Meet Tonya Fitzpatrick, co-founder of socially conscious travel platform World Footprints

Meet Tonya Fitzpatrick, Esq, the co-Founder of a social impact travel media platform that she started with her husband Ian, called World Footprints.

World Footprints isn’t just a travel media platform with a social conscious, but the website also plays host to its own podcast, consisting of over 300 episodes with guest appearances from the likes of the late Dr Maya Angelou, Ken Burns, David Rockefeller and other well known authors, philanthropists, celebrities and leaders in their fields. Tonya is an international speaker, author, lawyer and was appointed as a Delegate to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, among many other accolades. Notably, she has been recognized as a “Top Woman in Travel Media” by the Women in Travel & Tourism International

World Footprints prides itself on the philosophy of “Ubuntu”, (a Zulu word meaning, “I am because we are”) by sharing stories that go beyond the surface to highlight and emphasise the transformative power of travelling.

Therefore the chance to speak to Tonya firsthand was not an opportunity I wanted to pass up, especially as a travel addict myself. Check out our chat below to find out all you need to know about how Tonya co-founded Word Footprints, the curative powers of travel and the importance of culture.

What drove you to start World Footprints?

Long story short, World Footprints was created after my passion for travel caught up to me. My husband and I created a travel agency and we were doing a lot of media appearances in Washington, DC. Those appearances led to an invitation from a top talk radio show to create a travel program in 2007. We soon left the radio station and began podcasting when that digital format was launched. 

Fast forward, we closed the agency to focus on the media side and we rebranded as World Footprints in 2010 because that name reflects our mission statement.

Because I followed my passion(s), World Footprints has become my purpose and that was the driving force to its creation. 

You speak in some of your website blog articles about travel being a healing tool. How has travel impacted your life?

For me personally, a trip to the islands of St. Vincent and the Grenadines helped to pull me out of a dark hole of depression after I saw my father take his last breath. Watching him die put me in a tailspin.  

My dad always desired to see more of the world but he didn’t travel as much as he wanted to, so he traveled vicariously through my photos and stories. Dad was a history buff and he loved learning about different cultural diasporas and how traditions were carried forward across the world. I credit my dad for my interest in cultural heritage and history. Because of our mutual interests I would also text my dad and send him photos so when I reached for my cell phone to share photos with him I was slapped with the reality that I couldn’t. 

I was also reminded that there are other people in my life who look forward to hearing about our travel adventures. Because I was blessed to enjoy these travels I knew that I had a responsibility to appreciate my opportunities and share them with others. I knew my father would have reminded me of the same so I felt as though he were on St. Vincent with me whispering in my ear.  

There are many interviews we’ve done on World Footprints with people who told us how traveling had literally saved their lives.  One guest was having strong suicide ideations when a trip to Italy showed her why life was worth living.

Traveling gives us the space to heal.

What is the best place you have ever travelled to, and why?

I honestly can’t answer that because every single place I’ve traveled to has been enriching and transformative. There are a few countries that I’ve identified as my “soul country”—a country that feels like home.  Brazil is one of those countries and so is South Africa.  I can’t explain why those countries spoke to me.

There are other destinations that are dear to my heart for personal reasons.  Ian proposed to me in Toronto, we married on the island of Bermuda and we spent our honey in South Africa.  

Which do you prefer, luxury travel or budget travel?

I don’t have a preference per se. As a travel journalist many of my travels are hosted trips so we are generally treated to luxurious accommodations and fine dining.  However, when we travel on our own dime we will seek out nice hostels and boutique neighborhood accommodations because those offer more immersion opportunities.

When I was a law student I found that my small budget afforded me the types of experiential travel opportunities that we seek today.  That is the type of traveling that excited me the most. 

That said, I do enjoy luxurious accommodations and fine dining.  However, I make sure that our tourism dollars support the local economy rather than the travel complex. 

You wrote a particularly powerful post on the Black Lives Matter movement and articles about travel experiences as people of colour. How have the past few months made you feel and how do you think this will impact the travel industry?

I’m calling 2020 the missing year because many of us have lost track of time. This year was meant to be a very active travel year—hiking the Inca Trail, exploring Micronesia, international speaking engagements and conferences, etc. At this moment we should have been in Japan covering the Olympic and Paralympic Games and exploring more of Southeast Asia in between. Obviously that hasn’t happened.

With respect to the impact and future of travel, we know that the travel industry has been hit very hard by this pandemic.  However, I’m seeing that some destinations are inviting journalists again so that is hopeful.

In terms of the future of travel there are a lot of schools of thought about the future of travel.  On one hand some academics think that travel will only be available to the wealthy and that everyone else will only be afforded virtual travel experiences.  Although I understand the basis of that opinion I am remaining hopeful that we will all be able to travel again and that we’ll take the time to build more memories and savor the cultures and destinations.

Your website is packed with fantastic content on travel but also on cultural heritage. Which country or place in your opinion has the best cuisine?

Wow.  I don’t really have a “best of” or “favorite” because every single country in the world has something lovely to offer.  With respect to food I can tell you that I’ve never had a bad meal anywhere.  I love eating and I’m not picky so I’ve tried a lot of interesting food items including insects.  In some countries insects provide the only protein source so out of respect I ate a few and I enjoyed them without a camera in my face.  

For those interested in finding the best dishes I would tell them to let their palettes guide them. 

For example, I think Israel has the best hummus, France has the best cheeses, New Orleans has the best oysters, Iceland and Alaska offers the freshest salmon I’ve ever had, and so forth.

You have been on your own Ted Talk and interviewed some amazing people, including Dr Maya Angelou, what has been your most eye opening interview or experience to date?

We have been so blessed to interview an array of incredible guests.  Recently we interviewed TV host Rick Steves and it felt as though we were speaking through him because our views of the world are so similar.

Each and every guest has offered some amazing insights and we’ve had the opportunity to interview some very distinguished people.  Bobby Kennedy Jr. was one of those interviews and interviewing him was like a “pinch me” moment because we were invited to a small special event to interview him.  We were a young podcast at the time but someone thought enough of us to include World Footprints with CNN, BBC and National Geographic. 

We’ve also interviewed David Rockefeller Jr, a host of celebrities, politicians, thought leaders and authors.  

What other women inspire you?

I had the privilege of being surrounded by two strong women—my mom and my grandmother.  They are the strongest and most generous people I know so they definitely continue to inspire me.  My grandmother is 96 years young and she’s very vibrant and quick witted.  

I continued to be inspired by the incredible circle of female friends and family members that I surround myself with.  The one thing the pandemic has revealed is the resilience, kindness and generosity characteristics of these amazing people.

Professionally, I’m in awe of Oprah and Michelle Obama and I hope that we will have an opportunity to interview both of them.

You speak a lot about more important, gritty subjects such as human trafficking, social responsibility and sustainability. How important are these causes to you personally, and how can we as travellers start to use these causes to travel and act more responsibly?

Human rights, wildlife protection, social justice and the environment are issues I’ve always been passionate about.  As a lawyer I have “justice” in my DNA so it isn’t surprising that I raise awareness about important global issues.  As travelers there is a lot we can do to be good stewards and residents of this planet like ensuring that tourist dollars help local communities, eliminating our use of single-use plastic items, being respectful of local communities, not purchasing products made from endangered species, etc.  

With respect to human trafficking it is important to understand what that crime looks like, so that you can report a suspicion to the authorities. There is an incident that occurred in Philadelphia a few years ago where a female traveler who received training noticed a despondent little boy who was traveling with a man who claimed to the boy’s father. There were a number of things that raised a red flag for the traveler so when she had a moment to speak to the young boy privately she asked him if he was looking forward to his trip to South Carolina.  The boy responded that he thought he was going to Disney World.  The traveler immediately notified the flight crew and the authorities were alerted.  When the plane landed the man was arrested and the little boy was saved from being trafficked.  This happened because the traveler knew the signs to look for and she did what any traveler should do—notify the authorities of a suspicion. 

It is also important to know that human trafficking is a global problem.  In fact, where I live in the mid-Atlantic region of the U.S. human trafficking is a $100 million annual industry.  On World Footprints, we have helped raise awareness about this crime.  We’ve also interviewed survivors of human trafficking in order to share how easy it is to be trafficked anywhere and at any age.

With the coronavirus pandemic, what do you think the future of casual travel looks like? 

I know that traveling will look different but it’s still too early to tell what will change.  It is my hope that we are able to travel again that we will be responsible and also travel slower so that we can savor our surroundings and the people instead of racing to collect passport stamps.  

Some researchers believe, however, that travel will be available to the wealthy because they’ll be able to afford higher priced flights and accommodations.  They believe that we’ll see a spike in prices so that travel industry suppliers can make up the substantial losses they incurred during the pandemic. These same researchers say that the majority of people will only have virtual travel experiences available to them.

However, I’m an eternal optimist so I believe that we’ll be able to enjoy more international travel by mid-2021 (provided that we have a reliant vaccine).

You can find out more about World Footprints via their website or Instagram and Twitter social media channels.