About the founder, christine

Christine Winebrenner Irick, Founder of Lotus Sojourns

I find it so interesting when I reflect on my childhood and see all the seemingly obvious things directing me on my path, which were for so long, overlooked. When I was young I remember I wanted to grow up to be a teacher, or movie star -- not to be famous, but because I saw it as a way to earn a lot of money and give myself a loud voice and a highly visible platform that I could use to create change; I could have a larger positive impact on people. I have always cared deeply for people and had a desire to make the world an accepting and abundant place for everyone.

My cultural empathy stems from growing up in a rural small town with a a predominantly caucasian community on an Indian reservation where I felt disconnected and not part of the community. As someone who’s family members were of tribal decent, I was put into this uncomfortable place where I felt like I belonged and didn’t belong to either group. I was curious about this part of my heritage, but felt excluded from exploring it, and at the same time felt a pressure to denounce that part of myself. This unique situation created place for me to notice how people of different races and ethnicities interacted and how uncomfortable I felt as I straddled this divide. This cultivated a need within me to understand why some people would refer to or categorize certain people as “other.”

My experience fostered a deep-rooted need to explore and connect with indigenous cultures, and become a member of a diverse global community; this led me to create Lotus Sojourns.

My small town was also a tourism destination. I would see all of the people traveling seasonally to my hometown and would notice they were not really invested in the community. They took advantage of the beauty and resources without really connecting to or valuing our community. I see this as the very early roots of my passion for responsible and sustainable tourism as well as community based tourism.

We may live in various places with varied experiences, but we are all just human beings, we are simply humans...being.

When I began to travel and connect with people and experience moments in which these people would vulnerable tell their personal stories and share their culture it was eye-opening and shifted away the “otherness.” I was profoundly moved by these face-to-face, empathetic connections. I found when I opened myself up to the experience and shared pieces of someone else’s life, these people became very real. Through these experiences I began to see myself as a very small, but intricately connected part of the global community. I connected to something deep within myself and knew we are all the same.