Latest / Giving Pain Purpose with Lyndsay Soprano / Excessive Baggage with Lyndsay Soprano

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Excessive Baggage with Lyndsay Soprano · Giving Pain Purpose with Lyndsay Soprano

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: This is Giving Pain Purpose, where we talk about the
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: game of living in and with chronic pain and trauma,
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: getting to the heart of how to heal.
• 0:11
  Speaker 2: I'm your host, Lindsay Soprano.
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: On this show, I sit with the warriors, loved ones, doctors,
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: holistic practitioners, and those who've walked through hell and want
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: their voices heard. It's messy, heartbreaking, occasionally depraved, but always human.
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: It's where relentless healing, intense empathy, and dark humor beautifully collide.
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: Because sometimes, laughing through the wreckage is the only lifeline.
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: You don't have to heal quietly, and you don't have
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: to fight alone. We all have life experiences that change
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: you to your core, for the good and the bad,
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: and But it's what we do with those experiences that
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: truly matter. When you live in chronic pain and with illness,
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: you feel every moment, every step, every breeze far.
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: More than others.
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: My sweetie and I went on an African safari to
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: Kenya for a few weeks at the end of September
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: and beginning of October. And I came back changed, beyond changed.
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: It is stressful anytime that you travel. I don't care
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: if you are going from Los Angeles to New York City,
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: you're getting in a car or you're on a road trip.
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: Stress is involved in some capacity. Just going through security
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: makes your blood pressure rise. Then add being in a
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: wheelchair like myself for some of that travel adds a
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: whole other challenge and stress in a body and mind
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: that is already riddled with anxiety and pain. My body,
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: if you've listened to this show long enough, does not
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: cooperate with me ever.
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: But I had to triple down.
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: I mean, quadruple down on mind over matter to make
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: sure that everything was in order for an experience that
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: I truly had no clue would change me. So I
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: had doubts about my ability to do the 23 plus
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: hours of flying each way not to mention the eight
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: hours a day in a Land Cruiser, bumping and grinding
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: and climbing. And that's actually was probably more like 10
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: hours through the African bush, along with the drives to
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: and from airports and sitting in lounges and.
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: Blah, bitty, blah, bitty, blah, right?
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: It was nothing short of a grind. I mean, sometimes
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: it takes me up to two to three hours to
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: get out of bed just to do my normal routine
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: at home. And it's my whole conversation that I have
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: in process with Thelma and Louise, my legs and my feet,
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: along with my heart and my soul, to not give
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: up and to show up. Now, I had doubts almost
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: every moment of the trip, a very expensive trip, might
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: I add, that I could hang on and be able
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: to live and feel the experience before we even got
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: on the road to the airport. After our incredibly lengthy journey,
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: we arrived at our first camp, Lewa Safari Camp in
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: the Lewa Conservancy. Nothing short of amazing from the moment
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: we arrived. The weather was beautiful. The entire trip, it
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: was even chilly at times. There were no mosquitoes either.
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: I think I got bit like once or twice and
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: I'm a mosquito like net. We were welcomed to the
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: camp with a group of loving people that screamed jumbo
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: as we pulled up in our Land Cruiser, the brand
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: that is used throughout all of our rides through all.
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: Of the camps there.
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: And our quote unquote tent that we arrived at was
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: far from it. It was a bungalow in the middle
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: of heaven. We immediately were introduced to conservancy, how to
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: stay protected from wildlife, not to brush our teeth or
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: drink the water.
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: Well, brush our teeth, but don't use the water to
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: brush them.
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: How to use the walkie talkies and whistles to communicate
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: 24 hours a day with the service staff should we
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: need anything and an immediate agenda. we quickly learned that
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: the bottom line is you are on a schedule when
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: you go on safari.
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: It is not a vacation, not even remotely.
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: You must plan for that when you get home, which
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: of course, none of us can do. Certainly something to
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: consider the next time we go is to build in
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: a few extra days to recoup, especially for my bod.
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: So anyway, so the day we arrived, we had a
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: few hours to get a glass of Prosecco. My sweetie napped,
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: of course. I got connected to thank God, Wi-Fi. And
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: then we were off for our first evening game ride
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: right out of the gates. And it did not disappoint,
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: nor did the next two days of game rides up
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: to the last few minutes before we arrived at the
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: teeny tiny airports that we flew to and from each camp.
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: We did two game rides a day. So early wake-ups
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: for morning game rides were just one of the many
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: challenges that my body faced and also my sweetie because
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: he had to deal with me. Early wake up from
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: my bod is nothing short of an exercise of sheer
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: brain power. Then there were the late afternoon game rides
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: that I was still recouping from the early game ride.
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: And then there were scheduled times to eat and food
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: is already not my favorite thing. So another culture's culinary
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: cuisine was challenging as well, especially on a timeline. You know,
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: there are days and days that I don't eat at home,
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: much less in another country because my gut is always
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: a mess because my CRPS is in there and it's like, bleh. Anyways,
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: so our first game ride right out of the gates,
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: we saw more endangered black rhinos than I could possibly
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: have ever imagined. Zebras, or as they say, zebras, cape buffaloes, elephants,
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: big and small little babies, gazelles, impalas, lions, a little
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: baby jackal, and many more. And this was night one.
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: The next few rides, we saw cheetahs, which are really
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: hard to spot.
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: See what I did there?
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: Ostriches, giraffes, my spirit animal. More of the same animals
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: from the evening before. And then at our sundown, we
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: must have seen 25 to 30 lionesses walking alongside us
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: so close you could touch their backs, heading toward the
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: sunset with their cubs in tow. And just moments before
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: the sunset, we found a mama rhino and her baby
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: just romping around and playing as you would expect a
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: little puppy to play. And all of these animals were
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: just feet from our cruiser. Not way the hell out
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: there with binos. I can't even use binoculars, we learned
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: on our trip. I am completely inept. So I'm glad
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: that we bought them.
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: Yeah. They were right next to us. It was simply amazeballs,
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: I swear.
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: And then all of a sudden, it was time to
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: get all packed up again and head off to the airport,
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: which is basically a tiny little thatched building on a
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: dirt road, by the way. So right before we left
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: the camp, I needed to hit the head. This is
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: actually a funny story. So I needed to hit the
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: head one more time before we headed to the airport
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: onto our next camp.
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: And I got locked in the bathroom.
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: It's a single stall, right? And so there's nobody there.
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: Everybody has left.
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: And I'm like, oh, my God.
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: So I climb on top of the toilet and I
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: open the window above the toilet. And I'm like screaming
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: out for Bill, my sweetie. And then the next thing
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: we know, I'm being rescued. They're dumping keys on the ground.
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: In front of the window.
• 7:10
  Speaker 3: I'm like, how many keys do you guys have to
• 7:12
  Speaker 3: go through to get me out of here? I was
• 7:15
  Speaker 3: basically standing on the top of the toilet, starting to
• 7:17
  Speaker 3: climb out of the window when they found the key
• 7:20
  Speaker 3: and they rescued me from the bathroom, the bathroom lock-in
• 7:23
  Speaker 3: of 2026.
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: And then we were off for the airport.
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: But I swear that moment between the few of us
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: there and the staff will definitely be one that we
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: laugh about for years to come. I mean, I was
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: climbing out of a window of a bathroom in Kenya.
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: And our ride to the airport, we had to say
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: goodbye to our guide and the adorable couple that we
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: met from New York that were with us for our rides.
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: It certainly did not disappoint.
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  Speaker 1: We were able to get a glimpse of some amazing birds,
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: drive through and stop in the middle of a sea
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: of zebras, giraffes chewing on acacia, and mean little monkeys
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: who come into your tents and steal your toothpaste and toothbrush.
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: It was sad to say goodbye, but off we go.
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: Giddy up. Big girl panties on. Let's go.
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: So my body at this point is already beyond thrashed
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: and we are only on day five. So I have
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: been soaking my whole body in ice-filled tubs, my feet
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: in big basins of ice. I even had ice packs
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: and coolers on the cruisers for the whole trip as
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: our bodies banged around and bumped around like the world's
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: craziest bumper car ride.
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: Mind over matter, Lindsay.
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: Just keep looking up and out and taken all that
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: you are experiencing, Lindsay, don't give up.
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: Don't cry.
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: And most importantly, try not to be a bitch. Because
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: I was in so much excruciating pain. It was like
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: just Nike this thing, right?
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: Just do it. So up we go in the teeny
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: tiny plane and down we go. And then back up
• 8:54
  Speaker 2: we go. That was unexpected.
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: We thought we only had three teeny tiny plane rides,
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: but no, we had six instead.
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: Save me.
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: More stress on the body. It was hot as hell
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: in these airplanes. I wasn't actually scared of the airplanes.
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: I thought I was going to be a little bit
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: more woozy about them, but they were... I felt completely
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: safe in them. So we arrive in Amboseli. This is
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: not a place that we would visit again. The dirt
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: is totally different for starters. It was like silt, like
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: super fine, really windy. And the animals that you saw
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: overall were at a distance. And it was only a
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: few times where we saw a giraffe up close and
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: one crossed the road and another peeked behind their little
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: tree like, Hello, I'm Jeffrey. The place that we stayed
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: was beautiful. But by this point, I was in so
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: much pain, I couldn't walk. And to boot, I had
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: a bladder infection that turned into a beast that kept
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: me in bed for the whole day and evening. And
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: as most of you know that listen to the show,
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: I use THC and CBD for my pain protocol. And.
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: I do not do the opiate thing.
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: So I couldn't very well take my pot with me
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: because we flew through Dubai and Nairobi and it is
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: illegal as all hell. So here I am with basically
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: muscle relaxers and Prosecco.
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: That was what was keeping me together for the trip.
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: However, the one silver lining of this particular stay was
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: the staff asked if there was anything they could do
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: besides lie to us that they had called a doctor
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: for me was get me some pot. So a guy
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: comes rolling into our tent and our bungalow or whatever
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: and rolled me a couple joints and I was able
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: to get a little bit of a head change for
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: this particular part of the trip. So at least I
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: was able to lie in bed and watch a monkey
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: try to get into our tent for their dental hygiene initiatives, stoned.
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: Out of my gourd.
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: And I'm not even really sure was that even a
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: monkey I was looking at. And by the end of it,
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: I couldn't take them home. So I ended up giving
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: them out as tips at the end of the trip
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: because I couldn't fly with them. Anyways, we were both
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: really happy to get the hell out of Amboseli. Not
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: that it wasn't beautiful, but it just wasn't what we
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: had experienced in Lewa. What I wasn't prepared for was
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: our next camp, the Salas Camp in Masai Mara. Life-altering experience,
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: you guys, the second we arrived. Literally, for the first
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: time in my life, I was speechless and so was
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: my sweetie. And if you know either of us, we
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: don't shut up. We kept looking at each other like,
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: pinch me. An adorable husband and wife managed the property
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: and they were nothing short of the sweetest couple you
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: could ever meet. And this property was like 95% about conservation,
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: like literally. And don't quote me on that stat, but
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: it's like so incredibly high how everything is reused and re-bottled.
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: And it's just the most magnificent thing I've ever seen.
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: The whole property's conservation technology and philosophy also helped shift
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: the way I think about the way we are thrashing
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: our planet and the animals on it. Whether you believe
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: in climate change or not, you cannot ignore the massive
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: amount of waste and trash alone that we are just
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: throwing out of our windows. Cigarette butts, plastic bottles, trash, everything.
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: We are so gross. It was an eye-opening experience to
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: see the entire property and our two guides, Samson and Maysak,
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: share their way of life and how they help to
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: protect the landscapes and reduce our environmental impact. I wish
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: we all lived this way. Our planet would be a
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: much better place. And behind every protected landscape in the
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: conservancy is a community. And we were able to go
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: to a small village and experience their way of life
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: as well. Talk about humbling, guys. Anyway, so we show
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: up to our setup at Salas Camp and we're completely floored.
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: We are very fortunate in that we were able to
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: afford a trip like this and stay where we did.
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: But we also sacrificed other things for a few years
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: in order to do so. This is not meant to
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: be a brag about where we stayed. So please do
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: not take it that way. But I do want to
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: give Solace Camp a huge ass shout out. The quote
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: unquote tent was a huge two bedroom, two bath bungalow.
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: So he got his own room, quite frankly, to snore
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: and nap, which was lovely. with a private fire pit, yard,
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: and a lap pool. Looking out at the river, the
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: sand river, and there were elephants and giraffes and zebras
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: and buffalo and hippo. And they were all just kicking
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: it right outside of our window from our view. And
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: the pool was not heated. But what ended up being
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: so cool was I was able to cold plunge every
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: day there. And it saved my ass on this part
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: of the trip because we thought I was trashed by
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: day five. We are now getting closer and closer to
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: our two-week mark. So anyway, so we got a tour
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: of the property and all of the rules. Each of
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: these camps, you have to have your walkie-talkie to have
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: someone from the property escort you in the dark for
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: safety purposes. This was the same on all the other ones.
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: But this particular camp was open for business where the
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: other ones were closed in and protected. So like a
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: hippo could just like randomly come waltzing through your yard.
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: Oh my god.
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: So we had these guys that were dressed up in
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: their gear with sword-like weapons taking us from place to
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: place after sunset until sunrise. Anyway, so now it's time
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: for our first evening game ride at Salas.
• 14:22
  Speaker 2: Go, go, go, go, go, go, go, right? No stopping.
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: Let the schedule begin again. Words cannot explain the next
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: few days. Tears fell more and more as we witnessed
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: some things many do not, certainly not as tourists, but
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: many people do not get to see the things that
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: we saw.
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: On safari.
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: So I am even more grateful for what the animals
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: did for me. You name it, we saw it. We
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: were able to witness a lioness dragging her wildebeest to
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: her cubs to start feeding after her fresh kill. Two
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: lions mating and learned about their six times every 15
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: minutes ritual of mating. The sounds they make at the
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: end are still vibrating in my soul. I just couldn't
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: stop crying at the beauty of it all. More giraffes then,
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: more elephants, more Cape buffalo.
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: And a really, really mean rhino, by the way.
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: Leopards, which are very challenging to find. A lone cheetah
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: on a hunt, majestically walking across the bush. Hippos, gazelles, impalas,
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: more elephants, more hyenas. I never thought I would say this,
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: but I saw more zebras, rhinos, and wildebeests than.
• 15:28
  Speaker 2: I needed to. There were so many throughout this whole trip.
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: I mean, I couldn't even tell you a number. It
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: was so many.
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: We saw many other species of beautiful birds, including vultures
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: the size of me, and a warming and enlarging of
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: my heart that I never thought possible. We went to
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: a village, like I mentioned earlier, where one of our guides, Masek,
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: lived and saw how they live, learned about their culture, circumcision,
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: how the men jump to impress the potential mate, how
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: many people live in the tiniest little rectangle made of
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: cow dung and the women who make jewelry and sing.
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: My sweetie joined the men to jump to impress me.
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: And boy, did those two inches get my vapors going.
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: And I had the blessing of being able to use
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: my singing voice alongside many of the women in the village.
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: My gosh, what an amazing experience. We had a freshly
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: cooked breakfast in the middle of the bush where Samson
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: and Masek made for us on one of our morning drives.
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: Like they cooked us eggs and pancakes. in the middle
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: of nowhere with fruit and nuts and coffee and juice.
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: It was just like unbelievable.
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: And our evenings ended with a bonfire with a few
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: other people that were there at the camp because there
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: weren't very many there as it is small and an
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: incredibly special place. Our last night there, we hung out
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: in our backyard, our quote unquote backyard, and had a
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: beautiful meal just for the two of us and ended
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: with getting a little stoned as well.
• 17:03
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: From catching rainwater and also the water we use when
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: we are waiting for the water to heat up in
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: the shower to how you dispose of feminine hygiene products.
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: I literally started my period behind a bush in the bush.
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: I'm 48. When is this going to end? My God,
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: save me. To reusing products you would never think to reuse.
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: I have a much grander grasp on how important it
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: is to take better care of our planet and our
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: beautiful creatures on it. My sweetie ended up taking a
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: tour of the property the morning that we were leaving
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: while I was finalizing our packing of all of the
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: technology that they use to conserve and run the property.
• 17:42
  Speaker 2: Both of us changed.
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: Our last stay was at a place called the Giraffe
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: Manor in Nairobi. This is a huge bucket list situation
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: that is beyond amazing. We splurged and stayed here for
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: just one night and never wanted to leave. The entire
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: property is branded and on point with giraffe culture and story.
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: The service staff and quality of service and food was
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: off the charts. We sat outside feet away from the
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: giraffes at the manor, had the opportunity to feed them
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: from our hands and take pictures with these gorgeous creatures.
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: Not to mention that we were woken up the next
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: morning with two giraffe heads in our bedroom.
• 18:23
  Speaker 2: Windows, waking us up for a little breakfast snack.
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: No words can express the joy and awe of looking
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: into the eyes and souls of these beautiful creatures. Their
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: eyelashes are absolutely to die for. The manor isn't a circus.
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: It isn't a place for humans to get their kicks.
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: It's a place where breeding is occurring to help save
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: these special babies, where they are cared for and released
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: into the wild, monitored, as we all try to help
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: save what the humans have done to this planet and
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: the animals that we share it with. But outside of
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: the experience of the giraffes and the Pumbas, which are
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: the warthogs, by the way, Pumba means stupid, legitimately, most
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: spectacular was learning about how their part of the conservancy
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: in Nairobi is helping not just giraffes and their numbers
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: going up, not down, but helping with the zebras, rhinos,
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: African painted dogs, and the pangolins from going extinct. Also,
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: how they helped the conservation and education in the communities
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: for the youth of Kenya. Their contribution to medical clinics
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: and life-changing treatments for the ill to thousands of people
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: free of charge, all while helping to build schools and
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: work towards fresh water for everyone. We closed our trip
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: on our last stop to the airport at David Sheldrick
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: Elephant Orphanage, where we got to hear the rescue stories
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: of the baby elephants that they rescued, how they were found,
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: how they were rescued, how they were transported. And we
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: got to meet and adopt our little girl, Zuri. Absolutely life-changing.
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: It is in seeing life and the lives of others
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: through another lens that truly made my heart full. a
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: lens that gave me a different type of vision, one
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: with more depth and more breadth, one with more awe
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: inside of me that I could ever imagine. Not that
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: I wasn't grateful and empathetic prior, but I am 4
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: billion times more and want nothing more than to go
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: back to solace. We literally changed our trust when we
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: returned home to donate to many of these conservancies we visited.
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: So at least I know that when we.
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: Die, we are leaving a little bit of a footprint
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: toward helping save these animals and our planet. So if
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: there is anything to take away from this outside of
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: please take better care of our planet, it's that you
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: can do it.
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: You can show up no matter what.
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: It doesn't have to be on a safari, but it
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: can be in a way that makes the world a
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: better place and you a better human. I know that
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: living in pain and thinking about travel is one of
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: the hardest things that you could possibly think about doing.
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: But I'll tell you one thing, I made it through
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: and there were days where I was like, I'm going
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: to give up and I didn't. So guys, life changing is...
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: I know I've said it a million times on this episode,
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: but it has been... An absolute pleasure sharing this. It
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: was two weeks in, I don't know, a couple minutes here.
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: I wish I could share more and more, but I can.
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: Just not here in this episode. So I have a
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: quick shameless plug. My sweetie and I are launching a
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: travel podcast soon called Excessive Baggage, where we prove that
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: adventure doesn't come with an age limit or a perfectly
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: healthy body. It comes with love and adventure and patience.
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: and concern for one another and love in each other's hearts.
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: So please head on over to excessivebaggage.com and sign up
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: for our sub stack. I'm writing it and our email
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: marketing so you can find out when our episodes are
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: coming out what we're up to. We're also on Insta
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: as Excessive Baggage Podcast and on TikTok as Excessive Baggage.
• 22:12
  Speaker 2: So give us a follow.
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: I know it's a shameless plug, but if you want
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: to hear more and learn more about our travels, not
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: unlike this one, We'll be delving far more into our.
• 22:21
  Speaker 2: African Safari on our show. Please do.
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: Well, that's it, my loves. Until next time, I love
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: you all. And thank you so much for listening. Always
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: remember that you can review. We would appreciate it. Please share.
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: We're trying to help as many people that live in
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: pain as we possibly can here on Giving Pain Purpose.
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: So thank you so much for always listening and for
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: always loving me back. You are exclusively invited to share
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: this Be A Better Human VIP pain journey together. Let's
• 22:50
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• 22:52
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• 22:58
  Speaker 2: We will be there.
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: Visit us at givingpainpurpose.com and follow us on all the socials.
• 23:04
  Speaker 2: Thanks for listening, my little VIPs. Catch you on the
• 23:08
  Speaker 2: other side.