A Champion Finds EudaiMOMia

     I founded Champion Travel in May 2021 after burnout from a 20-year career in social services and education. A career, where I made a living giving my all helping others less fortunate. My husband and I were living our best life. Traveling every spring and summer with road trips sprinkled in between to give ourselves much needed space from our demanding work lives. I thought I had work-life balance down to a science. Life was a whirlwind, but we were chugging along making the best of it and I was surprisingly maintaining my sanity. Then in March of 2020, while my husband and I were on a private getaway, COVID-19 began to shut down the world. We made it back to the states in time to receive our temporary quarantine instructions but then shortly thereafter, life changed as we knew it. Overnight, just like many others, I became a stay-at-home mom, a preschool teacher, an elementary school teacher, the home IT department, activities director, gourmet chef, emergency preparedness coordinator, and in-home nurse all while working 50-60 hours per week in social services. Helping foster families and my employees figure out this new way of life, just as I was doing, on the fly. 

     I was able to maintain for approximately one year and then it hit me…burnout. Burning out IS REAL and the intensity in which it hit me, let me know that I had been flirting with this danger for quite some time. The moment I realized that I physically and mentally had nothing left to give hurt. Burnout for me was hard to deal with and I went into a depression. My family suffered, my heart broke and I realized that I desperately needed to make a change. Making the decision to leave a field that I had given my blood, sweat and tears to for the last 20 years will always be one of the most arduous personal life decisions that I have had to make. Getting burned out is disheartening and it is a tough thing to work through when you have devoted your life caring for others. Who knew that throwing in a global pandemic, lockdown, political unrest, and a few social injustices would push me over the edge? Life had finally taken its toll on my mental health, and I was not sure that I could take much more. It was shortly after that my husband and I decided that quitting my job would be in our family's best interest. I then joined forty-seven million of my closest friends and became part of the Great Resignation in search of something better. 

     Just like everyone else, I was in search of something different and more enjoyable. Once I had the opportunity to clear my head and my heart, I looked to something that has always bubbled up excitement in me ever since I could remember, travel! Some of my fondest memories are traveling with my girlfriends, laying out on the beach, and sipping on refreshingly cold frozen drinks. Traveling with my girlfriends always provided a type of autonomous adventure. Once I became a mother and even more demands were placed on me, I realized the importance of these trips even more. Not because I wanted to be away from my family but because I was so dedicated to my family that I would neglect my own needs to ensure their needs were met. I am far from being a martyr but the time to relax, recharge and give myself the space to take care of my own needs, uninterrupted, can feel amazingly uplifting. This can initially sound and feel selfish at first but there is nothing selfish about selfcare. Others that may not understand the plight of a caregiver may find this self-centered. However, autonomous travel with a group of like-minded females is the best way to feel heard and seen with nonjudgmental eyes. To be validated by peers that also understand the need for solitude and self-preservation gives you a renewed sense of self confidence. This feeling describes the purpose behind EudaiMOMia, where women can flourish! 

     I must admit that opening a travel business during a global pandemic seemed a bit ambitious, but I saw it as an opportunity to grow outside of my comfort zone and face a brand-new challenge. Knowing how much travel means to me, I knew the decline wasn't going to last long. I suspected that once the pandemic was over and restrictions relaxed that the travel industry would bounce back stronger than ever. I believed that the global restrictions on travel would not only increase the desire to travel but also open a new market of travelers, EudaiMOMian travelers. A new market of travelers who were afraid that they had almost let their life slip by uninspired with the idea of YOLO being just another fad that passed by unengaged. This EudaiMOMian traveler will take their perceived missed opportunities and turn them into lifechanging experiences. These travelers are looking for sisterhood, enlightenment, history, and excitement. They embody the meaning of EudaiMOMia and embrace the opportunity to feel whole, heard, and celebrated. A chance to show off the champion within yourself and celebrate all that you have become. Safe EudaiMOMian Travels and I’ll see you out there!

Tonya Davis

Professional Travel Management

Manager of Champion Travel, LLC