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Colleen Finn Profile - Woman Road WarriorWoman Road Warriors are accountants and artists, techies and team builders, entrepreneurs and educators. They cover millions of miles each year to maintain that all-important in-person presence in the often impersonal and increasingly global business world. Here are just a few fellow Woman Road Warriors: 
World Traveler, Planet Protector, Adventure Lover If you sneaked a peek into Colleen Finn's carry-on, you would find the usual items such as books, an iPod and a netbook. But what you would also see are an empty water bottle, water purifier and a reusable nylon sack (She likes Envirosax). This world traveler is passionate about being eco-friendly wherever she's visiting to try and cut down on plastic waste. "I would tell everyone to BYOB: bring your own bag... When you're on the road, not only can you use it to bag all of your locally-purchased food, you can also use it for souvenirs, laundry and as an extra bag when you've completely filled your luggage." She would also like BYOB to mean "bring your own bottle" but she knows not everyone is comfortable purifying their own water. "Still, I've done it – and it is easy, effective and economical, depending on how you choose to purify it. I would love to see more people choose to purify their own water over purchasing bottled water." One way that she learns about other cultures is by visiting places of worship. "Religion is the backbone of many cultures, so I feel that if I can appreciate the local religion, then I can open myself up to fully appreciating the culture itself." She really got the chance to appreciate the culture during a visit to the island of Amantani in Lake Titicaca in Peru. There are no hotels so Colleen stayed with a family in a house with no electricity or indoor plumbing. A rustic shower was available but she opted to use her camping wet wipes instead. "When I saw the shower and how much effort it must have taken to haul a huge water container to the top of the structure, my sense of guilt took over." In an effort to travel light, she keeps the number of shoes to a bare minimum and limits it to lightweight footwear. Her go-to shoes on the road are leather waterproof Teva sandals which she's worn in 10 countries. She learned to pack light the hard way – after dragging a large bag around Europe during a three month sabbatical. "That was a huge mistake because it was so cumbersome... sometimes I had to lug that massive piece of luggage up several flights of stairs. I also quickly discovered that I used only a fraction of what I brought, so after that trip I became much wiser about what I packed." And she's become wiser about how to deal with the challenges of being a woman in a foreign country. Most of the time her presence just garners innocent interest but she has dealt with inappropriate behavior – even being followed. "As a result, I find my biggest challenge... is having enough awareness to be safe, but not so defensive and closed off that I am no longer able to appreciate all of the positive aspects of that culture." And it would take away from what she says is the best thing about being a woman road warrior – freedom! Colleen Finn is a recent winner of Wyndham's Women on their Way contest and is now a member of the Local Nation Sounding Board. For more about Colleen and the Local Nation, visit http://www.womenontheirway.com/local-nation
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