WHAT INSPIRED ME TO START PLAY IT FORWARD ADVENTURES?
The most frequently asked question I get is: “what inspired you to start PLAY it Forward Adventures?” The answer is never an easy one so I’ll try to sum it up in a page.
The short answer… I was inspired by my own travel experiences and wanted to bring safe, all-encompassing travel experiences to people who’d never left our country. In addition to this, I wanted to be my own boss, move at light speed without approval from others, and put my undying energy into something meaningful I loved.
The long answer…. PLAY it Forward Adventures is really a culmination of many life experiences, beginning with my third grade bike rides to learn German at a nearby elementary school. I’ve always been fascinated by other cultures. Curiosity about how people dress, dance, talk, eat, celebrate and LIVE in a world other than my own has always intrigued me.
My world opened up around age 12 when my dance group went to Russia to perform in front of children and foreign audiences. It continued to expand during my teens when I organized trips with friends to domestic and international destinations throughout our high school years. Studying abroad in Scotland for a semester opened my eyes to the European part of our world as I explored the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, France and Austria. Upon my return I’d hang around the study abroad office exploring how I might become the coordinator who brings mind-expanding-experiences to students across the nation.
A trip to Venezuela in my early 20’s brought a shift to my outlook on travel as I’d previously known it. Witnessing the devastating effects of poverty and leprosy on communities in Maracaibo stuck with me for years to follow and I’d ask myself: “Now that I’ve seen what I’ve seen, what can I do to help?” I wasn’t okay with knowing others were living in huts, suffering from extreme poverty and ailing from diseases with no immediate access to medical care. That experience felt like my first brush with death when I saw so many suffering and living in a mode of survival that I’d never known in the United States. To this day I can’t wrap my head around: “How was I born into America and they were born into this?”
In my mid 20’s I set out to find host families for foreign exchange students desiring an American experience during their junior or senior year. Finding families was no easy feat living in the upper Midwest so I only successfully placed the two beautiful Maria’s: Maria from Germany moved to Rogers, MN and Maria from Venezuela moved into Bloomington with a friend. To this day I am proud to announce that Maria from Germany is still connected with her host parents, Gary and Jill, both families traveling back and forth for visits over the past 10 years. To bridge the gap between two foreign families who’ll be connected for a lifetime is one of my proudest accomplishments to date.
In 2006 is when I decided to make my calling into a business. With the help of my amazing coach, Amy Applebaum, I was able to design my life around the things I’m most passionate about: adventure travel, volunteer vacationing and connecting people across all borders. Though I’d never claim the journey has been easy, there’s something to be said for being “on purpose”, the “law of attraction” and following your heart. As soon as I identified my calling and put my plans into action, everything else fell in to place serendipitously.
So when people ask, “What inspired you to start PLAY it Forward Adventures?” To give the short answer is unfair to the long answer I credit for getting me here. My quest with PLAY it Forward is more of a calling than a creation, a journey of life not a destination or planned venture. Its birth is a result of people, places and experiences that have inspired me to dedicate my life to serving others through adventure travel and volunteering abroad… a concept that lives in my heart, not on a piece of paper.
To those embarking on a business venture of their own, I’ll give you the first bit of advice my coach ever gave me. “Pick a business that you’re passionate about because you’ll have to live it and breathe it daily.” Two years into my budding business I can attest to that truth.
And in the inspiring words of Hendry David Thoreau, engraved on a bracelet I’ve worn for seven years, “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you’ve imagined.”
Jodi Nelson
PLAY it Forward Adventures
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