Latest / The Overland Journal Podcast / Marisa and Tim Notier: Notier's Frontiers Adventure Motocycling

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Marisa and Tim Notier: Notier's Frontiers Adventure Motocycling · The Overland Journal Podcast

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to the Overland Journal podcast. I'm Ashley
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: Drew Dano, and we're hiding out from the rain at
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Overland Expo West and I'm really excited. I have an
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: adventure motorcycle couple here.
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: I'm Marisa no Tier and I am Tim not Tier
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: and we make no tiers frontiers because it rhymes. And
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: we ride two up on a k TM eleven ninety motorcycle,
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: so that means I'm on the back. I do not
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: ride motorcycles. I don't even ride bicycles. We have been
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: all over the world. We've gone to three different continents
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: on the motorcycle through the Americas. We started four years
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: ago down to the bottom of South America and from
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: there we shipped the motorcycle up to Canada and shipped
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: it down to South Africa and worked our way up
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: through Africa where during the pandemic we got stuck in
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: Uganda and kind of ping ponged between Uganda and Kenya
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: for over a year before we came back to the US.
• 1:00
  Speaker 3: This may thanks to this week's sponsor, GCI Outdoor. Whether
• 1:04
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• 1:07
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• 1:47
  Speaker 1: Nice. That sounds like quite an adventure.
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: It has been.
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: One of the fun facts that I learned about you, too,
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: is that you were actually high school sweethearts originally, and
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: then there was a decade or so that you were
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: but you reunited.
• 2:01
  Speaker 4: This is true. Marissa went off to explore the world,
• 2:04
  Speaker 4: and I didn't really travel too much further than the
• 2:07
  Speaker 4: hospital was born in. But I hadn't bought a house,
• 2:10
  Speaker 4: I had a good job, I bought a motorcycle, and
• 2:12
  Speaker 4: Marissa was exploring the world and would come back every
• 2:15
  Speaker 4: year or so, and we'd reunite and she'd have a
• 2:18
  Speaker 4: lot of amazing stories to tell us about far away lands,
• 2:21
  Speaker 4: and me and my circle of friends all kind of
• 2:24
  Speaker 4: had the same same stories of you know, just nothing
• 2:27
  Speaker 4: very exciting going on.
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: And you were originally both from Chicago, is that right?
• 2:32
  Speaker 4: Yeah?
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: Okay, okay, And so you went to high school together.
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: That's correct.
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: And there's an amazing photo of you guys that prom
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: on your website.
• 2:42
  Speaker 5: That is true.
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that was quite a while ago. Yes, we did
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: go to prom together. But like he said, we did
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: separate for ten years, and during that time I was
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: traveling and he wasn't. But one year I came back
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: and I never forgot Tim, I never forgot his witty
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: sense of humor, and I was just so happy to
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: see him again, and we kind of rekindled things and
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: the rest is history.
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: So did you were you in contact when you were
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: gone on your travels with each other?
• 3:11
  Speaker 4: No? Not really. She would come back again. We had
• 3:14
  Speaker 4: the same circle of friends, and so we'd see each
• 3:17
  Speaker 4: other at bars and kind of, you know, get that
• 3:19
  Speaker 4: weird tingly feeling that like fifteen year old kids get,
• 3:22
  Speaker 4: But now we were adults. But you know, it was
• 3:25
  Speaker 4: always fantastic rerunning into her, that's right.
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: And when we started dating again, he had this big,
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: huge motorcycle. It was a Yamaha Raider nineteen hundred and
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: I did not like motorcycles. Like I said before, I
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: cannot ride motorcycles. I cannot ride bicycles. I didn't like
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: the feeling of being on the back of one, even
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: though I had ridden on the back of a motorcycle before.
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: I told him I'm never getting on the back of
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: your bike. And of course he eventually convinced me just
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: to take a ride around town and that turned into
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: little camping trips over the weekend. We would pack up
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: that motorcycle and had this big heavy backpack that I wore,
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: this like a Swiss Army canvas backpack with like a
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: metal frame.
• 4:09
  Speaker 4: Marissa is five foot nothing and one hundred and nothing
• 4:12
  Speaker 4: pounds and strapped in this thing to the back of
• 4:14
  Speaker 4: her back was a little uh.
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: It wasn't comfortable safe.
• 4:18
  Speaker 4: She was my sissy bar.
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: So eventually we realized we needed something that would be
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: more suitable to the type of camping trips that we
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: wanted to go on. Chose a motorcycle that could carry
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: the gear that we wanted to bring with us and
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: also be a bit more comfortable and go on the
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: roads that we wanted to go down. They had gravel,
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: you know, we wanted something that would be able to
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: handle that, and so we purchased the k T eleven ninety.
• 4:42
  Speaker 4: I knew that its bike's capabilities were higher than my
• 4:45
  Speaker 4: skill set at the time, because I mean I just
• 4:47
  Speaker 4: had a cruiser motorcycle, so there's not a lot of insane,
• 4:50
  Speaker 4: intense off road that I did on that. But I
• 4:53
  Speaker 4: knew that as my skill set grew that the bike
• 4:56
  Speaker 4: would be already ahead of the curve of what I
• 5:00
  Speaker 4: was learning. So I was excited to get an adventure
• 5:02
  Speaker 4: bike with you know, with high ground clearance and all
• 5:05
  Speaker 4: that goodness. And I think any bike that anybody picks
• 5:09
  Speaker 4: is the right bike for them, But I feel like
• 5:11
  Speaker 4: the KTM eleven ninety was a good fit for us.
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: Yeah, what I was going to ask, what specifically about
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: that bike were you drawn to because you looked at
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: other bikes as well, right.
• 5:20
  Speaker 4: I did. And to each individual, there is a checklist
• 5:24
  Speaker 4: that they must go down, and so my checklist will
• 5:27
  Speaker 4: be different than other people's, but for me, I didn't
• 5:30
  Speaker 4: want it to be too heavy, which once you get
• 5:33
  Speaker 4: to a bike that big is already you know, we
• 5:35
  Speaker 4: couldn't go to up with the amount of luggage we
• 5:38
  Speaker 4: have on six fifty and we've seen people going. But
• 5:41
  Speaker 4: I wanted a larger displacement that could take us down
• 5:45
  Speaker 4: highways at could speed, but also with the capability of
• 5:48
  Speaker 4: going down some nastier roads. And you know, there's the
• 5:52
  Speaker 4: Fave five. And since I bought my bike, other bikes
• 5:55
  Speaker 4: have come out, and there's a lot of variables that
• 5:58
  Speaker 4: use an individual have to go down. It was weight,
• 6:00
  Speaker 4: it was ground clearance, and the biggest factor for me
• 6:04
  Speaker 4: was financial, you know, so I didn't necessarily even have
• 6:07
  Speaker 4: fifteen thousand dollars to spend, but I would say, like
• 6:10
  Speaker 4: the beam Er was more than that, and so I
• 6:12
  Speaker 4: convinced Marissa that we were saving money by by buying
• 6:16
  Speaker 4: the KTM.
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: Nice. So you bought the KTM and then did you
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: do some weekend trips before you went on your first
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: big trip, which was the Maiden Voyage? Is that right?
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: It was correct? Actually, it was pretty much right after
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: we bought the motorcycle that we went on this Maiden voyage.
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: We really wanted to test her out. We wanted to
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: test our gear, and so we went around the Rocky Mountains.
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: We took off some work about eighteen days and we
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: were able to hit up a bunch of national parks
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: and it was absolutely incredible. But we also really wanted
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: to test ourselves to see if we liked being on
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: the motorcycle that long or being just around each other
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: all the time, because.
• 6:56
  Speaker 4: Sometimes, you know, I mean it's a you know, you
• 6:58
  Speaker 4: watch long way up, long Way down, long way round.
• 7:00
  Speaker 4: You watch a lot of people's Instagram and YouTube and
• 7:02
  Speaker 4: this and other thing, and it's this cool fantasy that
• 7:06
  Speaker 4: you're looking at. It's not a reality of where you
• 7:08
  Speaker 4: work every day. And you know, then the shiny stuff
• 7:11
  Speaker 4: that you see on YouTube, they don't always show the
• 7:14
  Speaker 4: dirt and grimy stuff that they don't put on their channel.
• 7:18
  Speaker 4: And we wanted to be sure that we lived through
• 7:21
  Speaker 4: some of those as a couple, as a team before
• 7:24
  Speaker 4: we quit our job. You know, like the worst case
• 7:26
  Speaker 4: scenario is we quit our jobs. We decided to go
• 7:29
  Speaker 4: around the world on this exciting adventure, and then six
• 7:31
  Speaker 4: months into it, we look at each other and say,
• 7:33
  Speaker 4: are you enjoying this? I am not enjoying this, that
• 7:37
  Speaker 4: would have been awful. But thankfully, on our little maiden voyage,
• 7:41
  Speaker 4: we found that we had a lot of commonalities as
• 7:43
  Speaker 4: far as what we'd like to see, as far as nature.
• 7:45
  Speaker 4: We're both huge in the nature, and we were growing
• 7:48
  Speaker 4: our off road skills together, which is nice because if
• 7:51
  Speaker 4: I came from like a dirt bike background and I
• 7:53
  Speaker 4: was used to doing crazy stuff and she was not right,
• 7:56
  Speaker 4: that would have been a lot more stressful for her.
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: So I think it was a really good test because
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: we went through a lot of very trying weather. We
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: had a lot of rain for days and days, and
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: it was very very cold when we went. We did
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: Beer Tooth Pass, we went through some very chilly areas
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: you know, through Yellowstone and for me personally, I do
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: not like the cold. And what I felt that if
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: I had survived that and I had really enjoyed it
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: as well, then maybe if we went on longer trips,
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: I would also enjoy that. I felt that it was
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: a good test, but at the same time, we also
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: learned that we needed new gear.
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: Okay, yeah, those trips can be a great proving ground
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: for gaining experience for sure. Yeah, so what did you guys,
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: obviously gear was one thing that you learned while you
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: were on that trip that you took forward into your
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: subsequent trips after that.
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: That's right. Actually, everything that we used during that trip
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: we did not bring on our big voyage.
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: So oh wow.
• 8:55
  Speaker 4: And I was still bright eyed and bushytailed about the
• 8:58
  Speaker 4: future of what our motorcycle adventure could be. And I
• 9:01
  Speaker 4: did go to the expo here in flag Staff back.
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: In like twenty and seventeen.
• 9:06
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm from Chicago, and so this is going to
• 9:08
  Speaker 4: sound ridiculous, but I thought, Arizona is there's a big desert,
• 9:11
  Speaker 4: and it was going to be hot, and so I
• 9:13
  Speaker 4: came woefully, woefully unprepared. I was freezing cold during the night,
• 9:18
  Speaker 4: and I woke up and I asked other people if
• 9:20
  Speaker 4: they were also cold, and whoever said they weren't. Then
• 9:23
  Speaker 4: I dug into what type of gear they had, because,
• 9:25
  Speaker 4: as Marissa alluded to earlier, she does not like to
• 9:27
  Speaker 4: be cold. And so I knew that we would have
• 9:30
  Speaker 4: to up some of our budget friendly gear to actual
• 9:33
  Speaker 4: gear that works. And I don't think you have to spend,
• 9:36
  Speaker 4: you know, thousands of dollars to get that gear, but
• 9:38
  Speaker 4: there's definitely a difference between.
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: Very very budget and something that is actually going to
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: be good throughout many years of very hard use.
• 9:48
  Speaker 4: Yeah, and so I came back home and told Marisa, Hey,
• 9:51
  Speaker 4: we're about to spend a lot of money, you know,
• 9:53
  Speaker 4: but we still have the same gear that we bought
• 9:55
  Speaker 4: forever Goo after we tested our original gear that completely
• 9:58
  Speaker 4: failed us. And so quality Gear has paid for itself
• 10:02
  Speaker 4: three times four times over at this point.
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: What are a few of your favorite pieces of gear?
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: Well, Marissa, my favorite is our down quilt, because, like
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: I said, I don't like to be cold, and so
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: I had never experienced a camping trip where I had
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: not been cold at night before. And when Tim came
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: back from that expo, he said, I'm going to buy
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: this down quilt. I know it's expensive, but you're gonna
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: love it, and he was right. I do love it.
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: It's a quilt, so it doesn't have the under portion
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: of like a normal sleeping bag. It's for two people.
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: It's just like a blanket that is over us. But
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: because it doesn't have the underpart, the down doesn't get compressed,
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: making it pretty much useless. So yeah, I love that quilt.
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: It keeps us very very warm. Now, another thing about
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: the maiden voyage around the Rockies that I think was
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: extremely important is that it really inspired us to go
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: on this longer journey.
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: We realized that there are people out there who actually
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: do this overland full time and who get to experience
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: all of these new places and new cultures and meet
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: new people. And that, we realized is what we wanted
• 11:11
  Speaker 2: to do. And so after we came back home from
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: that trip, we started planning and we thought, Okay, maybe
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: we should start saving money, you know, really hunkering down
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: and saving money for a few years so that we
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: can continue the trip past the Rocky Mountains, maybe go
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: to Mexico, maybe go beyond that, maybe go as far
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: south as we can. Yeah, that really started us dreaming
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: of this voyage that we've been on ever since.
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: Nice and I know, Marissa, you had done extensive travels
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: before you guys got together again. Whereabouts were you traveling through?
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: I did study abroad programs all over Asia, primarily when
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: I was backpacking by myself. It was in the Middle East,
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: and so I had been familiar with being in new
• 11:53
  Speaker 2: places and experiencing new cultures, and I knew that I
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: really really loved that, but I was concerned for Tim
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: because he hadn't really traveled it all. The only other
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: country he'd ever been to was Canada, and that was
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: at a very young age. He didn't even need a passport.
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: But I was just concerned. I was concerned that we
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: were going to quit our jobs and after all this saving,
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: we were going to get on the motorcycle and we
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: were going to hit Mexico and you would want to
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: turn back around face.
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: But that obviously didn't happen, which is great. But you
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: obviously spent some time budgeting. And I think one of
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: the biggest questions, especially at events like this, if I've
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: been sitting on panels or Worris and I have done
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: panels together. One of the most common questions how people
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: afford to do this, or how to budget or how
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: many how much do you spend per day? And how
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: did you guys figure out all of the details surrounding
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: that and make it happen.
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: That's a really good question, and yeah, we do get
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: asked that a lot. We figured that, you know, we
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: also talked to other travelers and wanted to know what
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: their daily costs were in certain areas of the world.
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: Since we first wanted to go through Latin America. We
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: knew it was going to be a lot cheaper than
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: traveling in the United States. We wanted to do primarily
• 13:03
  Speaker 2: camping and our own cooking in the United States to
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: save on costs, but from there on out we were
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: able to stay in some hotels. It really works out
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: to be sometimes better than just living in the United States.
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: A year in these countries, traveling can cost less than
• 13:19
  Speaker 2: just a year working in the United States.
• 13:22
  Speaker 4: And during our little daydream budgeting eyes Enterprize in the Distance,
• 13:28
  Speaker 4: I found a very basic Excel sheet that somebody had
• 13:31
  Speaker 4: made that was, you know, enter in the amount of
• 13:34
  Speaker 4: miles you planned to go, with gas costs, with how
• 13:37
  Speaker 4: many people, with whatever in It's pretty much you just
• 13:39
  Speaker 4: plug in some numbers and everybody's budget. You can spend
• 13:42
  Speaker 4: as much money as you want and people there's people
• 13:44
  Speaker 4: who spend less money than we do. But it was
• 13:46
  Speaker 4: just a good tool to get a good average, and
• 13:49
  Speaker 4: that's what we kind of based what we thought we
• 13:52
  Speaker 4: needed their savings to be because we had no idea whatsoever.
• 13:57
  Speaker 4: We did host a German World track Christian Vogel, and
• 14:01
  Speaker 4: he traveled the world and it was he said he
• 14:03
  Speaker 4: only spent like twenty four thousand dollars or something in
• 14:07
  Speaker 4: a year. That was one guy. And so for us,
• 14:10
  Speaker 4: we only do have one motorcycle, so it's not double,
• 14:13
  Speaker 4: it's not double the gas, but it is double the food.
• 14:15
  Speaker 4: But again, so it was just law of averages of
• 14:17
  Speaker 4: what we assumed we could, you know, save up to travel.
• 14:21
  Speaker 4: We saved for like five years under assumption that we
• 14:23
  Speaker 4: could travel for three. The first year would be all
• 14:25
  Speaker 4: of the Americas, the second year would be the width
• 14:28
  Speaker 4: of the African continent into Europe, and then the third
• 14:30
  Speaker 4: year was us getting to Mongolia. And financially we're on track.
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: But nice, I was going to ask, when you did
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: the original calculations, how accurate were they too? The realities
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: of traveling very accurate.
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: I think we even spent under what we thought we
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: were going to spend.
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: Yeah, great, but.
• 14:49
  Speaker 4: Well the time, like I mean, we would be in
• 14:51
  Speaker 4: Mongolia by now if we did what we planned, and
• 14:54
  Speaker 4: I do suggest everybody we had more time than money, right,
• 14:57
  Speaker 4: But I would not what we thought we'd do in
• 14:59
  Speaker 4: one year we spent too, and I would not trade
• 15:01
  Speaker 4: a day of that or some other alternate tim who
• 15:05
  Speaker 4: actually did the timeline and what country was going to
• 15:08
  Speaker 4: be in, because we just absolutely loved spending as much
• 15:11
  Speaker 4: time as we could on each Like South America I
• 15:14
  Speaker 4: could have spent I could still be there and still
• 15:16
  Speaker 4: be happy, like you know.
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so we did go twice as slow as we
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: thought we would.
• 15:21
  Speaker 4: I don't regret a second.
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: Yeah, we don't regret it. So, yes, financially per year,
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: we kept on track, but we also have done half
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: of the distance of what we thought we would have done.
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: Right, right, cool, Marissa. We talk about this on the
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: Women Overlining the World or Overlining Women panel, and I
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: love it, so I wanted to bring it up. But
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: you spent some time in the Middle East and lived
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: in Syria and you speak fluent Arabic.
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: Right I do.
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that's incredible. But we talk about the benefits on
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: that panel of being a woman and traveling overland. I'd
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: like to hear your experience in those countries and what
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: I experiences you were able to be a part of
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: because you're a woman.
• 16:00
  Speaker 2: I think this is a wonderful question because all too
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: often when it comes to female travelers, a lot of
• 16:05
  Speaker 2: the focus is on safety issues and some of the
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: negatives of being a female traveler. There are also a
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: lot of positives that we have discovered. As I backpacked
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: by myself, I discovered that in the Middle East, a
• 16:18
  Speaker 2: place where you would think a lone female traveler it
• 16:21
  Speaker 2: might not be the best place to travel in. It
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: was actually really remarkable for me. I was able to
• 16:26
  Speaker 2: not only kind of go into the men's world because
• 16:29
  Speaker 2: I was a foreigner, they just accepted me in their
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: shisha shops and everything, but I was also able to
• 16:34
  Speaker 2: enter the women's world and kind of get behind the
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: curtain because they have little guest rooms that they have
• 16:41
  Speaker 2: in all of their houses where the guests are allowed in,
• 16:43
  Speaker 2: but nobody can enter the rest of the house unless
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: you're a woman, because if it's a Muslim family, that's
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: where they take off their veil or their headscarf, and
• 16:53
  Speaker 2: so only women are allowed to see that or family members.
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: And so I was allowed into their world and it
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: was really incredible. But it wasn't just when we were backpacking.
• 17:03
  Speaker 2: I've noticed that just being a woman traveling with Tim
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: as well has offered us plenty of opportunities because I
• 17:09
  Speaker 2: think having a woman there softens the vibe a little bit,
• 17:12
  Speaker 2: and families are a lot more willing to invite you
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: in to have tea and coffee, or I introduce you
• 17:19
  Speaker 2: to their children. And we've been very fortunate with all
• 17:23
  Speaker 2: the people we've met, but we've also had that opportunity
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: to immerse ourselves in those cultures. And I'd like to
• 17:29
  Speaker 2: think that being a woman had something to do with that.
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: Yeah, what were the experiences or what did you learn
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: from going behind the veil? I guess so to speak,
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: Like what was it like?
• 17:39
  Speaker 2: Well, I tell you something. Some women who would wear
• 17:43
  Speaker 2: burkas or completely cover their bodies and some of their face.
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: It's all very mysterious, and you wonder what do they
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: wear under that? And I can't speak for every one
• 17:52
  Speaker 2: of them, but I've seen many women, you know, in
• 17:55
  Speaker 2: the bathrooms or in their homes, they take it off
• 17:57
  Speaker 2: and they are wearing some stylish clothes. I've seen mini skirts,
• 18:01
  Speaker 2: you know, the high heels, the whole thing. So this
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: is kind of what they show to each other. And
• 18:06
  Speaker 2: they have email parties where they're all, you know, dressed
• 18:09
  Speaker 2: out and you would think, oh, wow, this is a club,
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: you know, just without men. Yea, So it is quite surprising.
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: And spending that much time in that part of the world.
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: You learned a lot about the culture there. What are
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: some things that you can share about that.
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: I really love the hospitality of people in the Middle East.
• 18:26
  Speaker 2: You find hospitality everywhere, but they are on an incredible
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: level out there. I really can't wait to get back there,
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: just because they are so welcoming. And as an American,
• 18:38
  Speaker 2: I was quite nervous about going there, just politically. You
• 18:42
  Speaker 2: would think that a lot of people would have this
• 18:45
  Speaker 2: automatic judgment about me. The truth is, I found that
• 18:48
  Speaker 2: most people can really separate the person from their government
• 18:52
  Speaker 2: because that's how they see themselves. They're not what their
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: government does, and so they would completely welcome me and
• 19:00
  Speaker 2: just take me on as a fresh new person, regardless
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: of what country I was from.
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: That's awesome. Thank you for sharing that.
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: Oh, You're very welcome.
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: So you guys drove from Chicago to Shwaya and then
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: you went from Cape Town to Kenya. And Tim's written
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: a few books. When did you start writing, did you
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: start during the trip, after the trip, and what inspired
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: you to put pen to paper to record your journey
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: in that way?
• 19:25
  Speaker 4: I wrote Maiden Voyage is our little trip around the Rockies,
• 19:28
  Speaker 4: and I wrote that more for myself and my family,
• 19:31
  Speaker 4: and just to make myself kind of giggle, just for No.
• 19:35
  Speaker 4: I didn't foresee me writing future books, but I was
• 19:39
  Speaker 4: really inspired by like Sam Anacom, He's just an awesome guy.
• 19:42
  Speaker 4: He's a mentor. And then when we did all the
• 19:46
  Speaker 4: way down to Panama, I started taking more notes and writing.
• 19:49
  Speaker 4: I actually didn't finish that book until we were in Tanzania.
• 19:52
  Speaker 4: It was just awesome to relive our own experiences as
• 19:55
  Speaker 4: I'm writing the pages. And again, I'm glad that people
• 19:59
  Speaker 4: are buying it and they like it. But it was
• 20:00
  Speaker 4: originally more for me, and it was just an after
• 20:04
  Speaker 4: effect diary memoir that I wrote. It's just been really
• 20:07
  Speaker 4: fun writing and I never thought that that would be
• 20:10
  Speaker 4: something that interested me. I can't spell very well, but
• 20:13
  Speaker 4: I'm rounded by that's.
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: What good editors are for.
• 20:17
  Speaker 2: No one can spell.
• 20:18
  Speaker 4: Yeah, but no, it's been just fantastic. And South America
• 20:23
  Speaker 4: was just too wonderful, wonderful of a place not to
• 20:26
  Speaker 4: write about in full detail too, So I've since written
• 20:30
  Speaker 4: a third book.
• 20:31
  Speaker 2: Yes, I've really appreciated it because you remember all of
• 20:35
  Speaker 2: these little things that I think I would have forgotten
• 20:38
  Speaker 2: if it wasn't for you writing it down, and so
• 20:41
  Speaker 2: I get to read these books and just giggle and
• 20:45
  Speaker 2: just reminisce about it all. And that is one of
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: the joys of traveling, is taking those pictures and in
• 20:52
  Speaker 2: whatever way you can recording your journey, whether it's journaling
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: or having a blog or making videos.
• 21:00
  Speaker 4: Looking back on it, and like Mrisa and I would
• 21:02
  Speaker 4: discuss when to writing chapters and where was that place,
• 21:05
  Speaker 4: and just that and another thing. And it's just really
• 21:07
  Speaker 4: interesting how she is less than a foot behind me,
• 21:11
  Speaker 4: and the different experiences that we've had through different countries,
• 21:16
  Speaker 4: and like her outlook on certain scenarios in mine. It's
• 21:20
  Speaker 4: just it's like it was separated by one hundred years
• 21:22
  Speaker 4: and a million miles. But it's really good to combine.
• 21:26
  Speaker 2: That is so true. It's all about perspective. Another wonderful
• 21:29
  Speaker 2: thing about traveling together is that we've been able to
• 21:32
  Speaker 2: talk to each other about things that have happened in
• 21:35
  Speaker 2: the past, or say, oh, doesn't that remind you of Columbia?
• 21:38
  Speaker 2: Or sometimes I meet solo travelers, and everyone travels in
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: their own way, and some people really appreciate being on
• 21:45
  Speaker 2: their own and it's a personal journey that they wouldn't
• 21:49
  Speaker 2: trade that for the world. But for me, I am
• 21:51
  Speaker 2: so thankful that Tim has been with me every step
• 21:55
  Speaker 2: of the way and I get to relive everything with
• 21:58
  Speaker 2: him through our memories.
• 22:00
  Speaker 4: I don't think I would be on the road still
• 22:03
  Speaker 4: if she wasn't behind me. And you know, I mean,
• 22:06
  Speaker 4: like she said, people have their own personal rights of
• 22:09
  Speaker 4: passage when they go by themselves, and that's not an
• 22:12
  Speaker 4: incorrect way of doing it. But for my personality trait,
• 22:15
  Speaker 4: I am very thankful to have a cheerleader behind me,
• 22:19
  Speaker 4: a translator, a photographer. You know, she's an all in
• 22:23
  Speaker 4: one package of a good support crew.
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: Thank you.
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: You guys are so cute. I love it. By the way,
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: for the listeners out there, there's a video that was
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: captured in was it yellow Yellowstone?
• 22:35
  Speaker 4: Are you seventy that Yellowstone?
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: Yes?
• 22:39
  Speaker 4: And so we had been on the road doing our
• 22:43
  Speaker 4: little tour and I it was our maiden voyage and
• 22:46
  Speaker 4: I had a little special gift for her the whole time,
• 22:49
  Speaker 4: and ironically enough, the night before we had just gotten
• 22:52
  Speaker 4: into a semi argument about children and marriage and what,
• 22:57
  Speaker 4: you know, would you say yes if I propose to you?
• 23:00
  Speaker 4: And she said, I don't know, would you or do
• 23:02
  Speaker 4: you plan on having children? And you know it was
• 23:05
  Speaker 4: it was.
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: Big questions, big questions.
• 23:08
  Speaker 4: And the very next day, it was when I was
• 23:10
  Speaker 4: planning on proposing at Yellowstone and I already got a
• 23:15
  Speaker 4: pre I don't know.
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: Oh, you're sweating and shaking boots.
• 23:22
  Speaker 4: She was sitting on the ring the entire time because
• 23:24
  Speaker 4: I hit it underneath the pillion seat, so little did
• 23:27
  Speaker 4: she now. But we took a nice, lovely hike down
• 23:31
  Speaker 4: by the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone or what do they
• 23:34
  Speaker 4: call it? Was it?
• 23:35
  Speaker 2: I think so? I think that's correct. It's a beautiful
• 23:38
  Speaker 2: yellow canyon.
• 23:39
  Speaker 4: And we got to a very nice swoint and there
• 23:41
  Speaker 4: was a lovely woman that was walking in the opposite direction,
• 23:44
  Speaker 4: and I said, hey, can you snap a photo? And
• 23:46
  Speaker 4: I proposed to Marissa and she said no about fourteen times.
• 23:51
  Speaker 2: But here's how I said it.
• 23:53
  Speaker 5: I said no, no, no, So yeah, I realized after
• 23:59
  Speaker 5: the fact that I never actually said yes yes, but
• 24:02
  Speaker 5: I did later.
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: You know, yes, I remember. So we met for the
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: first time at Expo Mountain West. Yeah. I just love
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: chatting with you guys. And then I went on to
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: your website afterwards and I saw that video and I
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: felt like I sort of knew you, but after the
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: video or during the video, I was like tearing up
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: and like almost py gosh, Yeah it was so cool.
• 24:23
  Speaker 2: So I have to check that, thank you.
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: But yeah, so the most recent journey you were on
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: was the Cape Town to Kenya trip, right, and COVID
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: effected that trip a little bit.
• 24:34
  Speaker 2: Supposed to be Cape down to Egypt and then from
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: Egypt we would somehow find a way over to Eastern
• 24:41
  Speaker 2: Europe and then go through Europe. You know, that was
• 24:44
  Speaker 2: the plan. We had everything sorted out, We had all
• 24:46
  Speaker 2: our paperwork, the Karne and anyone knows about Carnes, that's
• 24:49
  Speaker 2: no easy feat. And we were very excited to make
• 24:52
  Speaker 2: our way through Ethiopia and into Egypt. But yeah, we
• 24:56
  Speaker 2: got to Uganda.
• 24:57
  Speaker 4: And World Frows. But that's right over lining to you know, scenarios.
• 25:03
  Speaker 4: We had at that time been on the road for
• 25:04
  Speaker 4: three years and we've adjusted to that lifestyle obviously, But
• 25:09
  Speaker 4: it was nice to play house again with each other.
• 25:12
  Speaker 4: And we rented a house for seven months. It was
• 25:15
  Speaker 4: a very basic home, so it wasn't it wasn't luxurious,
• 25:18
  Speaker 4: but it was very nice. You know. We had to
• 25:20
  Speaker 4: go shopping together and we had to cook our meals
• 25:22
  Speaker 4: as a team and wash dishes, and a bed and
• 25:25
  Speaker 4: we had a living room.
• 25:26
  Speaker 2: We were like normal people.
• 25:27
  Speaker 4: Yeah, it was really, it was just it was nice
• 25:30
  Speaker 4: to play house for the first time in a long time.
• 25:33
  Speaker 4: And it was also nice that we had, like, you know,
• 25:35
  Speaker 4: there was a cat that had two kittens and so
• 25:37
  Speaker 4: we raised kittens for you.
• 25:39
  Speaker 2: Know, and it was just it was were very, very fortunate. Yeah,
• 25:42
  Speaker 2: because the whole world suffered, and we suffered as far
• 25:47
  Speaker 2: as stress over the news and our family and everything
• 25:50
  Speaker 2: in our own ways. We also counted our lucky stars
• 25:53
  Speaker 2: every day because we had gotten stuck in an area
• 25:57
  Speaker 2: of the world that was affordable for us to get
• 25:59
  Speaker 2: stuck in, and that also welcomed us with open arms.
• 26:03
  Speaker 2: There were a lot of countries that would have kicked
• 26:05
  Speaker 2: us out and it would have been financially very difficult
• 26:08
  Speaker 2: for us. But instead, Uganda and Kenya both welcomed us
• 26:13
  Speaker 2: and we became part of the communities that we were
• 26:15
  Speaker 2: living in and we really felt like we lived there and.
• 26:18
  Speaker 4: That we can say we lived in Kenya and we
• 26:21
  Speaker 4: lived in Uganda. We've spent months in a single place
• 26:25
  Speaker 4: in Mexico and Guatemala, sometimes it's nice just to park
• 26:28
  Speaker 4: the bike and rent somewhere and just settle down. But
• 26:32
  Speaker 4: in Uganda and Kenya, we lived there and it was.
• 26:36
  Speaker 2: It was amazing, It was amazing, and it was such
• 26:37
  Speaker 2: an opportunity to really immerse ourselves in that culture. Our
• 26:40
  Speaker 2: original plan it wasn't by any means fast for overlanding,
• 26:45
  Speaker 2: but it was to spend a year in Africa, and
• 26:47
  Speaker 2: we probably would have zipped through Uganda and Kenya pretty quickly.
• 26:51
  Speaker 2: Instead we spent over a year in both Uganda and Kenya.
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: Wow.
• 26:55
  Speaker 2: And so that was such an opportunity looking back on it,
• 26:59
  Speaker 2: to you know, learned the local foods and a little
• 27:01
  Speaker 2: bit of the language and.
• 27:03
  Speaker 4: Laugh with people. I was very fortunate in Africa because
• 27:07
  Speaker 4: English is you know, a lot of people speak English.
• 27:10
  Speaker 4: Whereas in South America I missed out on a lot
• 27:12
  Speaker 4: of the cultural experience that Marissa would giggle and the
• 27:16
  Speaker 4: ladies would laugh and I just sit there and kind
• 27:18
  Speaker 4: of smile thumbs up. In Africa, I was able to
• 27:21
  Speaker 4: engage with people. It was kind of poor timing because
• 27:24
  Speaker 4: not as social. When a pandemic just hits, everybody's kind
• 27:27
  Speaker 4: of concerned about each other. But you know, it was
• 27:31
  Speaker 4: nice to be part of a community even if it
• 27:34
  Speaker 4: was foreign.
• 27:35
  Speaker 2: That's right. And also if it had happened at the
• 27:38
  Speaker 2: very beginning of our trip, I think things would have
• 27:40
  Speaker 2: been very different how I felt about it. But at
• 27:42
  Speaker 2: that time it was not unpleasant to take a break
• 27:46
  Speaker 2: from traveling and it was very refreshing. Sometimes I think
• 27:50
  Speaker 2: pacing oneself is extremely important to overlanding because it really
• 27:55
  Speaker 2: depends on how much time you have. Some people have
• 27:57
  Speaker 2: to take off work and only have a very limited
• 27:59
  Speaker 2: amount of time and try to cram in as much
• 28:01
  Speaker 2: as they can. That is, you know, one way of
• 28:03
  Speaker 2: doing it. But we have discovered for ourselves that we
• 28:06
  Speaker 2: like to really take rests in between a lot of traveling.
• 28:10
  Speaker 4: That was the longest streak we've had in the four
• 28:13
  Speaker 4: years that we had a toilet and every day and
• 28:15
  Speaker 4: a shower every day. That curio, right, It was amazing
• 28:20
  Speaker 4: and it.
• 28:20
  Speaker 2: Really recharged us to want to experience the world again.
• 28:24
  Speaker 2: Sometimes after a lot of traveling, people can get jaded
• 28:28
  Speaker 2: and you know, see so many waterfalls and you think,
• 28:31
  Speaker 2: oh my gosh, I can't see another waterfall, and that's
• 28:34
  Speaker 2: a shame because they're beautiful, and so it was nice
• 28:37
  Speaker 2: to take a break and to just watch Netflix, just
• 28:40
  Speaker 2: do normal things, and so that when I see that
• 28:43
  Speaker 2: next waterfall, I'm just completely amazed and in awe.
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: That happened to my husband Richard and I when we
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: were traveling through South America with the Ruins or in
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: Central another Ruins, and we love going to ruins, but
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: it just becomes the new normal, I guess. Or even
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: in Patagonia some of the hikes that we did, they
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: were absolutely incredible. There would be hikers that would that
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: had come and flown in and they hadn't done the
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: driving part and we had seen the section already and
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: they're like, this place is blowing my mind, and we're like, yeah,
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: it's pretty, it's awesome. But you could tell we needed
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: a break because it is if you're long going long term,
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: but it's a marathon, not a sprint, and those rest
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: times are really important and to be able to go
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: up back and appreciate everything good resell.
• 29:30
  Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely, and I think some of that is unavoidable.
• 29:33
  Speaker 2: But at the same time, like you said, just having
• 29:36
  Speaker 2: that reset, just taking your time so that you're all
• 29:40
  Speaker 2: starry eyed again once again when you get to see
• 29:43
  Speaker 2: that fresh.
• 29:44
  Speaker 4: New thing to me personally. I can see every ruin
• 29:48
  Speaker 4: and every one of them is like fingerprint, and I'm like, whoa,
• 29:52
  Speaker 4: but this one's got a little Spanish moss stripping off
• 29:54
  Speaker 4: the side, and this one's got a weird face carved
• 29:57
  Speaker 4: in it, you know, you know, and you know water
• 30:00
  Speaker 4: and just know, I'm always I can never see enough
• 30:03
  Speaker 4: elephants in Botswana. There was never a time like there's
• 30:05
  Speaker 4: still one hundred and eighty first one.
• 30:07
  Speaker 2: You know, you know, but it's possible even for you,
• 30:11
  Speaker 2: you know, it's all about pacing.
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: There are those things that remained special every single time
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: you see them, for sure. Yeah, what was the most
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: powerful insider experience in that section of Africa for you? Like?
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: What did you learn about that region when you were there? Culturally?
• 30:27
  Speaker 2: I guess what's really interesting? And this isn't about culture,
• 30:30
  Speaker 2: this is about nature. But Africa is just such a
• 30:33
  Speaker 2: great place when it comes to nature. And when we
• 30:36
  Speaker 2: had gone through Namibia, we had done a little four
• 30:40
  Speaker 2: by four self drive safari through Atosia National Park, which
• 30:44
  Speaker 2: had all sorts of incredible animals. It was amazing, but
• 30:47
  Speaker 2: we had tried really hard to see a rhino and
• 30:49
  Speaker 2: we hadn't by the time we got to Kenya, it
• 30:52
  Speaker 2: just turned out that we were living twenty minutes away
• 30:55
  Speaker 2: from the last two northern white rhinos, and there was
• 30:59
  Speaker 2: a whole reserve full of.
• 31:01
  Speaker 4: Rhinos, and there was a blind rhino called Aka. We
• 31:05
  Speaker 4: fed them carrots and it was kind of like my
• 31:08
  Speaker 4: Christmas present to her because we did a horseback ride, yeah,
• 31:11
  Speaker 4: through the conservatory with rhinos around us, and it was
• 31:15
  Speaker 4: you know, I like jokingly asked our guide. I'm like,
• 31:17
  Speaker 4: soh you ever get charged by a rhino? Thinking to
• 31:19
  Speaker 4: be aost stupid question. He said yes all the time.
• 31:21
  Speaker 4: You know, We're like, oh my god. You know. I
• 31:23
  Speaker 4: was like, wrong answer, body, wrong answer.
• 31:25
  Speaker 2: They had given us some really big horses, Thoroughbreds and
• 31:28
  Speaker 2: warm bloods, and I thought, oh, that's unusual, you know,
• 31:32
  Speaker 2: because we only ride whenever we can, but we're not
• 31:34
  Speaker 2: experts or anything. And then I realized afterwards, you no,
• 31:37
  Speaker 2: they need these huge, fast horses to get away from
• 31:39
  Speaker 2: the rhino.
• 31:40
  Speaker 4: But if my riding skills are the horse was probably
• 31:44
  Speaker 4: can get away, but I'm going to fall off.
• 31:46
  Speaker 2: Oh gosh. Yeah, but we lived. We did not fall
• 31:49
  Speaker 2: or anything or get charged. So one rhino was pretty
• 31:52
  Speaker 2: close to it.
• 31:53
  Speaker 4: I think one of my favorite cultural experience when we
• 31:56
  Speaker 4: were in the same area of Etosha and the maybe
• 31:59
  Speaker 4: we had stopped by a village and we've seen like
• 32:01
  Speaker 4: three on the side of the road, and by the
• 32:03
  Speaker 4: fourth one, I was like, that looks kind of cool.
• 32:04
  Speaker 4: Let's pull over. So we pulled over and we take
• 32:06
  Speaker 4: the little tour and you know, these are the women
• 32:09
  Speaker 4: with the red clay in their hair and the incense
• 32:13
  Speaker 4: and very wonderful people, very happy with little babies and
• 32:17
  Speaker 4: all this. And as we're leaving, a gentleman asked us, said, hey,
• 32:20
  Speaker 4: this this woman and her small child actually need to
• 32:23
  Speaker 4: get to the gates of Atosha. Would you buy any
• 32:25
  Speaker 4: chance to give them a ride? And we're like, well, heck, yeah,
• 32:29
  Speaker 4: we will, you know. And they had to put down
• 32:30
  Speaker 4: like a blanket because she was covered in like red.
• 32:33
  Speaker 2: We were in a car at the time, because we
• 32:35
  Speaker 2: did go.
• 32:36
  Speaker 4: Through Atosha on a motorcycle, because then you're just a
• 32:38
  Speaker 4: big cat toy, right, So yeah, and she couldn't speak
• 32:43
  Speaker 4: much English at all. She can be like draft, you know,
• 32:46
  Speaker 4: and a draft, but her just smile and her little
• 32:51
  Speaker 4: baby in the back, and it was just like most
• 32:54
  Speaker 4: tourists do not get the opportunity to give an uber
• 32:58
  Speaker 4: ride to a Himbo woman to one of the most
• 33:02
  Speaker 4: beautiful national parks we've ever been to.
• 33:04
  Speaker 2: That's right, And that's also one of the takeaways that
• 33:08
  Speaker 2: I have from Africa is just the positive attitude of everyone.
• 33:13
  Speaker 2: Even during the pandemic, during a very dire time, people
• 33:16
  Speaker 2: were smiling and just always happy to see us. They're
• 33:21
  Speaker 2: very resourceful, always positive even if they have so so little,
• 33:26
  Speaker 2: and very generous with it as well.
• 33:28
  Speaker 4: And I think like, I'd give you the shirt off
• 33:30
  Speaker 4: of my back is the statement that is way over
• 33:33
  Speaker 4: used here in the States, and people who we've run
• 33:37
  Speaker 4: across South America Africa, you know, they'll see that my
• 33:40
  Speaker 4: sunglasses are scratched of all, and they'll be like, oh,
• 33:43
  Speaker 4: take my sunglasses, you know, and it's like, no, no, no, buddy,
• 33:46
  Speaker 4: that's okay, don't worry, and he says, no, it would
• 33:48
  Speaker 4: be an honor if you took my sunglasses to Europe.
• 33:52
  Speaker 4: Then I could tell my friends that my sunglasses have
• 33:55
  Speaker 4: made it to Europe. And I'm just like, it's just
• 33:58
  Speaker 4: amazing the kind And obviously you look at us and
• 34:01
  Speaker 4: we have more money than them, and you know, it's
• 34:04
  Speaker 4: just it's humbling. It's very, very humbling to know that
• 34:07
  Speaker 4: the generosity and kindness of people.
• 34:10
  Speaker 3: We're going to take a brief break and we will
• 34:12
  Speaker 3: be right back. This week's episode is supported in part
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• 35:02
  Speaker 1: Awesome thank you so. Scott Brady. When he's hosting this podcast,
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: he asks everybody what their favorite book is, and I
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: love that question. However, that's not my question. I have
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: my own question.
• 35:15
  Speaker 2: For you guys.
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: I'm asking everybody on each podcast episode with me if
• 35:20
  Speaker 1: you could travel to any country today. And also we're
• 35:25
  Speaker 1: in a pretty busy area, so I think that's a
• 35:27
  Speaker 1: motorcycle or something ripping around outside.
• 35:30
  Speaker 2: Okay, we love motorcycles.
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly. Yeah, if you guys could travel to any
• 35:35
  Speaker 1: country today, which would it be and why?
• 35:37
  Speaker 4: There would be a big asterist on my answer, just
• 35:40
  Speaker 4: because I haven't been to all the countries and so
• 35:43
  Speaker 4: there's a bunch of beautiful countries that are in our
• 35:45
  Speaker 4: future that I'm very excited for. But my favorite country
• 35:48
  Speaker 4: that we have been to is Peru because I think
• 35:51
  Speaker 4: it's just an adventure motorcyclist haven. There's the Andean Mountains,
• 35:56
  Speaker 4: and we just I tried to do as many passes
• 35:58
  Speaker 4: through there as we could, just because it was some
• 36:00
  Speaker 4: of the most beautiful scenery. I mean, I would just
• 36:02
  Speaker 4: look around and I rode there myself from Chicago, and
• 36:05
  Speaker 4: I know exactly how I got there, but I'd look around,
• 36:08
  Speaker 4: I'm like, how did we end up here? This is surreal,
• 36:12
  Speaker 4: this is beautiful.
• 36:13
  Speaker 2: So I'll answer that according to countries that we've been
• 36:16
  Speaker 2: to and a country that I've never been to Yes
• 36:18
  Speaker 2: for Tim, he chose Peru and it was also in
• 36:22
  Speaker 2: my opinion, it is naturally mind blowing. But I loved Columbia,
• 36:27
  Speaker 2: particularly because of the friendliness of the people, and it
• 36:31
  Speaker 2: was also naturally really really beautiful, But mostly the people.
• 36:35
  Speaker 2: They were just outstanding. Everywhere we went, so positive and
• 36:40
  Speaker 2: so so friendly. And then as far as a country
• 36:43
  Speaker 2: that I've never been to, dropped me off in Mongolia,
• 36:46
  Speaker 2: and I think that would be pretty exciting for me.
• 36:49
  Speaker 4: Anything that ends in done is that whole region of
• 36:54
  Speaker 4: the world looks like it's going to be very fun
• 36:57
  Speaker 4: to ride through. So that's my wish list, you know.
• 37:01
  Speaker 4: And this whole journey to me, I need to see castles.
• 37:03
  Speaker 4: There's no castles. Desperately trying to see castles to get
• 37:08
  Speaker 4: to Europe, and it's it's momentarily paused, but we will.
• 37:11
  Speaker 4: We will see castle soon enough.
• 37:13
  Speaker 2: It's right that is in our sights anyway.
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: Nice. So, Tim, if people want to find your books,
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: what are the name the titles and where can they
• 37:21
  Speaker 1: find them?
• 37:21
  Speaker 4: So I have written three books so far. There's Made
• 37:24
  Speaker 4: in Voyage and then there is two up and Overloaded,
• 37:27
  Speaker 4: which is very fitting to our journey that is from
• 37:30
  Speaker 4: Chicago to Panama. And then the third book is Blood,
• 37:33
  Speaker 4: Sweat and No Tears and that is from Columbia to Yushuaya.
• 37:37
  Speaker 4: And they are available worldwide on Amazon Perfect.
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: And then if anybody wants to find you on the
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: internet to where should they go?
• 37:45
  Speaker 4: We have Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube and if you search
• 37:50
  Speaker 4: No Tears, frontiers or lovely faces will pop up.
• 37:54
  Speaker 2: That's correct.
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: Awesome. Well, thank you guys so much for taking the
• 37:57
  Speaker 1: time to chat with me.
• 37:58
  Speaker 2: And yeah, it's been one Yeah.
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: I'm sure the listeners have learned a lot about adventure
• 38:03
  Speaker 1: motorcycle riding. It's really inspiring story you guys have.
• 38:06
  Speaker 2: Thank you so much.