Where Next? Travel with Kristen and Carol
Where Next? Travel with Kristen and Carol
Three-year Anniversary Special with Kristen and Carol
Join us as we celebrate our three-year anniversary! In this episode Kristen and Carol step away from our usual interviews to share personal stories, passions, and dreams. Carol reminisces about her favorite past residences, from the chilly beauty of Minnesota to the majestic mountains of Colorado, while basking in the pleasant Michigan weather and indulging in her love for baseball. Kristen shares her excitement for an upcoming Girl Scouts backpacking adventure and our mutual love for slow travel and the great outdoors, reflecting on how our podcast has become a cherished part of our lives.
Have you ever tried wake surfing? We dive into the exhilarating world of wake surfing and the meticulous preparations for competitions like Worlds. We discuss the serene control of lake conditions versus the unpredictable ocean waves and our dreams of owning a lakeside property. From horseback riding to dirt biking, we share personal anecdotes that highlight our joy in embracing new hobbies, all while reflecting on our career paths and the ultimate pursuit of financial independence to focus on community support and passion projects. It's a celebration of personal growth, new experiences, and building a life filled with passion.
The world is vast, and our love for exploring it knows no bounds. We take you on a journey through Japan, Thailand, and Belize, emphasizing the importance of immersing oneself in local cultures. Learn how to balance remote work with true exploration and get practical tips for affordable travel arrangements. Whether it's staying with friends or finding cost-effective destinations, we share our insights on making the most out of your travels. Plus, don’t forget to support our podcast by following, rating, and reviewing us on your app, and join our community on Instagram at "Where Next Podcast." Thank you for being a part of our adventure!
Please download, like, subscribe, share a review, and follow us on your favorite podcasts app and connect with us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wherenextpodcast/
View all listening options: https://wherenextpodcast.buzzsprout.com/
Hosts
Carol Springer: https://www.instagram.com/carol.work.life
Kristen: https://www.instagram.com/team_wake/
If you can, please support the show or you can buy us a coffee.
Hi, welcome to our podcast when Next Travel with Kristen and Carol. I am Kristen and I am Carol, and we're two long-term friends with a passion for travel and adventure.
Speaker 2:Each episode, we interview people around the globe to help us decide where to go next.
Speaker 1:So, kristen, yay, yeah, where next is what we're celebrating three years Yay.
Speaker 2:Three years. We're going to just talk a little bit about ourselves, a little bit.
Speaker 1:It's so fun to do just us?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, exactly, so, yeah. So we thought we'd like try to get to know each other a little bit.
Speaker 1:I mean, kristen, I obviously know each other, but figured we 'd share about kind of us, your hosts, since we always talk about all our guests, and so now you get to learn a little bit about us for our three-year anniversary. Yeah, and learn about where are you?
Speaker 2:So that's like yeah, so I'm actually in Michigan right now for a week, you know, watching some baseball. So it's very fun. That's awesome and the weather is so funny, the weather's like so perfect here, you know, and everything's like less expensive, and I'm like maybe this would be a good place to move to. I'm like maybe this would be a good place to move to, but it's the middle of July and it's cool, and it's not. It's not crazy. Hot sun is up, but this is not normal.
Speaker 1:Well, let's say that maybe California, where I'm at is, is a swap the wet we gave our weather to you because it's been like almost a hundred every day and it's very hot and, um, although it's been okay, it's been better, but we've had a lot of heat waves lately.
Speaker 2:Do you guys still get the cool nights in the East Bay there?
Speaker 1:Yeah, last night I took my dog hiking. I was like 8.30 and it was like you know, those warm summer nights where you it's just it wasn't too hot, it was just perfect, it was so. Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Kind of my big draw to like where I want to go is is it comfortable? Yeah, I like when you can. Inside and outside are the same.
Speaker 1:You want to start first and talk about who you are Sure.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, who am I? Well, I'm a Midwesterner, from Minnesota originally, oh yeah, you know and then led Minnesota because it was so old, in the winter I just couldn't handle it. So I've lived in a couple of different places and that's also one thing that it got me so excited about this. Like, where else do I want to like go live for a little bit? And that's really what I'm hoping to learn, and I have learned a lot from the podcast. But I lived in Honolulu for three years. I lived in Los Angeles for about a year and a half and then I lived in the Bay area Kristen I met for 11 years, and now in Colorado for a good 14 years or 18 years, 18 years, yep.
Speaker 2:And I love outdoorsy stuff and that's one thing I really like about living somewhere that's warm, not hot, or just like comfortable, right, and that's what California is so great too. It's like just you can go outside all year round. You know there's never like like Arizona, like you don't go outside in the extreme summer, and in Minnesota, like you don't go outside in the extreme winter. So I love living places where you can just like go outside and you know, run, walk, bike, whatever.
Speaker 2:So I really love doing that and I love doing sports and I am not really I don't excel at one thing, but I just love hiking and biking and I like playing tennis and I think sports not a very crafty person, you know. It's so weird because I always thought, like some people have all these hobbies and I don't really have any hobbies, but I guess I do.
Speaker 1:I love yoga, oh yeah.
Speaker 2:Podcast is definitely a hobby. You know, not everyone has a podcast and I don't get paid for it, right. So it's definitely a hobby and it's so fun, like I just love meeting people and traveling. I guess it's a hobby and I'm a mom with children in college, so that's exciting. Um, and that's part of why we started the podcast. It was like what do we do when we're empty nesters, we have so much more freedom all of a sudden to like go live somewhere for a while.
Speaker 2:And I am based in michigan, like right now I'm watching some college baseball and, you know, been here for like almost a week. It'll be, it'll be like eight days total and it's really interesting because I consider I love the idea of slow travel. So I'm not necessarily going all to see the sites in the area. I do want it, like I have seen a few things in Michigan, but what's it like? What are the people like, what's the food like, it's the cost of living and it's definitely like more multicultural. Here we're just kind of breath of fresh air from where I live in Boulder, colorado. That's why I just I, I just like learning about new cultures and different people and I say let's pass the wand to Kristen. Kristen's got a lot of interesting hobbies and habits and things she does every year and she's going on a big, big adventure next week, right? I?
Speaker 1:am, yes, backpacking which I was exciting with Girl Scouts for 10 days in the woods, so it gets nights on trail. How far do you hike in? Actually, I don't even look until I get there.
Speaker 2:And you're just like prepared. Huh, she's like miles piece of cake.
Speaker 1:Here's my packing list my two page packing list.
Speaker 2:Oh, my goodness.
Speaker 1:Yep, so I've got my backpacking packing list and then my camp packing list, so, um, I've got all my stuff down here right now and in the other room, so I'm trying to have your own.
Speaker 2:Like, do you have to bring your own stove and your flashlight and water filter and things like that, or yeah?
Speaker 1:but we do group gear, so I can't remember girls.
Speaker 1:I think we have probably 12 12 girls this year. Sometimes it's 10 to 15 or so, maybe more, depending on the group, and then done it for 10 years and we just take Girl Scouts out. It's a camp called Two Sentinels. Highly recommend it for anyone who has kids. How I got involved?
Speaker 1:I was a Girl Scout leader and then I wanted to bring both my kids and my son. It's a Girl Scout camp, so if I'm a leader they can bring what do we call them Tags. So there we bring all the little kids and then once they get older which my daughter's first year, she was old enough and then they go into I think she was seven or so and she was a what they called a water bug, and then it's a metal lark and then it kind of like each age group gets its little names and super cute, and then they graduate up into bigger hikes and then a little backpacking with the older girls and then a three-day one and then it kind of graduates from there to like the rovers group goes out further. And then I'm on the fireflies, and so the fireflies is a newer one named after our beloved camp director who passed away. My daughter did the first year. I think so very exciting. I'm excited to go. This is my first longer trip to go, so I really like backcountry camping too.
Speaker 2:I haven't don't do it very often, but yeah, so that's, that's cool that you can do it on a regular basis.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so my my first. As the years have passed, I've noticed one of the very first things I like to do is I go into what we call the garage and I pull out the bins of all the food and I lay that out, because one year we had too much, well too little food. The second year, I remember, we had too much food, and just having that right amount of food is so crucial. Okay.
Speaker 2:And then do you guys have to put them all in the bear coolers or do you have like set camps that have like bear things? So we have to like hang it from the tree yeah, we, we teach that.
Speaker 1:But bear bins is usually what we do. We just do and then put them all off to kind of away from where we're sleeping and go from there. But it's desolation, wilderness out of kirkwood. Can't recommend the camp high enough. It's highly, highly recommended. It's just such a camp and just to get unplugged and off the grid and having your kids like not be on their video devices of all kinds, yeah, it's really nice. But yes, so I'm Kristen Revell.
Speaker 1:I live here in the Bay Area in Concord, california, in Southern California, near Redondo Beach, so grew up at the beach my whole life. I didn't surf very much but, funny enough, I I roller skated, I served a little bit but very active and cheerleaded for many, many years eight years through college, you know moved up here, worked in corporate America, put my head down and noticed aches and pains, but I always liked to run and I was like what's going on? So I started working out and paying attention to my body and it's kind of, and I love the outdoors, I love to be active, I love doing lots of different things and grew up as a tomboy. I skateboarded in junior high.
Speaker 1:All the girls moved away on my block and it was just me and about five or six boys, and so I just kind of did what they did and they were super fun. So and now I yeah, I compete in wake surfing, so do.
Speaker 2:And yeah, so explain to people what the difference between wake surfing and wakeboarding. I think there's often a lot of confusion.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Lump it in your head, like when you don't hold on to a string. Yeah Well, you initially.
Speaker 1:Exactly so the wakeboard. You have bindings on the board, kind of like a snowboard, and you are going probably like 18 to 20 miles an hour a lot faster and you know you're always on the rope and binded to the board and then wake surfing is. There's no binding, it's a modified surfboard glassglass fiberglass.
Speaker 2:Thank you very much.
Speaker 1:Fiberglass coated. It's very similar to a regular surfboard, but it's modified and you pull up on the rope and then, once the boat hits 10 miles an hour, the wave clears from being kind of frothy and then you can throw the rope back in the boat and then you can surf the wave. One challenge is getting up. A lot of people cause I also have taught it before and I run clinics. I've run clinics before. So pulling, you know getting up. If you're able to get up, that's one feat. It's like check the box you got up on the board, great yeah, that's absurd. Then it's staying in the wave, in that sweet spot.
Speaker 2:Right, cause if you're not in the sweet spot, then you just fall down and the boat goes ahead Right.
Speaker 1:No, when you're in the sweet spot, then you can surf. So, it's clear. And then the rope. You know if you're surfing and you notice the rope kind of dangling like it's there's slack in the rope, oh okay.
Speaker 2:Exactly. That's a big thing that I think your speed can change while your weeks are being all day long Yep.
Speaker 1:So you just and it can also adjust with just moving your hips forward and not so just slightly moving, because again your shoulders, your hips and your feet right, your ankles, keeping that in line and moving forward, just a little adjustment like that, and then your arms too you can move them forward and pushes you forward. Okay, it's very, very temperamental, I guess in a good way. So once you figure that out and you can stay in the sweet spot, then you can throw the rope in and then you can surf without the rope. Once you get good at that and you can stay in the wave and figure out that sweet spot, then you can do lots of fun moves. Then you can do 360 hairs and jumps and and when did?
Speaker 2:how old are you when you started this exactly? I actually.
Speaker 1:I learned in 2002 and then I had kids so stopping for years, and then in 2016 I saw someone in Bass Lake do it and I was like, oh my gosh, there's that thing that made me feel like disneyland, my name well into your like, okay in your 30s, 40s, yeah, yeah okay, yeah, wow, wow so so many people were afraid to like try something like that.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's for 20 year olds, so that's awesome from like five years old till 95 years or 100, you could still surf. And there was a 92 year old that my friend, marco Thompson in San Diego, taught how to wake surf. So, yeah, you can do it in your seventies, eighties. And then I also compete and I host my own event in California called Cali Comp Festival. So we have clinics that teach wake surfing. A couple of days we're actually on the news Sacramento news. It's super fun. And then we have a two day competition as well. So, and it's all ages and it's so great to see families and everyone gets along and it's super fun and I bring our V's there, so it's like you have your own hotel room on the on the water and I get a chef to cook meals and so, oh, wow, that's amazing.
Speaker 2:Oh, okay, and then when is that coming up? That's in October. You said yeah, it's usually around Halloween.
Speaker 1:Oh, okay, Very cool. Yeah, it was earlier in the year, but we have to do it after Worlds and frankly for me, because I'm now competing in Worlds, so it's nice to be able to get back. And then you know, I have two weeks. They want two weeks because they also have to bring all the equipment over and get it all ready for my event.
Speaker 2:So okay, when is the worlds? Where is that? Uh, this year it's in texas, okay last year?
Speaker 1:where is it's been in um? You know, I think utah was last year.
Speaker 2:Uh, yeah, utah haha, you remember that. It wasn't that. It was a little chilly, huh it was, it snowed, it hailed.
Speaker 1:It was 20 degrees when I surfed and the sun wasn't up yet. It was like 7 am, I think, when I got. Yeah, it was quite, quite interesting.
Speaker 2:And then, um, yeah, oh, so I was thinking the wake surfing boat. It's a different type of boat that makes these bigger waves, so thinking it's probably less dangerous than trying to surf in the ocean because of the conditions. You can just go slow. You're not like oh my gosh, I'm stuck in this wave and I can't get out and like I don't know how to catch it. You know which, surfing in the ocean it could be very scary, but then you're at the mercy of the calmness of the lake. Does that matter? Or if it's like kind of choppy calmness?
Speaker 1:is fantastic. Um, it's kind of funny. So they they talk about like water. Skiers need like glass, they like glass. Um, wakeboarding, it's a little more forgiving, so you don't need glass, but you also still want calm waters. And then wake surfing it can take.
Speaker 1:You still want honestly calm waters, I like yeah, yeah but it's more forgiving because the boat sort of you know it creates the wave and the hull of the boat it sort of like calms it. Yeah, so someone I was talking to they're like we first water ski, then we wakeboard and then we want or wake surf, I mean, but I still like wakes, oh kind of depending on the.
Speaker 2:As the morning gets choppier, then you can transition to another oh yeah, I heard that lately you like lakes, then it sounds like.
Speaker 1:I love lakes, I love pine trees, I love the outdoors, I love. It's so funny because I was like what would be my perfect? It would be buying land on a lake, creating like place for people to like. I want several like cabins or something like that for people to come, with a big dock. I miss horses. I rode horses for 25 years and perfect day would be like wake surf in the morning, have food, breakfast, whatever, and then go horseback riding or hiking or you know, go do something. Would be awesome.
Speaker 1:But no and it's funny because my son's now dirt biking. He just we had a lesson. He's like always since he's three years old, he's always asked to go motorcycle dirt, dirt biking. So now he's like always since he's three years old, he's always asked to go motorcycle dirt, dirt, biking. So now he's like mom, will you do it with me?
Speaker 2:And so I think oh, my goodness, wow, I heard that's one of the actually the most strenuous activities is dirt biking. Oh yeah, and it was just so many of your muscles, oh yeah absolutely so.
Speaker 1:It's like you have to be conditioned. The guy was saying you still need to go to gym and work out because it uses a lot of core muscles. So so yeah, I do wake surfing. Uh, also, I I did horseback riding. I never have owned horses. I just kind of like dog walk, uh, like a dog sitter one family would, or one guy with two horses I took care of every other week because he was on call every other week and he couldn't get out and then he unfortunately passed away. The horses passed away and then another gentleman who was retired said hey, I saw you take care of Bill's horses, can you take care of mine? So I had two horses named Prince and Sam, and I used to pick my kids up from horse back from school isn't that cool, yeah, actually.
Speaker 2:I remember like I visited your horses. I like helped you brush them once and you let me ride.
Speaker 1:Oh really. Think a minute, yeah, that's probably when I had the first set, which was Doc and Dumia.
Speaker 2:Those were the that sounds kind of familiar. Yeah, that's so crazy. All right, so, and then, what do you do, did you? How do you make money? Yeah, so wealthy, right.
Speaker 1:Won the lotto. I wish I could say that Won the lotto and now I just give back. That would be my. That would be a dream too. Is just to like.
Speaker 2:I want to get to that point where I just don't worry about income anymore and just you know, can I say I love working. So, like, continue to work, but not like have to make so much money. You know, like, and then you could just help people a bunch yeah, teach them be a, be a part of community and help.
Speaker 1:So I yeah, I'm a recruiter been recruited. That's how Carol and I met. We were at account temps, which was part of Robert, half way back in the day, and you were in the Walnut Creek office. I was in the apartment complex, which was fun and had our Melrose place. We called it totally, so yeah, every Wednesday we have dinners with Jen's and his roommate, me and my roommate and you, so we only have every fifth week, which was awesome, and then you moved on and I didn't.
Speaker 1:I still don't do it Basically semi-retired from Robert Half right, and then yeah, and then started your own little bit of Robert Half or not your own executive recruiting right.
Speaker 2:That's awesome, Absolutely.
Speaker 1:On my own for four years. I got. I had a startup within Robert Half that got shut down right at March of 2020, right at the beginning of COVID. I was transferring into the branch and our CEO, max Mesmer, had retired and our CFO, keith Waddell, had taken over and he had said no transfers If you're out, you're out. And I got out within a 24 hour period of like being employed for 24 years at Robert half, which I adored and loved. I had a great time. I mean, for 24 years at Robert Half, which I adored and loved, I had a great time. I mean, the last couple of years were more challenging, but it is what it is. And then I was off and I had two kids at home and and then my then has been got laid off April 2020. So it was back to back. So we were both out of jobs, covid was just happening and two teenagers and you know all the all it was.
Speaker 1:It's funny to think back, like what are we going to do?
Speaker 1:It's like I am going to start my own and I want to do a podcast about just um. It was called the future of women at work and so I started that and um, just put my head down and I really do remember doing a very deep clean of the house in the attic I had to like scan and broom and I found all of these old resumes and files that just you know in terms of like old stuff and I just thought, well, let's, let's get this done. Got to work. The rest is history. I've been in business for four years on my own and I love it and I've gotten a chance to do some pretty amazing things with the department of energy and loan program office DC. It's kind of like Shark Tank sort of for clean tech space and a couple of companies and being able to be a mom, work and, you know, take care of my family myself. And then I've gotten a chance to do more wake surfing and hiking and I do this outdoor camp.
Speaker 2:I'm going backpacking next week and, um, you know, I get to yes do a lot of fun stuff and it's yeah, well it sounds like, yeah, you're in control of your life and your time and your schedule, which is I try, you try to control, but you have no control right.
Speaker 1:hence my, and then I bought a fourplex and I've had a lot of, a lot of, uh, landlord-y kind of things, although I have a property manager, but it's just been some stuff with, um, my, my place in the front that I needed doing. So hopefully those will kind of calm down.
Speaker 1:And then my Maui condo. I have a condo on the beach across the street from the beach in Maui. That's awesome that there was a there was a leak that, uh, you know, went downstairs and so I'm fixing that, but I've owned it for 18 years, almost 19 years.
Speaker 2:Oh.
Speaker 1:OK, so it's pretty awesome. My dream is to be able to live in different places throughout the year, so Maui for a couple months, california for a while, you know, just kind of to be able to travel and I feel like I've kind of created my life. I could be doing this exact thing anywhere in the world right now which is awesome. My goal is to keep growing that, so then I can possibly then start to visit these places that we have been interviewing, which is the whole point right exactly we could get sponsors and share.
Speaker 1:I mean, there's a lot of growth yeah and that's that aspect and I know we've talked about that and definitely would love to to do more of that as well and just share the I think for oh, I think, everyone you get so caught up in your life that you forget to dream and grow and dream big also right. It doesn't have to be little dreams like, oh, I want to do this. It's like no, expand that, like blow it up, like why not? Right, and so I try to do that.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:You got it, you got to live. So I you know, right now my kids my son's going to be a senior, my daughter's going away to UC Santa Cruz. I'm so excited for her and so it's coming up soon, that you know some of those things will come true. And I know, for my daughter's graduation we went to South Korea and Bali, which is a combo, and the reason Bali got slipped in was because of the gal we did one of our episodes, Hong Patterson. So when I was going to South Korea and we'd done that episode and I thought, well, I called her and said, or probably messaged her, and said hey, I want to meet you and she's like two things.
Speaker 1:First off, come stay with me with your kids. Secondly, you have to go to Bali. Because she knows I surf. She hooked me up with the Rip Curl Pros and got to go there, and without this podcast, I would have not gotten that opportunity to be able to put a bucket list item on my bucket list after it happened, which was to wake surf on the Han River in South Korea and then go to ocean surf in Bali with the Rip Curl Pro Garut, who, him and his family, we stayed with. And not only that, but the third part of that was because I do my own events Cali Comp Festival every year to do a wake surf event. But he said, oh, I forgot to tell you, I have an ocean surf contest I'm putting on, so the day we arrive is his day, he does an ocean surf contest. And so being able to compare the two and see it firsthand and see the families and the kids and the parents competing just like how mine, is oh, okay, it was so profound for me to actually visually see that it was.
Speaker 1:it was just an awe. I'm dying to go back, but it was just like so amazing. So that was, that was a very big highlight for me as an episode coming true.
Speaker 2:Right, yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1:My son's gonna be a senior this year and I keep poking him like where?
Speaker 2:are we going?
Speaker 1:Where next? So it's you're graduating next summer, we're going somewhere, so I don't know if it's Australia or New Zealand or Whistler. He's a big, he loves mountain biking and things.
Speaker 2:We'll see, not sure, yeah, yeah, cool. Well, I'm, let's see. So I don't know if we're ready for rapid our two rapid fire questions.
Speaker 1:Well, either that or two things I think you were talking about is what episode I guess I started it with an episode that was transformational or that you really that stood out for you. I know I guess I kind of South Korea was an important one because my daughter wanted to go there, and so that was that part. So I guess I'd say that, but what was there one that was for you that really stood out?
Speaker 2:Well, I guess, like that, probably Gosh, this is so hard. So is it like eye-opening. I kind of think Ecuador, just because and this is what I have on my list Ecuador. Look at that, because I always envisioned Ecuador as by the beach, you know Spanish speaking, you know, lower cost of living, developing country Like I, I didn't think of it as like a mountainous, and that was the first country.
Speaker 2:And now, as we talk to people in other countries, so many countries have mountains, like I don't know, because, like Colorado is so big with the mountains, even when I went to Los Angeles, I'm like, oh my God, there's so many mountains here, like I forget there's mountains everywhere. And what I'm starting to see is like the landscape in different countries is very much like landscape in different parts of the US. And the US we have so much because it's so huge, right, so you have, you know, swamplands, you've got desert, you've got you know alligators and you've got big cities. We have everything you know, and so they really like, why do we need to go anywhere else? Right, but it's learning about the different cultures and like, like japan and thailand, like the culture of the people there are so interesting to me. So it's like, even though we learn about it. I think those are the couple of places like you need to go to really experience it. Um, and so funny enough, look japan, yeah, so like now I I really want to go and I always thought japan's so expensive, but actually, like right now, I think the exchange rate is actually pretty good. I don't know if I'll get through that soon, but I want to go to japan. Um, I definitely want to go to thailand, but I still like want to spend, like, I want to spend time places like I want to like go to portugal. I don't want to go for a week, I want to go like for a month and I'm grateful you want to talk about.
Speaker 2:So what I do for a living. I do um sales force consulting, so we help people on sales operations, sales training. You know technology consulting, this tool called pardot, marketing automation, so this is all done on the computer. So most of my work is just doing stuff on my laptop and then, you know, having Zoom meetings with clients. One thing I do miss is like my multiple screens, like not having a big screen when you're traveling is hard to get used to. So I think there's I saw there's something you can like put on the back of your computer that like sticky, and then it like can come out. I don't know how it doesn't fall off, but there some, you know, there there's solutions out there for sure you just need bigger and bigger glasses to see the little print.
Speaker 2:Yes, we get older, it's just like I can't see it. You know, I put on my big screen to see and I can. I'm like, can you blow that up for me? But yeah, so I am like super, super stoked to uh, you know, explore and then also, like I don't have like a lot of destinations, like to check things off, but like when the offer I think it was like Nora, professional hobo or one of these other guests that we had when there's an opportunity being able to go, if my, my sister, has a friend that's, you know, moved to portugal and you know now we can stay with her, you know, and who knows, on how she's going to be be there and like this hong, like you happen to be there and she lives there and be able to take advantage of that opportunity where someone else is there, you're going to make it makes it more affordable to like we can easily spend four thousand000 a week or some of these, like these more commercial tours. Five $6,000 doesn't include airfare and it's like a week to 10 days and I'm like, yeah, it sounds great If I really want to like immerse myself in a minute, but like I want to get to know the people, I don't want to necessarily be hanging out with other tourists.
Speaker 2:Probably the other big thing I really learned is there are certain countries. Doing tours is a smart idea, right? Because Egypt is one like. I don't think I'd want to try to do that on my own. Maybe the some of the places like in Colombia. I think it's good to be with some kind of organized, but you know Mexico, anywhere in Europe I think I would feel fine. You know traveling alone and I have in the past. You know, and I know enough about enough people now that you know traveling alone and I have in the past. You know, and I know enough about enough people now that you know in Asia to know which countries that's good to do and not good to do.
Speaker 2:So and then also, I think kind of one of my big learnings is knowing some, because sometimes when I travel like I try to like go visit my mom, you know, or something, and go stay with her, and then we end up going visiting all these relatives and then I find out, you know, I'll just work from there and I can't because it just gets too busy. So just really, I think it's important to like know when it makes sense to try to work while traveling. And so, like Thailand and stuff, since the time difference is so big, I kind of think when I go to Thailand I just want to take a month off of work or two months off of work and go there and just really absorb it and, you know, maybe write some blogs or something for the business, but not try to like have client client meetings or anything. Work at two in the morning, that doesn't sound very fun.
Speaker 2:But you know, costa Rica or Belize like I've been to Belize a couple times and I believe this, actually I saw like 350 around trip from denver in january, which is their prime season, and you can like you can rent a place easy for two grand a month down there. So it's like huh, so like for under three and food is insanely cheap. Down there the wi-fi is good. They all speak english. So for like a couple thousand dollars you can spend a month in belize, versus spending five thousand dollars on a you know trip to iceland, for example.
Speaker 1:Yeah, actually I just wrote that down.
Speaker 2:I'm like that's where I'm gonna go for a month yeah, it's very, but you know, it depends what you want to do like you want to. And then there's islands or there's, you know, the, the inland area, there's jungle, like Belize has so much going on. Yeah, that sounds incredible. You know, in Slovenia I've never really been to, or I haven't been to, and I've just heard so much about it. But so do you have a new first choice then, kristen?
Speaker 1:Goodness Ecuador. I thought was really interesting, but now I'm like Belize like actually. I mean I was thinking New Zealand, australia, because of Ian um and I was just really impressed. I mean Portugal, I was really impressed, and also the big wave.
Speaker 1:I thought that was kind of interesting oh yeah, um, but uh, I was trying to see Baja Mexico and it's funny because my sister has houses, uh properties in Todos Santos and when we did, we've done, I think, two on Baja Mexico and I was just like, wow, I didn't really think about that area as much and it's really close, by I mean the time differences, you know. So there's more, but it's interesting. You say about going somewhere and just taking the time away from work, which is kind of hard, I think. You know we get programmed for work and it's really tough to like relax, which I'm looking forward to on the trail next week.
Speaker 1:I was in Yosemite volunteering through the Sierra Club for, you know, seven days this year. It was fun, but it was I got. It was really cold, it snowed and it was beautiful. I mean it melted the next day but I was having trouble because I was trying to work and the wifi was down because the snow had taken it out, and so that was really troubling, trying to like balance those things. And so I think, thinking more in advance of where you're going and what the wifi is and what's your, what's your goal to go and are you going to work and how much percentage, like really sort of thoughtfully think that through a little bit more, I think I would have done a better, I could have done a better job. I thought, oh, I'll just work, fine, but it worked so well.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the wifi, yeah. And then I mean like sometimes I want to be on like my private VPN, and sometimes I'm at like at my mom's, like for some reason I can't get on the VPN or it just like breaks, and so then I have to choose like which Internet, or then just go through my phone and then I can use my hotspot, but sometimes the hotspot, the cell phone, is not in a good cell phone area, so then you're relying on that. Do I really want to be stressed about this?
Speaker 2:right, exactly, so I I like I'm kind of jealous of people that are writers, because like you can write, you know write on abm wi-fi to write.
Speaker 1:You just write all day long yeah, although it's still hard because they have writer's block or you know just yeah, there's always always greener?
Speaker 2:yes, exactly, but it's good to appreciate then also being having what we have too right and the flexibility and uh, oh, yeah, yeah, I'm really grateful for flexibility and not having you know boss tell me you can't take the time off, you can't work remote. That's not a thing, so it's good.
Speaker 1:I know exactly you need to look at starlink. That's's one suggestion, and I'm I actually am highlighting it right now to see if I want it for my backpacking trip.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, while we're here, audience like if you have anything you'd like to hear from about us, we have this new thing called fan mail and I saw one come through, but it was a test from Kristen. It's just at the top of the show notes. It says text text the webcast. So, yeah, feel free to do that If you have any. It's a one way communication. So if there's something you want to talk about, let us know. And if you want us to write back, be sure to give us your email address or give us your phone number. We will not know that otherwise. Oh, I didn't know that. Yeah, yeah, it came through and it didn't. It showed like the last four digits and says you're from California, but it didn't, like, didn't put your whole phone number down. So it keeps, keeps it private. So, yeah, exactly, it can be totally anonymous if you share something about letting us know who you are Exactly.
Speaker 1:I would say one episode that I was really impressed that stood out was Antarctica, with Kristen in the wheelchair and being able to. I think just it was so inspiring and wonderful to to see and hear what she was able to do. That and Joe with the standup paddleboard in England, those two really, you know. And then I asked to I think I'm going to launch Joe on my podcast next week.
Speaker 2:So tell us about your other podcast. What's the premise of that one?
Speaker 1:Yeah, Curiosity with Kristen. So it's more businesses and careers and pivots and careers and life and companies and what they're doing and CEOs to move their people forward, and challenges. But exciting things too, and even one I did with raising kids, teen mental health, which is a big thing. And then I've also done some sports ones. I had a girlfriend of mine and then someone else I just also it's so cool One that did synchronized swimming. I think it was the same year in 96. And then one that was soccer and both of them got gold medals, oh wow, and the synchronized swimming got a perfect 10. So my friend Heather and then my new friend, it was really cool to get a chance to do those. So I have lots of different topics, just very inspiring and it just kind of honestly I started it just to help me as I was creating my business and just realize how much I get out of it. I just love it.
Speaker 2:So, as much as I love where next, so I to do this podcast queen Kristen, I know I got both of those going yeah, exactly all right. Well, um, thanks again for listening and um, we will see y'all soon yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1:Thanks for making our three years so memorable and wonderful. We couldn't do this without our guests and our audience listening, and of course, we're still doing it, obviously posting. But we would love to hear if you can subscribe. What is it? Little little thumbs up or a bell, whatever it is. You may know more I'm horrible at that part, but I would love to kind of look more at that and sponsors, if you're interested and you have something that you want a part of our show, we've played around with that as well. So we're very open and we're so fortunate and, Carol, you're so awesome. I love doing this and I'm so excited that we've gotten a chance to grow our friendship.
Speaker 1:Um, you know, we had such a fun time when we lived together and you know, now we get a chance to um hang out on a regular basis. Yeah, right, yeah so and even gotten to go to stay with you in boulder several times over the last couple years and go hiking in the evening, and you guys have been so wonderful yeah, next year, since I'll be empty nesting, I think I'll be spending more time in california as well.
Speaker 2:Go stay with my cousin for like a month or something yeah, exactly, can't wait great. Great Cool All right, thank you.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much, everyone. Thanks, carol. We'll see you next time, okay.
Speaker 2:Bye. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed the podcast, can you please take a second and do a quick follow of the show and rate us in your podcast app and if you have a minute, we would really appreciate a review. Following and rating is the best way to support us. If you're a minute, we would really appreciate a review. Following and rating is the best way to support us. If you're on Instagram, let's connect. We're at where next podcast. Thanks again, bye.