Tonya Fitzpatrick

Following her appearance on The Marissa Mitchell Show, Tonya Fitzpatrick reflects on completing a 38-mile trek through Morocco’s High Atlas Mountains just eight months after total knee replacement and explores how travel, purpose and intention can shape a new chapter.

A growing trend among travelers is Last Chance Tourism (LCT)—a bittersweet form of exploration driven by the urgency to experience the world's most fragile and endangered destinations before they disappear. Whether it’s walking among calving glaciers, snorkeling over bleached coral reefs, or photographing sinking cities, LCT embodies both a celebration of Earth's beauty and a stark reminder of our collective impact on its future.

As the world bids farewell to the old year and welcomes the new with the chime of midnight on New Year's Eve, a global tapestry of hope, resolutions, and a collective fondness for age-old culinary traditions unfolds on New Year's Day. These are traditions that both me and Ian have grown up with and ones that continue to this day in the homes of my family members and ours.

Jekyll Island doesn’t top most lists of holiday destinations, but maybe it should. Every December, the former Gilded Age retreat along Georgia’s coast transforms into a Southern-style winter escape. Live oaks are strung with lights, historic cottages are wrapped in garlands, and the old clubhouse lawn holds a towering Christmas tree. On the surface, it’s festive and charming. But what sets Jekyll Island apart isn’t just the decorations—it’s the weight of history beneath the surface.

If you were to hear that by 2050 there will be more plastic in our oceans (by weight) than there will be fish, would you be alarmed? I definitely was alarmed when I read white paper about the plastic economy projected by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.