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Ep. 28: Making it through
49 Plays2 years ago
Join Stephy Steph and Bobby on the last part of day 2 on the Inca Trail. Stephy came back to find Bobby to make sure he was doing okay with the steps down.
They chat about what they have learned and their desire to connect to others.
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Transcript
Overcoming Language Barriers on the Incan Trail
00:00:00
Speaker
Stephie Steph here we are on day two. We are on the Incan trail hiking with Bobby and Stephie Steph. Day two we're on the backside of dead woman's pass. Thank God. You've miraculously already been to the campsite and come back to find me. I'm not gonna lie I got a lot of strange looks and with the language barriers the only thing that
00:00:25
Speaker
came out of their hiking poles. The only thing that came out of their mouth was virtuoso. And I go, oh yeah. What does that mean? Virtuous. Oh, that's really nice. I really appreciate
Solitude, Competition, and Athletic Mindset
00:00:37
Speaker
that. So one of the things that I was thinking and talking about on a prior episode was because I was slower.
00:00:50
Speaker
It gave me an opportunity to be by myself. Yeah. And one of my biggest struggles is to be by myself. I enjoy the hike better when I am either just with one other person who I'm not competing with or I'm by myself.
00:01:14
Speaker
There's a different enjoyment when you're competing with the person on the hike. So is it fair to say that you have challenges with competition? As do you, my friend. Well, I'm leaving me out of it. Well, I would say a lot of successful people have challenges turning it off. Yeah. And I think athletically you were a college runner, college athlete. Yeah.
00:01:43
Speaker
it's hard to uh kind of sort sort being a competitor it is yeah yeah so um yeah this has been one of the hardest physical days of my life
00:02:03
Speaker
It hasn't been easy. You know, what actually prepared me the most for this, I had four hockey games on a Sunday that was brutal and I didn't want to do the third one and I definitely didn't want to play in the fourth one. But something happened in the fourth game that reminded me of a place that I can go when it's really physically challenging and you'll get through it. You always got, you always have 5% more in the tank.
00:02:34
Speaker
I was happy that although this was the toughest physical day I've ever had,
00:02:41
Speaker
Oh, yes.
The Role of Gear in Hiking Success
00:02:43
Speaker
What? I was going to comment. By the way, Ultras, I have been, look at this, so freaking impressed with the grip. They're pretty cool shoes. They're not sponsors for us. They're grippy as all get out because I've hiked in other shoes and dang, I would absolutely recommend this specific style with the ankle support because I have not like knock on wood, of course, but
00:03:06
Speaker
We were flying. You may not want to say that. We were flying down those rocks earlier. And I haven't sprained an ankle. No, I didn't say that. The slip. Not physical harm, but I have not had to deal with a shoe malfunction. How about that?
00:03:23
Speaker
you raced up the mountain and down the mountain is what I hear you say did you ever pause to look at the beauty actually I did stop our group to look at this and it was it was
Experiencing Nature's Beauty Through Sound
00:03:34
Speaker
to be fair was a little cooler prior but this is a different cool
00:03:37
Speaker
How would you describe for our listeners what you're seeing here? You can't say that. It's an audio. It's a podcast. You can't say it's great here. It's like a book. So for me, the clouds passing up over the mountains is kind of where it's at. And when you're hiking, plenty of you may have hiked through the clouds before, but that's the cool thing. That's kind of the
00:04:08
Speaker
That's the wonder. That's the body of wonder. That's the awe. You can almost touch the clouds. When we were at the, when we summited today, we had clouds sweep across our faces, which was kind of cool. And that was not expected, but pleasant surprise. It's really cool right here how we have just some little wisps of clouds and it's a valley with mountains on both sides. Would you say a Gulch?
00:04:38
Speaker
Oh. Yeah. You know what? That's a lovely word. I don't know if that's the correct usage of it. It sounds right. I really don't know if it's a Gulch or a valley. It's probably a valley. Put your comments in the comment section. Differentiate. But, you know, we've got these beautiful mountains on both sides. It's cool to watch. What kind of clouds? Are those Nimbus, Cirrus, Columbus, Cumulus. I call them little wisps. It's really, they're not that big. It's just little wisps of clouds.
00:05:08
Speaker
It's cool to be high enough where you're normally, you just normally don't see these things that you're seeing. And yeah, really just take it all in. What surprised you today?
Endurance and Mental Focus on Tough Terrains
00:05:20
Speaker
I'm gonna be honest, this might be a little bit of a snide comment, my physical fitness. Wow. Yeah, I can't believe my legs were there. It's hockey. They shouldn't have been there. And they were totally there. This is physically brutal to spend five to six hours doing stairs straight up.
00:05:39
Speaker
And I would not have been able to be, like this was mentally and physically challenging. You had to get past the pain mentally and you had to be okay not knowing the ending. Speaking of which, that's where we're at, those tense.
00:05:54
Speaker
I was debating telling you you were way out there. No it still is an audio. So Steph is pointing off yonder. We can see it. It looks super close. Like I looked at my watch at one point and I had done like 1.2 miles and I'm like it's taking me this long to do 1.2 miles.
00:06:10
Speaker
Yeah but at the same time I like I think the rest of the time and I say this kind of tongue in cheek I don't know what I'm gonna do tomorrow but it is nice to go this pace because you actually see the sights as we were racing down we came across one of the hikers she was over to the side she goes man I just can't go slow enough to see it all and we were like yeah
00:06:33
Speaker
She goes, did you see this and that? And we're like, no, you're just trying to avoid the rocks. It's hard when you've got to concentrate. You know, we've done a couple podcasts, Motorcycle
Audio Journaling: Capturing Hike Reflections
00:06:43
Speaker
Diaries. I actually love our conversation on motorcycles because you kind of have a focused attention, obviously riding a motorcycle, but it gives unique conversations a chance to happen. Yeah. And I love that. And for me, quite frankly,
00:07:02
Speaker
Buenas tardes, senor. Yeah. Some podcasting or some audio clips for me was like journaling. Yeah. And kind of being alone with my thoughts. I've said it before and I'll say it again. I hate being alone. It's the biggest struggle. No, I'm going to push back on you. Every morning I think you find about two or three hours of the day to be alone with your thoughts. I do like getting up early. And I think you make a point of that because I think you need it.
00:07:33
Speaker
I think if you didn't have that morning time, I think it would just be a little bit, I think you might phrase that differently. But I would say you're someone who is intentional about being alone with their thoughts.
00:07:48
Speaker
You have your journal to write that one down? Yeah, exactly. You know, I got it in the backpack, but I've got poles in my hands, and I don't want to stop because I want to get to camp. It's still a far ways off, by the way. It's actually a very big tease. We're the last campsite, so you still have to hike down into the campsite. Oh, that's brutal. What would your journal entry be today, based on day two of the Inca Trail? First line, I still got it.
00:08:23
Speaker
Second line second line, but it brings me so much joy because I won't always have it That's something died and it takes like sure I ever had it You know, it takes a certain amount of like fuck it it burns
00:08:36
Speaker
Sorry you can edit that out, but like it really Okay, sorry like but it really does take a certain amount of mental focus And you've got to be able to go to a place in your head that not many people will go Because they're healthy And so it's just kind of funny to do things like this no, I think it's just young I think it's being young at heart I Think young people crave competition because they're trying to prove themselves still I
00:09:05
Speaker
if you had to do it again next year. Yeah. Up to this point. Yeah. Would you still race? Yeah, I probably still haven't gotten out of me. Yeah, but you know.
00:09:19
Speaker
Oh, I've got Skittles for you and Gatorade if you want some. I don't like Skittles. Oh shit, really? Sorry. Stop! Why are you doing that? And you wonder why I get to control the microphone. I'm gonna have to. So let's talk about control issues. Yeah. Producer Bob. Producer Bob. Yeah. Well, I feel like
00:09:42
Speaker
You know, just man, I think when we were talking about it a little bit earlier on this hike, we might want to let these guys pass so we can enjoy this. Yeah, so we were talking about this earlier about contentment, happiness and competition and improvement.
Balancing Happiness and Competition
00:10:00
Speaker
And I think it's hard to be, cheers guys. Hi, you're getting there. She's just talking to herself. I'm just, you're trying to support that. Wow, you're going to have to edit that out. Or YouTubers. Yeah. Oh, why not? Why not, right? Why not? Yeah. Of course we've got no video, so. We had to describe what we see. Yeah. Where are you guys from? Australia.
00:10:22
Speaker
Oh, I would. Yeah, you want to. We got all the Australian in England where they're teaching us all kinds of phrases. Yeah, they are. Oh, I'm absolutely happy. We're not. Now, look, Bob, we're not here to fuck spiders. No. I do love that one. Yeah, I don't know. It's funny. Yeah. Well, enjoy your trip. Yeah, we'll see our yeah.
00:10:51
Speaker
oh yes thank you appreciate it you go you go oh i can't even i can't even replicate that expression that exacerbate space okay can we remind the audience what i just did to come back and find you
00:11:10
Speaker
Oh yeah, virtuoso. I said I'm the smartest dumb person ever. Oh no, that's my line. Is it? Yeah. Oh, did you invent it? Are you sure there's no other smart dumb people out there? Oh, there's a lot of us.
00:11:27
Speaker
you know for me it's hard to it's hard I think like if I felt just super like like super cool and just very good about myself I just wouldn't be a competitor you know in part of me there's a part of me that
00:11:45
Speaker
worries that I would stop trying to improve and strive for things. But I think there has to be a happy medium there somewhere because I don't think it's healthy to always push yourself to the max and the limits always. I think there's a time and a place and you know you want to reserve that energy for a time that matters. And I think that's the message and that's the maturity is it's not don't stop
00:12:12
Speaker
pushing yourself to the limit on things, the mature person figures out when to do that. And so what I'll do to make this kind of for the normal folk like myself. Now hold on. Oh my gosh. You're not normal. Bob, you're not normal either. Bobby got up an hour before camp to read Epicurious and journal. That sounds pretty normal. Yeah, that sounds in 415.
00:12:39
Speaker
Because it's not a video there's just there's there's moss that is growing on a rock to our left There's a stream you might be able to hear watch your poles there Bob Yeah, I think there's a There's something different right that is okay You're different works for you And if it's working
00:13:05
Speaker
It gives you peace and contentment and joy, helps you fulfill your why, then keep doing it. So my recent book, Rethink, would challenge that statement and say, if who you are this year is very similar to who you were last year, then you probably haven't grown much. I would agree with that.
00:13:33
Speaker
But you can juxtapose that with another thing such as if it's not broke don't fix it. So which is the right way to go or how do you make both of those true? That's up to the individual. You and I both know lots of people who are content with staying stationary.
00:13:55
Speaker
Now, frankly, the hard part is if you're standing still, the world's probably moving past you. Yeah. Things like change, technology, inflation, you know. And maybe that's my point. You bury $100 in the backyard. In two years, it's not worth $100.
00:14:13
Speaker
Maybe my point is if it's working for you today, sure, it may still be working for you in a couple of years. But the understanding is that it's never, it's not always going to work for you statistically speaking. It probably is going to have some change. It's probably going to have to happen. And I think overall, if you move through this world and you are not changing in a variety of ways constantly,
00:14:41
Speaker
then you're probably not interacting appropriately with your environment.
Adapting to Environment and Suffering's Role
00:14:47
Speaker
You can keep walking, I was just trying to stay close there. You've got to adapt to your environment, or you can suffer.
00:15:01
Speaker
I think suffering is necessary. It's necessary. It certainly is. I felt like I suffered on the hike today. Today was a suffer fest. Yeah, it was. It was embracing the suck.
00:15:14
Speaker
But you don't have to make it a suffer fest by the way. You can climb this at a very reasonable pace and it will take you a lot longer. But you don't, you can do this and not have it be a suffer fest. I don't think that's a true statement. I think so. I think it can be less of a suffer. No, I think that's true. I don't care how great a shape you're in there. I'm not talking about me. Yeah. I don't care how great other people are in great shape.
00:15:41
Speaker
Hi, hello. Thank you. We're just meeting some of our porters right now. They do this constantly. Yes. They carry heavy loads. I think they suffered today. Yeah. For our benefit. Yeah. So, you know, I think it's just the degree to which pick your own pace, ego, competitive nature, all that stuff comes into play.
00:16:11
Speaker
I think it's about channeling. I was really proud of myself with how I was able to kind of push it to extremes. Yeah, that's good. That's a good thing about not being in as great a shape as one would hope to be. Is that something you've discovered in your 50s? Those are excuses, yeah. Is that something you've discovered in your 50s? Yeah. It's tough to... I didn't see a lot of people in their 50s.
00:16:37
Speaker
So to your credit, you still made it up and down the mountain quicker than a lot of 30-year-olds. Yeah. Oh, thank you. Yeah. I'm a hockey player.
00:16:49
Speaker
Yeah, you are. Well, any other closing thoughts? I would just say embrace change, embrace the struggle. It's always going to be there. It's just how do you handle it? You know, today, a great metaphor for life is we had no breaks. That's what made it so hard today, is you just went up. So you had stairs and then a smooth incline up. So you had to make a smooth incline up your break.
00:17:17
Speaker
And like, but you're still moving. And it was really tough to mentally get there and to tell your body, this is my break because the stairs are where the work happens. And so things like that, similar to life where you may not traditionally call what you're going through easy, but it might be easier than the last struggle. It might be your break.
Learning from Past Struggles and Audience Connection
00:17:40
Speaker
Well, and I think each struggle that you get through gives you a win. I made a comment on an earlier solo podcast where I talked about the fact that sometimes one of the big blessings of getting older is that you have perspective because you've had more failures and more successes.
00:18:07
Speaker
And quite frankly, you're well aware of the, this too shall pass. Yes. So it's not going to last forever. We're in campsite number nine guys. And so we're just getting into camp right now. And, uh, last final stairs, you want to go down the stairs there, Bob, any closing thoughts?
00:18:28
Speaker
Well, I just thank people for joining us on this journey. I'd love to hear them in the comment section putting down what their journey is. I had talked previously a little bit about, I think we do a great job with discovery and being inspired by other stories. And we've had people tell us we're an inspiration to them. Yeah. But we want to connect better. And part of that is you telling us what you're doing.
00:18:58
Speaker
Does anything we're talking about have an impact on you? Yeah. If it does, we want to hear about it. Yeah. We want to hear your story, big or small. That's right. We did. Woo. Love it. Oh, wait a minute. Up top.