This week Nicola and Di chat with wanderlust traveler Barry Hoffner. Barry is the author of Amazon’s number 1 adventure travel book, Belonging To The World. In 2017, Barry’s whole world changed when his wife Jackie was in a tragic accident involving an elephant while volunteering in Africa with WildAid. After she passed away, Barry had to remain strong for his 2 sons, yet through his own healing journey, he discovered so much about life, kindness, and connection and it opened his eyes to a new world. Rather than bury his grief, which Barry says can mute the possibility of feeling joy again, his healing journey inspired him to travel to 193 countries - that’s every country on earth!  

In this episode we hear how Barry’s love of travel was first ignited with a chance back-packing trip to Europe after high school. From that moment, Barry knew he wanted to see the world. He tells us about his career in investment banking, which allowed him to live and work in cities such as Buenos Aires, Paris, Tokyo, Singapore, London, Zurich, Mexico City and Moscow. 

We also hear the beautiful story of how Barry met his late wife Jackie, and the moment they declared their love for each other outside the Taj Mahal. They went on to have 2 sons and raise a beautiful family, and were just about to enjoy their first trip as empty nesters when tragedy struck and Jackie was killed on a volunteering trip in Africa. Barry describes the moment that he found out, and how his life would never be the same again.

Barry’s journey from grief to connection over the last 8 years has been remarkable and he shares so many incredible stories of the amazing moments he’s had in countries so many of us will only dream of visiting. He shares the moment that made his heart beat the most, and we also ask for some of his best travel tips, including where he had the best coffee - you’ll never guess where it was! 

We also talk to Barry about the empowering charity he set up in 2010 called Caravan to Class. What started as a personal project to help build a school for his 50th birthday in Timbuktu, led to Barry creating a charity that continues to build schools and offer scholarships, in Jackie’s honour, to educate women in West Africa. What’s even more incredible is that 100% of the proceeds from the sales of Barry’s book go to Caravan to Class to continue this important work. 

We are lucky enough to call Barry a good friend and we were so thrilled to be able to have this conversation with him. He’s such a good storyteller and has so much wisdom to share about what he’s learnt on his travels. We hope you enjoy this episode as much as we did. 

This episode is proudly supported by Montgomery Investment Management, trusted experts helping you build and protect your financial future. For further information, please contact David Buckland, Chief Executive Officer or Rhodri Taylor, Account Manager on (02) 8046 5000 or investor@montinvest.com

We’ve created a special offer for our Back Fence listeners to use at Positive Energy. Listeners can get a 10 class pack for $150 (save $90) or 25% off an unlimited membership for 3 months. Use code: BACKFENCEPE to activate your special offer. 

We'd love you to join us for our Backfence Disco on Friday, May 29th at Positive Energy in Sydney. It's going to be such a fun night and we can't wait to dance the night away with you in person! Buy your tickets here: https://events.humanitix.com/over-the-back-fence-disco

Follow Nicola and Di on IG here - https://www.instagram.com/overthebackfencepodcast/

Follow Barry on IG here - https://www.instagram.com/barryh99/

Find out more about Barry and his book Belonging To The World here - https://belongingtotheworld.com/ 

Buy Barry’s book Belonging To The World here - https://www.amazon.com/dp/1964721415

Learn more about Barry’s charity Caravan to Class here - https://caravantoclass.org/

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