Inspiration Spotlight: Taryn Weitzman

Since our inception, Stacy Garcia Inc. has always been about collaboration, inspiration, design and empowerment. After all, our best work is done when we all come together and bring our individual creativity to the table. To amplify our values and shine the light on friends and mentors who have inspired us, we began Inspiration Spotlight.

In the second installment of this series, we’re featuring Taryn Weitzman also known for her travel diaries on Instagram as @hertravelstyle. After 14 years in corporate America, Taryn quit her job, traveled the world, and combined her passions of photography, wellness, storytelling, and learning through travel to found Her Travel Style, a digital space for the self-aware woman who wants to better know and care for herself through travel. Read on for interview with Taryn, and find out why we think she’s so inspiring!  

How would you introduce Her Travel Style? 
Her Travel Style is both a digital space and an attitude.  Its purpose is to support the way each woman wants to travel and inspire her to travel solo at least once.  The idea is that through (solo) travel there's a great opportunity for deep transformation and self-care, allowing us to truly hear ourselves and get out of life what we really want. It is encouraging us to respectfully engage in different cultures and find ways to bring home the ideas of travel into daily life.  

Describe how your adventure started. What inspired that first solo trip? 
My parents had a great passion for travel and my first big adventure was a cross country trip with the family in a motorhome the summer of 6th grade.  Cut to 23 years old and busy in my professional career, I wanted a vacation but grew tired of waiting for friends to be ready to travel out of the country, so I booked one of those last-minute all-inclusive deals through Continental Airlines (back before it combined with United) to Montego Bay, Jamaica.  I remember coming back home and friends not believing I truly went alone. It was very unpopular to travel solo at that age and never mind as a woman. 

Photo courtesy of Taryn Weitzman 

At what point did you decide you wanted to bring us, and thousands of Instagram followers, along for the trip? 
It was June of 2016 to be exact.  Embarrassingly, Her Travel Style used to be called T's Travel Style.  As my travels unfolded I kept feeling awkward about how and what I was sharing of my big trip. At the time I didn't feel comfortable being in the photos either. (I was super uncomfortable with camera equipment and asking strangers to take my picture). As I was meeting more people (namely women) I was hearing more of their stories and goals and I realized I wasn't aligned with what I was the most passionate about from the traveling.  

Whilst sitting in a cafe looking out the window in Oslo, I realized a couple of issues; the first issue was in the name. My traveling wasn't at all about my travel style, but about getting other women excited about doing it too and empowering them to know how and where to do it.  On that day, in June 2016, Her Travel Style was born.  I changed my IG and my web domain while I sat in the cafe.

The second issue arose as I started sharing more photos on social media.  I began getting feedback from people who wanted to see what I was doing in each location and not just what my perspective was. I used it as an encouragement to slowly grow my confidence in using good camera equipment and photographing myself. I eventually became really proud of that new skill and now I never travel without 2 tripods.  I still have all of the old stuff up on IG because I like to look back at the story of the evolution and growth.

Photo courtesy of Taryn Weitzman 

What accomplishments during your journey, both literal traveling, and your journey to embrace wellness and empower women, are you most proud of? 
In terms of literal travel - that I was brave enough to leave corporate America and travel the world solo for over a year and start a business out of it.  June 17, 2021, was my 5 year anniversary of incorporating HTS.  In terms of wellness and empowering women - from Iceland to Bolivia, Antarctica to Switzerland, each experience in every country taught me something valuable about myself, life, relationships, and health.  It was like holding up a magnifying glass to the blindspots in my perspective.  For example, I learned there were many women who wanted to be doing what I was doing, but they didn't know how or weren't advocating for themselves at work or in relationships and I wanted to support more women in finding their true voice and happiness.  In terms of wellness - when I returned home from my big trip absolutely exhausted and inflamed, it sent me on a journey to health and healing, enabling me to discover important food allergies, a better understanding of food as medicine, and how to reduce toxicity from everyday products. I also learned to better advocate for myself and saying no more often.  I am very proud of the lessons learned around boundaries. 

Who inspires you, and why? 
Can I list everyone? LOL So many! Ok - let me give you three... First and foremost I have to start with Mother Nature.  I think of her as a who.  I thank her all the time for what she offers. She inspires my photography, my poetry, my writing in general.  It's what I love to capture the most - water, trees, flowers, animals, bees, spiders, rain, mountains... I'll stop there. Second, my late mother.  She came from nothing and made quite the life for herself despite all the odds.  She is where I learned my sense of hustle, independence, and love of dance.  I'm not into celebrity culture, but from a travel perspective, I have to include Anthony Bourdain.  He was the real deal when it came to travel.  I have so much respect for the way he engaged in every culture he came upon and I especially loved his Parts Unknown episode in Puerto Rico (where my mom was from) that aired in 2017, after the infamous Hurricane Maria. 

Photo courtesy of Taryn Weitzman 

Were there any challenging moments or events that you’ve faced with changing up your career and starting this expedition? What happened, and how did you overcome them?  
I think my biggest challenge was an emotional one...  Facing all the questions and judgment.  "Aren't you scared to be alone? Are you sure you want to break up with your BF? Aren't you afraid of traveling as a woman by yourself? Are you worried about becoming homeless?  What will you do without a steady income? How are you affording this? What are you going to do for work when this is over?  You are entering geriatric pregnancy age - are you sure you don't want to freeze your eggs?"  SO MUCH PROJECTION.  At the time I didn't really understand it and I felt SUPER defensive most of the start of my journey.  I felt as though I had to constantly explain myself to people - especially to those who didn't really know me very well.  From all of the traveling and braving the world alone, I learned I didn't have to take on anyone else's need to categorize me.  I don't do anything in life without total certainty and the start of a plan and that's all I really need in life.  I've always been able to take care of myself and if I can't I have really special friends who will help me.  I discovered that I have killer survival skills and an unconventional way of seeing the world and that is ALL good.  So my greatest challenge was quieting the judgment and monkey brain chatter and keep going my own way. One day I will finally finish the book I've started on this very topic.

What advice do you give to someone looking to start traveling solo for the first time? 
Start with baby steps and where you feel the most confident.  For example, if you've never had dinner in a restaurant by yourself, do that in the town next door.  Take yourself out to the movies by yourself or spend a day at a museum solo.  Make a list of all the things you love to do and bring them with you or look for them wherever you choose to travel for the first time.  Once that feels comfier, pick a place where you speak the same language, don't need a passport, and don't have to convert currency.  For instance, one of my fav places for women to try traveling to solo for the first time is Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA.  It's quiet, picturesque, coastal, easy to get to and walk around, safe, and caters to wellness. Go for a long weekend.  Once that solo weekend in the US feels familiar, try a country or city where English is easier to find.  It can be more chill when trying to get directions, read signs, take public transport, ordering food, converting currency, and going through immigration. If going alone outside of the country for the first time feels a little daunting, consider joining a group trip with a company such as Intrepid and be solo amongst a group of people.  You can make great friends or keep to yourself.  I met one of my best friends on a trip like that in Vietnam. 


Photo courtesy of Taryn Weitzman 

Where is your favorite place to travel to? 
A very popular yet very difficult question! Can I name a place on every continent?  I've been to all seven continents, 69 countries, and all 50 states, so there's A LOT to choose from.  There is a Japanese idiom, Ichi-go ichi-e, that describes the concept of treasuring the unrepeatable nature of a moment. I love so many places and its partially because of what happened while I was there.  And I know those circumstances could never be duplicated - If I went back I would probably have a completely different experience.

I am generally drawn towards the energy of a place - where I feel connected to the land or culture.  My favorite types of places to travel to now are ones with vertical landscapes, sweeping views, epic sunsets, and where the crowds don't exist.  Do I still have to pick only one? ok ok - Right now I would say Antarctica because I get intensely motion-sick on boats and I made it through the Drake Passage twice! But for real, it's an unreal part of the world and I can't believe I was privileged to go there at all.  

Photo courtesy of Taryn Weitzman 

About Taryn Weitzman

Travel Writer, Blogger, Photographer, Digital Marketer