I Need Help from YOU - starting something new and I'd love YOUR questions!
We've got a new idea for podcast episodes, and lots to share about our really unique Hawaiian sailing expedition last week. You'll LOVE what we're sharing today!
There’s always something new happening in our world, which I’m glad of cuz I don’t do stagnate. The coming months include new travel spots and home projects, but also I’m adding something cool to the podcast (more on that below). As spring approaches and the grayness of winter fades, I feel more energetic than last year already. And that’s where I want to start today: looking at the progress you can’t tell you’re making.
Before diving in though, I just want to say thank you for following along. While we were in Hawaii and I would talk to people about what I do, I felt really lucky to be able to say that I have friends and followers that read my writing and listen to our podcast. People’s responses to hearing about the community out in the world that’s always engaging with me made me feel really amazing. It was a breath of fresh air to get to talk about blogging and influencing and have people be positively interested in it. And that’s thanks to YOU!
Real Talk: Invisible Progress in Life
A year ago I was pretty depressed. Lots of things were happening in life that were legit making me wake up each day with no sort of joy. It was evident to everyone around me and was really difficult to deal with. I’m pretty good at fake-it-til-you-make-it, but that just wasn’t the case. Working through everything happening in my mind and trying REALLLLLY hard to find things to be joyful about each day was hard and bumpy.
Between heavily filtering my social media feeds and limiting my time online, I was slowly able to shift my brain when it came to work things. I had to convince myself to not care heavily about how and what other people in my line of work were doing or the opportunities people were getting that I wasn’t. I had to just stay in my lane and only worry about my own work, my own creativity and managing myself. That’s a hard thing to do, but figuring it out slowly helped me with my own mental health.
Another aspect of life that was having a big impact on me a year ago was watching our dream house situation rapidly deteriorate. The trees behind our house got ripped out and the neighbors who were building kept fudging the truth about their plans… and then another level went on their building project and they could look directly into our bathroom, bedroom, dining room, living room.... When I’d go outside there was always a structure looming over me. I felt watched/trapped. That’ll wear on your mental health, let me tell you.
The physical change of moving to a new neighborhood, to a new house without depressing memories or anxious vibes made a difference. Yes, we gave up our single story piece of heaven, but we got to move into a new house that we could turn into our actual dream home. Starting fresh in a new home helped me and helped US. We’re all much happier for lots of reasons and that happiness has helped us all get along better and grown closer.
Even though when I put this on paper it seems like a simple series of actions and changes to make progress, but living it was slow and I didn’t even realize that my mental health was improving. Even today I think back to where I was a year ago and can’t believe how I feel about daily life, work life, and my value as a parent. Anyways, I just wanted to share all this because I think a lot of people struggle with depression and self-worth issues, and I know it’s nice to hear examples of ways to work through it.
HELP! New Podcast Style Featuring YOU
I’m always looking for new ways to keep our podcast fresh. My pal Kate made a great suggestion and I know it’s going to produce some fantastic podcast episodes. HERE’S WHAT I NEED FROM YOU:
Pop over to our podcast page on our site
Submit your questions about travel, life, parenting, LGBTQ issues…
We’ll answer the questions in podcast episodes, and who knows, maybe we’ll invite you to join us!
I’m excited about this new feature and the episodes we’re going to be able to record with everyone’s questions. I always try to use the questions I get from people when I’m writing, so having input from people for podcast discussions is going to be awesome.
Be sure to subscribe to 2TravelDads Podcast wherever you listen. I like Amazon Music for their podcast interface, but if you’re an iTunes person you’ll find us there and on Spotify and Pandora too.
Our AMAZING UnCruise Adventure in Hawaii
Yay!! I get to talk about our small ship sailing adventure! I knew that is was going to awesome, but I was surprised what aspects of it I liked most. Before I start blabbing about hundreds of whales, I would love for you to read my article about what UnCruise is and how it works. It’s not a normal cruise at all, and you just have to read about it. What Is UnCruise - full article - I even break down the cost of UnCruise vs standard cruising or self-run travel.
So, here’s the scoop. Spending a week onboard a small ship with 30 like-minded travelers is really incredible. I didn’t expect to enjoy being in close quarters with strangers for a week, but it was actually the best part. We were the youngest people on our sailing (makes sense) but everyone was down for hiking and snorkeling and kayaking and everyone was excited for each activity. Most of the passengers on our sailing were around our parents age, so it was like sailing with 12 sets of grandparents. The boys loved that!
I also loved how many retired teachers were sailing with us. Even though I’m not shy about pulling the kids from school for travel, having teachers onboard and all our conversations about how travel shapes children made me feel good about how we approach world education for the boys.
The food onboard the UnCruise Safari Explorer was delicious and the crew was so kind. We all felt so welcome from the very beginning. I genuinely felt sad to say goodbye to everyone when we disembarked on Molokai. Next week I’ll share more about our itinerary and what we experienced, but for now, just know that it was awesome.
Want to JOIN US on an UnCruise Adventure?
We’ve got another UnCruise sailing on the books in June. We’ll be doing a round trip adventure from Juneau on the Wilderness Legacy. Check out our UnCruise Adventures page to get details and a discount code for booking. I would love to have more friends and family join us on our Alaskan adventure! If you already know that you want to come along, provide the code TWODADS500 when you make your booking for a discount.
Latest Podcast Episodes
Even though when we started 2TravelDads Podcast it was just Chris and I talking about our travels and that was great and exciting, I love what the podcast has become. More often than not I actually get to have my friends from different parts of the world and different sectors of the travel industry on to chat. I feel like I’ve got a handle on hosting a podcast and am striving to bring on fun friends that have great stories to share. With that, our two most recent podcast episodes are just that!
My good friend Colleen Miniuk was just on talking about how she transitioned from a corporate computer engineering career into being a professional landscape photographer. Give a listen and hear how her life changed as she has gotten to pursue photography as a career.
Another new podcast episode we’ve got has my friend Keryn of Twist Travel Mag talking about exploring Ireland with kids. From itinerary suggestions to tips to make it even easier than it is (pretty simple place to visit), she goes on and on about her love of Ireland and all her family enjoys.
And one last exciting podcast episode to share: my friend Angie’s book comes out in two weeks! We recorded an episode all about the writing process and her experience writing a memoir with a Top 5 publisher. Give a listen to Angie’s episode here!
That’s all for now. It’s been a busy week as we return to normal life. Thank you so much for following along on our life adventures, and stay tuned for more of what’s happening in our world, both at home and in travel. Stay healthy and enjoy the increasing sunshine!