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Hidden Gems in Europe: How to Find Secret Places & Travel Beyond the Crowds · Inspired Travels With Patti

0:00
SPEAKER_01: You love RVing, but what if your next adventure needs a passport?
0:05
SPEAKER_01: Michelle, Brian, what's one place you've discovered in your travels that most tourists would never find?
0:15
SPEAKER_01: Oh, I would say Grecio.
0:17
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, Greccio.
0:18
SPEAKER_00: Greccio and Area.
0:18
SPEAKER_00: Very high up there on the list.
0:19
SPEAKER_00: And honestly, and in Spain, Samos.
0:21
SPEAKER_02: Samos, yeah.
0:22
SPEAKER_02: Grecio is this little tiny village that people know about if they have a true love of Christmas nativity scenes.
0:32
SPEAKER_02: If they and I mean I mean a true passion for Christmas nativity scenes.
0:37
SPEAKER_02: If that's the case, then you've heard of Greccio.
0:41
SPEAKER_02: Otherwise, you've never heard of that town.
0:44
SPEAKER_01: And we're going to hear more about this place and other places that are hidden gems.
0:49
SPEAKER_01: Today, my guests and I are going to answer questions that I've been seeing over and over again.
0:56
SPEAKER_01: People are asking a lot.
0:58
SPEAKER_01: So we're going to talk about authentic travel experiences, slower travel, travel to those hidden gems like you're talking about, not just those tourist spots, and to travel like a local.
1:13
SPEAKER_01: And I've got to tell you, this episode is definitely for me because this is exactly what I'm looking for.
1:26
SPEAKER_01: So I want to welcome my listeners to Inspired Travels with Patty.
1:30
SPEAKER_01: I'm Patty Hunt.
1:31
SPEAKER_01: And if you're new here, I created this podcast and YouTube channel to inspire you to live life more fully.
1:39
SPEAKER_01: For me, that's through adventure.
1:41
SPEAKER_01: Amazing places, incredible experiences, and certainly wonderful people like my guests, Michelle and Brian Coleman.
1:53
SPEAKER_01: So they are RVers, international travelers.
1:56
SPEAKER_01: They've lead international group tours, and they're content creators cruising with the Colemans.
2:05
SPEAKER_01: Now, I'm not going into a big introduction because I've had them on.
2:10
SPEAKER_01: They are back for a new episode, and they were on February 19th, 2026.
2:17
SPEAKER_01: And the title was What is Pilgrimage Travel?
2:21
SPEAKER_01: I recommend everybody go listen to that episode, hear more about Michelle and Brian and the tours that they've done and the tours that they will be doing.
2:31
SPEAKER_01: So I highly recommend that you can find that on my podcast platforms or on YouTube.
2:37
SPEAKER_01: So welcome back, Michelle and Brian.
2:40
SPEAKER_02: Thanks, Patty.
2:41
SPEAKER_02: It's so good to see you again.
2:43
SPEAKER_02: You said February of 2026.
2:45
SPEAKER_02: I was like, oh my gosh, that feels like a lifetime ago.
2:47
SPEAKER_00: But yet we're just like just yesterday.
2:50
SPEAKER_00: I know, I know.
2:51
SPEAKER_02: That's crazy.
2:52
SPEAKER_02: We were talking about trips for 2027 and 2028.
2:55
SPEAKER_02: So it feels like it was a long time ago.
2:58
SPEAKER_01: And I guess it was a long time ago, actually.
3:01
SPEAKER_01: And I just, it was right before you were going on the trip a couple months before.
3:06
SPEAKER_01: So there was a lot of excitement.
3:08
SPEAKER_01: I got a lot of the details.
3:10
SPEAKER_01: And again, people could listen.
3:12
SPEAKER_01: Um, the one thing I want to point out is when you're going somewhere warm, do not wear cotton.
3:18
SPEAKER_01: We can talk about that if there's time at the end.
3:22
SPEAKER_01: That is in that episode.
3:25
SPEAKER_01: So just tell our listeners, real quick, how did the trip go?
3:30
SPEAKER_01: Give me something that really was unexpected during that trip.
3:35
SPEAKER_00: Um, well, we technically had two trips this summer.
3:38
SPEAKER_01: We took uh no, we had three.
3:40
SPEAKER_00: Well, technically we had three.
3:42
SPEAKER_00: We had two group trips.
3:43
SPEAKER_00: Uh, we had a group in Italy that walked um from Grecio, Italy, all the way to Rome.
3:49
SPEAKER_00: And then we had a second group walk from Samos in Spain to Santiago de Compostela in Spain.
3:54
SPEAKER_00: Um, and I think both trips went really, really well.
3:57
SPEAKER_00: I we got to experience so many amazing things with them and seeing um places uh in Spain that we've been many, many times, but it's always fun to get to see it new through other people's eyes.
4:10
SPEAKER_00: And that's one of the things that we enjoy the most.
4:12
SPEAKER_00: And then in Italy, we were traveling and with the group, every place that we traveled was new to us, with the exception of Rome itself.
4:21
SPEAKER_02: And then at the end of the trip, we went to England.
4:24
SPEAKER_02: We'd been to London before, but we were checking out a brand new pilgrimage route called the Pilg the Pilgrim's Way.
4:29
SPEAKER_00: Well, not brand new, it's been around for like a thousand years, but it's new to us.
4:33
SPEAKER_00: Brand new to us.
4:34
SPEAKER_02: Brand new.
4:36
SPEAKER_02: I know.
4:36
SPEAKER_02: We got to see Jane Austen's house, which was very, very exciting.
4:40
SPEAKER_02: And just that whole idea of like, I don't know, the the English countryside was mesmerizing to me.
4:48
SPEAKER_02: So we went there and then we went back to London, where we the last time we were there, we had about 15 students in tow with us, uh, high school students.
4:56
SPEAKER_02: Um, and it was our first international group travel experience.
5:00
SPEAKER_02: And so it was nice to go back and be back in London, one by ourselves, but two as more seasoned travelers.
5:07
SPEAKER_01: That sounds incredible.
5:09
SPEAKER_01: And for the trips that you've been on, I'm I didn't ask ahead of time, but you're gonna send us pictures, video clips, and we will include those in the YouTube video for this episode.
5:21
SPEAKER_01: So I can't wait.
5:23
SPEAKER_01: I've been following you on social media, so I've seen a lot of the things that you guys are doing.
5:28
SPEAKER_01: But I have to say, I have to be totally honest here.
5:32
SPEAKER_01: I wanted to do this episode for my own selfish reasons.
5:38
SPEAKER_01: Those are the best episodes.
5:39
SPEAKER_01: I know, right?
5:41
SPEAKER_01: So I think my listeners will also benefit, but I want to travel internationally.
5:49
SPEAKER_01: And if people have been listening to the podcast, they've heard about my bucket list and places I want to travel.
5:55
SPEAKER_01: So when we first met almost a year ago in Tampa is where we met face to face, and you talked about Italy, I was in awe.
6:07
SPEAKER_01: But here's where I ran into a problem or run into a problem.
6:11
SPEAKER_01: When I tell people I want to go to Italy, they mention Rome, they mention Florence, they mention all the big places and the tourist places.
6:21
SPEAKER_01: And don't get me wrong, I want to do that.
6:24
SPEAKER_01: But when you guys started talking about immersing yourself in the culture, the hidden gems, walking down the streets where the locals are, that really got me.
6:36
SPEAKER_01: So where do I start?
6:38
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna let you guys be the expert.
6:41
SPEAKER_01: And one of the things I did is I looked at Italy overall, because there's the northern part, the central, and you guys know it's a big country.
6:52
SPEAKER_00: And the food's different everywhere in the country, so you can't expect that you're gonna get the same spaghetti or pizza everywhere you go.
6:59
SPEAKER_01: So what I did was I actually talked to Chat GPT and I gave it everything that I wanted to do and see.
7:07
SPEAKER_01: And so it came up with, and I hope I'm saying this right, correct me if I'm not, pool.
7:13
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, pool.
7:15
SPEAKER_01: All right, and so that just sounded incredible to me.
7:19
SPEAKER_01: So where do you recommend people start?
7:23
SPEAKER_01: How how do I get started when I'm looking to go internationally?
7:29
SPEAKER_02: I mean, you're doing exactly what people are doing.
7:31
SPEAKER_02: People are going to ChatGPT and asking the questions, but well, I would I would hesitate to just lean, I would hesitate to lean just on ChatGPT because it's going to say like Pulio, which is actually more of a tourist town than some of the places that we've been to.
7:47
SPEAKER_02: It's not gonna find the truly hidden gems, it's gonna find gems for sure, but not truly hidden gems.
7:55
SPEAKER_02: So I would one start looking at um, you know, just start with the hashtag Italy and see what you can find.
8:03
SPEAKER_02: Um, number two, I would use the hashtag pilgrimage and see the towns that people are finding when they're on pilgrimage.
8:11
SPEAKER_02: Now that may take you to um spiritual sites or uh religious sites, but not always, because we would use the hashtag pilgrimage all the way through Italy.
8:21
SPEAKER_02: And we were in little towns like Monteficioni, uh San Giomani, which are tourist towns to people in Europe, but not to people in the United States.
8:34
SPEAKER_02: We've not heard of that.
8:35
SPEAKER_00: A lot of Americans don't know a lot of those small places that a lot of uh Italians might travel to for a weekend away from their life.
8:44
SPEAKER_00: And those are the ones that are really the fun ones because you won't find a lot of Americans there, but that also means you won't find the prices that the tourists are used to paying.
8:53
SPEAKER_00: Um, things are just less congested, they're less crowded, and you can, if you're lucky, get to sit down with uh a Nona and she'll feed you dinner.
9:01
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
9:02
SPEAKER_02: You also will find uh you also have to find weather.
9:05
SPEAKER_02: You have to look at what the weather is gonna be in different areas because that can vary from the north to the south substantially.
9:11
SPEAKER_02: And you have to look at what kind of experience do I want?
9:13
SPEAKER_02: Do I want to hike?
9:14
SPEAKER_02: Do I want to eat?
9:15
SPEAKER_02: Do I want to sit on a beach?
9:17
SPEAKER_02: You know, uh, when people think of the beach, they think of Sorrento in the south and they think of Chinquatera in the north.
9:23
SPEAKER_02: But there are towns that are very close to Chinquatera that are gonna give you just as beautiful of an experience.
9:29
SPEAKER_02: Uh, and there are towns near Sorrento that are gonna give you just as much of a beautiful experience.
9:34
SPEAKER_02: So, you know, maybe you asked Chat GT, take me to the, I want to sit in, you know, and and drink lemon cello in Sorrento, but give me a place that's near Sorrento.
9:44
SPEAKER_01: And I actually did that.
9:46
SPEAKER_01: I said, I want to go on walks, I want to be in nature, I'd like to see the, you know, go to some of these beautiful beaches.
9:54
SPEAKER_01: It asked if I wanted to go swimming or just walk on the beach, because then we're talking weather.
9:59
SPEAKER_01: I'm fine just walking on the beach, watching sunsets, that kind of thing.
10:04
SPEAKER_01: So some of those things, I know the kind of coffee I want to get and the pastry that I cannot yet pronounce.
10:12
SPEAKER_01: I'll work on that.
10:14
SPEAKER_01: Um, so okay, some more tips for you guys do a pilgrimage, but from that you found so much that you know that you can recommend to people.
10:25
SPEAKER_01: So I'm gonna let you be the experts.
10:28
SPEAKER_01: Once people say, okay, this is the country I want to go to.
10:31
SPEAKER_01: I love the idea of the hashtags and hey, this is a cool area, but that's a touristy area of what's around.
10:40
SPEAKER_01: What should I do next?
10:42
SPEAKER_00: Well, we do love to take dives on, like Michelle said, Instagram.
10:45
SPEAKER_00: We go on YouTube and look for things, but we also look for things that are maybe a little bit more mainstream.
10:50
SPEAKER_00: Like for if you're going to Italy, there's a couple of great television series.
10:53
SPEAKER_00: Stanley Tucci Discovers Italy is one of the amazing ones.
10:57
SPEAKER_00: And he goes to a lot of places that are like he hits Florence and he hits Rome and some of the other big cities, but he goes to a lot of other little places.
11:06
SPEAKER_00: So we found, like, I would write those down.
11:08
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I sit down with the notebook or with the computer open when we're watching those shows, and I'll write down the names of restaurants and look for them and say, okay, well, we're going from point A to point B, and that restaurant that Stanley Tucci went to is in the middle.
11:19
SPEAKER_00: So we're gonna stop there for lunch.
11:21
SPEAKER_00: And we find places that way.
11:23
SPEAKER_00: Um, there's also a great app that I love called Atlas Obscura.
11:28
SPEAKER_00: And Atlas Obscura has a website, they've got some books out, they've got the their app, which is fantastic, and it tells you all of those places that are strange and unusual throughout the world that are not in the guidebooks.
11:40
SPEAKER_00: Um, it's mostly the locations have been submitted by users in the app.
11:44
SPEAKER_00: And uh there are all kinds of odd little places like a museum of skeletons or a museum of diaries or just little unusual spots that are not in the Rick Steves guidebook for sure, and probably not Instagram famous.
12:01
SPEAKER_02: How many uh spots have you added to the list?
12:04
SPEAKER_02: Because he loves to add to Atlas Obscure.
12:06
SPEAKER_00: I've added a couple of places, uh, I've submitted a couple of places to Atlas Obscure that we've run into that we found.
12:13
SPEAKER_00: Because honestly, most of the amazing places that we find, we kind of just accidentally luck into.
12:19
SPEAKER_01: And I think that's part of it.
12:20
SPEAKER_01: I know when I travel here in the US, I'll go into the um travel centers and welcome centers, and I'll, you know, they'll they'll point out the main places, the main things to go see, and then I'll say, okay, not being a tourist, what would you be doing?
12:38
SPEAKER_01: Where would you go?
12:39
SPEAKER_01: What restaurants would you go to?
12:42
SPEAKER_01: So even here, I'd like to kind of talk to the locals and get those suggestions.
12:47
SPEAKER_01: I love that.
12:48
SPEAKER_01: And I did watch the Stanley Tucci show, so maybe I have to go back and really take notes.
12:55
SPEAKER_01: Did you see season two?
12:58
SPEAKER_02: There's a season two out.
12:59
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, make sure you turn out and there are a couple of there's another one called Hidden Italy.
13:03
SPEAKER_00: I can't remember the name of the host.
13:04
SPEAKER_02: It's a woman, right?
13:05
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I can't remember.
13:06
SPEAKER_00: It's Alex, I think.
13:08
SPEAKER_00: Okay, that's also phenomenal.
13:10
SPEAKER_00: But talking to locals is always fantastic, and that doesn't necessarily mean the person at the hotel because they're gonna send you to the places that the hotel recommends.
13:20
SPEAKER_00: Uh, when we were in Naples, I had to get a haircut because we had been gone for a month.
13:24
SPEAKER_00: And while I was in Naples, I asked the barber at the barber shop about a restaurant.
13:30
SPEAKER_00: I said, you know, where would you go to dinner tonight?
13:32
SPEAKER_00: And he sent us to a place that was not on the main square, it was kind of tucked into a little alley out of the way, and we had a phenomenal meal there.
13:42
SPEAKER_01: That's and that's exactly my idea of traveling.
13:46
SPEAKER_01: Um, I talked to a woman who is a tour guide in Greece, and again, she does not the typical tourist things, and I'll put that in the show notes for people who are looking to go to Greece.
14:00
SPEAKER_01: It also gives you ideas of what to look for and how.
14:04
SPEAKER_01: Um, so so let's talk about there's the pilgrimage that you guys lead that you've done, which I think is really cool.
14:12
SPEAKER_01: I don't know that I'm up for that right now, the the walking part, not sure about that.
14:19
SPEAKER_01: I think someday that would be cool to do.
14:22
SPEAKER_02: I hear that all the time.
14:23
SPEAKER_02: And at Brian's retirement party, we had two people that hiked with us in 2025.
14:29
SPEAKER_02: They are both 73 years old, husband and wife, 73 years old.
14:32
SPEAKER_02: And a friend of ours was there and she says exactly what you say.
14:36
SPEAKER_02: I don't know if I'm up for it.
14:37
SPEAKER_02: I don't know I'm up for it.
14:39
SPEAKER_02: And listening to the two 73-year-olds who just kept saying, But all you're doing is walking.
14:46
SPEAKER_02: And and and it was like, but you're not walking, like this isn't a marathon, you're not in a hurry.
14:51
SPEAKER_02: Uh, she said, we'd walk a little and like meander a little, right?
14:55
SPEAKER_02: It wasn't about speed, and then we'd stop at a coffee shop and we'd have a coffee and then we'd go on for lunch.
15:02
SPEAKER_02: And I was so inspired listening to her myself, like just thinking, I wish everyone could feel that energy coming radiating from these two 73-year-olds.
15:14
SPEAKER_02: And and this year we have an 83-year-old going.
15:16
SPEAKER_02: Well, 2027, we have an 83-year-old going with us because it's not a marathon at all, it's a slow pace.
15:24
SPEAKER_00: Well, and um, she has said already now, I know I'm not gonna walk every step.
15:29
SPEAKER_00: There's gonna be some days.
15:30
SPEAKER_00: The 83-year-olds have said that.
15:32
SPEAKER_00: I know I'm I can't walk 14 miles in one day.
15:35
SPEAKER_00: So she knows and she's already planned that there are just a few days that she's gonna take a taxi halfway.
15:40
SPEAKER_00: And instead of walking the 14 miles that we have planned for the day, she's only gonna walk five to seven miles that day.
15:45
SPEAKER_02: And don't get me wrong, pilgrimage isn't for everybody.
15:48
SPEAKER_02: But my I hate when people stop themselves because of an age.
15:53
SPEAKER_02: Age is not the determining factor, it's what's here, it's what you're looking for and what kind of experience you want when you're traveling.
16:00
SPEAKER_02: For some people, this is not the experience they want at all.
16:04
SPEAKER_02: They want curated little coffee shops and you know, beautiful little boutique stores, and that's it.
16:11
SPEAKER_02: And I fully respect that because sometimes when I travel, that's exactly what I want.
16:15
SPEAKER_02: But sometimes it's about deeper meaning.
16:18
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely, and I love the meaning behind it.
16:21
SPEAKER_01: And again, I'm gonna suggest people listen to the episode we did because I was inspired by it, and I I knew it wasn't just about your walking and walking.
16:31
SPEAKER_01: I think for me, the idea of doing a pilgrimage, I love the idea behind it, and I will probably I I have it on my list, my bucket list, to actually do.
16:44
SPEAKER_01: I think the whole idea of going to like Italy or Spain or Greece, any of the place I want to go, maybe more of that just be there relaxing, and then, you know, join one of the pilgrimage.
16:59
SPEAKER_01: What do you think about people doing tours?
17:03
SPEAKER_01: And I know there's a gamut.
17:05
SPEAKER_01: Is that something you can speak on?
17:08
SPEAKER_02: Well, we have, I mean, we have plenty of friends that go on group tours.
17:11
SPEAKER_02: So there's group pilgrimage tour, then there's group bus tour, right?
17:15
SPEAKER_02: There's all different types of tours out there.
17:18
SPEAKER_00: And they fit everybody's travel needs in various ways.
17:22
SPEAKER_02: If you're gonna go on a group bus tour, know that you are gonna go to the most uh the busiest places.
17:29
SPEAKER_02: Uh that maybe if it's a pilgrimage bus tour, you're going to the best pilgrimage sites, right?
17:33
SPEAKER_02: You're gonna go to your iconic places, you're gonna go to Pisa, you're gonna go to Florence, you're gonna go to Venice, you're gonna go to Rome, like in Italy.
17:40
SPEAKER_02: Those are the big places you're gonna go to.
17:42
SPEAKER_02: Um, that is a typical of a tour.
17:45
SPEAKER_02: And if that helps you to knock everything out, great.
17:48
SPEAKER_02: It's kind of like why we're going on a cruise in a couple of months, a couple months, yeah.
17:53
SPEAKER_02: And I I'm excited because we're just gonna get a taste of the Caribbean, right?
17:57
SPEAKER_02: It's just a little bit.
17:58
SPEAKER_02: It's not what what's normal for us because we're not diving in, we're not going to any remote places in any of these um areas, but it's a good flavor uh to see if we want to go back.
18:09
SPEAKER_00: Well, and it's gonna allow us to say, like the cruise after we go to we'll be going to Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, and Turks and Caicos.
18:16
SPEAKER_00: It's just one day in each place, but I guarantee you one of those places is gonna call to us to go back and spend a week.
18:23
SPEAKER_02: And so I I suggest to anybody if you want to just get a flavor, that a group tour is gonna give it to you.
18:29
SPEAKER_02: It's gonna give you a lot of history.
18:30
SPEAKER_02: You're gonna have a tour guide that's knows the area, and they're gonna be able to say, if you go out on your own, go here.
18:36
SPEAKER_02: Some people stay longer, they you know, um, they say they plan a week after and they have no itinerary.
18:42
SPEAKER_02: Good.
18:42
SPEAKER_02: Now you can start planning to go other places.
18:44
SPEAKER_02: Um, so that's one area.
18:47
SPEAKER_02: The second, like for us, we're just small group tours going on pilgrimage.
18:52
SPEAKER_02: This is about hiking, this is about um having a group experience, you know, uh camaraderie with other people.
18:59
SPEAKER_02: And then it's about going to these remote little towns.
19:02
SPEAKER_02: But then there's also traveling on your own.
19:04
SPEAKER_02: Traveling on your own takes more work, it takes more creative energy, it takes more planning.
19:09
SPEAKER_02: But there are a lot of people who are up for that and they want that experience.
19:12
SPEAKER_02: And there are people who just, you know, I'm going backpacking in Europe.
19:16
SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna book my train ticket and figure out where I'm going as I go.
19:20
SPEAKER_02: So there's a lot of ways to experience it.
19:22
SPEAKER_01: And I think that difference between I have to have the plan and winging it.
19:26
SPEAKER_01: And we talk about this when people go RVing all the time.
19:32
SPEAKER_01: I was a planner.
19:33
SPEAKER_01: So the idea when I started full-time RVing, for those people who don't know, I did it for three years.
19:39
SPEAKER_01: When I started out, it was a plan.
19:42
SPEAKER_01: I had months in advance where we were going, where we were gonna stay.
19:48
SPEAKER_01: That's what I need, thought.
19:50
SPEAKER_01: Let me say that's what I thought I needed to be okay being on the road.
19:54
SPEAKER_01: And we stayed a month in one location, just get acclimated to the RV and that kind of stuff.
20:02
SPEAKER_01: And then we went to takeoff day one, plans changed.
20:07
SPEAKER_01: That was it from there.
20:09
SPEAKER_01: So, you know, I often say whether you're RV travel or you're going international or just traveling to Florida for the week, have a plan, but let it be flowy and flexible because stuff happens, that's for sure.
20:26
SPEAKER_00: That can be one of the challenges with a group trip, is that there's not a lot of flexibility because there is a set itinerary.
20:32
SPEAKER_00: And some people hate that.
20:34
SPEAKER_00: We have friends who did a group trap, uh like a tourist stop buffet style in Italy.
20:41
SPEAKER_00: And they said one day they were just kind of sick of the tour that they were on that day.
20:44
SPEAKER_00: So they ditched the tour guide and sat down in a cafe and ordered a glass of wine, and then they met back up with at the meeting point later in the day.
20:52
SPEAKER_00: So you can still have some flexibility when you're with a group, but that does take away a little bit of your flexibility, depending on how the tour is organized.
21:00
SPEAKER_01: Right.
21:01
SPEAKER_01: And that's what I was gonna say.
21:02
SPEAKER_01: I've also learned that with tours, they could be very different.
21:06
SPEAKER_01: They could be more of a, this is kind of where we're planning on, and there is flexibility within that.
21:14
SPEAKER_01: So the group tour that's done in Greece, the woman I was speaking to, when she has a group that wants to travel together, she actually sits down with them and says, Okay, what is it you're looking to do?
21:27
SPEAKER_01: What kind of do you want to go to the party and have, you know, drinks and party all night?
21:33
SPEAKER_01: Do you want to sit on the beach?
21:34
SPEAKER_01: Do you want to be in, you know, see the historical areas?
21:38
SPEAKER_01: So there are tours that are more uh planned around what you are looking to do.
21:45
SPEAKER_01: Is Italy a place?
21:47
SPEAKER_01: I just did an episode on solo travel and I was talking more RV and within the country because I've done a lot of solo travel this year.
21:57
SPEAKER_01: Is that a place to go solo?
22:00
SPEAKER_02: Oh, sure.
22:02
SPEAKER_02: And with an RV.
22:03
SPEAKER_02: You could solo and be in an RV and have an amazing time.
22:08
SPEAKER_00: It's probably going to be more like a camper van.
22:10
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
22:10
SPEAKER_02: But I would definitely.
22:12
SPEAKER_02: Don't bring your 40-foot fifth wheel over there.
22:15
SPEAKER_00: Well, and you're not going to find one there to rent.
22:18
SPEAKER_00: I think solo travel in big cities can be problematic sometimes.
22:23
SPEAKER_02: Drop me off in Rome and I'm going to be fine.
22:26
SPEAKER_00: But solo travel or grouped, you know, the two of us in Rome can be problematic if you're not aware of your surroundings.
22:32
SPEAKER_00: I think if you're a good traveler and if you've experienced uh solo travel on your own for other, you know, other places, I don't think Italy is going to present a problem at all.
22:43
SPEAKER_02: You're saying watch your money.
22:45
SPEAKER_02: I mean, that's the basics, right?
22:47
SPEAKER_02: You got to be a smart traveler no matter where you go, no matter who you're with, whether it's a group or by yourself.
22:52
SPEAKER_02: You have to be aware of scams and you have to be aware of who who's around you and where you have your money and have air tags or tile tags or whatever in everything.
23:03
SPEAKER_02: So be a smart traveler no matter what.
23:05
SPEAKER_02: But there are great experiences in Italy.
23:08
SPEAKER_02: And honestly, I feel like any country that you can go by yourself.
23:13
SPEAKER_02: I don't I don't know very many countries.
23:16
SPEAKER_02: I wouldn't hop on a plane and go by myself if I had to.
23:19
SPEAKER_01: That's good to know.
23:20
SPEAKER_01: And and I think a lot of this is about knowing what works for you.
23:26
SPEAKER_01: I just did an episode where I talked about the fact that most of my travel has always been with my husband.
23:34
SPEAKER_01: Um, and now that you know I'm traveling by myself, it's such a different, totally different.
23:41
SPEAKER_01: I'm traveling a lot by myself, although I still travel with people, with family, with friends.
23:46
SPEAKER_01: And I had to take a step back and say, okay, do I enjoy this?
23:50
SPEAKER_01: What do I enjoy?
23:51
SPEAKER_01: But it's not that I can't travel solo.
23:54
SPEAKER_01: It's I've also learned I don't really love it.
23:57
SPEAKER_01: I'll be honest.
23:58
SPEAKER_01: And and that's a spoiler alert for the episode I did because what I learned about myself is I absolutely can't do it.
24:07
SPEAKER_01: What is nice about solo travel is I get to go where I want, what I want for as long as I want.
24:13
SPEAKER_01: So if I want to sit in the coffee shop for two hours, I don't have to consult with anyone.
24:19
SPEAKER_02: Well, and your travel partner makes a big difference.
24:22
SPEAKER_02: We've learned how to travel together over 20 years.
24:26
SPEAKER_02: We've learned how to pivot, how to know each other's boundaries.
24:32
SPEAKER_02: Uh, when we finally got to England this summer, I was tapped out.
24:37
SPEAKER_02: And I I mean, here I was in Winchester, England.
24:40
SPEAKER_02: I was so happy to be there.
24:41
SPEAKER_02: I was so excited.
24:42
SPEAKER_02: And I am not kidding you when I tell you, I laid in bed for almost 24 hours.
24:47
SPEAKER_02: Brian made me go downstairs to the restaurant and eat, but I could have just had food delivered to the room.
24:54
SPEAKER_02: I was so tired.
24:56
SPEAKER_02: And he had to respect that.
24:58
SPEAKER_02: That was a boundary.
24:59
SPEAKER_02: That was a that level of exhaustion and not being sick was a new area for us.
25:04
SPEAKER_02: But having a partner who can adapt and who can pivot and who can say, you do your thing this afternoon, I'm gonna do my thing, we'll meet back up, like all of that is critical to a successful trip.
25:17
SPEAKER_02: It tests the boundaries of a relationship when you travel together, especially in the small rooms of Europe.
25:24
SPEAKER_00: Mark Twain said you don't really know someone until you've traveled with them.
25:28
SPEAKER_00: And I think traveling with a partner, whether it's a husband-wife or a best friend or a family member, you have to negotiate.
25:37
SPEAKER_00: Um, I know exactly how many museums I can get Michelle into in one weekend, and it's usually one.
25:44
SPEAKER_02: It's a very small number.
25:46
SPEAKER_00: And the same thing goes, you know, she knows how many stores she can wander through before I'm like, okay, let's do something a little more fun.
25:54
SPEAKER_01: Is that also one?
25:56
SPEAKER_00: No, I I have a little higher tolerance than okay.
25:59
SPEAKER_02: And I can mix up the store enough.
26:02
unknown: Okay.
26:03
SPEAKER_00: She takes me to a good food store and I'm happy.
26:05
SPEAKER_02: Well, or I can say, you go to that store across the street, I'm gonna go to this one.
26:09
SPEAKER_02: See you in a bit.
26:10
SPEAKER_01: And these are the things, and I love this for people who are thinking about going on that big trip.
26:17
SPEAKER_01: You don't want to ruin it because he's got five museums planned, you don't get any time to go shopping, and the trip is now a disaster.
26:27
SPEAKER_01: So I love that, and I think these are conversations that you should probably have before you start out.
26:33
SPEAKER_00: Oh, absolutely.
26:35
SPEAKER_01: I used to say that I was okay for me to be able to drive like two and a half, three hours.
26:41
SPEAKER_01: That was my max.
26:43
SPEAKER_01: And then I have friends or family members that had categories of how far I could go with them.
26:53
SPEAKER_01: And I'm not even kidding.
26:54
SPEAKER_01: So there are certain people I can only be in a car with you for an hour.
26:59
SPEAKER_01: Like, so each person had a different time frame of how long I could be in a car.
27:05
SPEAKER_02: And how many bathroom breaks does that include?
27:07
SPEAKER_02: That's part of my list.
27:08
SPEAKER_02: What's the music?
27:09
SPEAKER_02: What's the podcast?
27:10
SPEAKER_02: The what's the playlist, and how many bathroom breaks do I get?
27:13
SPEAKER_00: And car snacks.
27:14
SPEAKER_02: And car snacks.
27:15
SPEAKER_01: Snacks.
27:15
SPEAKER_01: I was gonna say that you have snacks, knowing that I'm gonna need lunch, like within two and a half, three hours.
27:24
SPEAKER_01: What type of lunch?
27:25
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes every once in a while I could do fast food, but for the most part, not my favorite.
27:31
SPEAKER_01: So all of that has to be negotiated.
27:34
SPEAKER_01: And as much as we're laughing about it, it is true.
27:38
SPEAKER_01: Get me snacks, get me some chocolate, I'm good to go for three hours.
27:44
SPEAKER_02: Like just this is serious business.
27:46
SPEAKER_02: This is it can really impact the trip.
27:50
SPEAKER_02: And once you get there, you have to not be so emotionally and physically tapped out, you can't enjoy it, right?
27:56
SPEAKER_02: I mean, that's the whole point is to go and have fun.
27:58
SPEAKER_01: Right.
27:59
SPEAKER_01: And and anybody around me knows that if I haven't had my coffee, we are done.
28:06
SPEAKER_01: We are done.
28:07
SPEAKER_01: So nobody gets in a car with me unless I've had my coffee.
28:11
SPEAKER_01: Like that is just the cardinal rule.
28:14
SPEAKER_01: And again, as much as we're joking about it, it's it's true.
28:18
SPEAKER_01: And you should know that about yourself and share that with somebody.
28:22
SPEAKER_01: I travel in a car with a friend that we sometimes drive four or five hours.
28:27
SPEAKER_01: It's also being okay, being in silence.
28:32
SPEAKER_01: No radio, no podcast.
28:34
SPEAKER_01: We don't need to talk the whole time.
28:37
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes there's just silence and knowing that that's just okay.
28:43
SPEAKER_02: Well, and you know who's the better driver and who's the better passenger in the car.
28:47
SPEAKER_02: Definitely terrible.
28:48
SPEAKER_02: I'm a terrible passenger.
28:50
SPEAKER_02: Awful.
28:50
SPEAKER_02: He's a terrible passenger.
28:52
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
28:52
SPEAKER_01: I'd rather be the passenger with most people, but I've found that I've done a lot of driving this summer.
29:00
SPEAKER_01: Um, and for those of you don't know, I have a new position with a company that has 18 campgrounds in the Northeast.
29:08
SPEAKER_01: So I've done four and five-hour drives.
29:12
SPEAKER_01: And you have to kind of have the right mindset as well.
29:16
SPEAKER_01: Let's talk a little bit about that, going into it, not just with your partner, but with the situation.
29:23
SPEAKER_02: Before traveling anywhere, we always have a list of all the things we would like to do.
29:30
SPEAKER_02: And then in that list, we have the must-dos that we agree beforehand, before we've gone.
29:37
SPEAKER_02: Um, and then other things just get sprinkled in, right?
29:40
SPEAKER_02: We we know that the uh, you know, what needs to have a ticket in order to experience it, what needs to have an appointment, maybe it's a a wine tasting at a wine race.
29:50
SPEAKER_02: We need to set up that appointment.
29:51
SPEAKER_00: A spa day.
29:52
SPEAKER_02: A spa day, yeah, include those relaxation days.
29:56
SPEAKER_02: You can't ask your body to go nonstop for a long period of time without having days off.
30:02
SPEAKER_02: Um, and so you you and the person you're traveling with have to agree what's what's the must?
30:08
SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna be very disappointed if we don't do these things.
30:12
SPEAKER_02: And then what is you know most important for what's most important for me, what's most important for him, and then what do we sprinkle on as kind of you know the icing on the cake?
30:21
SPEAKER_00: And if it's a lot of outdoor activities, have a plan B for if the weather turns.
30:26
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely.
30:29
SPEAKER_01: It is, and and the weather just crazy.
30:32
SPEAKER_01: So that is a great suggestion.
30:35
SPEAKER_00: You can have the best plan and the best itinerary in the world, but if the weather's not going to cooperate, it can get ruined pretty quick.
30:42
SPEAKER_02: Well, when we were in Italy this summer, we were hiking on our own.
30:46
SPEAKER_02: We always go first by ourselves to just get our hiking legs and get our rhythm going.
30:50
SPEAKER_02: We were there two weeks.
30:53
SPEAKER_02: Weather was perfect.
30:54
SPEAKER_02: I mean, 85 degrees.
30:55
SPEAKER_00: Oh, it wasn't even that hot.
30:57
SPEAKER_02: Oh, it was so wonderful, absolutely ideal weather for hiking.
31:02
SPEAKER_02: And I mean, it could have been cooler, but perfect for summer in Italy.
31:05
SPEAKER_02: The group got there, they landed, it was 100 degrees.
31:09
SPEAKER_02: It did not cool off the entire time they were there.
31:12
SPEAKER_02: I felt just awful.
31:14
SPEAKER_02: Then they all flew home.
31:16
SPEAKER_02: The weather broke a hair, but it was just as bad where they landed at home, and they all came home to hot weather.
31:24
SPEAKER_02: So it was just one of those experiences that there's nothing we can do about it.
31:28
SPEAKER_02: Um, we have a friend who was hiking in what was ideal weather, like that his plan.
31:34
SPEAKER_02: It he was going in somewhere in September, and the weather was supposed to be perfect, and this was the best time to go.
31:40
SPEAKER_02: And the heat wave was so bad that he came home early from his trip.
31:46
SPEAKER_02: And so that's just the one thing you have to be okay with and understand.
31:50
SPEAKER_02: It could rain in 2024.
31:53
SPEAKER_02: We walked the Camino del Norte, 50 degrees and raining the entire summer.
31:59
SPEAKER_02: We were there.
32:00
SPEAKER_02: Wow, it was terrible weather.
32:02
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, does that sound fun?
32:04
SPEAKER_01: No, it's not.
32:05
SPEAKER_01: It was it was too cold and too wet all the time.
32:07
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and that's part of it.
32:09
SPEAKER_01: And I think so.
32:10
SPEAKER_01: Let's talk a little bit.
32:11
SPEAKER_01: This is what I want to do before we wrap up.
32:14
SPEAKER_01: Let's talk a little bit about this idea of going on the trip, worrying about the weather, the the planning, the perfect time, the perfect situation, the perfect person, all the money.
32:28
SPEAKER_01: Like perfect doesn't happen, right?
32:32
SPEAKER_02: You have to eliminate one word from every phrase you just threw out there, and that's the word perfect.
32:37
SPEAKER_02: Perfection doesn't exist in this world.
32:39
SPEAKER_02: We're human beings, mother nature, we're all flawed by design.
32:44
SPEAKER_02: It is what it is.
32:45
SPEAKER_02: So if you can take out perfect and you can develop the ability to pivot, I've got my layers, I can layer on, I can layer off, and I've got a good raincoat.
32:54
SPEAKER_02: And I'm willing to, you know, see the world in the rain if I have to, because at least I'm seeing the world.
33:00
SPEAKER_02: So if you can do that, you're far ahead of anybody else.
33:05
SPEAKER_01: I love that because that is the very thing I try to encourage, inspire, promote, talk about.
33:13
SPEAKER_01: Just go do it.
33:14
SPEAKER_01: It's whether you want to get in an RV and take a weekend trip or you want to go into a campground or go see the fall leaves that are now beautiful here in the northeast area of the country.
33:28
SPEAKER_01: Just go do it.
33:29
SPEAKER_01: Take those steps.
33:30
SPEAKER_01: But yeah, you have to do it, you have to be flexible, is what I would say.
33:35
SPEAKER_02: We thought we planned the perfect trip for Memorial Day weekend.
33:39
SPEAKER_02: We were we got a great campsite.
33:41
SPEAKER_02: We had our brand new rig out there, so all the enthusiasm in the world, had a corner campsite, so we had a nice big area, and we were really close to the pool.
33:50
SPEAKER_02: And do you know what happened that weekend?
33:52
SPEAKER_02: It rained the entire weekend.
33:54
SPEAKER_02: Our campsite was a mud pit, couldn't even sit out under the awning.
33:59
SPEAKER_02: There was so much wet and mud, never saw the pool.
34:02
SPEAKER_02: And what we learned from that weekend is that we have a lot of great board games.
34:07
SPEAKER_02: We're really good at entertaining ourselves inside, and we made the best of it, and we were just really happy that we were out in our camper.
34:15
SPEAKER_01: And that's what I think you have to look at making the best of it when the situation isn't perfect, because like you said, there's no perfect, but you know, going and it's the story you tell.
34:26
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it was a mud pit.
34:28
SPEAKER_01: And you know, you I could remember the nights where it was chilly and and taking the we had a jackknife bed and just laying there and watching a movie, and it was movie night, and that's fine, watching the thunderstorm, making the best of those situations.
34:45
SPEAKER_01: And I I think that's better than sitting around and waiting till it's too late.
34:50
SPEAKER_00: And the mishaps honestly make the best stories.
34:54
SPEAKER_00: That's a weekend we will never forget.
34:57
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
34:58
SPEAKER_01: You might not laugh about it at the time, but someday you'll laugh about it, and there are mishaps.
35:03
SPEAKER_01: And what uh if you're not having some mishaps, you're not getting out there doing it because as much as social media wants to show us the most beautiful, perfect looking vacations, it doesn't happen.
35:16
SPEAKER_01: Somebody yelled at each other beforehand.
35:18
SPEAKER_01: It's funny I tell this story.
35:20
SPEAKER_01: I go, and I hope my family's not listening, but I go with my family to Disney.
35:26
SPEAKER_01: We've been doing this for years, and it was, you know, first with my kids and my brother and mom and dad, and you know, it's grown to, I don't know, this trip will be 15 people.
35:37
SPEAKER_01: And two years ago, when we went, we had three four-year-old, two four-year-olds, and then other kids of various ages.
35:46
SPEAKER_01: And I said in the first day and the first hour, there were two meltdowns by an adult.
35:53
SPEAKER_01: So you just never know.
35:55
SPEAKER_01: Somebody was too hungry and didn't like the food choice.
36:00
SPEAKER_00: It was not the happiest place on earth that I've had.
36:02
SPEAKER_02: I've had my meltdowns at Disney for sure.
36:05
SPEAKER_02: I couldn't imagine in that big of a group.
36:08
SPEAKER_01: Yep.
36:09
SPEAKER_01: We've learned how to navigate it.
36:10
SPEAKER_01: We've learned that my brother has itinerary schedules.
36:16
SPEAKER_01: Everything is color-coded.
36:18
SPEAKER_01: Who's going where when they're arriving?
36:20
SPEAKER_00: He is my kind of guy.
36:23
SPEAKER_01: But usually I won some say in like where we're going and what we're doing.
36:28
SPEAKER_01: Now I go to Disney because I want to experience it with the grandkids.
36:31
SPEAKER_01: Like I've done it with my kids.
36:33
SPEAKER_01: I've been there more times than I can count.
36:35
SPEAKER_01: And it's just nice to have somebody else handle it and say, okay, what time do you want me to show up?
36:40
SPEAKER_01: Where do you want me to show up?
36:41
SPEAKER_01: Did you make sure I have my coffee before showing up?
36:45
SPEAKER_01: As long as we have that window for me to get coffee, we're good.
36:48
SPEAKER_01: So there's different trips at different times.
36:52
SPEAKER_01: But as we keep coming back to really some of the things we've talked about that I think are important, knowing who you're traveling with, making sure you understand each other's needs, like food, coffee, snacks, those bathroom stops.
37:08
SPEAKER_01: Um, and then, you know, discussing what are the big important things?
37:12
SPEAKER_01: What are the things that are maybes?
37:15
SPEAKER_01: All of those things are great tips to for people to look at, especially before they do an international trip.
37:23
SPEAKER_01: What is something you would recommend that we haven't talked about yet?
37:27
SPEAKER_01: What's something that would inspire people to say, you know what, I'm just gonna plan the trip?
37:33
SPEAKER_02: I think there's nothing better than renting a car or getting a train ticket and just going.
37:39
SPEAKER_02: We have rented a car and we started in northwest corner of Spain, drove all the way through Portugal, through the Algarves, all around southern Spain, and back up to Barcelona.
37:52
SPEAKER_02: And that road trip was so fun.
37:55
SPEAKER_02: It really was.
37:55
SPEAKER_02: We stopped in random little towns.
37:58
SPEAKER_02: We have notes of places that we want to go back to.
38:00
SPEAKER_02: We hiked in places that we'd never been.
38:03
SPEAKER_02: Um, because it's amazing what the Googler will show you when you're in a different area.
38:08
SPEAKER_02: And we had a very loose itinerary and we just went for it.
38:11
SPEAKER_00: And your the algorithm changes on social media went depending on where you are.
38:15
SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah.
38:16
SPEAKER_00: So once we got to a place, we started seeing all kinds of things to do just because we were close.
38:22
SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah, yeah.
38:22
SPEAKER_01: You should see my my social media feed full of places to go in Italy, things to do.
38:29
SPEAKER_01: That's how I saw Stephen Tucci.
38:32
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, all of yeah, yeah, it'll start feeding you stuff, that's for sure.
38:36
SPEAKER_01: As we're speaking, it's listening.
38:38
SPEAKER_01: So I'm sure it'll pop up.
38:40
SPEAKER_00: I think the important thing to remember is not to try to plan too much.
38:45
SPEAKER_00: Um, if you run yourself ragged, nobody's gonna have a good time.
38:48
SPEAKER_00: You're gonna end up with those meltdowns when you're just exhausted and you feel like it was just, you know, a never-ending merry-go-round.
38:55
SPEAKER_00: So, like when we are planning our day, we will only plan one big activity in a day and then give ourselves plenty of time to wander around.
39:04
SPEAKER_00: Maybe two tours or two activities in one day.
39:08
SPEAKER_00: And our opinion is always this is not the trip of a lifetime.
39:12
SPEAKER_00: This is not the only time we're gonna go here.
39:14
SPEAKER_00: It's just the first time we're coming to a place.
39:16
SPEAKER_02: And we may not ever get back there, but it you can't experience it like it's a trip of a lifetime, or you put too much pressure on yourself.
39:25
SPEAKER_02: And so, like the first time we went to Glacier National Park, that park is huge.
39:30
SPEAKER_02: There was so much we wanted to see and do, but you can't.
39:34
SPEAKER_02: We had a week and we did a little bit every day, and then we said, you know what?
39:40
SPEAKER_02: When we go back, we have a list of things we want to do.
39:43
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think Michelle's really hit it.
39:45
SPEAKER_00: It's we put some of these vacation destinations on a pedestal, and you expect so much out of them that there's no way they can live up to it.
39:53
SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, you say, Oh, we're gonna go to Paris and it's gonna be so romantic and it's gonna be and then it wasn't for us at all.
40:00
SPEAKER_00: Oh, we have terrible Paris is not our city.
40:03
SPEAKER_02: We'll get back there and we'll make it our city dog on it, but not yet.
40:07
SPEAKER_01: Great advice.
40:09
SPEAKER_01: I know that happened when I started out in the RV.
40:11
SPEAKER_01: This is the city I'm in, and I'm never gonna get back here.
40:15
SPEAKER_01: So let's do everything.
40:16
SPEAKER_01: And I quickly learned no, it sometimes enjoying it and taking breaks.
40:22
SPEAKER_01: It's like a big part for me of Italy is sitting in the cafe, drinking coffee, of course.
40:29
SPEAKER_01: You know, watching people go by.
40:32
SPEAKER_01: That, you know, for some people that'd be like, oh, that's a waste of time.
40:35
SPEAKER_01: You should be exploring or doing a tour, learning something.
40:39
SPEAKER_01: No, that's part of it.
40:40
SPEAKER_02: A couple Italian phrases Dolce Farniette.
40:44
SPEAKER_02: I know that the sweetness of doing nothing, and the Italians brace that sit in a park with fruit from the fresh market and just enjoy the scenery.
40:56
SPEAKER_02: Dolce Farniette.
40:59
SPEAKER_02: Please take the time for the sweetness of doing nothing.
41:03
SPEAKER_02: And then passaginata.
41:04
SPEAKER_00: Passaginata, that's uh your afternoon stroll, evening stroll.
41:08
SPEAKER_00: And it's funny because you'll see in the village or in the town square, all of a sudden around 6 p.m.
41:15
SPEAKER_00: or so, all these little old couples will start coming out and they're walking arm in arm, and you'll see families coming out and stuff and taking their little stroll.
41:23
SPEAKER_00: On their, you know, they're not going to dinner, they're just walking a couple of blocks or you know, around the neighborhood before dinner.
41:31
SPEAKER_02: It's opening the stomach, it's conversating about your day, it's transitioning to the evening, it's going from day mode to evening.
41:41
SPEAKER_02: Passaginata.
41:42
SPEAKER_00: And I have a couple of other phrases, but I don't think I can say them on YouTube.
41:46
SPEAKER_01: Oh, okay.
41:46
SPEAKER_01: We'll say them after I've stopped recording.
41:48
SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
41:49
SPEAKER_01: Okay, you know, you need this information.
41:52
SPEAKER_01: Well, I know there is so much more we could talk about.
41:55
SPEAKER_01: I want to encourage my listeners to check out your episode.
41:59
SPEAKER_01: I'll put it in the show notes, but also go to all of your amazing social media content, and I'll have all of that in the show notes.
42:07
SPEAKER_01: It's cruising with the Colemans.
42:10
SPEAKER_01: Um, absolutely.
42:12
SPEAKER_01: Go check it out.
42:13
SPEAKER_01: I wish we had way more time.
42:15
SPEAKER_01: Um, you know I'm going to be calling you for more information.
42:19
SPEAKER_01: And I will come.
42:21
SPEAKER_02: Well go back to you.
42:22
SPEAKER_01: You will, and I will share it with my listeners.
42:25
SPEAKER_01: Thank you guys so much for being back on the podcast.
42:30
SPEAKER_02: Happy to.
42:31
SPEAKER_02: Thanks for having us, Patty.
42:32
SPEAKER_02: We appreciate it.
42:33
SPEAKER_02: And we hope that you enjoy Italy.
42:36
SPEAKER_00: And um, if you're interested, we do have spots open to go to Portugal still.
42:40
SPEAKER_01: Oh, I wanted to talk about that.
42:41
SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
42:42
SPEAKER_01: Where is your next is to Portugal?
42:46
SPEAKER_01: Okay, let's talk about this.
42:47
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
42:47
SPEAKER_02: So we have we have two trips coming up in 2027.
42:50
SPEAKER_02: So this is just a small part of our life.
42:53
SPEAKER_00: Mom, pop.
42:55
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, a small part of our life.
42:57
SPEAKER_02: We're doing two trips.
42:58
SPEAKER_02: One is Tamar to Porto.
43:00
SPEAKER_02: Tamar is one of those villages, kind of like how we mentioned earlier, Grecio and Samos, that you know no one's ever heard of, but it is a beautiful little village that has a lot of charming character.
43:10
SPEAKER_00: Huge history.
43:11
SPEAKER_02: So we're starting out there with kind of the uh a medieval dinner and a medieval experience, and we're walking to Porto, and and so we're ending with port wine, right?
43:22
SPEAKER_02: And the history of Portugal and where port wine comes from.
43:24
SPEAKER_00: I mean, the name the wine is so good they named a country after it.
43:28
SPEAKER_02: Yes.
43:28
SPEAKER_02: There you go.
43:29
SPEAKER_02: So that's trip one.
43:31
SPEAKER_02: There are only three rooms left, which will mean take six people, and then the other trip is uh Porto to Santiago.
43:38
SPEAKER_02: This is for that we have one room left for that trip.
43:41
SPEAKER_02: This is for the person who wants the pilgrimage experience.
43:44
SPEAKER_02: They want to walk the coast of Spain and they want to walk the spiritual variant, and they want to walk into Santiago de Compostela so that they can earn their Compostela.
43:54
SPEAKER_02: And so there's just two different types of trips, one for more of the foodie adventure seeker, and one for more of the religious, spiritual person.
44:03
SPEAKER_00: But it's important to say that um pilgrimage is you don't have to be religious, you definitely don't have to be Catholic.
44:09
SPEAKER_00: Um, we have all kinds of people that walk pilgrimage, and they're not all walking for spiritual or religious reasons.
44:15
SPEAKER_02: It's about finding what's inside yourself, and why not do that?
44:19
SPEAKER_01: Right.
44:19
SPEAKER_01: So, when are these two trips?
44:21
SPEAKER_02: Both of them are in July of 2027, early July and late July.
44:27
SPEAKER_02: And people go, Oh, it's gonna be so hot, it's the summer.
44:30
SPEAKER_02: No, we're walking along the coast, it's beautiful.
44:33
SPEAKER_02: Think summer in the northwest of the United States.
44:37
SPEAKER_02: You know a little bit about that.
44:38
SPEAKER_02: Yep, yeah.
44:39
SPEAKER_00: A little hot.
44:40
SPEAKER_01: No, it'll be fine.
44:41
SPEAKER_02: You can't control it.
44:41
SPEAKER_01: It'll be fine.
44:42
SPEAKER_01: You just go in the water if you get if you get hot.
44:45
SPEAKER_01: So it sounds like we need to have you back on to talk about those trips because I want to hear more, and I think my audience would want to hear more about those two trips.
44:56
SPEAKER_01: So we'll have to plan that.
44:58
SPEAKER_01: And since you're getting ready to retire, Brian, we will have time for that.
45:03
SPEAKER_02: Yes, we will.
45:04
SPEAKER_02: We're excited again.
45:06
SPEAKER_01: Thank you guys so much, and I want to thank my listeners for listening on the podcast platform or the YouTube channel.
45:14
SPEAKER_01: And again, we're gonna put a bunch of pictures in there.
45:17
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for reaching out and checking this out.
45:20
SPEAKER_01: I am on Inspire Travels with Patty, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube.
45:25
SPEAKER_01: Hit the follow and like button because it really helps us.
45:29
SPEAKER_01: It's really helpful.
45:30
SPEAKER_01: Um, and I just want to wish everybody a great day.