Latest / Fit for Hiking / Ep. 37 Recreating A Life Of Adventure w/ Chels
Transcript
- Hi, my name is Brady and I'm a long time fitness professional and Midwest girl turned mountain living hiking addict. In combining my knowledge of fitness and passion for hiking, I've helped hundreds of women get lean and strong for the trails. Think of this as your one stop shop for both education and inspiration on all things female wellness, trail talk and adventure. Hiking, female metabolism, motherhood, nutrition, travel and fitness are all topics you'll hear discuss here. If you are outdoorsy and active, looking to level up your health, unlock your potential, and become inspired to live your most vibrant life, you're in the right place. You're listening to the fit for hiking podcast. 1s Hello and welcome back to another episode of the fit for hiking podcast. Today we are joined by. You may know her on Instagram as somewhere else with Chelsea Pulse, and we are going to be talking about all things adventure travel. What to do in a pivotal time of your life. And Chelsea is a hiking addict and adventure junkie that really just loves the outdoors, and she's been adventuring in the US and beyond since she was 17 and got her hands behind the wheel. Her deepest sense of exploration for the great outdoors and travel developed during the pandemic, though, and she was actually going through a divorce at age 27. So she was laid off due to Covid, living with her parents and trying to navigate her new reality, and started to pursue a life of travel and completely created a new reality for herself. Such a cool story. So thanks so much for being here, Charles. I would love to pass it off to you. Would you mind just telling listeners a bit about how you first got into hiking and adventure, and a bit about what I just covered? Hey, thank you so much for having me. I've been, you know, following on Instagram for quite a long time and listening to your podcast. So I appreciate you having me. Um, yeah, I definitely can get into that. Um, you know, hiking for me started really as a kid, right? Hiking with my parents. And I live right by two Great Lakes, Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. So we were always hiking trails. But when I got older, I started to use it kind of to keep myself mentally fit. Um, I wanted to be able to exercise and be outside, but I found that nature is super healing for the body and for the mind. And so I started to look up trails on the All Trails app, especially during Covid. I mean, what else could you really do besides go hiking or be outside? Yup. Um, so we have tons of beautiful trails in this area. Actually, I live right by Canada. I can see Canada out my apartment window. Oh. So cool. Yeah. So it's it's literally right there. And, um, Niagara Falls is about ten minutes north. And so we have beautiful hiking trails up here along the gorge with whirlpools. And um, so it's something that we really did during Covid where I was just like, I need to see more of just this. Um, yeah. You know, um, and I think during Covid two, a lot of people had, you know, changes in their path. And so I know people got a new hobbies or maybe they had hobbies before, but work always kind of got in the way. And so I was laid off of work for four months. So really it was just the all trails app and myself and girlfriends. Yeah. So that was that was kind of the time when you started to really hit that head on and like get into adventure, hiking, travel, all of that stuff. Maybe not so much the travel part until things cleared up, but surprisingly, um, you know, I was laid off of work for four months during Covid, and. My girlfriend. She. Unfortunately, her father passed away like a month before the world shut down. And I was in the middle of a divorce and she moved down to Charlotte, North Carolina, a few years before Covid. And so we're both off of work, and we're both going through a pretty tough time, but best friends since we were seven. And so I don't remember which one of us brought it up, but one of us said we need to like, just go explore and adventure we're never going to have this time again where we're both not working. So I actually I booked a flight. It was a little creepy, but there was 46 people on my flight. There were some people there like, you're crazy, it's Covid. Everything shut down. But, you know, I sanitized my hands and, you know, just I went for it. But I flew down to Charlotte and her, and I got in the car and we just we drove around. We went to Tennessee. We explored, uh, Blue Ridge Parkway and did some hiking trails out that way. Um, we went to Charleston, South Carolina. We went to Asheville, North Carolina. So we just wanted to be outside and adventure and see new places and just kind of be in the present moment. And it was something that was really healing for both of us when we were in that journey together. Yeah, I actually had such a similar experience to that when I went through a very similar time, my best girlfriend and I took a seven week road trip, um, from Colorado up to Alberta and back down, and we literally lived out of her car. She has like a rooftop tent. Um, and we literally lived on top of her car for seven weeks and hit like, oh my gosh, parks. And yeah, I remember I look back on that as like such a special time because, you know, when else are you going to be able to do that. Like I couldn't do that. Now I have a baby, now I have like a business, so many other different responsibilities. Um, but that was such a special time. And to get to do that when you're kind of going through a rough time mentally, it's crazy how healing, just being outdoors and not being so much in your day to day, you know, connected to Wi-Fi 24 seven can really be. I can totally relate to that too. And I think the national parks also like how popular did they get during Covid, right? You know, so her and I, when we went on our adventure, we drove through like the Smoky Mountains, went to Smoky Mountain National Park. And I could totally relate to that. Does she have a Jeep? Does your friend have a Jeep? Um, no, it was a forerunner. Oh, nice. That's awesome. We made it work. It was definitely like we didn't smell the best for that time frame, but we made it work. You know, use, like, the camp, campground, showers and stuff like that. It was such a cool time. Um, but, okay, so I kind of want to pivot back to, you know, you were going through a very like. A difficult time in life going through a divorce. And I think so often we get an idea in our heads of like, where will be by X age or a certain stage that we should be in by this certain time of our lives. Um, so what was that like for you to kind of put those notions aside and live life fully, even though you maybe were going through some mental distress around that? Yeah. Great question. So, you know, there was a lot of shame around my divorce, um, from certain people. You know, there were a lot of people that celebrated my decision. And, you know, to me, I chose courage over comfort. And I realized that I was in a situation that was not serving me. I was unhappy. Um, I had tried to fix it for a very long time, and I realized that, you know, you can't change a person or fix a person. They have to want to do it themselves. And that just was not in the cards for him and I. And that's okay. I look back and I gained so much wisdom from that experience. Um, but there was some shame, you know, there were some judgment from people, and that's okay too. Everyone's entitled to their opinions. But I had to do what was best for me, and what was best for me was getting out of that situation. And I realized, there is so much I want to see and do in this life. I want to travel. I, you know, for the longest time I had wanted to go to Maine. That was like on my bucket list, and I tried to do it with him and he didn't want to. And that's okay. You know, we were just on different paths. We wanted different things. And so when I was getting divorced, one of the first things I said to myself was. I'm going to Maine. And so I pretty much made a whole itinerary. I have a Jeep Wrangler packed it up, got with my best girlfriend. We drove all the way to Maine. We spent like five days there. We went to Acadia National Park and hiked. It was like one of the most rewarding experiences I've had because I thought to myself, if I would have stayed in the situation that I was in, I probably would not be where I wanted to be this whole time, you know? So I think just choosing courage over comfort and not being afraid to jump into the unknown is a really huge component of, you know, gaining wisdom and growing up, um, becoming more emotionally fit, more emotionally mature. And then also, you know, I'm at a point in my life where all my girlfriends are starting to get married as I was getting divorced. Yeah. You know, you're like, single at a wedding or, like, just weird little things like that. Societal norms. Right? Um, all my girlfriends were having kids, and I'm like, oh, I'm. I'm getting divorced while you're on your first baby. Like, we're totally on separate paths, right? But at the end of the day, I had to just remind myself that you don't have to be on this timeline, and you don't have to be in a rush. And just because things didn't turn out the way you thought they were going to be by 30. That's okay. I'm 31 now, and I'm so happy that I did what I did. Like, I got divorced, I chose myself, and now I can travel and I can adventure, and I plan these trips, and it's what I wanted the whole time. And I'm proud of the decision that I made, even though it was tough at that time. Yeah, I think that the arbitrary timelines are so dangerous because they can kind of rush us even into making decisions or just settling or thinking, well, being in a relationship is better than being alone, because if I'm alone by the time I'm 30, then I failed. Or, you know, like whatever it is that we have put in our minds based on what our parents timeline was or our social circle. And, and once you get out there and experience different places, different cultures, you realize that, like, these timelines are just so silly and they're probably a product of like the very small bubble that we grew up in, that that's what we think is normal now, and that's just what we've branded our minds as. Like, this is what we must do. This is the path we must follow. And I've definitely gone off of the path that so many people in the area I grew up in Indiana would probably view as like normal or okay, or, you know, culturally acceptable. Um, pretty much every area of my life. And it's like an interesting thing to make peace with, right? Like you kind of go through this journey of almost mourning, like, that's not the life that I'm going to have now. And that's okay. I can I can make a new reality for myself on the other side of this. And it seems like you've really done that, which is so cool. So what do you think it was about that pivotal time that really prompted you to be like, okay, I'm making some changes here. Yeah. I think, um, when you have a major life event. That throws you so off course or off schedule, it kind of forces you to think like, okay, how did I get here? How did this happen? And for me, I've always tried to be just a super positive person. So I wanted to say to myself, like, okay, I was in this situation, wasn't happy, but how am I going to make myself happy? And how am I going to create positive change for myself? And that's when my new mantra honestly just became like, you're in charge of the life that you want to create. So of course, like destiny and fate are going to step in. But at the end of the day, like if you want to go and hike Acadia National Park, you're going to make it happen. Or you know you want to live a life that feels full and you want to do the things that you want to do, don't make it happen. Like it's not always going to be somebody else swooping in and saving the day. Like you have to ultimately just create the life for yourself that you've always wanted. And so, I mean, honestly, if I didn't go through that experience, I would not have explored all the places I have today. I mean, the last three years I've been able to hit seven national parks. I have three more on the list this year. Um, I have traveled like last year. I did 13 states, and the year before that I did 12. Wow. That's awesome. You know, it's if that didn't happen, I would have never done that. So, you know, just like I said, those major life changes, we all go through them, whether it's a death in the family or a divorce, or it could be positive life changes too. But in that scenario, I just said, I'm going to do all the things I've wanted to do for the last seven years. I never had a chance to, and it just fuel to the fire, and I was ever since. I'm just like, go, go, go, let's go, let's go. Like let's travel, go on some adventures. And it's been so fulfilling ever since. That's awesome. So in what ways would you say that the outdoors and hiking really, like, healed you in that stage of your life? Yeah, I think that when you are adventuring to a new place, whether you're on a beautiful hike or you're in a state that you've never been, it forces you to be in that present moment. And so I was really trying to practice mindfulness, being present. Um, I mean, like I said, to exercising and trying to be physically fit is so important for me. But also I kept giving myself new goals of new places I wanted to hike or go to. And I think that that really helped my physical and mental fitness, if you will. So. Um, and also just being outside in nature and the sun, beautiful places like, you know, I went to Joshua Tree and it's like silent. You're just in the national park. Nobody there, really. There's people there. But it's such a large park. Right? So there's so many moments where I'm like, sitting on this giant rock and I'm just alone in silence. And it was like the most tranquil, serene experience. So if that's, like, not hailing in itself, you know, I just think that nature exercise, those are probably like the two best medicines for healing. Yeah, absolutely. I had such a similar experience in redwoods, um, on that trip that I did with my girlfriend, and it was just like we were the only ones and we were just surrounded by the most massive trees, and it was so peaceful. And you're just so disconnected from, like, all of the typical mundane life things that weigh you down and all of the pressure to be responding to emails and calls and texts and obligations 24 over seven. We're so overstimulated, I think is another thing. So it's really hard to heal in the same environment that you are going through a hard time in, and sometimes just getting outside of that and letting your nervous system truly relax in a new place that is. Peaceful is absolutely amazing. Um, so that's really cool to hear. Um, so I guess my question would be, you know, obviously doing a lot of travel isn't always doable for certain people, like, based on certain life circumstances. So how have you prioritized travel and adventure amidst other life obligations and other things that you have to balance? It's a great question, too, because I think, you know, we look at Instagram or TikTok sometimes, and we see all these people traveling. And, you know, I've gotten some comments sometimes where people are like, oh, it must be nice. Like, yeah, someone asked me one time, do you even work? And I'm like, do you want me to post my laptop to like, prove I'm, you know, working like, how silly, you know, but, um, I prefer to prioritize travel mainly so that. Because that keeps me sane. Right? So I'm constantly looking for my next place to go to. And, you know, there was a point where I was going places with my girlfriends and but again, they're some of them are having babies or getting married. And so they're not always able to come. And there's some solo adventures I've done. But also I thought to myself, like, I know that there's other people that are in similar situations to me that want to travel and explore the world, but maybe they don't know where to start, maybe they don't want to plan it or they don't have anyone to go with. And so that's when I created, um, my company called Somewhere Else with Charles Palace, and it's basically just like an adventure travel company for people that, you know, want to go to these national parks or want to go to Thailand. That's one of the trips that we're going to do in May. Um, just as an example. But maybe they don't have anybody to go with. Yeah. So that's really when I prioritize the travel. It started like earlier in 2023 where I'm like, okay, I'm going to kind of plan out my travel for the year, and then I'm going to extend that offer to other people that maybe are interested in coming. And so I got a really overwhelming response. People that are like, I want to come on a trip with you. Like, really? You do. So, um, that's when I created my company and I sent out a survey to people that follow me on Instagram and Facebook, and I said, hey, like. Let me know where you want to go. And Zion National Park was like at the top of the list. So a whole itinerary for Zion and I had seven people come, and it was some people, three different states. We were all women. Nobody knew each other. Um, I knew a few people, but nobody else knew who the other people were. And so we all went for four nights and we had an amazing time connection, um, between all of us, we left and we felt like we were all best friends by the end of the trip. And we got to explore Zion together. So to me, that takes priority over, you know, like, of course, my work and my family. But travel is like the next important thing to me on that list. So I'm always like scoping out, all right, where are we going next? I get like, an itch. Yes. Oh, I definitely know what you mean. Um, yeah. So I want to get into the group travel thing, but when you mentioned solo travel, um, what trips or like, adventures that you went on challenged you the most mentally when you were out there solo? Because that can definitely be like a thing that I think sometimes we're fearful of is like the whole concept of just doing things alone when we don't have anyone to go with. Did you see any like, benefits or you know what, in what ways were you really challenged? I went to Phoenix first, so I was proud of myself because, you know, I had my own car. I like picked out some hikes that I wanted to do out in like Gold Canyon by like the superstitious mountains. And, you know, at first I'm like, all right, let me just, like, scope this out, right? Because I'm like a solo female, and I just want to make sure I'm going to be safe because safety is, you know, one of my number one priorities when I travel, whether alone or with a group. Um, and I can understand some people's hesitations to do things alone. You know, maybe they fear how they'd be, like, portrayed like, oh, like you're by yourself. Why are you doing this by yourself? But honestly, um, I think the biggest challenge was, okay, am I going to be safe out there? And also, you know, I'm not going to get like, stuck or, I don't know, like, I did this, this trail where it was beautiful and it was like three miles. I'm hiking like giant boulders and there's nobody around. What if I got hit by a snake and I, like, got stuck up here? Like, what would I possibly do? You know, you're kind of thinking of some of those scenarios while you're out there, but at the end of the day, you know, just checking out things ahead of time to make sure for safety. Um, but I also think it ties into, again, like that mental fitness. Right? Like after I did that hike and I got back to my car, like I just said that by myself and I enjoyed it. You know, I got to like a certain point of the hike, and I just kind of sat there and, um, you know, it was like mid-afternoon. The sun was starting to kind of go down. And I just did a lot of reflection. Um, and I thought, okay, you know what? You can do things alone sometimes. There's not one that's going to be able to go with you, and that's okay. Like still go and experience life whether you have somebody go or not. So um, yes. Absolutely. Yeah. That's really cool. So if someone's listening to this and maybe they're in that pivotal time right now, like maybe they're right on the verge of like going through something like a big change or they're in the thick of it right now and they want to kind of activate their adventurous side again. Or maybe for the first time ever, how would you recommend getting started in ways that don't feel super daunting? Sure. I mean, I think the simplest way. Is to sit down and to make a bucket list. And it doesn't have to be like, oh, I want to go to Bali, you know, and write. Simply be like, what is something that's going to make me happy in the near future? And I would always recommend like, okay, a 30, a 60, 90 day plan in the next 30 days. What can I do that's going to make me happy? Where I'm going to feel present. I can practice mindfulness. I can be outside. Like, what does that look like to me? So if that's, you know, hiking a local trail that you've never gone to with a friend, amazing. Is it you maybe going to another state that you've always dreamt of going to? Is it you going on a group trip with other people that maybe you don't know to kind of challenge yourself and get out of your comfort zone? Just start to create a list. You know, we all have places that that we want to visit or things that we've wanted to do in life. And I think when you're going through a hard time, that's like when it's most important to just kind of challenge your brain and get yourself out of that normal, like 9 to 5 answering emails, like you got to just go into a totally different environment. Yeah. Because your mind is going to be in that present moment of like, oh my God, I'm in this beautiful place. I get to see this, these beautiful sights I've never seen before. So just make a list, you know, go on Instagram or TikTok, type in travel in the search bar. Or if you wanted to go to, you know, Northern California your whole life, type that in the search bar on Instagram. And so many places will come up and you're just like, oh, you get these ideas, your mind is flowing. It doesn't have to be a daunting task. It could really just be fun or make a vision board. Of all the places that you've been wanting to go to, or things that you've wanted to do for yourself that are going to make you happy at the end of the day? Yeah, and I think starting small is great. Like you mentioned, just going and starting with a local hike. When I first moved to Colorado, I had no idea how to, like, live an outdoorsy life. That wasn't my thing at all. And I looked at everybody around me and I was like, oh my gosh, I'm so intimidated. But I didn't go out and immediately start with a 3 to 5 day backpacking track or like summiting a 14 or I went and did the most basic hike in Boulder that like everybody did when they visited Denver, because it was my first hike and I had no clue what I was doing. Um, and now I've progressed and I do bigger, more exciting things, and I've challenged myself over time. But you can't, like, compare yourself with the people and Instagram, like you mentioned before that. Travel for their job or are literally going somewhere new. What seems like every single week or, you know, super expert in all of these things, like sometimes all it is, is adding like one hike to your week. I actually just did an episode about the 52 hike challenge, and I did it actually that same year when I was also going through a divorce and, um, very pivotal time for me and just prioritizing going outside once a week and hiking and making myself do it because I had said, I'm doing this 52 hike challenge, even though I was working the 9 to 5 in the city. Um, that was like so helpful for me to just really, like, kind of revitalize my soul and force me to get outside, even if it was just a 30 minute hike somewhere that I hadn't been before in the foothills around Denver. Like, it doesn't have to be, like you said, a trip to Bali or something like that for it to be significant or meaningful in your life. So I think that it's just such a good reminder for people who are just kind of stuck in the, in the, in the daily routine and want to reinvigorate their adventurous side. Absolutely. Yeah. I couldn't agree with you more. I mean, if you're stuck in that 9 to 5, like I work a corporate job too, you know, and so my emails are always going off or somebody on teams, but like to be able to just like separate yourself from that and take that time for yourself where you're just like, I don't have to worry about anything. This is me time. Especially when you're going through such a pivotal moment. I mean, you went through it. I've gone through it. So for anybody that's also going through it, that's listening. Take that time for yourself. It's not selfish to do it. Yeah, exactly. I also heard this idea that was like, what if you did one, like adventure bucket list thing every single month for an entire year? Then you'd have 12, like mini adventures. Like, even if you maybe it's not in the cards for you to do, like a big, like 1 to 2 week long trip, but you do like a little weekend thing or even just a day thing locally or within a few hour radius, or a quick flight. Like, that's 12 awesome memories that you collect by the end of the year. And I thought that was a pretty cool idea, especially as someone who's like, in the thick of like having a toddler and I don't get to go and like, do all these big adventures like I used to, quite the same way. I like that to just like, look for little ways to add it into your everyday life. I'm going to take that as a takeaway from this conversation, because I love like 12 is a lot for the year and then every month. Something to look forward to. And like you said, it doesn't have to be 1 or 2 weeks long. Just a long weekend, right? A lot of people don't have a ton of PTO. So yeah, holiday weekend where you could take advantage of that, you know, holiday especially um, but long weekends are my favorite. Like a Thursday through Monday. It's the best. Yeah, exactly. Um, so I know you started you mentioned that you started a travel business for women who don't necessarily have someone to travel with or, you know, maybe they just want to, like, branch out and get out of their comfort zone. Um, so what do these women who come on your trips usually gain from the experience? So I think one of the main things is feeling like they're part of a community. Yeah. Um, everybody wants to feel like they're a part of something, right? And so it could be a little scary when you don't know anybody. And sure, we encourage somebody like, go bring a friend, but maybe they don't have anyone that can come. So they've joined. Um, and like I said too, when they leave the trip, they feel like they knew that group of women forever. So they're part of something. They're part of a community. They were able to connect with other people. Um, also, I like to say pushing you out of your comfort zone. So I did have somebody join our Zion trip. We're hiking Watchmen Trail in Zion, and it's our first hike of our trip. And one of the the women on the trip says, this is the first like I've ever done in my life. Wow. So what? You've never hiked in your life. She goes never like. And you're like, Diane. I'm like, I'm shocked you wanted to come on the trip. And she said, well, I wanted to really push myself out of my comfort zone. Like, I am so proud of you for doing that. And I can't believe Zion is your very first experience hiking. You know, pretty epic. Epic. I was just like, I wanted to have a bottle of champagne and just, like, spray it for her in that moment. Yeah. 1s So I'm like, that's amazing. And she just said, yeah, you know, I see a lot of your hikes. And they were inspiring. And so I thought, why don't I go on this trip? I'm like, wow. So she really went out of her comfort zone. You know, she tried something different that she normally would never do for herself. Right? So, you know, getting out of your comfort zone, doing something that, you know, sure, there might be people that have already hiked that see my content. They're like, oh, okay, I'm going to go to this trip because it's hiking and being outside. But I think also like some of our activities, like I planned a trip for Thailand. I've never been to Thailand. Yeah, there's six women that are coming with me. Um, I also partnered with a local travel agent who owns a company. Her name is Amy, and she's got a group of people going to. So it's been nice for two women are collaborating together to create a really good experience. Um, but, you know, that's me also pushing myself out of my comfort zone. I've never flown 17 hours around the world to go to a beautiful destination. So yeah, absolutely. For this, I've gone was like Aruba, you know? And that's not even that. So, um, but yeah. So mindfulness would be another, another component of it too. You know, we do yoga if we can, if it's available, the hiking portion of it, like I encourage people to really take some time and just sit like and explore, but also be present in the moment and like, you know, why did you want to come on this trip? You know, what did you want to gain from this trip? And by the end of it, I'll ask them again, like, did you have did the experience? Did you get what you thought you were going to get? Yeah. You know, just kind of encouraging them to practice the mindfulness while we're on the trip too. So that's so cool. I think it's really awesome to that there is that opportunity now. Like honestly a lot of it due to Instagram, I feel like has really helped accelerate female trips and like, you know, getting to connect with people that you maybe have only ever met through Instagram. Um, I know I got to do that a couple years ago, actually to Zion as well, and it was one of the coolest experiences ever. And yeah, it's amazing that that is accessible to us now. And all we have to do is like, just jump in and say yes to a new experience. Yeah, it's um, it's funny you say that too, because I actually was able to go to the Grand Canyon because I saw an Instagram. Um, there's someone I had followed from the last time I went to Phoenix. Her name's Courtney. She runs a company called Fit Well Escapes. And she did? Yeah, I know about her. Yeah, I connected with her a little bit on Instagram. She's amazing. And she did a whole Grand Canyon overnight. She posted about it and it was like 4 a.m.. I'm doing like my one eye open scroll, you know, laying in bed. And I saw the trip and I'm like, that looks amazing. But should I go do that? Should I fly across the country? I'm going to be with people I don't know. And um, like, yeah, book now. And so I did it and there was 15 of us and it was amazing. So I would have never found that if it wasn't for Instagram. Right? Yeah. That's so cool. So where can listeners connect with you and maybe learn more about your trips? So I am on Facebook and Instagram. Um, you can find me on Instagram at Somewhere else with Charles Pulse and, um, Facebook, same thing somewhere else with Charles Pulse. And my first name is Chelsea. Last name is Paulson. Um, I also am available via email and my website's in the works, so. But usually Instagram, um, is like the main point of contact where people will connect with me in my DMs. I'm also on TikTok, but I would say Instagram would be the best place to get a response. Awesome! Well, thank you so much for coming on and chatting about your story with us today. It was so nice to meet you. Thank you. It's so nice to meet you too, and thanks for having me. Thanks for tuning in to this episode of the fit for hiking podcast. As always, I hope it leaves you feeling inspired and informed on how to take your health and adventure into your own hands. For more content like this, be sure to follow along with my daily posts at Ponytail Underscore. On a trail that's ponytail underscore on a trail. You can also stay up to date on my new episodes being released at Fit Underscore for hiking, and find more free resources at ponytail on a trail comm. Happy and healthy trails.