give-back opportunities that fit all personalities. I always travel with a new school backpack filled with school supplies and ask for it to be donated to a local school. When I have more time, I always try to find a way to get more hands-on supporting women and children’s needs.

4.Spread Kindness — This is so simple and for some reason when we travel we tend to lose this skill. Be kind, smile as someone, help lift a bag for someone, say hello. Your small act of kindness could change someone’s day. Have you ever stopped to think about the airline gate agents, who are getting yelled at because a flight is delayed or canceled? They have no control over this however they have to take the “heat” of the upset travelers. Simply share a smile and tell you appreciate their hard work during this difficult time, can go a long way. One of my personal favorite things to do is write 10 kindness cards before I travel, a note card saying thank you for all your hard work. And sometimes I even buy a family bag of fun size M&M’s to share with others (make sure it is a pre-wrapped snack). Simple and kind gesture!

5. Give positive Feedback — When you return from travels (or anywhere really) take 10 minutes to go online and leave a positive review for someone who impacted your experience. Feedback is free and can help others grow based on your shared story. I try to leave 5 business reviews each week. I do this on Fridays right before I go to lunch. I like to think about my week and who made it better and leave a review for them. People are more apt to complain than compliment, so try to make an effort to share those good experiences too.

From your experience, does travel have a negative impact on personal growth too? Is there a downside to travel?

There is always a negative to anything when done excessively. For travel some of the negative aspects can be time away from family, physical and mental exhaustion, and environmental effects. For some people travel comes with a high level of anxiety and stress. Learning to prepare and navigate these issues can help alleviate the negativity of traveling.

We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US, whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we both tag them :-)

My business inspiration and secret mentor is Oprah Winfrey. To share a meal or minute with Mrs Winfrey would be life changing for me. Connecting with someone who understands the true struggles of being a businesswoman with challenges is invaluable. What she has done for schools and girls with her Leadership program in other countries is a level of kindness I hope to one day achieve.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

Social Media:

CARE Travel Instagram — www.instagram.com/caretravel

Niki Rakowitz Instagram — www.instagram.com/journeytocare

CARE Travel Facebook — www.facebook.com/caretravelmemories

Personal Facebook — www.facebook.com/nikirakowitz

Linked In — www.linkedin.com/caretravel

Thank you for these really excellent insights, and we greatly appreciate the time you spent on this. We wish you continued success.

Thank you for this amazing opportunity to work with you.

About The Interviewer: Maria Angelova, MBA is a disruptor, author, motivational speaker, body-mind expert, Pilates teacher and founder and CEO of Rebellious Intl. As a disruptor, Maria is on a mission to change the face of the wellness industry by shifting the self-care mindset for consumers and providers alike. As a mind-body coach, Maria’s superpower is alignment which helps clients create a strong body and a calm mind so they can live a life of freedom, happiness and fulfillment. Prior to founding Rebellious Intl, Maria was a Finance Director and a professional with 17+ years of progressive corporate experience in the Telecommunications, Finance, and Insurance industries. Born in Bulgaria, Maria moved to the United States in 1992. She graduated summa cum laude from both Georgia State University (MBA, Finance) and the University of Georgia (BBA, Finance). Maria’s favorite job is being a mom. Maria enjoys learning, coaching, creating authentic connections, working out, Latin dancing, traveling, and spending time with her tribe. To contact Maria, email her at angelova@rebellious-intl.com. To schedule a free consultation, click here.