NETWORKING SESSION
Chasing 193: Travel, Careers, Transitions With The Freedom To Explore
For many travelers, the dream of seeing all 193 countries raises a fundamental question: do you need a nomadic lifestyle to make it happen, or can a traditional full-time career still take you around the world?
This interactive networking session will explore how travelers balance the pursuit of global exploration with building a career. Would you sacrifice career progression to see more of the world, or can travel itself become a catalyst for personal growth and professional reinvention? Can the experiences, perspectives, and skills gained through exploring the world actually strengthen your career path?
The conversation will examine the tension between security, stability, and adventure and what happens when years of travel change your priorities or vision for the future — when the career you dedicated decades to no longer aligns with the life you want to create. From traditional careers to digital nomadism and unexpected career transitions, we’ll share experiences, strategies, and lessons learned about creating a life where career and exploration can coexist.
BIO
Tansel Buyukbay is a world-traveler and food security advocate, who recently transitioned from a 25-year career in corporate executive roles to the social impact sector. She is the first Turkish woman to visit every country in the world, completing her journey in Seychelles in July 2025 after 26 years of exploration.
Born and raised in Istanbul, Türkiye, Tansel grew up in a middle-class family and never traveled abroad as a child, never met another world traveler, and could never have imagined that one day she would see the world. She began exploring purely from personal curiosity and passion, long before online resources and global travel communities existed.
What defines Tansel’s journey is that she completed it while building a demanding, full-time corporate career. She worked continuously for 25 years without a career break while personally funding every journey she took, progressing from engineering roles into a Vice President position in supply chain and procurement within the pharmaceutical and food industries. She holds three academic degrees in Chemical Engineering, Management, and Industrial Engineering – latter from Columbia University, NYC – all completed through public education and scholarships.
Throughout her travels, Tansel witnessed not only the beauty of the world but also poverty, hunger, inequality, and environmental challenges. These experiences made her realize that travelling was not only about covering distances; it was also about being transformed as a human being. This ultimately inspired her to reshape her career toward purpose-driven work, participating in initiatives in Bangladesh and Nepal focused on women’s empowerment and malnutrition, pursuing her fourth academic degree in Social Innovation for Sustainable Development, and working on Resilient and Sustainable Food Systems.
Tansel hopes her journey inspires future generations of women from Türkiye and beyond to believe that unconventional paths are possible and encourages them to dream beyond traditional boundaries.