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Travel Stories (Part 1)
135 Plays2 years ago
This week we will share a few of our own travel memories, as well as some travel stories submitted by our listeners (that's you)! You will even get to meet Ayla's husband, Chris, and hear one of the most wild, sit-on-the-edge-of-your-seat road trip stories from him, as he tells about the time he decided to drive from Canada to California to see Ayla!
It was so sweet hearing your travel stories - sweet and the scary ones- so we want to encourage you to reach out again if you have more stories that we can share in future episodes! They can be about travel, business owning, entrepeneurship, faith, anything really! We find so much joy in connecting with you and learning from you! Thank you for being part of this growing community!
You can always find us, and chat with us, on Instagram at Art Of Intention Podcast!
Please take a quick second to give us a star rating on whatever platform you are listening on (whether that is Spotify, Apple, Google, or Zencaster), and subscribe to keep our content coming!
Safe travels, everyone!
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Transcript
Introduction to the Art of Intention Podcast
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome to the Art of Intention podcast with Beth and Ayla. Two best friends turn creative entrepreneurs. This is a place for us to discuss everything business, friendships, and faith and occasionally more. We're so excited for today's episode. We think you're going to love it. Stay tuned.
Funny Travel Stories with Chris's Guest Appearance
00:00:21
Speaker
Hello, everyone. Welcome back to the art of intention. We are so excited to be sitting down with you once again today and today's episode is going to be so fun. Super just chill casual sit down time. I'm sure you guys saw us building up to it on our stories, but we're going to go over some of our funniest travel related stories. So Beth and I thought back to all the travels we've done and we came up with
00:00:44
Speaker
Everything from crazy flights to crazy hotel stays and we actually asked you guys on Instagram for some of your crazy travel stories too that we're gonna be reading on the show today and To top it all off. We have a guest appearance that I personally am really excited for I might be biased but my husband Chris is on the show today Chris do you want to say hello? Oh
00:01:06
Speaker
Great, amazing. He's on today. For those who don't know, Chris and I both have done our share of travels. That's actually how we met. We met overseas in New Zealand, both traveling and doing a program there. And I knew Chris would have some good stories to share as well. So we're all just going to be tag teaming some of our funniest travel stories today. Oh, yeah, it's gonna be fun.
Discussion on Photoshop AI Beta Program
00:01:26
Speaker
So to start off, we're going to do our community news for this one. If you're a photographer listening, you've probably definitely already heard about this, but we're going to chat really quickly about the Photoshop Beta AI program that's come out, the new update. Ayla, do you have any thoughts about that? How much do you know about that?
00:01:42
Speaker
Yeah, so I wanted to research this topic a little bit more heavily than I have by today, but basically what I've been seeing about it, I'll preface this by saying I'm not overly familiar in Photoshop, even as a photo editor. I do know the basics of it, but it's not a service I offer, so certain terms and stuff I might not be aware of, but generally what I can tell is it's a new
00:02:02
Speaker
AI software update that's beta I guess so like in beta mode still in testing that people are trying out and as far as I know you can correct me if I'm wrong but I think it's just supposed to be extra fast as far as like taking people out of your photos and and throwing in backgrounds that aren't there and like just everything that photoshop's kind of known for but supposedly like one click and it's done is kind of what I've been hearing
00:02:26
Speaker
Yeah. I, so I've already tried it and I'll share my thoughts on it in a second, but I'm curious as an editor, if you have any thoughts like from your perspective about it, like whether it's positive feelings or negative feelings, as far as like the editing world goes, like, do you think this is going to be positive for editors or are you thinking about that?
00:02:44
Speaker
Yeah, I think it could go either way. I mean, editing AI is always going to make you a little nervous. Anything that can replace you can make you a little nervous the way I've been approaching it thus far. Because there's other AI editing programs. There's ones that you can sign up for your calling, for your edits, and to be square that are cheaper for photographers to use. So it is pretty normal for people to be going that way. However, the way that I've been
00:03:10
Speaker
dealing with it in my business is basically just keeping that, um, that human experience as a part of it. And actually I just talked to a client the other day, a newer ish client of mine who said she's like, she's been looking for that one-on-one experience. She's tried editing cruise. She's tried AI, but she needs that like feedback to feedback. Somebody who can actually like grow and learn my style. Um, cause I actually don't even want to sit down to learn the AI. I want to be able to send it to someone who's going to like,
00:03:40
Speaker
be able to react to and stuff. So there are definitely, to any editors out there listening, there definitely are people out there still looking for that human to human experience. So I don't think AI is necessarily something we need to be afraid of right now. It's just continue to stick with your person. You can be their new business hype man, like all of that great stuff. So that's, I guess, on AI in general. As far as on Photoshop, I feel like it's pretty split on editors who offer Photoshop services or not. I think a pretty good tool.
00:04:09
Speaker
for editors offering Photoshop, because again, you can learn that software and brand it as in like, I already know this. So like your photographer doesn't have to sit down and know it. I think if you're already aware of how Photoshop works, that could be really helpful. But if you're not, and you've never really driven into Photoshop, I again, wouldn't worry too much because you're not offering those services. So you don't have to like, there's plenty of photographers out there who aren't running anything through Photoshop, who will find you just fine. But it is good to be aware of this stuff when it's coming out. So
00:04:39
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. I was kind of thinking for editors for sure. It's probably nothing to worry about because every new thing that comes out is also like a chore to learn. Um, so I tried it. Um, I went through the process of downloading it and then another photographer and I tried it at the same time over like FaceTime. We both downloaded it and both tried it. And this was after watching all those reels and like Instagram videos of people being like, watch me, you know,
00:05:05
Speaker
remove this fence in one second or like add in certain things. And it was like mind blowing. And I was like, this is like unreal. There's no way. I was super excited to try it. I tried it. I'm just gonna say it was crap. No, I went back and rewatch some of those videos of people who would like, like circle an area and have like something added in. And there's a cut in the video.
00:05:28
Speaker
And I swear they did old Photoshop and added some of these things in or tweaked it or something because our experience was that it was not one click. Like we would, uh, we did different things. We tried removing things and then we tried adding things in. So like we had took a water photo and we're like, add a turtle under the water. It was the fakest, dumbest looking things of everything. In fact, we might even record, maybe we'll record and show like a video of what we tried.
Skepticism and Misleading Online Content
00:05:52
Speaker
We were laughing so hard and also like on the verge of tears. Cause we were like, we were, this was the biggest letdown ever.
00:05:57
Speaker
Right. We're just going to have fun with it, right? Yeah. It was ridiculous trying to remove things. We circled like ourselves in a photo and said, remove the people and it swapped our bodies for unknown random humans. Oh my gosh. It didn't take us out. It just put our bodies with other bodies. It was the dumbest, weirdest thing I've ever seen. So I'm just here to say, first of all, if you're a photographer and you've tried it.
00:06:18
Speaker
And it did not work. It's not your fault. I think this is overhyped. There's something wrong with this. And I think some people are faking videos out there for the views because these, the videos, they have millions of views people. My feed's been full of it. Yeah. So it's fake. I think not to, I mean, there are some, it can help in some ways. I know some people have tried it and it's like removing some things well, but as far as like adding stuff in and making it look realistic or even. Removing things super well. I mean, if this is AI, please, we have a few more years before it really is more advanced than people.
00:06:47
Speaker
It's, it's not, yeah, it's not good. So that's my experience. And then also another photographer that I did with our experience, we were like not impressed. So maybe we'll update on that later if something changes, but I thought it was the biggest letdown ever. So I don't know, saving you time. If you were considering trying it, I don't know. I'm not, I think half the videos out there are fake, not impressed. I will be using it. So.
00:07:08
Speaker
Yeah, that's crazy. That is good to know because again, I'm always willing to expand like my Photoshop knowledge.
Listener's Disastrous Hotel Story
00:07:13
Speaker
But I did have trouble when I was seeing it in the feed immediately of like one click and gone. I was like, that doesn't sound like anything how it's ever been. Like I wouldn't be surprised if we got to that place. But yeah, I just like I had my concerns but hadn't like gone in to actually test it out. So.
00:07:27
Speaker
No, it's no more, it's no more advanced than like, you know, in Lightroom, sorry, quick note, you know, in Lightroom, when like there's the heal or the remove tool, you can like filter between which one you want to use, like heal, remove, or something else. And you next circle a little thing and then hit heal or hit remove. It's no different. It's no better than that. Like at its best, it does what that tool does to a slightly different degree. So that's my thought on it. Okay. So maybe not even like wrong, but just,
00:07:55
Speaker
the same like not as advanced as people were saying no i see what its potential was but it's not it's not there at least not for what we were doing and we tried for a couple hours so i don't know what we could have been doing wrong anyways right well if you guys have a different experience or even know what we're talking about or want to chime in you know what to do you can always message us on our instagram
00:08:15
Speaker
Cool. So I suppose the best way to do this is to just like start hopping right into the stories. So we're going to go into our listener submitted stories first, correct? Yeah. Okay, great. Sweet. I'm so excited. This was so fun to reach out to people in here.
00:08:30
Speaker
Here's some of their stories because I know we've got a few, but I definitely wanted to hear what other people had to say. So I'll start off with the first one. This is from a listener, super sweet listener of ours who's just been super involved in our story from the start. So I'm really excited to get to share her little tidbit for this today. So, all right, story number one.
00:08:49
Speaker
Way back in like 2017 or something, we went to Disneyland and booked a hotel that I don't usually book because the usual hotel we book when we go was full. Reviews were good, nothing shocking. We arrive and the whole place is under construction, like scaffolding, construction workers everywhere. Kind of surprised because that wasn't mentioned while making the reservation and there was literally sawdust and caution tape in the lobby.
00:09:14
Speaker
That's probably when we should have cut and run. The elevators are down and we're on the fifth floor. Still not a huge deal. We're young and fit, about to walk like 10 miles a day at Disney. But then the room is kind of subpar, a little dated, but clean, so we thought this is going to be fine. We're going to be gone most of the day anyway. The shower was a literal dribble.
00:09:36
Speaker
And the drain backed up so fast that you had to take five minute showers or else it would overflow since it wasn't a shower-tub combo. After walking on the carpet for a few minutes, our feet were black. No.
00:09:51
Speaker
I might need clarification on what that means. If it's from the water or from something in the car. Either way, this is Disney. It's not cheap to go there. And then she says, to top it off, the construction literally never stopped and we could not only hear them working, but talking and cursing all hours of the night. I'm sure during
00:10:15
Speaker
I'm sure during the day too but we were gone most of the day. We did end up complaining to the hotel and then we're kind of basically told to suck it up because there was nothing they could comp us with. There was no breakfast since the kitchen was being remodeled. But last night we were there they were replacing the hand railings on our side of the building and said we couldn't use those stairs. So then we had to walk all the way to the other end of the hotel, use those stairs, and then walk all the way back.
00:10:42
Speaker
We ended up filing charge back with our bank due to none of this being disclosed and actually won. So maybe yeah, not the worst, but we will never forget that. We paid hundreds of dollars to stay there and ended up being treated like an inconvenience. Dude, that's so messed up. I'm sorry. Yeah. Lots of further questions, first of all, but also like when they said we have nothing to comp you with, I'd be like, um, money.
00:11:04
Speaker
Uh, it's called, I gave you money comp me with giving it back. Like what? Yeah. And they ended up going through their bank to get the money back. So at least they could do that. I mean that when you read that, I was like, okay, yeah, there we go. There it is. Oh my gosh. That's wild. That's crazy. I'm sorry for you for that happening, by the way.
Heartwarming Backpacking Story
00:11:23
Speaker
Yeah. We're glad everything worked out.
00:11:24
Speaker
hopefully next time you go it's a lot better because Disney's kind of known for um not that yeah I was gonna say how do you like move on from there like there's nothing you can be like oh lesson learned like no you booked with someone that's supposed to be amazing and also the construction through the night I don't know how that's legal that's ridiculous I don't understand that it's near it's near LA okay good point yeah I like yeah not to hate on it sorry if you live there love LA
00:11:50
Speaker
Okay. Anyways. All right. Yeah. So I, okay. I have one from another listener, another sweet listener of ours. So this one is about the same length and it's actually a positive story. So this is a, it makes it up a little bit. Okay. So she said, this was about five summers ago. I had just turned 18 and my sister was 20 at the time. We'd saved up for the trip of a lifetime.
00:12:13
Speaker
a summer backpacking through Europe. Oh, sounds amazing. Um, of course we were on a super tight budget. So we decided to stay at Airbnb's hotels or no, Airbnb's in hostels, sorry. Um, and camp along our route. We were in Italy taking a train from Florence to Venice. We had to transfer to a bus to find the campsite we booked outside the city.
00:12:30
Speaker
Along the way, we realized we were heading in the wrong direction. Oh my gosh. We boarded the wrong bus. We tried to ask the bus driver for directions to the campsite. However, since we were deep in the countryside, they spoke little to no English. Fortunately, a woman sitting nearby overheard the conversation and joined in. She was a kind-faced older woman, probably in her late fifties, and spoke perfect English.
00:12:50
Speaker
She was taking the bus because she worked as a flight attendant. Oh, perfect. Not only did she offer us direction, she offered to drive us to her campsite. We got off at her stop and she invited us into her home. Oh my gosh. This woman's kindness was unmatched at the time. We both had huge backpacks and several other bags. We had been traveling by train and bus for weeks now and she must have seen it was catching up with us.
00:13:14
Speaker
She offered her spare room she had set up for her grandson for us to take a nap. When we woke up she was making us dinner, mushroom alfredo. We all ate together as we shared stories about our lives and travels. Then she drove us to our campsite and the adventures continued.
00:13:30
Speaker
That's so, that's so incredibly wholesome. That was not the direction I thought that was going. Right? I love these stories. They were like the wrong direction, bus, backpacking. Okay. And then even then like stranger picks you up and takes you to their house. It's like that could go so many ways, but it was actually just this nice lady who made them food and like let them rest. That's so sweet.
00:13:52
Speaker
I love that. I know that is so sweet. And she actually sent a couple of pictures. So we will share those on our stories. You'll see those. We of course asked for permission to share them. And so you'll see the Alfredo that she made and you'll see her house a
Ayla's Strange Airbnb Experience
00:14:07
Speaker
little bit. So that's super sweet.
00:14:08
Speaker
Amazing. I love it. Those are great. Thank you guys so much for sending those in. If at any point ever for any of our episodes, you end up relating to a topic, you know what to do. Totally send it your way. We love connecting with you guys and getting to share just really anything that you want to share on the show. So yeah, that was a lot of fun. Okay. So yeah, for my first story, Chris and I are going to tag team this one.
00:14:33
Speaker
It's it's really the only I don't know if the only but it's one of these sketch here Airbnb Such situations I've been in and I think about it to this day I've actually I'll get to that but I've like seen it in my dreams before So alright, let's see where we're at Chris had just been or this was right after our wedding. Yeah, so this would have been November 2019 around 2019. Yeah, I
00:15:00
Speaker
around Christmas or sorry around Thanksgiving and Chris spent Thanksgiving down in California with us right after we got married in November so this was like a couple weeks after we got married and this is kind of a whole story in and of itself but Chris had to leave the US to go back to Canada about a month after we got married. Matt ended up telling that one because it's technically a travel story but yeah just uh as a Canadian he
00:15:25
Speaker
Couldn't be in the States for a certain amount of time. So He had to leave so I think he had to fly out on December 1st and we were already gonna be celebrating Thanksgiving with family that I have in the Bay Area San Francisco area and that's the airport that we have to fly to SFO or that we have to drive to SFO is the airport that we take to fly and
00:15:45
Speaker
so we're gonna be there a couple days early and it's quite a few hour drive from my house in california so chris and i were like well we'll just go do thanksgiving with your family we'll stay a couple days we'll get an airbnb kind of in the area so that we're close to the airport and we don't have to like make that drive again and we never really honeymooned so we were like this will be fun like it'll be a little airbnb
00:16:07
Speaker
It'll be nice. I don't know the Bay Area that well, but my mom does. She grew up there. And I'm looking, looking through Airbnb's and I find one. And it's basically like this, this family that has an old garden shed in their backyard that they've converted into a little Airbnb slash like tiny home. And the rates were really good. So we were like, okay, like, you know, showed it to Chris. So we were like, that looks good. Like that should be fun. And it's in Richmond, California in the Bay Area.
00:16:34
Speaker
I don't know how many people are going to know about that, but I feel like Bay Area people will recognize it because apparently it's awful. Well, actually we've gone now and it is awful. So we booked this Airbnb and we're telling my mom about it. And she's like, where is it? Where is it? So we look and show her the errand. She's like Richmond.
00:16:55
Speaker
And she's like, stay somewhere else. Stay somewhere else. She was like, cancel it. And I was like, what? It's going to be fine. And she's like, it's so sketchy there. And I don't know why I doubted her whatsoever. I was like, it's fine. Look at it. It's going to be. And we read reviews that said, it's away from the main strip. The area is nice. And we just didn't want to back out of it. So we end up going to Thanksgiving with, again, my family who lives in the Bay Area.
00:17:23
Speaker
And my mom goes up to one of my aunts and is like, they're about to go stay in Richmond. And my aunt who also grew up in San Francisco was like, no, cancel it. You can come stay with us. Like, do anything else. And we were like, no, like, it's fine. It's fine. It's going to be like in this area. It's going to be fine.
00:17:41
Speaker
and they were like, are you sure? And we were like, yeah, yeah, it's all good. So, looking back, hindsight's 20-20. I probably just should have listened to the two adults who- It wasn't that bad of an area, to be honest with you. Like, where the house was? Where the house was was fine. Getting in there was gross. Oh, no. It was rough. Like, I was like, okay, no, we might have messed up. But when we actually got to the location, it was in a suburb area. I know it was actually quite nice. Like, the streets were nice. There was regular houses. Like, everything seems fine.
00:18:11
Speaker
So I didn't have a problem staying there in that situation. But getting in there, driving in, I was like, oh yeah, we might have made a mistake. Yeah, we ended up leaving our Thanksgiving kind of gathering, or I think we stayed somewhere else. But anyway, the day that we head to the Airbnb, we head there, and we're following the directions. And yeah, then we hit the actual little neighborhood of Richmond. And yeah, it just wasn't a nice neighborhood at all. Yeah, we pulled off the freeway. Oh, no.
00:18:38
Speaker
just trash bags, graffiti, every business was just run down and had bars upon bars on the windows. And then it was just like zombie walking, like there was just
00:18:54
Speaker
crackies and some guy was on drugs doing circles on a bicycle in the street. Oh my gosh. It was just like... Yeah. Like we turned into this neighborhood and that was just what we saw. Yeah, just right off the freeway. That was exact. That was just, that's what she drove into. Oh my gosh. Yeah. So we were like, okay, okay. And I can't remember if this is a real detail or not if I'm making it up, but I'm pretty sure we pulled in and we started to rethink and we were like, well, like, let's just see where the house is. And if the house is anywhere close to this, then we'll figure something else out. That makes sense.
00:19:22
Speaker
So we do find the house and yeah, Chris is right. It's down a little suburb a bit, like away from that main strip. And it was enough minutes away to where we felt fine. Like it really turned into more of just like a nice little... Yeah, it was a pretty chill, like suburban area. That's so weird. That's so weird that it can go from like that to like nice in like a matter of minutes.
00:19:42
Speaker
oh my gosh but that's not even the worst part of the story so we get here oh and i should also say so like with the listing uh you know every airbnb host has like how you're gonna enter it like yeah is there a lockbox do you need to talk to somebody whatever and so i did read this part on the listing so this wasn't totally a surprise but they basically said like we'll take you through our home
00:20:05
Speaker
show you your Airbnb in the back and then show you your own entrance. So we did have a way to enter it separately, not going through the house, but it was specifically like they wanted us to go through their home into the back. So we get there, we park.
00:20:20
Speaker
go knock on the door. And I tell Chris that too. And he's like, since when, like ever. Yeah. Why would they want that? But yeah. So we get there and this older, not like super old, I don't know, maybe mid sixties ish couple opens the door. Yeah. Something like that. And they're, they're really sweet. They're like, Oh, hi, like, how are you? Yeah.
00:20:39
Speaker
And, you know, are you Ayla? Yeah, like blah, blah, blah. And so he's like, yeah, so we'll take you to your tiny house through our tiny house because they had a smaller home, too. And I think like they they were probably just like, you know, Airbnbers. They want to meet people like there's nothing like it sounds like the way the story is going to go. It sounds worse than probably it is. Right. Because it was just a perceived thing. Right. Right.
00:21:08
Speaker
Like we get walked through their house, which again is just an odd thing. And then like, there are two adult children that are like our age are sitting at the counter eating dinner and the mom's not cooking. And they're like, hello. And I'm like, why am I saying hello to you? If you're eating, I'm walking in on you eating a meal.
00:21:30
Speaker
Yeah. And I'm like, why am, why is this? I feel like they offered for us to sit too. And we were like, no, I was just like, no, like, and we, yeah, we got walked through and oh yeah, this is this and that. And they kind of showed some stuff around the houses we walked through. And I was like, why is this happening? And then we got shown to our Airbnb at the back and then our separate entrance. And then they were like, you know, if you need anything, just let us know. Blah, blah, blah. And I was like, okay, fine.
00:21:56
Speaker
And then we just like avoided them the whole time. We didn't like, if they texted, we didn't text back. You know, if they're like, that kind of a thing. And then if we went out anywhere, we made sure to like sneak in and sneak, sneak out and like make sure that it was like, it's one of those things where I'm sure they were completely nice and fine people, but it was too nice. We had, we had like a gut feeling and I'm too, I'm a little too, I guess, pessimistic.
00:22:24
Speaker
and swary of people where I was like, these people are too nice. I didn't like it. The comparison I make, I don't know, Beth, if this will make much sense to you, but somebody out there might understand what I mean. But there's a super nerdy of me, but there's the show Supernatural.
00:22:40
Speaker
that I used to watch in high school and there's a specific episode, I'll like tell this quickly because it's not that important of a detail, but there's this episode where there's this old couple that the two main characters discover or like they ended up at this old couple's house because they're investigating some case and super natural it involves like you know monsters so there's like you know
00:23:00
Speaker
Demons like werewolves whatever And they're investigating the end up at this old couple's house and the old couple like opens the door and they're like hello Merry Christmas Would you like a cookie like the permanent smiles and then they end up being like monsters?
00:23:12
Speaker
Yeah, and it's like a super scary episode. Actually, we get into Airbnb and I tell Chris, I was like, Chris, you know, the one couple in supernatural and he was like the ones that end up being girls. Yep. I do remember like, that's just like the energy. So, so yeah, basically in a nutshell, like Chris said, whenever we just tried to
00:23:32
Speaker
Anytime we were going in or out to our car, we backed our car in so that we could pull out immediately. And then we did go out to eat a few times and whenever we did, we drove really far away just to get out of the sketchy areas and we would drive like 30 minutes or so.
00:23:49
Speaker
just spend as much time out of there as we could and then come back and then like lock everything and just stay in there and then Chris's flight I forget how far away we were from the airport maybe like 40 minutes or so and his flight wasn't until like 4 p.m and we didn't have to check out of the Airbnb until 1 it's like 8 30 in the morning the day we're supposed to check out we were like worried like let's go and I should also say Chris had a bunch of stuff with him because
00:24:16
Speaker
again, kind of a long story. He was supposed to be moving down to the States when this all happened. So pretty much everything he owned was in this bag with him. And of course, we're in basically San Francisco, we don't want to leave all that stuff in the car. So we had brought it all into the Airbnb with us, we decided to leave. And so we like pack everything and we were like, we need to make this one trip out, because they're gonna see us leaving. We're packing up. And I get a text from the Airbnb owner,
00:24:42
Speaker
who's like, just so you know, check out's not till one, so feel free to stay as long as you want. And I was like, go, go, go, go. They were watching you guys. I don't know. I think that was coincidence, because they couldn't even know. They extended. Well, we had already planned to leave, and I think checkout was supposed to be like 11 or something. Maybe. And then they extended it. And they said, they said, yeah, we don't have another guest coming in for like another day or something. No, that's weird. Stay as long as you want. I mean, that's nice, but.
00:25:12
Speaker
But yeah, that was essentially the story like nothing happened. We got into the car. We were fine. We left again 100%. I'm sure they're totally lovely people. But it was just like, I am not a personable, overly personable person. And so when somebody is like, to that degree, I'm like, I don't understand.
00:25:33
Speaker
why you're operating like this. So it makes me uncomfortable. Yeah, it makes me suspicious. Well, that's totally fair though, especially because like, when you think about all the things leading up to that, like your, your mom and aunt's reaction and then driving through and seeing all that, like it just adds up, like it just gets in your mind. And then when you get there, you're just like, this is so, and it doesn't line up. Like, how can you go from the sketchiest place to like these people who are like so nice? Like now that the vibes are off with that one. And I, again, I understand like you feel bad judging, but
00:26:02
Speaker
because they might be perfectly nice people, but also like, you know, maybe they're not. And the adult children being home is so weird. I'm sorry. That's again, no judgment, but also while they knew people were going to be shown through the Airbnb. I don't know. That's weird. It's all. Yeah. I'm sure some people are down for that and they like have dinner with their hosts.
00:26:21
Speaker
I actually ended up putting in our Airbnb profile. Cause at that time we were staying at quite a few Airbnbs and you can make a profile. And I think I said, I was like, we're home bodies. And basically like, we don't want to talk to you. Cause we don't want to go sit and have dinner with our hosts. Because there's people that want, they open an Airbnb specifically to meet people and to shake hands and hear travel stories and all this stuff. Um,
00:26:49
Speaker
And some people love that and you know, they'll be like, oh yeah, I'll give you a tour of the city or whatever. Like they're so personable and that's what they're into. And that's totally fine, but I'm not like that. It's like, give me my key, give me my code and leave me alone. So I like, I very respectfully put that in my bio. I'm like, we don't need to chat, but yeah, anyway, that was my first one.
00:27:13
Speaker
That's wild. And I know we've chatted before too about like general feelings between Airbnb and hotel and like you've you I didn't hear this story before really. So you're like, Oh, I don't know if you're like every piece. It was nice. You always kind of be like, Yeah, I used to like it. Yeah, I know why you're like not so much, you know, but yeah.
00:27:32
Speaker
We stayed in a few since then that were totally fine, but I just look for the ones that are specifically, because you can find the ones that are like code entry, no need to interact with hosts.
Beth's Frightening Hotel Stay
00:27:42
Speaker
I'm like, perfect. Yeah, I'll pay a little bit extra for that for sure too. Also, just safety and all that jazz.
00:27:48
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, I feel like I'm, I'm lucky. I don't really have any bad like Airbnb stories. Like when we're thinking about this episode, I was like, dang, I don't have any like horrible stories. I do have a kind of a sketchy hotel story, but ends up working out just fine. Um, I was on Kauai for a wedding. This was actually like not that long ago, maybe like last year. And, uh, Kauai is very expensive for those who don't know. It's the most expensive Island in a lot of ways because it's so remote.
00:28:13
Speaker
And so to find hotels there, you're either staying in hostels to save money, like super sketchy. I've never done hostels. Or you're paying hundreds of dollars to stay in a hotel. So if you're trying to go there on a budget, which I was, you don't have a lot of options.
00:28:30
Speaker
So I chose literally the cheapest hotel on the island and it's still the cheapest. Like if you Google the cheapest, I won't say it just to be kind because they were, they were fine, but it was sketchy. And like I arrive on the island and I get my rental car and I have to drive to like the center of the island for this, like the middle of the jungle.
00:28:46
Speaker
And, uh, just as I'm getting there, you know, and well, Hawaii very much has this vibe of like, it seems run down in some areas and you, you want to judge and think it's sketchy, but a lot of those are just like family areas and it's, they're fine. They're perfectly safe, but they look like they're not so hard to explain, but you know.
00:29:03
Speaker
um so i'm like driving to the middle of the island and i am not super overly familiar with kawaii so it's a place i've never really been before and the pictures online honestly make it look nice and cute and like all that jazz i get there and there's not one nice car in the parking lot they're all very
00:29:19
Speaker
I'll just say very local cars because you could tell they're, they seem to local, but very sketchy. And I could not, there was no place to check in. I found out it's actually a restaurant, like not a legitimate hotel. Like there's hotel rooms, but there's no like office, nothing. There's an active and running a restaurant. So I have to enter the restaurant and go up to like the place where you would order to check into the hotel. And this took me a while to figure out too. Cause I was like so afraid to get out of my car. I was like, what? This is so sketchy.
00:29:47
Speaker
So I finally talked to somebody and they're like, Oh, you're here for the check in. Okay. And they hand me like piece of paper and a key and they're like, okay, go, it's this room. And I was like, what? Okay, whatever. And so I go to the room. Um, and this is during the day. Luckily, if this was at night, I honestly might've chickened out and like go slept in my car. I don't even know.
00:30:03
Speaker
But like I go and I enter the room and like as I'm walking to the room too, I'm seeing like this guy who's super like, you know, just a sketchy guy who's standing smoking on the balcony of, or not the balcony, it's just like the whole walking area on the second level of the hotel.
00:30:18
Speaker
and he's just staring at me like as I go to my car as I like get my stuff out of it as I'm walking around and so I'm like I don't want to walk up and he sees what room I'm in but I have no choice so I go up I get in my room and it's just like literally the sketchiest
00:30:33
Speaker
dirtiest smallest thing I've ever seen. There was no AC and it was a super hot day and there's no real windows that close. That was super sketchy for me. There wasn't any real windows. They were just like, you know, the panels that just are open. They're just like sideways. That was it. That was what I had. So again, sketchy people outside.
00:30:51
Speaker
sketchy place, no way to like, so it was actually my, one of my only times where I stacked every single piece of furniture that was in that room up against the door. Oh, I think that was also the one where the door was partially broken too. Like, you know, like the lock. Yeah. So like there was, you know, how would like starts to splinter? Like it's been like,
00:31:09
Speaker
pushed like cracked. So splintering right around where the lock was. And like, so was the door frame. So I was like, yeah, I called Chad and I was like, I am so scared. Like, I don't know what to do. Everybody out here is sketchy. There is not a like safe looking human around not to judge again, but like, yeah, I was super scared.
00:31:26
Speaker
And then yeah, no closing windows. Yeah, yeah, exactly. So I like I pushed the table up. I've stacked everything I could physically lift on top of that. I was trying to figure out how to like rig the chair so that like, you know, you tilt it and put it underneath the door handle and all that jazz. So that's my sketchiest hotel story, I think, as far as I can remember at least. But other than that, I've been very, very lucky.
00:31:46
Speaker
And nothing happened, mind you. There were people talking. No, so that's it. I'm fine. Obviously, I'm fine. But that was when I went home and I bought that. In our stories on Instagram, we shared the travel reels, the travel hacks in our reels. So that little gadget that locks the doors. It's that little thing. OK, I went home and ordered that the day I got home because of this. Because I was like, yeah, I know. I had already thought about it, but never was pushed to it. And so now I own that.
00:32:15
Speaker
for that reason, but yeah, and there was like people talking outside all night and I was like, dude, they're plotting to kill me. I was like, this is so, I was so scared. I don't think I slept like a wink that night, but, and I was only there for one night, luckily, but yes, I'm sorry. I so sketched out. I wonder, maybe you didn't text me. I feel like you told me about this as it was happening. I don't know why, because like with you and me here, you know, like we, before the podcast, we weren't texting like every day, but I have a strong feeling that you were like, can you pray for me?
00:32:44
Speaker
I'm not gonna lie, I think I did. I was like, I want you to let me know I'm gonna die. I was like, I need someone outside of the country to know that like I did, like if I go missing, here's where I was, like send help. I don't know. I definitely should have asked you to pray. Like I actually, that kind of rings a bell. I don't remember. No, I think you're right. I'm sure I did. I was like, I don't think the next day you were like, I made it. I'm fine. Thank you.
00:33:08
Speaker
just left you thinking I've been murdered for hours while I slept. Oh my gosh. Oh, not to mention this is to be expected. I'm not really complaining about this, but like, because it's Hawaii, especially Kauai. I mean, just chicken, it's like roosters crowing all night long. There was no break. These idiots did not know what time it was because they were crowing all night. And again, the windows didn't close. So I did not have a good night. No sleep. Yeah. It was great. 10 out of 10.
Chris's Treacherous Road Trip
00:33:34
Speaker
Oh my gosh.
00:33:35
Speaker
Well, yeah, exactly and we do talk about that in our travel episode from a few episodes back We do talk about staying safe when traveling alone and we do talk about telling other people where you are So, you know, yes Shameless like three episodes ago. Yeah, I think it's just titled travel episode or something like that
00:33:54
Speaker
Yeah, for sure. Well, cool. Beth and I each shared a story. So I feel like Chris should have a turn. Do you want to share your story? I know you have a story. I want to hear it. I haven't heard this from your perspective. We have others, but I don't know if they're as interesting as this one, actually. So I'm just going to let Chris go. Take it away. Yeah. I guess this would have been when
00:34:18
Speaker
I had just gotten back from New Zealand after meeting Ayla. And then I actually went to 2018 into 2019 was a huge year of travel for me. I really, I went to Bolivia in grade 11. And that's like the first time I got on a plane that was, I'd never traveled anywhere else before, not even to the States. And so in, um,
00:34:46
Speaker
So that was my first travel time in my life. But then this time I went to New Zealand, and then Papua New Guinea, and then all over, and then the North Island and South Island of New Zealand. And then came back home. Two weeks later, I went to Ireland for my friend's wedding. Oh my gosh. Dang. What the heck? And then I was already, and then, right, I think I was in Ireland, and I was texting her.
00:35:15
Speaker
And then I was in Ireland, so I had many beers in me and some more confidence, but I said, I was like, Hey, maybe I'll just like drive down and like, come see you. And she was just like, yeah. And I was like, okay, cool. And so, um, I started planning for that. As soon as I got home, cause I was like, I haven't seen the States and I've been all over the world, so why not just drive through the States? And so, um,
00:35:47
Speaker
Uh, yeah, uh, we, we went into planning it a little bit. And then, um, one of my YOM, uh, youth with a mission buddies was in Idaho. And that was kind of the clincher of like why I chose to drive. Uh, because I was like, Oh yeah, I could fly. And then I was kind of looking at tickets and they were kind of expensive.
00:36:10
Speaker
And then I was like, oh, you know, I've got like this great fuel efficient car. It must be cheaper to drive. It's not. It never is. Oh, no. It never is. But that was the worst decision making yet. It'll be cheaper to drive. Yeah, I was I mean, I was what 20 at the time. Yeah. And I was just I was just like I had this attitude of just like do it, whatever. And yeah. So I just made things happen and then just did them. Yeah. So the
00:36:38
Speaker
But yeah, that was kind of one of the reasons. I was like, oh yeah, and then I can see my buddy of mine, Isaac, I can see him.
00:36:45
Speaker
Perfect, so I planned this route and get my car up to Snuff. It was a Honda Civic, what, 2011? 2011 Honda Civic, it's gone now. It was not an accident, but. Not from this trip. No, no, not from this trip. That's what I was gonna say, dang. Yeah, no, a guy ran a red and totaled that car. Oh, shoot, wow, dang. But the trip,
00:37:13
Speaker
We ended up planning it for end of February. And I don't know why. I don't know. It's probably because I haven't traveled a lot by car, I guess. But I didn't really think about it. And I was like, yeah, this is totally chill. February, Honda Civic. Sure, why not? So I got in my car.
00:37:38
Speaker
I should say too, I knew nothing about cars at the time and I'd never been to Canada. Chris and I hadn't even really started dating at this point. We were talking about to be dating and then that was kind of the point of him coming down to visit. But anyway, I knew he was Canadian and I made the biggest assumption of my life that every Canadian has like four wheel drive. Because where I was living at the time where Beth and I grew up, it's a mountain town.
00:38:01
Speaker
with snow and ice and hills and stuff. So it's pretty normal for a lot of people to have four-wheel drive if they live where I did. So I was like, Canada, obviously. And he said Honda Civic. That meant nothing to me at the time. I'm way more knowledgeable about cars than I was then. And I was like, yeah, but it must just have four-wheel drive. It must just, he has to literally drive in Canada. This is going to be fine. Well, and me being a planesman, I never considered
00:38:29
Speaker
the mountains, like I was like, yeah, things can get rough. And like where I live in the prairies, road conditions can get really rough and like really slick and it can turn into a mess. But we don't have mountains. And so it's it's a different type of learning how to drive. But oh, man. Anyway,
00:38:58
Speaker
And then I had picked up, you know, I got gathered all my stuff, threw it on the car, I brought my snowboard and because we, you know, we plan on maybe going snowboarding and then a bag and I brought some Canadian beer because I was like, that'd be cool. Nice. And I was like, all right, let's go. So then I drove the like six hours to the, I went into Alberta, went down to the Montana border.
00:39:21
Speaker
And I get to the border and I'm going through and Guy, you know, of course asks me, do you have anything to declare? And I said, well, I've got beer and cigarettes in the car.
00:39:32
Speaker
And, and so he goes, okay. And he starts typing and then he starts typing for too long. And I'm like, what's the problem here? Like, I don't write, like I'm not bringing up, you know, I'm not bringing a million cigarettes and I'm not bringing, you know, tons of beer or anything. And I was like, I don't understand this problem. So then he tells me to pull around front. No.
00:39:58
Speaker
okay, so I pull around front and I come inside and uh this border agent comes up to me and she starts talking with me a little bit and then she goes um she's she's talking with me she's like where are you headed and I was like California and uh and blah blah blah and basically she's like what's the legal drinking age in the states and I said
00:40:24
Speaker
And I knew it was 21, but I played dumb. And I was like, Chris was 20 years old at this time. And I was like, or drinking agent, Saskatchewan. So I just shrugged. I was like, and it's ironic because Alberta is actually the drinking age is 18. Oh my gosh. I didn't know that. Yeah. And so I came from being able to go to a bar in my hometown and then going into a province.
00:40:52
Speaker
that I could have drank younger at a bar, and then I crossed the border. And I played dumb, because once she said it, I knew exactly, I was like, I screwed up. You were like, okay, I get it. Yeah, and I was like, but I just played dumb, and I was like, oh, I don't know. And she was like 21, and I was like, oh, 21, oh really? Oh my gosh. And she was like, yeah, so you have, I think I had 20-ish beer in the car, and she was like, you need to dump
00:41:22
Speaker
your beer down the sink. There's a bathroom over there, dump all your beer down the sink. And I said, look, can't you just take it? I got a long road ahead of me. Can't you just take it?
00:41:34
Speaker
And she said, no, because that would be a seizure of controlled substance. But she said it would be a seizure, and then you would be here for another six hours. Oh, shut up. Show me the sink. I was like, OK, yeah, show me the sink. So I did that. And she's like, we're going to search your vehicle. And I was like, go for it, dude. I got nothing. So they go, they search the vehicle. And then they asked me, yeah, some more weird questions about where are you going?
00:42:02
Speaker
Well, and I was like, well, I'm going down to California and they're like with a snowboard. And I'm like, I look, I looked at them and I was like, there's mountains in California. You're like, did you not know this? Yeah. And I was like, you can snowboard in California. And they just kind of went, oh, they didn't believe you. And I was like, and then I had a dollar and they were like, well, you know what, you know, what's bringing you down there? Blah, blah, blah. And I was like, oh, well, you know, I met this girl.
00:42:31
Speaker
And so I'm driving down there and they were like, oh, where'd you meet? And I was like, New Zealand. And they're just like, they're looking at me. They're like, okay, BS. They're like, you're right. They're just looking at me like this, like, you know, it's full of it.
00:42:46
Speaker
Yeah, they just don't get it. Hey, but they searched my vehicle. They don't find anything. Yeah, I dumped my beer and they're outside of that. There was no problem with me. Right. So they they let me go. And I'm sure they had stories to tell later. Yeah.
00:43:04
Speaker
To their families old kid yeah, but yeah, and then I had to dump all that beer down the sink which man I mean I wanted to drink one of the beer as I was dumping it down the sink But then I was like if they smelled beer on me. I'm really But yeah, I'd hop back in my car
00:43:21
Speaker
I continue driving. I get to, and that was like, right. I'm in like hour seven and I'm just like, this is, yeah, this is great. I just get into the States. Yeah. It was immediately terrible. I think my, my stay for the night was Helena, Montana. And I got to Helena and I set up and I had,
00:43:46
Speaker
I don't know. I had some issue with them too, with like this little motel that I stayed in, which again was one of those hotels where it was like you sleep with your clothes on because you don't want to get under the sheets. It's like that gross. But it was just off, it was the cheapest thing I could find. It was just off the highway or the interstate, I guess.
00:44:08
Speaker
And so I parked there, you know, I get set up. I forget exactly. I had to do some convincing with this guy because it was something about my card and.
00:44:18
Speaker
They needed a mat. I don't know. It was something to do with the payment. And I was like, I can pay you, but it has to be this way. And he was like, no, it has to be this way. I think you had to pay with debit. And he was like, what? I don't know what it was. Something weird. It was something weird. But eventually I convinced this guy. I was like, look, just give me like till tomorrow or something and I'll pay you. I don't know. But I convinced this guy. He was chill and I paid him and it was all good. But good. The next day I wake up.
00:44:46
Speaker
And there's like two feet of snow on the ground. No. And I'm like, OK, sick. And I got up at six in the morning because I was like, I'm, you know, I'm trying to get ahead. And I think somebody had texted me. I don't know if it's you, but saying that there was like these storms and stuff. It was probably your folks. Yeah, it might have been them saying that there's these storms and stuff. So I was like, OK.
00:45:15
Speaker
So I'm going to try and get ahead of it. So I get up and there's already snow on the ground and I'm in a civic with, uh, all seasons with all season tires. I didn't have snow tires. It was all season tires because yeah. And they were like cheap. They weren't, you know, like primo all seasons either. They were like, I bought the car with those all seasons and they were cheap Chinese all season tires. And, um, so luckily I get up at six in the morning. It's dark out.
00:45:45
Speaker
in this small town in Montana. There's two guys that are showing up to this motel and they see me struggling. And like Helena is really weird because you pull off and it's immediately just up or down. Like there's a main road. Oh, weird. And then it's up or down. Like you go into either direction and it's up or down. And so I tried to get out of this parking lot and I couldn't. Like it wouldn't.
00:46:14
Speaker
go and these two guys uh bless their hearts pushed me all the way back up onto that road once they realized that they got me out and then once they realized that like my car just wasn't gonna do it they got me all the way back up onto that road and i wish i could just thank them but one of the keys is that you just don't stop moving you know in that situation so i stuck i think i stuck my hand out the window and just
00:46:38
Speaker
gave him a quick wave. But and then I I hit it was six. Luckily, I left at six in the morning because I went. I had to then I had to go up. You had to loop around back to the interstate and then you had to go. So you had to go uphill up. Yeah. Up this like harsh grade to to loop back down and around to the interstate. So I just kept my foot on the gas and took my corners and tried to time lights. And I made it back to the interstate. And
00:47:09
Speaker
And then I was driving through Blizzard to kind of cut some of the time down. I was driving through Blizzard all that day. I got to... Why? And you mean like zero visibility, like you can't see the lights in front of you. I would have 30 minutes. Every once in a while I would get through a mountain pass and I would hit an open area where it was warm enough that there wasn't snow. And so it would break for a minute.
00:47:38
Speaker
And then I would hit the, once I hit the other side of the mountains, it was back to Blizzard with like almost no visibility. So I drove that for about 10 some hours. And then I got to Idaho and just outside of Boise, where I was staying with my buddy, it broke down to rain.
00:48:01
Speaker
And so, which was, yeah, it was the blizzard broke down terrain. And so I got there stayed with my buddy. And then my GPS that I was using had my brow planned out. And I had been using it for
00:48:20
Speaker
for the days and I would just shut it off. And he couldn't use Google Maps or anything because no data from Canada or California. No, I had a little GPS, like Garmin thing. Wait, you couldn't use your phone to look up maps? He could with Wi-Fi, but he didn't have data in the States. But not on the roads. Yeah, yeah. Which I also didn't think about until he was like, yeah, I've got a GPS. And I was like, why wouldn't you just use your phone? And then I was like, oh, duh, it won't work in a different country. I did not know that.
00:48:48
Speaker
I thought, OK, I had no idea. OK, this is insane. Keep going. But and then when I got to Idaho, I hung out with my buddy and then the Garmin had been working fine. It had my route planned out. And then I went the next morning to look at my route and it was gone. It had just erased my route. And so I was like, OK, I was like kind of a pain, but really quick, just punched in more stuff. Oh, all good. OK.
00:49:17
Speaker
But because I had swung out, because the route initially, it took you down, straight down through Idaho, into like Great Falls and stuff like that. I can't remember if the Twin Falls or Great Falls, because there's one in Montana and Idaho. But it takes you down. It takes you down, straight down. But I had swung out to Boise. And so now it's routing from Boise. So then,
00:49:46
Speaker
It takes me and it plans this route. I don't really think about it. I kind of show it to my buddy. I'm like, Hey, cause he talked about this like mountain pass area and blah, blah, blah, and how it's so much fun to drive in the summer. And I was like, I don't want to drive that right now. So, um, I was like, what's this? And he was like, that should, I think that's, you know, he was like, that's not it. That's not the one. So I was like, okay, cool. As long as it's not that one. So I take off and sure enough, all of a sudden I'm on the side of the mountain again. And I'm in.
00:50:15
Speaker
I'm in slush. Isaac, if you were listening, you were incorrect. Well, it's not that he was incorrect because it probably wasn't that route. It was just a different mountain pass route. And so I was driving through the mountains again, again in Blizzard. Oh my gosh. And I did that again for another 10 to 12 hours.
00:50:37
Speaker
He would FaceTime me at his hotel stops just looking like dead inside and was like, I'm coming. Oh my gosh. It was one of the most stressful things I've ever done in my life. I lived off of Red Bull and cigarettes for about four days because I couldn't eat physically. Because you're so sick of stress? Yes. So all I did was caffeine and nicotine.
00:51:05
Speaker
Oh, lovely. My stomach hurts just listening to this. Yeah, no, it was rough. But I made it from there. And that was a nightmare because I was stuck behind like snowplows and like all this stuff. And I was in like middle of nowhere areas where I was driving. And I was like, man, I have not seen I've seen one ranch in like four hours. And, you know, like that kind of nowhere.
00:51:30
Speaker
Oh my gosh, that's scary. I've blocked a lot of this. And so eventually I'm like getting there and I hit Reno and finally I hit Reno, California and I'm like, okay, Nevada. Oh yes. Sorry, Nevada.
00:51:48
Speaker
close very close kind of like oh yeah you go ahead we're very close to Reno in our area of California oh well yeah yeah and my GPS said I had three hours left and I was like are sweet and
00:52:05
Speaker
I start pulling up and all of a sudden the traffic just slows down in Reno. And then slowly we're like inching our way forward. I'm like, what the heck's going on? And then there's guys standing there talking to vehicles and doing this and turning people around. And I was like, oh, this isn't good. So I drive up and apparently I had picked up somewhere in
00:52:30
Speaker
Nevada, um, a tumbleweed and it's just been stuck in my grill and he, the guy ripped it out of my grill and chucked it to the side and was like, and so I asked him, I was like, what's going on? And he was like, uh, I was on the I 80. Yeah.
00:52:42
Speaker
And he's like, the I-80 is shut down. There's 15 feet of snow on the I-80 right now. Nobody's getting through here. And I asked him, I was like, look, do you have any idea? I was like, will it be clear tomorrow? Like, I don't like I have no idea. Right. And he was like, and he was like, hey, I he basically said, I don't know.
00:53:05
Speaker
um you know fair and so yeah i turned around and got to a jack in the box because i needed wi-fi yeah and preach um i'm three yeah i'm three days deep no food and i i sit in a jack in the box and i just facetime her
00:53:21
Speaker
And so he calls me, I'm tracking his trip as we go, like the hours he's supposed to be there. And I remember getting ready for your arrival. Like it was just a couple hours away. I'd like finished cleaning the house. I put a lasagna in the oven. I was like, I was like, cause it takes about the cook. So I was like, here he comes. Like, here we go.
00:53:39
Speaker
So he calls, and I'm like, oh, he's going to tell me that he is almost here. This is great. So he calls, he's in this jack in the box just looking like hard. Like death itself. Yeah, like in the nicest way possible. You'd have to get better to die, probably.
00:53:53
Speaker
And you were like, I 80 shut down and I was like, what? And you were like, it shut down. Like I'm stuck here. Like the guy basically without fully saying it said there's no way that I'm getting through there like today or tomorrow. And I'd already heard about the situation at the border. I'd already heard what the blizzard's like. Nobody stopped me, right? Like I'm just this dude mobbing through the States in a blizzard. And like not even, not even the guy was like, dude, you're in a civic. You're not getting through here at all.
00:54:20
Speaker
right like not even him and i was like nobody told me actually oh and in because i had been going through it uh driving through blizzard for like three days at that point uh in nevada i actually looked it up and
00:54:37
Speaker
went to some part shop and picked up chains. Oh, because my mom had recommended that he pick up chains. So I went back. You waited. Oh, my gosh. Yeah. And yeah, so that was and then I had to I had to stay the night in Reno.
00:54:54
Speaker
yeah so he well so he yeah he calls let me know he's stuck in nevada did we figure out we figured out the plan with my mom that day yeah well i knew i wasn't going anywhere and i'd already driven 11 hours so i was like i'm not going any farther so i just found the nearest hotel yeah did i walked in i parked i walked in walked up to the guy and i said he's like hey how can i help you and i said what's your cheapest room and he said you know blah blah blah
00:55:21
Speaker
100 bucks a night. I was like perfect slap my credit card down and he was like, you want smoking or non-smoking? It was a casino. And I was like, smoking.
00:55:31
Speaker
which I had never had before. That was wild to smoke in a hotel. But yeah, I just didn't care. And I was like, fine. And so yeah, eventually in that hotel room, we FaceTimed. And her mom, luckily, knows Nevada, California surrounding the area. Knows everything. Knows everything and has friends all over that area. She went 100% with it. And her mom started calling all of her friends that she knows around the area.
00:55:58
Speaker
It was crazy. I went to her. I was like, he's stuck. Like, what are we going to do? I actually started getting dressed. I was like, he's in Reno. I got to go get him. And my mom was like, OK, let's not get you stuck. Like, let's let's figure this out. So she sits down and basically assembles a route that like does not exist. But she made it exist. Like, yeah, she just like she knew each city that was closer to the next one. And so instead of like a route,
00:56:24
Speaker
build of like highways she was just like get to this town to this town and then called friends like Chris said in those areas to check the weather and make sure like the weather's okay and make sure there's no other highway she calls like a few people she like just like did that and like I've got Chris on FaceTime she's making these calls we're like figuring it out and basically assembles a route for him because he was stuck right at like where the Sierra Nevada mountains are and basically comes out with this route to loop south of them so to drive down like south south south loop around them and then come back up to where we are
00:56:54
Speaker
Wow. That can't be correct, though. No. So I was supposed to be there in three hours. I had three hours left on my trip. And then everything's rougher when you don't eat and stuff. So she tells me, she's like, OK, we've got you a route. And I'm like, OK, sounds good. And at this point, I was kind of like, I can't drive anymore. I close my eyes, and all I see is road. But I said, OK, what's the route?
00:57:22
Speaker
And so she said, I'll send you the route. It's 11 hours.
00:57:26
Speaker
And, and that's, that's not including stops, right? That is on map. That's 11 hours. And so you factor in stopping, right? Gas and all that stuff. You're looking at 12 and a half plus. And so she was like, and I just, I remember looking at my own eyes in, you know, in the FaceTime thing and there was just no life behind them. You know, I was like, I am dead inside and I have to drive another 11 hours. Cause I'm, I'm this deep in the state.
00:57:56
Speaker
Yeah. I was like, he's going to turn around and go back, but like, I was that deep in the States. I was like, there's no point in this. And I was like, I have no way out of this because my car's here. I can't even, you know, I can't just hop a flight on a plane. And yeah. And so I was like, Oh, okay then. And I basically, we had this discussion or whatever and we, we hung up the phone and I curled up into a ball and fell asleep and then got up the next morning and was like, okay, I guess I'm doing this. And then proceeded to loop California. Um,
00:58:26
Speaker
down and around the mountains. And yeah, that took me something like probably 12 and a half plus hours. Shut up. But luckily that day, it was Bluebird. It was blue skies. Oh, like clear blue skies. Yeah, clear blue skies. And I saw some of the craziest scenery, like taking that route. Yeah.
00:58:50
Speaker
And I wish I would have had like a dash cam for like the whole drive there and the whole drive back because I saw every type of scenery and topography throughout all of those states. But looping all of that and then of course the last little bit I drove, I got up early in the morning and then I drove until dark.
00:59:11
Speaker
And I was freaking out because like the sun started to go down. It was dark. I tracked around 11 hours, but you know, it's going to take longer than that. So I had no idea when you were going to show up and your mom actually messaged me. I had never met his mom at this point. She was like, you know, I haven't heard from Christopher. Can you just let it know when he arrives and he wasn't there? And I was like, I'm going to have to tell this woman her son's dead.
00:59:29
Speaker
Like, but then you showed up. It's just like, I didn't have a timeline. I was just like there and the sun was going down and I was like, okay. I came up. Um, I honestly, because of how, because it was dark out and then the last hour, I think ish, um, I remember it was maybe an hour, but I remember watching the miles cause I finally had her address as.
00:59:54
Speaker
my destination and I remember watching the miles knock down from like 40 miles down and I was just like inching closer and I'm like let's go I'm exhausted and then and then we I get probably an hour out and mist and rain starts coming in and in the mountains that creates fog right and so I'm going through these patches of fog and it's okay it's okay it's okay
01:00:19
Speaker
but then finally I hit the last stretch towards her house where it's these switchbacks and then yeah and all this stuff and I'm again a planesman and so I'm hitting switchbacks in fog. I don't have fog lamps and it's thick enough that if I turn on my high beams or it's worse and it's just a wall of fog
01:00:42
Speaker
I didn't prepare him for this whatsoever. I'm not even really seeing the road anymore. I'm seeing the bright yellow line in the middle of the road and I'm just following that. And so I just keep doing it, keep doing it until eventually, because I'm like, dude, this thing is like, it's saying it's like a mile away, half a mile away, right? Like it's getting closer and closer. So I just keep doing this until eventually I come over, I made a wrong turn at the very, well, it was just this, her house is on a kind of a Y.
01:01:10
Speaker
And I took the right instead of the left. And so I took the wrong way and I just backed out and corrected it. But then I went over the hill and she had taken a picture of her house before or something. Or in a video or something, I saw it. But her brother has this old truck that was sitting outside the house for a long time. This really nice old truck. And I was like, once I see that truck, then I'll know that I'm there. And so I came over that little hill and sure enough, there was the truck.
01:01:43
Speaker
I flew open his driver door and I was like, I'm so sorry. I was like, because we talked about like when we finally got to see each other again and we were like, this is going to be so sweet. But I was just like, I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
01:02:03
Speaker
And then we yeah we like I was in my parents like basement apartment at the time so we go in there he sits and he starts telling me all this and like I hadn't experienced that along with him so I was kind of like you're here now like do you want some food do you want and he was just like dude dude what the heck spending four days alone like with nobody to talk to to no cell service
01:02:29
Speaker
Yeah, like silence or I listened, actually it's funny because I listened to, I had some CDs and then I also had this like free audio like music thing that was, it was free music because I didn't pay for Spotify at the time. So I had some music on there that was like not great. But then I had CDs. And so I actually had Steve Miller band's Blue Rodeo album.
01:02:57
Speaker
And I listened to that a lot, uh, on the, on the way down that and actually Biggie Smalls album. It's a very different contrast, but, um, The Steve Miller band album is actually one of my favorite albums now because it reminds me of my drive down to California. Um, and although it was the way down was an absolute nightmare. There was certain stretches where I remember that playing and there was, um,
01:03:24
Speaker
just great scenery. And it's actually funny in one of the songs on the album, he talks about driving all over the place. And he says in Northern California where the girls are warm. It's literally me. I always think about her with that song. Oh, I love that.
01:03:51
Speaker
Yeah, but yeah, it was a that was a nightmare. And then the drive back was actually very easy. Oh, yeah. So two weeks later, he had to drive back, by the way. It had. Yeah. Two weeks later, I had to drive back, which I was not looking forward to. But that one was super easy. But I stayed in some more sketchy hotels. But it was overall fun. I mean, yeah, fun experience back not to look back on. Oh, yeah. To look back on. Oh, yeah.
01:04:16
Speaker
Oh my gosh. I know the whole time you were saying that I was like, he has to drive back. Like what the heck? Yeah. Well, and we talked about it too. Cause that was the trip. Like he arrived. That's pretty much when we began dating and a few days later, we were engaged by that point. Uh, and yeah, like told, told our folks about that. And then time came. Yeah, it's true.
01:04:37
Speaker
No time wasted. That's a good Christian timeline. Knew each other for six months. Oh yeah, six months because I hadn't gone to Australia. Knew each other for six months, dating for like three days and then engaged. Checks out. That sounds right.
01:04:53
Speaker
But, uh, yeah, so that was that. And then, yeah, time comes and he got to know my folks during that time. And the time comes for him to go back. My mom was like, are you sure you can't like fly somehow? Or like, we were trying to maybe come up with stuff or like, I drove back with him and then flew down. So he didn't have to be alone. Like we tried all these things, but yeah, he just ended up, ended up driving back. But it's, it's funny now. Cause, uh, I think that meant a lot to my parents when you did all that. Cause we got engaged quickly and they didn't really know Chris.
01:05:20
Speaker
But they were like, no, whatever loser boy is going to do all of that to drive down. Exactly. That's commitment. That's commitment, dude. Oh, my gosh. Ladies, if he won't almost kill himself driving across the entire United States to go see you. That's my standard for any, like, if we end up with a daughter, I'm like, look, man.
01:05:40
Speaker
I did a lot of things for your mother. Yeah. Oh, you drove here for 20 minutes. Really? Yeah. Leave. Do you? Bye. Yeah. Bye. Slam the door. Yeah. Exactly. With no, no food, you know? Yeah. You, that's insane. I'm not going to lie. I think I have permanent anxiety now listening to that story. Um, so thank you for that. Uh, we had permitting anxiety after it happened. Yeah. Have you recovered yet? Oh yeah.
01:06:05
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I think I remember not like it was that big of a deal, but that you were just more cautious driving in winter after that. Like, yeah, well, I mean, it's it's smart, especially in Canada in general. I mean, generally anywhere, I suppose. Yeah. But like, if you don't have to get on a highway in in the dead of winter, don't bother. Yeah.
01:06:27
Speaker
You know, I mean, we won't travel during the winter now. Like even flying is kind of like can be annoying because like flying is is what it is. You know, there's delays and things like that. But I ain't the one flying the plane. So yeah, but like no road trips for the winter. If we ever talk about road tripping, we're like, it has to be July. No other time.
01:06:45
Speaker
No, for real, especially because if you're going somewhere new, you don't know the routes. It can look perfectly fine and you don't know what's going to happen. That's wild. Okay. But seriously, uh, can you please tell me when you ate? Because that's like forefront of my mind right now. When did you find the lasagna? So like you talked for a little and then.
01:07:04
Speaker
Yeah. We talked for a while. And then did we, did I even eat that night or did I wait till the next morning? Oh, you might've waited. Oh, I, cause I, okay. I keep coming back to the lasagna. I was really excited about this. So I put it back into the oven for him to arrive. So it was all warm when he got there. And then, yeah, we talked for like, I don't know, an hour or so, just about the trip about whatever. And then I was like, do you want to eat? Like I have some food ready to go. And you were like, I think so. And I think I put it on a plate and you looked at it and you were like, no, like,
01:07:33
Speaker
It could have been yeah, and then oh and then the next day. I know I ate the next day Yeah No, and I remember cuz I I
Wild Travel Stories and Youthful Spontaneity
01:07:40
Speaker
went and stayed up with my parents and you stayed in the apartment and then I went down in the morning to like go see you and we to make some breakfast and I had also made a cheesecake because that's like one of our favorite desserts So he wakes up. We're watching a little TV and I was like, do you want a cheesecake? And you were like, it's 10 in the morning and I was like, but I've heard me lasagna. Did I?
01:08:00
Speaker
Yeah. I think you said, is it weird to eat? Is it weird for you to eat lasagna for breakfast? I was like, I don't think. First of all, no, that's not weird. Lasagna is the best breakfast. We did do lasagna and then the cheesecake. So yeah, he ate the next day and then all that was normal, but I did it for the way back. I had like a, a pre-made like salad, just like a box salad. And I remember giving it to you. I was like, this is a salad. Like please eat this on your way back. And the salad went onion.
01:08:28
Speaker
Oh my gosh, are you kidding me? Oh my gosh. Well, coming off of that, like coming off of the previous four days, you know, me getting back in my car and hitting the road again, I wasn't exactly, my body wasn't exactly like, yeah, let's eat. I actually, I think I ate
01:08:46
Speaker
Oh no, I did. I eat like once a day on the way back up. So, you know, an improvement. Yeah. Yeah. Well, and road tripping, like you're just sitting all day. So one meal is at least better that, you know, you can do that. I don't, I mean, I'm, I can't even comment on the no eating for days. Cause I'm just like, I don't eat. I mean, you're lucky you're alive. I'm like, what? Um, that's so wild. What the heck? Well, yeah, none of my stories sound like that. What the heck?
01:09:10
Speaker
That one's pretty much the craziest one, but yeah. That's wild. I was, I so wanted to hear that from your perspective because like at the very tail end of that, like in the very beginning of that, before you had come, of course, Ayla was like, Oh, he's going to be coming down possibly. And I was like, Oh, so exciting. You know, I'm just like over here, like,
01:09:29
Speaker
you know, barely, I don't know much about what's going on. And then once you're like, maybe it was the day before, I think Ailey you had texted me saying like, Oh, he's he got stuck or something and it's just gonna take longer. And I mean, you were obviously so busy just trying to figure it out. But I was just so excited, you know, for you to get there and all that jazz.
01:09:48
Speaker
You're like, Oh, yeah, I know stuff happens. I was like, Oh, bummer. You know, I was like, Oh, darn, that sucks. You know, I hope it's okay. You know, just kind of thing. I probably prayed and stuff. And then, yeah, I had no idea. And like, I don't even know if you've had the energy to relate to me, this information, Ayla, like since then. I think it's just like, it's such a crazy story. Cause I don't think I ever got the real, I mean, I heard that it was like took longer than it was supposed to. And you hit like snow storms, but I had no idea all of that. That's insane. That's 10,000 times crazier than I ever thought.
01:10:19
Speaker
It is and we think back because like Chris said we were in this period of being just kind of young and dumb like yeah we were 2021 traveling so and like the experiences we had so far were all just like yeah just send it just go for it like the life's crazy blah so that was some of that energy which is like fun for a time but it's funny like not like we're the most perfect adults in the world but looking back a couple years behind us so we're just like what were you thinking?
01:10:47
Speaker
You gotta have some of that in life, I guess. I mean, your 20s, to be fair, is the time to do that. So, you know, to an extent.
01:10:56
Speaker
We could probably continue with this story another time, but that just like the whole Canada America thing, just like basically created a future of like problems at the border and other like further stories, like our whole long distance story and stuff. But that was the, that was the start. That was what kicked it off. Not a smooth start, if I can be honest with you. No. Impressive. I got pulled over by a state trooper on the way back too. Oh really? For what? If I can ask her to. Uh, I was speeding, but I was, it was because I was,
01:11:26
Speaker
uh almost at either twin falls or gray falls idaho i cannot remember yeah um but i had been driving for 12 hours at that point and uh on the way back and so i was like oh i'm almost there so i you know put my foot down a little harder and then twin falls for idaho twin falls yes um
01:11:48
Speaker
So I put my foot down a little harder and then I passed a state trooper and I think I was going 75 and a 65. Yeah, that's not that bad. Yeah, and so he pulled me over and asked for my registration and everything and I gave it to him and he was like, this has expired. Oh, no. And I had a heart attack for a second and I went, oh, hold on, I have multiple registrations, I just haven't told him that. So I was like, okay, here's my registration. And then he looked at me
01:12:17
Speaker
and kind of, you know, cocked his head and was like, anything else in the vehicle I should know about? And I was kind of like, no. And again, I always give them more information, like just as far as I was like, yeah, well, I was like, well, I have cigarettes in the car if you care, right? Like, I don't, you know, so I was like, I have cigarettes, that's it. And he kind of side eyed me and was like, okay,
01:12:45
Speaker
Well, your eyes are pin needles right now. Like your pupils. He was like, they're pin needles right now. And I said, well, I've been driving for 12 hours and I've consumed nothing but nicotine and caffeine. So that might be the reason. And he kind of went, OK. And then went to his car, ran my stuff, came back and just gave me a warning and said, where are you stopping? And I said, Twin Falls.
01:13:14
Speaker
I was like, I'm going there. I'm crashing out at a hotel for the night. And he said, okay, slow down, get there safe. I'm letting you off with a warning this time. And then just let me go. I was like, I was like, cause pin needles are what happens like when you're high. Yeah. Oh yeah. Just another thing to the, to the trip. It was so crazy. That's never been asked that by a cop, like up in, I actually ended up getting pulled over again in Alberta because I had to switch from.
01:13:44
Speaker
driving everywhere super fast in the States to our speed limit up here, which is stupid. It's true. It's so much slower up here. It's a lot slower. I mean, there's less divided highways. A lot of our highways are single lane, both ways. Like the kind of freeways you and I know to get to like San Francisco and stuff aren't two things. Yeah, that's not really a thing here. Oh, interesting. I had no idea. Wow. Yeah, that would be a big shift.
01:14:11
Speaker
Yeah. Our speed limit is like, uh, double lane is one 10. And then our single lane is a hundred. So a lot of the times you're doing a hundred, most people do like one Oh seven. Uh, but it's like, yeah, you're doing a hundred, but I'm used to be doing like, uh, 80 ish miles.
01:14:40
Speaker
100 kilometers an hour is about 60 miles per hour. Thank you. Because I was not about to do that math. I was just like, I know there's never, okay. Yeah, I got used to doing like 80 miles. So I was like doing what I thought the speed limit should be. And then, yeah, I got caught in it. And I actually got a ticket for that one. But again, like up in Canada, I've never been asked, I've been pulled over a couple of times.
01:15:03
Speaker
but I've never been asked if I have like other things, drugs in the car, like whatever. It's just like, I don't know. It was weird. The states was weird a little bit. Yeah, that is weird. Or maybe it was also a combination of like, you know, you were crossing the border and stuff. I don't know. I wonder. It was also hilarious. You mentioned it kind of at the beginning of his story about how he had to like dump all the beer because he would have been underage in the United States. And it was hilarious because I'm just a couple months older than Chris. So I was 21 at the time. And
01:15:32
Speaker
You know, I wanted to show him local beers that we had. That's something we really liked and tried together. And our grocery stores, you can get beer in our grocery stores, because again, for my Canadian friends that actually I went back to the States recently and that like re-blew my mind. I went into grocery stores and there was beer there and I was like, wow, because that's not a thing in Canada. Where do you get it?
01:15:52
Speaker
Oh, so you just go separate to a liquor store. Yeah, like the specific license to buy, to sell alcohol. So there's only liquor stores, unless you can get, there's exceptions for like really small towns.
01:16:09
Speaker
And it'll be in like their gas station sometimes. Yeah, gotcha. But anyway, yeah, so we go back and we he'd come into the store with me, we pick out like a nice six pack to try together. And then he had to go wait outside. I've been drinking for two years. I've been going to bars before she could go to bars. Yeah, I'm acting like I'm like 16 trying to get
01:16:31
Speaker
And I would joke, I was like, I'm like buying alcohol for a minor and like we'd pick it out and I was like, okay, you have to go wait outside. And he was like, are you serious? And I was like, because they don't always check those IDs. But you know, we're not trying to get like, you know, we're not trying to create a situation. Yeah, that's so funny. Oh my gosh, what a crazy experience.
01:16:51
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, I think you packed in a whole like two years of dating anyways into like those few days. So, you know, you drive that far and you do all that. It's like, okay, you've done more than most boyfriends do, I feel like anyway. So, you know, well, yeah, that was the thing I was like, so we're dating now. And he was like, well, I didn't like just drop it on that to see my buddy to see a pal. Well, gosh, I suppose, I suppose that's like,
01:17:18
Speaker
I don't have any other stories that are as interesting as well. I'm sure I do, but yeah, we've got tons. We'd love to share that are more like our mission stories that are tons of fun. I feel like that could
Future Episode Plans and Listener Engagement
01:17:29
Speaker
be its whole loan and you as well, like his, you and I have gotten to go on mission trips together that I feel like we could talk about. So that could be, yeah, that'll be a fun one. Yeah. So I guess travel stories part one was today. Oh yeah. Anyways, this was so much fun. I had so much fun. It's like.
01:17:44
Speaker
First off, I don't know the last time all three of us actually got to sit together and hang out and talk. It's fun for that. You'll have to bring chatter out and you can do it again sometime.
01:17:56
Speaker
We'd love to do more episodes like this down the road, and we love including you, our listeners in it. So keep an eye out on our socials at Art of Intention podcast on Instagram for any time we may be asking you for your experiences, stories to have on the show, anything like that. We put so many resources up on there all the time, so you won't want to miss it. Absolutely. Go ahead and find us on Spotify, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, or Zencaster, and make sure you leave us a five star review and comment. We'll see you next time. See you then. Bye.
01:18:30
Speaker
you