¶ Moving to Colorado and Finding Home
Welcome to Know your Flow podcast , where women in flow share what they know . I'm your host , lauren Barton . Join me as we talk to women and hear their stories on what they know , how they've grown and living in flow , hi . Today we're here with Catherine Hi .
Catherine . Hi Lauren , thanks for having me here today . Yes , are you nervous . A little bit .
Yeah , I feel like it's just a combo , but it's weird when you have a mic here , right , it does change things a little bit . Yeah , exactly . So I've known Catherine for a long time , I'd say at least seven years .
She was my client , one of my first clients that was really on board and was really cool , and then she ended up moving to Colorado and now she's back and we're so happy that she's back living her truth .
So tell me a little bit about moving to Colorado , when because I feel like everybody has not everybody , but a lot of people have like dreams and thoughts of like , oh , I really like this area and I would love to live in this area , but it's really hard to actually commit to moving your whole life and community over to a different place .
So , yeah , like , what was that like for you ? Because , also , you just said recently and I love this like that you never really understood why people don't live where they love . Like , if you love an area and a place makes you happy , why wouldn't you just live there ? And I think that's really inspiring .
So , yeah , like , what was it like to move your whole world over to Colorado ?
Well , it was really interesting because I had moved to Colorado . I had been to Colorado in the Denver area once , but I was just driving through there was like eighth grade . It was like a mission trip to go up to South Dakota . So the part I lived in Colorado was Southwest , but never been there .
Really Like , had you been there like to travel though , before , or no , you guys , you were just like all right , we're going to move this area , yeah , and never moved there .
I knew when I was in Winchester I spent , so I grew up in Winchester and , you know , went to school , came back and I felt like I had done everything in Winchester . I really enjoyed being outside in nature . So it was like traveling more into West Virginia .
It's like two hour drives to get to like Dolly Saws in different areas in West Virginia and I was kind of getting a point where it was like if I'm driving this far , now get away from people , there's probably somewhere I can just either be in my backyard and do that or drive somewhere and be somewhere like incredible .
So that thought came across and looked at different towns that were affordable , because not every place in Colorado is affordable to live , but it wouldn't somewhere that wasn't developed . So that took away the front range . When I say front range I mean when people say Denver , Fort Collins area or Boulder , Colorado .
That's on the other side and I moved to the Southwest . So when you look at the map , look for Corners region .
Okay , yeah , yeah , so you could get to . So not only when you live there could you be in Colorado , but you could also be in what ?
New Mexico quickly , Arizona quickly and Utah quickly , utah quickly , so it's two hours away from Moa , so it's a day trip , so yeah , and the town I lived in has a Mesa Verde there , so that's a national park , so that's available . There's national monuments and national forest , so there's a lot of things to do .
It's really diverse , in the sense of you can be in the desert in 20 minutes or you can be in the mountain , so it's really cool .
Is it close to Durango ?
So where's living ? Cortez is about 50 minutes away from Durango .
Yeah , when Billy hiked the Colorado trail , yeah , yeah , he said that Durango was like his favorite . He liked Durango and Salida . Oh cool , yeah , it was a pretty area both of them . Yeah , so did you feel like so ? Was the landscape enough to justify moving away from all your people , or was that a hard adjustment ?
Yeah , that definitely was hard because the move there not knowing anyone , so you're kind of starting from scratch .
When my sister group you can think of , just from living in somewhere so long , it's like , oh , I went to school with these people or work with these people and you don't get too much , like you kind of already have friends made for you when you're in school or you're working somewhere , friends just come , You're just spending so much time with them , they become
your friends , you hang out with them outside of school or work . But here I'm like starting from scratch . So I was like how am I going to meet people ? But I found a job and one of the girls I worked with she had a daughter and she happened to live right across the road from me .
I never seen her like before that and I was like , oh my gosh , like wait , she lives where . I was like I live on that street . She's like no way , she lives down there . I was like , oh my gosh , we're like neighbors .
So that started and then when going out and getting my hair done and then just working , I just make friends , Like that would just be the way . But it didn't happen , Like I wasn't saying like five months in . I didn't have all these friends . So during that time when I didn't have friends , nursing job I was working .
At the time I was working four days a week , 10 hour shifts , so I always had a day off during the week which I'd go explore . So it was nice because I wasn't with all the crowds in the weekends and I could just do kind of whatever . I was like I just look on the map or Google something , or someone would tell me , oh , have you done this ?
I'm like no , let me go look this up , and I could just take off because you're a pretty like independent person anyway , right ? Yes , I don't feel like I need to wait on someone to make a plan or do something . Like if I want to do it , I'm doing it . Like that's done is decided . Have you always been like that ? I think so .
I just feel like , because I had that part of me , I feel like I'll miss out if I wait for people to do it when they want to do it , or so I'm just like well , I'm just going to do it . It's so funny because I think my parents just got used to me being like .
I was like okay , I'm going to be gone , I'm not going to have really great cell service here in Colorado . Like I'm going to be here doing this today . I'll text you when I get back . And my mom's like have fun , send me pictures . Yeah , I'm like okay , they're not . Like oh , my gosh , are you okay ? Are you going to be okay ?
Yeah , come here , I'm like yeah , yeah , and like disclaimer , like Catherine and I are both in a gram seven , so we both like to have a lot of fun , like to travel , like to do things .
Because I totally relate to that too , like that feeling of if I don't go do , like why I can't rely on somebody else to like do what I need to do in my life that I think would be fun . Like that doesn't make any sense to me .
Yeah , me either . I just I'm like I'm going to wait , like I want to do it now , like I don't want to wait till tomorrow . Tomorrow seems so far away . I'm like , can I just have it today ?
Yeah , exactly Like I want to do it right now . And yeah , totally . Did you feel like Colorado felt like home eventually ? Did you feel like it felt awkward ? Did you feel like it like did it feel right or no ?
It did feel like home . I just felt like really at peace there . Yeah , um , whenever I'm there , I've just seen the huge landscapes . To me there's definitely more of huge landscape . You're just surrounded by this open sky , just pure other works of God or the universe to create these mountains , this desert landscape , and you're just .
I feel like I'm constantly in awe , and I know you just touched on how we're sevens , so I feel like we need that next , like , oh , this is amazing , this is incredible . We need the big views and things that stimulate us , or else we're like , uh , that's kind of boring .
Totally .
I feel , yeah , because I totally relate to that , because that's how I feel whenever I'm in Arizona , which is very like deserty in Tucson or Sedona or you know whatever Like I come back here , I feel claustrophobic , like I just feel like uh , it's also tight and I like can't , whereas like there I feel like free and open , which is kind of I feel like what
you're saying , like it's like big and like whatever , and that kind of even I could say like living there , I realized like what I needed , I feel like here .
Um , my experiences of everyone's in Virginia it's like there's so many shops and outlets , stuff like that is all around us . Out there , where I live , to get to the closest target is hour and a half away and it's in New Mexico . Same with Chick-fil-A or .
Any of that like corporate America stuff , right we ?
do have a Starbucks , but you have to go inside the grocery store to get Starbucks .
Oh , those are so .
Those are the worst .
Yeah , they're not very good because nobody cares . Yeah , yeah .
So I just feel like when I moved out there out west , I was like I need clothes that are functional . I'm not really wearing heels as much . You could go to the bar and like jeans or leggings . No one's gonna like it's just normal wearing tennis shoes everywhere . People go to nice restaurants and whatever .
It's nothing like fashion Fashion board In the sense of like having the dress up where I feel like other cities or like out here , like if my friends are like when I go out for lunch like I'm gonna look cute , yeah there , I'm like all right , I'm just whatever I'm wearing I'll wear there .
But that's not to say there's not people wearing fashion or looking cute or presentable or wearing their style out there . It's just , I'd say , as a whole , you can notice when you go into a restaurant or bar .
So well and that's another thing too is like you choose travel over , like consumerism and stuff like that right . Like you would rather spend your money on travel than like clothes or stuff and things like that right .
Yes , and I feel like it fulfills me in this way that when I feel like I'm packing for a trip , sometimes I feel like I need these things , like , oh , I need this many outfits . I mean , I've gotten better because I've gone on a lot of trips recently where I'm just like , oh , I don't want to take things I don't need .
But you , sometimes I feel like it's a normal thing where you go into a new place or like , oh , I want to wear this outfit or want to wear stress or new bathing suit for this experience I might have like all in my head . And then when I'm there , I'm like I don't need really anything I can , I'm fine wearing the same stuff over and over .
I'm so happy right now I'm not even thinking what I brought on my suitcase , like , I'm just happy to be here in this moment . And then I feel like coming back from a trip , I have that where I'm like kind of getting back in society or like , oh , I don't really want to spend like what was important to me , like what did I really value there ?
And my husband , calvin and I we always talk about that instead of like when we're in the moment of traveling together , we're like this is amazing , like we need to take this aspect whether it was like fresh food we were eating or taking these walks and how are we going to incorporate that into our own lives ?
Because that's cool , because then you don't feel like you need to be on a plane every day . When you have that light , feel like you're on vacation in the sense of having those things you like to do on vacation . Because I feel like vacation . Sometimes people like for me , going on vacation is doing things I love .
I'm not going to be having a huge list of like 20 million things I need to do eight o'clock this nine o'clock .
That's my nightmare . Yeah , yeah .
Nightmare is literally someone giving me an itinerary of like eight o'clock , we're doing this , nine o'clock , this you can have a 15 minute break . That would literally kill me Like I can't even say like I can't .
You're like I actually don't even want to go . If you're going to do that to me , yeah , I don't want to go , but do you plan things ? Or does Calvin plan things on trips Like who's more ?
of the planner . We kind of are together but he makes it happen in the sense . Talk about what we want to do . I can say this upcoming trip we have for our honeymoon .
We looked at stuff we want to do so we're going to go snorkeling Scourge in and I kind of looked up snorkeling Scourge in so it's like , okay , here are the ones , I think this one , and then we just kind of book it together . But really , how we look on things , what we want to do is looking at where a hotel or Airbnb , wherever we're staying .
You look at that area and like where the hotel is and then zoom out . So I want to see if it's walkable . Can we walk to a coffee shop ? Can we walk to the beach ? Can we walk to where things are ? Because that's one of the things we like to do on vacation is kind of walk more , yeah , and explore that way .
So I think that's a good thing to keep in mind , for traveling is like looking at the area , not just at the hotel , but just making sure outside the hotel has things you like to do , and it's different for everyone . Some people want to be near a bookstore , other people want to be near , like , historic sites .
So I think that's something good to consider when you're traveling like what you like to
¶ Booking Accommodations and Airline Preferences
do .
Do you book more hotels or Airbnbs ?
nowadays it just depends , like sometimes we even split it . When we went to Hawaii this year , we spent half of it in a bed and breakfast and then half of it at a hotel .
Nice , and both were fabulous , incredible both .
Yes , and we packed like the paddle board and it's almost like a travel tag you can . So some airlines will let you check your bag for free or $50 , depending on who you're flying with and if it's under a certain weight , usually like 50 pound limit , you can travel with it for free or for a cost .
So we just packed up the paddle board and brought it with us .
The inflatable one , yeah , yeah . And then we yeah , that's a good idea , because then you didn't have to like rent them everywhere you went , because then that gets super expensive . You could just buy a paddle board at that point , especially somewhere like Hawaii .
Right , exactly , you were like each time you rent it it's like $50 and like you can look on Amazon and get one . Like if you're going to rent it three times , there you go , you get the whole set and all the accessories .
Yeah , exactly , and you just pack it . What is your favorite airline ?
right now Delta , right now Delta . I've learned so much United .
Delta . Do you have a lease favorite ? I do have one that you're like .
I really I don't . I've never done like frontier or sprint .
Oh spirit . It looks like the sprint emblem because it's like it's yellow and black .
Yes , sorry , yeah , no , I've never flown with them Alleged . No , I'm like a your snow .
They all smell weird and really small . And yeah , my favorite story is when Hannah and I went to Chicago . We were coming back and we were on spirit and we were sitting the first off . Spirit comes out of BWI , which I hate . Bw , I don't hate BWI . Is it airport ? It's so far .
No , but it's like it's annoying .
It's so far . I'm just gonna pay extra , so I don't pay much , you know .
Come over my way and then I'll give you a drive sitting there on the plane and All of a sudden , this man is who's like ?
coming to sit next to us . It comes up with his garbage bag , his black garbage bag , which was his suitcase . I was like , okay , yeah , we're on spirit . Oh , this guy is using a garbage pack .
Sounds like a reel that you'd watch , but I have traveled . We have a small toy Ozzie named huck . I thought that's relevant . His name is not relevant , but the still shout out and he's traveled United and Delta .
Oh nice , which did he prefer ?
He prefers Delta . It is less expensive For him . If for him it's ninety nine dollars For him to fly with Delta and he can chill up on the seats with us and the flight attendants don't get Aggravated by that .
What do what ?
about United , united's one 125 dollars for him to ride with you just to sit on your lap . Yeah , and he is Rewinding , doesn't know ? He's nine pounds .
My book bag .
I'm bringing to travel is louder oh , excuse me , Louder is is heavier than him . But why have to pay that fee ? I don't know it's just a scam , but no , they're like , I'll keep him down . You know you need to be all the way underneath the seat . I'm like , okay .
That's cool . You can bring him though , like that's pretty cool that you guys have a dog that is travelable .
Yes , it's , it's amazing . Only , say , part bringing a dog to the airport . He's been to Chicago Airport and he will not I need it and he will not go to the bathroom inside , which I don't blame him , honestly , because the dog relief areas are disgusting . Yeah , if they are inside it is gross really . Like what are they like ?
Like it's like fake turf and it just smells . Yeah , I was gonna say it is disgusting .
Yeah , like I wonder who would even clean that .
I guess the they don't , yeah , they honestly don't . Yeah , there's a hose and I think it's just dog owners .
Yeah , that's . Interesting , it's gross .
Even nicer airport . He's been well dull . As you know , the carpets look like the dog relief area . When the carpet floor at dullest is disgusting , they have money , they can fix it . He's been to Huck , has been to Seattle . It's gross there too .
What is your favorite airport ? Do a favorite , yes , so funny .
Yeah , I have a few . What are your favorites ? View okay , view wise Okay , I think Jackson Hole . There you're flying into a national park .
That's true . I went to . I didn't find that one . I flew into one of Bozeman . That one's a good one , that one feels like you're in like a , like a .
Cabin resort . That makes you want to buy boots and like Live it like a buyer ranch . Yeah , like totally changed my life . Like that makes people like , okay , I can do this . I know , yeah , I could . I could be warm for three months and like miserable the rest . Okay , I can do this . It really makes you think about that when you're yeah in Montana .
Yeah , montana's interesting .
You like it ? I do like it . Yeah , but I said I can like it for three months .
Yeah exactly Everybody else likes it too .
Yeah , exactly , and that's a problem . Yeah , okay , yeah , so Jackson Hole .
I haven't been to that one but I'm the Bozeman one and I assume they're probably similar .
But Jackson Hole is probably even mm-hmm . And then the one in Dallas , dallas , fort Worth . I think that one's a good one , because a lot of the flights from Durango could fly into there . So you got familiar with that that one is cool and and I'm in Tampa I think it's nice , I think the Tampa one's nice least favorite . Dallas .
Yeah , this is kind of depressing , it is yeah do you have like TSA pre-check or clear anything ?
Oh , isn't that crazy .
That is crazy . I'm like lazy . Well , I'm the person to who just got an easy pass . Okay , like I . It takes you a long time . I also don't have like a united credit card or any of that which I probably showed , so that I can go to the lounges and stuff . Do you lounge ?
you seem like a lounge girl . I know no , because we Got and I have talked about signing up for United one , but you're right now . Yeah , I'm really liking One of the ones , but then , like they do something , we're like you know what forget them .
Never mind , I don't want to give you money .
I don't want . You Want to get out of this airplane , out of this place ? Yeah , but I go with clear .
I'm clear . So what benefits do you get with clear ?
Okay , so clear . They take you in front of the line like you do your own kind of check-in . They just kind of scan your eyes and then they bring you in front of like the regular , like Gen pop line people are trying to like do security and they cut you in front of everyone . Wow yeah what do you have to do to get that ? Just pay money . How much ?
I think it's a hundred and sixty eight dollars a month . A month and not a month , sorry , sorry not a month , I'm a year . It's like it's worth it . I didn't even blink . I'm like you don't want to feel that important . No , I'm sorry that I think a year a year . It's like just got an email about renewing it . Okay , but it's really nice .
And oh , calvin has pre-check , but then , depending on the airport , I'll beat him .
Hmm , to get clear .
Yeah , I have clear I'll get faster than PSA , but then you can do both .
So what do they do bag wise ? They still do the same , like they check your bags , the same way , going through little thing .
Yeah same , jumbo jumbo .
Yeah same thing but it's pretty , it's faster .
Mm-hmm , yeah , because you're just cutting in line in front of everyone . Wow , I mean Sometimes , depending who you're like cutting in front of , yeah , if it's like a like a mom and a kid , you're like , oh my gosh . Like yeah , like don't look at me . But other people you're like okay , I don't care .
Yeah , exactly yeah . How early do you get to the airport ? What is your ? Are you a last-minute person ?
Are you always ?
rushed , or do you like to sit ?
and chill . Probably sit it more towards it and chill . I give more time to sit and chill than rush .
Yeah , do you get a ride to the airport or do you ?
park . It depends because we moved back here like Sometimes park .
Last time we were traveling we parked can you guys uber from your place or not ?
You actually can . Yeah , because Kevin was flying out to Colorado and needed to get a ride there and it was like super early in the morning . So you can do the . Mmm like schedule a new bride .
Nice roll from blue . I wonder what it would be from Winchester . I Mean it really depends . I mean , dude Hannah and I parked at Reagan to go to Sedona and I'm pretty sure she paid like $220 . I believe it , but we were running really late you know of it .
But I feel like those types of things are something you have to kind of keep in mind sometimes , in terms of like how much are you gonna pay for your flight ? Where are you flying out of to save money ? Are you gonna get a ride there or not ? Like all that kind of like goes into like price sometimes .
I mean , I think so too , and I think it's like Two people don't think like we bring our snacks and stuff to the airport and like I don't know . Sometimes I'm like why have the same food at home that they have at the airport ?
Yeah , yeah , and I report , food is normally like gross .
Yeah , it's not like , like , yeah , I definitely think the cost of like the extra stuff , whether it's like extra baggage or the parking situation or getting uber , even when you yeah , when you get there to get there too . Sometimes I'm uber .
Do you guys normally get rental cars or no ? Usually get rental cars . Yeah , where's your ?
favorite place to get a rental car . You know what and I was doing traveling , nursing I had like a Discount in a good like 25 or 35% off the thing , so it was like I'd already find the cheapest vehicle and then do that I think we usually do like budget enterprise , something like that . I actually have a funny . So we were flew into Florida in Tampa .
We're going to Ann Marie Island .
Oh yeah , I've heard that's beautiful but don't you have to stay for like a week ?
Or no , I don't know . I guess it just depends where you say we for probably there a week .
Yeah , that a lot . I heard a lot of the rentals like . You can only rent like a week .
I could see that for them to make , for it to make sense , to make money and maybe not have a bunch of people coming in and out , right , I could definitely see that . So we get our rental car . That guy was really nice , like I'm gonna upgrade you , gonna give you all a Jeep . I'm like great , awesome . We're so excited .
He's like , yeah , enjoy your first time in Florida , awesome . So we're like walking down , like , oh , there's a Jeep . I literally opened the back of the Jeep and a lady's already in there about the back up on . She's like what ? I'm like , how do you have this car ? She's like they gave me the keys or like what ? So they must have .
Like another sales associate must have given her the keys before this guy did . So we had the same . Because they kind of like check you out , like you just go in the car and then you kind of check out at the end .
Is this the way I ?
Think this was like in our price or budget , but it's all kind of the same , I think . I think they're just all the same . On the yeah , different name , because when you go in the parking lots like to pick your car grab it .
Yeah , they're all yeah .
It's all the same .
So did you get a Jeep .
No , give us something else . But I don't really remember what it was , but that was a place where like , oh , next time , if you go there , I don't really feel like you need a rental car , because it's very walkable .
Nice .
Yeah , it's not places you don't know .
I personally I hate having to rely on an Uber it feels very limiting to me , like I don't like going . Even cities , like when we go to Austin or things like that , like , yeah , in theory , like we could just like stay in the city and then walk or need to go , then get an Uber if we don't .
But I don't want to be like , oh man , I'd really love to go to this place , but it's like 15 minutes away and I don't know .
You're wasting . You're waiting 40 minutes for someone maybe to come .
Yeah , like I just want to be able to go right , I get that , yeah , but I've heard of people renting from like Six , six or something , or you can get like BMWs and stuff , oh , pretty cheap . And then , like I did , we did toro .
I was gonna ask you if you've done tour before that one's cool .
Yeah , have you done it ? Mm-hmm , yeah , I , and it was cheaper .
¶ Choosing Travel Destinations and Planning Tips
It was cheaper than cuz . Normally my rental car is like through Costco Mm-hmm , like through Costco . Then , to like enterprise or whatever , or a vis or whatever .
Yeah .
But yeah , toro is cool . Oh , that's good .
Yeah , I used . I'm doing good to know the Costco travel one .
Yeah , that's a good one , like if you're ever , yeah , getting a rental car through the , like you know , normal places .
I feel a little bit cheaper , right ? Yeah , I've used toro Hawaii , used to want , I think , seattle too , and yeah , they've been great .
Yeah , it's easy , it feels like I'm like I feel like it wasn't real , like I was , like are you sure like you ? Can just let me have this like yeah okay , yeah , I know , but yeah , we got a Subaru and um yeah , cuz we got off the plane in Colorado at Denver .
Mm-hmm and it was like one in the morning and yeah , and we went to get pick up our rental car at like the avis place I've ever and the line was literally like could fill an entire room , like we would have been there for two more hours . So you're like fuck it back to our hotel and then woke up in the morning and figured it out .
But sometimes you'll have that you know right .
And a lot of people don't like the Denver airport either , because if you live there cuz I always float , flew into Denver , that's . I know it sounds crazy , but I've never driven from Southwest to Denver , I've always flown . David Airport and David Airport and Cortez and Durango . So how long was your flight ?
From when you're up in the air , it's like 45 minutes , yeah , but so that's cool .
Yeah , I mean I long would have been into had it would have been to drive .
Six or seven hours , yeah , and for the price of gas . It just always ended up being like you might as well Just go do that , yeah , do that , or else again with the parking or your statue parking .
True , I kind of like the crustiness of the Denver airport . I kind of like it . It has been like my , but I think that's cuz . I would always just like , you know , get stoned before I leave . You know you got to like have the rest of your whatever you bought there .
Yeah , I just like , and they do have a good food there .
Yeah , they have a shake shack and a voodoo donut .
Yes , I was about to say the video . You're a gate bee . You're definitely a gate bee .
Yes , but it is very crusty . Yeah , I kind of like it .
Mm-hmm . Yeah , like that they're trying to make improvements on some of the parts , like , yeah , gates got in like a remodel and you can , I think , see guys where you can sit outside .
Nice , that's cool . Yeah , one time .
I was like really sick and like kind of like coming back from somewhere and I was just like Sat outside . Yeah , I was at the board because I was like burning up and I'm like , oh , it's so cold outside , this feels nice yeah for sure .
That is awesome . They have that feature . Where is , like , your favorite place to go right now ? Well , let me ask you this . That's a question . But also , do you feel like sometimes , that the Excitement of the trip and planning is almost more fun than the actual trip sometimes , or no ?
No , I have fun planning , but I really do enjoy being there . Like I'm like this is awesome , this is pretty cool , yeah , being here .
Gratitude wherever you go . Yeah , how do you choose ? I'm asking so many questions , so okay , let's go back to yeah , what is your favorite place right now to go and what is like the vibe that you're trying to go for travel ?
right now , I would just say in general , islands , anywhere . I mean , yeah , I live on an island , girlie , right , yes , I'm , she's in her and I hope the air does not in . Yes , I just love the just being the laid-back , just being laid-back and being around people that are laid-back , not rushing the fresh food atmosphere .
Everything seems to be in bloom there when , wherever you go , so which islands have you been to recently ? Cayman Island , hawaii , big Island , hawaii , and then soon St Croix .
Island girlie . I know how do you choose where you're gonna go , like how do you yeah ?
Oh . So that's interesting because I feel like this is probably way for people like to save money too . Sometimes we'll look at going calm , it used to be Scott's cheap flights , okay . So they'll like there's some algorithm or people find them and they post it on there and pretty much just direct you to Google flights .
But it just shows you like , oh really , cheap Flights . I mean , you can always set your Google alerts to cheap flights , but this way just kind of has like a plethora of different Places that you can go . That's Like on sale .
Yeah much right , but you do have the flexibility of being like oh , we sort of just want to be an island and like , where's flexible ? And I Know , for our honeymoon Calvin planted any which is looking up , like he said .
He typed in millennial boutique hotels Like upscale , like yeah , so it's kind of looking for that and being flexible and like , oh , where's a nice place to stay here .
Yeah , yeah , because that can get overwhelming , I think , especially with hotels , mm-hmm , airbnb's . I feel like I can tell a little bit more like what's going on the reviews right that stuff , it's not just hotels . I'm like , is this gonna be worth it ? Like is it gonna be nice ?
And you don't really want just like a basic hotel , you want a millennial boutique .
Oh , hello , you don't want like the outdated , like beach hotel that are like oh right , yeah , so okay .
So he went on going .
Yeah , yeah . So look , look at going for flights and Then just Google for , kind of what you're going for . Like I would say like it depends on what people enjoy doing .
Yeah , we like to be near the water , we like to be walking places , so Just looking for , like you can just type of walkable or best beaches , best snorkeling , paddleboard places , so you kind of get the feel of what you're looking for and if someone likes historical stuff or they want to be skydiving , and you just type in that kind of stuff to see what comes
out . But I think it's a good idea to know what you like . Like if you want to be in a city , look for a city .
Yeah , exactly like yeah like .
Just go for what you like , because that's what you're really gonna enjoy .
That's a really good point , because I guess what would the opposite of that would be what ? Doing just what you think you yeah .
Yeah , I think what you would . Yeah , that's what I'm thinking . I guess you're like oh , I feel like I have to go here because everyone says it's great and they like it and they have fun there and it's like , well , they might be a totally different personality you and you would not enjoy it like they would that is so true .
I think it's almost like because you think of like a vacation or traveling as Make it something you want to do . You don't have to do it all because my family went here for this many years , or oh , everyone says , or .
Do get like very influenced , I think , by like stuff on Instagram and they're like that looks so cool , but it's not authentic to like them at all , right .
Yeah , you know Right , and you can see a lot of travel and I can see it like out west to like more places were so like overrun by people or trails because they wanted this shot or this picture and I was like I don't know if everyone will like it and I've seen so many people like in trails in Colorado and you don't like you don't even have like a water
bottle , you're wearing flip-flops , I mean for real .
Yeah , like I'm not judging you guys .
Yeah , but I'm like , yeah , you're just always kind of some people just not being prepared on well , like You're just gonna Zoom , it's gonna be sunny and you don't need water and those shoes aren't gonna give you blisters .
Yeah , learning , yeah , with all that , for sure , yeah .
Yeah , I would just hold people to do what they want , to do it , and I don't think there's like shame of me and like , oh , I don't like this , I don't want to be in a big city . Yeah , there's some cities I don't like . I don't like Chicago .
Yeah , I mean cities , or cities , or cities . Yeah , exactly on what you like .
I think that is even more apparent in cities , yeah , when we , for instance , like when we go to Austin , that was really cool because Every single night we had like a thing we were doing right , which I feel like you have to do when you go to a city , because , if not , you're just going to be googling all day long where to go , what to do right um , but
yeah , we had like a comedy show every night and then Like had like things that we wanted to do , but then , like we went to Denver For a day and we were just like I don't , what am I supposed to do here ?
Right , I don't know what I'm supposed to be doing right because you also don't want to keep like I personally don't want to keep paying for things .
Yeah right .
That's why cities are kind of annoying .
Yeah , I feel like that too , because they're like you have to be doing or on some tour going there . Yeah , that's how I feel .
Like Chicago , I feel like I did like this river tour , we did this art museum and like , yeah , like , because , especially when you're used to you like your hobbies or something being Like you've already paid for your gear or things you have For others , what that is for your hobby , I could just say ours is like like to be outside or walking , like that is
like , oh , we have like shoes and like we like to go do this and take our dog places with us . And then when you're going to places that are like , oh , this isn't even dog friend , they don't even want a dog here or To pay for this , and it's just yeah , like kind of like in it's parking parking , because , yes , I'm trying to figure out .
Where are you gonna park how ?
much you pay me for parking .
What the heck . Yeah and that's huge in cities .
Yes , and having valet , like Paying for that , or even like when you're going to like a store , yeah , I'm gonna pay for , like the park there .
Yeah yeah , this is a scam . I know , it's a whole thing .
¶ Travel Experiences and International Tips
What was your like least favorite ? Have you ever had a bad travel experience ?
Like if you because I feel like people that don't travel or that are nervous to travel or whatever are kind of afraid of these like bad travel experiences or nervous or think something's gonna go wrong Like have you ever had an experience that you were like oh god , like this was not good well , I can always say like things with um , like airports , now like
you're gonna be delayed or things are gonna change and like had to deal with it .
But I think , just knowing and going with the flow in that sense of yeah , you're not gonna have great customer service at places , especially United , just unless in the front they start in front , the best people are always like when they greet you at the airport and I feel like it then from down , from down , a little kind of from there .
So just to feel like we've had so many flights in one recently we were trying to get back to Colorado , we were in Dallas and our flight in Dallas kept getting delayed because the plane hadn't even land yet . So it got to the point where we're like you try , went up to the desk , told the lady like hey , like we need to move our flight .
She's like you'll still have time to get there . Like not really , because then we're airport like just logistically we can't , yeah , so then we're like , well , that lady's not gonna help us , so we'll go to the big United desk and maybe they'll help us . Well , they were handing out snacks and like they're like to be by the register .
I'm like , oh my gosh like we're gonna have to go back because we knew need to go on the flight .
When the plane gets there .
So we went back and like told the lady like hey , not only do you need to change our flight Because we can't fly into Cortez anymore , you're gonna have to fly changes to Durango because there's only one flight out of Cortez and by the time we get there it'd be gone . Yeah , and she still was like rolling her eyes .
I'm like , lady , like how many handles it ? He just handles it . He was like just like okay , yeah , like it's a done , and like yeah , finally she ended up doing our like changing our flights . I'm like this was not our fault , like we had no control of it and like this is your job , just to help people and just change her flights .
We weren't asking for all these Extras true , right , and it's like , yeah , that's like if I'm approaching you , with attitude you should like . Yeah fully come back with a good attitude . Mm-hmm , like if I came to you and I'm like being like difficult and rude and blaming , then sure you can be rude back .
But you know , and I feel like safety wise Chicago definitely your did not feel safe there . Yeah , husband didn't either . We had a hug and we were at a nice hotel , um , and we outside walking hug , just like in the grass area out there , and it was like literally people on Motorcycles doing wheelies four-wheelers .
Four wheel like probably 20 motorcycles and a few four-wheelers , yeah , on the streets in Chicago . Crazy , crazy , yeah . This , I mean you can look at the statistics . It's not a safe city , right for sure , yeah . But on the opposite end , I feel like , surprisingly , I like Texas .
Yeah , we're you surprised with Texas . Yeah , I like Austin a lot . I mean , that's the only place I've been , but I've been twice and . Yeah , I like it a lot .
I feel like it's like small enough to where you can kind of get around and you know , like where to go and things like that , and it's still kind of like , again , small Enough to where it's so cool .
Yes , it feels like I haven't been to Austin . I've been to Dallas first work and I was surprised fourth worth . Excuse me , I was surprised on like the small town , feel like you're in this big city , but you people are friendly , they're very nice and good , great food , yeah .
Yeah , really good food in Austin too . For sure have you been to like California and all that . What did you think of that ?
I love California .
Yeah .
I love LA .
Really , I really love LA .
I mean you can bring your dog everywhere and it's warm . They have so much walk like walking trails and just stuff to do . You're by the beach . Yeah , there's a reason why millions of people live there . Like . It's not by mistake . It's a nice place , yeah , like .
That's a really cool place . Yeah , that's what Hannah says too . She like loves it , oh my gosh , you know , because it has like everything that you could want like in one area . Right , it's pretty amazing .
It's so cool because , again , with your wellness , you and Hannah , yeah , there's yoga studios , there's Pilates , like there's really that wellness center around it .
No excuse to not be healthy . There , I right , because you can eat healthy food , you can be outside all the time . You can like , do yoga whenever .
Yeah , and that's all like encouraging , like part of the culture .
Yeah , what are your tips for , like international travel ? Do you feel like it's the same and do you feel like there's anything that you need to think about . Do you plan international travel a lot ?
uh , yeah , so that came in and I think , uh , next year we're talking about doing like the French Polynesian , so like Bora Bora , tahiti Area . So that's where we're planning today . Ask us tomorrow we might change it , but definitely somewhere in Asia . But an island in Asia sounds amazing . Yeah , totally so . More what we're thinking again is like the walkability .
What we want to do , yeah , so that kind of centers around everything . If we're going there , we're gonna . If we're going to a beach somewhere and we're like , oh , we want to be close , we want See where we else we can walk to . It's their grocery store nearby , stuff like that . Yeah , because we will cook too .
Calvin's a great chef , so he'll cook for us .
Yeah , I kind of like to , when I travel to , if I can almost like pretend that I live there , almost like do what I would do if I was home , but like somewhere else , yeah , you know , I think that makes it feel a little bit more relaxed and less like oh god , I'm traveling right and well , and that's kind of the part of like fun of being on vacations ,
like doing what you want .
But if you're already doing that in your everyday life , of like , oh , I like to do this and I'm gonna make time for it on my vacation too , because it's such a part of my life and that's what brings me joy , it doesn't matter if I'm here or there . That brings me joy and that Rejuvenates my soul totally .
Yeah , for sure , did you travel a lot by yourself , like , did you do a lot of solo travel , or have you not really ?
So yes , in the sense of road trips , um , and like you know , I've done that on my own . Um , I'm like Colorado , in Utah . I just again like not really knowing people to begin with . They're just kind of always out doing my own thing , discovering stuff on my own .
And then Last year for my birthday , I flew out to Kauai and like on my own , rent Airbnb , um , got a car , the whole thing on my own . Wow , I made Two friends there . Yeah , it's looking . Even contact with . That's cool . And then I actually met someone who lived in Durango , whose friends with one of my good girlfriends .
No way .
Yes , like on a small beach , that's so cool , yeah , yeah so it's really was fun because it kind of gave me this like I Don't know . It just gives you the sense of confidence and Like traveling alone . Mm-hmm . Yeah , it gives you like not being scared of like other people .
Yeah , I mean , I feel like I'm pretty comfortable with going up to new people and talking to them , but it's kind of puts you on that thing , because they're like Well , when you're traveling with someone else , you're always like what do you want to do ?
You want to do , or fall back on just being like , oh , we could just Talk to each other whole timing , nor everyone else . Yeah , you're really like , well , if you're like social person , really like , okay , I need you know . Like looking in the room round and like , all right , who can I talk to ? Yeah , exactly .
You're being that person . Yeah looking around and yeah , and doing that .
Mm-hmm I .
Agree , though , with like the sense of confidence and like just like dang , like I can do this and like I am free to do whatever I want , and like it's fun too , because you don't have to ask somebody else what do they want to do . Like you can just do whatever you want to do the whole time , right , oh , that's amazing .
And not feel like lame for like because sometimes I will like drive like 25 minutes to go to a coffee shop . Or something just because I want to go to that specific one . But if I'm like with somebody else , they could be like . I don't want to go all the way out there .
Like , why would ?
we want to do that . Yeah , you get talked out of it . You don't do it ? Yeah , this , it's like who cares ? I'm gonna go do this because you .
It's not wasting your time . No wait , because you're like I , rather have a good cup of coffee there then . Have the year or use like Guess this thing would work , or like Qsa , like curing here and they don't have any creamer and it's just not what I want . It's just like yeah that's how I feel .
Yeah , yeah .
I get that .
I also like love flying by myself too .
Really . Yeah and just like you listen to podcast and like , yeah , it just depends like listening , like I don't know why .
just I'm like , okay , I'm on my own here , mm-hmm , traveling girl . Yeah , I don't know .
I've living back to Colorado late .
Yeah , I've flown a lot by myself , so have you ever yeah , sorry , have you ever traveled with somebody who was like an annoying person to travel with ? Yeah , have you ever , like , had a regretful travel partner ? Oh , yeah . So that like .
Just say different , different people , yeah , yeah , you don't have to deal with them anymore , you know , you just get rid of those people in your life .
Yeah , exactly , do you and Calvin get along the ?
whole time you travel . Oh my gosh , we don't even list like we drove cross-country together
¶ Travel Joys, Finding Pleasure in Life
. Yeah , back to Virginia . From our house in Colorado to out here in Virginia we listen to one song . We were talking the whole time .
We talked the entire time you would hate , you would hate traveling with us .
You probably would hate it . We guys are just like oh , we're talking , we're snuggling , oh my gosh , we are just always talking about things . Yeah , or we'll listen to a podcast together . Yeah he always gets the Wall Street Journal and we'll read that on the plane if I fall asleep .
Wow .
Yeah , we always like to have something to read . Yeah , there will be reading something together or he'll read the paper . Yeah , but we're just go with the flow . He's so loving innocence and laid back in like not bothered , like , yeah , it's not the like a delayed flights , not gonna rattle him yeah not gonna rattle me .
Yeah , we're just very compatible in the sense of being able to travel together .
We traveled a lot of different places together yeah and it's been really fun yeah , cuz your all relationship is kind of built on not built on , but a big foundation , like a big part of it is that you both like to travel yeah , oh yeah , I want to travel and yeah , and he's lived different places around the world , so that's really helpful to having a partner
who's been to like a lot of different countries , like you , know different languages , like able to have interactions with people and life experiences .
That's been able to be like oh he has that cable bill in confidence to help figure things out with you yeah , opinion and yeah like yeah , troubleshoot , or whatever yeah , we could probably be on amazing rays , but we're not in a rush like if there was one that we're like . You're like , okay , end up in this destination .
Yeah , we can be great at it , because we're not in a rush .
We like to do these things yeah , that's cool mm-hmm what do you think is like in terms of travel ? Like what do you think is worth splurging on ? Versus like don't spend your money on that .
I feel like rental cars in the sense . I know you said some people got like BMWs . I feel like if that let up your soul , go for that . But I just feel like I get the basic totally car yeah . I don't care yeah right , I've had a key of soul , the last like three times I will not get a Nissan leaf because they do not hold their charge .
Well , the electric stuff yeah , that's nice .
Only I'm sure if you got a tussle like you'll , you'll be more than okay . But I won't get a Nissan leaf because I've had that experience . But I would say to me where you can spend your money on . To me it's like being comfortable in lodging . Yeah , it's important .
I agree , and sometimes I feel like I'm being too bougie . Yeah , I really need that . But like , I feel like the answer is yes , yeah , well , exactly what is your comfort ?
and it's like if you sleep on a hard surface and I key a pillow .
Yeah , are you gonna be really that well rested like yeah , exactly like , yeah , it is important to have somewhere you feel safe and comfortable yeah , it makes it back to yeah , you can go back to and if , like , for some reason , you're like oh , it's raining out or I wanted to stay in here , like you're not , like , yeah , I hate it here . Totally yeah .
I feel like that's where I would spend money on flights . It's like depends on where you're going . Yeah , like we'll do business . If it's a longer , longer flight , we'll do business or sometimes get upgraded to business . It's like the how the point system stuff works .
Yeah , but yeah , I can do , but like splurging on where to stay is good do you ever feel ? Guilty for the amount of money you spend on travel .
No , no no , we've stayed nice places yeah , they really isn't really cool and amazing places and that's , I remember gutted it because it's like that's what we work for . You know , that's to us like what do we ? We always talk about how , what we want our lives to look like together and what we value , and it's like value experiences . Yeah , it's funny .
We were like in Vegas and you know there's all these like designer stuff and I was like laugh , like like you could have a closet of all these like purses and shoes and accessories and I was like that , to me , isn't as important yeah . I want to have , like my soul to be filled . For me I have to have experiences and doing places , going places right .
So I like fine dining . I love a good hotel mm-hmm but I also like being outside and doing that for you like to me , like we're at those places .
I also want to be outside yeah , yeah , totally , and see new places see new places allow that to kind of be the activity yeah , but you're right fine dining is great to yeah tells are great to like . Walking in a city sometimes can be fun yeah it's so good to be like out in nature and a new place and to kind of leave all the for me .
I also feel like it's like I get to go back to like my soul self instead of like , just like who I'm being in the world and every day it's like I think
to come back mm-hmm , yeah , I totally get that . Yeah , yeah , cuz I always feel like I have that revelation when I'm like we're about to leave . It's always like , oh , what , what we really want like and what we want to take away from this place , it's it necessarily all these souvenirs or things like that I want to take away .
How I felt on a random Tuesday I didn't have a care in the world yeah and why didn't I have a care ? Oh , because I knew I was okay and I knew we set things up .
So yeah we can enjoy this yeah , and like I'm really it too .
It's coming back to like living a life that has like fun and pleasure and like goodness at the forefront , and set up like stress and to-do lists and kind of like your pressure yeah , and like all of that mumbo jumbo , that doesn't really matter yeah , and that was one of the things I was feel like kind of ingesting to living Virginia .
For anyone who hadn't lived in Virginia experience in my experience , always it seems like you want to know like you do car you drive here to me always people think it's like important and like things I feel like I value don't always align with how I perceive this area or Northern , more Northern Virginia area to be like very like materialistic materialistic to me
when you do like commuting , sitting in traffic . Yeah , like , yeah that like wear and tear and grind . I'm like , oh for what ? Like to ? Me is this doesn't appeal to me . Yeah , and I think it's how you're saying , like having fun and pleasure and like knowing what that is for you .
It's important yeah , because everybody's gonna be different , like . I can sit here and like love to travel yeah but like there are people who love to be at home and love to pour money into their house and they're like safety and their family and like that's great too .
Yeah , like have to be travel no , it doesn't have to be traveling . It's cool when you meet other people who have those interests , because you can take away from them things , things people could take away from us .
Yeah , like , oh , wow , they've built this community here or they've done this and like , look what they've done , like they've lived here for this long , they've created this kind of space . It's really cool to see people's passions be in the front ground and can send you have something to talk about totally . You're not just talking about oh , do you work ?
Like , oh okay , like right , it's not surface level . You can actually get to know someone .
I feel like , better when they're passionate about their life or what they do , totally , and it's gonna look different for everyone yeah , do you feel like you ever use travel as like escapism , like do you feel like sometimes it's hard to like be grounded in mundane and travel spices things up , or not really ?
not really probably a time in my life where I did feel like , yeah , I want to like always go out and do stuff . But that was like on my own , always wanting to do things , and Calvin , I'm like , oh , we should . I want to experience this with you and have these experiences together . I don't feel like our life is boring week to week or day to day .
We're like we like go on our walks , we go to yoga together . Sunday nights we get Thai food . Like go to library together and pick up books . Like to me , I enjoy that stuff and that's what brings me joy . Yeah , we'll be doing that . We're retired doing that kind of activities together so it's all .
It's all of it . It's not like you're escaping your life to then go travel and be a different person , be your , like you , yeah , like you're accessing that person in your everyday life right things the only thing I feel like I escape is like cold weather like I'm always gonna try to get out of that one .
Or darkness , just darkness is a little bit like I don't love it yeah .
But yeah , I'll try to escape cold weather and once I get sick of it I'll be like okay , I need to warm up , I need to feel a little bit more alive yeah that's the kind of stuff I'll escape from , but there's nothing like like I don't feel like my day-to-day stressors , like I need to leave here and never look back in , go somewhere for a week and forget
this place exists like .
I don't have that feeling yeah , but have you created a life to like not have that feeling ? Thank you like you've been intentional . To make sure that you , yes , and what does that look like ?
it looks like kind of similar how I was saying how doing things we I enjoy I can also say my husband enjoys together and creating that , things that are important to me , or movement , gratitude , family or friends being around that and that's kind of like the forefront of everything that you do .
Yes , instead of like work , like yeah , the what else ? Like ?
yeah , to me , work is always just like a tool . You know it . You know my work has purpose and meaning , but it's always a tool just to spend more time with my family . Yeah , like how many ?
yeah , like you choose your work based on what you can first off , like how much money you can make , that then will allow you to travel the time off that you can get so that you can check it's around your life .
Your life doesn't like fit around your work yes , yeah , yeah it's , and it's giving the ability to live that life of being able to travel , yeah , but also , like , keep in mind , like we go out to shops , I'm not spending crazy amounts , like my life I wasn't like living in Colorado , I'm not out spending money .
Spending money like each weekend going to the stores , like that wasn't , yeah , what I did , yeah . So , yeah , it's like just creating more intention . And , calvin , I like write like goals down . Like in the New Year's , we write down our goals but then we talk about it yeah when we go on walks .
We're talking about , like , what we want to do , not just this week , but what next six months want to look like . What financial goals do we want to reach ?
What things do we want to do , whether it's something like , oh , we want to do more yoga classes or we want to read the spinning books or whatever it looks like to us or do a project on our house , like that's kind of intentions we talk about .
Yeah , which I think is great yeah , and that helps .
Just talking about how you want to live your life like , oh yeah , I need to do that .
Yeah , I need to do that intentional and not getting like because it's really easy , I think , to get swept away and like the stress of life and like mm-hmm , just your own bullshit that you like over commit to , or that you're saying yes to and you're like that doesn't .
That's not an alignment oh , totally , and probably for us , since we're sevens when we say yes to things that were like not a hundred percent . If we don't say stuff when we say yes and follow through on things that aren't a hundred percent yes , I feel like it's like a conflict in ourselves when we're like you don't feel true yourself .
And it's not to say I don't have stress in my life for things like that , or definitely not that , but it's just . Maybe it's a seven thing or just something I've learned to be . It's just like remembering what's important . Totally is this thing and about like matter and it kind of how you create your life too .
If someone keeps bringing stress into your life , are you gonna hang out with them , right ? They keep them bringing drama , no , right new ?
no way , don't need it .
No , exactly , yeah because then you're like well , this time is important to me that I'm not working . How do I want to spend it ?
yeah and saying no , and there are a lot of times like things that I like want to do and then . I like say yes to , because I'm like , yeah , absolutely I would love to , and then , like the time comes , like you're like I know you're like I over committed I've done definitely yes that .
So , yeah , sometimes it's even like simplifying your life and like saying no intentionally more things too , it doesn't like a line or whatever ring .
I read this book . It's called playing with fire and it's like fire . It's financial independence , retire early . That's kind of own movement , and it was about this couple and they were looking how to reach fire , the financial independence , retire early . And part of the book was like oh , like , write down ten things that you enjoy doing every day .
And if you do that , you write down the things you joy like doing every day or every week .
¶ Joyful and Flexible Retirement Planning
A lot of them that they notice on their list like wasn't things that were like cost them it money and they were living in high cost area in California and they had like all these extra fees , rather like this gym I think they had like a sailboat club they were part of but they weren't using it , yeah .
And the things that brought them joy were like spending time with family , yeah , like enjoying fine wine here and there right stuff like your everyday things that you really do enjoy .
Yeah , it wasn't so much for them like spending all this money on clothes or shopping , it kind of making that list of , I feel , like things that are important to you because that's what you're probably doing now and then you want to do that when you retire , totally , because you may not be traveling every single day while you're traveling .
Yeah , when you're retired , yeah exactly , or when you're just like having optional employment . That's kind of the space that I want to be . Yeah , work , but I also don't have to right .
You know , yeah , and I think that's so important to talk about and discuss about that , like that empowers you to have your own life and not and take ownership of your life and your choices , and yeah , accountability is wild when you take that for yourself and you're able to be like how , what am I gonna do today to set up for the future , and also be like
do I want my today , like what I'm doing , always to be my future , like , is this just a way to get to this point ?
and then I'll be able to do it , or can I ?
incorporate what I want to do tomorrow , today exactly , yeah yeah , for sure , all right lady well , thanks . Thank you so much for having me . I really appreciate it .