👇🏼 Scroll down for my full story and how I can help you travel and live abroad with clarity and care.
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​Ready to Move with Purpose?​
Explore my signature offerings below:
​🌍 The Mindful Move™ Glossary
​A guide to the language of sustainable travel and moving abroad responsibly.
​$8 | Instant Digital Download​
27 Concepts | 13 Pages​
​✅ Mindful Move™ Checklist
A decision-making framework for moving abroad responsibly​
​$32 | Instant Digital Download ​
117 Prompts | 22 Pages
​📍One-hour General Travel Coaching
Personalized session (40% off with checklist purchase!)
🚀 Dream-to-Departure Coaching Package
4.5-hour deep dive (20% off for the next 25 clients!)
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I received my first passport at just three months old — and I haven’t stopped exploring since. From backpacking through college and studying in the UK and Switzerland, to living long-term in France and conducting research in Kenya and teaching in China, my life has always been shaped by movement, culture, and curiosity.
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I’m a biracial cultural anthropologist and sustainable tourism specialist from the U.S., shaped as much by academic research as by the lived reality of never quite fitting in. Growing up in a predominantly white environment, I was called both the n-word and a honkey. Always out of place in the U.S., I found acceptance and belonging abroad — travel became my home — a place where difference was met with curiosity rather than suspicion. That tension — of not belonging anywhere, yet somehow belonging everywhere — still guides me today.
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I’ve now traveled to 40+ countries, and spent the past two decades teaching, coaching, and researching around the world. During the pandemic, I embraced digital nomad life — hopping between Italy, the UK and the Republic of Georgia, and settling for two years in Turkey. I’ve raised my trilingual son across borders, crisscrossed continents with our cat, and now live as a “slowmad” — moving with intention, pausing long enough to listen, and choosing to support the local economies that welcome us.
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For years, my travels revolved around what I could collect — cultural cachet, fluency in a language, fieldwork for a degree, the quiet pride of feeling at home in unfamiliar places. Travel was a way to understand myself, to grow, and to use others’ cultures as a vehicle for transformation — a way to seek the belonging and acceptance that felt elusive growing up in the U.S. But in Istanbul, during the stillness of the pandemic, my perspective changed. The streets were quiet, the ferries nearly empty, and without the hum of tourists, I began to see the invisible scaffolding that held the city up — the shopkeepers, guides, and artisans whose livelihoods depended on visitors. I noticed how short-term rentals hollowed out neighborhoods, how the comment “it’s so cheap here” carried a sting when friends were struggling with inflation and a falling currency. It was a humbling insight — uncomfortable, necessary, and transformative.
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In that pause, I began to decenter myself from my own story, to understand travel not as conquest or consumption but as connection and care — a way to seek belonging not just for myself, but for the people and communities I enter. It was also during that time that the idea of travel coaching took root — not advising where to go, but exploring why we go, and how movement can become a form of personal and collective growth. That shift led me to pursue an MA in Sustainable Tourism and to reimagine travel as a practice of reciprocity rather than reward.
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As a coach and educator, I believe truly sustainable travel includes accessibility, inclusion, and justice — not just for travelers, but for the communities we enter. That means asking who gets to move freely, whose stories are centered, and how we can create experiences that don’t leave others behind.
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To bring this vision to life, I developed the Mindful Move™ Framework, a values-driven approach to relocating abroad with clarity, care, and cultural respect. It’s informed by my academic background, personal journey, and years supporting travelers and expats who want to move ethically and sustainably.
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I speak French fluently, hold an MA in Cultural Anthropology, and recently completed a second Master’s in Sustainable Tourism. My MA thesis included field research in East Africa on a sustainable water project, using participatory action research to explore how sustainable development and water access are experienced in everyday life through the perspectives of the communities most directly impacted.
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I also hold training from the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC), the international gold standard in sustainable tourism practice.
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With 20 years as a global educator and nearly five years as a travel and move abroad coach, I specialize in helping travel content creators, digital nomads, travelers, immigrants, and aspiring expats move with clarity, confidence, and care.
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If you're ready to start your own journey abroad — or want support in making it more thoughtful, ethical, and aligned — I offer a few ways to get started:
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​🌍 The Mindful Move™ Glossary
​A guide to the language of sustainable travel and moving abroad responsibly.
​$8 | Instant Digital Download​
27 Concepts | 13 Pages
​
​✅ Mindful Move™ Checklist ​
​A decision-making framework for moving abroad responsibly​
​$32 | Instant Digital Download ​
117 Prompts | 22 Pages
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​📍1-Hour General Travel Coaching Session​
​Get 40% OFF when you purchase the checklist — ideal for personalized support with your move, digital nomad lifestyle, or travel planning.
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​🚀 Dream to Departure Coaching Package (4.5 hours)​
Now 20% OFF — limited to the first 25 people​
A comprehensive coaching package to turn your dream of living abroad into a clear, actionable plan.
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In addition to my three signature move abroad services above, you can also book a session or browse my full range of coaching options — including sustainability support for content creators, travelers, tourism professionals, and destinations — via Calendly.​
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Wherever you're headed next, I’m here to help you make the journey more intentional, sustainable, and meaningful. I created these tools to share what I’ve learned — and to walk alongside others making bold, thoughtful moves. I’d love to support you, too.
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​— Cecilia, The Sustainable Travel Coach
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​Find me here: Instagram &
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​Donate to 🌱The Mindful Move™ Research Fund​