Where Next? Five Year Anniversary - Kristen visits Dharamshala, India

Five years ago, we hit record with a simple question: where should we go next? Somehow, that question turned into a friendship ritual, a passport of conversations, and a surprising education in places we had only half-understood. To celebrate our anniversary, we get personal, grateful, and a little stunned by how fast time moves when you keep saying yes to curiosity. Then we jump to what’s coming and what just happened. Kristen is gearing up for an intense horseback trek and discovers she accidentally signed up for Georgia the country, not Georgia in the United States, which sparks a real talk about travel planning, training, and saying yes even when you’re nervous. From there, Kristen shares a powerful trip to Dharamshala, India, timed around a documentary focused on compassion and empathy, with a visit connected to the Dalai Lama’s world and Tibetan culture in the Himalayas. We talk through the reality of the journey, including a 22-hour flight, high-altitude hills that turn every walk into a workout, and the moments that make it all worth it: prayer flags, ancient Tibetan scriptures, a butter lamp ceremony with more than a thousand candles, and wellness experiences like a sound bath of frequency-based sound healing. We also keep it honest with practical travel tips, from monsoon season to food safety, plus the sensory details you only learn by being there, like street dogs at night, monkeys, smoke, and smoggy air. If you like thoughtful travel stories with real-world details and big-hearted takeaways, subscribe to Where Next, share this anniversary episode with a fellow traveler, and leave a rating or review so more people can find the show. Map of Dharamshala, India  Support the show Please download, like, subscribe, **share a review**, and follow us on your favorite podcasts app and connect with us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wherenextpodcast/ View all listening options: https://wherenextpodcast.buzzsprout.com/ Hosts Carol Springer: https://www.instagram.com/carol.work.life Kristen: https://www.instagram.com/team\_wake/ If you can, please support the show or you can buy us a coffee.