Friendship Journeys: Shasta Nelson's Global Adventures

Aaron and Charlotte recorded this one early, since Charlotte's about to be off the grid and overseas. She's heading out to host a Women Who Explore trek on the Tour du Mont Blanc, hiking the circuit around Mont Blanc through France, Italy, and Switzerland with a group of women she's never met. There's a guide on the ground handling the trails, which leaves Charlotte in charge of what she calls the vibes: making sure everyone bonds, feels looked after, and comes home with the kind of friendships that outlast the trip.

This week’s guest is Shasta Nelson, the Chamber of Connection’s Chief Friendship Officer and the author of Frientimacy and The Business of Friendship. Shasta traces her path from a childhood shaped by her parents' divorce to a first career as a pastor building community to launching one of the first friendship-matching sites, all of it feeding her work on what makes people bond.

Since 2013 she's hosted 20 international trips, starting with a begrudging group trip to Cuba that drew 200 responses and turned her into a self-described scientist in the friendship lab. She shares the recipe she's refined over a decade: ground rules like you don't have to be friends with everyone, but you do have to be friendly; two prep calls before anyone boards a plane; and an owner's manual prompt where each traveler names the one thing that'd help the group support them better.

00:00 Introducing Shasta Nelson, Chief Friendship Officer

04:09 Welcome Shasta

05:20 Origin Story: From Divorce to Friendship Expert

07:23 Charlotte's Trip Details

08:57 How Shasta's Group Trips Began

14:06 Managing Group Dynamics

16:26 Lasting Bonds, Repeat Travelers and Reunions

19:17 Gender Dynamics in Group Travel

26:03 Planning Trips: Strangers vs. Friends