At 19, Trista left Canada alone after a friend cancelled their plans to backpack around Europe. She had already decided she wanted to live abroad, but she had no idea where that first trip would lead.
Over the next 20 years, she travelled to 78 countries and built a career in humanitarian aid, working in places including Guatemala, Sri Lanka, Angola, Iraq, Yemen, and Lebanon. Her experiences exposed her to war, displacement, natural disasters, and the resilience of people living through unimaginable circumstances.
In this episode of TravelHER, Trista talks about travelling alone, building resilience, starting again at 53, and questioning the idea that happiness is waiting for you somewhere else. She also shares why fear doesn’t have to stop you, why there is no deadline for creating a different life, and what she has learned from decades of living abroad.
