Beachside Banter w/Bee

Finding Happiness (and the best travel hacks) with Leighton Campbell

• Bee Davis • Season 2 • Episode 7

Share episode

Want to know more? Let's Chat!

Episode Summary:
In this inspiring episode of Beachside Banter with Bee, Leighton Campbell drops by to talk about happiness, world travel, family dynamics, and how to pack smarter (hint: it involves letting go of more than just old clothes). As a devoted father, husband, entrepreneur, and author of Your Happiness Equation, Leighton shares wisdom from his adventures across the globe — including all Seven Wonders of the World — and opens up about how travel and intentional living can shift your mindset and help you build a more joyful life.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
• What inspired Leighton to visit all Seven Wonders of the World
• How travel shaped his personal and emotional growth post-divorce
• Practical travel hacks for real humans (including the “throw it away as you go” method)
• Why creating travel goals makes the journey more meaningful
• A sneak peek into Your Happiness Equation and the seven-question framework that could change your life
• Why some people bounce back faster from emotional setbacks — and how to give yourself grace if you don’t

About Our Guest:
Leighton Campbell is a world traveler, happiness researcher, entrepreneur, and author of the newly released Your Happiness Equation. He’s on a mission to help people measure, understand, and increase their happiness in simple, practical ways. When he's not writing or adventuring with his four kids and wife, you can find him leading workshops, sharing stories, or plotting his next Spanish-speaking country to visit.

Connect with Leighton:
• Website: https://yourhappinesseq.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/yourhappinesseq
• Take the free quiz: https://yourhappinesseq.com
• Buy the book: Available now on Amazon (Your Happiness Equation) 

Support the show

FOLLOW & SUBSCRIBE

Speaker 1:

Hey, hey, hey, everyone. It is another episode of Beachside Banter with Bea. I'm your host, bea Davis, and today I am here with Leighton Campbell, who is a world traveler. He's a happiness expert. He's a father of four, so he's got to have some serious patience. Oh, and he's an author of a book I'm so excited to read too. I just put it in my Amazon cart yesterday and I'm planning on bringing it home. I can't wait. The book is called your Happiness Equation and it is all about how to be happy. I'm super excited. Leighton, go ahead, take it away. Tell everybody why you're here and what you stand for.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so it's a great opportunity to talk about some of the travels I've done and the project that I've worked on, your Happiness Equation. It's been kind of a bit of a whirlwind and you know a lot of the well, some of the ideas that make it into the book are taken from my travels and some of the experiences that I've had and how travel has affected my life and affected my happiness and my relationships and so on. So, yeah, that's a really exciting opportunity to talk about all this stuff. Yeah, I'm excited, so I that's a really exciting opportunity to talk about all this stuff.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I'm excited. So I saw somewhere that you've actually been to all seven wonders of the world. Is that right?

Speaker 2:

That is correct. Yeah, we started the project. I forget what year we started the project, but the idea was to do one a year for seven years and we were on track and then COVID hit. So then we got kind of sidetracked for about two years, but then we picked it up and then we finished it and it was an amazing experience. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, which one was your favorite?

Speaker 2:

By far, it was Machu Picchu in Peru. It was our very first. One Part of it, I think, is because we had literally zero expectations. I had done no research on what I was getting into. I had no idea and it was my probably first like more quote, unquote exotic trip, like something outside of the States, something that was in another country, but like a historical ruin of a very high level. It was my first time experiencing any of that, so it just absolutely blew us out of the water and after seeing that, we're like man we got to see the rest of them.

Speaker 1:

I could totally understand that. So you said that Macho Picho is your the first one that you've been to. It was your favorite so far, and you think it's because of the not having expectations. So guide me into that, do you? Do you usually have expectations when you go like, do you do a bunch of research before you travel, or do you just kind of like wing it?

Speaker 2:

yeah, so for, okay, I'm extremely busy in life. I have a business for kids, hobbies I mean, um, I've had to kind of put some of the travel on hold because of this whole book project that we're in. Um, so typically I don't research anything like. I'll research to the extent of like, where do I want to go, where do people think is cool, what do I like, and that'll be the extent of it, but I wouldn't do really a whole lot of research on it.

Speaker 1:

Um, so how do you decide where you're going?

Speaker 2:

Um, well, the last couple of times have been a bit easy because we had a goal, which I encourage people to do is have a travel goal, and that's something that's going to take you time to accomplish, so typically. So I have different categories of travel that I do. One set of travel I do like with my brother and and sometimes we have, like other guys that come along with us, but my brother and I are the core group and then whoever is willing and able and wants to come in, you know it's, they're welcome and that's kind of like a guy's trip. It's a guy's trip because a lot of times it's like no frills, it's like that's it, and we're also we're going from one city to the to the next. We're trying to get as much as we can in in a very short period of time. Um, so it's it's that kind of and some of the hotels are like not the best, it's just that kind of trip. So that's one category.

Speaker 2:

Another category trip I do with my wife and those are nice resorts, nice hotels. We are. It's sometimes it's luxury, but it's definitely um, like solid stuff that places I would take my wife, kind of thing. Like there are hotels and I've Faceed my wife from hotels on my guys trips and she's like I would never step foot in that place. But you know it is what it is, um.

Speaker 2:

So I do that with my wife and sometimes we'll do trips where you know we're hiking and we're doing other things that are kind of like more adventurous and we're getting dirtier, sweaty, whatever is happening, but we're going back to a nice resort. So there's that category. And then I also do travels like with the family and that often is like with our children and so on. Those are often road trips because it's tough to buy like there's six of us, so it's tough to buy six plane tickets and then get two hotel rooms and it's just a lot. So it's like it's just better to like drive and we've driven across the US several times and seen amazing things. So those are my three categories of travel. So this depends on like the, the vibe yeah, no, I totally get that.

Speaker 1:

I think that, um, being with kids is is kind of difficult to travel like I. I remember when my kids were little and like I mean we, literally we would fly out of Florida, so we live in St Louis, so we would drive down to Florida and then hop on a plane to get over to the Caribbean or whatever it was, but it was always so chaotic. And then, of course, you get your kids there and they never behave the way they want to or are they excited about being there. And it's like you guys, like we went to, uh, grand caymans and my oldest son just like, totally just complained the entire time because he got a little bit of a sunburn and then it was just like, oh my, it's terrible, blah, blah. I'm like dude, you're in the grand caymans, why are you complaining?

Speaker 1:

say other kids yeah, yeah, I know. So, um, we stopped doing kid travel once. They were like 10 or 11. And, like, my youngest son loves to come on trips with me now. But my oldest son is like, nope, I will stay where I'm at and I am fine with it. So I get it. Travel's not for everybody.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it's each his own.

Speaker 1:

That's the moral of that story. So I hear that you have like some really good travel hacks. Is there any that you would be willing to share with us? I hear that you have like some really good travel hacks. Is there any that you would be willing to share with us?

Speaker 2:

Sure, I'll share all of them. So if you're an experienced traveler, like this stuff may not be like earth-shattering to you, but just things that I have done. So I would love to be able to fly like private, like on private jets, but I just it's not what I can do. So what I try and do is like, okay, what is the good things about like flying private which I have actually never done, but in my imagination, what would be the good things of that? And one of the things is just like the ease of getting in and out of the airport. So just like getting in, getting out as quickly and efficiently and hassle-free as possible and minimizing your waiting. So what I do is I always park off airport, like I live around a million friends and family, but I just don't like to call people to pick me up from the airport. It's just like everybody's busy, everybody's got a life. People call me to pick them up from the airport and if I can I will, but sometimes I can't. So I like to, when I get off of the plane, get on a shuttle, get to my car and go home. So that is something I encourage people to do and usually it's not that expensive because you can do off airport parking. I live near Fort Lauderdale, so Fort Lauderdale and Miami are the two airports that we fly out of, and from between $8 to $15 a day on the high end you're parking your car at a hotel, a shuttle drive away from the airport. It just makes my life easy and it just kind of puts me in control.

Speaker 2:

So I would say that's one, another one. This is a little. I like it, but I don't know. So what I do is I'll go through my wardrobe and I'll see, because they say you should eliminate the bottom 20% of your wardrobe every year is what they say, and I don't really particularly do that. But when I travel it's a great opportunity to get rid of like stuff that I don't want. Or maybe it's not in the absolute best condition or whatever. Maybe there's like a hole in it that no one knows is there, but I know is there. So what I'll do is I'll pack that stuff and then I'll throw it out at the hotel or the other place that I just leave.

Speaker 2:

So that way, on the way back, like I don't, I'm just. I'm just traveling lighter than than so. Sometimes getting it all packed in maybe a little bit of a you know struggle or whatever. Um, but yeah, that's that and I've, I've tried. This has been a goal that I've never accomplished. That's that and I've, I've tried this has been a goal that I've never accomplished. Um, I want to have the perfect travel packing experience where, on my last day, I've used my last piece of clothes. I'm going back with a with everything has been used and I have not done that. I always have clothes left over and I pack and I try and pack. It's another hack I try to never, uh, check luggage okay, yeah which is like my wife can't do that.

Speaker 1:

I can't do that either. I admire people who can I really truly do my both, my kids, my husband, everybody is able to and I'm like, but there's just some things that I have to take with me that and I get it check, or yeah, I just can't think it.

Speaker 2:

I 100% get it and that's that's also another reason for like, um, like the guys trip versus my wife, trip the trips with my wife because, like on some of our trips, like many of our trips, when we went to egypt, when we went to brazil, we went to some of these places it's like we fly into one city and then we have like three or four interior flights in the country oh yeah, that's a pain and if you're checking bags every time, it's like that's just one more bag that can get lost, that's what, and a lot of these connections, unfortunately, it's like we're again, we're like hitting it.

Speaker 2:

So it's like you miss a flight kind of throws everything off, and we've never actually missed a flight on an interior. We've never missed a flight ever, actually. Yeah, so it's uh, being packing light and being able to to never check a bag. That's also. If it's possible, I recommend it yeah.

Speaker 1:

So we went to belize and um over to ambergis k and from belize city and it was one of those super tiny planes and getting our stuff there, because I think I was like at 42.6 or something like that as far as weight goes, and I think their cutoff is 40, whereas all the major planes is 50. So I was like, oh yeah, I'm doing good. And then we got there and they weighed my stuff and I'm like, uh-oh, what do I do now? So I had to like grab as much stuff as I could out of my backpack or out of my luggage and throw it in my backpack. And I throwing stuff in my husband's stuff and I'm like, oh my God, what are we going to do? So I definitely learned to not take giant suitcases anymore. I'm down to like a medium size, so I feel like that's something right when you go for one of those huge ones to a medium. I'm working on it, I'll get there one day.

Speaker 2:

It's a process.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, it really is. And then, yeah, like trying to pack enough clothes to wear, and then, like there's always something that happens and I'm like, oh, I forgot this or I didn't have this, and so there's always that. So you would try to pack extra, but not too much extra, because you don't ever know, it's always a pain.

Speaker 2:

We have done laundry in other places too, like you take your clothes and just do laundry at the other place that you're at. Know, especially if you have, like an airbnb, that kind of setup or the hotels can do your laundry depending on where you're at, or sometimes there's like a laundry mat near where you are. So that's another way to to continue to pack light yeah, but who wants to do laundry on vacation?

Speaker 2:

um, okay, so I think there's two. There's okay, you have traveling and you have vacation, and those are not to be confused. Maybe your listeners are very like, they'll be honed in pretty well, I mean yeah. Yeah, so in my opinion, traveling is intense it is it really is?

Speaker 2:

You're trying to see as much as you can and do very adventurous stuff and you're condensing it in a short period of time. Um, it can be different, but it's like it's definitely not relaxing. A lot of times you need a vacation after you come back from traveling. So that's traveling. Traveling is hardcore.

Speaker 1:

Vacation is yeah, no, I, I get it because, uh, we went to bermuda, we were only there for three days just to create content and it was you know, go, go, go, go, go, grab as much as you can like. Oh, you have you don't. No, I get it because we went to Bermuda, we were only there for three days just to create content, and it was you know, go, go, go, go, go, grab as much as you can Like. Oh, you don't even have time to eat, type thing. So I totally get the difference of it and man, it's exhausting, it really is. I came back from Bermuda and I was like yeah, 100%.

Speaker 2:

The good thing is relaxing on a beach and that's cool and fun. And I also recommend people for myself and if you're able to do it, is you always take the day off. When you get back, don't come back right to work Like, come back to doing nothing and just retransitioning or getting out of the jet lag, whatever the case may be, but just don't go right back to work if you can avoid it.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I, uh, I have definitely learned that one. It's cause I can't tell you how many days I went in right after, like on a Monday, and I'm like, oh my God, I just got back last night at 11 PM or 11 PM and I'm exhausted and I get crabby then and nobody wants to deal with any of that. So I definitely learned. Uh, so how do you stay balanced then and, like you know, energize on these trips if they're so demanding?

Speaker 2:

well for the um. So for the vacation trips they're not really demanding at all, completely relaxing. I'm ready to hit the streets when I come back to my regular life. Um, for the the travel trip, those are so fun, like it's because I'm with my brothers or my guy friends and it's just an amazing experience. Like I'm completely energized. You tired but you're like energized and we work out a lot too. Like when we're traveling, when we're on our guys trips, we work out almost every day, every other day. So in addition to all the physical stuff we may be doing, we're also working out, but we're having a ton of fun. So, like, trying to find energy to stay is really not anything I've ever really considered. Just because the nature of the trip is just so fun and intense and we're seeing and doing amazing things. It's just like, yeah, I'm kind of jacked at that point. So I don't know, I never have to worry about that or think about that?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I get it. So is that your secret to staying healthy then, while you're on the road is just working out and stuff, or do you try to like follow a diet?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I work out a lot in my regular life and when I travel I work out also, and part of the reason why I work out while I travel is because I have these like routines in my life and I try not to break them and I don't want to be like a week, 10 days. I really don't take trips longer than 10 days, it's just I have too much going on to be removed from my life, so 10 days is kind of like the max, but like 10 days of not working out is just not going to be good for my habits. So the main reason I work out is because I don't want to break my habit and, um, so, in terms of like eating and stuff, I am fortunate to have like a pretty decent metabolism and the only thing I have to really uh be conscious of is like my salt intake because of like high blood pressure, you know disposition and so on.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

But other than that, I kind of eat whatever I want, but I also like I enjoy eating healthy food at the same time. Um, but I will like I don't beat myself up if I have to, you know, eat something that's quote unquote, not healthy. But if there are healthier options I will take them, but if they're not, I'll eat whatever, because I know I'm going to work it out and it's like kind of not a big deal.

Speaker 1:

That makes sense, I guess. Yeah, I feel like the salty thing. You said that and I feel like when I'm traveling especially, I feel like I get more like I don't even know swollen, so to speak, from traveling. I wonder if it's because I'm eating a lot of salt. So now I feel like I need to go back to the drawing board and reevaluate some things, so just kind of spark something in me. I like that.

Speaker 2:

So let's talk about your book. What's going on with that? Yeah, so I wrote a book and the title again is your Happiness Equation, and essentially what it is. The book is clearly about happiness, but I wanted a way to introduce this topic to people who probably wouldn't read a book on happiness, and the way that I decided to do that was to create an equation that would give people a happiness score on a zero to 100 point scale. So the idea is you answer seven questions they're pretty easy, straightforward questions, um. And then at the end of that process, you get your score. Um.

Speaker 2:

For those who are interested, you can, for free, no obligation, no credit, no credit card, no email go on my website, yourhappinesseqcom. You can answer the seven questions and you'll get your score. And the idea is you know a lot of people maybe want to improve their happiness, but they don't really know where to start, and one of the great things about this process is you can answer the seven questions and then inevitably, as you're going through the questions, you're going to think well, you know what I thought I was doing better in that particular area than I am, based off of my own reflection and self-evaluation. I need to start being more intentional in this area and then you kind of are off to the races there. My book gives ideas, resources, things that have worked for me, things that have worked for other people, on how to improve and optimize in these areas. And there's also a ton of resources everywhere you go to kind of optimize these different things. So that is the idea of the book.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that's awesome. So you went and when you were doing research for this, you were talking to people and you know, asking them about their happiness and all of that. Did you have any stories that might have like stood out, maybe that were funny or that you could share?

Speaker 2:

Yeah. So again, my brother, my partner in crime we saw seven women's the world together. We, we do all these crazy things together. We actually, uh, did a book tour in the U? S where he road trip Ah, I love the, by the way, I love yeah. So we left from Miami and we drove up to the Canadian border and we hit every major city in between. So that was like a pretty cool experience, and we travel well together. We're completely opposites. I'm the guy who's keeping us on time. He's the guy who's making sure that we have fun and that we get great content.

Speaker 1:

So that's we balance each other out, that's all, yeah, you can't travel.

Speaker 2:

I've traveled with people like myself who are just always on schedule and we hit all our deadlines where we have no fun. So you got to have like a mixture. So that was really cool. So one of the things we did we did a number of things on our book tour, but one of the things we did is we went to college campuses and we set up um cameras, a camera to record the art, the video and audio, and then I was the guy in the microphone and what I did is we would people walk me by, we would pull them. Hey, do you want to answer seven quick questions about happiness and get your happiness score? So we did that. We had a bunch of people do do it. We've had.

Speaker 2:

We had, uh, very funny uh interactions, some really heartfelt uh, everything in between. Um, you know, the funny stuff is not really punchy jokes that I could tell here. That would be funny. A lot of our stuff you can check it out on our instagram page and you'll the humor will come through as you, as you, as, as you watch it. Um, our, our Instagram and all our social media handles but Instagram is the primary one is at your happiness EQ. You can see our summer interviews and so on. Uh, one more kind of heartfelt or like interesting is like one of the questions in the happiness equation quiz is um. On an A plus to F scale, how would you rate your gratitude in life? So we were on the University of Tennessee campus and it was a beautiful fall. So in Florida we don't really get falls, you know, it's just basically hot and then we get like three days of a little chilly.

Speaker 2:

That's where you get a lot of your parkas and then we complain, and you know all that get it so, um, so we were, we were in um north of us, north of florida.

Speaker 2:

we were in tennessee at the time and it was a beautiful fall, and even the people who lived there and and we went further north and everyone kind of said, man, we have, we are having an exceptionally beautiful fall, so it was just awesome. So I I asked the person the question and he was like man, it's really funny that you asked me that, because I always think of how grateful I am while I'm walking on this specific path and I'm looking at the, the trees and the way the sun hits it and the, the leaves, and how beautiful everything is. And I'm just at the trees and the way the sun hits it and the leaves and how beautiful everything is, and I'm just so thankful to be here on this campus and all the things in my life, and it just really reminds me of all the things to be grateful for and I thought that was really cool.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that's a great way to kind of ground you too and make you feel like what you're doing is actually helping other people and stuff. So I like that. That's awesome. So what's the most unexpected thing that you learned about happiness while you were working on your book?

Speaker 2:

So I did it to. I wrote the book for a lot of reasons, and there are many levels to all the reasons I wrote the book. I did not think I would be helping myself Well not the goal. Think I would be helping myself well, not the goal. I didn't think I would be improving anything necessarily, but I have. And, um, one of the things that I struggle with. It's question number five, and that is when a meaningful situation does not go as expected, negative impact on your emotions lasts, and then you have three options short, moderate and long time. So I consistently and still do answer the question.

Speaker 2:

It takes me like a moderate amount of time to get over things. I've kind of analyzed why is that? And I've told myself these things like my whole life. Like I have to process something and before I can let it go like, do I really need to do like? So I'm challenging some of these things that I've told myself all all this time, and the latest version of improvement that I'm having in this particular area is like I'm giving myself the grace to not have to get over anything quicker, because that can be difficult and you can't force yourself to like get over something that you're still not over.

Speaker 2:

But what I'm doing is I'm I've challenged myself to realize that I'm holding onto something as quickly as I can. So when I realized, layton, you're doing that thing again, like, oh yeah, I am doing that, and then it's just like that, very like awareness is like the first step to like improvement and you know, change and so on. So just my awareness that I'm holding on to something has made it quicker for me to let these things go and get on to my great Cause. I have an amazing life, you know, yeah, and uh, not holding onto that, holding onto things when, like, you have all these blessings and you're worried about this, like one thing, that's like not perfect, it's like it doesn't make sense.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so once you identify that, you're holding onto it. How do you go about letting that go?

Speaker 2:

I don't really get into that. I don't know I'm I'm working on that myself. I have people in my life and maybe you're like this or I'm sure you know people like this. It's like something happens and it's not even a pit stop in their life. It's just like I'm not talking like an important person, passively, not stuff like that. I mean that's going to be something everybody's going to have to process. I mean that's going to be something everybody's going to have to process, but just like these things that some people hold on for a long time or a moderate time, or some people it's just in and out of their life.

Speaker 2:

I think it has to do with the way you're wired, possibly so like a nature nurture thing, I don't know, but I know like letting go of these things, like as quickly as possible, is important. Maybe there'll be another book once I figure it out, but I haven't figured it out. However, I figured out a lot of stuff. You just asked me a question of something I haven't figured out and something that I personally have to work on.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, you stopped me well, look, once you figure that out, I'm definitely like I feel like that is what a lot of people struggle with on a regular basis. You know, I have family members who hold grudges for decades and it's like why? Why are you doing that? Why can't you just let it go and move forward? But I get it. Some people just they're not like you said, they're not wired to do that. So I feel like I, one of those people, will sometimes hold on to some things that I probably shouldn't. But yeah, I get that.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, Okay. So some things I do, cause I don't hold onto things for a long time. I just have told myself and I'm trying to untell myself that I have to process it before I let it go. I just want to. But one thing's like one of the things I do is I give people a lot of grace. In my best self, in my best moments, when I'm at my best, I give people grace. So it's like someone did something to me and it affected me in some way. It's like, well, okay, well, what is that person going through? You know, what did I contribute to that? Like, did they really? I know I received it in a certain way, but is that the way that they intended to give it to me, you know? So if I can give someone grace in a way that negatively affected me, then that is something that I really kind of have always done, and I'm trying to maybe increase that to like let things go quicker. But I think grace is a big part of that.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I think you just wrote book number two. That's your answer, right there, like I think that's the perfect thing. A lot of times we don't give ourselves grace either in situations. So I feel like, yeah, doing that and and like you said, stepping back and saying you know, this person's obviously going through something, we're going through something too. Maybe this isn't the right time, or something along those lines. I feel like, yeah, I think you already wrote your book. You just haven't played it out and put it in words yet.

Speaker 1:

So I'm saying we'll see so does travel play into your happiness as well? Is that kind of what you know boosted all of this?

Speaker 2:

Um, it wouldn't say boosted, but it definitely plays a role in my personal happiness, um, and for a lot of people. So, okay, um, one of the things that is important and this is question number two okay, it's an important question it's like yeah, do you belong to any groups that um are that meet regularly and are meaningful to you? So I've kind of mentioned several times that my brother, david, he's like my travel buddy, that's not my wife, you know. And so a group doesn't have to be like a you know we have meetings every Wednesday and you know there's a treasurer and like a group doesn't have to be that it's basically just two or more people, um, that have shared goals, common interests, their values around. You know that have shared goals, common interests, their values around. You know that group dynamic and so on.

Speaker 2:

So my brother and I, we are a group into ourselves. You know we happen to be brothers, so we're part of a family, we're part of a community, part of a bunch of stuff, other stuff together. But we have like a special thing because we travel together. So, yes, so thing, because we travel together, so, um, so yes, so that is is part of it. So the travels that we do, um, are a way that we have these. I mean, imagine and you've traveled so you know but for for people who haven't imagine going around the world with somebody and like, imagine the stories that you have, imagine the moments that you share together, it's like to you can get that without traveling. So there's, there's a million ways to get that without traveling, but traveling is definitely one way to get it and, um, that is something that has greatly impacted my happiness, like, just, I think of the stuff that we've done together and it's like you just develop these bonds that are unbreakable and, um, so, to that extent, it is, is, is, um, travel plays a role there.

Speaker 2:

It I think of the, the travels I've had with my, my kids. So, you know, I was married to my first wife. I'm remarried now. There was a divorce and and there were three kids, and it's just a pretty incredibly intense, crazy time. But one of the things I realized is, like the value of my time with my children, cause I I was always a type of father, uh, that you know, I always read to my kids, we always did really cool stuff together, but when I realized that I went from 100 access to like 50. It was devastating on all levels, um, but I was like you know what I'm gonna make the most of this time that we have. So that is where we've done. We've done crazy things, awesome epic.

Speaker 2:

But that's where some of our best road trips, our very first road trip, our epic road trip trip we called the crazy horse ride because they wanted to see the crazy horse monument, okay, in south dakota, and they used to sing the song because of a cartoon that they watched and they were always singing the song. Um, it was on mr peabody and sherman and you know they, you know whatever, so they would sing the song. I was like, guys, you guys want to go see that? They were like, yes, let's go. So we went on that trip and I don't know how many years it's been approaching 10 years ago, um, and we still talk about that trip today I like that.

Speaker 2:

So you talk about travel, it's, it's a great way to to like have a bond, even my wife and I. So we went to belize, uh, two months ago and the hurricane um, we went there for a wedding but there was a hurricane that was coming. The wedding was on a barrier island and like we cannot get like wiped out and stuck in belize. So it's like, right, you know, we're gonna go back to the city, belize city yeah, that's where the main airport was. But when we went there, there was no hotels. There's no, no hotels, no airbnbs, no, anything. So we slept in our car, oh, outside of the police station, because there was no option. It's not like, even if it's been 10 000, 20 000 hotel, it just was not an option.

Speaker 2:

So that's what we did and it turns out to be like a story we have. That's cool, you know. And she completely I'm down for that like I don't care, like yeah, she is not like that. But she just realized there was nothing that either of us could have done. So we did, did that and it was, and we got a hotel the next night when everybody realized that it wasn't the end of the world and and had a great trip and it was really cool.

Speaker 1:

Belize is one of those countries, though I feel like it's okay to be in those situations. So I was. I went on a solo trip there and you know, you know well, you were mainland. So on the island of Ambergis Cay, san Pedro, it's so small that you could drive your golf cart around right. So I'm in my golf cart, I'm driving around it's the first time I've ever really been in one. I'm not an expert by any means and to get to the main beach there, secret Beach, you have to drive down this huge like gravel road and it's real long and there's tons of like puddles and all this and that whatever. Well, apparently you can't take a golf cart through a puddle.

Speaker 2:

Oh.

Speaker 1:

I didn't know that. So I learned the hard way and I guess some of the water got onto the spark plug or something and I broke down. I'm in the middle of the road by myself. Have like in this golf cart. I'm like I have no idea what to do. I'm just like blah, blah, blah, what you know.

Speaker 1:

So all these people were passing me and, um, a lot of local stops, and uh, it ended up where I was, like maybe a quarter mile away from a bar. So these two teenage kids they were like 15 and 16 running this bar they came driving down with their golf cart and they're like hop in, we got you no worries. I'm like, okay, so I hop in their golf cart and we drive to. He like pushes my cart down to the bar and they made this pineapple drink for me and it ended up being like such an amazing day. But at the same time it's like you know what do I do? But the people in Belize are so incredibly kind that I think that I would feel comfortable sleeping in a car in Belize City and it not be a problem so we did and it was fine.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and, and it was, and it was. I agree the people were really cool and I want to go back and do a trip that doesn't involve a hurricane and a and a sleeping in my car, because it was so cool. It's such a cool trip. I could just only imagine if it was like more, you know, traditional.

Speaker 1:

I've been a couple times and I just I absolutely love it. I feel like, um, if, if I could retire anywhere, it would be in Belize for sure we saw a lot of expats there and I get it yeah, and it goes cheap too.

Speaker 1:

It's, the food is amazing, um, and yeah, just, everybody is so nice and, yeah, I love the leaves, it's definitely one of my faves. So, yeah, um, let's see. So how do you think that travel can help connect somebody who's going through a rough patch? Or, um, maybe help them connect with somebody that they're having an argument, or or something like that, with yeah, argument and travel.

Speaker 2:

I don't know, I probably wouldn't. They can. I mean, I think if you're having a bad time with someone, maybe an elaborate vacation and traveling together may not be the move, maybe more of a staycation, kind of a phone okay, that's a good idea maybe a lower bar. I've never personally done that. Um. Travel has so many benefits, though.

Speaker 2:

Like like when you know you have a trip coming up, it's kind of hard to like have a massive blowout exactly you know, and then when you've come off of a trip, it's kind of you have like a grace period of you're basking in the glow of the travel that you had and the good times you had. So there's like a lead up benefit usually having a great time on the trip and then there's like an afterglow effect of it, so it just kind of you know you're getting like maybe three months of goodness out of it. So there's that. So what was the first part of your question again?

Speaker 1:

I just didn't know if maybe, like there was a way that it would bring people together. Do you feel like travel, like you know, unites people and and could possibly, yeah, make their relationship stronger?

Speaker 2:

for sure. So like if you have a person that you're cool with you, love, love. Whatever the case may be, it's all good vibes. I think a trip can. It could also strain the relationship.

Speaker 1:

Well, yeah, I guess that's true too. You don't really know somebody until you travel with them.

Speaker 2:

This is true, but if you guys are good together in any level, a trip can really just solidify that in a very impactful way. It also may let you know that, all right, well, maybe we're not, maybe we had these aspirations for a relationship or a friendship or whatever, and then, in traveling with them, you're like maybe that's not in the cards and that's that's a good thing to know as well too. Um, but yeah, you're really going to find out what you're working with. Uh, to some degree, if you travel, if you travel with someone. So I, I encourage it. Um, you know, I, I it's, it's worked for me. Um, I, we have, like I said, my brother and I have been the core of like a travel group and on the seven wonders, we've had all types of people shuffle in and out and they're not really I don't know that anyone's ever done two with us.

Speaker 2:

It's always been my brother. My other brother did two with us, but we love he's, he's, he's an amazing guy and has traveled even more than I have, and it was done in May, but he's just so busy and he's very successful. So like we get get them when we can get them, kind of the thing. But, um, we've had people who've come on summer trips where, like you know what, probably never traveling with that person again.

Speaker 1:

Okay, but it's good, good, yeah, so yeah, I encourage it Absolutely. Yeah, so, um, if you, like, were to give advice to somebody who was stuck in a rut, would you tell them to plan a trip, or what would your advice be?

Speaker 2:

trip, or what would your advice be? Yeah, I would definitely say, for me, um, traveling has been huge, and one of the things, uh, with like post-divorce, uh, like I didn't really travel before my divorce we were from Jamaica, originally live in Florida, and so we would. It would always, it was always Jamaica. Like I've seen Jamaica so much that I don't want to go back to Jamaica anytime soon, although our wife now she wants to go back to Jamaica and I will at some point. But I was like you know, I want to see the rest of um of the world. So, post-divorce, and I'm thinking, okay, well, what am I going to do with my life? What am I going to do with extra time that I not with my kids? Like I was like you know what, let's let me go see the world.

Speaker 2:

And one of the best, most fulfilling, most rewarding. It's an investment you're investing in yourself when you travel, if you do it the right way, and I would say the. The wrong way to travel is anything that puts you in like debt, that you're like you regret it, and it's like this weight that comes with you for the for like months or years. That, like I don't think that's. I think that's a very bad idea, but if you have travel that you're, you can afford and be creative. Uh, that kind of travel is almost always positive and highly recommended.

Speaker 1:

Yes, I definitely agree with that. So just sorry. Going back to the whole Jamaica thing, I had no idea that you were Jamaican. That's awesome. Jamaica is actually my second favorite place in the world, besides Belize.

Speaker 2:

My husband and I have been there. I didn't know you were going to Jamaica.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, they're both amazing places. They're both completely different from each other, but it's absolutely amazing.

Speaker 2:

What do you like in Jamaica, or what city do you go to, or what do you do in Milwaukee?

Speaker 1:

We normally stay at Montego Bay. So there used to be a Holiday Inn there. I know it's not a Holiday Inn anymore, they've changed management, but it used to be all-inclusive and it was cheap. You know, right on the beach perfect little spot We'd go. You know, right on the beach, perfect little spot we go. And we hang out there as long as we could. We go see as much as we can.

Speaker 1:

There's only like a few things in the excursions list that I haven't done yet. Then the one thing that I have to do so I'll have to go back is go to Floyd's. Have you ever been there? The Pelican Bar? No, oh, my goodness. So it's actually. It's a little bar that's off like in the ocean, somewhere off the Black River, I believe in the grill, I'm not sure, but anyways, you have to look it up. It looks like it'd be like just a really cool place. There's no bathrooms or anything. It's just like this little bitty bar right in the middle of the ocean. So one of these days I'm going to make it back to to go hang out there. But everything else is so much fun down there, I love it. So yeah, the people are great.

Speaker 2:

So were you born in Jamaica? Yeah, I was born in Jamaica, born in Jamaica, left when I was very young, but pretty much raised in America and American citizen. My children were born here. My wife is from Turks and Caicos, which I've never been to, and we're probably going to try and get there this year. So have you been to Turks?

Speaker 1:

I have not. No, it's on my list. You know all the Caribbean islands are. One of these days. I'll make it to all of them.

Speaker 2:

Well, that's an example of a travel goal which I haven't done myself, but like to get to all Caribbean islands. That kind of gives people like I want to travel, I don't know what to do next.

Speaker 1:

it's like, well, pick something, like one of the things that are on my list now is I want to go to all the Spanish-speaking countries in the world.

Speaker 2:

And um, that's probably my next thing. Are you a flute?

Speaker 1:

in Spanish I'm not, but um, I'm pretty decent, pretty decent yeah, I feel like that's the best way to learn, though, is to like totally just immerse yourself into it and just be like hey, I'm gonna learn today, I don't have a choice. Yeah, I feel like that's the best way to learn, though, is to like totally just immerse yourself into it and just be like, hey, I'm gonna learn today.

Speaker 2:

I don't have a choice. Yeah, I've traveled, uh, to Spanish-speaking countries and and spoke a lot of Spanish there. Um, there is a sometimes like people don't want to speak to you because they, you know, just may be more annoying and they're in the middle of working or whatever they're doing. They don't want to. So one of the things that my wife and I are going to do is, when our youngest graduates, we are going to go and live in some Spanish-speaking country Maybe Medellin, maybe Mexico, maybe Tulum and live there for like six months to a year.

Speaker 2:

That's a great goal I think that would definitely just perfect my Spanish, and then I'd come back to perfect Spanish.

Speaker 1:

That's awesome. So, uh, my dad is actually from Ecuador and he is fluent in Spanish and um didn't take the time to really teach me as a young person or whatever kid. Um, and now, to this day, I'm like I like, out of all the things that you could have taught me, like, why didn't you teach me how to speak Spanish? So anytime we go anywhere, you know I do have a little bit of that Latino look. So I go to, you know, puerto or Punta Cana, puerto Rico, all those places and they're like I don't, I look, I do, but I don't.

Speaker 2:

It's not too hard to learn.

Speaker 1:

I know. Well, that's what they say. I've taken four years of it and I can barely read it One of these days. I don't know, we'll see. Yeah, so this has been such a great conversation. Leighton, thank you so much for hanging out with me for a little bit today. I'd like for you to go ahead and plug your business one more time. Let everybody know exactly where they can get your book, because it definitely needs to be a thing in everybody's shelf.

Speaker 2:

So, yeah, go ahead, okay, so best place to go to access all resources related to the book is our website, and again, it's yourhappinesseqcom. So you add the website. You can buy the book and please buy the book. I think it can help people. The feedback it just launched on February 4th and the feedback has been amazing. So buy the book, please. And then, after you buy the book, and then you also, after you get through it, if you can leave us an Amazon review, that is huge. That can help more people become aware of them. That's awesome. And they'll also on my website. Yeah, for sure, also on our website. You can get your completely free happiness score. So that is as part of the website too. And then, in terms of social media, the the best place to like follow along and see all our cool stuff as soon as it comes out is Instagram and that's at yourhappinesseq.

Speaker 1:

Fantastic, awesome sauce. So one last question before I end every show, I always ask everybody what does paradise mean to you?

Speaker 2:

Paradise means being with people that you love and having amazing experiences.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I love that Absolutely. Well, man, this has been a great conversation. Thanks again, leighton. I appreciate you so much. We will definitely keep in touch. I can't wait to see all of the journeys that you go on in the next few years or whatever, and I cannot wait to read your book. I am so excited about it. I literally have like my whole weekend just planned on reading, so I've been hopped stoked. Anyways, have a great day. We'll talk soon. I hope you talk to everybody. Bye.

Speaker 2:

Thank you, dave, appreciate it.