The First Tour
~or: the story of what saved a plucky little women’s travel company owner from utter despair
A candid of me, by Meredith Meads (who knows I hate to have my picture taken, but still secretly want them taken)
My name is Jocelyn and I started this plucky little women's travel company in 2020, which went about as well as you’d expect.
We relaunched after that first wave of COVID lockdowns, and then sadly had to cancel it all, all over again, when omicron reared its ugly head.
I picked myself up, redesigned all-new tours, and relaunched (again)
And after well over two years worth of hard work,
This last May was (FINALLY) our very first trip!
**This is why when you go to look for reviews there are so few. We are BRAND NEW but somehow also 2 years old
And I’ll be honest, after those two first failed attempts to launch, I was feeling extremely defeated. And tired, of retooling the website, of canceling on suppliers, of having to let people know we couldn’t go on the trip of their dreams.
I was very close to throwing in the towel.
Who decides to push through a global pandemic (TWICE) to launch an international women's travel and tour company?
This girl, apparently.
So our first Morocco women's group tour was really going to be my make-or-break moment. I was feeling deflated and had lost a lot of my normally very high levels of optimism.
But Morocco was an absolute dream. I enjoyed damn near every moment.
The third try actually was the charm.
And I have to say, it wasn’t Morocco that turned me right side around.
It was the 8 women who, through what I believe to be a magical and perfect confluence of circumstance, wound up with me on our little bus rambling all over mountains and deserts and medinas and oases, with our perfect and angelic Berber driver Yousseff.
Morocco is amazing, it will always be amazing.
But this little women’s travel company would not be here today if it weren’t for the absolute joy and hilarity
and community
and authentic connection
these women brought and built together.
I was and am, still so humbled and grateful for every single one of them.
I was ready to make our first trip my last trip.
And by the end of those 12 days, my mind was completely shifted and my passion for travel and making space for women to just be themselves was fully restored and brightened.
Shiny as new.
I don’t how I got so lucky.
Melissa and her Gen Z daughter Raegan, who have the exact dynamic you want to see in a mother who loves her daughter endlessly and a daughter who gets frustrated with her constantly in the cutest most hilarious ways possible.
Literally exactly like my own 20-year-old daughter. It was actually very comforting for me personally. Felt like home, you know?
Melissa and Raegan
Raegan and friends
Regan obviously was the baby of the group, and the rest of us were perfectly at home babying her, but in a cool aunt kind of way.
She tolerated us graciously.
We will root for her for probably the rest of our lives. Our girl recently got accepted to a master's program at Kings College in London and all of us could not be prouder.
And Melissa too, she’s the epitome of the fun wine mom. Always down for a good time. And how incredible to take your daughter on a girl's trip to Morocco. Possibly the best mom ever, right Regan??
We had two Merediths, which is rare and special in a cosmos aligning type of way. Both were gen Xers
One is an old friend of mine from our teen years in Portsmouth, NH. She’s lived in LA for over a decade and is about to move to Paris and I’d seen her maybe twice in the last 15 years.
But we fell back instantly as if we’d lost no time.
American Meredith
Meredith is extremely particular about other people. Which is a nice way of saying she’s pretty judgemental and does not suffer fools. She was expecting to just have a nice trip with me and probably interact as little as possible.
The EXACT opposite happened, and no one was more shocked than Meredith at how much she genuinely connected with literally every woman in this group. I was second-most shocked to be honest. For this girl to hang with a group of women this size and absolutely adore everyone in it, was nothing short of miraculous.
These are women from all walks of life by the way, A long time gig worker, a nurse, a tech worker, a daycare owner, a student, a non-prof development wizard, a corporate leadership coach (who we are still secretly convinced may have actually been a spy or special agent), and coincidentally a manager at Expedia. And me, a classically trained painter and women’s club founder
2 From California, 1 from Texas, 1 from Toronto, 1 from Virginia, 1 from Mexico City, 2 from Arizona, and me, from New Hampshire
Ranging in ages 21-46
Canadian Meredith
Canadian Meredith had eerily similar tastes in music to American Meredith, we’re talking low-key obscure 90’s punk rock vibes. Not super common. And always a delight from an impeccably well-put-together professional businesswoman. Canadian Meredith, I mean, Not American Meredith. American Meredith basically lives in a Cramps t-shirt from the 90’s.
For all her perfect outward appearance, Canadian Meredith had the driest humor, (my fave) but interspersed with the most ridiculous dad jokes and puns. And her photography is stunning. She presents like a perfect angel but swears like a trucker and drinks like a sailor and I literally want her on every tour forever. Bless this Canadian.
Naomi!
Naomi was Blonde Meredith’s roommate for the journey, and they were a perfect pair. Naomi is quieter and I think deeply considered in how she expresses her thoughts and feelings. She is a very soothing presence actually, which makes sense with her reiki training. She is so calm all the time, but when I look back through the photos she is the one with the hugest smile on her face nearly always. And that’s Naomi, serene on the outside, and absolutely beaming from the inside.
Carmen and kitten
Carmen is our wild card. There is always one wild card. Carmen has very serious energy. It’s a bit hard to describe. Like she would be a very strict teacher or a highly trained assassin. Either way, Never a single hair out of place. Carmen also was the biggest softie. She rescued two kittens from certain death. One of whom she nursed back to health herself for a couple of days in her hotel room, before rehoming her. And the other she managed to get into care mere hours before her flight took off. She may be a spy for the Mexican government but she also leaves no cat behind, and we have to respect that energy.
Suzanne of the House of Snack
Suzanne is my fellow ginger from Virginia. She tells the Absolute best stories, and has a deep and abiding emotional range for every single last wonder of the world. Our very own Pollyanna, who lives for snacks and lives to share them. Which, frankly on a driving intensive tour like Morocco, is vital to everyone's mood and well-being. She also stages all of our group photos and taught us how to pose. Life tips I didn't know I needed, but most definitely do.
Her enthusiasm for literally everything is unparalleled, and if bottled, could fuel several vehicles while emitting no carbon, only rainbows.
Sahara Rachel
And lastly, our Rachel Baby. A nurse from California, Suzanne's roommate for the journey, and a Moroccan 10. Rachel bought her spot so last minute I was deeply curious and a little worried at what kind of individual buys a tour at the 11th hour. Turns out she’s hilarious and brilliant and great in every single way, she just paradoxically plans ahead to impulse shop, so phew. Dodged a bullet there. Rachel and all of these women truly felt like kindred.
In Chefchaouen :: after Suzanne showed us how to pose
I know I got lucky with this first cohort. Their personalities blended seamlessly. They were kind to each other, and themselves, and to the people around them, and quite literally to all the creatures great and small.
We tried to figure out what it was, because we all felt lucky. We felt is was truly remarkable how well and genuinely everyone connected on this womens tour.
Especially after our riad host in Marrakech told us some absolute horror stories of group tours gone bad.
It was certainly that these women were all amazing.
Also, I think there’s a lot to be said for introverts. I think they are almost always authentically themselves, and in their authenticity create space for others to reciprocate in their own unique authenticity.
They may be slower to open up, but that’s just less time wasted on senseless small talk. It’s the ability to allow space for comfortable silence. To allow space for seeing, and space for being. It’s the expansiveness within, that allows for the joyful participation in the expansiveness without.
And maybe there's something to be said for magic and coincidence. The kind of magic that called these 8 women from separate corners of the globe
to all hit that same “Book It” button
on one plucky little women’s travel company’s website.
A company with no reviews, no reputation,
just brand new, with big dreams, and a new concept for what women's tours should look like. Designed for introverts who want to experience the world.
Without those 8 women (and the most amazingly patient and hilarious Berber driver ever),
I would not be here today, selling more tours,
and so excited to meet more amazing women
to take them on the journey of a lifetime,
And to make true and genuine connections.
Here’s to believing in magic,
and to the expansiveness within.
May it create joy in all the eternal expansiveness without.
