How Kim Tucker, AGM at The Travel Agency, Enjoys Pride Month Without the Crowds

For Pride Month this year, we’re spotlighting members of our extended community, including folks we’ve collaborated with and deeply admire. Our goal is to offer a softer take on Pride and capture quiet moments of joy, rest, and reflection. For Kim Tucker (he/they), Assistant General Manager at The Travel Agency’s Union Square location, that means avoiding the crowds and doing Pride his own way. 

Find our collab with Kim Tucker on The Travel Agency’s Instagram.

TTA: Pride can be loud, but it can also be quiet. What does a softer, slower Pride look like for you this year?

KIM TUCKER: I’m not really going into the crowd. This year, I’m going to work at The Travel Agency, get the [Pride] energy in the building, and then, from there, I’ll get on my bike and ride around the city and go to my different destinations.

I’m kind of the cheerleader at work. My Pride party can start at work. I get to engage with people that I probably wouldn’t otherwise. I think if I were just going to the parade, the pressure is more on. Going to work makes Pride a little bit more casual. I think that starting off social at work makes it easier for me to roll out into the streets and still carry that same energy.

When everything kind of calms down, the tourists move on, and it’s more New York people outside, I tend to go over to Christopher Street. I bar hop, then ride my bike uptown and stop at different locations, and meet my friends on my way home.

TTA: How do you care for yourself — mind, body, spirit — during a season that asks you to be visible?

TUCKER: Working out. Like, I’ll work out nonstop. My new thing now is going to the gym during lunch because I’m right down the street. I meditate every morning. That’s not just for Pride.

I stretch. I dance. I used to vogue, so I make sure my body is mobile. There’s an energy with people who vogue. It’s kind of like, you’re born doing it. It’s your superpower. I like to tap into that superpower, especially if I’m going out.

People think Pride is this big party. It’s not always fun. It’s crowded, it’s hot. I want to have more control over Pride this year, because I turned 60. I want to make sure that I’m out representing my generation, because a lot of us are not here. That’s where my bike ride plays a big part. I can go to all the places I’ve hung out before and do my rounds, then hop on my bike to the next place.

TTA: What is your relationship to The Travel Agency? What about the brand connects to you?

TUCKER: [It’s] so diverse, and I love meeting new people. And then, just helping customers or even coaching my team, just being social without even trying so hard.

[The Travel Agency] is my tribe. The Travel Agency and the people I work with as an Assistant General Manager, are — I’m more connected to them than some event that happens once a year, you know what I mean?

Of course, I’m an AGM, but I’m more of a coach. … I have really good interpersonal relationships with my staff, and I care about them as people. I’m here for whatever questions you might have or any concerns. I’m here as a support.

TTA: When you think about your wellness practice, where does cannabis fit in, and how does it support you?

TUCKER: It makes me creative. [I like] Bliss, Genius, or Go, the 1906 tablets. [On] my days off, I’ll take the 1906 and clean my apartment. From there, I’ll do a workout — pull-ups or whatever the case may be. Then, I’ll do my little dance routine, and time just kind of goes.

I’ll take a hit off a vape just so I don’t have to keep taking the 1906. It’s not microdosing anymore if you take, like, six. I use it to give me that extra energy that gets me going and moving.

Smoking is just not a part of what I do. Consumption is personal for me, to just relax. I use it to level-set, center, and balance [myself] out a little.

TTA: Has cannabis ever shown you something about your identity, your joy, or your limits that has surprised you?

TUCKER: It’s the joy in movement. It’s in taking that intensity out. I use Foy gummies at night. I take my one Foy after coming home from work, getting off the subway, and doing all these things. … Sometimes, you just can’t sleep, because of adrenaline and feeling wired. And then, I take my gummy, and all of a sudden, I feel it melt, and then, I’m relaxed.

I used to get calm with Camino to end the day with my husband, because I would be so intense. Right before I get on the subway, I take my little calm-down, and then I’m able to be a little calmer in the evening

You have to stop feeling guilty for giving yourself rest. It’s such an American thing to be always overachieving, always being the best. I think that has a lot to do with age, too. When I was a regional manager at a major corporation, I was always talking, always on it… but [now], I’m reclaiming my time. It’s okay to reclaim your time now so you can practice how to do it for the rest of your life.

TTA: Describe a time when cannabis helped you come back to yourself. What did that look like?

TUCKER: Sleep is really important to me. With the amount of energy I put out during the day, I need to recharge, and that’s another important thing about using cannabis — to rest, to dial down, to plug yourself in, come back and refresh, and get a full eight hours’ sleep. Before I started doing gummies at night, I wouldn’t get eight hours of sleep.

TTA: What does your ideal cannabis ritual look like, from setting to sensation? If your smoke sesh had a mood, a vibe, or a soundtrack, what would it be?

TUCKER: The perfect vibe for me is playing my best music, dancing until I sweat, and making sure the house is clean and dinner is cooked before my husband comes home. It’s [playing] Honey Dijon throughout the house, making sure my space is clear, pushing the furniture aside and letting go with my body and dancing. When my husband comes home, the anxiety of what the day was disappears, and we can connect and share.

TTA: Do you lean more toward indica, sativa, or something else? How does that choice support your state of being?

TUCKER: I was into sativa for so long, and I realized it gets your heart going a little too much. Working at The Travel Agency, I was gifted a hybrid. Once I did that, I was like, “this is a high.” With the hybrids [that don’t have] too much THC — I’m very 24.5% — you get the perfect buzz and you can still function. Hybrids are the quintessential [cannabis] high.

Reach transcendent heights with The Travel Agency

The perfect experience is within reach at The Travel Agency — and what perfect means is up to you. Chill times at home, buzzing social experiences, and everything in between are feasible destinations on your itinerary, especially with our budtenders guiding you through the products that may get you there. As Kim Tucker says, The Travel Agency is based on connection, both with people and with cannabis — visit us today (or get delivery if you want to stay put at home) to start your journey.