Finding Strength Through Solo Travel After Cancer

What do you do when the body you once trusted changes—but the desire to explore the world doesn’t?

In Episode 6 of Roam Alone, I sit down with Tracy, a traveler I first met as a tentmate while climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in 2018. Back then, we bonded over thin air, heavy packs, and a shared love of going it alone. Years later, we planned to reunite for a trek to Everest Base Camp—until a cancer diagnosis changed everything.

After intensive radiation and chemotherapy, Tracy was left disabled. But instead of retreating from the world, she reimagined how she could move through it. At the end of 2025, Tracy embarked on a two-week solo journey through Europe, navigating accessibility and uncertainty — but on her own terms.

This episode is about resilience, independence, and redefining what adventure looks like when everything changes.

Time Stamps

·       00:00 — Meeting Tracy on the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro

·       06:35 — Running a New Orleans half marathon solo after plans fall apart

·       09:52 — Joining the Peace Corps and moving alone to a small town in Ukraine

·       18:00 — A cancer diagnosis that changes everything

·       28:00 — Traveling solo through Europe while newly disabled

Roam Alone is hosted by Theresa Stephens.

Instagram: @theresaannstephens

Facebook: /theresastephens

Facebook: /RoamAlone

Transcript

Episode 6, Tracy

Theresa Stephens Hello, everyone. I'm your host, Theresa Stevens. And this is Rome alone. Solo travel. Shared stories. Today, I'm happy to introduce you to my friend Tracy Yeakle. Hi, Tracy.

Tracy Yeakle Hello. Happy new year.

Theresa Stephens Happy New Year to you. I'm so glad you're joining me today. We have had quite an extensive relationship over the last eight years.

Tracy Yeakle That's

Theresa Stephens So Tracey Tracy Yeakle right.

Theresa Stephens and I met back in twenty eighteen. Um, it was probably around midnight when the bellhop and I woke you up from a dead sleep in the middle of Africa.

Tracy Yeakle That's right. Yeah.

Theresa Stephens Yeah, I know

Tracy Yeakle What

Theresa Stephens I

Tracy Yeakle is

Theresa Stephens was.

Tracy Yeakle that noise?

Theresa Stephens I know. And so, yes, Tracey and I met, uh, for this climb of Mount Kilimanjaro. And we had never met before. It was part of leukemia and lymphoma. They came up with a new, um, a new, uh, I guess, event.

Tracy Yeakle Fundraising. Yeah.

Theresa Stephens Yeah, exactly. And so we raised money, uh, separately for this event, and then they arranged everything through Embarc exploration. So, um, Tracey ends up being my tent mate on Kilimanjaro, and. Yeah, that was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Tracy Yeakle Yes.

Theresa Stephens Yeah.

Tracy Yeakle It was.

Theresa Stephens So what do you think? Now that we've got eight years between Kili and now, what's your perspective of that hike? Way back when? How

Tracy Yeakle Uh,

Theresa Stephens has that changed?

Tracy Yeakle yeah. You know, there's the thing that for me that when I look back on the hard things like that, there's

Theresa Stephens Mhm.

Tracy Yeakle always a certain amount of. I wish I could have appreciated it more, you Theresa Stephens Yeah.

Tracy Yeakle know, while I was doing it. And it was amazing. And there was definitely a lot of. But there was also like, you remember I got, um, some, uh, altitude sickness at Theresa Stephens Yes.

Tracy Yeakle about fifteen thousand feet. And so I was miserable,

Theresa Stephens I

Tracy Yeakle like

Theresa Stephens know.

Tracy Yeakle throwing

Theresa Stephens I do remember.

Tracy Yeakle up or trying not to throw up and Theresa Stephens Yes.

Tracy Yeakle just, like, really dragging. And before that, I had great energy and, and and it also like I have, I just don't sleep well. So that's one of the things with all these trips is that, um, the, the sleep deprivation gets worse as, as the time goes on. And so, you know, by the end, especially, um, in that summit, I was just completely out of it. I didn't even care about pictures because I was just like, I want to get down. I mean, it was freezing cold, I was shivering, I was so cold. And you guys are all taking off jackets and hats to, like, get these great pictures. And I'm like, I just want to go down. I just want to go down. And, you know, of course, like, again after that, I was like, man, I wish I had got some really great pictures. I wish I had been more like, you know, into it or open or just like, not so wiped out to to be able to enjoy that moment of having made the the summit.

Theresa Stephens Oh, I believe me, I was faking it so bad it took all my strength to smile at that picture. You know, when you're standing by the sign that says you've reached the summit? It took all my energy just to smile for, like, a half second. Because I was dying. And I wanted Yeah.

Theresa Stephens to get down as fast as humanly possible that summit night. And by the way, going from where we started summit nine at around ten pm to where we were to camp that night at

Tracy Yeakle Yeah.

Theresa Stephens was the following day at like nine pm.

Tracy Yeakle Yeah,

Theresa Stephens So it was like twenty three hours Tracy Yeakle yeah.

Theresa Stephens and we had a little bit of a break after the summit, but literally it was twenty three hours long. That hike was.

Tracy Yeakle And going down through that, the rocks of Theresa Stephens Yes.

Tracy Yeakle what seemed felt like we were walking down a dry river in Theresa Stephens Ma'am. Tracy Yeakle the dark and like, I Theresa Stephens Yes.

Tracy Yeakle didn't know we'd be walking in the dark. So I didn't hadn't brought my headlamp and

Theresa Stephens Ma'am.

Tracy Yeakle my legs were jelly.

Theresa Stephens I know. Oh, yeah. We could barely walk Tracy Yeakle Uh.

Theresa Stephens the next day. I do remember that clearly.

Tracy Yeakle Yes.

Theresa Stephens But as we descended and started getting our breath back and it got a little warmer, I felt on top of the world. It Tracy Yeakle Yeah.

Theresa Stephens was amazing.

And going through. Which actually just reminded me, remember going through 

the, um, the, uh, graveyard of those, um,

Theresa Stephens The carriers, Tracy Yeakle the.

Theresa Stephens the, um,

Tracy Yeakle Yeah. Yeah,

Theresa Stephens whatever

Tracy Yeakle that was

Theresa Stephens they would carry people down on who Tracy Yeakle right.

Theresa Stephens couldn't make it.

Tracy Yeakle It was so bizarre. Like,

Theresa Stephens It

Tracy Yeakle what Theresa Stephens was Tracy Yeakle is this?

Theresa Stephens I know, I know, we were like, wait a minute, this is I don't know, it was a little it was a little scary, you Tracy Yeakle Yeah.

Theresa Stephens know, that they and Tracy Yeakle Yeah.

Theresa Stephens and the fact that they just kind of abandoned, um, Tracy Yeakle Mhm.

Theresa Stephens those transports, I guess, um, was

Tracy Yeakle Stretchers Theresa Stephens really Tracy Yeakle like.

Theresa Stephens crazy.

Yeah. Like. Theresa Stephens Yeah, but Tracy Yeakle Yeah.

Theresa Stephens it was such an amazing time. I felt I felt on top of the world literally for months after

Tracy Yeakle Mhm.

Theresa Stephens that trip.

Tracy Yeakle Yeah. It was just another thing to again like you do these really hard things and afterwards you're like I did that like

Theresa Stephens Exactly. If I could do

Tracy Yeakle I can

Theresa Stephens that,

Tracy Yeakle do the next

Theresa Stephens surely

Tracy Yeakle hard thing right. Theresa Stephens I could do

Tracy Yeakle Like

Theresa Stephens all this. Others?

Tracy Yeakle yeah

Theresa Stephens Exactly.

Tracy Yeakle it's like

Theresa Stephens So.

Tracy Yeakle what are you asking me if I can do that for. Of course I can. I just did this other thing.

Theresa Stephens And what a great feeling that is.

Tracy Yeakle Yes, Theresa Stephens It really Tracy Yeakle absolutely.

Theresa Stephens is.

Tracy Yeakle Yeah.

Theresa Stephens And so going after Kili, that was that was only the beginning of our friendship

Tracy Yeakle That's

Theresa Stephens because.

Tracy Yeakle right.

Theresa Stephens So there were there was another group of people in our, um, I think it was eleven of us total. There was a big contingent Tracy Yeakle That's right.

Theresa Stephens from Savannah, Georgia, Tracy Yeakle Mhm.

Theresa Stephens and we went. You and I flew down to Savannah for, I think it was a wine festival that

Tracy Yeakle Yeah,

Theresa Stephens they had down there.

Tracy Yeakle yeah.

Theresa Stephens All of you guys came to Louisville for the Derby one year.

Tracy Yeakle That's right. Still

Theresa Stephens And you. And.

Tracy Yeakle got one of those top experiences? Definitely.

Theresa Stephens Yes, it was amazing. And then Tracy Yeakle Yeah.

Theresa Stephens you invited, uh, Jack and me to, uh, Hawaii Tracy Yeakle Yeah.

Theresa Stephens to stay at your timeshare for a week. And that was amazing.

Tracy Yeakle That's amazing. Yeah.

Theresa Stephens Yeah. And then, of course, Covid happened. We got a little delayed, but 

then most of our group got back together to hike another mountain, Machu Picchu, or hike Tracy Yeakle That's right.

Theresa Stephens to Machu Picchu.

Tracy Yeakle Yeah. The Salkantay trail. One of the harder ones. Um, up over the the pass.

Theresa Stephens Yes, Tracy Yeakle Yeah.

Theresa Stephens definitely. And I you know, I loved that trail in particular. You know, everybody, um, thinks of the Inca Trail when they think of hiking to Machu Picchu. And I'm so glad embark,

Tracy Yeakle Yeah.

Theresa Stephens you know, suggested the Salkantay trail because we didn't see anybody for days

Tracy Yeakle Yeah. Theresa Stephens except Tracy Yeakle Exactly.

Theresa Stephens for the villagers. You know, the people Tracy Yeakle Right.

Theresa Stephens in the small villages, which was super cool.

Tracy Yeakle Yes. No. Agreed. That was. You don't want to be out on a trail with, you know, hundreds of other people and and all Theresa Stephens Mhm.

Tracy Yeakle of that. You want to be out with your group than occasionally you run into some some others. It's just makes it such a different experience.

Theresa Stephens Exactly. And that reminds me, as we got closer to the summit of Kili, as that literally the mountain got smaller, we started running into more groups. And remember Tracy Yeakle Mhm.

Theresa Stephens we always had to go to the side and let people pass us or vice versa. And it just really slowed the pace down, slowed Tracy Yeakle Right.

Theresa Stephens our cadence down to either wait for somebody or have to pass somebody else.

Tracy Yeakle Yeah. Exactly.

Theresa Stephens Yeah. So getting back to solo travel, I know we've talked about the many trips that you've taken your big traveler as well, and have been for quite a while, thinking back to what you consider your first solo trip or what comes to mind.

Tracy Yeakle Yeah. So if you had asked me that, that question, you know, a few months ago, I had exactly the answer that I always gave everyone. And and then I started thinking about it was more so, which was that my stock answer has been I was going to do, um, a rock and roll half marathon in New Orleans with a couple of friends, and last minute they canceled last minute, meaning a day or two before. And Theresa Stephens Oh.

Tracy Yeakle I was like, of course I'm going myself anyways. Like, I, you know, I'm going to still go.

Theresa Stephens Absolutely.

Tracy Yeakle And I just had such a fantastic time. And, you know, I'm kind of I don't like the term loner because that has a negative connotation. But I'm, I'm very self-sufficient and, and, you know, an introvert most of the time and able to, to keep myself occupied easily.

Theresa Stephens Absolutely.

Tracy Yeakle And

Theresa Stephens Yeah.

Tracy Yeakle so I just went and, you know, I wasn't out running around, um, all hours of the night that first trip, um, I did what I felt comfortable doing. Um, I think what I, I think really, for me and for what a lot of other people, if really boils down to, is that discomfort of eating by yourself?

Theresa Stephens Oh, absolutely. I remember that last year in Chicago on Tracy Yeakle Yeah.

Theresa Stephens a Friday night, sitting at the bar, looking around at all the couples and the pairs of friends and feeling very much alone.

Tracy Yeakle Yeah. And it's, it's, you know, again, it's one of those societal pressures as well. 

Um,

Theresa Stephens Yes.

Tracy Yeakle because even even at home, when I would sometimes like, just want to go out and do something and, you know, working in downtown San Francisco, I might go there was a place I liked that had jazz, um, music in the evening. And I would go, you know, by myself to this bar and sit and have a drink and some food and listen to the music and. One time these, these, you know, younger in their twenties, girls were like, oh gosh, you know, I could hear them like, oh, I would never want to just go to a bar by myself. And I was like, why?

Theresa Stephens Right.

Tracy Yeakle Like, you know, that's that's on you, like, Theresa Stephens Mhm.

Tracy Yeakle you know, that's it's and it's really not that big of a deal once you do it. So a lot of people, I think a lot of people's fear really is fear about that, that just getting past that discomfort of

Theresa Stephens Right.

Tracy Yeakle of being out and not the being out walking around by yourself or doing this and that by themselves. It's that fear. It's that discomfort of sitting down at a in a public place, like at a restaurant or a bar or whatever, by yourself and being comfortable in your own skin.

Theresa Stephens Absolutely.

Tracy Yeakle And really that just takes practice.

Theresa Stephens You know. Exactly. I was thinking that just I don't know that just recently I went to a concert uh, by myself and it was the first time I've been to a concert and it it was nothing. I looked around and I was like, nobody cares that I'm alone.

Tracy Yeakle Exactly.

Theresa Stephens You know the perception.

Tracy Yeakle Exactly.

Theresa Stephens Who cares? And Tracy Yeakle Yeah.

Theresa Stephens the more I've done it, the more I'm comfortable with it. And I don't give it a second thought.

Tracy Yeakle Exactly.

Theresa Stephens Yeah.

Tracy Yeakle Yeah.

Theresa Stephens So you said this is your original thought, New Orleans, Tracy Yeakle Right.

Theresa Stephens but

Tracy Yeakle Yeah,

Theresa Stephens that has changed recently.

Tracy Yeakle yeah. Well, and then I realized, like. So I was actually, I was in the Peace Corps, um, from ninety four, ninety six. And Theresa Stephens Mhm.

Tracy Yeakle I went to Ukraine. Um, and what, what they do, or at least what they did there is, you know, you're in training for a couple of months, which includes, um, language and cultural and, you know, lots of other things. Um, and then they decide where they're going to send you. And I was one of the few that was willing to go to a city that didn't have any volunteers, whether from our group or that were already there.

Theresa Stephens Wow.

Tracy Yeakle So I went off by myself to an eastern city, Donetsk. By myself. And, you know, to live there for two years

Theresa Stephens Wow.

Tracy Yeakle and make what contacts I could and, Theresa Stephens Right?

Tracy Yeakle um, you know, just kind of be in the, in, in the, the world there. Um, Theresa Stephens Absolutely.

Tracy Yeakle and that was another one again, like, you do these hard things and you come home and that actually got me a job when I got home because I, um, I became conversationally fluent ish in Russian, um, because, you know, East, since I was going to eastern Ukraine, where it was predominantly Russian speaking, um, after learning Ukrainian for two months, I was able to finish my last month learning Russian. Um, Theresa Stephens Wow.

Tracy Yeakle and I got back and I interviewed for this job, at Jewish Family and Children's Services refugee resettlement program, and they needed someone who spoke English, who could speak to the donors of furniture and things like that, and then Russian to speak to the recipients. Um, the refugees, um, who had recently arrived to receive these donations. And they were asking me these, you know, kind of tough interview questions. And I was like, you just do it. You know, you just Theresa Stephens Right?

Tracy Yeakle like, like, hey, like, I just came back from, you know, two years in, in Ukraine, like, you

Theresa Stephens Yes.

Tracy Yeakle just do it. And and that's the thing that, that, that solo travel really gives you.

Theresa Stephens Mm.

Tracy Yeakle It gives you so much confidence and understanding of yourself and your limits. And you know what you can do. And if someone tries to, then, you know, push you or question your, your ability. You can be like, yeah, I can do this. Like Theresa Stephens Exactly.

Tracy Yeakle I, you know, I climb Kilimanjaro. I was, Theresa Stephens Exactly.

Tracy Yeakle you know, I was

Theresa Stephens That's

Tracy Yeakle in the

Theresa Stephens always

Tracy Yeakle Peace Corps,

Theresa Stephens the thing to fall back on.

Tracy Yeakle you

Theresa Stephens Hey, Tracy Yeakle know.

Theresa Stephens I climbed Kilimanjaro. Okay, Tracy Yeakle Right.

Theresa Stephens I could do

Tracy Yeakle Exactly,

Theresa Stephens that.

Tracy Yeakle exactly.

Theresa Stephens Right.

Tracy Yeakle So, um.

Theresa Stephens And speaking of one of the. One of the coolest things that happened on

Oh,

Theresa Stephens Kilimanjaro Tracy Yeakle yeah.

Theresa Stephens was that time we were. We were sitting down at dinner and which was in a tent on the side of a mountain. And yes, the the dinners were amazing, remember? They Tracy Yeakle Yes.

Theresa Stephens were like four Tracy Yeakle Yeah.

Theresa Stephens courses.

Tracy Yeakle They were

Theresa Stephens I mean,

Tracy Yeakle always

Theresa Stephens it was Tracy Yeakle so good.

Theresa Stephens incredible. And we had a knock from a neighboring group who asked a random question, hey, does anybody here speak Russian? And you raise your hand. Tell us about that.

Tracy Yeakle Oh, my gosh, that was so I was just like, um. Yeah. Yeah, sort of. I mean,

Theresa Stephens And

Tracy Yeakle it's

Theresa Stephens we

Tracy Yeakle been

Theresa Stephens all looked

Tracy Yeakle a

Theresa Stephens at each Tracy Yeakle while.

Theresa Stephens other. Like what?

Tracy Yeakle Oh, yeah. And the surreal, surreal nature of, like, again being on the side of Kilimanjaro in Africa and and looking them looking for someone who spoke Russian Theresa Stephens Mhm.

Tracy Yeakle of all things was just um, and the, Theresa Stephens Yes.

Tracy Yeakle the gentleman who needed the translation, um, he and his son had been climbing and his son had had to go down because of altitude sickness, and his Theresa Stephens Mhm.

Tracy Yeakle son was the one who spoke English with the guide. So the guide didn't speak Russian. And the the client, the climber didn't. And he was, you know, probably in his sixties maybe,

Theresa Stephens Oh.

Tracy Yeakle um,

Theresa Stephens Oh at

Tracy Yeakle at Theresa Stephens least Tracy Yeakle least.

Theresa Stephens I remember

Tracy Yeakle Yeah, maybe Theresa Stephens him.

Tracy Yeakle seventy,

Theresa Stephens Yeah.

Tracy Yeakle um, fit. But yeah, um, he didn't speak English. And so, um, yeah. And he was very, very kind because not everybody is

Theresa Stephens Oh

Tracy Yeakle kind when you're stumbling through, Theresa Stephens right.

Tracy Yeakle um, you know, Russian or any other, you know, language, um, with Theresa Stephens Absolutely.

a native speaker. But, um, yeah, I mean, there was just like some kind of 

misunderstanding of, um, you know, the guide thought he was concerned about one thing, and really, he was concerned about something else entirely. And so I was able to help them, um, kind of sort through that. And, and, you know, get under, get past that, that misunderstanding so they could, you know, continue on and to do the Theresa Stephens Absolutely.

Tracy Yeakle summit. Um, so yeah, that was it was fun. It was it was bizarre Theresa Stephens Right.

Tracy Yeakle as anything. But it was fun.

Theresa Stephens Absolutely. And I remember seeing him. He was just behind us when we were walking, started to walk down from the summit. He was like maybe ten minutes away.

Tracy Yeakle Yeah.

Theresa Stephens And, I mean, he was looking pretty rough. We Tracy Yeakle Yeah.

Theresa Stephens all were looking really rough.

Tracy Yeakle We were

Theresa Stephens But

Tracy Yeakle looking Theresa Stephens he Tracy Yeakle up. Theresa Stephens did it, Tracy Yeakle Yeah.

Theresa Stephens which?

Tracy Yeakle And when they came by again to, um, the, uh, the, um, just the night, the last night or the morning of breakfast of the last day, um, you know, for the exit. I Theresa Stephens Yes.

Tracy Yeakle don't remember what it was, but there was another, like, quick question that they, like, came and found us. They're like, oh, she's the one that can, you Theresa Stephens Exactly.

Tracy Yeakle know.

Theresa Stephens She's the interpreter.

Tracy Yeakle Yeah. Yeah. So. Yeah. No, that was that was one of those crazy memorable experiences that happened with with these Theresa Stephens Absolutely.

Tracy Yeakle trips like this. Yeah.

Theresa Stephens There was. Oh my gosh, there were so many. On that trip. So getting back to Ukraine,

Tracy Yeakle Yeah.

Theresa Stephens you decide to go to an area where there's no other volunteers.

Tracy Yeakle Yeah.

Theresa Stephens And so explain those first, maybe those first few days, those first few weeks of being in this brand new region and you're all alone. How did you feel? How did you start to get comfortable?

Tracy Yeakle Yeah. It was, um, I mean, it was it was really hard, honestly. It was really hard. My, um, there always have a kind of, um, a local that. So I was teaching, um, English to high school students who were going to get a certification in teaching English to to little to primary school kids. They were going to be Theresa Stephens Wow.

Tracy Yeakle teachers and they were getting extra certification in in teaching English as a second language.

Theresa Stephens Mhm.

Tracy Yeakle And so really I was just there. Well, I was there to teach English, but also to, um, teach them how to some, some techniques and some, um, exercises and things that they could do to teach English. Um, and I had come from teaching kindergarten in South Central Los Angeles with primarily, um, Spanish native Spanish speakers who had, you know, depending on how much English they had. Um, so, you know, mixed amount of, of English, um,

Theresa Stephens Mhm.

Tracy Yeakle and, but my, I, my colleague was very nice, but we didn't really click, um, Theresa Stephens Mhm.

Tracy Yeakle and so we weren't going to become friendly.

Theresa Stephens Right.

Um, and then they had me the, the school had to provide housing and they had 

me, They got me a room in a teacher recertification institute, which meant that there were teachers coming and going. On their coursework. But I was the only one actually living there for

Theresa Stephens Oh,

Tracy Yeakle any length Theresa Stephens well.

Tracy Yeakle of time. So there was no one there where I was living that I could connect with.

Theresa Stephens Hmm?

Tracy Yeakle Um, and, you know, the, the, the school, you know, obviously the, the colleagues like I, I spoke Russian well, but not well enough to really, um, to, Theresa Stephens Right.

Tracy Yeakle to like, form those kinds of friendships. And Theresa Stephens Yeah.

Tracy Yeakle it was really hilarious. Is the principal of the school there was something about his accent that I could never understand him.

Theresa Stephens Oh.

Tracy Yeakle I think he was originally from some, you know, like somewhere else, but like, I could not understand hardly a word he said. It was so embarrassing because he thought I was a complete idiot. Like I could speak with all these other people, but I could never, like, have a conversation with him.

Theresa Stephens Oh.

Tracy Yeakle Um,

Theresa Stephens That's difficult.

Tracy Yeakle and, uh, and then somehow, I don't know how, but somehow I ended up meeting a bunch of, of university students who had come from other, like from African countries, from Korea, from all these other places. Um, you know, because, again, the former Soviet Union was attracting them there with, with, um, to expand their influence, you know, Theresa Stephens Yeah.

Tracy Yeakle for free education.

Theresa Stephens Okay.

Tracy Yeakle And so I ended up with a lot of, um, international friends, um, and then including separately. But there was a Canadian woman who was doing some kind of program there as well that that, um, she wasn't there the whole time. Uh, but for at least for a few months, we were able to, uh, I so I had one person, well, know some Theresa Stephens Right. Tracy Yeakle of the some of Theresa Stephens Yeah.

Tracy Yeakle the international students spoke some English, um, Theresa Stephens Mhm.

Tracy Yeakle as well. But the that was the once I found like the people that I could have more in-depth conversations with and be comfortable Theresa Stephens Yes.

Tracy Yeakle um, that that made a huge difference.

Theresa Stephens Absolutely. Because it goes from just a surface exchange to actually really getting to know each other better Tracy Yeakle Exactly.

Theresa Stephens for

Tracy Yeakle Yeah,

Theresa Stephens sure.

Tracy Yeakle yeah.

Theresa Stephens So fast forward um through Peace Corps, through Kilimanjaro, we all got back together again for the most part and hiked Machu Picchu. And then, you know, a couple of years passed, like initially with Kilian and Peru. We start to think separately. You and I start to think separately about maybe doing another trip through Embark Exploration. And that's the outfitter out of Oregon. And so I remember thinking I was looking through their website and this was, I think maybe early twenty twenty three maybe. And they were doing a trip to Bhutan, which looked really cool.

Tracy Yeakle Yeah.

Theresa Stephens You know, there's like a monastery that's on the side of a cliff that you hike to. It just looked fantastic. And then I think we were all texting together. And you brought up another idea. And what was that?

Tracy Yeakle Yeah. They had started an Everest base camp, slow walker, um, trip, which

Theresa Stephens Yes.

Tracy Yeakle was really appealing because I am a very. At those high altitudes. I'm a very slow walker, so.

Theresa Stephens We that poly poly Tracy Yeakle Yeah.

Theresa Stephens is

Tracy Yeakle Yeah, yeah.

Theresa Stephens which is Swahili for slow. Slow is always Tracy Yeakle Yes.

Theresa Stephens in my mind. I'm a slow Tracy Yeakle Absolutely.

Theresa Stephens one to.

Tracy Yeakle Yeah. Exactly. And you know, what's really funny is I was not like the like kind of during Machu Picchu and during that time period I was, I was not super interested in Everest Base camp. I was like, you know, it's kind of overdone, you Theresa Stephens Mhm.

Tracy Yeakle know, that kind of thing. Um, but then there was just like something that that happened after, um, after Peru that I just kind of felt like I wasn't being challenged enough, and,

Theresa Stephens Right.

Tracy Yeakle and that kind of lit that fire on Everest base camp would definitely. And then again, this, this new trip with, with, um, that was aimed at people who were a little slower. I was like, okay,

Theresa Stephens Mhm.

Tracy Yeakle that actually sounds like another great way to to push, push the boundaries.

Theresa Stephens Absolutely. And so I had mentioned Bhutan, you had mentioned Everest. And I was like you know EBC sounds kind of interesting.

Tracy Yeakle Mhm.

Theresa Stephens So you and I had talked about it and you signed up pretty early on almost, almost immediately after. Um we talked. So this was I'm thinking about fall of twenty twenty three. Correct.

Tracy Yeakle That sounds right. Yeah.

Theresa Stephens Yeah. But then I had a little issue come up, and it was Christmas night of twenty twenty three. I was walking the dogs. It had been raining. Um, I for some reason was wearing dress shoes from a family gathering earlier that day, and I slipped and broke my kneecap into three pieces. Tracy Yeakle Oh my

Theresa Stephens And, Tracy Yeakle God.

Theresa Stephens um, I had surgery like four days later. And I remember my first, um, visit with the doctor, and this was probably late January of twenty four. And I said, do you think I would be able to because we had planned

Tracy Yeakle It

Theresa Stephens Everest

Tracy Yeakle must have

Theresa Stephens Base

Tracy Yeakle been

Theresa Stephens Camp Tracy Yeakle twenty.

Theresa Stephens for like April of twenty five? And I asked the doctor,

Tracy Yeakle That's

Theresa Stephens I

Tracy Yeakle right,

Theresa Stephens said,

Tracy Yeakle that's

Theresa Stephens do you

Tracy Yeakle right,

Theresa Stephens think

Tracy Yeakle that's right. Yeah.

Theresa Stephens a year in advance, you know, I would be able to still hike this? And he shrugged his shoulders and was like, yeah, why not? And so I remember going home that afternoon with, you know, this huge brace still on my leg. Not, you know, on crutches, texting you. I'm in and signing up immediately for Everest base camp that night as a, you know, a way to push myself and inspire, Tracy Yeakle Yeah.

Theresa Stephens you know, my healing.

Tracy Yeakle Mhm.

Theresa Stephens But then on your end, things Tracy Yeakle Yeah.

Theresa Stephens went, uh, let's

Tracy Yeakle Completely

Theresa Stephens just say, a Tracy Yeakle sideways.

Theresa Stephens bit awry.

Tracy Yeakle Yeah.

Theresa Stephens Can you tell me what happened?

Tracy Yeakle Yeah. Um it was I think it was um. It was end of February I think I was diagnosed with, with cancer

Theresa Stephens Yeah.

Tracy Yeakle and uh, March first, I mean it was like this crazy overwhelming, you know, like barely had talked to the, the, the surgeon and then she's like, yeah, you're scheduled for surgery next Friday.

Theresa Stephens Oh my gosh.

Tracy Yeakle Um, and that it was, um, yeah, it was a big surgery. And then I was facing like five, six months of chemo and then another month and a half or so of, um, radiation Theresa Stephens Wow.

Tracy Yeakle and and. Yeah, it ended up I didn't finish treatment. So March first was the surgery. I didn't finish fully finished treatment until October tenth or eleventh. Um,

Theresa Stephens My

Tracy Yeakle so

Theresa Stephens goodness.

Tracy Yeakle I spent most of twenty twenty four, um, sick, basically Theresa Stephens Right.

Tracy Yeakle sick in bed. Um, and unfortunately, because of the surgery I had, um, they removed all the lymph nodes on my left side, which put me at high risk of lymphedema, um, which can be triggered by altitude.

Theresa Stephens Oh, gosh.

Tracy Yeakle And then to make matters even worse. So, you know, I went into this whole thing with the attitude of kind of like with, like with a Peace Corps, like with Killy, like, this is a short term thing.

Theresa Stephens Hum.

Tracy Yeakle It's going to suck, and then it's Theresa Stephens Yeah.

Tracy Yeakle going to be done. And then, you know, I'm going to recover and move on.

Theresa Stephens Um

Tracy Yeakle Um,

Theresa Stephens hum.

Tracy Yeakle but unfortunately, that wasn't exactly what happened. And I had, um, severe reaction to the second round. Second type of chemo, um, which, uh, caused neuropathy in my hands and feet, um, and left me basically disabled.

Theresa Stephens Oh

Tracy Yeakle Um,

Theresa Stephens my goodness.

Tracy Yeakle I can't, um, walk without. Well, I can sort of walk without assistance, but not for any length of time.

Theresa Stephens Um

Tracy Yeakle Um,

Theresa Stephens hum.

Tracy Yeakle here it's, you know, over a year later, year and a half later, and I'm still recovering. Um, and, uh, yeah, I mean, it sucks. So no more high altitude hiking in my Theresa Stephens Right. Tracy Yeakle future at all.

Theresa Stephens Yeah.

Tracy Yeakle Um, had to cancel that, um, Theresa Stephens Um hum.

Tracy Yeakle which, fortunately, last year, um, I was still so sick and so weak, I lost forty pounds and,

Theresa Stephens Oh my goodness.

Tracy Yeakle uh, in two months and Theresa Stephens Wow.

Tracy Yeakle couldn't. I could barely walk. I couldn't at that point I could not walk without assistance, I could not. I didn't have enough strength to make a step up a curb or, you know, a small step up.

Theresa Stephens Oh, God.

Tracy Yeakle People had to literally push me.

Theresa Stephens Oh I

Tracy Yeakle We

Theresa Stephens can't. Tracy Yeakle would the in in and Theresa Stephens Oh!

Tracy Yeakle they had to, uh, so my, my building's not super accessible at all.

Theresa Stephens Yeah.

Tracy Yeakle And when I was getting rides, um, they had to pull into my garage, so I'd have to take my garage clicker to open it so they could pull in. And then there was a little, um, ramp that's not Ada compliant, so it's it's steep. And so Theresa Stephens Yeah.

Tracy Yeakle someone would push on the front of the walker when I was going down to make sure I didn't lose control and then push my back on the way up, because Theresa Stephens Oh!

all their strength to get me so I could get up the step.

Theresa Stephens Oh

Tracy Yeakle Um,

Theresa Stephens my goodness.

Tracy Yeakle so when, uh, so when EBC was coming up for you, Um.

Theresa Stephens Mhm.

Tracy Yeakle I mean, yes, it was hard, but at the same time, it was like. Like, I can't I can barely walk down the hall, much

Theresa Stephens All Tracy Yeakle less.

Theresa Stephens right.

Tracy Yeakle Much less like, you know, ten Theresa Stephens Yeah.

Tracy Yeakle miles a day or whatever. So it's it's fine.

Theresa Stephens Uh, Tracy Yeakle Um.

Theresa Stephens well, if it makes you feel any better, Everest base camp. The the trek there was miserable. It was so bad.

Tracy Yeakle Well,

Theresa Stephens The

Tracy Yeakle of

Theresa Stephens accommodations, Tracy Yeakle course. Theresa Stephens you know, Tracy Yeakle Yeah.

Theresa Stephens you stay in these tea houses that are not warmed at all.

Tracy Yeakle Oh, and

Theresa Stephens And it was

they smell.

Theresa Stephens it was miserable.

Tracy Yeakle Oh my gosh.

Theresa Stephens Like, I mean, it was it was cool and it was Tracy Yeakle Yeah.

Theresa Stephens extraordinary being there. Um, but that part I'll, I'll highlight that part for you because it was awful.

Tracy Yeakle Okay, well, then it doesn't matter. I don't need to do that.

Theresa Stephens So, you know, so it's been, I guess, about two. Well, it was two years since we talked about Everest initially.

Tracy Yeakle Yeah.

Theresa Stephens Maybe a year and a half or so since your initial diagnosis. And you're you. You were telling me that you're still recovering. There is still some issues with neuropathy. And can you explain what neuropathy is for people who aren't familiar. Tracy Yeakle Yeah. So basically the the chemo cause nerve damage. Um, Theresa Stephens Mhm.

Tracy Yeakle and the so my feet, um, they, they, like tingle isn't exactly the right word. It's more like this crackling. And Theresa Stephens Oh.

Tracy Yeakle my hands and feet both kind of feel like there's wet sand on them a lot of times.

Theresa Stephens Oh wow.

Tracy Yeakle Um, and when it was my the for the hands, when it was really bad, I actually lost, um, kind of some function to a certain extent in my left hand. I couldn't grip things because my thumb wouldn't work properly. Um, and so actually, I had to I had to quit chemo early so that we didn't cause further damage. Um, and then part of the bigger part of the problem is my right foot. I have what they call foot drop or drop foot. So the the nerve connection to the, to the muscles and whatever kind of the neuromuscular connection got cut or, I mean, not cut, like physically, but like damaged enough that that I can't I have no control over my right foot. Um, Theresa Stephens Oh, wow.

Tracy Yeakle you know, like if you sit and you point your toes and flex your toes and point your toes and flex your toes, I can't do that with my right foot at all.

Theresa Stephens Oh, wow.

And with my left foot, I have more control. But I can't pull back hard. Very hard. I 

can kind of do it. But if you have any, you know, they like, grab it to have you, you know, push up against it like I can. I can do it a little bit, but not, not a lot.

Theresa Stephens Oh

Tracy Yeakle Um,

Theresa Stephens my goodness.

Tracy Yeakle and so it was a long, hard slog to get back to having balance I couldn't stand. This time last year, I couldn't stand on my own without holding on to a countertop or again, a walker or or something. I couldn't I couldn't just stand. Um, I had no strength and no balance. 

So

Theresa Stephens Wow.

Tracy Yeakle I've improved dramatically. I can walk around by myself. Um, I can use canes. 

Um,

Theresa Stephens Mhm.

Tracy Yeakle but really, I use. I still use a walker, but now I can use the. They call them rollators, which is so weird, but a four wheel, a four wheel walker that has a little seat and all that stuff. Um,

Theresa Stephens Oh

Tracy Yeakle you know,

Theresa Stephens wow.

Tracy Yeakle I can. Oh, I can drive. I couldn't drive for almost a year.

Theresa Stephens Oh wow.

Tracy Yeakle Yeah.

Theresa Stephens And

Tracy Yeakle It

Theresa Stephens you're Tracy Yeakle was.

Theresa Stephens in San Francisco or just outside San Francisco. So you know you you need to drive.

Tracy Yeakle Yeah, yeah,

Theresa Stephens Yeah for

Tracy Yeakle yeah,

Theresa Stephens sure.

Tracy Yeakle it's

Theresa Stephens Oh that's

Tracy Yeakle that

Theresa Stephens a

Tracy Yeakle was

Theresa Stephens long

Tracy Yeakle like

Theresa Stephens time.

Tracy Yeakle getting that independence back, to be able Theresa Stephens Mhm. Tracy Yeakle to drive myself and Theresa Stephens Yeah.

Tracy Yeakle to be able, like I said, to like, maneuver in in my apartment building on my own was

Theresa Stephens Mhm.

Tracy Yeakle absolutely huge. I mean, the best thing of last summer of was, was being just getting that independence back.

Theresa Stephens Absolutely.

Tracy Yeakle Um, and the the problem now is that so I can do those things, but I don't have the stamina to do it. And I still have a lot of pain if I am on my feet too long.

Theresa Stephens Mhm.

Tracy Yeakle Um, so it's hard for me to cook for, for very long. It's hard for me to walk for very long.

Theresa Stephens Right.

Tracy Yeakle Um, so.

Theresa Stephens And you know in lesser women that would end um travel for most people and definitely solo travel for most people but not you. Which you know, I just, I bow at your feet that you just got back from what. A two week trip to Europe.

Tracy Yeakle Yeah.

Theresa Stephens Is

Tracy Yeakle A little

Theresa Stephens that correct?

Tracy Yeakle over two weeks. Yeah,

Theresa Stephens Please Tracy Yeakle yeah.

Theresa Stephens tell me all about that. Because I'm just. I could not be more proud of you and how strong you are to do this with the neuropathy that you're still dealing with.

Tracy Yeakle Yeah, yeah. So I, um. Yeah, I flew into Paris and I spent five nights in Paris, and then I took the Eurostar from Paris to Brussels and spent two nights in Brussels.

Theresa Stephens Ah.

Tracy Yeakle And then I flew to Frankfurt. Um, and I was there for. I don't remember now if it was, I think it was one night and before I got on a river cruise, um, for the Christmas markets. Um, and then after that was in Frankfurt again before I flew home.

Theresa Stephens That's

Tracy Yeakle Um,

Theresa Stephens incredible.

Tracy Yeakle and. Yeah. And I think and I've been to Paris several times. Um, Theresa Stephens Mhm.

Tracy Yeakle so it was, that was, I think, the starkest, um, kind of change and impact, um, which was really hard to deal with emotionally as well. That like Theresa Stephens Sure.

Tracy Yeakle before, I would just walk all over the place and or, you know, jump on the metro and take the, the, the subway everywhere and, Theresa Stephens Mhm.

Tracy Yeakle and just like, go see everything. And now it was basically I would get about an hour and a half to two hours before I would just be exhausted. And so, you know, I ended up spending a lot of time in my room, just like hanging out and Theresa Stephens Mhm.

Tracy Yeakle catching up on reading and just, you know, had to remind myself a lot that, um, it's still vacation.

Theresa Stephens Yes. Absolutely.

Tracy Yeakle I'm still not at home.

Theresa Stephens Absolutely.

Tracy Yeakle It's still better Theresa Stephens Yes.

Tracy Yeakle like to be in Paris than than, you know, to be home. And then I would just have to kind of, you know, gauge what I could do. And I still did some really fantastic things. I did, um, a market cooking class where we met at the market and decided on what our menu was going to be and, and bought the ingredients and then walked back to the cooking school and, and cooked it all together. and that was phenomenal. Um, Theresa Stephens Yes.

Tracy Yeakle and the thing is that what you realize, like, for me. So one of the things I had to do was take taxis instead

Theresa Stephens Ma'am.

Tracy Yeakle of, um, the metro or instead of walking.

Theresa Stephens Yes.

Tracy Yeakle And so, yeah, it's a little more expensive, but it's doable. Um, I did a lot of research that on the buses, and I could have if it wasn't winter, I probably I might have, like, figured that out a little bit more.

Theresa Stephens Ma'am.

Tracy Yeakle They they have done a lot of work on making the buses accessible. Um, the metro is not accessible at all. There's, there are like maybe two or three stations that are somewhat accessible.

Theresa Stephens Gotcha.

Tracy Yeakle Um, but they've, they've done work to make the buses, and I just didn't feel like dealing with it for, you know, the time period I was there.

Theresa Stephens Mhm.

Tracy Yeakle So I took taxis to where I needed to go. Um, but but everyone is just so incredibly kind and

Theresa Stephens Yeah.

Tracy Yeakle helpful and Theresa Stephens Oh.

Tracy Yeakle like for the cooking class. Um, it was kind of a long walk. And so there's, you know, there's typically for those kinds of things, there's like more than one person that's working, you know, that's leading it. And so, you know, that one of them was just back with me and walking slowly and, um, Theresa Stephens Oh.

Tracy Yeakle and then when we got there and this happened a few times, um, it was that one was upstairs. Um, and so someone I can't remember maybe. I know we did. We parked the walker downstairs, and then I just very carefully because I can go upstairs now. Um, I just have to like, there has to be a real solid railing for me to hold on to.

Theresa Stephens Right.

Tracy Yeakle Um.

Theresa Stephens Absolutely.

Tracy Yeakle And so. And then I just used everyone else was standing at the prep table, and I used a stool. They had, um, raised stools that I could use.

Theresa Stephens Oh.

Tracy Yeakle Um,

Theresa Stephens That's amazing. They accommodated you

Tracy Yeakle yeah,

Theresa Stephens so much.

Tracy Yeakle exactly. And the kind of similar when I did a a wine and cheese tasting class, which was phenomenal. Oh my God, it was so good.

Theresa Stephens It

Tracy Yeakle And

Theresa Stephens sounds amazing.

Tracy Yeakle oh, it was, it was amazing. Um, and that one was down quite a bit of stairs to the cellar. Um, and again, just parked the walker upstairs. And then I was at the top and I like had my coat and I had, I think I might have had my canes with me that time in case I needed them. Um, and so I was like, can I throw my coat down to you? And someone was like, yeah, just toss it. And, um, and then I just, you know, carefully went down, um, down the steps and, Theresa Stephens Yeah.

Tracy Yeakle uh, and then, you know, again, I can walk short distances. So it was no big deal. Um, but yeah, I mean, it's just it's it's really amazing. And and the thing I think that you have to realize is there's a lot more out there that you have to there's in some ways it's, it's you have to do as much research to figure it out for the accommodations as for the other research that we all do of like, oh, how do you get from the airport to your hotel?

Theresa Stephens Right?

Tracy Yeakle Or what are the different ways you can do this or that? And, and so I found that like with the Eurostar, um, there is assistance. Um, that was in France. It was it was pretty good. But in Brussels. Oh my God, Brussels is like got it going on

Theresa Stephens Yes,

Tracy Yeakle with all the assistance. It was

Theresa Stephens I love

Tracy Yeakle incredibly

Theresa Stephens that.

Tracy Yeakle I had to so I had to book assistance, um, through the Eurostar thing. And it took it was hard to find the right place to do that. But I did eventually find that. So I booked assistance and I get to Brussels and, you know, they're right there. They're helping me with everything. And then I asked them, I'm like, I didn't know if I'd be able to take the train or not if it was accessible. Um, or if I need to get a taxi. And he's like, um, oh, usually you have to book it, but let me check. And so he, you know, he called his manager and they were able to someone was available. Um, so they met me at the, I was able to transfer. He helped me transfer to the local train and then that was like a three minute ride instead of like a thirty minute taxi.

Theresa Stephens Oh.

Tracy Yeakle And

Theresa Stephens That's incredible.

Tracy Yeakle then there was someone there on the other side who met and again helped me get off, helped me with get my suitcase off all of those things. And then I just happened to. And part of the reason I did that is because I was staying at a hotel that was just across the plaza from that train station.

Theresa Stephens Okay.

Tracy Yeakle So

Theresa Stephens Perfect.

Tracy Yeakle like short walk, very easy. And so after that I was like, shoot, I'm just going to take the train to the airport when I leave.

Theresa Stephens Yeah.

Tracy Yeakle This was so easy. And so same thing I booked again, um, the assistants and Theresa Stephens Mhm.

Tracy Yeakle and they were phenomenal. They again helped me on and I get to the airport, she's like, oh, I saw you had the bag. So I got my colleague. So there's two people there to help me.

Theresa Stephens Wow.

Tracy Yeakle They walked me over and they're like all these homeless people sleeping in the in the waiting area where the train and the airport kind of, you know, that interim area there. And so they call and to get me the assistance people and they're like, I'm going to wait. I'm going to wait with you because I don't I don't like this. This doesn't feel.

Theresa Stephens Wow.

Tracy Yeakle Safe for you. And so they waited with me for like and finally she sent the other guy. Up to go get somebody because it was taking them too long. Um, Theresa Stephens That's incredible.

Tracy Yeakle but just. Yeah, I mean the on. The, the flip side of it is you do lose a lot of again that independence of

Theresa Stephens Mhm.

Tracy Yeakle because they like. Tend to park you somewhere in a in a wheelchair and Theresa Stephens Right.

Tracy Yeakle and

Theresa Stephens Yes.

Tracy Yeakle like leave you here or there and um. You know, they they want to just take you to the gate. They, you know, some and some of them are kind. Like, they they would definitely stop and like, hey, do you, do you need to, you know, use the restroom. Do you need a coffee? You know, do you need anything but that whole like, ability to just wander through. It's like, oh, 

I want to go to the shop or I want to. It doesn't feel because like, you're taking up their time, 

you know, and

Theresa Stephens That's right.

Tracy Yeakle they're not really there to, you know.

Theresa Stephens Let you browse

Tracy Yeakle Yeah,

Theresa Stephens and take your time. And Tracy Yeakle yeah.

Theresa Stephens exactly, exactly. So if somebody is listening right now who is putting off a trip or not even thinking about taking a trip because of a disability that they have. So your advice, from what I hear so far is one. Do a lot of research on accommodations for traveling and manage expectations. If you Tracy Yeakle Yeah.

Theresa Stephens know from what the way you're used to traveling to, maybe you're not going to do so much or as much as you're used to doing, and you may need to take more breaks.

Tracy Yeakle Yeah. Exactly. If this is something new, um, don't let it stop you, but. Exactly. You're not going to be able to go. And you have to just have that mindset, like. For me, too, what I've realized is that at least for the probably the next few years, I'm. Thinking I'm going to do more like cruise ship trips again,

Theresa Stephens Yeah,

Tracy Yeakle which I did when my son was young.

Theresa Stephens yeah.

Tracy Yeakle Um, Because I love being on the water. That was one of the the great things about the riverboat cruise, um, that I reawakened and remembered that that love of being on the water. Um, so, you know, being on a cruise ship is, is always just very calming for me. Um, and, you know, that's going to be a way for me to still go out and do something, um, Theresa Stephens Yeah.

Tracy Yeakle without having as much, um, physical. Um. Work.

Theresa Stephens Yeah, right. Exactly, exactly.

Tracy Yeakle Yeah. And

Theresa Stephens That's.

Tracy Yeakle then there's just, you know, there's a lot of great, um, people out there on, you know, Instagram and on TikTok and YouTube and whatever that most of them are wheelchair bound, which, you know, again, I can I, I do have the mobility or I can do some stairs and stuff like that. If someone takes the walker for me or if I can park it somewhere. But Theresa Stephens Yeah.

Tracy Yeakle there's still there's a lot of people out there. Um, showing how how it can be done and even to the point of like, here is what you look for on the bus map, and here is how you find the buses. And here is what you do when you get on the bus. And you

Theresa Stephens That's

Tracy Yeakle know,

Theresa Stephens fantastic. Tracy Yeakle to to that detail, it's Theresa Stephens Yeah.

Tracy Yeakle there's people out there doing that for us. So Theresa Stephens Love that.

Tracy Yeakle yeah.

Theresa Stephens I love that so much. So looking back over all these travels and especially the ones where you have roamed alone, how how has that solo travel influenced you when you get back home in your as far as relationships or your work life or for your child, your confidence? How has it influenced who you are today?

Tracy Yeakle You know, it's it's one of the I have been interested in other cultures and um, other people all of my life, really all my life. And it really it feeds that it's. You know, I don't travel like to for little things. I work to travel kind of thing. I'm one of those people that like, I'm the I'm only making money so that. So that I can do another trip so I can take, Theresa Stephens Exactly.

Tracy Yeakle you know, get out out

Theresa Stephens I'm Tracy Yeakle there.

Theresa Stephens very. I am very much in agreement with you on that.

Tracy Yeakle Yeah. Um, and it's that kind of. And having experienced and been on that other side of, you know, not being able to communicate well or speaking a little bit of the language or, you know, trying to understand the cultural differences and references. So when then when you come back, um, you know, you have more empathy for people who are who are trying to, who are struggling and trying to Theresa Stephens Yeah.

Tracy Yeakle do it. You know, we're all doing the best we can and Theresa Stephens Mhm.

Tracy Yeakle not everybody is is good at learning languages. And, you know, it's especially the older you get, um, it's hard.

Theresa Stephens Oh,

Tracy Yeakle So

Theresa Stephens absolutely.

Tracy Yeakle we have to we need to kind of acknowledge that and be kinder to people.

Theresa Stephens Absolutely, absolutely. Tracy, thank you so much for coming on today, for being very honest with us. The highs of Kilimanjaro. To, you know, the the diagnosis that you received last year I guess. Well now

Tracy Yeakle God

Theresa Stephens that's

Tracy Yeakle I

Theresa Stephens twenty, Tracy Yeakle know.

Theresa Stephens twenty six, Tracy Yeakle Yeah.

Theresa Stephens two years ago, Tracy Yeakle Yeah.

Theresa Stephens um, almost two years

Tracy Yeakle Almost

Theresa Stephens and.

Tracy Yeakle here. Yeah. Crazy.

Theresa Stephens Yeah, exactly. And I know you've come so far from it. I know you still have a long way to go, and you've literally rearranged your life and your expectations and your travel plans. Um, I just really appreciate you sharing all that today.

Tracy Yeakle Of course.

Theresa Stephens And I, I it's been how long since we've. Was it was it Machu Picchu the last time we saw each other?

Tracy Yeakle Gosh, it may have been. I can't. Yeah, it's Theresa Stephens Yeah.

Tracy Yeakle been a long time. Theresa Stephens That was twenty Tracy Yeakle sad.

Theresa Stephens two.

Tracy Yeakle You're

Theresa Stephens That

Tracy Yeakle better

Theresa Stephens was

Tracy Yeakle at

Theresa Stephens twenty Tracy Yeakle remembering Theresa Stephens two.

Tracy Yeakle the years than I am. No, Theresa Stephens All these years are passing Tracy Yeakle no.

Theresa Stephens too fast.

Tracy Yeakle They

Theresa Stephens That's Tracy Yeakle are.

Theresa Stephens for sure. It's been too long. And Tracy Yeakle Yeah.

Theresa Stephens somehow, you know, maybe we can meet in the middle. Uh, between Kentucky and San Francisco or, Tracy Yeakle That's right.

Theresa Stephens uh, even better, maybe we could meet in Paris. I think Tracy Yeakle Oh.

Theresa Stephens that's a better idea.

Tracy Yeakle I would always meet someone in Paris.

Theresa Stephens Absolutely. Once again, if you have any travel stories that solo travel stories that you would like to share, please send me a voicemail. I've got my email in the show notes. Um, I'd love all the the funny stories, the inspirational, even the cautionary tales. A won it all. And of course, I'd love it if you would like and subscribe to the podcast. And, um, again, thank you so much for coming on today.

Tracy Yeakle It's my pleasure.

Theresa Stephens I'm Teresa Stevens, and this is Rome alone.