BONUS: How Traveling Alone Can Spark Self-Discovery
Therapy for Black Girls
iHeartPodcasts and Joy Harden Bradford, Ph.D.
4.8 • 5.7K Ratings
🗓️ 9 October 2025
⏱️ 10 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Seeing the world as a solo traveler pushes you to show up in a way only you can, as your most authentic self. And while the experience can be daunting, it welcomes opportunities for self-exploration and discovery. To be pushed out of your comfort zone in a place that’s not your home is a gift filled with moments that are sure to sharpen and evolve your mental health.
In new and unfamiliar environments, you’re forced to rely on your instincts, make decisions independently, and answer the question, “What do I want?” The clarity that comes with being alone in the noise of a new city is the kind of clarity that can be hard to find in the busyness of our day-to-day lives. It’s in those quiet moments that can reveal new parts of ourselves.
This is the final episode in our series of bonus episodes, presented by our partners at Chase Sapphire Reserve, focusing on travel, mental health, and the power of putting joy at the center of your life. We hope you've enjoyed them.
About the Podcast
The Therapy for Black Girls Podcast is a weekly conversation with Dr. Joy Harden Bradford, a licensed Psychologist in Atlanta, Georgia, about all things mental health, personal development, and all the small decisions we can make to become the best possible versions of ourselves.
Resources & Announcements
Did you know you can leave us a voice note with your questions for the podcast? If you have a question you'd like some feedback on, topics you'd like to hear covered, or want to suggest movies or books for us to review, drop us a message at memo.fm/therapyforblackgirls and let us know what’s on your mind. We just might share it on the podcast.
Grab your copy of Sisterhood Heals and take the quiz to find our what role you play in your friend circle.
Stay Connected
Join us in over on Patreon where we're building community through our chats, connecting at Sunday Night Check-Ins, and soaking in the wisdom from exclusive series like Ask Dr. Joy and So, My Therapist Said.
Is there a topic you'd like covered on the podcast? Submit it at therapyforblackgirls.com/mailbox.
If you're looking for a therapist in your area, check out the directory at https://www.therapyforblackgirls.com/directory.
Grab your copy of our guided affirmation and other TBG Merch at therapyforblackgirls.com/shop.
The hashtag for the podcast is #TBGinSession.
Make sure to follow us on social media:
Twitter: @therapy4bgirls
Instagram: @therapyforblackgirls
Facebook: @therapyforblackgirls
Our Production Team
Executive Producers: Dennison Bradford & Maya Cole Howard
Director of Podcast & Digital Content: Ellice Ellis
Producers: Tyree Rush & Ndeye Thioubou
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hey y'all, it's Dr. Joy, host of the Therapy for Black Girls podcast. |
| 0:10.2 | Traveling and seeing new parts of the world can do a lot for your mental well-being. |
| 0:14.6 | But traveling alone can also reveal parts of yourself that you might not have known were in you. |
| 0:20.0 | It pushes you out of your comfort zone, |
| 0:22.5 | teaches you to trust your instincts, and allows you to truly answer the question, what do I want? |
| 0:29.3 | In this final installment of our travel mini-series brought to you by Chase Sapphire Reserve, |
| 0:35.3 | we're discussing how exploring the world solo can transform the way you see yourself. |
| 0:51.8 | So when I think about solo travel, I often think about our guests from session 288 of the podcast, Jessica Nambongo, who is the author of the beautiful book, Catch Me If You Can, and has traveled all around the world. We talked about setting intentions for travel. Because I think sometimes we think about travel and we're like, oh, okay, |
| 1:12.2 | I can go to this place, I can go to that place. But how often are we intentional about what we want to |
| 1:18.3 | do and how we want to feel when we travel? I talked recently about my experience of going to |
| 1:24.1 | unrivaled in Miami for their inaugural season at the beginning of this year. |
| 1:28.6 | And it was the first solo trip I had taken that was purely pleasure. |
| 1:33.3 | Like I often travel solo for speaking engagements and like work stuff. |
| 1:37.3 | That was the first time I had actually traveled by myself purely for pleasure, for fun things. |
| 1:42.4 | And so I think that solo travel is one of the best ways to actually increase confidence. |
| 1:50.3 | It is why one of the only regrets I think I have about undergrad is that I did not study abroad. |
| 1:56.4 | Because I think that study abroad and solo travel, especially when you are younger in your life, |
| 2:02.3 | really sets you up for just seeing the world in a very different way and also being connected to |
| 2:08.9 | yourself and your confidence and your strength in a very different way. |
| 2:12.5 | And so I think that there are very few other ways that you can gain the kind of confidence you can |
| 2:18.7 | that you can do when you are traveling solo. |
| 2:22.3 | And it doesn't have to be far, right? |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from iHeartPodcasts and Joy Harden Bradford, Ph.D., and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of iHeartPodcasts and Joy Harden Bradford, Ph.D. and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.