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Transcript

The Truth About Full-Time Van Life: Memories Over Stuff with One Beer Joe · Inspired Travels With Patti

0:00
SPEAKER_00: Solo travel and we're going to answer the questions that you didn't even know you had.
0:07
SPEAKER_00: Joe, what's the one thing about solo travel that you didn't expect?
0:14
SPEAKER_01: In all honesty, I don't think I'd expect to meet so many solo travelers along the way who are very happy being that solo traveler.
0:24
SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, a lot of women, um, but a lot of men too.
0:28
SPEAKER_01: Um, and that's really kind of interesting that you find that.
0:32
SPEAKER_01: Um, I kind of think that it's situations that put us in this position of being a solo traveler.
0:40
SPEAKER_01: And maybe for some people who are thinking about becoming a solo traveler, it's maybe a little intimidating.
0:49
SPEAKER_01: But when you get out here and you actually do it, you find that it's very rewarding and just kind of feels natural.
0:58
SPEAKER_00: And we're going to talk about all of that today.
1:02
SPEAKER_00: The things you expected, the things you didn't expect.
1:05
SPEAKER_00: We're going to get you to give us some really good tips on being out there on the road.
1:10
SPEAKER_00: I also think it's important for us to say just because you're solo doesn't mean you're alone.
1:22
SPEAKER_00: I want to welcome my listeners to Inspire Travels with Patty.
1:27
SPEAKER_00: If you're listening on the podcast, you could also watch us on YouTube.
1:32
SPEAKER_00: Joe is coming to us from inside his van.
1:36
SPEAKER_00: And I'm happy we have great sounds.
1:39
SPEAKER_00: He has great Wi-Fi.
1:40
SPEAKER_00: And for those of you who are new to the channel, I created this channel to inspire people to live life more fully.
1:49
SPEAKER_00: And for me, that's through adventure, meeting incredible people like meeting Joe, having unique experiences, and getting to see those places near to home or far away that you just didn't expect.
2:06
SPEAKER_00: Really cool, amazing places.
2:08
SPEAKER_00: I know I've seen in my travels.
2:11
SPEAKER_00: So I'd like to introduce Joe Kranz of One Beer Joe, and we'll talk about that one.
2:19
SPEAKER_00: He is a full-time solo, band lifer, content creator for the last two plus years.
2:27
SPEAKER_00: He lived in New York, moved to Florida, and now is on the road full-time.
2:32
SPEAKER_00: Welcome, Joe, to Inspired Travels with Patty.
2:36
SPEAKER_01: Thanks very much for having me on, Patty.
2:38
SPEAKER_01: It's a it's a pleasure to be here with you.
2:41
SPEAKER_00: And I am so grateful you were able to make the time and find a place that you had Wi-Fi so you could actually get on.
2:49
SPEAKER_00: That is one of the concerns, the issues with traveling in an RV, or in your case, a van.
2:57
SPEAKER_00: It is, it could be one of those things.
2:59
SPEAKER_00: So we'll talk about that because I'm sure there are people who ask that question.
3:04
SPEAKER_00: So let's start at the beginning.
3:06
SPEAKER_00: How did life as a solo full-time band lifer start?
3:11
SPEAKER_01: Well, I think it was a combination of things.
3:13
SPEAKER_01: Uh, years ago, I had a travel trailer, I had a fifth wheel, uh, pulled it behind my pickup truck when my kids were littler, and we did camping excursions.
3:22
SPEAKER_01: But of course, working full-time, the amount of excursions that you could have were limited.
3:28
SPEAKER_01: So when I retired, I decided that I was gonna do that more.
3:32
SPEAKER_01: And I was in a relationship with somebody for a long time.
3:35
SPEAKER_01: Uh, it was after my wife and I got divorced, but I was in a long-term relationship, and that came to an end one day rather suddenly on her part, but um, I decided that was the push that I needed to do this because all the cards were lining up, and I said, you know, that was the point at which I just needed to go ahead and make the decision to get rid of my house, get rid of all my stuff.
4:04
SPEAKER_01: Because, you know, there's that old saying about he who dies with the most toys wins.
4:10
SPEAKER_01: Well, I'm not sure about that.
4:12
SPEAKER_01: I think he who dies with the most memories probably wins because in the two and a half years that I've been doing this, I have created a lot more memories that are a lot more valuable than the stuff that I had.
4:26
SPEAKER_00: I have to say, and I'm I'm jumping in.
4:30
SPEAKER_00: I love that.
4:31
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna actually write it down he who dies with the most memories wins.
4:36
SPEAKER_00: I'd love that.
4:38
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I'd continue.
4:39
SPEAKER_01: So that was, you know, that was about three years ago, and then it took me, you know, six, eight months or so to kind of get my life lined up, get rid of all that stuff.
4:50
SPEAKER_01: I had lived in Central Florida area for around 47 years, and of course, you develop stuff.
4:56
SPEAKER_01: You know, I was raising a family, I have uh grown daughters, but you end up with a lot of stuff in your house, and you have to decide to do something with that stuff.
5:08
SPEAKER_01: Uh so in my case, my adult children got all that stuff.
5:13
SPEAKER_01: Uh, sometimes there was arguing over I don't really want that dad.
5:17
SPEAKER_01: Well, somebody's got to take it.
5:18
SPEAKER_01: So, you know, somebody had to take it, you can hold on to it for now.
5:21
SPEAKER_01: And if you really don't want it, you can probably throw it away because it isn't gonna be anything that I'm gonna use down the road.
5:28
SPEAKER_01: So then it was a matter of figuring out what I wanted.
5:31
SPEAKER_01: And having had an RV before, um, I knew there were certain things that I wanted and certain things I didn't want.
5:40
SPEAKER_01: And size was something I didn't want.
5:42
SPEAKER_01: I wanted smaller, I wanted something I could take everywhere I want to go.
5:47
SPEAKER_00: Let's talk about this stuff because I do think for people, they think that's one of going to be one of the hardest things.
5:55
SPEAKER_00: Like you, I had a house, I had moved a number of times, but had accumulated stuff from all these kids, like stuff that you keep in boxes because someday, and you know, like you're talking about, then I said, okay, going into an RV full-time, have to go through the stuff, have to get rid of it.
6:16
SPEAKER_00: And the stuff that you think your kids are gonna take, they don't want.
6:22
SPEAKER_00: So that, you know, going through the stuff, deciding what to get rid of, I know for me, seemed like it was gonna be this overwhelming worst part of it all.
6:34
SPEAKER_00: But once I started, yes, there were times it was difficult, there were times it was frustrating, there are times it's like, what am I gonna do with certain things?
6:43
SPEAKER_00: But at the end of it, the stuff, kids didn't want most of it.
6:48
SPEAKER_00: I didn't miss most of it.
6:51
SPEAKER_00: Um, so like you, you know, what was the the one thing you did to get through figuring out this stuff?
7:01
SPEAKER_00: You live in a van, so you can't have a whole lot of stuff.
7:05
SPEAKER_01: No, you can't.
7:06
SPEAKER_01: And and I was, and and like a lot of guys, I was a tool guy.
7:11
SPEAKER_01: So, you know, I had a very good-sized tool workshop and a nice collection of that.
7:16
SPEAKER_01: And that was probably the hardest thing for me to get rid of.
7:20
SPEAKER_01: I suspect, you know, in in in terms for for for women who are doing this, maybe if they're into some crafting or something like that, quilting or something like that, and you have a collection of material and you go, I don't want to get rid of this because I'm gonna do this down the road.
7:35
SPEAKER_01: And I said the same thing with tools because there were things that I was gonna build.
7:40
SPEAKER_01: In fact, I thought about building my own van, and you know, that's something we'll get into a little bit later.
7:45
SPEAKER_01: But um, I just decided that those were things, and those were not gonna make me any memories down the road.
7:54
SPEAKER_01: Um, certain tools obviously you need to keep in a vehicle because you do need to maintain it, and there are things that a couple things I got rid of that maybe I shouldn't have, and then maybe I had to buy it again because I didn't think I was gonna use that tool, but then it turns out that, oh yeah, you do.
8:11
SPEAKER_01: A house is a house, even if it's got wheels underneath it, it's still a house, and you might need some of that.
8:16
SPEAKER_01: So, you know, making those decisions.
8:19
SPEAKER_01: The stuff, you know, was kind of easy with my kids because there's uh about a seven-year difference between my two girls, so it was easy for some of them to want certain things and then other things neither one of them wanted.
8:32
SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, I found things like um flatware and silverware that were my mom's um are not very popular with younger kids anymore.
8:43
SPEAKER_01: No.
8:43
SPEAKER_01: Um when I go to my daughter's house for Thanksgiving, we have a mishmash of plates and silverware.
8:48
SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, I look back to my mom and you know, she had all that fancy silverware and flatware that we used on the holidays.
8:57
SPEAKER_01: And kids today aren't really interested in that.
8:59
SPEAKER_01: So a lot of that stuff got sold because the kids didn't want it, and and that was fine.
9:05
SPEAKER_01: You know, the photo albums, that was probably the hardest because there was discussion between my kids.
9:10
SPEAKER_01: Well, you know, I want that photo album.
9:12
SPEAKER_01: No, I want that photo album.
9:14
SPEAKER_01: So what I did was I had a lot of that stuff digitized.
9:18
SPEAKER_01: I took the time, I scanned a lot of it myself.
9:21
SPEAKER_01: I did send some stuff off to be digitized if it was like you know, tapes of graduations and things like that.
9:29
SPEAKER_01: And then I had multiple copies made so that they each had a copy of them.
9:34
SPEAKER_01: So there wasn't any arguing over, well, why did you get it?
9:36
SPEAKER_01: I I'm older, I should have got it, you know.
9:38
SPEAKER_01: I in that.
9:40
SPEAKER_01: So you do have to deal with those kinds of things in order to prevent strife within the family.
9:47
SPEAKER_00: But a great solution, photos being digitized is a great idea anyway.
9:53
SPEAKER_00: As far as getting rid of things and organizing and then deciding how to organize the vehicle you're gonna be in, you're gonna live in.
10:05
SPEAKER_00: I think that, and we can spend a whole episode on just that.
10:10
SPEAKER_00: And I have talked about that, and I think it might be time to create a whole episode around that.
10:15
SPEAKER_00: But I do have a friend that I'm gonna mention her on here.
10:19
SPEAKER_00: It's BG Barnsturmer.
10:21
SPEAKER_00: I'll put her name in the show notes.
10:23
SPEAKER_00: She does just that.
10:25
SPEAKER_00: She helps people to downsize, get rid of things, and to organize, whether it's their house or RV.
10:32
SPEAKER_00: So again, that's a whole thing, something that I think is that first step of people um getting a little bit of frustration, a little bit of uh, what do I do?
10:43
SPEAKER_00: So that's a solution.
10:45
SPEAKER_00: But let me ask at the beginning, I said you are your content is under One Beer Joe.
10:52
SPEAKER_00: And we were sitting around and you told this story.
10:55
SPEAKER_00: So I want my listeners to hear the story there.
10:59
SPEAKER_01: Well, this happened a long time ago.
11:01
SPEAKER_01: And you know, sometimes uh uh nicknames stick with you forever.
11:05
SPEAKER_01: Um sometimes good, sometimes bad.
11:08
SPEAKER_01: Um, obviously the one beer joe thing, uh get a lot of people that when they meet me, they go, Oh, you can't handle more than one beer.
11:15
SPEAKER_01: Well, it happened back in the late 70s when I first moved to Florida.
11:20
SPEAKER_01: Um I worked as an auto mechanic at a service station, and every day when I left work around 5:30, I stopped at a local bar that was close to my apartment, and they had a happy hour special till six o'clock.
11:31
SPEAKER_01: So I got there just in time to have one beer.
11:34
SPEAKER_01: And um, the girl who worked there, Marsha and her husband, became friends of mine.
11:38
SPEAKER_01: They actually went to my wedding uh a couple years later when I got married, and um I would go in there, and uh after the first week or so, she was setting the beer out on the bar and she was going to everybody else in the bar, oh, here comes old one beer.
11:55
SPEAKER_01: And then one day she said, So what's your real name?
11:57
SPEAKER_01: And I said, Joe, and she goes, All right, you're gonna be one beer Joe from now on.
12:02
SPEAKER_01: And that was uh, I think 1978 or 1979, and it has stuck with me ever since.
12:07
SPEAKER_01: So um, when I started doing the traveling, um, a lot of my friends, because I had been in the same town in the same county down in Florida for so long, uh, was like, Well, where are you gonna be?
12:20
SPEAKER_01: What are you gonna be doing?
12:21
SPEAKER_01: And I said, Well, you know, every day is gonna be different.
12:24
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna be doing all kinds of well, how will we know where you are?
12:27
SPEAKER_01: Because I typically leave in May and I don't go back to Florida until you know maybe November.
12:34
SPEAKER_01: Um so I said, Well, I I don't know.
12:38
SPEAKER_01: And I reached out to a couple people that I do know that have uh uh you know YouTube channels or Instagram uh and I wasn't familiar with any of that stuff.
12:48
SPEAKER_01: Um so I said, Well, I'll create a little Instagram channel and basically just post a little short little video pretty much every day about where I'm at, um, just so that my friends back in Florida uh know where I'm at.
13:01
SPEAKER_01: Now, of course, after two and a half years of traveling, I've got friends in the van life community all over the country, and they're always interested in doing that.
13:10
SPEAKER_01: And um I was literally at an event up in New York State um Schoolie Swarm here a few weeks ago in uh southern part of New York, and somebody was walking by my van, and I have a magnetic sign on it with the One Beer Joe logo on the side of it that I've kind of created through AI, and somebody went, Oh my god, it's one beer Joe.
13:31
SPEAKER_01: I follow him online.
13:32
SPEAKER_01: I've never met him, I gotta go find him.
13:34
SPEAKER_01: So that's kind of interesting because it has become a fun thing to do.
13:39
SPEAKER_00: That is awesome.
13:41
SPEAKER_00: And so many different things, so many different directions.
13:44
SPEAKER_00: We met actually in Massachusetts at Circle CG Campground for an event that Charlie Grace was having, and it was called Charlie Grace Adventure Crew, I believe.
13:58
SPEAKER_00: I want to get that right.
13:59
SPEAKER_00: Again, I'll put the the information in the show notes because when we talk about solo camping, it doesn't mean you are always alone.
14:10
SPEAKER_00: Solo doesn't mean alone.
14:12
SPEAKER_00: So you tend to go meet people.
14:15
SPEAKER_00: Why did you sign up?
14:16
SPEAKER_00: Let's talk a little bit about meeting people and events, gatherings, groups that you get together with.
14:24
SPEAKER_01: Well, I think in in one way, it's a great way to meet people who are on the same page as you are, you know.
14:32
SPEAKER_01: Um for people who will find themselves single and maybe they are looking for a companion.
14:38
SPEAKER_01: Um, where do you start?
14:40
SPEAKER_01: You know, if you if you don't like going to bars, then you don't, that's not something you're gonna do.
14:46
SPEAKER_01: But if you already have a group of people that you enjoy hanging out with, people who live in vans or live in RVs, who travel the country and and do that, you already have a connection with those people, whether you've met them or not.
14:59
SPEAKER_01: And I found that when we go to a lot of these events, um, just like when I met you, it's very easy to click and to have a conversation because we're already on the same level to s to some degree.
15:13
SPEAKER_01: We already have a connection.
15:15
SPEAKER_01: So it's really nice from that.
15:17
SPEAKER_01: Yes, very, very much that.
15:19
SPEAKER_01: So I do.
15:19
SPEAKER_01: I like traveling.
15:20
SPEAKER_01: And you know, the first couple of events that I went to were a little unnerving because I wasn't sure what was going to happen.
15:28
SPEAKER_01: Um, and they were the first one I went to was a Van Fest called Van Fest down in Florida, um, and it was close to where I was, so I said, Well, I'll try it out.
15:38
SPEAKER_01: And I went there and I knew the first day that I got there, just signing in and you know being shown where to park and things like that.
15:47
SPEAKER_01: It was like, okay, this is gonna be fun.
15:49
SPEAKER_01: I'm going to enjoy this.
15:51
SPEAKER_01: And it was.
15:52
SPEAKER_01: And then after that, it's kind of like, okay, I'm gonna look and I'm gonna hunt for more of these things to go to.
15:58
SPEAKER_01: And a lot of times you can find them, even if you have particular plans on traveling in a particular area of the country, you can find those events around.
16:08
SPEAKER_01: And sometimes you go, oh darn, I'm not gonna be there.
16:11
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna miss that event because I won't be in that area.
16:16
SPEAKER_01: Um, I'll go to it next year and I'll make sure that I'm in that area.
16:20
SPEAKER_01: And that's what I did this year with the schoolie swarm that they have in New York State every year.
16:24
SPEAKER_01: I plan to travel on the east coast of the United States this year, and uh um that way I could I could be there.
16:32
SPEAKER_00: So before we go any further, let me um have you tell my listeners where they can find you.
16:39
SPEAKER_00: So you're on Instagram at Onebeard Joe.
16:43
SPEAKER_01: Yep.
16:43
SPEAKER_01: Yep, One Beard Joe, no spaces.
16:45
SPEAKER_01: You can always find me there.
16:47
SPEAKER_01: There's a little uh logo there.
16:49
SPEAKER_01: It's uh me in a blue shirt, which blue, I've been told blue goes well with me.
16:53
SPEAKER_01: This is a really dark blue, it might show up on the camera as black, but uh it's got a dark blue shirt on it.
16:58
SPEAKER_01: It's kind of uh an AI created, almost cartoon looking, but it does look like me.
17:03
SPEAKER_01: Um in there, and I don't post anything long.
17:06
SPEAKER_01: There are a lot of content creators out there that are doing some really great work.
17:12
SPEAKER_01: Um, and it does take a lot of work.
17:14
SPEAKER_01: You know yourself, it takes a lot of work to put the content together.
17:17
SPEAKER_01: So I typically do a one-minute thing, you know, like just about every day.
17:22
SPEAKER_01: Um this past week I was in an area in Pennsylvania where I didn't have any cell service and I created some content, but I wasn't able to start showing it until yesterday.
17:32
SPEAKER_01: So it sometimes it ends up being a day behind, but uh you know, I always try to explain that to people, you know, where have I been.
17:40
SPEAKER_01: So because I I found that a lot of friends are like, oh, you know, where were you?
17:44
SPEAKER_01: We didn't hear from you yesterday.
17:45
SPEAKER_01: And it's like I have a whole nother set of parents now.
17:49
SPEAKER_00: Yes, that's awesome.
17:50
SPEAKER_00: And so, yeah, so one beer joe on Instagram.
17:54
SPEAKER_00: I will put it in the show notes so people could get to you.
17:57
SPEAKER_00: And I just want to let my listeners know it's really helpful.
18:00
SPEAKER_00: Hit that subscribe button, friend button, like button, whatever the button is.
18:05
SPEAKER_00: It's really helpful to us when people do that.
18:09
SPEAKER_00: So I wanted to make sure to get that in there.
18:11
SPEAKER_00: Again, we met through um Charlie Grace Adventure Crew.
18:16
SPEAKER_00: I will put her information in.
18:18
SPEAKER_00: Like you talked about, you do a lot of short, great content.
18:23
SPEAKER_00: I've stopped your page.
18:24
SPEAKER_00: So there's a lot of great content there, a lot of great places to visit.
18:29
SPEAKER_00: You do a lot with breweries, um, and people like Charlie Grace do a lot more longer content.
18:36
SPEAKER_00: So pick the type of content that works for you.
18:39
SPEAKER_00: A lot of times there's a lot of different types of content, but also picking the type of groups you get together with.
18:47
SPEAKER_00: You talked about groups and they're really large groups, there are smaller, intimate groups.
18:52
SPEAKER_00: I think it's important for people to pick and choose.
18:55
SPEAKER_00: I love what you said about hey, once you get together, like we got together at Charlie Grace's event just last month, and it was great.
19:06
SPEAKER_00: We already had something common.
19:08
SPEAKER_00: We're all travelers.
19:11
SPEAKER_00: Right now I am traveling solo, so there's that commonality.
19:15
SPEAKER_00: But everybody is welcome.
19:18
SPEAKER_00: I think that choosing the type of group for you, sometimes you have to try it first, see what works, see what doesn't, because there are events and groups to join all across the country.
19:31
SPEAKER_00: Are there ones that you would recommend that you for some reason like better?
19:38
SPEAKER_01: I kind of like them all.
19:39
SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, it's funny you mentioned that I do, I do like, I do like craft beer and I travel, and a lot of people will say, well, what's your favorite craft beer?
19:47
SPEAKER_01: And you know, that's one of the things I like is is it's rare that I find a beer that I don't like.
19:53
SPEAKER_01: Some of them I like more than others.
19:55
SPEAKER_01: And that's kind of the same thing with the van things, because there's some of them that are very structured.
20:01
SPEAKER_01: Um and then there are other ones that are very relaxed, and it's almost like you're just going camping with a bunch of friends and you don't really have anything planned, uh, where some of them are very structured.
20:13
SPEAKER_01: And I think it depends a lot on the personality of the person.
20:17
SPEAKER_01: So you've got to experiment with a lot of different types of ones that you go to, and maybe some of the bigger ones.
20:24
SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, one of the big ones that comes to Florida in the spring every year is Peace, Love, and Vans.
20:30
SPEAKER_01: And that is a huge event.
20:32
SPEAKER_01: And you know, it it's somewhere around 450 or 500 van there.
20:38
SPEAKER_01: So, you know, almost in some cases, there's two people to a van.
20:42
SPEAKER_01: So, you know, you've got the potential of a thousand people being there.
20:46
SPEAKER_01: Um, that might be intimidating for some people, they might like that smaller group, like going to a van fest or a schoolie swarm or something like that.
20:56
SPEAKER_01: When I first went to Schoolie Swarm, because it is basically school buses that have been converted, a lot of them are families, and I thought, well, I'm a solo older person.
21:08
SPEAKER_01: Maybe I don't really fit in with the Schoolie group.
21:11
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
21:12
SPEAKER_01: So I went just for a couple days because they're very good at just you don't have to go for the whole event.
21:18
SPEAKER_01: A lot of times you can go for just one or two days, and I did, and I liked it so much, and I realized that it's a whole different segment.
21:27
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I am older than the majority of them, a lot of them still work full time, they have the advantage of being able to work from home so that they can work wherever their school bus is, and that's great.
21:41
SPEAKER_01: I mean, that's uh, you know, that wasn't going to be the case for me when I was younger and working full time.
21:47
SPEAKER_01: I didn't have a job where I could work on the road.
21:49
SPEAKER_01: Um, so you got to try all these different things, and it's a lot, you know, like everything else.
21:55
SPEAKER_01: And you know, we tell our kids when they're little, oh, just you know, try the broccoli, maybe a Like it.
22:00
SPEAKER_01: Try the potatoes.
22:01
SPEAKER_01: Maybe you'll like it.
22:02
SPEAKER_01: And we got to do the same thing as an adults when we go to these type of events.
22:06
SPEAKER_01: Just try it.
22:07
SPEAKER_01: If you don't like it, then that's not your thing.
22:10
SPEAKER_01: Then don't go to any more of those kinds of events.
22:13
SPEAKER_00: Right.
22:13
SPEAKER_00: So now for the schooly event, and these are for people who don't know school buses, as you had said, that have been converted.
22:21
SPEAKER_00: But just because it's a schoolie event doesn't mean you have to be in a school bus.
22:26
SPEAKER_00: So for you, it was okay to be there in a van or a class C or whatever.
22:30
SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah, absolutely.
22:32
SPEAKER_00: How about the van life events or like peace love and van?
22:38
SPEAKER_00: Do you have to be in a van to attend?
22:41
SPEAKER_01: No, not really.
22:42
SPEAKER_01: Um, and there are some schoolie people that go to the peace, love, and vans.
22:46
SPEAKER_01: Now they're gonna be, you know, kind of just the opposite, where the van people may be a minority when you go to a schoolie event.
22:54
SPEAKER_01: When you go to peace, love and vans, the schoolie's maybe in a minority and stuff like that.
22:58
SPEAKER_01: But you see everything there from I've seen people who are camping in their cars and they do that full time, um, to people who are camping in a van converted like I am, or maybe even a Class B motorhome that they've bought in small, or even in a schoolie or something like that, a trailer behind a a pickup truck or a a rooftop tent on a Jeep or something like that.
23:23
SPEAKER_01: So there's all kinds of things.
23:25
SPEAKER_01: And that kind of leads me to another one.
23:28
SPEAKER_01: I mean, the adventure, uh, there's a lot of off-roading adventure uh collaborations around the country, too.
23:35
SPEAKER_01: Um, there's one of them coming up in Virginia uh later this month, and that's mostly Jeep people who like to really go off the grid, off the road, through the woods, over rocks, over hills, and do that.
23:49
SPEAKER_01: I don't do that in my van.
23:51
SPEAKER_01: My van is very much a pavement, gravel road kind of thing, and doesn't go, doesn't want to go anywhere else.
23:57
SPEAKER_01: But I do like going to those events because I like walking around and looking at the different options that there are out there and meeting those people because again, they're on the same, very similar lifestyle because they like doing things off the grid like we do.
24:15
SPEAKER_00: And again, we alluded to the fact that there are so many different events across the country, and each event is different.
24:21
SPEAKER_00: There may be events that are just for solo people, there may be events that are just for families or for older people or younger.
24:29
SPEAKER_00: It is really finding out what each event is about and see how that fits.
24:34
SPEAKER_00: And to your point, I would absolutely agree.
24:37
SPEAKER_00: You know, try it.
24:39
SPEAKER_00: So, next question: what's something you learned about yourself from solo traveling?
24:45
SPEAKER_01: That's a tough one.
24:46
SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, a lot of people um you can kind of tell that I don't really have a problem conversing with people.
24:52
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I'm not at a shortage for words, and I think we we kind of realized that first off when meeting me.
24:58
SPEAKER_01: And I think a lot of my friends said, Well, you know, if you're gonna be somewhere by yourself, what are you gonna do?
25:05
SPEAKER_01: Well, I also had the advantage of I grew up as an only child, and um my parents lived out in the country, so there was a lot of times where I didn't have any siblings to play with that I had to entertain myself.
25:17
SPEAKER_01: So I spent the majority of my life raising kids and working and being in a position where I was always with people, so it was kind of a little step back to what my early childhood was like to go back to okay, Joe, go out and play by yourself.
25:36
SPEAKER_01: And that's what I'm doing.
25:38
SPEAKER_01: So I do that, and but it's it it doesn't take long to run into people and carry on a conversation um and just you know open up and start meeting people.
25:50
SPEAKER_01: Um, and you can usually tell um when I just went to the schoolie swarm, uh, I met somebody there that I could tell was new to all this because they just looked a little on edge.
26:02
SPEAKER_01: And uh uh I walked up and introduced myself to her, and she was camping in her car, and she said, Yeah, I've you know, things have really gone bad for me here lately, and I've got to figure out what I'm gonna do.
26:15
SPEAKER_01: And I heard about this and I wanted to come and just meet people.
26:19
SPEAKER_01: So I introduced her to a whole bunch of people that I knew, and we all just welcomed her in so that she could feel like she was part of that.
26:29
SPEAKER_01: And you know, the encouragement to to tell her to don't make rash decisions about what you want to do, because you can see all kinds of things out there.
26:40
SPEAKER_01: I mean, you could run to an RV store and buy an RV today.
26:43
SPEAKER_01: That doesn't mean that's gonna be necessarily what you want down the road.
26:46
SPEAKER_01: So you have to you have to take your time and make good decisions, you know, when you're gonna do this, especially if you're doing it solo.
26:54
SPEAKER_01: If you're traveling as a couple, then you've got some give and take between the two.
27:00
SPEAKER_01: Right.
27:01
SPEAKER_01: That doesn't very different.
27:03
SPEAKER_01: Yep, it's very different.
27:04
SPEAKER_00: So I was gonna say that leads me to my next where I want to kind of go with this for my own selfish reasons, honestly.
27:13
SPEAKER_00: I when I started out, and it's been almost six years plus now that I had started out.
27:19
SPEAKER_00: My husband and I sold everything, got an RV, traveled full-time for over three years.
27:25
SPEAKER_00: I thought that was crazy because I had really never been in an RV up to that point.
27:31
SPEAKER_00: Spend seven nights in an RV total.
27:33
SPEAKER_00: So, you know, it was during COVID.
27:35
SPEAKER_00: It's like, what the heck, let's do it.
27:37
SPEAKER_00: And it's like you said, now you're navigating this whole new world, something I have no familiarity with, you know, but at least you're doing it together.
27:47
SPEAKER_00: And as some people know from listening to the podcast two and a half years ago, he became ill and is in full-time nursing care.
27:57
SPEAKER_00: So now I'm left with what are my next steps?
28:01
SPEAKER_00: Solo travel, getting a van has been one of those things I've thought about.
28:07
SPEAKER_00: I guess for me, and maybe you can help navigate it, I like traveling with someone.
28:15
SPEAKER_00: I I've been traveling a lot now, solo.
28:18
SPEAKER_00: I took a job five years, five months ago with a company that has 18 campgrounds in the Northeast.
28:26
SPEAKER_00: So all of that this summer has been solo traveling.
28:30
SPEAKER_00: Um and I I guess I'm trying to decide do I actually want to go out and travel solo?
28:37
SPEAKER_00: Like actually travel, not be going for work.
28:41
SPEAKER_00: I I'm I'm not sure.
28:44
SPEAKER_00: Like what what are your thoughts?
28:46
SPEAKER_00: What are your suggestions?
28:49
SPEAKER_01: Well, and you know, the the thing was is that I I looked at it as a a standpoint for me, is that I can now do the things that I wanted to see.
28:59
SPEAKER_01: Um both of my parents passed away in their early 70s, and I decided that I was, you can tell by the gray hair, that I'm getting up there too.
29:07
SPEAKER_01: And I wanted to make sure that I got to see and do things um before I I became, you know, to the point where I couldn't travel and do that.
29:18
SPEAKER_01: Um, so I'm doing that now.
29:20
SPEAKER_01: And you know, somebody, one of my good friends the other day sent me a text and said, you know, I'm missing you.
29:25
SPEAKER_01: I haven't seen you in a while.
29:26
SPEAKER_01: When you when do you get back to Florida?
29:28
SPEAKER_01: And I said, that'll be in November.
29:29
SPEAKER_01: And they go, okay, when are you going to stop doing all this traveling stuff?
29:33
SPEAKER_01: Because now it's coming up on three years for me.
29:35
SPEAKER_01: And I said, I don't see me stopping anytime soon because every year when I do things, I find more things, sometimes in that area, because you know that's the way social media works.
29:48
SPEAKER_01: If you're on Facebook and you're going through Pennsylvania, then all of a sudden it realizes where you're at, and all of a sudden it says, Oh, here's an event coming up in this town, and here's an event in this town.
29:57
SPEAKER_01: And the next thing you know, you go, Okay, well, wait, I missed, I can't be in that one because it's way on the other side of Pennsylvania.
30:05
SPEAKER_01: But maybe I should make a note, and maybe next year I want to go to whatever that event is on the other side of Pennsylvania or and and start doing those things.
30:14
SPEAKER_01: And I have a long list of things now that I'm going to do in 2027 and even in 2028.
30:21
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I've started making that list already because I kind of split the coun country up into geographical areas so that I can limit the amount of money I'm spending on diesel fuel.
30:34
SPEAKER_01: Because that is, you know, that is a concern.
30:36
SPEAKER_01: Uh, you know, it's one of those things, you know.
30:39
SPEAKER_00: So take into consideration.
30:42
SPEAKER_00: And I think that for me, the idea of traveling solo, it has forced me to travel solo for work.
30:52
SPEAKER_00: But then I say it's for work.
30:54
SPEAKER_00: But like you, every time I go into an area, I've been in New York a lot.
30:58
SPEAKER_00: We have a lot of campgrounds there.
31:00
SPEAKER_00: I've never been to Niagara Falls.
31:03
SPEAKER_00: So, and I'm taking a trip to New York this weekend, we'll the the weekend we're recording this.
31:10
SPEAKER_00: So maybe I just say, what the heck, and go.
31:14
SPEAKER_00: Because I as you're talking, I'm thinking to myself, if I wait for the perfect time, if I wait for the person that wants to go, if I wait for the situation to be perfect, I'm gonna miss out on things, exactly like you're talking about.
31:27
SPEAKER_00: And I'm all about, you know, going out, live life, do the thing.
31:32
SPEAKER_00: If I go by myself and I don't like it, I won't do it again.
31:36
unknown: Right.
31:37
SPEAKER_00: So thanks for that inspiration.
31:39
SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah, absolutely.
31:41
SPEAKER_01: I I enjoy it very much.
31:43
SPEAKER_01: You know, one of the things that I that I did just uh yesterday was I toured a coal mine in Pennsylvania, and I never even realized you could tour a coal mine.
31:53
SPEAKER_01: I thought, you know, that was one of those things that, you know, if they're still open, then they're working, and then you can't tour them.
31:58
SPEAKER_01: Well, this one has been closed for years, but you can tour it.
32:02
SPEAKER_01: And it was like, okay, well, I'm gonna do that because I can, you know, and um, and those are those are things.
32:08
SPEAKER_01: Uh last year I was out in Kentucky and I signed up to take a steam train ride uh on an antique steam locomotive, uh, you know, with just open cars and it was a short trip.
32:19
SPEAKER_01: But then I found out as I was signing up for it that, well, you could ride up in the engine with the with the engineer.
32:26
SPEAKER_01: And I went, really?
32:27
SPEAKER_01: Okay, I'll pay a little bit extra to ride up there because everybody can ride in the back, but I'm gonna ride up front.
32:36
SPEAKER_01: And you know, I got to got to do different stuff for riding up there and learn, learn more about it too.
32:41
SPEAKER_01: Because I I do enjoy learning, and that's one of the things that is is really kind of interesting is that um I was telling somebody yesterday, I think when we were on the tour, and we were looking at in this coal mine, there is actually we were looking at the bottom side of a fault, just like the San Andreas fault out in California.
33:00
SPEAKER_01: But it's down in the coal mine, it's 300 feet down in the ground, but it was where the mountains all pushed up years ago, and it actually fractured the earth.
33:10
SPEAKER_01: And I thought, well, how often do you get to look at the underside of a fault?
33:15
SPEAKER_01: Line, and I thought, well, that's really kind of cool.
33:18
SPEAKER_01: So we'll just put that on the list of crossing off stuff on the bucket list.
33:22
SPEAKER_01: So, you know, definitely uh and that's the fun part about doing this is that you can go and do things that you want to do, and I think you know, that's one of the definite pluses to the solo travel.
33:37
SPEAKER_01: Um, I know people who travel as a couple, and most of them are very much on the same page where they always want to go to the same kinds of places, and that's great if you can meet somebody that wants to do that, but there are always some give and take.
33:54
SPEAKER_01: Doesn't matter how good you are at at being on the same page.
33:59
SPEAKER_01: Um, so the solo traveler, you know, from a selfish standpoint, I can say that you know, I can have dinner every night wherever I want.
34:09
SPEAKER_01: I can cook whatever I want, I can go wherever I want, and I don't have to worry about it.
34:13
SPEAKER_01: So there are some definite pluses to the solo traveler.
34:17
SPEAKER_00: And that, yeah, so I'm hearing that.
34:19
SPEAKER_00: It's like I don't have to think about, well, where do you want to go tonight?
34:23
SPEAKER_00: What do you want to eat tonight?
34:25
SPEAKER_00: I get to decide that, and and that is a a plus in it.
34:30
SPEAKER_00: If I decide this weekend I'm just gonna go to Niagara Falls, well, there it is.
34:35
SPEAKER_00: The upside of solo travel.
34:37
SPEAKER_00: And again, like we talked about if there is some place people want to go.
34:43
SPEAKER_00: I know um Girl Camper.
34:45
SPEAKER_00: So there's a group of camp people in campers, girls that travel and they'll meet up certain places, and now you can go do an activity or something together or explore an area.
34:59
SPEAKER_00: So I really want to get across to people that just because you're solo doesn't mean you're alone.
35:06
SPEAKER_00: So as we start wrapping up, Joe, what are some other suggestions or inspiration for people thinking about solo travel?
35:17
SPEAKER_01: I think if you're not absolutely certain that you want to do it, I think probably the best thing I could recommend, and I tell people this all the time, is go and rent a small RV.
35:30
SPEAKER_01: The amount of money that you're gonna spend to do that may be enough to either show you that you do want to do it or show you that you don't want to do it.
35:40
SPEAKER_01: And some people will say, well, that's kind of expensive to do that.
35:44
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, but it's way more expensive to buy something and then after a week or two or even a month, find out you don't like doing it and you want to get rid of the then you sell it.
35:55
SPEAKER_01: So the investment, it's probably worth it to do it.
36:00
SPEAKER_01: And you don't have to go far from home.
36:02
SPEAKER_01: You know, you can plan ahead and say, okay, I'm gonna take it, and two months from now, I'm gonna rent an RV for two weeks or a month or whatever, and I'm gonna go to different events that are around.
36:13
SPEAKER_01: And they could be art festivals, they could be food festivals, they could be van gatherings or off-road gatherings or anything like that.
36:23
SPEAKER_01: Um, and that's a good way to do it, to to really determine whether you can be a solo traveler.
36:32
SPEAKER_00: I think that is a great suggestion.
36:35
SPEAKER_00: And you're right, people think, well, that's you know, more expensive, but it is certainly less expensive than going out and buying something and deciding you don't like it.
36:45
SPEAKER_00: And for me, because I'm in the house now, I sold the RV.
36:49
SPEAKER_00: I go in a car.
36:50
SPEAKER_00: And when I still want to be in the campground, there are cabins that you can rent.
36:55
SPEAKER_00: There are sometimes RVs you can rent in the campground.
36:59
SPEAKER_00: There are all kinds of ways to be in the campground, have that experience without having the RV.
37:06
SPEAKER_00: So some of those smaller steps that some people might want to take and see if they enjoy it.
37:13
SPEAKER_00: Great suggestion.
37:15
SPEAKER_00: Well, Joe, there has been so much great advice and inspiration.
37:20
SPEAKER_00: I know you've inspired me.
37:22
SPEAKER_00: And maybe next time you and I talk and do a catch-up, maybe I'll have that van.
37:27
SPEAKER_00: Who knows?
37:28
SPEAKER_01: There you go.
37:30
SPEAKER_00: But this was so helpful.
37:32
SPEAKER_00: And I want my listeners to reach out to Joe at Wombeer Joe.
37:36
SPEAKER_00: They can message you, see your content.
37:39
SPEAKER_00: Again, it is great content with a lot of good advice, places to visit, breweries, all kinds of cool stuff that you've done.
37:49
SPEAKER_00: Uh, people definitely should check you out and get inspiration from what you've done.
37:55
SPEAKER_00: And that is One Beer Joe, put it in the show notes.
37:59
SPEAKER_00: Anybody that wants to reach out to me, I am on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube at Inspired Travels with Patty.
38:06
SPEAKER_00: Please send me your questions, comments.
38:09
SPEAKER_00: I'd love to hear all of it.
38:11
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Joe, for being on Inspired Travels with Patty.
38:15
SPEAKER_01: You're very welcome.
38:16
SPEAKER_01: I'm glad we had this chance to meet up again because I enjoyed talking with you when we met in Massachusetts.
38:23
SPEAKER_00: Yes, and I can't wait for the next time we meet face to face.
38:27
SPEAKER_01: Yep.
38:27
SPEAKER_00: And for my listeners, thank you for listening.
38:30
SPEAKER_00: Make today a great day.