Mental Health on the Move

Like many advisors in the industry, Kelli Bertram’s career in travel wasn’t her first.

A Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) since 2019, Bertram knew from a young age that her goal was to make a difference in people’s lives. Following her cousin’s battle with leukemia and coupled with her desire to help others, all roads ahead seemed destined to lead Bertram into social work and mental health therapy. Despite her confidence that becoming an LCSW was the right move, a part of Bertram couldn’t deny the gravitational pull she had always felt toward the travel industry.

“It was always in the back of my mind that I wanted to do travel; it’s always been my thing. I remember being in high school and creating a vision board, and mine was travel-focused,” Bertram said. “I loved geography class because I was learning about the world, and I also was really interested in learning about different cultures, too.”

Recognizing her passion for travel and in search of a job after graduating with her master’s degree, Bertram was seeking a way to merge her two loves into one ultimate dream job, though she quickly realized the combination of careers didn’t exist on the market. After her valiant search efforts, Bertram settled into a 9-5 position with a local nonprofit organization, where she remained for two years, until that itch for travel became too hard to ignore. 

“I thought about starting my own business because my dream job didn’t exist,” Bertram said. “I started thinking, ‘Well, I’ll just have to create it myself.’” In October 2021, she did just that, taking a leap of faith and turning her dreams into a reality. Bertram opened her own independent mental health practice and joined Come and See Travel as an advisor in the same month, unafraid of tackling two major endeavors at once. Both businesses grew far more rapidly than Bertram anticipated, and she eventually became a full-time owner in February 2022.

Photos courtesy of Kelli Bertram

With nearly three years of experience as an advisor under her belt, Bertram initially kept her work for each business separate but came to appreciate their complementary nature.

“It’s so easy for me to overlap the two in both parts of my business,” she said. “When I’m in therapy sessions with my clients, they’ll say that they feel like they’re going through the motions and every day is the same. We’ll talk about stepping outside your comfort zone, trying new things and broadening your horizons — travel just naturally gets brought up in the conversations.”

Bertram explained the relationship between the two, noting that travel is good for improving mental health as it provides a change in scenery and day-to-day life. It’s also a great way to build character, test emotion regulation and learn appropriate coping skills when things inevitably go awry — delayed flights, canceled excursions, complicated public transportation systems and language barriers with locals — which can invoke intense feelings of frustration. When travelers overcome this adversity, they feel a renewed sense of strength, resiliency, bravery and confidence — all skills Bertram attributes to positive self-esteem and general well-being. 

Seeing the benefits of the overlap between travel and mental health, Bertram delved into this niche area of the industry, hosting her first retreat in Arizona this past June. Joined by nine other women, the group embarked on a rejuvenating four-day getaway, participating in spas, resort classes and activities planned by Bertram. While an organized retreat is one way to explore the art of traveling as a mental health break, the options are truly endless.

“For travel to help mental health, you don’t have to be going on big wellness retreats,” Bertram said. “It can just be a break. You can go to a resort and lay at the pool all day, or you can go to Costa Rica and go zip-lining for the adrenaline rush. All of those things contribute to overall wellbeing, and that’s what matters.”

Her key to success in life is simple: “Do what makes you happy. Think about the things you enjoy and that make you happy, and do those things,” she said. “I genuinely believe the point of life is to enjoy it, so just have fun.”

Originally appeared in the Fall 2024 issue of The Compass magazine