The Road That Changed Everything

What happens when you stop planning… and follow the road?

Christina Zelezen joins me from her renovated Airstream in the mountains of Northern California to share the story of how a spontaneous cross-country van trip with her now-husband Matt changed everything. From traveling nurse life to a rare Airstream renovation and five acres above the treetops, their journey is a reminder that sometimes the greatest adventures begin when you simply say yes.

(And if you want to see their incredible Airstream renovation, you’ll definitely want to watch this one on YouTube.)

Want to see the beautiful Airstream Christina and Matt renovated and now call home? Take a look here: Christina & the Airstream 

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Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:00

This episode of Unscripted Turbulence is sponsored by DudeWow Cocktails, bold flavor, no extra ingredients. And if you want to try them for yourself, just head to dudewowcocktails.com. Use my code TRBULENTES26 and get 10% off. Or just grab the link waiting for you in my bio. And this episode is not as heavy as the past couple of episodes, although the past is heavy lifting to try to make this happen. I'm joined by my friend Christina Selden. And um you'll notice her background is very unique. Um, because Christina, where are you joining me from? And where are you exactly located where you're sitting?

SPEAKER_00 1:15

I am joining you from Northern California, and right from our airstream that we live in, and I'm currently sitting on the couch. Uh airstreams have very rounded windows, so there's all big view of the trees.

SPEAKER_03 1:31

Oh, I love that. And she has a furry friend near her.

SPEAKER_00 1:35

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 1:36

Pepper, right?

SPEAKER_00 1:37

Pepper is our Velcro dog who is currently on top of my legs.

SPEAKER_03 1:44

So I didn't know a Velcro what a Velcro dog was. It's just a dog that kind of latches onto you the whole time.

unknown 1:48

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 1:50

All right. Well, I have a Velcro husband, although he is in the so he, so pilot, we call him pilot, as everybody knows, and uh he is in the apartment today. Now I have to share something with you, Christina, and my viewers and watchers. So today my pilot thought I was heading into the studio in Manhattan to record. And he clearly didn't look at the Google Calendar that we share. So he looks at me and he's like, Well, aren't you getting going? And I was like, well no, I'm I'm gonna be taping in the podcast nook. He would have you would have thought, now this is why Pilate and I could never live in an Airstream like Christina and her husband Matt do. Um he looked at me and he's like, No, no, no, no. I went at peace and quiet. So I'm like, no, you're not getting any.

SPEAKER_00 2:37

So I know this feeling though. I mean, it's kind of the same thing.

SPEAKER_03 2:42

Yeah. Well, I I I I cannot wait to dive into that. So this episode, I like to say, is an episode that is gonna take us all on an adventure. Because when I met Christina, I was completely blown away, awe-inspired, fascinated by her story. And she is doing something that many people, I mean, there are like Instagrams out there and there are, you know, videos of people doing like van life and that kind of stuff, and you watch it from afar. I have a friend who does it, and it's Christina. She's actually living I mean, I want to say uh in a van down by the river, no, in the mountains, like you said. But it's it's such a neat story that she has because as I said, the past couple of weeks we've had kind of some heavier episodes. Um but this week is gonna be just something of magic and uh adventure. And if you ever thought, could I ever do this? There is a way, and Christina's gonna explain it. Maybe not the most comfortable way of doing it. So explained. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So Christina, um she is married to one of my friend's oldest brothers. And now Christine and I have tried to do this pod. I how many times do you think we tried?

SPEAKER_00 4:00

Four or five.

SPEAKER_03 4:02

Yeah. Now the reason is she's in the mountains of California, Northern California. So there's like there was snow last week when we tried to do this, like a blizzard.

SPEAKER_00 4:13

Yeah. And now today it's 52 and sunny.

SPEAKER_03 4:16

Which I didn't know it did that. Uh I mean, I should know because I'm a meteorologist, but like climatologically speaking, you know, so I would think, okay, mountains, Northern California, you get snow and you're cold, like we are here in New York, where I'm recording, but it's not like that all the time for you.

SPEAKER_00 4:35

Um, it should be, and that's what a lot of locals knew it to be. And we used to get like really big winters, but the last few have been kind of like this like a really late start, and then like an early spring sensation, and then a big winter storm, and then like right back to spring, and then summer's been happening. It feels like a little earlier now. Um, like I remember last summer, like right at June 1st, it was like 90 degrees. I was like, oh, okay, here we are.

SPEAKER_03 5:02

Oh, wow, that kind of like came out of nowhere. Yeah, it should.

SPEAKER_00 5:06

Yeah, we would like more snow. We would like it to be a longer, bigger winter. But um, so far this year, we've just been getting a lot of sun, um, which I think people will probably be like, don't complain. Yeah, don't. But we get a lot of wildfires out here, so we really like a good snowpack on the ground leading up into summer just to feel a little bit more secure in that world. Whoa.

SPEAKER_03 5:32

Yeah, didn't think about that. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 5:34

Yeah, I grew up on the East Coast like you did in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and I never thought about water the way I do until I moved out here.

SPEAKER_02 5:44

No kidding.

SPEAKER_00 5:46

Yeah, because it was so abundant growing up in Pennsylvania. It rained, it was humid, nothing was really ever dry, you know. Um, and out here we're just kind of in a constant drought in the summertime.

SPEAKER_03 5:58

Okay, well, that really sets a stage. So now we're gonna, uh as you heard, Christina is from Scranton, uh, Northeast Pennsylvania, and my people who uh are my my loved ones up there, my viewers from Nipah know Scranton in the office. And when I worked at Newswatch 16. Did you watch Newswatch 16 when you're growing up?

SPEAKER_01 6:22

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 6:23

Yeah, of course. Who didn't? Um so uh a little backstory before uh Christina can get into like, you know, where she how she got out there and lives in a van, um, because this is so fascinating. So Christina, as I said, she uh I I got to know her because she's married to my f one of my friend's oldest brothers. Um his name is Matt. So uh my friend um is Adam and uh I'm gonna tell this story again. She's already heard this story, but I'm gonna call myself out. But the difference is this pilot's in the other room. So I don't know if he's gonna hear the story or not, but whatever. So when I was in 10th grade in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, going to Liberty High School, Go Hurricanes, I um met Adam. Adam was an upperclassman, so he was in his junior year. And Adam and I became friends, and then we dated for a very hot second. He actually took me to prom, his junior prom. So I was the sophomore. When you're a freshman and sophomore, you don't go to prom, you have to be invited by an upperclassman. So fancy.

SPEAKER_02 7:26

Yeah. I know, right?

SPEAKER_03 7:28

Kind of a big deal. A big deal. So Adam took me to prom really fun, whatever. Um, you know, it was like one of those like light-hearted like relationships, and you know, we broke up, whatever. But while we were dating, now he, by the way, Adam is married to a beautiful and successful boss babe of a girl, Samantha. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_00 7:49

I have the best in-laws ever.

SPEAKER_03 7:51

Oh my gosh. Uh yeah. And I mean, Adam's parents, and then uh oh, it's anyway. So so Adam and I were lightly dating, and I decided that I wanted to go and say, like, surprise him and go to his house and say hello. And for whatever reason, I decided to buy a red rose. I don't know, switching, you know, the the gears of what guys do for girls and girls do for guys, whatever. So the role, gender roles. So I I I get this red rose and I drive in my Wolfsburg edition Volkswagen with a crank rooftop sunroof, right? Like one of those, yeah, it's like it's like 1987, 86, Wolfsburg edition, or something like that. I called her Wolfie. I called me my car. So I'm in Wolfie and I'm driving over to Adam's house and I I park the car and I cross the street, I knock on the door, and I'm thinking that Adam is gonna answer this door. It's Matt, who Christina, as you see on the screen, is married to. Now, Matt, Matt is a very attractive man. He is very attractive. And when he was in like, I guess he it was college at that time, I think. So Adam, he was probably like just out of college, Matt. He answers the door. And um, Matt, at that time of his life, if you have ever watched Legends of the Fall and know the character that Brad Pitt played with long flowing blonde locks of hair, that's who answered the door. So you can imagine me. I am basically shitting myself. I think I tinkled a little bit, and I'm like, oh my God, this beautiful man. And I've heard of Matt. I had never met him at that point. And I'm thinking, oh my God. And I remember all my friends being like, oh my God, he looks like Brad Pitt, Legends of the Fall. Oh my God, Legends of the Fall. So he answers the door, and I don't even know what I said. I think I had the rose, and I was like, uh, and he's like, Yes. He had no shirt on, by the way. So to add to this, okay. And I give him the rose and I go, This is for Adam, I gotta go. And I just left. I was I'm sweating just talking about this right now, thinking about like how I felt that time. But um, yeah, so Christina already knows the story because I've already told it. Um, but yeah, that's that's my that's Matt.

SPEAKER_02 10:13

That's Matt and now Christina.

SPEAKER_00 10:15

So yes, and Matt is, I think, still known from his brothers to never have a shirt on.

SPEAKER_03 10:22

So I never understood that. The guy never has a shirt on ever.

SPEAKER_00 10:26

I never understand it either.

SPEAKER_03 10:29

Well, you lucked out. Damn, Christina, you lucked out. I mean, he looked he looked out with you, but like let's be honest. So he really did luck out with you. So now, Christina, I I need you to kind of like tell the audience, okay. So you're from Scranton and kind of give me like the story of like who you are. Um, before we get there, what do you do currently right now? And we could back into that story.

SPEAKER_00 10:56

Oh, currently for work?

SPEAKER_03 10:58

Yeah, like what you what do you do? Okay.

SPEAKER_00 11:00

Yeah, I um I have my hands in a bunch of different pots right now. I um I'm the coordinator for our local community center, and I also run my own health coaching business and I teach yoga. And that's it for right now. Yes, I do a few other things, but that those are kind of the main things.

SPEAKER_03 11:24

Okay, because I actually got a newsletter from you today. You probably do about your yoga. Yes. So I have to look into deeper into that. So yeah. Um, okay, so but yeah. So prior to that.

SPEAKER_00 11:37

Oh, yeah. So prior to that, in like a different life, um, I worked full-time in um the emergency room. And so my career started in Pennsylvania in Wilkes Bear. How people say that differently too.

SPEAKER_03 11:50

Um I know, I was like Wilkesbury, isn't it? Wilkes Berry.

SPEAKER_00 11:54

Yeah, I I always say Wilkes bear. So I don't know who's right or wrong, but yeah, so I started my career there um working in the emergency room. And Matt is a ER nurse, so that is kind of where we began. I no longer work in the ER. I transitioned my life to be um out of it. I just felt a different calling with health coaching and working in the town and in the community. So, um, but I had 13 years behind me and it was uh wonderful, and I got to meet Matt. So that's how I know, right? Yeah. So um, yeah, so eight years ago, actually, this year, I was still working in that ER and Matt took an assignment. Um, he was still living in Bethlehem at the time, but he was driving up to work like a 13-week assignment in the ER that I was working in.

SPEAKER_03 12:48

And he's a traveling nurse. Is that what he does?

SPEAKER_00 12:51

He was originally. He that's how we met was like he was working for a travel agency and then taking contracts in different places. Um, I was not. I just had one job in in that area, had an apartment there at the time and stuff like that. Um, and so he took a contract in the hospital uh that I was working at. And then on my on his first day before he started, my boss came up to me and I had our again, I already told Reagan the story, but I'll tell it again. Hey, my boss had come up to me and was like, You have to show the new like traveler around and just like show them where everything is, like how to use the computers. And I was like, I don't want to. I hate training people. And she's like, she's like, Well, you have to. And my coworker was next to me at the time, and I just remember looking at her and kind of rolled my eyes, and I'm like, Oh my God. And then Matt kind of cut the corner, like all tall and proud, and like being really confident, and like it was his first day.

SPEAKER_03 13:50

And wearing a shirt.

SPEAKER_00 13:51

Was he wearing a shirt at this time? Yeah, he was wearing a shirt.

SPEAKER_03 13:53

I had I had to. I had to.

SPEAKER_00 13:55

I mean, you never know. Um, and uh he kind of cut the corner, and I remember thinking, Oh, yeah, I could show like I could show him around. That's fine. Um and uh and I was like very single at the time. I'd been single for like several months, so I was kind of looking to maybe meet someone new, and he really um struck me in the first day that I met him because he was very different and very unique and very confident in himself, and he had a great sense of humor that kind of matched my sense of humor. And I just remember thinking like this would be the person I would want to date, you know? And um, and unfortunately at the time it just wasn't the right time. So I just thought, well, chucks. Um, but like I'll have to train him and we could just be friends and stuff like that. So that's kind of where our story began. And then um, yeah, we ended up actually being friends for several months and kind of helped each other through some hard times. And then I got the courage one day, like months later, I believe it was like in May of 2018, and I asked him to go to a Dave Matthews concert with me in Syracuse, New York, because my friends didn't go DMB. Yeah. I was like, this'll reel him in. Uh then he could see how much of like a nerd I am when it comes to the DMB. Um and he said yes right away. And and then I I realized we would have to like make plans to get there and like see the show. And then I was like kind of panicking because I was like, oh, this feels it felt real then, you know, like where we would be like hanging out one-on-one in a closer setting, and I was getting real nervous. Um, but yeah, so that's kind of the story that we had. Um, and just a quick kind of fast forward to that, you know, we had that date and went to the show. We had a great time. We have a lot in common, you know, similar interests and values, and we come from close families. So it was really nice to be sharing time with somebody that like had the same exact beliefs as me, you know. So we um yeah, so we had a great, you know, date at the concert and everything. And um, Matt had not really been looking for anything serious because he had just gotten out of a long relationship.

SPEAKER_02 16:24

And I remember.

SPEAKER_00 16:26

Yeah. And so we were kind of trying to be respectful of that at the time. And he at the time had his Volkswagen Van again synchro, uh, and he named it Lars. And he was kind of of course, yeah. We all name our vehicles now. Um, and so he at the time was fixing up the van to take a cross-country road trip to do travel nursing out in California to visit his brother Adam that you mentioned out here and their their daughters, and um and so that was kind of his plan. And I just, you know, and I might have said this before, but like I at the time that I met Matt, I just really like had kind of like burned what I thought my life was to the ground at that time. And I was really looking to just like start over and start fresh and just become like a better person and like gain more experience and just kind of get out of this kind of like dark hole I was in. And so what that looked like for me was like after I met Matt, I was actually thinking about going to Maine for the summer and staying there and make like finding a job and um like living in Maine for the summer. And so our kind of plan was like Matt and I would travel up to Maine together, and then I would stay, and then he would take off on his road trip. So we weren't really investing in like a committed relationship. We didn't want somebody else to get disappointed. And um and so uh anyway, so fast forward uh to being in, you know, going up to Maine, um, kind of a couple events took place and one thing led to another. And then Matt asked me um in Maine on a hike. We were on top of this beautiful mountain, like overlooking um, like we were in Acadia National Park and we were overlooking the water, and he asked me, like, if I wanted to be his girlfriend and wanted to come with him on this road trip and see like how you know our relationship would do, or like if we can make it work. And I said yes.

SPEAKER_03 18:38

Oh, wow. Yeah, that's just so magical to think of. And and and like, I mean, you've gotten to know each other at that point pretty well, but like you're now committing to going across the country with this guy that you trained at the hospital.

SPEAKER_00 18:55

Yeah, and at the time, I mean, it it probably it felt well at the time, it probably feels more magical now because at the time it was like there was just so much happening, and there was like stress and other factors, and and you know, and so now like talking about it, I'm like, that actually was a really magical time. Um, but neither one of us.

SPEAKER_03 19:16

Isn't it funny when you have that perspective and you walk away from it and you're like, yeah, at the time it was not as magical as what we're looking at right now? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:23

But now looking back at yeah. But there was still so like I I could remember that moment of like Matt asking all of that, like as if it happened yesterday. Like it's still super fresh in my mind. And I think at the time I just thought, yeah, this is gonna be like the start to something new for me. And you know, Matt really at the time, like saw me for who I really was, not like who I thought I was. Like he saw like the real me and thought I was unique. And I was just like so floored by that because I thought he was so unique. And then I was like, what do you? I was like, wow, I'm I was like, that's really cool. So yeah, it was an all-around, like it's like I was down here, you know, and then that whole moment just was slowly like building me up to like where we're at now, kind of thing. Um, and so anyway, our parents didn't know about each other. Like, my Oh yeah, well, bring this up.

SPEAKER_03 20:22

This is I my dad would have been like, nope, you got another thing coming to you if you think that you're traveling across the country with some guy I never met.

SPEAKER_00 20:31

Yeah. Well, so we drove back to Pennsylvania from Maine and we met each other's parents and told each other's parents what was happening and what we were doing. And and you know, my Christina, this is like the first time that you met.

SPEAKER_03 20:45

Like, wait, this is the first time that you met each other's parents? Yes.

SPEAKER_00 20:48

Yeah. Because we weren't really exclusive. And so there was no reason to tell my parents about Matt. There was no reason for him to tell his parents about me because he was going off to California and I was quit my job and was not going to do that, you know. Um, so why would we why would I tell my parents about somebody that I'm not like exclusively dating, you know? And um fair. And so then this happened, and I thought, well, now we have to spill the beans. Um, so we filled our parents in with everything that was going on. And I, you know, my dad was had a lot of concerns and questions, but you know, ultimately, like I had committed to going. I also committed to driving my own vehicle and following that behind instead of sharing the van because we thought we would always need an extra vehicle to get from maybe work or like somewhere else. Because the van is like what we camped in and lived in. And if we wanted to like then go out to dinner, we'd have to pack everything in. So we're like, we'll take my car. Um okay, wait, hold up.

SPEAKER_03 21:52

I really literally thought you're like, Well, I took my car in the event like this isn't working, then I just shoot off of like interstate seven. Or whatever it is to live in. That's very true.

SPEAKER_00 22:03

Yeah. It's an escape plan. I did have that escape plan in my mind. I um thought, you know, well, if things end up not working out, then I have my car and all my things. So I can just, we can just part ways, you know. Um, so I took, I, you know, we put everything for my apartment in storage. We like got rid of the lease. We packed up my car with like what I would need for a cross-country road trip that Matt had been planning for a long time that I had not. So I was like going into this totally blind. Like I knew the route and like kind of idea, but I was just following along, you know. Um, because he had it planned for months, not not me. So there was a big uh kind of disconnect there where like he knew all the places we were stopping and I was just being filled in in real time.

SPEAKER_03 22:51

Um and so wait, wait, but yeah, how how do you how do you pack for this? Like you put things in storage, like rethinking.

SPEAKER_00 23:00

You find out really quickly, I think what you think that you need. Because in my head, I I remember if you were to look at videos and pictures back then of that road trip and all the things that we packed, we were like, we never needed any of that. So um at the time I did overpack. I had all sorts of clothes, multiple tables, um, my dog, all of my dog's things. Um and I remember I had like pictures and just weird little like trinkets and things like comfort things, you know, that I thought I would need. And um, yeah, it's just really funny. You don't know how to pack for it. You're kind of just like, I'll bring all seasons of clothes and I guess whatever brings me comfort, you know? And my car was packed to the brim.

SPEAKER_02 23:48

Oh my god. Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_00 23:51

And I had no idea how long I would be gone. Like, were we gonna move to California forever? Like, I didn't know when I put my stuff in storage, so I was really just taking like camping stuff and all the important things, but then I did have a lot of weird things. I had this like huge folding table. It just is like not conducive to like going camping.

SPEAKER_03 24:14

Oh, okay. I wouldn't think to bring a folding table, but I mean, I guess you would need one.

SPEAKER_00 24:21

Exactly. Yeah, and we yeah, we had everything that we needed. I definitely had more than I needed because I just I like having my little like uh comfort things, you know. Um like little journals and old birthday cards. I I brought all my old birthday. Well, that's what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_03 24:40

Like you have those mementos. Like I'm looking at my apartment right now. And if pilot was like, that's it, I'm quitting the airlines or hopping in my van, which he doesn't have, he'd have to go get one. He'll name it Mars. You could have Lars, and then we hop in and we have to pack and go. There is, I don't even know where I'd begin because there are, I mean, like even like books that I have that I really love, like you have to kind of sift through all that stuff. I mean, I know you had stuff in storage.

SPEAKER_00 25:09

I'd probably have that books with me. Right? I mean, I don't yeah. I think at the time I had no reference. Like Matt had already been pretty like well traveled at this point, and I knew nothing about van life or going in a van. I didn't really even know van life was a thing. I was just like, yeah, I'll follow you, and this is all super cool. And like I mean, I loved hiking, backpacking, like traveling. I had done those things, but never like in a van or to that degree. Um so I just kind of packed what I personally thought I needed and like what was comfortable. And Matt had told me at the time he thought I overpacked a little bit, and I was like, well, you just never know. And then as we were on the road, I was like, I have way too much shit.

SPEAKER_02 25:54

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_00 25:56

Because you just find out, like, yeah, it just and we'll get more into that when I, you know, talk about where we're at now. But um so basically, yeah, we like we put everything in storage, we packed everything up, and then Matt had the whole route planned. He knew like campgrounds, he had reservations, he, you know, and Matt's like very detailed, like very like easy to plan trips with. So it was very organized. And I felt very comfortable with the whole thing. And we had other fun ideas in mind, and we were getting really excited. Um, kind of said goodbye to our parents, and you know, uh event there was a lot of tension around our parents, like with the other person. Um, but I think eventually it kind of just like faded. I think my parents started to get more on board. Matt's parents were getting more understanding, and then my parents were really liking Matt more and more, and vice versa, you know, and I think we're close with our parents, so we kept in contact with them. It wasn't like we just went on this like far-off trip and like never called them. So they had they we got lots of pictures and FaceTiming and stuff like that. So yeah, we just I believe it was the end of June. We left Pennsylvania and we started the road trip. Um what year was this? 2018. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 27:17

Oh my gosh. Okay, all right.

SPEAKER_00 27:19

Yeah, and so we left Pennsylvania, we like said goodbye. Um, I had my car, I was driving, had my dog and my things, and the Matt had the van and everything else in there, and we had like our bikes and kayaks and stuff, and then um, you know, I mean, this this is such a long story, but to really kind of give out the best parts of it, we left from Pennsylvania, we traveled uh up into Canada, and then we drove kind of like across Canada, came back down into Minnesota, and then we did like Wyoming, Utah, Colorado area for a while, and then we drove out to California. The end game was going to Adam and Sam's house, um, meeting their new daughters and seeing their firstborn Laura, and um so that was like our end point, and so that was about a span of that whole summer. I think we got to Adam and Sam's, if memory serves me correctly. I think it was the end of August of 2018.

SPEAKER_03 28:20

Wow. So wait, why did you go up through Canada? Why didn't you just go right out straight?

SPEAKER_00 28:25

I don't honestly remember because Matt had it planned, and I think it was just that whole stretch is so boring in a way. Not boring. I mean, the whole country is beautiful in of itself, but I think it's just it's too easy to just drive out to the Midwest. Canada from like the the part we entered through through like New York has a lot of camping. Like the first place we stayed in um was like like dense forest and like on this beautiful lake. And like we did a lot of kayaking and canoeing and hiking, and then but all along that area, there's like a major kind of highway, like you know, like we have highway like 80 and all that, and yeah, that they have a highway that kind of goes through where it hovers above Minnesota, and it's just like there's no billboards, there's no traffic lights, it's like really great stars at night, really like forest uh trees, like lots of mountains. And so we thought that should just be more our speed than um kind of just jutting across the Midwest. No offense to the Midwest. We have done drove through, but you know.

SPEAKER_03 29:30

Yeah, none, none taken. I'm sure the Midwesterners would understand. Um, and you wanted to extend it. It was an adventure. You didn't it wasn't like we have to get like a truck or we have to get and drop off a load somewhere. Like you you could extend it, let it be.

SPEAKER_00 29:44

And at the time, we didn't have like a job lined up. So we there wasn't like some sort of deadline we were following. I mean, I guess a deadline in a way of like we knew we would have to start working to like have an income again, but there wasn't like this like pressing deadline. So we just like really took our time with each place we went through. I mean, even in Minnesota, when we stayed there for like two nights, like the whole thing just was slow going and like we weren't rushing from one place to the next. Um and then right before Adam and Sam's, we ended the trip in Yosemite National Park. We stayed there for several days because and then we drove to their house from that park. Um, and so that's kind of where we ended. It was kind of like a nice way to celebrate and like really reflect on what that trip brought to us, you know, which was like growth in our relationship and like individual growth, um, especially from me. I mean, that that road trip really was, I think, such a transformative point in my life um to help me get to where I'm at right now. And I just I feel like I evolved so much, like learned what was important, what needed letting go, and just learned so much about myself. So the Yosemite was like a really great way to um kind of just like reel all that in and like really reflect and like end the trip on like a great note, you know.

SPEAKER_03 31:08

Um so did you journal while you were going? Because I love the idea where you're like it it was transformative for you and it was a way to you realize there are certain things to let go. Like I don't know how far and deep you want to go into that, but you know, a lot of people do have this. I mean, maybe I'm the a lot of people, but to just unplug and just let go, let flow.

SPEAKER_00 31:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 31:30

And there is something magical to that when you just literally have no agenda. I mean, you have a certain amount of time that you need to play with, but you just let yourself feel the feels and go through the motions. Yeah. What did you learn about?

SPEAKER_00 31:44

I think for me, so I did not keep a journal, which I do regret now. I wasn't really into journaling back then as I am right now, but I took a lot of photos and I branched those photos out into different albums showcasing like where we were. So that way I could always remember like every little camp spot we went to. But I at the end of the trip, I did journal um for a while about like what I learned. And basically for me, the biggest part was like prior to that trip, I just was living so disconnected from myself. I was drinking a lot. Um, you know, I made a plethora of mistakes. I wasn't like enjoying my job anymore. So I wasn't like working as hard as I know I could have been. Um, you know, I was just making a lot of different decisions coming from a place of like fear and trying to fit in and not knowing any better. And I had no idea like what self-care meant. And I was always so focused on trying to like be like what everybody else was like or dress or look or act like them. And I I just was really disconnected from myself in all the things that I enjoy, you know, and what makes me who I really am. And that trip really brought all that back to me, where I re- I re-remembered how much I like to be outside, how much I like camping, how how like I just remembered things about my appearance that I was like wanting to let go of to really look myself again. And I stopped like drinking as much as I did, and I was able to kind of like learn more about myself because of that, and like actually learn what self-care meant, like about taking care of yourself from like a more grounded point instead of just like going with the flow and like drinking a lot. And um, and I say that a lot because I know I was doing it a lot, and so it was really nice to be on this trip and just be ripped away from all of that for different reasons, you know, and and just get to sit with myself for once and be like, that is not someone I was proud of, and that is not how I want to be living. And so, and when you're camping and you're traveling and you're kind of ripped away of like all those uh creature comforts, you're only met with yourself then. And so even if you're with a partner and have your dog, you're still the the silence and the solitude and the the exposure to nature and the beauty of it. It just you then you have to sit with yourself, you know. And that's essentially what happened for all those months, you know, for me anyway. Um, I can't speak for Matt. That's just my individual experience. I mean, as a couple, speaking for Matt, I think we learned more about each other. We laughed a lot. We yeah, that part is magical, you know. But I I think for me, the big, the biggest takeaway was what happened to myself, you know, and just realizing yeah, yeah, just kind of like how I wanted to be living my life. And like that actually, all the things I thought were important weren't really important, and like that I could be pretty free to be who I really am, you know. And I would and that was only the start. I feel I've reached that more now, but that was like a really good foundation. Um and it's what got us out here.

SPEAKER_03 35:09

Yeah, well, there are people taking well, there's people taking notes right now, being like, so in order to reconnect with myself, I have to get in a van and then head up towards Canada and then down towards Missouri.

SPEAKER_00 35:22

Making that list right now. I would say, I mean, always do that. That sounds great. Um, but I would say if like if someone does want to take away something, I think it's just leaving in some way just uh like your current comfort zone just would be my biggest takeaway. Like you don't have to like get in an eight a 1986 Volkswagen synchro and jet across the country, but you know, to go sit, you know, to go sit in nature or to try something new or to do something that's totally different from everybody you know that like what they're doing, or or do something where people, whether it's your family or friends, think, well, that's a little out there. Um, I think when you do that, you just start to gain your confidence back because you learn so much about yourself and like know that you'll always be okay, you know. And that was the biggest, that was a big thing for me was like, yeah, I don't have to like conform to what I thought like I should be conforming to, like, you know, my life back in Pennsylvania. Like that I could just do this and set myself free a little bit, you know?

SPEAKER_03 36:36

Yeah, it's so liberating. So you get out to California.

SPEAKER_00 36:39

Yeah, that's how we got out to California.

SPEAKER_03 36:42

That's how you got out to California. Um, and then you're hanging out with like Adam and Sam and the kids, but then you have to make a decision. And I mean, you're lit, you're not like you're not going to hotels other than Adam's house. Not that that's a hotel, but it's his home. But like you're like so you're in this van and you just like stay in the van.

SPEAKER_00 37:03

Uh, when we got to Adam and Sam's, we stayed in their guest room and we stayed at their house for about a month. And then um, about a month later, um, Matt and I were like, you know, we need to start working again. We need to start making some money. So he contacted his uh nursing travel agency to get a see what contracts are available in the area. He got his California license and stuff like that. Um, they wanted to put us in like one spot like an hour away from where Adam and Sam live, but it really wasn't anything we were interested in. And so we asked them if they had something else. And they his um job recruiter had a contract for us in Truckee, California, which is above North Lake Tahoe. And we thought, well, that's a lot better for us because we'd be in the mountains and that we love the mountains. And so we drove over 80, going over Donner Summit into like uh Truckee, California, and we just were like, yeah, this is more of our speed. It's all mountains and trees. And so uh we got to Truckee and Matt was actually gonna start work pretty quickly, so we didn't have a place lined up to live. Um we moved, so we moved into uh two separate local campgrounds for like a couple weeks each and until we found a house because they get really big winters, so we knew we couldn't live in the van throughout these big winters, and so we camped in the van in Truckee at two separate campgrounds until I believe it was like the beginning of November and then of 2018, and then we found a rental house um and we moved into a house. So we haven't always, you know, we haven't lived at the van forever. It was just a couple months. Um we moved into a rental house and Matt started working, and then I got a job at the clinic across the street from where he was working, and we had a really great time in Truckee. It was before 2020, so there weren't a lot of people that had moved up there yet, and we had a really good kind of local experience. Um and I really do want to get to like how we got into the airstream, so I'll make this kind of middle part shorter. Yeah, yeah. Um we we stayed in Truckee until April of 2019. And after yeah, after that, we decided to actually go back home to Pennsylvania. Matt helped his dad build a garage and I got to just hang out with my family. My niece had just been born and um all these different things. And so we actually were back in PA from like for most of 2019. And then we took two more travel nurse assignments. Um, one was in Hawaii, in the north shore of Oahu. We lived. Oh my gosh, Christina. Wow, okay. And then we went to Maine because you know those places are super close and very much alike. Of course, right around the corner. Yeah, our best friends lived in Maine. So we went to Maine, and then at the very end of 2020, around Thanksgiving time, I remember we were in our living room of our rental house in Maine, and the year was like almost wrapping up. It was like almost time for Thanksgiving. And I just remember really missing California, like really missing the mountains. And I just I missed it so much. And Matt, I expressed it to Matt, and he also felt the same way. And the next day, his old manager at his job out here in California was like, We're really looking for people. Like, are you do you want to come back? And I was like, And so he told her yes, and then we packed up everything in Maine, and we drove home to like spend a weekend with our family, and then we just drove right back out to California. Same situation. I followed Matt in the van, or he drove the van, and I had my car. Separate vehicles, separate vehicles, and we just drove right back out. Yeah, just in case. No, actually, that time it was more like it is good because we're gonna be able to do it in. Yeah, yeah. And we um we drove back and we moved back into the um rental that we first had when we lived there. Um, and now to really reel it, and this is how we ended up in the airstream. So we moved we moved back to Truckee at the end of 2020, and COVID had been ending, and everything had changed. More people had moved to Truckee, things were really expensive. Our rent was way more expensive than when we left. And there was a moment in the beginning of 2021 where I I specifically remember saying to Matt that like we are just never gonna get ahead. Like, we're paying so much amount of money in rent, it's not going towards ourselves. It would just be so hard to um just get ahead in life. And I said to him, these are my words. I was like, we'd already lived in the van, like periodically. We've traveled in it, camped in it, stayed in it for months. I was like, why don't we just buy a camper that's bigger than the van that would feel more like we could live in it longer, and we like move it to a campground and like reduce our rent and save up for like a house one day. And and Matt was like, I've always wanted to fix up an airstream. And I was like, Okay, well, I think we're on the same. So we then we never spoke of it again. He just started looking online. And above Truckee, where we live now, um, in Plumis County. So that where we live now is an hour more north of Truckee. Um, we had fallen in love with that area from the first time we had moved to California, like in 2018. We just really loved the area. And I think we knew we really wanted to settle down there instead of Truckee. We it just felt more like home to us. Um, and I think that's the best way to describe that. And so Matt's Matt and I started making steps about like finding work up here and getting into the hospitals up here and looking at campgrounds up here, and then all the pieces kind of came into play. There was an airstream for sale in Seattle, Washington, um, at a reasonable price. And the guy was living in it to build his house, and we thought, well, that's what we want to do. And and then uh everything really just fell into place. Like it was meant to be, because at that same time we found a campground up here in Plumis County to um that would let us rent all year round and keep the airstream hooked up uh to their water, their electric, and all that. And the rent was ridiculously cheap. It was like$500. And at the time we were paying over. Over$3,000 a month. So you can imagine like how nice it felt to not have to do that. Um and so we bought the airstream sight unseen, um, hired a guy to drive the airstream down to the campground. He parked it for us because we didn't have a vehicle that could tow it. And we purchased a 1997 uh Norman Rockwell edition Airstream. Um, it's 34 feet long, eight feet wide. It's the biggest one that they made um back in the 90s, and they made one for every state. So it's kind of like uh I guess a little rare to have one because not many people have them. They were this edition was only made, yeah, just like I said, like one per state. Um and we like I said, we bought it sight unseen, and we had our house and trucky. So that was April of 2021, was when we bought the airstream and got it towed down to the campground. We had our um our house and truckie. We had it until the end of May. And so the plan was was to um park the airstream at the campground, get it all hooked up, renovate it, and then move into it full time. And then that would just be our house. So essentially we bought our first house in 2021.

SPEAKER_03 45:20

And you had to renovate it. So now now Christine and I were on, you know, yeah we've had many a conversation about a specific podcast, what we're gonna do. But yeah, um so I'm gonna try, and if I don't, if I'm not able to do it because I'm not as technically savvy with my editing, I'm gonna try to showcase these pictures that you're talking about because I saw what you were doing in real time as you were like posting. It is so impressive what you were able to do.

SPEAKER_00 45:50

Yeah, I mean, I feel really fortunate because I did essentially end up marrying my mechanic and handyman. Um but we did, but we did renovate it together. So I do want to note in the story because I just think that this is really important to note when you buy something sighting, um, um, you don't know what it's going to look like. And so we, the day that the airstream got delivered, we drove up to the campground and we were waiting for it to, you know, pull in and we were all excited. We got like gin and tonics and we were celebrating, had a bottle of champagne. And the guy drops it off, he parks it for us, he leveled it for us, and we were like, in our heads, we were like, all we'll have to do is just clean it out and repaint it, and then we'll move right in. And when we opened that door, we were like, oh, it needed so much work. Um previous like owner had smoked and like everything was stained, and like it was very 90s, and there was wallpaper everywhere, and we were just like, oh, this needs a lot more than just like sweeping it out and painting it. So our so we were gonna sleep in it on the first night to celebrate. And then we couldn't figure out how to like turn the lights on, and we had no idea how to hook it up, and we couldn't get anything to work, so we just slept in the van and we were laying in the van and we were like, we were like, what did we do? What did we do? Like, should we have just stayed in the van? Like the van felt so much more comfortable, and we were like, what do we just get ourselves into? And then the next morning we made breakfast at the campground, you know, in the van. And then um, we learned where the breaker box was, and we learned how to hook it up. And so we learned everything about it, like in each moment that passed. And um, and then we just started working on it. So from the end of April, uh, we spent the next six months renovating it. And I do want to note that our lease was up in our rental house in Trekkie in May. So we moved into it when it was completely gutted out, and the only thing we had in it was a mattress in the back and our camping stove. But um, you know, people would say, like, if I say that out loud, people would be like, that's rough. But we'd also remember, yeah. I mean, but it's so funny because I never thought it was crazy. I just got was like, this is fine. Well, we're gonna renovate it and it'll get better. And we were living at the campground where we had access to hot showers and the bathroom. And um, it was summertime, so we were cooking outside and grilling, and you know, so it didn't really seem that bad. But we did live in it when it was just like, I have so many photos of us eating on the ground and like Dusty's bed is like next to like a wall that's like totally gone. That's our dog at the time, Dusty.

SPEAKER_03 48:52

And um yeah, it's and minds you like this is like small close quarters, and I I I I know there are people listening thinking, how did you not just break up because married? I mean, a pilot today was in the way, once again, in the kitchen, and I was like, I can't do this. And every time he gets in the way or I get in the way of him, he always looks at me and he always says, Tiny house, not happening, tiny house, not happening. Because of there are people like you and Matt who are successfully making it work in tiny house. It's not gonna, I mean, it doesn't work for everybody.

SPEAKER_00 49:33

Yeah, there are certainly there are certainly pros and cons, and it's not, you know, always super glamorous. At the time with renovating, I don't really remember it being really hard. I just remember the whole process feeling really easy. Like everybody was like, was it really hard to like renovate it or move into the airstream full-time or live at the campground? But I don't really remember that. I just I just remember it being simple. Like, like it was fine, and we were working on it together, and it really showcased our strengths and weaknesses. Like Matt was stronger at building and fixing things, and I was stronger at making something look more like a home. So like I like painted our kitchen cabinets and like he and then he put in like the countertop and the stove and the sink, you know, and like and then I decorated the area and like um same thing for like the walls. Like he did all like the structure and like the framing and like the kind of craftsmanship, but then I just kind of made it look really co like cozy in here, you know. And so it was, I just yeah, I don't really remember it being like a challenge to renovate it. The challenges come, and they're not really challenges, they just they kind of came later, like bumping into each other in the kitchen and like not having any quiet time, or like if one person really needs peace and quiet and the other person's home, you're kind of just like staring at each other a lot, you know. So those were kind of like the hardships. But at the time, renovating it, um, that never felt hard. It never even felt hard to live in it, gutted out, because it just was like another adventure, you know, um, for us. And yeah, I thought it was really tight.

SPEAKER_03 51:10

So we're you mentioned like, you know, when you want to have quiet time or like you need quiet on the set because you're, I don't know, doing a podcast like this. Where is Matt now? Like, is he next to you?

SPEAKER_00 51:20

No, he is at work today. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 51:22

We planned this accordingly.

SPEAKER_00 51:24

We did. Uh when we need quiet time, our bedroom, our door to our bedroom slides closed. So that's kind of like our separation where one of us, like, I'll go into the bedroom. I put the little twinkle lights on, headphones in, close the door. I got my book, a podcast on, or something. And Matt will stay out here and he'll put his headphones in and just like watch a movie. Um, we've gotten a lot better at saying, like, when we're overstimulated or like when we're really needing quiet time, we, you know, we do the best that we can. Um, when it's summertime, it feels a lot bigger in here because we can open up and like we're just outside more naturally. So it that also helps. Um, yeah, it's it, but this airstream's been everything to us. So we lived into uh we lived at the campground for uh a long time and we got the airstream where we wanted it to be, like by the end of 2021, and then just kind of tinkered with it from there on out to make it look super cozy. Um we got engaged in this airstream on Christmas morning in 2022. Uh we uh we did take it on a road trip, believe it or not, uh on its one and only road trip for our honeymoon. We drove up towards Oregon and Washington and uh came back down.

SPEAKER_03 52:48

And uh and it worked out well, it didn't get um damaged or no.

SPEAKER_00 52:54

Matt is really amazing at towing it and he does a really good job at parking it, which I'm also impressed with. And um yeah, it it's had a lot of first in here. Like we've we've been through four winters in the airstream in the mountains with blizzards and really big winters, despite what you know we were saying earlier. Um, we have a wood-burning fireplace in here.

SPEAKER_03 53:17

You have a wood-burning fireplace in the in your airstream.

SPEAKER_00 53:22

Yeah, I can turn the camera around.

SPEAKER_03 53:26

You could try if you want.

SPEAKER_00 53:28

I don't want it to disconnect, but it's yeah, maybe we'll just leave it and I'll include it in the case. Really quick, I know we're recording. Um can I just quick plug in my computer and you could just edit that out? Me saying that. Okay, perfect.

SPEAKER_03 53:45

I mean, I could keep it in. It's all real time. People, she's in the mountains of California. It's a blessing that this is going as long as it is, knock on wood wherever there is wood.

SPEAKER_00 53:54

I just need to plug the laptop in and go on.

SPEAKER_03 53:57

I can plug it in. I'll just do the talking, but you could kind of if I might just keep this in. So you could kind of see the background of her airstream. Like Christine is living the life. She's living the dream, the adventurous dream of up. There we are. I mean, this is where they live. This is it. I don't think pilot and I now that there's not one ounce of Pilot and I ever doing this. We did though, we did though, we drove, no, we flew to the Mountain West, because this was after I decided to I did a a uh Emmy Award winning the Emmys back here. Uh Storm. Yeah, yeah. I'm one of those obnoxious, those obnoxious reporters of it. So um. I should be. Anyway, so uh we pilot and I went to the Mount West and we saw a lot of RVs out there, like RV America. And we were gonna think about getting into an RV and just driving around and doing like a all American road trip. I always uh tell people that's not gonna be like the airstream.

SPEAKER_00 55:03

They should do that once in their lifetime, perhaps I mean it would be so cool.

SPEAKER_03 55:08

It would be really cool. I know I just saw the inside tour of your your your airstream, and I'm I don't God bless you. But it's a beautiful airstream what you did with it.

SPEAKER_00 55:19

I mean, really it's just yeah, and I will say, like, yeah, I mean, Matt did like such an amazing job, and I think we both did a really great job at trying to figure out like how to make it really cozy. Um I mean, it's it's our home, and we knew we were gonna live in here for a long time. So we really wanted to make sure we had everything that we needed. Um and so yeah, after so really the goal of getting the airstream was to save up money to buy a house or property here in the county we live in. And so we and so um, so yeah, we moved into the airstream in April of 2021. And then in April of 2025, we officially moved on to our property that we bought.

SPEAKER_03 56:07

Ah, you saved the money!

SPEAKER_00 56:09

Yeah, yes, and um at the yeah, um, we bought this property in 2024, but we spent the year just kind of getting it ready for the Airstream to move on to it. So it is an undeveloped five-acre plot of property. And so in 2024, uh, with the help of Matt, uh, friends, friends' dads, you know, neighbors alike, um uh Matt installed our septic system and then we hired a company to drill our well. And um we, you know, leveled out an area where we thought we'd put the airstream. And Matt spent a lot of time kind of cutting down trees and clearing things out to make it really safe for us to live here. And then we were gonna stay at the campground longer because we didn't really have all the utilities or everything done. And I just thought, you know, uh, so we, so you know, we drilled our well here on the property. We got all that done, but we didn't have a way to get the water from the well to the airstream. And I just thought, well, we have a 50-gallon holding water tank. We could just get gallons of water and fill them up and then pour them into our tank ourselves and things like that. And I said, there's no reason really for us to be living at the campground and spending money on rents and also having to pay our property loan. And we, I remember like we talked about it a lot and like thought about how we can make it work with just moving the airstream on here. We had septic, so that's huge, able to flush our toilet and stuff like that, had somewhere to drain our gray and black tank. Um, and just for reference, gray tank is the sink and shower water, and black tank is the toilet water. Um but you need a septic, yeah, you need a septic system somewhere for it to go and drain into. And because Matt had um, you know, dug up our septic and got everything installed and everything covered up, we had a place now to put the airstream to dump our drains. So really the biggest thing was power and um like figuring out how to put water in. And so Matt ordered these, like, he ordered six, six-gallon, I believe, jugs. And we would just, he would fill them at work, I would fill them at work, um, and then we would just use those to dump into our tank in the airstream. So we've gotten really good at taking really short start-stop showers where you just like start the water, get wet, shut it up. So and doing dishes really quickly and like not wasting water, which is probably a good, I guess, skill to learn. And um, so we were doing that. And so we thought, okay, we had all these things in place, like let's just do it. We'll just we didn't have power on the property either. So we thought about with charging phones, we thought, okay, well, we have our vehicles, like the van, our Volkswagen van, which we still have, um, has solar, so we could charge things into it. Of course, we'll have that thing forever because I refuse to let Matt get rid of it. Lars. Lars will live a long life. I will say, Lars did not live a long life. Um, Lars in 2019 got hit while it was parked, and then we bought an 87 synchro and put all the parts from Lars into the the donor, if you will. So it was like RIP Lars. R.I.P. Lars. Now we have a one-year younger Volkswagen vanigan synchro named Wolf. So similar to what you said in the beginning with Wolfie.

SPEAKER_02 59:45

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 59:46

So we were like, we don't have power, so we really had to think about it. So we just got a lot of like battery-powered lights, uh, solar lights for the outside. Uh, we'll we could charge things at work and like in the car. And we're like, all right, let's stop living at the campground. We've been here forever. And so the same month that we went into it, uh, four years later, we moved out of it. And um, Matt drove the airstream up the property. He parked it on the first drive, like a parking god that he is. And we've been on our property ever since. No more campgrounds.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:22

So I mean, what is the next step? Are we gonna build? I mean, I saw like you guys were fixing the property up. Like, are you gonna build a house up there or are you just gonna stay in the airstream the whole time?

SPEAKER_00 1:00:37

No, we're gonna definitely build a house.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:39

Okay, I didn't, I didn't listen. I love it. It's surprising me every twist and turn of this story with this airstream, you guys are devoted to the airstream, which I am so on board with.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:48

I am very devoted, but some days I'm very ready for a house. Um if if you're a friend or if you're a friend or a close family member that's listening to this, you will know that some days I'm ready for a house. Um so when we moved on in April, um, Matt got, you know, pretty focused on getting it more uh livable for us. So we um got the well pump installed and Matt bought a water cistern. It's a 2,500-gallon cistern to hold water. So now our well could pump water from the well up the ground into the cistern to fill that out, and now we have that to fill our airstream. So we don't have to pick up the pick up and fill the big jugs and dump them into the uh holding tank. And he got a um a few solar panels and installed a battery uh just underneath our couch. He did that that whole system. I understand solar at such a minor level that I I'm not even going to attempt to explain what Matt installed because I would just not do it justice, and that's just not my expertise. Um, but Matt underneath our couch put in like a bunch of batteries and switches, and um, so we so we are completely off-grid in the sense that we have our well, so we're not tied to the city water, we're not hooked up to the city's power, and we have a septic system, so um, and like a leech field underneath. So we are considered off-grid. And this year in 2026, our goal with our property is to um get our driveway fixed up. We have a kind of an uphill driveway that really needs to be graded and graveled. And we hope to dig out for our foundation. So we'll start building in 2027. Um, Matt drew up the plans with the county, and we're gonna build a 1,000 square foot home. And it's gonna be a two-car garage with a house above the garage. So the second story of the building or of the structure would be our home.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:02

Oh, yeah. My what? Yes.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:07

Wow. Yeah. Oh, so the airstream is not forever. Um, I didn't know.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:13

I mean, I I kind of figured after you got land, but I didn't, yeah, I didn't know. Like we're in the middle of this is gonna happen.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:20

Yeah, it's gonna happen. I mean, um, Matt's been taking all those steps to get things going. Um, on the property itself, um, Matt, with the help at one point of Adam and their dad, um, Mark, and um, and then our friend Ricky, they built a um shed on the property. So we have our first structure on the property. Um yeah, which is exciting because it's just a like it really saved us this winter to store wood in there for our fireplace and like the generator is in there, and like our patio furniture is in there, and um, and we um and it's just really cool to see a structure on the property. So my personal goals with the property are um I got a greenhouse for Christmas, so I'm gonna build my greenhouse. And uh last summer we started building some garden beds, so I'm gonna start getting like a drip system set up and like get a garden going. And um uh that's kind of like my main goal for the property this year. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:25

I mean, it is so exceptional. I mean, I see the views of like what you experience every day, and like can you explain like what is around you and what your mornings, day, and nights look like where you're perched?

SPEAKER_00 1:04:41

Yeah. Well, when you live at a campground for four years, it's just really nice to not wake up and see different campers all around you. Um, so our property is nestled. Um, so there's a main road, and then there's a dirt road that comes off of that, and then one more dirt road, and we're at the end of that one. Um, if you're looking out north um of the property, uh to the right, uh, there's nothing there. It's just the forest. And then to the left, it's more forest, and then our one neighbor who we've grown to love them, but you can't really see them from where we're at. And then behind us, it's also forest. So there's not much. Um the center of our property is cleared out and very open. It's where the house is gonna go, it's where the airstream is uh at the shed. And at night, that whole opening is opened like in this for this like view of the sky. So you just see the bus stars. It's really dark. Uh there's really there's no traffic lights. Um, for reference, there's only one traffic light in our like surrounding area, so it's pretty dark. And um the mornings, I think, to be very magical. Um, I'm a bird person, so I've done a lot of work to cultivate. To get a lot of birds to come to the property. So it's a lot of birds chirping and just that mountain air and quiet and no campers. And you know, you would think by now. We moved on to the property in April of 2025, so almost a year now. You would think by now we would just be like kind of used to it, but still every morning I'm like, it's nice to not see those campers. Like we're just still so like enthralled by the morning. And it it really is just um it's it's just a really magical piece of property. And we feel like we just can't believe we got this lucky in this lifetime, and we're so thankful. And sometimes we have to remind ourselves to leave because I'm like, we're gonna get real weird if we don't like get out once in a while. Like we're just always home because it's just so it's so cozy here. Why would you want to go anywhere else? But we um we also um created a like trail on our property, so from the airstream up to the very top where our property line ends. We created like a kind of a path that zigzags up. Um, and that was like one of the first things we did when we bought it. Um, so it we'll just like take the dog for a walk in the morning or um yeah, and Matt built a um a deck at the top of the property. Yes, I think I saw that. Yeah, so it's it doesn't have like walls or like a roof. It's not like a tree house, it's just like a deck, like a tree deck. Um, and there's like siding and stairs he put in, and that's at the top of the property. So when you walk up, you get a view of like the local mountain range and like all the trees. And so that's been really nice in the summer to go up and like do yoga on in the morning or just like to contemplate something, or it's great for us if we need some space. Matt might go up there and sit up there, and I might just stay down here, or vice versa. Um, the more kind of little things we have on the property, the more the airstream feels a little bit bigger. Um, because we have somewhere else to go.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:11

I mean, it is just like the way you just describe that is so magical and it's like a resort, it's a retreat.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:20

Yeah, it does feel that way. Um but you know, it is one of those things I'm like I I hear a lot of people say that and it makes me feel really lucky. And at some times I think I don't deserve this, like this is crazy. Um, and then other times I'm like, no, we worked really hard and this was our vision and we accomplished it. And like, um, but I will say that it is possible for anybody to do this, and I'm not talking about getting an airstream and stashing it in the middle of the woods. I am talking about like it has really taught me the importance of finding a way to just make your home feel really peaceful. We're lucky because the peace is thrown in our face, and sometimes it's hard to uh remember that because you because we do live in this resort type situation. We do live in like somebody else's dream or you know, what vision or whatever. Um, but we also live here full time, and so we have jobs and we have stress and we have uh different strains and then we forget that like we live in such a beautiful place, like allow the place to help us, you know. So it's a good reminder. Like, I have to remember to utilize our property and our surroundings as a way to just know that like everything will be okay. Um, because sometimes you just forget it because you're here all the time. Um, but I I have found with being here that I'm like, if you can take even a corner of your house and make it something that feels what I feel when I go outside in the morning, then like you have you'll have a lot of things that you'll need. Because I think that's just like what it comes down to is that like at the campground I made I wanted to make the airstream so cozy because the last thing I wanted to do was sit outside and like stare at all those campers and people coming in. And and so we would hike behind the campground to like get away from that, and like so I wanted to make our home really cozy because I felt I needed to be in it a lot because I'm not gonna sit next to so-and-so's camper outside, you know. But um, and I that's where I think I really found that import, like the importance of like just making your house feel like such a safe and cozy space for yourself, no matter what that looks like, you know, because it's just your home, you know. And and so here I feel really lucky because even if the airstream was like, you know, a mess and not pretty, I would still just be able to go outside and find it, you know. So so having the tree deck and like having our little trail, it's like it's just all little things that we did to make the property and our house feel just more of a place of comfort that like we want to retreat to, you know.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:10

It is such a beautiful story that you have, such a beautiful love story and just one of adventure. Yeah. And you know, I I am so glad that we had this conversation, and I think we should probably wrap it up because we could probably continue. Christine and I can talk. Oh, we could definitely talk so we can keep going. Um, but I know I do want to wrap it up, and um I just I I'm just so grateful that we have become friends, and you know, for my listeners, like you took us on a trip. You took us along with you, and and we're now like I can almost smell the mountain air. And I can almost just feel that cool breeze on my face. It's just it's such a beautiful feeling. But then when I look out, I see Con Edison out of my window. But it's not a big deal, not a big deal.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:03

Not a big deal.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:05

No, but thank you.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:06

Well, you're welcome to visit us anytime.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:08

Well, yeah, I I am gonna find myself out there, and I I think what you have is awesome, and I can't wait to see the rest of your journey because now you've got the house that's gonna be built, and oh, and I'm gonna try to get those pictures too, because I really want to find a way to have my viewers see all and listeners see all these pictures and just the timeline of what you did because it it can be done and you're proof of it.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:36

Yeah, yeah, I will definitely send them over. And um, I just want to say thank you so much for letting me share this story. Because um, you know, it's easy to get like imposter syndrome or think like it's like it's never felt like a hard way of living. So I'm like, oh, it's it's fine. Um, but I do feel so thankful for you to let me share the story. And you're right, you and I could talk forever. You're yeah, it's just awesome. But um, if anyone who's listening ever has a question, you know, I mean, please direct them our way. I feel like we have a lot of knowledge under under ourselves now.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:13

So um, yeah, I'll just I'll I'll make sure to have like your contact information in the podcast description because I'm sure people will be very interested to uh uh know a little bit more about how do you actually make this work.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:26

Yeah, yeah. And we've all done the trial and error. Everything we've learned was the first time learning it. So it's it's we now we're at a place where we could actually like explain it.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:36

Oh my gosh. Well, thank you so much, Christina. I'm gonna let you go. And um it just thank you for taking us on this trip. It was quite an adventure. All right, thanks guys, my friends. Take what lands, leave what doesn't, and keep moving forward. Follow wherever you're listening, and if you are watching on YouTube, hit that subscribe button. It helps more than you know.