Episode 8 from The Grit Theory.

Fueled by a love for adventure, Billy and Sara Walker left the military to embark on a year long exploration of North and South America after years of planning and preparation. The discussion focuses on overcoming adversity, adapting to unknowns, and seeking the beautiful in both each other and the wilderness that surrounded them.

Highlights include:

-Adjusting the plan to achieve the goal
-The ability to accomplish anything after choosing to commit
-The power of simplifying problem sets
-The joy of adventure
-Learning contentment
-Learning to avoid the “I wish I….” mindset
-The power and value of marriage and investing in your partner
-Why respecting one another is paramount
-The importance of communication in a relationship

And remember:

“JUST COMMIT!”
-Billy

Did you find value in today’s conversation? SHARE IT! 

Also, check out Be Relentless: If the obstacle is the way, then we must be waymakers HERE.

Do you want to learn more? Check out:

The Book: Be Relentless: If the obstacle is the way, then we must be WayMakers.

The Podcast: “Be Relentless Podcast”

The Fuel: Sisu Stamina, Performance Evolved

Linktree: Here.

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Episode Transcript

00;00;03;11 – 00;00;09;02

Jon

Hello, everyone. Welcome to the grid theory, where we believe in facing difficulty head on.

00;00;09;15 – 00;00;14;20

Aaron

These are stories of inspiration. We applaud grit, tenacity, resilience.

00;00;14;28 – 00;00;19;16

Jon

The struggle in the pursuit of better, more intentional lives.

00;00;23;26 – 00;00;41;26

Jon

All right. Well, hello, everyone. I am John now joined with Erin Robinson. As always, as always as me as you’ve been playing me today. I’m glad. And today we have the opportunity to be joined with two mighty adventurers, Billy and Sarah Walker. How are you guys? Great.

00;00;43;13 – 00;00;44;25

The Walkers

Thank me. Be here.

00;00;45;15 – 00;00;50;23

Jon

Thank you, sir. And besides that, no less. Now, Sarah, you will be carrying this discussion.

00;00;51;19 – 00;00;54;02

The Walkers

We work together, Team. We try to.

00;00;54;23 – 00;01;18;06

Jon

Sew. So there’s a few fun things about this. One. I adore both you. So the other fun thing is you guys are testing our systems for a four person recording. So thank you for that opportunity. Yes, I love it. It was an extra 15 minutes before mangling the mikes this morning, but it’s like that’s not a claim is actually really interesting.

00;01;18;29 – 00;01;22;19

Jon

I didn’t know how many ways I figured these things to get this setup.

00;01;22;27 – 00;01;26;24

The Walkers

Yeah, it’s an awesome setup. There’s just arms coming out of the table.

00;01;28;00 – 00;01;47;19

Jon

I needed the flossing set for. But yeah, one of the things that’s really exciting about this to me is you’re both phenomenal, incredible people for numerous reasons that I hope to flesh out so that I’m not the only one who’s saying that and thinking it, but that people can kind of see why. And I’m also saying that to embarrass you both and it seems to be working by the shades on your faces.

00;01;48;01 – 00;01;55;20

Jon

So, yes, this process works. I think.

00;01;55;27 – 00;01;56;23

The Walkers

He’s nervous.

00;01;57;14 – 00;02;26;25

Jon

I can tell he’s reading the one word so simple. Once he starts rubbing his beard, you’ll know something. That’s right. It’s our. So, you guys, I. I met Billy several months back and didn’t know how how crazy you guys were until I find out like you should. You guys have been on tour for. For your own adventure, right?

00;02;27;02 – 00;02;48;24

Jon

I’ve been to lots of different locations. Really? But when I found you, you’re like when we met. This is like one of the stops. Like you came to the ranch here, and you had. You’re in a different vehicle than that. You’re, like, traveling and sleeping in. And early in this whole this homeless couple of $140,000.

00;02;49;04 – 00;02;55;02

The Walkers

Yes. The first time I did meet you, I was climbing out of the truck because we were living in the back of my truck.

00;02;55;03 – 00;02;58;07

Jon

Yeah. Oh, yeah. Like the truck. And I was like, I was.

00;02;59;11 – 00;02;59;23

The Walkers

Doing.

00;02;59;23 – 00;03;05;28

Jon

It right. Oh, we just. I just. I didn’t know exactly how or whether I.

00;03;07;00 – 00;03;08;13

The Walkers

Was kind of embarrassed.

00;03;08;20 – 00;03;38;19

Jon

Yeah, Yeah, I know this along with Amy having her car. Yeah. And, yeah, so, like, obviously, context is important in that. Both of you, what’s happening here. So to that context. Yeah. So a little bit first jump in the, the very condensed version that I hope that you guys will flesh out for us. We can explore. It is we have two previous officers, active duty officers for the Army in different careers.

00;03;38;19 – 00;03;59;14

Jon

Billy was an infantry officer. Sarah was an artillery officer and they met somewhere in Hawaii. Cupid struck, the stars aligned rainbows and sunshine. They decided that they wanted to spend the rest of their lives together and to leave that army to go and live out of their villa, which then turned into a pretty sick truck for a year.

00;03;59;27 – 00;04;21;18

Jon

And they hit a bunch of bumps. And then there actually turns their truck like fans don’t turn into trucks. You know, they don’t grow up and because they trade is busy and there’s somebody out there listening. That was exactly in that headspace that that trade actually costs me money because I lost keys in the transaction. So that was fun.

00;04;22;19 – 00;04;45;08

Jon

But they traded the band for Truck. They finished the trip because of what 2020 represented with Hope and things. Their plans changed. There is all sorts of things. It was their first time living closely together outside of a couple of months because of the army in a in a band. So there’s a lot of I’d love to hear and I think we should just jump into it.

00;04;45;08 – 00;04;52;29

Jon

Unless you have something I’d love to hear, like kind of the genesis of the story, your guys meeting, why you made this decision, kind of what led into it.

00;04;53;11 – 00;04;53;25

The Walkers

Yeah.

00;04;54;09 – 00;04;54;18

Jon

Well.

00;04;55;02 – 00;05;10;12

The Walkers

First and foremost, we didn’t have the males we would have never been able to do the whole trip because of all the different changes, because of COVID, because of the vehicle type, because of winter. So because we just needed.

00;05;10;13 – 00;05;13;21

Jon

To make the decision like, was it just to do this trip?

00;05;13;29 – 00;05;15;12

The Walkers

To do this trip was like.

00;05;15;21 – 00;05;16;01

Jon

Yeah.

00;05;16;09 – 00;05;17;06

The Walkers

You’re met.

00;05;17;12 – 00;05;33;14

Jon

I mean, when we first were dating, maybe not even dating, we talked about like, this is you see all the cool people, like they travel and this is all they do. Yeah, they do cool set, like we, like, we knew we like to rock climb. We knew we like to hike. We knew we like to see. We knew we like to do all this stuff and travel and sea world and stuff.

00;05;33;14 – 00;05;49;28

Jon

And we had both already been travel pretty like, well, already like, like before we started a podcast or talk show in Portugal. Like I travel all the time. She travel time and we want to just continue that before the next stage of I guess of Life, which is kids.

00;05;50;16 – 00;05;52;08

The Walkers

Kind of situation illness.

00;05;52;12 – 00;05;53;04

Jon

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00;05;53;04 – 00;05;55;18

The Walkers

I wanted one year of just happiness.

00;05;55;26 – 00;06;18;24

Jon

And the military also the military also would be the opposite of what you came from right here. Also working on a little bit in terms of like this is the way and that’s how you do things. Whereas like, you know, you look at a lot of things like social media has an influence a little bit, but you see like we want to do things like, why not let’s go, let’s like, let’s just commit and do it.

00;06;18;24 – 00;06;47;11

Jon

And then that will and, but we knew that when we were dating, before you were married or anything. So I had kind of thought about this trip, about doing it on a sailboat prior to ever knowing Sarah, but she gets seasick. So now we drive everywhere. Adaption. Yeah, yeah, yeah. She doesn’t. She gets carsick. But that was like, it’s always been in the back of the head, like, Hey, we’re going to let’s take this massive sabbatical to knock out all our bucket list stuff.

00;06;48;05 – 00;06;58;08

Jon

And then before the next phase of life. I guess so. So, so real quick, so I can understand. Exactly. Precisely. So your guys’s trip ended roughly a month ago?

00;06;59;15 – 00;06;59;26

The Walkers

Yeah.

00;06;59;26 – 00;07;24;08

Jon

And it lasted about a year. Yeah. And then when did can we start it when you guys met? Like it can be high level. Whatever makes sense. But you guys met whatever. I think there’s a bit of humor there. And then it goes to like, Hey, I think we like each other enough to, like, get married and then let’s start that essentially with leaving our careers to become hippies.

00;07;24;17 – 00;07;29;11

The Walkers

Mm hmm. Yeah, right. Well, so when we started dating, it was in Hawaii.

00;07;29;11 – 00;07;31;01

Jon

So was that two years ago?

00;07;31;18 – 00;07;32;14

The Walkers

I know. No, that was.

00;07;32;14 – 00;07;35;21

Jon

For 2016. So five years ago.

00;07;37;17 – 00;07;59;24

The Walkers

We’re all getting old, so. Yeah. So when we met, we were in Hawaii and we met during a field exercise actually. And I, you know, I got a phone number from another girl in my unit and she was like, If you need anybody, since you’re only going to be with men for the next month, call, call this guy.

00;08;00;06 – 00;08;21;00

The Walkers

And I was like, okay, cool. Thanks. So I put the number of my phone and I briefed about 50 guys saying like, Hey, I’m your new FAS officer, you guys need anything? You know, I’m here, I’ll be working with you guys. And then afterwards I was like, Hey, all this is can you guys come over here so I can get your numbers to contact you?

00;08;21;00 – 00;08;48;21

The Walkers

And Billy put his number on my phone, and he was like, You already have my number. So awkward. And so I was like, Oh God. He’s like, Do you know me? I’m like, Who are you? A Billy Walker? I said, Well, Colleen, just give me your number. So and so that’s how it kind of sparked. And then you saw me eating pizza and taking all the cheese.

00;08;48;21 – 00;08;50;13

The Walkers

Then that’s how you fell in love with me.

00;08;51;06 – 00;08;59;00

Jon

Just ruining your pizza. You like to watch watching atrocities, Just like destroying something that’s like, wow.

00;08;59;07 – 00;09;06;24

The Walkers

Actually, yeah. For the a couple weeks after that exercise, you actually played really hard to get. And I was like, What the heck is she playing?

00;09;06;24 – 00;09;18;03

Jon

I don’t know. So. So yeah, no, she was like, Oh, I’ll go to this party or this bar or something. You want to come? I got to get to sleep, I got to go to bed because I got a fish or tomorrow morning.

00;09;18;05 – 00;09;19;00

The Walkers

I was like, okay.

00;09;19;03 – 00;09;25;15

Jon

I’ve got to get this stupid thing. I was fishing the next morning, but it was not necessary for me to go to bed early.

00;09;25;23 – 00;09;38;28

The Walkers

So finally I got up and we went to our first number of races was tournaments, and that’s why I got the tattoo. And so I have a tattoo. But we and it’s an island off.

00;09;39;10 – 00;09;57;16

Jon

It’s an island off of Oahu is Island Y, and it’s an island off of Wai. And it’s just like this is really cool. It looks literally like a tournament set. Like if you were like, it’s kind of flatter on the edges and it just looks up and there’s a cool hike to the top. And I took her there on this hike and we hammock for a while and chilled.

00;09;57;16 – 00;09;58;18

The Walkers

And you had the paddleboard.

00;09;58;18 – 00;10;05;03

Jon

There. Yeah. Yeah. You got a paddle board over there? Yes. We’re immigrants like yes, because they’re already adventuring together.

00;10;05;03 – 00;10;25;08

The Walkers

Yeah. So that’s when our first day I was like, okay, this is, this is cool. You know, like we’re thinking the same way. That’s kind of what I like to do. And she was just like, I can’t take you to all these my favorite spots on the island. And I thought that was so sick. So like, as the cousin, you know, exploring together, I was like, I really like him.

00;10;25;08 – 00;10;31;21

The Walkers

And two weeks and I was like, walking on the beach with my friend Liz, and I was like, I think I’m going to marry this.

00;10;32;27 – 00;10;43;18

Jon

And she’s not even saying she was dating somebody. When we first met. Well, you know.

00;10;43;27 – 00;10;47;07

The Walkers

No, actually, Billy would not kiss me. Billy would not hold my hand.

00;10;47;08 – 00;10;47;28

Jon

True gentleman.

00;10;47;29 – 00;10;51;23

The Walkers

No, he was just my friend until I broke up with him. Yes.

00;10;52;10 – 00;11;07;17

Jon

Which is a testament to both of you. But real quick, because this is hilarious. I’m just here to explain when you’re on the beach and you’re like, I didn’t want to marry this man, this Billy the stallion. This man. Yeah, this man. Billy, Where are you thinking? I think I want to marry Sarah at that point.

00;11;07;17 – 00;11;10;22

The Walkers

Oh, God, no.

00;11;10;22 – 00;11;25;08

Jon

I definitely like. Well, I wasn’t thinking marriage. I guess it was like, because I at that point, I think I knew, like, she had a boyfriend. So I was like, Oh, I really hope she breaks out with this guy. Like, that’s what I was thinking more then, Yeah, you know.

00;11;25;29 – 00;11;30;19

The Walkers

What a chick thing, right? I just don’t do marriage. Maybe we should date first.

00;11;31;26 – 00;11;40;18

Jon

Lady in high school. You? Well, yeah. And Billy didn’t even challenge this guy. They’re like, Well, he wasn’t in the same location. Oh, okay.

00;11;40;18 – 00;11;44;05

The Walkers

Now, anyway, can we get off this subject?

00;11;44;05 – 00;11;54;26

Jon

Sure. So the bottom line, those two teenagers, like, really liking what’s going on. You guys decide to break paths with other people in your life so that there’s no need for each other. And then one.

00;11;54;26 – 00;12;05;03

The Walkers

Yes, Adam, we really just started Adventure live. Our our love language is adventure. Like that is what we like to do. You know, we don’t buy gifts for each other.

00;12;05;04 – 00;12;11;14

Jon

We go experience things. That’s great. Oh, yeah. We go on trips, like I said, just experiences. Right? Right.

00;12;11;15 – 00;12;13;28

The Walkers

So like, for example, know.

00;12;14;02 – 00;12;34;25

Jon

We were dating our first big trip was like, you know, she’s the one. We went to New Zealand and we backpacked for 15 days and all we did was like, there was no Airbnbs reserved, there’s no hotels. We went to New Zealand, the South Island, and we just backpacked. I got like this SUV and like if we had to, like, sleep inside at one point we slept in the in the SUV.

00;12;35;07 – 00;12;55;07

Jon

Otherwise we had a tent and we hiked and we were in the mountains. And like that was that’s what we did. That seems kind of reckless. Doesn’t I mean, like. Well, no, not in the sense of like, you know, to be negative. It’s like it’s kind of crazy, right? I think she does. That two is just going to show we’ve learned a lot, like we knew exactly where we were going to be and like what hikes we were doing and like what?

00;12;55;07 – 00;12;58;22

Jon

Like I came home one night and Sarah was like, Hey, like I booked.

00;12;59;24 – 00;13;00;26

The Walkers

For bungee jumps.

00;13;00;27 – 00;13;18;00

Jon

But she goes anywhere to go bungee jumping. I think of it. Taxes, like, yeah, She goes, Okay, cool. And then I come home. She’s like, I booked for an exact day. So talk about adrenaline spike to just drop in. Like at the end of the day, I’m like, I’m dying.

00;13;18;02 – 00;13;19;22

The Walkers

Yeah, it was like a dream. So, like.

00;13;19;22 – 00;13;30;22

Jon

I had it like, just don’t get to yet. You jump off the bridge into, like, one of those river things below you. And there’s the biggest bungee jump right in the world or something. We did that one.

00;13;30;22 – 00;13;31;18

The Walkers

So that one was.

00;13;31;18 – 00;13;40;00

Jon

Cool. So for each or I make sure we for each one that one day.

00;13;40;00 – 00;13;40;11

The Walkers

Now.

00;13;40;24 – 00;13;50;08

Jon

How much drive like you must have been like the only the day was part of the day and like I like I have a headache from the adrenaline like spike to crash.

00;13;50;08 – 00;14;02;18

The Walkers

Oh the one The one was actually we went off in the canyon separately. And then the cool thing was our last one. We actually did it together, so it was kind of more like a swing and it was.

00;14;02;18 – 00;14;03;01

Jon

The big.

00;14;03;06 – 00;14;11;17

The Walkers

And the larger together backwards. So it was kind of cool. Like they let you go. You’re not. You’re floating through the canyon together.

00;14;11;25 – 00;14;16;23

Jon

Well, we should mention we should mention your backdrop. You have jumped out of planes before.

00;14;16;24 – 00;14;17;14

The Walkers

Yes.

00;14;17;14 – 00;14;21;21

Jon

So, Halo master.

00;14;21;21 – 00;14;32;08

The Walkers

So Helicopter Lands Skylines is my I’ve really want to jump out of a hot air balloon, but that’s on the list. Wow. Okay. But yeah, I like jumping out of things.

00;14;33;04 – 00;14;51;13

Jon

And has done that before. I have. Yeah. Okay. I’m not I don’t have 700 jobs like she does, but now I have jumped quite a bit as well. All right. Yes. He’s only a master, not a halo master. There isn’t a decent diet and you wouldn’t have actually ever met.

00;14;51;13 – 00;14;54;22

The Walkers

So there’s some cooler will get me.

00;14;54;23 – 00;15;10;08

Jon

Interesting. This is a fun point for me to keep poking at because we joke about this all the time. I always call it She’s like a Halo master space diver and she’s like, None of those things are real combined like that. Yeah. I’m not into those jobs. Shut up.

00;15;10;08 – 00;15;34;23

The Walkers

Like, it’s not adding adjectives, but I just love adrenaline realness. It’s always been like my anti-drug. It makes me better. I get out. And that’s why right now, because I got cancer a year ago. So now I just do bike riding I think is like my go to of adrenaline. But if I can find something, what else? What else is adrenaline?

00;15;34;23 – 00;15;35;25

The Walkers

The thing that I like to do.

00;15;35;25 – 00;16;02;14

Jon

Well, you’re. You’re friends with the mayor’s. Yeah. Yeah. So you guys are you you’re relationships growing. You’re doing for bungee jumps like epic body jumps, world record bunch jumps in one day, you’re okay. I think I want to make this thing work. You guys happen to get married? I want. At what point do you start planning? I know we’re both in the army will be separated by the Army, but we want to get out and we want to do this trip.

00;16;02;25 – 00;16;04;20

Jon

And what was the trip supposed to be?

00;16;05;12 – 00;16;32;13

The Walkers

Well, so if I can back up a little there. We did end up moving in together in Hawaii. So we did live together for nine months in Hawaii. And when we did, it was in like the coolest part of the island. So it was actually like 45 minutes to an hour drive to work. But we wanted to go down there just cause we want to be in luxury and live by like the white sand beach and the bluest water together.

00;16;32;13 – 00;16;53;08

The Walkers

So it was kind of like a honeymoon before I even got married. Yeah. So I don’t know. And it was just, like, a perfect location. We were just we’re so and we loved it. Yeah, just. Everything was just magical. So that kind of, you know, escalated us to get married, I think. Right?

00;16;53;08 – 00;16;53;21

Jon

I mean, I.

00;16;53;21 – 00;16;54;20

The Walkers

Think we argued.

00;16;55;18 – 00;17;21;26

Jon

We both knew we were going to like I think we both at once we started dating, dating. It was like, okay, this is it. And then, you know, the more trips we did, the more we realized, like, how aligned, like our values and like what we treasure are, which is experiences versus like, hey, here’s a like this, you know, jewelry or, or whatever, you know, like we really truly, like, measure things.

00;17;21;26 – 00;17;46;16

Jon

Similarly, you know, I heard that you have say about this, but sometimes I need real simple marriage advice. You said it said, just make sure that no matter what, you really enjoy being around the person you genuinely like the person. Yeah. It was like, really? It’s not like love, infatuation, you know? They said no, just like if you like hanging out with them, like, yeah, like they’re a friend to you.

00;17;46;26 – 00;18;06;22

Jon

That’s a really good indicator, you know? Yeah, that’s a perfect example of like, why, why he didn’t break up or anything during this like one full year sabbatical of living in a band versus. Yeah, I mean, he did watch social media like a lot of the people that are these influencers doing that stuff and other couples doing it like that, they do break up.

00;18;07;07 – 00;18;11;09

Jon

Yeah, it is not like an easy thing that we’re in like ten square feet.

00;18;11;10 – 00;18;13;18

The Walkers

So yeah.

00;18;13;18 – 00;18;32;09

Jon

It’s, it’s an amazing adventure to share with somebody. But it’s also it is tough. But like we had done, like, like I said, New Zealand, we were dating and we did this backpacking thing like we’re out of an SUV. We only had to spend like two nights in that city because it only rained two nights and our whole 15 days.

00;18;32;09 – 00;18;50;16

Jon

Yeah. Versus like in a tent or camping. We’re doing like, amazing things. And we did like another 70 day backpacking thing in Thailand. We were like, you know, we had like really tested like and we realized like, no, we because we enjoy each other’s company to like, hey, we can, you know, we’re laughing, we’re having a great time.

00;18;50;16 – 00;19;16;10

Jon

We don’t need anybody or anything like around us necessarily. Like, you know, it really is, you know, even I had it when I was at the bachelor party in Austin, like I was talking to you and and we were just giggling on the phone and and the one dude, Corey goes, Who’s he talking to? And the one guy is like, Oh, he’s talking to us like, Dang, that’s actually like, laughing versus like, Oh, like, are you?

00;19;16;10 – 00;19;16;28

The Walkers

We giggle.

00;19;19;05 – 00;19;42;29

Jon

Things are, you know, everything combined. Yeah. Just the fact that we have shared values in terms of measuring what is important to us versus things we kind of tested like that. You were really real. Let’s say you were like you could have like paddleboarding into the China trade. And that’s like, that’s not your thing. You’re just like, I just want this girl to like me, you know?

00;19;43;10 – 00;19;55;18

Jon

And it’s it’s not a good fit, you know? It’s but you guys are actually being genuine, authentic with each other. Yeah. So I don’t think there’s any faking it. Like, we don’t like something. It’s visible. It has no experience like this.

00;19;55;18 – 00;20;18;28

The Walkers

I don’t know who don’t. I think it’s just been with the experiences that we’ve had together, We have to be honest with each other. Because you’re doing these crazy things, you’re with each other all the time. I was actually thinking today like, It’s so crazy. I haven’t seen Billie this week because I’m working, working, you know, an actual job where I’m like, Well, I miss him.

00;20;18;28 – 00;20;25;11

The Walkers

Like, we haven’t seen each other. I haven’t spent every single day this second together. So, you.

00;20;25;11 – 00;20;43;25

Jon

Know, from each other’s space. Yeah. Just the trust and the openness to it. We do do some like multi pitch climb stuff like the one in Telluride. We’re doing a multi pitch and like we’re on pitch two or something and like, the rock wasn’t great, you know, very cheesy and just like kind of loose rock and.

00;20;44;07 – 00;20;46;06

The Walkers

I felt guilty. I think like and.

00;20;46;06 – 00;20;47;12

Jon

She goes, Yeah, she goes.

00;20;48;04 – 00;20;49;20

The Walkers

Oh my God.

00;20;49;20 – 00;20;58;14

Jon

On the rock as you’re on the side of this like massive cliff and like, Yeah, okay, we’re going to see who is in front of the meeting. I was up.

00;20;59;06 – 00;21;04;09

The Walkers

Kidding and I was like, I don’t trust a rock live I’m very nervous with because it’s conglomerate rock.

00;21;04;09 – 00;21;06;27

Jon

So can’t you blame what you’re saying?

00;21;07;04 – 00;21;07;26

The Walkers

I mean.

00;21;07;26 – 00;21;13;15

Jon

I wish I was up top already. Set the anchor and I’m trying to bring her up there and. Yeah.

00;21;13;28 – 00;21;21;15

The Walkers

But now we’re now no one’s on the ground, so. No, you’re already right. How high of 100?

00;21;22;17 – 00;21;49;09

Jon

That was like. Like it’s it’s just second pitches, like. Yeah, we’re like a hundred something. Yeah. Meters. So like, 300 feet. Yeah. Yeah. But like, already we already had to hike up quite a bit to get to this cliff face. So like, it was just like probably a combination of things, but we’ve kind of torn and this is a super easy graded route to it’s just more of, you know, just in terms of the testament of just saying like, hey, I don’t like this.

00;21;49;09 – 00;21;52;16

Jon

Like Sarah was like, Hey, I’m done. Yeah. I’m like, All right.

00;21;52;16 – 00;21;53;19

The Walkers

Sometimes. So you wrap.

00;21;53;19 – 00;21;56;09

Jon

Down and like, that’s it just has to be totally open.

00;21;56;15 – 00;22;21;03

The Walkers

When you’re doing like these stories that, I mean, obviously it’s just your life. If you don’t feel confident, like if I just pushed through it and didn’t feel confident, then the next time it’s on me, he’s trusting me with his life. Like, Well, what if I’m not? I’m too nervous, you know? And so and then the next we actually did like another one, like I think a week or two later, another multipage.

00;22;21;13 – 00;22;39;06

The Walkers

And I was so much more calm because of the rock and because he actually kind of walked me through everything. And I think it was like more of the prep that I needed. I’m just, you know, I like the adrenaline, I like the sports, but I like to feel comfortable right. Safe, you know. So, yeah, so.

00;22;39;06 – 00;22;47;16

Jon

Such a position. Yeah. Well, I love to feel like I’m about to die in nature and learn from it. As long as I feel safe.

00;22;47;16 – 00;22;55;15

The Walkers

Yesterday I said I really want to paraglide, and I was like, I really want to get back into skydiving. And we’re talking about this. I’m like, luckily skydiving. So.

00;22;55;15 – 00;22;57;17

Jon

So like.

00;22;58;11 – 00;23;00;19

The Walkers

It is, you can control it more.

00;23;01;17 – 00;23;18;11

Jon

Yeah, it’s all comparative. It’s all relative. Yeah, right. Yeah. You also do in your own head. You also make things safer than like in your head. And you just like or you act like. Now this is really safe. Like, No, I have complete control like I do.

00;23;18;11 – 00;23;19;26

The Walkers

My safety checks are good.

00;23;20;15 – 00;23;22;20

Jon

I would shoot this knot is pretty tight.

00;23;22;22 – 00;23;23;01

The Walkers

Yeah.

00;23;24;25 – 00;23;43;26

Jon

It is funny. So they took the. All right. We all went like a double family date to arms. Red rock, Red rock. Thank you. To go climbing would take the boys climbing. And at one point I think I made maybe 15, 20 feet, maybe 30. If I’m being ambitious. I think I was 15, 20 and I said, You want to like, have the rule like you were good.

00;23;43;26 – 00;24;03;25

Jon

Okay. Yeah. Regards. I was a loser because I was out there and I was sweating and pale like I like being on the ground. There’s a reason I like my life grounded on earth. Like I’ll do a lot of things if my feet are on the ground terrified of heights. That being said, I’ll still do it because I also like to push myself out of effort in my Hey, I’m miserable here, Let’s do this.

00;24;04;04 – 00;24;22;19

Jon

I’m sitting up there, I get back down, you know, I’m okay. I got to the point. I said it would hurt. Did I get back down when the kids get stuck, like ten, 15 feet up, service runs up, hit nothing. She just, like, essentially naked and rock climbing. Yeah, that’s a nice solid up there. She just walks up the rocks that I just was like petrified climbing.

00;24;22;27 – 00;24;41;26

Jon

And I grabs the child, grabs his rope and repels down with him. I’m like, Well, I clearly need this person. Why not enjoying being off the ground? Yeah, but that was cool. Yeah. So there’s something about when somebody has blocked the path in front of you, they’re more familiar. Yeah. And, you know, you don’t be intimidated by that.

00;24;41;26 – 00;24;59;03

Jon

I think it’s more like you feel comfort in it. It’s like I’m glad I’m around people that really don’t get into your place. It’s that. But like, those weekends are like those are the best weekends. It was fun no matter what. Like, hey, we don’t do anything tough necessarily, but like, it was just a fun. Everyone had a crazy experience, right?

00;24;59;03 – 00;25;17;12

Jon

We had a great one of like bringing somebody who’s never been so for us. We’re watching the joy on the kid’s face. It’s the first time for me. Yeah. And then you guys are all having a good time. The boys are like the weekend was fun because of this different experience and I had to be crazy. Like, it just makes you experience.

00;25;17;12 – 00;25;39;15

The Walkers

Are now like are nothing. Like we have them. Yeah. So like seeing them do the rocks and the rock climbing, we left that thing. We’re like, We want kids now. My brother got so much from her talking about like, Oh my God, let’s take them. Next we get like, we want to do it again with the kids. We laughed.

00;25;39;15 – 00;25;59;21

Jon

And what’s another thing that’s cool is like Nathaniel surprised everybody. Yeah, he killed. He went up straight, didn’t have any fear of heights like nothing. He just cried like, that’s what’s another cool thing. You know, people surprise you when you put them in a situation. It’s uncomfortable and just like, nope, they’re, you know, they’re good at school. So how old is his?

00;25;59;21 – 00;26;25;08

Jon

Four. So one thing that’s really interesting because we’ve had quite a few friends who listen to this and people who know us. You’ve stayed with us for a few hours or night. You know, you guys have stayed with us for days and days. You take away from staying with us. It’s like, Oh, we want kids. The reason I just want to highlight that is because most people leave our house and they told me that was the most effective birth control.

00;26;25;08 – 00;26;39;10

Jon

So like just a little bit on the Walker character, they’re like, Oh yeah, skydiving safe jumped out hundreds of times. You know, these things are fine. Or with the male horde of crazies, let’s have kids. You have beautiful chaos.

00;26;39;12 – 00;26;41;12

The Walkers

Yeah, we love chaos so much.

00;26;41;12 – 00;27;10;17

Jon

But it’s not it’s not like, though, the climbing experience you have. Like you went up and came right down. Third runs up it. It’s like. It’s like you have a family. It’s like, observable. Oh, okay. It’s not that hard, right? Is is not the rock, right? Actually. But it’s, but it’s cool that we have friends that challenges and and and coax us Yeah because it’s otherwise I think we’d be petrified always like the anonymity of it all or the ambiguity of all is like oh this is impossible.

00;27;10;17 – 00;27;29;25

Jon

It’s like, it’s impossible if you don’t have people who have done it around you. Well, and I mean, I think that’s a beautiful thing of social media or these podcasts like is you watch these people’s like, you know, you know, namedrop like Jimmy Chin or Travis Rice dudes who like, go up and like a few times and hit these amazing lines.

00;27;29;25 – 00;27;51;18

Jon

Snowboarding and skiing is that country is they go heli skiing and this and that’s like well I mean all they’re doing is skiing. Like, I know it’s like, why can’t I do that? And, and then like any take like one course or a couple of courses on avalanche control stuff and make sure you’re safe. But like there’s no reason why you can’t like you won’t see dudes on TV’s like, why do they get all the fun now?

00;27;51;19 – 00;28;13;12

Jon

Like, we can do this? And we did. Like we’ve had some amazing, like, things and done some awesome experiences that, you know, like you don’t have to necessarily surround yourself with people. You get inspired by other people and then you realize like they’re a human being, just like we are. Like they have no extra like And that’s, you know, any extra muscle or anything that I don’t have.

00;28;13;12 – 00;28;37;23

Jon

But why can’t I do this? It’s a great you realize, like it’s very easy, like we were talking about this earlier, John, that YouTube is the Internet and social media is such an easy knowledge tool. Now it’s like, make sure that you’re going to be safe about whatever you’re going to do, but like the knowledge you can gain and like have as a base to do some of this extreme stuff and push the limits now is incredible.

00;28;38;03 – 00;28;56;29

Jon

So there’s no reason that only some of these pros get to do the stuff we like. Regular people drive to the spot, like realize that, Oh yeah, this is a trailhead or this is the mountain. Like we climb up with ski down, like in the sweet, like Red Bull commercial or things, and you have this amazing powder. It’s like, yeah, like regular.

00;28;57;07 – 00;29;02;03

Jon

Anybody can do it if they want to. You just decide you want to and then you do it. And I said.

00;29;02;16 – 00;29;24;15

The Walkers

Well, so I was going to say so like Billy, when we started dating and like going to places, I was always like, Wait, so we’re going to go rock climbing just by ourselves with Billy? But I didn’t feel like I knew what to do, you know, classes beforehand. But he was like, Yeah, I’ll just look at YouTube and research it.

00;29;24;15 – 00;29;43;29

The Walkers

And, you know, I tried it and I was like, Oh, okay. So he was like, I did it in college, so it shouldn’t be too hard to learn again, you know? And so, like our whole relationship, he’s just been like looking at YouTube being like, Yep, we can make this happen. Which brings me to the band. Like, we got it out our van.

00;29;43;29 – 00;29;55;26

The Walkers

We bought a van for $5,000 and we got it all up and I was like, How are we going to build this? How are we going to do this? Van? And he was like, You do. And that’s how we did it.

00;29;55;26 – 00;30;28;27

Jon

That’s what you did after that. And like, I never saw essentially it’s like, like, how do I know I’m not an electrician, but I like wire this like van completely now with solar and a generator and this and that. It’s completely like self-sustaining van because like YouTube, I learned how to be an electrician, like wire stuff. And then like, same thing with installation, you build stuff and it’s like, you know, the knowledge base that the Internet social media has now is you can do almost anything you want to as long as you like commit to be like, nope, like I got this, you know, And like, and then you do it.

00;30;29;09 – 00;30;48;01

Jon

There’s definitely trial and error with anything. Like there’s definitely some times like I put up some boards or whatever in the end and it’s just like, All right, well strip that off for a start. But it is just a you know, just if you commit, you just that’s how easy it is that it’s nasty, right? Keep going at it.

00;30;48;01 – 00;31;10;06

Jon

I remember when you’re putting cutting out how much cutting that sink out frustrated you because she made the live counter in the van like that. Schlatter would sink out and he was cursed and not happy and I would have been cursing and not happy as well in this situation. It just it was a rough thing. And they got this guy that was in the surf and it look great and I think I ruined it.

00;31;10;06 – 00;31;34;11

Jon

And but he fixed it. We were going to go after that. So what’s really fun, though, and this is kind of been a really great intro up to is perfect. I love the adventure of these conversations, you know, but to give context supernaturally transitioning into this van you guys are building and you guys met, you’re both in the army, you both decided we want to live our lives together and figure things out from there to you ultimately decide to leave Army.

00;31;34;11 – 00;31;55;12

Jon

And part of that is we want to spend a year together doing this adventure, right, and see buy this van for five K. YouTube is going to teach us the way to build a home and we’re going to live in town for a year. And if I recall correctly, and I’m at the detail so you guys exit the army and you come out here, we high five.

00;31;55;12 – 00;32;20;18

Jon

I think we took a few things into storage, y’all and your guard rocks, you guys eventually. And you guys go off in the entire intent of the journey. This yearlong sabbatical together as a couple originally was to go up to Alaska somewhere and then down to Patagonia, South America, Argentina. Yeah. All the way south. And then back up and peeing around a bit.

00;32;21;02 – 00;32;28;11

Jon

Yeah. And come back to Argentina. Chile is kind of like a right either really, you know, either sell them in or.

00;32;28;24 – 00;32;29;07

The Walkers

We actually.

00;32;29;08 – 00;32;37;06

Jon

Offer place. And after that there was nothing like the whole process is just like that was the way to get there and figure it out. Yeah. Yeah.

00;32;37;06 – 00;33;01;19

The Walkers

That was the plan that you have a plan. A plan. But yeah, so once we got that narrowed, life happens. You know what? We might have to kind of see how we adjust. And so we ended up going, we ended up heading towards Alaska, we ended up going to Montana, we’re at the border and we are the border control.

00;33;01;19 – 00;33;09;15

The Walkers

And they said, Well, in order to enter Canada, you need orders for Alaska. We don’t have our borders.

00;33;10;01 – 00;33;12;02

Jon

Way, way ahead of the curve.

00;33;12;02 – 00;33;13;29

The Walkers

And so then we.

00;33;14;05 – 00;33;15;14

Jon

Sort of it changed.

00;33;15;14 – 00;33;33;08

The Walkers

Everything. So we got turned around. We actually were working at Amazon before that and our boss was like, Hey, if you guys want to like, like cancer trip or postpone your trip, stay working. Because I think your trips going to be like canceled completely And we’re like, No, yeah, we’re going.

00;33;33;25 – 00;33;57;05

Jon

To transform into that. So I remember Billy and I jumped on a phone call about the time you guys were up at the border, like figuring out the next steps. You had a few conversations around figuring out next steps up at the border. It was so interesting because I was like, our conversation. Quitting was never options. I didn’t know that you had this carrot being dangling off like, Hey, here’s this phenomenal job.

00;33;57;05 – 00;34;19;17

Jon

Here’s this phenomenal job, right? Like that. You could just postpone your trip, come back to normal, abandon the dream and do this thing and see how you’re up there trying to get north. You probe, you probe the border multiple times, if I remember correctly, and you have someone offering you jobs and back, I’m like, yeah, go ahead. Push to come work for us at Amazon.

00;34;20;09 – 00;34;27;16

Jon

And you guys, do you just so this international trip, you’re probing the border to get out you have a job being offered. And what.

00;34;27;23 – 00;34;31;26

The Walkers

We actually were at that night, we started looking at ferries you know.

00;34;32;12 – 00;34;38;18

Jon

Like right through it, we’re going to go to Washington on the coast and take a ferry to Alaska to get up.

00;34;39;28 – 00;34;41;16

The Walkers

And we’re booked up until August.

00;34;41;16 – 00;34;47;24

Jon

Yeah, it was either they were canceled because of COVID or books because everyone else had got canceled earlier.

00;34;47;24 – 00;34;52;04

The Walkers

And to us, it was, wasn’t it like 70 $500 was like.

00;34;52;09 – 00;35;10;09

Jon

It was like three grand. One way the dog, like, had to stay in the van for the whole time. It was like a whole deal. So you’re like, you know what? So, you know, adapt, change, whatever to make the trip worth it because we’re not going to stop. Like you said, we’re like, Well, I’m not going to go back to work.

00;35;10;09 – 00;35;30;14

Jon

Like, this is our time to this is, you know, this is the trip. And so we actually spent four weeks in Washington. We drove through Idaho and had a great time at some of the lakes here in Mountain. But we bought mountain bikes randomly because. All right, let’s get into this hobby now. So we mountain biking a ton, still rock climbing a ton.

00;35;30;15 – 00;35;32;19

Jon

Had a great time in Washington going in and.

00;35;33;14 – 00;35;36;01

The Walkers

Bikes are really the national parks were closed down.

00;35;36;14 – 00;35;54;28

Jon

Most of the national so we were in Glacier National Park in Montana. Yeah and the roads were closed, but you were allowed to either hike them or bike them. And we this is a perfect hike that we wanted to do, as you’re like. But it was like ten miles up the road. So we bought mountain bikes specifically to bike up to the trailhead.

00;35;54;28 – 00;35;56;24

Jon

Then we train and we.

00;35;57;14 – 00;35;58;17

The Walkers

We do, Yes.

00;35;58;17 – 00;36;09;09

Jon

I did this Amazing. And then we came, you know, came back down. And then I think there was like a 30 mile day or like, maybe even more because of how much we biked and hiked. And like, back to the Garden.

00;36;09;10 – 00;36;10;24

The Walkers

Something Glacier National Park.

00;36;10;24 – 00;36;22;29

Jon

So we did that and spent like a month in Washington, which is a beautiful, beautiful state. Sarah ended up breaking her elbow. How?

00;36;22;29 – 00;36;46;25

The Walkers

Oh, just me being me. Well, so we’re actually as buddies from college, right? Jamie’s from college. So we ended up staying at his house. It was awesome. It was just like looking over the water at a huge pool. So it’s. So we had a 4th of July party for like, three days. So we got there three days early.

00;36;47;10 – 00;36;53;21

The Walkers

And I’m like, You know what? Let’s go play tennis. So we brought our bikes and then they skateboarded. So play tennis. So play tennis.

00;36;53;21 – 00;37;00;13

Jon

We just as like we do not have a whole lot of things like in the van because there’s a space. But we brought tennis rackets for some reason.

00;37;02;14 – 00;37;02;17

The Walkers

We’ll.

00;37;02;19 – 00;37;07;12

Jon

Play tennis. I think it was the only time play tennis and the true.

00;37;07;13 – 00;37;10;06

The Walkers

Know it was another time to do tons.

00;37;10;14 – 00;37;11;13

Jon

One for six months.

00;37;12;11 – 00;37;13;06

The Walkers

Facilities.

00;37;15;10 – 00;37;15;17

Jon

Yeah.

00;37;15;20 – 00;37;37;03

The Walkers

As Americans. But yeah, so we play tennis and then we afterwards they’re like let’s go around the zoo. Like, we’ll take you guys. And then the girl is Jamie’s girlfriend now fiance was on his skateboard. She’s like, Why don’t you do you want to try it? My skateboard is really awesome. And I was like, Cool, you have my bike.

00;37;37;03 – 00;37;54;12

The Walkers

And then she’s like, Okay, the next hill is pretty steep. So I usually bail, but I think you’ll be okay. Okay, Nice. First one. We go down the hill like little. I’ve been on the skipper for like two, not even a minute. And Billy goes down and my guy goes, No, not I’ll go down. And I was going down.

00;37;54;20 – 00;37;54;27

The Walkers

That’s a.

00;37;54;27 – 00;37;56;01

Jon

Dangerous assumption.

00;37;56;10 – 00;38;11;28

The Walkers

My board is wobbling. I don’t know. You guys ever been on a wobbling skateboard, but there’s like, no good way. I know. So I was like, I’m going to bail. So did you build it so.

00;38;11;28 – 00;38;13;11

Jon

Oh, no. It was like, wait for me.

00;38;13;28 – 00;38;39;25

The Walkers

It wasn’t. It wasn’t. It’s not like it happened anyway. So then I bailed, but when I bailed, I was going so fast that I went like one foot, two foot foot, and then right foot my elbow to protect my head. So I actually probably saved my life, but broke my elbow. And so Billy thought I hit my head and he comes running towards me.

00;38;40;14 – 00;38;41;01

Jon

And then she.

00;38;41;01 – 00;38;41;19

The Walkers

Saw I think.

00;38;41;20 – 00;38;48;22

Jon

She’s like six months out of surgery. So I thought her hip is destroyed. Yeah. So the whole thing was just like a not fun.

00;38;48;25 – 00;38;50;17

The Walkers

Yeah. You get to see scars.

00;38;50;23 – 00;39;03;29

Jon

Oh, she took it out. We need it. So then we just. We take her up. We take her out, we put her on the bike. She it’s. We’re about a mile away from our buddies place. She just gets on the bike and, like, doesn’t say anything. So I’m like.

00;39;04;14 – 00;39;05;08

The Walkers

Nobody even knew.

00;39;05;08 – 00;39;22;00

Jon

Adrenaline. Adrenaline is like, you get it. Like, just get home. She gets home, essentially passes out from the pain and like, take your shirt off to, like, go get the thing. And her bone is just exposed. It’s like, disgusting. Yeah, but then so anyways, rock climbing was not an option for about eight weeks.

00;39;23;25 – 00;39;29;08

The Walkers

But we ended up, you know taking that time to just hang out.

00;39;31;22 – 00;39;43;04

Jon

Like a lot. A lot. And then so then we went down. We went down the whole coast after that, from Washington through Oregon, came in like inland, did.

00;39;43;04 – 00;39;44;03

The Walkers

A lot of wineries.

00;39;44;09 – 00;40;07;04

Jon

Lot of wineries, rice, lots of grape juice, great kids. And the next time we rock Club was actually Simi Valley, like right next to El Cap, it was like super cool down there for Yeah, it was amazing. And then went down from there. We went down to San Diego and we’re trying to surf and another like just hiccup.

00;40;07;04 – 00;40;26;22

Jon

Point was we were trying it. We were going to go into Baja and surf on the beach down there. But it was if we can’t if we drove through to Mexico, fine because of it. And if we drove back to the U.S., we would have to quarantine at a hotel at our own expense, at our own expense. And the dog would have to be canceled somewhere else.

00;40;27;09 – 00;40;28;07

The Walkers

Driving is over there.

00;40;28;15 – 00;40;49;12

Jon

So we could not obviously, we just didn’t. So like that night in San Diego, we left like 8:30 p.m. and were like, Where’s the next cool thing? The only desert in California like that for south, like Joshua trees are really cool, but it’s 117 degrees. That’s like, yeah, during that, that mindset was like, well, that’s not fun for anybody.

00;40;49;26 – 00;40;56;25

Jon

So just all night we just drove to the Grand Canyon and so we got there right at sunrise. I get like 530.

00;40;57;07 – 00;41;01;22

The Walkers

The hottest part actually, the day. And your hottest part was 117.

00;41;01;27 – 00;41;06;06

Jon

And your guys home is surveying with no has no AC.

00;41;06;07 – 00;41;07;21

The Walkers

Noisy, shared a metal door.

00;41;07;24 – 00;41;29;19

Jon

You’re in a metal box. And just a quick note on the dog. This isn’t like your Chihuahua or your poodle or your lap. This is a South African bauble, which is a £140 master chef. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So he wasn’t at that time like we would be taken and choose, like our activities if we more like surfing on the beach with the reasonable water and stuff.

00;41;29;19 – 00;41;51;19

Jon

So like, if we wanted to rock climb, we’d get up in, like, rock hard, like 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. or something, and then it was too hot or we’d have to wait sunset at 5 p.m. and then, you know, climb until it was night. So it was just pick and choose. And at that point, you know, like this isn’t for missing most of the day because it’s just too hot.

00;41;51;19 – 00;41;56;17

Jon

So that’s. How many months in the journey are you at this point? This is August, so.

00;41;58;12 – 00;41;59;05

The Walkers

Four, four.

00;41;59;15 – 00;42;00;22

Jon

Five, five months. Yeah.

00;42;00;26 – 00;42;09;28

The Walkers

So we’re still learning the California California’s different because all the time. And so like all that free land was closed due to.

00;42;10;07 – 00;42;21;06

Jon

No political their job to California. And so so I’m from California and won’t return and I’ll leave it at that. It’s beautiful. That’s it. Yeah.

00;42;22;04 – 00;42;25;18

The Walkers

Just you know constraints That’s we’re like, okay, well.

00;42;25;29 – 00;42;40;14

Jon

There’s also COVID combined with everything. So like, you’re starting to the ratio’s pretty high, though. I mean, like as far as how many, how many stops you’re having per month, let’s say, you know, you had surgery at the elbow thing.

00;42;40;15 – 00;42;41;13

The Walkers

You had surgery was.

00;42;41;22 – 00;42;44;03

Jon

Was prior was prior to the trip.

00;42;44;03 – 00;42;48;09

The Walkers

The elbow was the only injury during the visit.

00;42;48;09 – 00;42;54;19

Jon

Order. You’re having so much changes everything everything on both sides north and south. North and south.

00;42;54;19 – 00;43;04;08

The Walkers

And so if you look at our Instagram, everyone’s life is peachy keen, right? Like there’s actually like Instagram’s not reality anyway.

00;43;04;14 – 00;43;32;03

Jon

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just smiling between sounds, right? Yeah. Yeah. But, but what I mean most people they’ll, they’ll create some kind of go like this and like that goal becomes like the God. Right. Like, yeah, it’s not fun. This is not an accomplishment unless I get to Alaska. Yes. Or down Argentina, right? Yeah. And you had to adjust like, mentally like, okay, let’s the real goal here is the destination or what is it like, what is what are you.

00;43;32;03 – 00;43;34;03

The Walkers

Concerned that you say that because that.

00;43;34;03 – 00;43;35;05

Jon

Was that was that.

00;43;35;05 – 00;43;35;12

The Walkers

Was.

00;43;35;13 – 00;43;38;05

Jon

Massage once. So how do you master it?

00;43;38;15 – 00;43;40;03

The Walkers

So we’re talking about I.

00;43;40;03 – 00;44;01;00

Jon

Remember that night in Montana we sit we actually can’t when we go to Canada, turn us around. We were in Canada and they like know like, get out okay. And so we came to this beautiful lake. It was awesome, actually. Like the whole I mean, I was miserable. I was like, this changes everything really. I mean, like a whole night of researching theories and this and that.

00;44;01;00 – 00;44;22;12

Jon

Our Washington, it I mean, it really, you know, you think of something so long in advance in your head because, I mean, even before I met Sarah, I thought I was like, at that point, I’m going to sail to Alaska, you know, type thing. But so it’s been a decade in the making of like, thinking of what this trip is maybe going to be, maybe as soon as I thought.

00;44;22;12 – 00;44;27;09

Jon

But, you know, at some point I was going to do this trip.

00;44;27;09 – 00;44;43;01

The Walkers

We just have a lot of talks. I think it was just a lot of back and forth that like that night, particularly of, okay, like he was like, this is I want to do our plan. Like, I know. I just don’t think it’s I don’t think is realistic anymore. You know what are.

00;44;43;01 – 00;44;52;22

Jon

We there was a set Yeah there was a second of like maybe in a month like restrictions at that point it was so like month to month, like, all restrictions are going to open up.

00;44;52;24 – 00;44;59;29

The Walkers

Yeah, that’s why we kept on going down the West Coast because we’re like, well, at least maybe we can do the second part of our trip through South America.

00;45;00;10 – 00;45;12;05

Jon

Yeah. So, I mean, it’s just a realization, I guess, like, I mean, and once again, like complete open honesty about like a, like, I know we plan this, but it’s not, it’s not free can happen. I mean.

00;45;12;15 – 00;45;12;21

The Walkers

Again.

00;45;13;14 – 00;45;36;02

Jon

Like I like get in your head like let’s plan out a new amazing trip. And so this trip became an awesome trip of the U.S. So real quick, I, I remember distinctly it said the privilege of being distant, but walking through with guys from a significant distance, there was a turning point. I can’t I don’t know the details behind because I caught it.

00;45;36;17 – 00;45;56;05

Jon

There was the unhappy like, we’re figuring this out. You guys are going to do some some adventure in southern southern California and your return around is like two weeks until we talk again in that to expand there is a switch, right? Yeah. Our trips completely changed. Our plan is ruined. But this is going to be awesome. And this is what we’re going to do.

00;45;56;11 – 00;46;09;24

Jon

Yeah. And there’s this shift from this to conversations. So what at what point and how right did you choose to say, No, this is not ruined. We’re going to make this amazing and amazing. Just change. Yeah. What what does that how does that play?

00;46;10;05 – 00;46;31;10

The Walkers

Well, because of how hot it was like it was getting 117 degrees, four days. And that’s when the wildfires in California. So we’re like, what? How are we going to do this is we have such a huge dog. He’s panting like he’s hot, like we’re not and never will. If we are not going to Mexico, how are you going to do it in the winter and what are we going to do?

00;46;31;10 – 00;46;52;19

The Walkers

So I actually explored a couple of options for us while we can sell the man and get a camper that has a heating system. Or we can renovate the van to have a proper heating system. Or we say screw it to the van camper life and we go somewhere awesome and live in Costa Rica for like a couple of months.

00;46;52;19 – 00;47;15;26

The Walkers

But what do we do with the dog? You know? So we’re like, really, guys help us. And we actually went to John, Johnny Lindsay a lot. And so we we kind of talked about like how we make let’s see, how can we make the camper option happen? And so we talked to John like, hey, can we stay with you guys for a full weeks?

00;47;15;28 – 00;47;21;26

The Walkers

And they were part of the transitioning process. John actually sold our van for us and.

00;47;21;28 – 00;47;22;23

Jon

Lost the keys.

00;47;22;23 – 00;47;39;20

The Walkers

And so found that wasn’t for Yeah. So we got somebody to buy the van, but it was our garden was sitting on this property for a month, but we had the truck driving towards New York to go get our camper, the boat, our camper in New York.

00;47;39;22 – 00;48;02;25

Jon

Super fun comment on that, right? Yeah. Yeah. So the keys are shorts. So I paid for some of can make the keys the next day. The guy who was like serious about buying was coming and then he left in the following day I found the keys to So that’s 1.1 to 2. I fit 5.22 is tight. Yeah. They get the truck here in Colorado, they leave thing here, which is their home.

00;48;03;00 – 00;48;21;24

Jon

They now have a truck which they make into their home for a couple of weeks to get five weeks. We lived in the bed of this truck for five weeks as we went to like Wyoming, Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, the Badlands, the Black Hills. But it was necessary because you had a hardship like it was a mess.

00;48;22;05 – 00;48;23;24

The Walkers

We had a workshop, so we were okay.

00;48;23;24 – 00;48;24;04

Jon

There were.

00;48;25;06 – 00;48;25;20

The Walkers

Nights.

00;48;25;24 – 00;48;33;12

Jon

Every couple of nights like we put on like the tarp on top of it, cause it’s not like 100% water. Yeah, sure.

00;48;34;01 – 00;49;07;08

The Walkers

I was like, really? It’s leaking. It’s dripping. We got to get out of this thing. He actually visited my aunt, and she’s like, Oh, honey, you guys can’t sleep inside. And yeah, I was like, Don’t worry, we’re going to get confirmed. We’re not totally in was, but we were. Yeah, but now it was awesome having the US and having them be part of this transitioning process because honestly, we wouldn’t have been able to do it because we use our shed to put all of our summer stuff in because now we’re transitioning into winter, right?

00;49;07;09 – 00;49;16;02

The Walkers

And yeah, so yeah, it just, it wouldn’t have happened. We would have had to either get storage or figure something out.

00;49;16;02 – 00;49;20;23

Jon

Did you have voices and said, Quit? No.

00;49;21;11 – 00;49;41;15

The Walkers

Did you? I did. I did. And Billy. Billy talked me out of it. I mean, there was times when I would be emotionally like external or internal. Oh, my God. Like, I think, How are you going to make this work? And Billy is like, We’re going to do it. He actually was pretty amazing with it because, like, we can do this, like, we got this.

00;49;41;15 – 00;50;01;23

The Walkers

Like, all we really need is. And I think that through all the adversity, that’s when your question of like, well, how did you guys make it work? And I think it was just like when I was down, he was up. When he was down, I was up and like we really had to it’s we’re both down. I don’t know that we would have been able to make it work.

00;50;01;24 – 00;50;07;04

Jon

There were definitely days where we looked like his sucks and we’re laughing about it. Like, this is miserable.

00;50;07;04 – 00;50;09;24

The Walkers

Yeah, like shortbread in the bed.

00;50;10;01 – 00;50;10;19

Jon

There was and it.

00;50;10;19 – 00;50;11;20

The Walkers

Was just what.

00;50;11;20 – 00;50;23;05

Jon

It was. And there’s days was it We’re in California and we this spot and there was like a fire like 100 meters away. But it was like, this is a, this is really funny.

00;50;23;29 – 00;50;25;00

The Walkers

You heard the story.

00;50;25;00 – 00;50;28;07

Jon

I’m not I’m not sure I’m learning a lot in the summers. Wonderful.

00;50;28;13 – 00;50;30;19

The Walkers

Well, when we were going from Yosemite.

00;50;30;27 – 00;50;40;02

Jon

From you 70, we’re going to take sponsors and or yeah, no, we’re done. Like rock climbing and stuff and well, they’re going to go, let’s go to the beach and surf.

00;50;40;02 – 00;51;02;18

The Walkers

It was 97 degrees in Yosemite. And we’re like, Well, let’s get to the coast. It’s going to be less like it’s going to be cooler. So we ended up starting to drive. Well, I just saw the thermometer. It was literally just going up and it reached 105 degrees as we’re driving like 3 p.m.. And I’m like, oh my God, It’s like, it’s not going to any polar oak.

00;51;02;19 – 00;51;11;10

The Walkers

And silly us. We’re driving through a desert high done. And so he was like, Yeah, those are the bands making some funky noises. Like we should probably.

00;51;11;13 – 00;51;34;04

Jon

Just like overheat. Yeah, I mean, the van was, the van was awesome, but it was also like character and it was it was an older is an older Chevy high top truck that I put a lift on some beefy tires. It looks cool, but however, it is much like gear, like rock climbing gear. We had our skis in there.

00;51;34;04 – 00;51;55;29

Jon

It’s risky to Mount Mount Rainier in Washington this summer because there’s still snow. I mean, every season’s worth it. We had a paddle board, everything, a surfboard, everything. So like this thing, this thing was like at its capacity in terms of like we and like, we’re going up some passes, too. I’m like, I’m going like 25 miles an hour just to get over a mountain pass.

00;51;55;29 – 00;51;58;18

Jon

Like we’re over eating by winning approval.

00;51;59;21 – 00;52;27;28

The Walkers

So like somewhere with like shade or water. I was like, All right, so Gonzalez Nation Center. And I was like, cool, the huge lake. And so we get we’re driving in there and it is packed like we got like one of the last camping spots. There’s like probably over 100 camping spots. Everyone taken out there, you know, and your grown passes people and they have long sleeves on, right?

00;52;28;04 – 00;52;29;25

Jon

Yeah. Oh thing, huh?

00;52;30;01 – 00;52;32;06

The Walkers

Yeah. And so I.

00;52;32;10 – 00;52;36;09

Jon

Was like, comfortable with 100 degree heat was good.

00;52;36;16 – 00;52;42;22

The Walkers

At all and only if it is a more literally.

00;52;42;25 – 00;52;43;26

Jon

It’s disgusting.

00;52;44;17 – 00;52;54;06

The Walkers

But people are swimming in it. And I was like, Oh my God. So we finally on a campsite was all over and then four starts running after like this trash is moving.

00;52;54;12 – 00;53;02;17

Jon

Snake three was a snake. So the rattlesnake that. Oh, so it wasn’t trash?

00;53;02;17 – 00;53;03;09

The Walkers

Oh no, it was, it.

00;53;03;09 – 00;53;05;07

Jon

Appeared to be. Oh yeah.

00;53;05;08 – 00;53;08;19

The Walkers

And I think it’s just like those too hot. So it was trying to get some.

00;53;08;29 – 00;53;10;29

Jon

When the rattlesnake is trying to betray you have.

00;53;11;00 – 00;53;11;15

The Walkers

One you know.

00;53;11;16 – 00;53;12;21

Jon

Shouldn’t be there. Yeah.

00;53;13;14 – 00;53;20;03

The Walkers

Yeah. So we’re like, oh, let’s get the tent out and just sit in our chairs in the tent. Like.

00;53;20;14 – 00;53;20;28

Jon

Oh, those.

00;53;20;28 – 00;53;23;04

The Walkers

Are heroes are everywhere. So we’re like.

00;53;23;10 – 00;53;23;28

Jon

There’s someone.

00;53;23;29 – 00;53;37;11

The Walkers

To we need to be outside of the van because of how hot it was. We got the tent out and we’re not. We’re now in the tent with force because force can’t be trusted by the snake. So we sit there until like 11 p.m..

00;53;38;02 – 00;53;39;07

Jon

It was just sitting there, just.

00;53;39;29 – 00;53;40;26

The Walkers

It was still.

00;53;40;26 – 00;53;42;22

Jon

Over 100. And it’s like.

00;53;43;14 – 00;53;50;16

The Walkers

A mile away. So the Mexican music is blasting, which it was just music. Blasting was just a lot, you know, until camping.

00;53;50;28 – 00;53;52;08

Jon

Next to us until one or.

00;53;53;06 – 00;53;53;13

The Walkers

M.

00;53;53;21 – 00;54;00;28

Jon

So am I am. And that’s when we get to sleep. Like one third. Yeah. Yeah. Because everyone stopped partying.

00;54;00;28 – 00;54;01;07

The Walkers

Yeah.

00;54;01;07 – 00;54;02;19

Jon

And then it’s 3 a.m..

00;54;02;20 – 00;54;22;16

The Walkers

Oh, and like, I feel the wind was just, like, a little too strong. And I was like, Billy, I see lightning. And he’s like, It’s just heat. Lightning. I’m literally looking like eyes open, staring at this bolt of lightning of like, Nope, that’s a bolt of lightning. And the wind is standing there. And he said, No, we’re going to be just like, Let your head down.

00;54;22;21 – 00;54;43;19

The Walkers

Like, So I’m just like, standing there. And then like after 5 minutes, like I’ve seen multiple strikes and I’m like, we got to we got to get in this van. And then also the wind starts picking up within seconds, like after. I’m like, we’ve really got to get in. Like how how many miles per hour already? Hey, that was.

00;54;44;03 – 00;55;02;13

Jon

That was like, insane. Because then, like, all this, like 80 miles an hour, like winds and the like and we’re in the deserts like that wind just picks up sand. So now and we don’t have the tarp on our tent. We just have like the, the mosquito net. Yeah. Because there’s just too hot. So like, we’re just getting pelted.

00;55;02;25 – 00;55;03;21

The Walkers

In like our.

00;55;03;21 – 00;55;18;26

Jon

Dollars going, like, what the heck is going on? And then all of a sudden it’s just like, yeah, there’s like a fire tornado, like just north of us, like. And we’re like, I get in the we just toss everything like this. Like it was.

00;55;20;00 – 00;55;21;04

The Walkers

Horrible. Like we.

00;55;21;04 – 00;55;22;17

Jon

Just laid there for an hour and a half and.

00;55;22;17 – 00;55;27;22

The Walkers

Finally got better. Thing around 430. Yes. And we woke up at five, 530.

00;55;27;22 – 00;55;38;11

Jon

We, like were in the van. At this point. We’re in the van just like with things tossed in there. There’s no like, organization whatsoever. Yeah, since everywhere force is just.

00;55;38;15 – 00;55;39;13

The Walkers

Forces panting.

00;55;39;14 – 00;55;40;07

Jon

What is happening?

00;55;41;08 – 00;55;49;23

The Walkers

And I was like, we need to put the air conditioner on. So you said, Well, then let’s start driving. So then we drove. We said goodbye to our rattlesnake that was now on the road.

00;55;50;00 – 00;55;50;26

Jon

So he kept watching him.

00;55;50;26 – 00;55;51;14

The Walkers

So we saw him.

00;55;52;01 – 00;55;55;06

Jon

You U.S..

00;55;55;19 – 00;55;56;26

The Walkers

Dead. We have verified.

00;55;57;07 – 00;56;06;03

Jon

Verified by him. But it looked like was it to hide? Like I said, I actually don’t know.

00;56;06;03 – 00;56;18;10

The Walkers

We really care about this for us. So. Yeah. So that was probably the worst night of the trip. But the funniest. And we reflect on it all the time.

00;56;18;29 – 00;56;27;10

Jon

But just in terms of like what you were saying here is, is you know what, there was like that realization of like what is the point of the trip?

00;56;27;23 – 00;56;28;13

The Walkers

Yeah, yeah.

00;56;28;20 – 00;56;46;05

Jon

There was no, there’s not there. It wasn’t like, hey, we need to get Alaska, we need to get to to Argentina. It was just like, we want to spend this time. That really is our only like this is about our only time to do something. This just flat out kind of like whatever we want to do, we can do it.

00;56;46;14 – 00;57;03;06

Jon

No kids, you know, our house is rented out. There is really no responsibilities. If we wanted to go like like I said, we were in San Diego, like, you want to go to the Grand Canyon tonight at 8:30 p.m.? It’s a ten hour drive, you know, like, Yeah, sure. Like that was it. That was in terms of like, that’s the objective.

00;57;03;06 – 00;57;20;23

Jon

Like whatever we wanted to do, we did it. Yeah. And so like, yeah, there were restrictions, but there’s no point in terms of like, I guess it’s over. Like that was not, you know, an option is just like, what is the next cool thing we want to do? All right, So it might not be Baja, Mexico, or surfing every day.

00;57;20;23 – 00;57;39;20

Jon

Now it’s, you know, we’re going to Great Canyon. Then we went to New Mexico and like climb sort of thing, which was cool. And then we rock climb. And then when we’re back here, like at the most, for that first time, like that first week or Rico’s awesome bought it like a new truck and like, adapted to like, Hey, what is the next phase of this trip?

00;57;39;20 – 00;58;03;27

Jon

Are we stopping or are we you know, we can’t go international. What is the next cool thing that we can choose to do? And we’re like, let’s be like ski bums and ski all winter. So we bought an icon pass. We already had the epic bought the icon and it’s like we need to upgrade at this point for, you know, in terms of insulation and heating system and for having more room and this and that whatever.

00;58;03;27 – 00;58;22;23

Jon

So like no, that was a plan. So just like we committed to that and like that was our new thing And so we over you guys had a so you revisited the goal, but you did it together. I think that’s, that’s, I think one of the key elements there is that you guys decided to lean into each other and kind of go, What do we want here?

00;58;22;25 – 00;58;44;02

The Walkers

Yeah, and I think it really reflects upon like life in general. Like you, you have an idea of where you want to go in life and what you’re going to do with your partner. Right? But then nothing ever goes to plan like things that always happen. Like there’s things that you realize in your house and. Well, actually, no, but 20,000 into this for the house, we’re actually not going to go on vacation this year.

00;58;44;02 – 00;59;06;16

The Walkers

But you know what? We’re going to have a really nice house, like things like that are just going to happen throughout your whole life, no matter if it’s on a cool trip or if it’s going to be, you know, just a house renovation. But it’s got the cool thing is when you make decisions and you go through them together, you’re like, Well, we did this and we’re making life like the best we possibly can do.

00;59;06;16 – 00;59;25;03

Jon

So there’s there’s this cool thing and every time it keeps coming up, if you don’t mind if it’s a plug at this point, because every episode this comes out. But the the old proverb that if you want to go far together, if you want to ask about yourself and it’s funny because I have no intent, but it just becomes such a central part of the conversation.

00;59;25;17 – 00;59;44;24

Jon

And so each time you guys are looking at the trip failing, the goal, failing, right? It was like moment when I was weak. He was strong when he was weak, I was strong. And if we’re both weak, we laughed, which is such a beautiful thing, right? Like when it’s so bad, we’re both sucking. Let’s laugh. Yeah, I love that So.

00;59;45;01 – 01;00;19;26

Jon

Well, what are you going to say, boy? I forgot what game that is. That is a cool phrase that you said, and I think a lot of couples will will say this is true in a marriage, that it can be true of abilities like easily get this I’m not somebody that she’s really this I’m not so good at this and like celebrating that each of us like respect that I I admire that and the other person but then also emotionally like that’s what an incredible gift that like when one or the other person’s weak, the other person can be strong.

01;00;19;26 – 01;00;41;11

Jon

And sometimes we’re going to assess like if you are a little bit stronger, maybe that is your critical role in that moment. Yeah. Any any more strengths that they have? Yeah, they’re needing every ounce of it that you guys are able to lean and really teeter totter off each other and keep moving down the road. Because of that, you never, never really stop.

01;00;41;11 – 01;01;01;22

Jon

It was more just reassess and, and not clear. I think so I remember husband said yes so like a lot of it too. Like in terms of objective two is when you know, when we’re interviewing for these jobs or talking to, you know, our parents or parents friends or, you know, families like you talk to some of these older people like, man, I wish I could have done that.

01;01;02;12 – 01;01;16;25

Jon

You know, like, are you talking to some of our friends who have already started their next career or whatever and have kids and this and that, and they don’t have the ability to just like, roam free whatever they want for, you know, And there was a time limit to this. Like we knew this is not going to be forever.

01;01;16;25 – 01;01;32;12

Jon

21 kids as well and obviously get jobs, you know, again. So I was like, hey, like, I think in my head it was like, I never want to have to, like, look back and think I wish right. You know, which a lot of a lot of the people we’ve talked to. And that’s amazing. I wish I could have done that.

01;01;32;27 – 01;01;50;11

Jon

So, you know, like we wanted to do and we did it like that. Was it? Yeah. I never want to, like, look back and think like, yeah, I wish we the plan could have gone as planned, obviously, but like in terms like, hey, take this insane adventure of just complete and total freedom, like, nope, we did it like that.

01;01;50;11 – 01;01;58;27

Jon

Was it somebody listening right now that has a similar story of when things went the wrong way, but they did it together and it’s a fun story. Yeah.

01;01;59;06 – 01;02;10;15

The Walkers

I mean, the tenacity and just be like looking at each other. No, we can get to really anything as long as we do it together. Yeah, I mean, it really just, it can go on anyway.

01;02;11;01 – 01;02;11;14

Jon

You know.

01;02;11;19 – 01;02;12;00

The Walkers

Really. Like.

01;02;12;18 – 01;02;19;13

Jon

There’s also the bummer because there’s a lot of people who’ve had first season taking the knee. They’ve lost it, and now they just have a.

01;02;19;13 – 01;02;19;23

The Walkers

Personal.

01;02;19;23 – 01;02;42;24

Jon

Choice. And at this point they’re probably still a bit broken, right? Or they feel sad about it or I wish right, which I wish is a regret in my mind. Yes. And like the thought Manchester of the moment is when you face this, if you face those wishes, those regrets, if you draw breath, you can you have a vote on what your next breath is going to be your next step.

01;02;42;24 – 01;03;13;26

Jon

So even if you can’t do it tomorrow, you can still accomplish whatever that I wish was. And maybe there’s some circumstances where that is logistically or literally impossible for something or else. But the mindset shift is what I think is important. Yeah. And yeah, there’s like obviously every decision like, like a big one is going to be difficult, but like there is like the just the mental transition of like, no, I’m going to do this.

01;03;13;28 – 01;03;33;14

Jon

I wish and that’s how it is, right? Like there was a I think I sent it to you. There was a cool quote, similar I can’t remember Cameron Haines posted. It was so it was amazing, though. It was like it was a some movie was like the Boxer Vinny Pazner rally or whatever. I can’t remember the name specifically, but he broke his neck.

01;03;33;14 – 01;03;54;18

Jon

He was a boxer like one, like some, you know, won a belt, whatever, weight class, and broke his back or his neck in like a car accident was not supposed to walk again, wasn’t supposed to like, box again. And then, like, went back and got like one again, like his title. You want it back because and like, the reporters, like, what’s the biggest lie?

01;03;54;19 – 01;04;12;26

Jon

Somebody told you was like, it’s not that simple. And she was like, What? And he’s like, No, that’s the biggest. It’s not that simple. Like, you do it. You figure out what you want, you just do is like, it is that simple. You just turn your mind. You just turn that transition. Be like, Yeah, I want this and that’s it.

01;04;13;06 – 01;04;51;11

The Walkers

And Billy, like Billy really did get through a lot through the trips because I think my mind and it was such a growing experience for me because my mind was a little bit more like structure, structure like we need a plan. It seems like we don’t need a plan. Let’s just let’s just take this time for what it is and we don’t need to be like, okay, we’ve we’ve achieved the goal of going down and Patagonia going out to Alaska, and then now we can actually kind of talk about like even just last night on our walk because we took like a walk at sunset and we were like, Oh, when are we going to

01;04;51;11 – 01;05;01;18

The Walkers

do our trip to Patagonia? Oh, the our friends, the Constantinos are now moving to Alaska. Let’s start planning our Alaska trip. So even though we didn’t get there one time, we will.

01;05;02;04 – 01;05;23;21

Jon

Yeah, there is a there is a poetic beauty, I think, in life when we when we think of a story as as as the goal was, was one thing and then something happened along the way. And how did you deal with it. Because I think of like, you know, the I love Rocky, you know. Yeah, what a great story.

01;05;23;21 – 01;05;46;27

Jon

Like, like what is the narrative was like with the trailer for the movies, Like one man wants to achieve the heavyweight championship And he did. Yeah. And that’s, you know, it’s like, wow, that’s cool. I mean, I’m glad he had a goal and not a goal. But the beauty of the human experience is that you go, I want to do this thing.

01;05;47;18 – 01;06;13;11

Jon

But it’s it’s there’s so many unknowns, which is why I think why I like people having certain journey because that’s kind of common, right? Like people understanding. I know at some point I’m going to have to come to the point where I’m going to be faced with quit someone’s the insider. I’m gonna tell myself to do it. I had someone that had some adversity along the way, whether it comes from the outside of me and what am I going to do about it.

01;06;13;21 – 01;06;43;09

Jon

I am I’m worried that I will quit. Yeah. And so I won’t start. Yeah. And now your story was one where it just kept coming almost to a humorous level, like when you were life. Can you believe this is doing right now? Like, this is crazy, but you, you guys had agreed like the goal together is that we’re going to be doing this adventure because, you know, as John brought up, I don’t want to say I wish, but it’s that important.

01;06;43;09 – 01;07;05;14

Jon

We have got to push my story won’t be. I wish I had done that. And like as much as you say, pushed through, it wasn’t like a push through. Like we still like, yeah, there’s the days, but it was true. Like your objective was like, we are complete. Like you just decide. You resolve. We, we have complete and total control of every decision that we want is true.

01;07;05;23 – 01;07;38;29

Jon

We want to go like, you know, swim in the Pacific today and, you know, couple hour drive. But in terms of like how minuscule of a decision that is like yeah I want that was that was go you know there was no it’s not like we had a push to do that our plan change but there was like this was the objective to be completely in control versus a career both of us in the army where you know, yeah, we made decisions, but we were not totally in control, like where we lived and what we did necessarily on weekends and this and that.

01;07;38;29 – 01;07;57;02

Jon

So like idea. And honestly, this trip is now like in perspective changed how I thought about this next career because now we both got jobs now too. It’s like, hey, guess what? If I’m like, done and bogged down with like the computer screens a little bit, I will go and just run around the yard with the dogs as that is my decision.

01;07;57;02 – 01;08;24;02

Jon

And like, that is what? Like, no, this what makes me happy. I have no problem leaving the computer for being not in prison. No, you have. Yes, absolutely. And Im not bogged down anymore by like the career path versus have complete happiness with where we are at and John hasn’t said that’s a perfect transition because you guys outfitted for the winter, upgraded your passes, became Winter Warriors and had a great trip.

01;08;24;02 – 01;08;24;09

Jon

Yeah.

01;08;25;01 – 01;08;27;15

The Walkers

That was my favorite part of the tour because I just.

01;08;27;15 – 01;08;29;16

Jon

It seemed like you guys hit its stride at that.

01;08;29;16 – 01;08;40;26

The Walkers

Point. Yeah, we did. And it just kept on. And trust me, there was bumps. Like, I mean, anytime you travel, you’re, you’re not either going to flat tire or, you know, electric problems, you know.

01;08;40;27 – 01;08;41;04

Jon

Yeah.

01;08;41;14 – 01;09;05;29

The Walkers

Right. But still going to I don’t know. It was just we really did it in stride. Everything we we planned. And I think the first part of our trip really evolved us to be No, what let’s just go with the flow but let’s just plan as we go. We got better at planning together. We got better at thinking of where do we want to go in the next couple of weeks?

01;09;05;29 – 01;09;11;01

The Walkers

How are we going to travel, where are we going to stay? And we just got better and we also.

01;09;11;01 – 01;09;27;29

Jon

Got better at planning to adapt. Yeah, so like our plans were like, Hey, if by the way, this is a long drive, this my best up I got to be. Yeah, let’s, let’s, let’s get like make sure we have some like turn off points just in case like a snowstorm or something crazy. So. Yeah.

01;09;28;24 – 01;09;29;25

The Walkers

Well, it was just we.

01;09;29;25 – 01;09;31;17

Jon

Plan for that. Yeah.

01;09;31;25 – 01;09;54;15

The Walkers

So. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I wish we could have had, like, another six months to go, and we. I guess we could. You know, we could, but, you know, it really was that time in our life where we were just like, this is, this is awesome and this is easy. We know how to live nomadic because it does take a while.

01;09;54;15 – 01;10;11;20

The Walkers

And that’s why I think there’s been a lot more people I don’t know if you’ve seen on Instagram, but they’ve become they’ve served businesses where they actually give travel advice to people who are doing the vanlife because it is hard to start out. You’re not it’s not easy. No matter how much Instagram makes it seem luxurious.

01;10;11;29 – 01;10;30;23

Jon

And that is the thing too, like it was. Everything’s a task. You want a cup of coffee? It takes about 45 minutes. I will wake up out of the comfort of the van and I have to go around the back to our grill because we don’t have a good coffee coffeemaker. So I go to the grill, I start a fire, get water from somewhere.

01;10;30;23 – 01;10;49;11

Jon

Either have to go, get into like the river, never close to filter it or, you know, boil it to get the water or whatever. Then put it into like the the French press thing like and then clean everything back up and then put it back into where gets it was not like, you know, just make.

01;10;49;13 – 01;10;49;22

The Walkers

It to.

01;10;49;23 – 01;11;00;29

Jon

Me, not like the, you know, it’s like small things you realize like so every, every ounce of like the trip, even the comfortable parts are like, you have to like work to get right now.

01;11;00;29 – 01;11;25;10

The Walkers

The camera was a little bit more luxurious. Yeah. I mean, there’s running water, but I mean, you saw the spill like, plan on going up your water tank or filling up your jerry cans in the winter. You can’t really winterize. Then you have to maintenance, emptying the sewage like you have to plan a lot of things that you normally just don’t have to do and or propane.

01;11;25;10 – 01;11;47;27

The Walkers

So for your heat, we learned one night for a camper. How many else? A battery. We have to have 12 hour for the propane to run ten or above ten folds in order for our heat, our propane heat to run through our four pages of our. He doesn’t run on battery. Why does it take battery? Why is our heat not on?

01;11;47;27 – 01;11;56;20

The Walkers

And we thought we had a huge problem right. The next morning I called Northwood and you can just call them and you know they help you.

01;11;56;21 – 01;11;57;18

Jon

Set the manufacturers.

01;11;57;18 – 01;12;10;01

The Walkers

Yes. They figure out the issue and they’re like, well, do you have any battery left whatsoever? We’re like, No. And so it’s your issue. And we’re like, Oh, that’s just that’s on it.

01;12;10;01 – 01;12;16;05

Jon

But I think there be a note to that. Like if you want your feature and keep it about ten holes, you see where.

01;12;16;15 – 01;12;28;12

The Walkers

It wasn’t it wasn’t in the main. Come on. That’s very and it happened at 2 a.m.. So the water bowl for the dog was frozen. My woke up was like 15 to.

01;12;29;12 – 01;12;29;15

Jon

The.

01;12;29;21 – 01;12;32;18

The Walkers

School so that was a learning experience.

01;12;32;28 – 01;12;54;23

Jon

So it’s kind of fun because so here we are, you’re now enjoying the winter stuff. You’re adapting to the new lifestyle in your new home. And it’s fun stuff, fun adventures. So has it. That shows these issues. But really, you’re hitting that time kind of flew by my memory, too, because The issues in which I was involved except from the distance, but the calls were like, yet again.

01;12;54;25 – 01;12;56;22

Jon

Okay, cool. Yeah, like it wasn’t like.

01;12;56;27 – 01;13;00;28

The Walkers

Things are easy. Yeah, I know how to do deal with everything at that.

01;13;00;28 – 01;13;04;29

Jon

You paid your dues like the cross or mostly behind.

01;13;05;03 – 01;13;24;26

The Walkers

And it was like every day we were just like, we are so lucky like that. And I, we were just, you know, at that point or, you know, at the end of the night, we just lay in bed and be like, This is so awesome that we’re doing this. And tomorrow we’re just going see Janet Jackson Always or Big Sky or Taos, New Mexico.

01;13;24;26 – 01;13;29;29

The Walkers

Like, it was just so amazing when we just woke up. We’re like, Oh, life is like is easy.

01;13;30;24 – 01;13;47;05

Jon

The calls were very short in this part of the trip because Bill and I made a point. We made a point to reach out other once we got some day you live as a trip going to anything. And then the second half was like, Yeah, that’s just great whiskey, positive. Good stuff. And we’re seeing tomorrow. All right. Yeah.

01;13;47;05 – 01;14;06;03

Jon

And it’d be like, quiet for music. All right. We’ll talk to you in a week, but. But that’s great. So and it’s an awesome transition. So the six months goes, you guys got mace, which is our bauble because we had a four bell. So today of two days, you come around, you have the time of your lives and you’re like, Well, our years about that, which was your goal?

01;14;06;03 – 01;14;13;02

Jon

We’re going to transition and hope to God someone wants to hire two zombie hippies. Yeah. So, yeah. And that.

01;14;13;09 – 01;14;38;13

The Walkers

Was interesting. All right. So I was a little bit more nervous about the job search. I don’t know why I just was so I actually did my project management course throughout the end of our trip and then I was trying to apply and I did like 50 jobs. I got literally nothing because you just need to know somebody in order to get an interview just have to get to that interview stage.

01;14;38;25 – 01;14;41;20

The Walkers

Really took a little bit of a different approach.

01;14;42;00 – 01;14;42;12

Jon

What was that.

01;14;42;12 – 01;14;42;22

The Walkers

Again?

01;14;43;12 – 01;15;01;28

Jon

I built that like so I saw I will I was pretty late in terms of applying, so I was like, but you know, they’ll they’ll pick me up. Oh, that was my thought process, not how it were.

01;15;01;29 – 01;15;17;22

The Walkers

They kind of way, but it is really cool, you know, when you are job searching. So it was a little bit different. But I guess the the person who hired me was I went through a interviews because I was unqualified for the job.

01;15;18;06 – 01;15;19;14

Jon

But mostly.

01;15;19;23 – 01;15;20;22

The Walkers

Loosely. Yeah.

01;15;20;27 – 01;15;22;22

Jon

You were qualified to call.

01;15;22;26 – 01;15;25;10

The Walkers

I didn’t have accommodations. Yeah. That Was a but it’s.

01;15;25;10 – 01;15;26;04

Jon

A good distinction.

01;15;27;00 – 01;15;28;07

The Walkers

Yeah. And so you’re.

01;15;28;07 – 01;15;28;22

Jon

Capable.

01;15;29;12 – 01;15;50;21

The Walkers

Yeah. He was like, how are you going to go from doing nothing every well, not nothing like seeing and living the life and then going to a job like because I am just so ready to work right now. The best thing like this past year where I’m just I’m ready. I’m ready to kind of just dive into it.

01;15;51;03 – 01;16;00;06

The Walkers

And so, yeah, it was hard at first, but it was really just a lot of my my, the person who I networked with, you know, vouch for me.

01;16;01;09 – 01;16;24;04

Jon

And then, yeah, mine was more of a reach out, somebody that I knew from the army who was working for this company and yeah. Interview later. Got it. I mean it wasn’t. Yeah like they say why it wasn’t. I’m being absolutely naive and like that thought process too. Like I just it was like now, like I’m ready to work.

01;16;24;04 – 01;16;32;19

Jon

I guess I wasn’t ready for like, this trend, like that part of our life to be over. Like, I was fully, like, invest like, nope, I love what we’re doing.

01;16;32;19 – 01;16;53;22

The Walkers

Like, Billy’s very confident. So, like, he, like, that’s what makes it different. He’s very confident and he’s like, like, I will make your organization better. I’m like, I think I will. I get like, you know, I think way too much into it. And I think that’s why Billy can just give, you know, a positive offer. Your people still want me.

01;16;54;09 – 01;16;57;10

The Walkers

And it’s a great thing to watch, you know, being a partner.

01;16;58;07 – 01;17;21;23

Jon

Yeah, you go ahead. And I didn’t say Billy. I thought about this earlier, too. You’re. You’re that mentality like to have at least one friend like you who. Who simplifies it, simplifies it, You know, like I said, like. I mean, what is perfect? Like, the biggest lie is it’s not that simple. It is like, well, because we’ve all had these conversations and maddening with people who talk themselves about everything.

01;17;21;25 – 01;17;49;18

Jon

Yeah. Like, man, I really wish I could learn Spanish. We’d be like all right. Why do you in Spanish just do it. It is like so anyway, you know, see the today and like I said, the resources mean just have to YouTube or anything. But the resources we have now, like you could do literally and you want to do something as long as you commit like no I will and with no degree and whatever.

01;17;50;14 – 01;18;08;14

Jon

If I want to be a vineyard person like grow like vines and like be a winemaker or like it’s actually it’s very easy. Like as long as you commit, like, make your mind up, like, Yo, I’m going to do this. What are the steps? I’d say it’s like five steps, like up done. All right Got it. They’re like, I’m simplifying it a ton.

01;18;08;14 – 01;18;26;16

Jon

Obviously, like some people have a degree in this, but like, that is like, yeah, you know, you break it down to like, I get the degree, I have a knowledge and then I do a marathon. Simple. You just take a bunch of steps. Yeah, yeah. It, it’s difficult. And the combination of the steps, right, or in hindsight, cool.

01;18;27;01 – 01;18;51;26

Jon

And it is interesting because there is a huge factor is just execute. Just do it. Just get after it. Just start start like the power of starting soon. Same because you hamstring yourself with all the potential roadblocks before you start it. But if you just start, you’ll learn what roadblocks are real and what aren’t. And then you for what you learn how to overcome or go to the goal that that they’re not as bad as you make them up to be.

01;18;52;06 – 01;19;11;16

Jon

You had that road to listening to Matthew McConaughey in podcasting and when he was he went from like £190, like 130 for that role. He did. Oh, yeah. In Dallas. Yep, Yep. And he was like, and he was talking to a huge Joe Rogan podcast for you saw in Jerome’s like, what was the hardest part is like, you know, was it like the dieting?

01;19;11;16 – 01;19;34;01

Jon

The eating is like, no, that wasn’t the hardest part. The hardest part was making the decision to do it. Yeah. You know, like I had to commit like, every night, like, oh, my, my family’s on this insane diet. Like, I look, every day and I see like, oh, chicken nuggets, this and that, whatever it’s like. And the hardest and it’s once you start, you commit like that’s the hard part because once you’re in, it’s like, oh no, like you can see that.

01;19;34;01 – 01;19;56;14

Jon

So I don’t, I don’t want to eat it. And the hardest part is like being like, Hey, I will do this. Well, great testament to that, to it’s like I didn’t run much actually, in the military. I enjoyed lifting. I was consistent. My fitness, the belly shirt that Bill and Sara show up for Thanksgiving. It’s Wednesday night before we’re still on the couch, easily a six pack and like, enjoying ourselves.

01;19;56;14 – 01;20;14;28

Jon

Right? But we’re from the military, so I have a high tolerance. So Judge her facial expressions aren’t shown. Yeah, you don’t start. So we’re sitting on the couch, Have a great conversation. Had this great meal. The kids are down, all of us are talking, Bill. So, yes, I want to list for our situated side of decision like we’re going to work out tomorrow.

01;20;15;05 – 01;20;31;24

Jon

So. Yep. I want you like a Goggins workout, which if you’re not familiar, that means pain. And Aram, you can. Yeah. Yeah. If you were there. Yeah. So Aaron comes over. This is like what you guys. And I was fresh as a daisy. Yeah, he was guys. He was fresh as a daisy by aware of what were going to do.

01;20;31;29 – 01;20;58;14

Jon

So no big deal. We’re just going to do like, I just got into work at affiliate for 5k5. I had to Google look I guess was Yeah, yeah and he’s basically masochists right so the purpose and sold under the five and we did it and that launched a bunch of product and project surround challenges and the point to me bring that up into the icy wind and a headwind in the middle when all your.

01;20;58;14 – 01;20;59;18

The Walkers

Beers were just frozen.

01;20;59;18 – 01;21;16;13

Jon

It was correct. You know, it was brutal. It was it was like the task itself was hard and then all the environment was like, you need to stop doing this right now. Yeah, I already not being able to breathe. Yeah. Blowing into our lungs. And that was like somebody was redlining like according to their watches, like on redlining.

01;21;16;13 – 01;21;41;04

Jon

Yeah. And what was funny is like that was kind of the impromptu starting of something that was then carried on for something like over 85 kids through the dead of winter. And with that hard day, which was really difficult cause we did two of them and we’re like, We’re absolutely dead. But that became one of the easier runs in my memory compared to some of the storms that we ran through and things like that.

01;21;41;10 – 01;21;59;03

Jon

And the reason I brought up the tricky analogy of you just jumped in like hedge monsters. Do it. Yeah, let’s just start today. Let’s just do it. And then once you start, who cares? Yeah, the cat you set, the wheels moving, momentum is going for you. You’ll learn how to adapt and overcome. Yes, you’ll get stronger. The idea.

01;21;59;03 – 01;22;11;23

Jon

Commitment. Commitment just started. You walked into it with a true dedication and commitment to it versus being like, I’ll try it. You know what I mean? Like it’s different. Like no diet works. It just I’ll try it.

01;22;12;01 – 01;22;12;10

The Walkers

Yeah.

01;22;12;28 – 01;22;36;23

Jon

I only recently commit like I am doing this. There was no that’s the mental turn on of like yes or no or like, you know, success or failure. Yeah. There’s no try like it just like I will do this or in like, yeah you’re going to adapt. That was a trip to like I will have complete freedom or whatever whatever the trip was just like, Oh, we can’t do Alaskan, this and that, whatever.

01;22;37;00 – 01;22;54;21

Jon

But we we’ve committed to doing this thing and we will make the best of it. And we’ve had I mean, this is a life changing year in Amy in terms of my eyes, you know, but so and you’re right because you to that one work at a fun pretty Thanksgiving thing there is no question Oh let’s try it.

01;22;55;11 – 01;23;09;01

Jon

Yeah yeah we’re going to do it. And it’s like, okay, well, we’re going to do it. And we did it and that was it. And then we play football. The next day it was Turkey Bowl Day, and then we worked out again on Friday. And that’s life and that’s what you guys triplets and that’s what all, all these ventures are.

01;23;09;01 – 01;23;26;07

Jon

It’s it’s the people who want it reminds you that Theodore Roosevelt is now demanded. The arena is equal to those who want to sit in their gray lives. Something like that, very loosely. It’s like, yeah, like you just once you jump in and wrestle. Life is vibrant, life is full and you have no idea what can be achieved.

01;23;26;07 – 01;23;51;06

Jon

So it’s kind of exciting. So just just commit. Is that, is that man in the arena? Yeah. Main events. How do you like to choose to be there and do it, you know, and, and because you’ll hear a lot of people talk about I wish or even make you like it must be nice that you this, this and this going for you It’s like look don’t make fun of me and don’t get mad.

01;23;51;16 – 01;24;12;02

Jon

I made a decision. Correct. Do you make decisions? Yeah, that’s I would throw that right back to people. When. When is the last time you really wanted to do something and you did something about it? Because I think it’s a small set of people that really do like they they have suspicions of what they really want to do the dream wise and like deep, meaningful things and they do nothing about it.

01;24;12;02 – 01;24;39;28

Jon

Yeah, Yeah. Well, I mean, that’s the thing too, with you know, versus the decision was made. Yeah. Like but the progress from like going from nothing to, like having this band and like doing all this stuff was like we’ve had years of saving money to just take a whole year off and do nothing except for spend it essentially, you know, like we, you know, I didn’t I didn’t all of a sudden just like, have this great camper van or whatever.

01;24;39;28 – 01;25;04;16

Jon

Like, you know, we had it took nine months for us to build this thing from scratch. You know, like but the decision was made. We are doing this. Yes. And so that was that’s it. The in-between little steps like you’re saying, like a marathon is a thing. Oh, I’m doing a marathon. You now have 26 miles to figure out how to get started and be interesting.

01;25;04;16 – 01;25;21;29

The Walkers

You guys are relating like a lot of things to, you know, sports, running, wrestling. Like how when we were brought up in our it was like, I guess, you know, sports or any of these things going to make a really big impact because like for me when I was a runner like it’s the same thing. Yeah, exactly what we went through.

01;25;22;09 – 01;25;34;08

The Walkers

You start the race like I mean you better finish your Yeah you’re going to there is times I have like cramps and I’m like, well I mean I want to, I want to get first or I want to finish, you know, at least.

01;25;34;12 – 01;25;37;21

Jon

The worst nerves are before you start the race that you’re.

01;25;38;10 – 01;26;02;08

The Walkers

Going, you’re like, Yeah, well, you’re going to you guys, I’ll finish when you’re done. You, you. And it’s just so so it’s such a satisfying feeling of being like, Well, I did it. Like, it doesn’t matter now that I’m looking back. Doesn’t matter if I came in third in one of my races in high school, but I did it like I was I was a very you know, I was a great athlete and that’s what mattered.

01;26;02;09 – 01;26;08;16

The Walkers

Just like this trip. Weird break and adventures. We maybe weren’t the best, mighty, mighty.

01;26;08;16 – 01;26;13;03

Jon

And not one you might or not one, but like.

01;26;13;03 – 01;26;13;08

The Walkers

We.

01;26;13;08 – 01;26;37;20

Jon

Came out in terms of like we came out as we’ve progressed in terms of mental and emotional, like adults too. I the more you know, we have something to add to like the world now that we like in a different eye than just a normal person, like getting a good job and as kid like fills into like the the normal quote unquote rat race.

01;26;37;25 – 01;26;42;16

Jon

Yeah I think we’ve come out as a different perspective and we have something to add.

01;26;42;29 – 01;26;54;01

The Walkers

So for every race like my country is a big deal and that it was like that really resonated with me. And now like before, everything I do now I’m just like, you know what? Just dig deep like, you done this.

01;26;54;07 – 01;27;11;18

Jon

So it’s two really quick things and one of them’s a transition is it’s interesting because, you know, it comes up actually quite frequently like in a lot of this is tied into fitness as a fitness singing. And as I just listened to you comment on that, actually, I realize it’s like, no, but we are physical beings as human beings.

01;27;11;18 – 01;27;39;03

Jon

We are tied to bodies that are physical. So it’s it’s amazing to be able to point to a finite, relatively short term thing as a metaphor for something bigger. Right. And Like races, runs, lift the climbs, all these different things. They may take a day or two depending on their duration or a couple of hours, but they have implicit power in the example they set for something that could take a year to accomplish or years to plan for.

01;27;39;12 – 01;28;03;07

Jon

And that’s why, I think the fitness piece keeps coming in because it’s it’s it’s inherent to we are it’s inherent to the process. And, you know, we’re kind of naturally coming to this point where this question, I think small time, but here we are. You guys are both one side and you’re both happily or mournfully out of that journey, right?

01;28;03;20 – 01;28;34;12

Jon

Looking back at everything from meeting to the years of planning to building your guys at home to your resilience and adaptability and everything you learn through the trip. If you had a highlight your biggest takeaways or your the things you hold dearest to you in hindsight, well, either one each or five to whatever. What are those things that in hindsight you’re just like saying, I’m grateful because your.

01;28;36;08 – 01;28;37;03

The Walkers

Typical.

01;28;38;19 – 01;28;42;20

Jon

You got this. I’m so excited. By the way.

01;28;42;20 – 01;29;11;18

The Walkers

By the way, Billy was the same way with our vows. He was like, You’re going to make me write mine. But now I feel like this is that marriage is just, you know, it’s about being a team and it’s about being, like, communicating. And I think that’s one of the biggest things I took out of it. My second one was just honestly, I had this is like all gushy stuff, I think.

01;29;11;18 – 01;29;38;18

The Walkers

But I am I have a partner whose does every time I am down because it does happen more than anything, especially this is Billy was always there to feel like we got this together. And then I guess, I mean, like even eye surgery, like we we did so much. We traveled the country and there was times when I was like I was hurt and I was like, you know what?

01;29;38;18 – 01;29;55;18

The Walkers

Today I’m like, I don’t know, like, I’m really going to do this because I want to be cool and like, adventurous and and I learned, you know, it it’s okay to take a step back and you just got to enjoy the day like that day. And Billy Billy helped me a lot on that one, too, because he was like, Why don’t we just go with the refrain?

01;29;56;08 – 01;30;18;27

The Walkers

I’m like, Oh Yeah, I guess that lets you sit here and just do nothing and enjoy the sun. We could do that too. And so you really just resonated who I am and I learned who I am and they had a was hard to reflect and be like, okay with me. I know that sounds weird, but being it’s necessary.

01;30;18;28 – 01;30;45;00

The Walkers

It was it wasn’t certain. Being in the military, I was always trying to figure out how am I supposed to be, especially around like all these men, like I have to kind of prove myself being respected. No, just being You meet me. And I think I think that was really good during this year. And then I’ll quit. I’ll think of my last one for five, but I think that’s a good four.

01;30;45;01 – 01;31;10;29

Jon

I’ve got five. I just have like, you know, if you see something, want to do it and I interest you a lot, like, All right, let’s do it. That’s it. Like, you know, I don’t think it is that. I mean, it is that simple. Like, you see a lot of these guys and they’re doing these amazing like, you know, they’re they’re climbing like, you know, whatever, hike and skiing or, whatever your interest is.

01;31;10;29 – 01;31;28;29

Jon

Like, mine was like skiing specifically. And I see these guys climb like the Grand Tetons National Park. And I thought like, Oh, they have to get these amazing pyramids or helicopters up. They’re like, No, you hike up and you see these like, you know, and like and yeah, they had the knowledge of like making sure they’re safe about it.

01;31;28;29 – 01;31;50;19

Jon

But like, is how simplistic it can be. So like, you see something, these guys are not like any more advanced in any way. Like, like human being. Why this you? They have two legs and they, you know, they think like, yep, I’m going to have to climb up here. It’s going to suck. No one has a great time climbing like 4000 foot life elevation starting at 9000 feet.

01;31;50;19 – 01;32;09;11

Jon

You know, it’s just like no one has fun with that necessarily. But like, if you have like a you know, you see something you enjoy and you want to do it like and you see somebody else, there’s no reason that you care. So if you want to do it, just do it. That’s it. Just commit commitment. We got to borrow of Lucky.

01;32;09;11 – 01;32;30;00

Jon

Borrow Billy’s confidence, you know? Yes. Yeah. Well, you know, you can size up people in the gym and like, Hey, man, he’s doing this. Whatever that you can take it with anything. Hey, this guy’s like, get a promotion versus me. What did he do? He did something. There’s like, everything is measurable in that sense. Like, Hey, why is this guy like climbing his mountain?

01;32;30;00 – 01;32;47;03

Jon

Like, Oh, because he took a left foot in front of it, right? And then vice versa, like, all the way up. That’s why. Yeah, I could do that or like, you know, say was sports. Why is this guy like, you know, starting in front of me, it’s like, well, he spends the extra time to, like, shoot. Well, have you spent an hour after practice shooting?

01;32;47;22 – 01;33;07;03

Jon

I’ll spend an hour and a half like it’s all measurable. Like, why can’t I do this? Well, that’s for guys. The guy’s the same as me. He’s got two legs to answer the brain to. I like. It’s all we’re all the same. It’s just how much work you want to put in. And the minute you commit to, like, the decision, like, I will do a thing that’s, you know, and truly commit.

01;33;07;04 – 01;33;25;06

Jon

Not just saying like, oh, yeah, I’ll try. Yeah. You know, there’s not a full the nerd in me, there’s like a Star Wars quotes like do or do not There is no try. Yeah you do it or don’t. Yeah. Well that’s all it is. And I think there’s a really good delineation that takes away some of that confidence.

01;33;25;06 – 01;33;44;15

Jon

Right. Because the last thing I’d want is someone to have the excuse of the owl listening like oh go is just hyper confident, nerdy, just look in the mirror more like what you’ve learned in the reason you sound so confident is because when you read it, you learn that if I just commit, I can learn the path to what I want.

01;33;44;26 – 01;34;00;12

Jon

I can learn the steps I need to take. I can learn what needs to be learned and what needs to be practiced and what skills need to be built. It’s doable. It’s not going to be overnight. It’s going to be. It may be tedious and difficult, but know it’s accomplishable. If I commit to it as an ideal that I want to accomplish.

01;34;00;22 – 01;34;22;00

Jon

And that’s where you take it sounds like confidence, but you’ve earned that. You’ve earned that because you’ve realized, Oh, I can do this if I go and get this course done and I acquire the skill and I do these steps and I start practicing, oh, and now I’ve done it, that that’s it’s a journey not it’s a journey wrapped up in a decision that starts and is seen through by the decision.

01;34;22;09 – 01;34;45;05

Jon

Yeah. Yeah. You have to kind of get this picture in my head. Is this you making a decision is like you deciding to steer your own life. It’s not like I’m thinking like, maybe a sail ship or something, and there’s. The winds are coming. It. The waves are coming. The one that’s most dangerous is the one that doesn’t just make a decision.

01;34;45;05 – 01;35;09;07

Jon

Yeah. If you got to which way you kind of go, is it because if you just stick it, you’re going to go down like you’re done. So if you’re in this industry in this situation, you just have to have that resolve. Yeah, we’re going to we’re going to continue this to better know how it’s going to look necessarily ABCD and like so that you do have to adapt like made your way through your journey.

01;35;09;07 – 01;35;24;13

Jon

Yeah, but like, it doesn’t mean you’re like completely off track. Like you’ve in way progressed in, you know, maybe not the way you want to be progressed and made yourself better in some way to like learn a lesson and like, okay, now let’s get back on track. Yes.

01;35;24;13 – 01;35;26;06

The Walkers

Billy is his father, by the way.

01;35;27;03 – 01;35;28;27

Jon

So a shout out to Papa. Billy.

01;35;29;01 – 01;36;01;00

The Walkers

Papa Billy. So like, for example, we’re. Yeah, yeah, we’re in Maryland and we’re just like, sitting aligned is on my right. Okay, so that’s it. Like, yep, it’s a long life. But then all of us girls were like, Come on, We’re like, He just simplifies literally everything. So I think it’s really, truly shows like how he grew up and, you know, he was around just cool.

01;36;01;27 – 01;36;25;22

Jon

So and thank you guys for coming to do a quick summary and then leave any closing parting shots to anyone in extreme shortness you guys met, There’s attraction. We started venturing together and decided that that was one of your unifying things and that you were going to commit to a life that encouraged that commitment and that was adventure.

01;36;26;10 – 01;36;57;12

Jon

And from that, the big takeaways from the trip is if you commit to the ideal, even you can realize it. If you’re willing to put in the work that comes with the price of that commitment and the extraordinary value of investing in your other. And here we are starting a new chapter. Super thankful to you guys for allowing myself and my family to work with you as much as you let us, and excited to see what the next months and years and decades hopefully hold for us.

01;36;57;12 – 01;37;06;21

Jon

And thank you guys for joining us today. Does anyone else have anything, sir, did you say you had a final thing that you want to share at all as far as your lessons and everything?

01;37;07;02 – 01;37;13;02

The Walkers

Oh, yeah. I think what I want to yeah.

01;37;13;25 – 01;37;45;02

Jon

I just what you said, John, just the commitment with your partner, right, is that’s what’s it’s like why it’s like, so joyous and like, why the whole thing was so fun. Like, I made this final, measurable commitment in, like, there times it sucked, but it was like those sucky times were just hilarious and, like, honest. He brought us, like, happiness, looking in, like, realizing, like, have somebody to lean on, like We said, But like, but like the whole thing was a journey together.

01;37;45;02 – 01;38;23;17

Jon

Having fun. Yes. And like, realizing, like, this is amazing together and experiencing together versus a single person’s commitment, you know? So question is that if you don’t mind, because I think there’s something very true to this. I think as humans there’s an acceptance each dislike that which we don’t know or don’t trust. So when you guys are facing adversity through your trip, for example, getting frustrated with each other specially really wrong, was there ever like this aha moment where it’s like we are so in the same team, the more we push into it together that the more the problems, the problem about each other?

01;38;23;28 – 01;38;48;21

Jon

Or was that fairly clear for you guys from the start? Because I think that could be somewhere you. No, I think we I don’t it’s a tough one because like I think we went into it with like certain expectations and then like we learned very quickly this is like, you know, social media, the things that we thought this trip would be were not as glamorous.

01;38;48;22 – 01;39;12;14

Jon

All the time is what it seems, you know. So I think we learned very quickly like we have to rely on each other and like, understand like these little you know, if I woke up tired or just cranky or didn’t have coffee like it just we have to overcome some of these things quick where we are two feet apart at all times.

01;39;12;23 – 01;39;31;22

The Walkers

Like, you know, yeah, it was it, it was like the middle of the trip. And I kind of wrote down like a list of things that, you know, I learned during the trip, like let me, you know, do that. And one of them was that don’t fight with your spouse for more than 5 minutes is going to come out of it.

01;39;31;22 – 01;39;51;04

The Walkers

But you talk about what happens like I take ownership of maybe I was not being like, okay, sorry, that wasn’t okay, but let’s push past it. And then Billy was you know, you know, we just don’t take more than 5 minutes.

01;39;51;10 – 01;40;14;09

Jon

It’s got to be quick because I just heard a lot of the things, too, is I mean, we’ve talked about this like 2 seconds, like you have a reaction within 2 seconds. If you take that third second to just like, what am I about to say? This is is this any in any way like progressive in the fact like, am I helping the situation or am I just being emotional?

01;40;14;09 – 01;40;21;15

The Walkers

I know when I’m in trouble. If Billy takes 3 minutes, answer back and I’ll try.

01;40;21;15 – 01;40;39;28

Jon

I really, really try to calm the I understand the importance that like there is there’s a difference between I am reacting versus I am responding. I am trying to make sure that we are getting better together. Yeah, there’s a difference.

01;40;40;13 – 01;40;55;29

The Walkers

So silence is always, Oh, and then after 2 minutes and Billy, he usually has a good mediating way of us being like, All right, let’s figure this out, cause I’m Jersey emotional.

01;40;55;29 – 01;41;05;20

Jon

You know what that was? That’s. I guess another good takeaway is realizing, like, there’s a time limit for emotional response versus logical.

01;41;05;20 – 01;41;06;29

The Walkers

And I want to see more.

01;41;07;01 – 01;41;26;10

Jon

Progressive response to make sure that, like, am I saying what am I? Am I saying something that will make us better or like, get us in the right direction? Yeah. Or am I just trying to be right? Yeah, that’s correct. So we’re not even I just want to say something, you know, like just want to. Well, jab right now.

01;41;26;26 – 01;41;43;20

Jon

That’s a big that was a big one. So like a lot of the that was huge. And so a quick to forgive because a lot of the problem realizing lot of these problems are so minuscule and like yeah you know like except for that moment, except for the 2 seconds that you were like very emotional about it. Yeah.

01;41;43;20 – 01;41;59;27

Jon

But I mean, everything like, like it’s very like unless, like, the car broke down, like, well, we got to fix it. That, you know, that’s how easy it was. Like, what is it? How do we get better when we fix the car? I think we can’t make a plan. Can’t be bad. This isn’t just is what it is.

01;42;00;02 – 01;42;11;10

The Walkers

So I think we just learned how to kind of push issues together rather than push blame. Like because whenever you’re either like Bill, because you did this.

01;42;11;24 – 01;42;19;19

Jon

Literally, there could be a very clear sighted one way of blame. But does it does it get any so does it help the situation?

01;42;19;26 – 01;42;20;09

The Walkers

Yeah.

01;42;20;19 – 01;42;39;28

Jon

So yeah, most of the time like no it doesn’t like no, let’s figure out like how to, how to get out of this. Right. And I go and that’s it. So that that’s a fun additional unexpected goal or the nugget if someone wanted to start an adventure of their own final data, what would you tell them? Just do it.

01;42;41;22 – 01;42;43;26

Jon

Just commit some.

01;42;43;27 – 01;42;44;21

The Walkers

Plagiarism.

01;42;45;28 – 01;42;55;15

Jon

He was like, You can just go ahead with it. Yes, that’s exactly right. Yeah, I down just commit as your guys just like saying just.

01;42;55;26 – 01;42;57;10

The Walkers

Just yeah just let’s.

01;42;57;15 – 01;43;06;20

Jon

Well thank you on internet you know thanks for being here guys. So awesome story great adventure and looking forward to hearing what next adventures you guys use.

01;43;07;17 – 01;43;09;21

The Walkers

My goal. Thanks. Appreciate it.

01;43;09;27 – 01;43;10;22

Jon

All right. Take care.