Planes, Trains and Strollers

The Hoovers give us the lowdown on traveling with a toddler.

#HelloHoovers #WLW #BrookeEden #Hilaryhoover #Relationships #lgbtq

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Hello Hoovers is a refreshingly candid new podcast from country artist Brooke Eden and her wife, Hilary Hoover, a powerhouse couple whose love story has quietly reshaped what authenticity looks like in country music and beyond.

Brooke is known for her commanding vocals, fearless honesty, and groundbreaking visibility as one of the first openly queer women in mainstream country music. Hilary is a former country radio executive turned real estate investor and LGBTQ family advocate. She brings the kind of calm wit and lived experience of someone who is both behind the scenes and in the spotlight.

Together, they take listeners on wild ride navigating marriage, music, motherhood, and modern queer life in Nashville with the same warmth and humor that made fans fall in love with them in the first place. No topic is off limits —from coming out in a conservative industry to balancing career and parenthood, no conversation is too real, too funny, or too tender to share.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hey y'all, I'm Brooke.

SPEAKER_02 0:02

I'm Hillary. And we're the Hoobers. She's a singer. She's an entrepreneur. We're wives. We're moms. And a whole lot of other things. And this is Hello Hoobers.

SPEAKER_00 0:18

You're up in my teens. Hey, Bull are up. The boilers.

SPEAKER_02 0:22

I know. I know. We are in the midst of March Madness right now. So by the time that y'all get this episode, we will probably know if Purdue reigns victorious. No.

SPEAKER_00 0:34

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 0:35

So, you know, just putting it into the universe.

SPEAKER_00 0:38

To face. Because right now I'm very, very hopeful.

SPEAKER_02 0:40

Yeah. Also, do you remember that two years ago during March Madness? We went to the final four. Yes, we did.

SPEAKER_00 0:47

Purdue did two years ago. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 0:49

It was in Arizona. And we were in the middle of IVF shots.

SPEAKER_00 0:55

Like getting ready. I think we had just done the transfer. Yes. I think I was technically pregnant, but we had to still continue doing shots. Yes. Injections.

SPEAKER_02 1:03

Yes. And we had to go to the bathroom at the arena and I had to put a shot in your butt.

SPEAKER_00 1:09

I was worried about us come going into the arena. Yes. With a needle. I was like, are they going to let us in with this stuff? But we would like literally, you like made me pose with my bump, and then we had to like run to the bathroom to like shoot me up with IVF meds. Yes. Yeah. Good times. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:26

And then we lost our IVF meds, and then we had to go drive to like uh Arizona Walgreens. I don't even want to think about that part.

SPEAKER_00 1:33

I want to think about the fact that Purdue made it to the final game. Yeah. And the fact that we got pregnant off of that transfer. So win, winning, winning, winning. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 1:43

But all that to say, we have a traveling toddler. Yeah. And he was a traveler before he was even feet on the ground.

SPEAKER_00 1:51

Yeah. He was traveling. I mean, it was like got a pregnancy test, and then we were like, that's not going to stop us from going to Arizona and um going to watch Purdue play basketball. So yeah, in Spain and Italy. We've done some trips. We've done a lot of trips. And my algorithm right now is like how to travel with babies, or like people that stopped traveling when they had just different perspectives on travel with babies.

SPEAKER_02 2:15

Well, our perspective was always this is our life, and our baby is gonna have to adapt into our life, which is true, and that's great, but I think there's also a thought of like what all we you know.

SPEAKER_00 2:29

I think anyone who anyone who's had kids goes through this. Like I had a lot of plans for exactly how things were gonna go, and then I had kids, and it it definitely humbles you in ways. We were adamant, and I mean I still am, but we were really adamant that it was not gonna slow down our travel to have kids. And we have not slowed down, really. Like we've stood by that, but almost too much to the point where we're like, um, maybe we need to hone it in a little bit. I might be ready to slow down a little bit. Yeah, I mean, we left.

SPEAKER_02 3:02

At least like far places.

SPEAKER_00 3:05

Well, and luckily he's asleep right now. We're looking at the monitor, and um, he's he's going down very well, but it took some time because the routine, like you babies like are used to having routines to be able to get to them to sleep. And we were, he's very flexible, he's very resilient, he's very up for adaptable and whatever.

SPEAKER_02 3:26

But like a lot of times when we're on vacation and we're traveling, or like when we're traveling for work or for whatever, we only have one room. So it's not like we have his room with a crib to go to where he can go down for bedtime and then we can go down hours later. It's like he just usually goes to bed and sleeps in between us when we're on when we fall asleep.

SPEAKER_00 3:49

When we're going to sleep, we're like, all right, you're going to sleep too. So he's he's really good about um rolling with the punches, but it's there are pros and cons to being travel bugs like we are. But I wanted to talk about what like have been our favorite places to take him and what have like we've learned about how travel's kind of changing since we've had a baby.

SPEAKER_02 4:11

Well, I'm gonna start by saying that we are currently grieving transitioning from the Duna to our new car seat because he is hitting the height limit and we have to transition. And we just need to know Duna.

SPEAKER_00 4:29

Well, it's for those of you who don't know what a Duna is. So it's a um it's a stroller and a car seat combined in one. You don't have to take the wheels off, you don't have to do anything crazy. You literally just click a button and it becomes a car seat. So that has been helpful in Ubers, in um rental cars, on trains, you got in planes and all the above. You have a stroller and a car, and then you pull it into the the car or whatever you're doing, you don't have to travel with car seat. Yeah. So it has been the entire reason we've been able to travel. We took it to Europe, we took it on a cruise, we've taken it on every flight we've ever been on. And he's 16 months now and he's just hitting the height limit.

SPEAKER_02 5:08

Yep. So we're transitioning from that to a new car seat, and we just really want to talk to Duna right now about why y'all don't have a bigger car seat.

SPEAKER_00 5:20

The hours that I've spent Googling like car seat stroller combo for toddlers, and then they're pretty much just like, no, no, thank you. It doesn't exist. And he can walk now, so obviously people are like, okay, just take him from walking, but he also likes to sleep in the car, and we're like, that works out well because then we just stroll him to like a park or whatever we're doing. Anyway, we're upset about it. Yeah, you can't tell. Yeah, and we are trying to figure out what's next for the travel. If you have any tips for us, anyone who's gone through this, please let us know because we have only been surviving off of that fact. Because we will like literally, when we were in Europe, it was planes, trains, and automobiles, and we just took that with us everywhere we went. So we need tips on how to properly travel with a toddler now that we're uh outgrowing that equipment.

SPEAKER_02 6:11

So yes. But up until now, we'll give you lots of tips and tricks.

SPEAKER_00 6:15

Yes. So the Duna has been our saving grace this entire time. And we need tips, we need tricks, we need how to transition from that to the next thing. Um, we need your advice. So if you have any tips on that, email us hello at hellohoovers.com and you'll be saving our lives for our future travel. Cause like we got one toddler, we have more babies hopefully coming at some point, and we need all the help we can get. So email us. Let us know what you do. Send us a shopping link. Yeah. But on that note, we've been to some places, so we can at least touch on up until this point what has been the most kid-friendly places and just kind of what our experiences have been traveling thus far. So, what have been your favorite kid-friendly places that we've been to that so far?

SPEAKER_02 7:03

What's so interesting is one of my most memorable times traveling was actually our least baby friendly place. But I will never forget being in Venice, sitting at the little pizza restaurant by the water, and all the gondolas are going by us, and Beckham is just housing a piece of pizza.

SPEAKER_00 7:27

He has no clue. He might as well have been in our backyard. Totally.

SPEAKER_02 7:31

But he loved the Italian style pizza, yeah, of course. Yes. And like the hell that we had to go through to get to Venice was like next level. And we were coming from Spain. We were coming from Spain. Yeah. We took obviously a car to get to the airport. Our flight was delayed. Then we landed in Venice, but we had to get a bus from the airport. And then once we got to the bus, once we got to where we were supposed to go for the bus, then we had to get on a water taxi to get to our Airbnb.

SPEAKER_00 8:06

And the water taxi took us like not even right to our place, but like a few blocks away.

SPEAKER_02 8:10

Yeah. And the water taxi decided that it was gonna stop working while we had all you were on it. Just gotten on it. So we thought we were like 10 minutes away, and all of a sudden they have to get everyone off of this water taxi and find a new water taxi.

SPEAKER_00 8:26

This was at like 11 p.m., I think. Yes. And we were like long travel day. Whoa. Definitely an Instagram versus reality moment because when we were in Venice, we were so happy to be there, and it was gorgeous, and it was like absolutely recommend people to go. But getting there was a chore. It was getting there was a chore. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:46

Also, strollers are like not really a thing in Venice because there are so many bridges. So a friend of ours like let us know that from the beginning. And so we knew we were just gonna like strap him onto our backs or on his little back.

SPEAKER_00 9:01

Well, luckily he was small enough to strap him onto us, but that it was still 27 pounds. I know. I'm just saying we couldn't do it anymore. Yeah. So that that was one of your favorite places, even though it we wouldn't consider it kid friendly. It was just it was very memorable.

SPEAKER_02 9:15

It was so memorable. And I think that he like loved seeing all the people and like really loved the food being in the food.

SPEAKER_00 9:24

He's such a little foodie. Yeah, he is. He mostly just wants to eat everything, but yeah. He um, I think that another thing is that we probably tried to pack in a little bit too much. I think that was like a humbling moment of ours. We had been together 10 years, and this was just a few months ago, and I was like, I'm gonna do this like epic vacation for us for our 10-year anniversary.

SPEAKER_02 9:45

Well, that means also that we traveled nine of those years without a baby. I know. So we got used to it. We were, I mean, we are like carry-ons in a backpack. I don't care if it's a weekend or two weeks, two weeks in Europe. We do carry-ons, we do carry-ons, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:03

We have gotten used to it. We were like, we're pros, we got this. And because it was like this epic 10-year anniversary trip, I was like, I want to hit all these places, and we only have one kid and let's take advantage. And we definitely like did too much. Like, I look back, and each of the places that we went were incredible. Like, I don't regret any of the stops, but it was just like, I can't believe we tried to fit all that in a while. It could have easily been two to three trips. Yeah, it was a lot. But I would say that one of the things that I learned was like the I thought that like I would want to be in more like rural areas. I was like, the kid wants to run around in a park. I was like, put us out in the middle of nowhere and like we'll just like you know, stock the house and just like hang out and run around in a field. No, I hated that we weren't walkable. I mean, I have heard so many good things about Tuscany. And theoretically, without children, Tuscany is so amazing and so beautiful. But when we were there, I was like, oh, we just gotta like staying in this beautiful house, like nestled up on this hill.

SPEAKER_02 11:06

But the only way to get to town was like this very windy mountainous road, and it was this and this and this and this, and you have a baby in the backseat.

SPEAKER_00 11:14

And we had to load them up into the car seat every time we needed to even just like run quickly to the store. So that was a moment where I was like, okay, walkability, being in cities. Yeah, green spaces are great, but at the end of the day, if you're not like walkable with babies and kids, like that is just was not it for me. One of my favorite places that we went was actually um this area called Haveea in coastal Spain. And it had like a boardwalk, and all of a sudden you, your, your brain changes the way that you think about travel and vacations when you have a baby because you just picture your kid like running somewhere, and you're like, are they running into the street or are they running on a boardwalk around the water, the beach, or in front of bars and restaurants? And all of a sudden you're like, wait, that is what I want to choose, versus like the places with like tight sidewalks and like a bunch of cars passing by. And that's why I think that coastal Spain, we went all of a sudden I'm like hikes, walkability, and beaches, water, beaches, water, and green spaces. And I'm like, that's where I want to be spending our time and taking our vacations for sure.

SPEAKER_02 12:16

Yeah, yeah. And like I do think that like all of it is so worth it, and I love that he's like been able to go to all these places and stuff. But like also, we just did a cruise. Yeah, that was everything.

SPEAKER_00 12:32

That was everything. We used to be like, I'm not gonna say cruise haters, but we used to be a little skeptical of cruises. We were like, okay, do you feel like too claustrophobic or like too whatever? This time we were like, we had just done Europe and we were like, wait a second, you're telling me we unpack our clothes one time, put them away once, and then we can walk to the restaurants and the bars on the cruise. And he's contained, and he's contained, and then we can go visit like five or six different places and countries while unpacking one.

SPEAKER_02 13:04

I loved San Juan, Puerto Rico. Yeah, that was beautiful. That was amazing. Beckham loved that place.

SPEAKER_00 13:11

The the ice cream, like the popsicles, the um you want to take vacations based on ice cream if they have gelato, if they have popsicles, consistent places where there's ice cream, and you're like, cool, say no more. I'm good. Name something wrong with that. I will be like, hey, I plan this epic trip, and you're like, is there an ice cream shop? And how late is it open? Do they have afogados? Do they have afogados? Do they have paletas? Paletas. Yeah, yeah. Look at us. But also that's Beckham. Speaking of us attempting to speak Espaniol, do you remember? So we at this point, like when we went to our Europe trip, he was like turned just turned a year. So we're definitely getting like a word here or there, but most of it was babbling. Well, we noticed this is ridiculous. We noticed one of the first few nights we were in Spain that his babbling actually changed from like, I can't, I don't even know how to properly explain this, but like American or English babbling to all of a sudden he'd be like, it was the buttons, it was the tongue rolling.

SPEAKER_02 14:20

Yeah. He started rolling his tongue, like he'd be like, um but I got yeah, and we were like, what is he talking about?

SPEAKER_00 14:28

Like, how come it sounds like he's speaking Spanish all of a sudden?

SPEAKER_02 14:30

And Hill and I would like look at each other and be like, Did he just try to speak in Spanish? Is he babbling in Spanish?

SPEAKER_00 14:35

It sounds ridiculous, but it happened. It's true.

SPEAKER_02 14:38

Oh, it's absolutely true.

SPEAKER_00 14:39

And it's cultured because his first words were kind of sort of halfway in Spanish.

SPEAKER_02 14:43

No, but they have like a Miss Rachel of sorts over there in Spanish, and he locked into that.

SPEAKER_00 14:49

Yeah, yeah. It was so what about would be like the most favorite place that we've been thus far where you're like kid friendly? I'm not talking about like the stroll like not being able to take strollers. I'm talking like you just went and you were like, I will remember this forever.

SPEAKER_02 15:04

I mean Fort Myers. Well, that too.

SPEAKER_00 15:07

I was thinking about though when you were crying with Beckham in Florence. Maybe it's not the most kid friendly, but oh my gosh. I will never forget that.

SPEAKER_02 15:16

Like it was middle of November. I was not expecting for the streets to be lined with Christmas lights yet. And we knew we were going into like he was born in November of 2024. So like he was a blob in December of 2024, you know? Christmas.

SPEAKER_00 15:38

Christmas was just spent sleeping on us, and it was so sweet.

SPEAKER_02 15:41

But like this was the first time that he was really gonna see like Christmas lights, and it light up his eyes. And oh my gosh, you had run back to grab his stroller and I had him on my chest in my little backpack, and the streets were lined with Christmas lights, and then we were walking toward this carousel, and he was just like and I started crying because it was like he was seeing something that is so magical, even to an adult who's you know been seeing it for so many years. And you got to watch him take it in for the first time. For the first time, and he said for his first time on that walk, he said, Wow, yeah, that was when wow came out. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_00 16:34

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 16:35

I mean, I I like I will I will literally never forget that moment.

SPEAKER_00 16:39

Well, and I think that a lot of people talk about like I my least favorite line that comes from other parents, or not other parents, other people, about taking your kid somewhere when they're one year old is they're never gonna remember that. I'm like, I don't care because A, I am, and B, it's still forming who he is. His experiences are still forming his perspectives and you know, different things that you've seen form who you are. So I'm like, just because he won't remember it doesn't mean that it is not like this beautiful trip. And also, like, you can look back on pictures and videos and like kind of relive things looking back, and that will always be memorable to us, especially like he's our first kid, and we got to kind of see what the world looks like through a baby's eyes, you know. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 17:22

So, like, there are cons to having a baby with you on a trip. Like, obviously, it's just harder. You have to make sure that you pack their birth certificate so that they know that the airlines know that your baby's under two for lap child situation. Just in general, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:41

We brought Tylenol everywhere we went because medication if you're going internationally, you just want to know that you have what you need on you.

SPEAKER_02 17:49

Yeah. You, I mean, this was during the time when he had just switched from formula to milk. So we always had to make sure that we had milk. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:56

Even before that, we had to have formula. You have to have formula with you, and you have to have water. Like, there's so many. You're you're like walking out the door and you're like, did we remember everything? It's definitely a lengthier list when you have a baby because you worry about the things that if you would have forgotten them. Like, what does that look like?

SPEAKER_02 18:11

But we're also so partial to like our Millie Moon diapers that he sleeps in at night, and they don't have those in other countries. A lot of diapers. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:23

I think what's funny too is we talk a lot about like being in a two-mom household. And like, in my opinion, obviously, like there are so many amazing men out there and so many amazing dads out there. But like, I just feel like a lot of time women like think differently, talk a lot about the mental load and just like all the things that you remember. Yeah. And we both have like the same, I mean, we have different perspectives on things, but we have very similar like to-do lists and mental load in our head. And so it's funny because sometimes it's very helpful. And like, you'll remember the medicine, and I'll remember the monitor, and you'll remember the diapers, and I'll remember the wipes. And it's like between our two brains, we're able to kind of like piece everything together without like straining too many muscles. Yeah. And then every now and then it'll be like, oh, like I pack diapers, and you'll be like, Well, I already packed diapers, or it'll be like or it'll be like I think you were gonna pack diapers, right?

SPEAKER_02 19:14

And so sometimes that happens.

SPEAKER_00 19:16

But it is funny, the like the whole thing where it's like you think like, because we're kind of there's there's not like one primary parent in our household, like we're very 50-50 on like the time that we spend with him and the things that we do for him. And so, because of that, sometimes we'll be packing for a trip and it'll be like, Are you packing that or am I packing that? But you know, it does take on a lot of mental space to like add to your list when you're packing for a trip. But there's also things you can get by with.

SPEAKER_02 19:42

That's what I was gonna say. There's also pros. Yeah, the pros are first of all, you can carry water and milk with you into the airport because they just check it and you're gonna be a sick.

SPEAKER_00 19:54

Yeah, because they they actually they swab all of it, but it is nice to just be like, okay, cool. Like we don't have to stress too hard about having a bottle of water because like the baby needs water with the formula, or just in general, they need water. Yeah. So we've like all of a sudden they're like, Oh, this is for the baby, and we're like, Yeah, and they're like, You're good. We're like, Okay, cool, cool, cool.

SPEAKER_02 20:11

Also, especially when you're in Europe, they have family lanes like for everything. Everything. So you can be waiting to go through customs, and there is like an hour line, and then all of a sudden, this little like guardian angel person comes over and they're like, they like sweep you. You have a baby this way, please. And I'm like, what? And all of a sudden, there's this magical line that is like two people, and we just get to go through because we have a baby. And I'm like, okay, there are definitely pros to traveling with a baby. Also in Europe, people treat your baby like there are their babies. It's so sweet. And I think that like him having that interaction with people like made him so like friendly.

SPEAKER_00 20:57

We had to social. There was a few times. This is gonna sound really sketchy, but there was a few different times where we'd be like in a small restaurant or something very like wholesome, and someone like the owner of the restaurant or like somebody in there would just walk up and like stick their hands out, like to take him from us. And like at first, like you're kind of like Stranger Danger, and you're like, um, no, thank you. But then it's like some like sweet grandpa that just like cooked your pasta and he just like wants to hold a baby, and you're like, okay. And then they just like pet his hair and like just like give him kisses and stuff, and it's like very, very sweet because they're like just treat, they just treat them like they like worship babies, and it's it is really sweet. Another thing that has shifted for me has been this is one of those uh before I had kids. I'm not gonna say judged other parents for, but I definitely didn't think that I would feel this way, is that I used to be like, okay, the babies should just fit into your life. I'm not saying don't change anything, but I think I thought like they can come on vacations with you and they can, and that's true. But all of a sudden, I am like trying to seek out the most kid friendly places. Because all of a sudden I'm like, do they have a kids club? Do they have a cool um like jungle gym next door? Not because I'm like like centering every single thing around my kid, but it's also like if he's got something to do and he's entertained, then everyone's gonna be happier, you know? So all of a sudden I'm like looking into kids' clubs and thinking about places where we could go. And another thing is I it's not even that I'm like, I want somebody else to take care of my kid. Like I want him to be with us the entire vacation. But we learned we just um were shopping for some preschools for him, and we he walked in to one of the classrooms. They let us like see all the different classrooms, and he walked into one that was his age group, and a little girl came up to him and was like, Hi, and he was like, Hi.

SPEAKER_02 22:44

And I'm and we had never heard him say hi before.

SPEAKER_00 22:47

And I'm pretty sure if we would have let him, he just would have not, we just wouldn't have taken him home with us.

SPEAKER_02 22:54

I was asking him, I was like holding his hand and like trying to walk him out of that classroom, and he was literally like putting his entire body weight down.

SPEAKER_00 23:04

This is where I'm going. So, all that to say, I'm like when I think about a kids' club on a trip, I used to think like, oh, you just want somebody to take your kids so you can go have fun.

SPEAKER_02 23:13

No, this child is so social, he just wants to be friends with everybody.

SPEAKER_00 23:16

The idea that he gets to, we can go on a vacation and he can go like run and play with kids his age and like experience new people and even speak different languages because kids they don't even care if you speak a different language. No, he's disciplined anyways. They're just like, we're we're vibing, so we're gonna be friends. Yeah. Um, and so like that part of it, I've just shifted how I think about vacations. Like all of a sudden, places where our kid is entertained, and I just want to go to kid-friendly places, like bring me all the kids. I don't I will have them, I will go to my swim up bar and have a margarita in the hand in hand and be surrounded by children and be like so happy. And I think that that's something that a few years ago I would have been like, I want to be an adults only. I'm good over there, thank you. Now I'm like, how fun is this for everyone? Fun for the whole family. Yeah, you know, and now that's like what I look for. I'm like, I'm like, how much fun can our kids have? And how much fun can we have in one, in one? And we have learned from our past few trips what makes for a kid-friendly moment. But your your idea of a good vacation has changed too. I'm whisking you off to Europe, and what do you say?

SPEAKER_02 24:19

We can just go to Fort Myers.

SPEAKER_00 24:20

Let's just go to Fort Myers. Yeah, no, nothing against Fort Myers. We love it, but it's just funny how we used to be so like adamant about experiencing new cultures. And my babe says, Can we just go to the country club down in Florida? Right?

SPEAKER_02 24:32

Honestly, like there are parts of a vacation that is turning your brain off. And it's hard to turn your brain off when you have to figure out how you're gonna get from the airport to the train station to the freaking boat to the apartment.

SPEAKER_00 24:51

A Airbnb and get in and all that stuff.

SPEAKER_02 24:53

I mean, babe, do you remember when we went to Sirmione?

SPEAKER_00 24:57

Oh my gosh, yeah. And it stresses me out just thinking about it.

SPEAKER_02 25:01

Yeah, we took a plane to a train and then we landed, and the bus route changed because it wasn't in season, and there was no information, there was no Reddit, there was nothing.

SPEAKER_00 25:14

As much research as we possibly could do. And even the signage, I was like, okay, I think this must be it. It says something about us going to Lake Garda. We were in Italy going to Lake Garda, and then keep in mind there's the language barrier.

SPEAKER_02 25:25

So then keep in mind that we have this sweet little baby who's like doing his best to like not keep it together and fuss and cry. And we only have, you know, one bottle of milk left. And if you've ever seen our baby, one bottle of milk didn't go that far at the time. And you're just like worried about and it's cold.

SPEAKER_00 25:47

So we're like, okay, we finally got on the bus. And it was raining. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 25:50

We sound like we had to walk uphill both ways in the snow. But no, really, it felt like that. We fine, we waited an hour for this bus. We finally got on this bus. I asked the bus driver if this is where we were supposed to be. He said yes. I was like, okay, awesome. Get on, you get on, let's get the baby on. We find seats, we're there, and then we're watching the map and we're going away from our dot.

SPEAKER_00 26:16

Yeah, away from where we're supposed to go. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 26:18

So also, like, they didn't have Ubers there, really. And so, like, to look at an Uber was like$280.

SPEAKER_00 26:26

And we were just like, Well, and it had to come find us, and it was gonna take like a half an hour or 45 minutes to get to us. Like, it was an ordeal. And so we finally go up to the bus driver and we're like, we're watching this bus go away from where we're supposed to go. And we double check with him. And there's there was Lake Garda, which is the lake, and then there's the town of Garda. We were going to Lake Garda, and he was like, Oh no, this is going to Garda, the town. And we were like, Well, that's confusing. And he was like, Yeah, this we are away from where you're going and we're not going in that direction. So I remember being like, Let's GTFO guys, this bus. On trips when we don't know where we're going, you're away from where you're going and we're not going in that direction. So I remember being like, let's GTFO guys, this bus.

SPEAKER_02 27:11

On trips when we don't know where we're going, our advice is to follow the string lights.

SPEAKER_00 27:18

Like, like if you're in a city and you're like, where do we want to go to like grab a glass of wine? Or where do we want to go? We'll just like look out down the street and we'll see a place with string lights, and we'll be like, that's gonna be a good vibe. Yes. That's where we need to go.

SPEAKER_02 27:31

So specifically, we are in this Italian city that we've never been in before, and there wasn't much. And all of a sudden, we see a restaurant with string lights, and we're like, just take us to the street. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:41

So the bus driver dropped us off.

SPEAKER_02 27:43

We found our way back to our hotel, but it was just like, okay, yes, but this was like the funny part of it all. Sirmione is a like fantasy dreamland. Like it feels like a Disney World ride. It doesn't even seem like a real town. It is so precious. But we were so tired of traveling, and we get in this Uber that was like a hundred euro for like a 20-minute drive. Yeah. And they drive us up and they're like, hey, we're not able to get you right to your hotel because you have to cross over the bridge that's over the moat around the castle in order to get to your hotel.

SPEAKER_00 28:23

And we were like, What? And on paper, that sounds so adorable and cute. But I remember in the moment being like, It's raining and we've had the longest day. Just get us to our hotel. And then we get out of the car and he's like, Okay, that's the entrance. They just won't let me in. And they weren't kidding. It was this insanely beautiful castle that we had to like kind of walk up past up against to get to our hotel. And we're like, This is why we do what we do. Like you're sitting there going, Why are we here? Like, why did we come all this way to go to a plane and a train and all the things? And then all of a sudden you're chilling in a room that overlooks the ocean, the lake, and it's a spa hotel. And you walked past the castle to get into it, and we were just and it was affordable. And we were like, okay, this is why we're here.

SPEAKER_02 29:07

What we would do is we would take turns. So Hillary would go to the spa and I would take Bex. So one day she was at the spa and Bex and I were exploring, and we saw people feeding finch out of their hands. Yeah. The birdies would just come in. It was literally Snow White, Cinderella, and it was all happening in front of our eyes. It was so, so sad. That's why.

SPEAKER_00 29:33

That's why you find across the world is to watch birds eat out of someone's palm.

SPEAKER_02 29:37

Well, and that's why, you know, you bring your toddler to places that most people would think you were crazy for.

SPEAKER_00 29:43

Because maybe we are a little crazy.

SPEAKER_02 29:45

It felt a little crazy, but then it also felt so magical. Like actually, the places that were the hardest to get to were my favorite places to watch Beckham live.

SPEAKER_00 29:55

Yeah, totally. But you know, you have those moments, and then you have country clubs in Fort Myers, and there's there's pros and cons. It's just easy.

SPEAKER_02 30:03

It's a non-stop flight. Your parents are there a lot.

SPEAKER_00 30:07

It's awesome. It's awesome. It's just changed a lot of the way that we talk about travel. And I think before we had kids, we were like, everything's gonna change with one. And now our conversations are like, well, one is fine, but it's really gonna change when we have two. That's when it's gonna get hard. Like our kids are just going to travel, it's just part of our lives. You're a touring artist, you will always be a touring artist.

SPEAKER_02 30:29

Also, he is my number one fan. So he's gonna want to be there. He's gonna come to all your shows.

SPEAKER_00 30:34

Yeah, he already has come some come to some, and like that's just the lifestyle that we live, whether it's for work or for play. You know, it's like mama's got shows, we got places to go.

SPEAKER_02 30:43

He literally came on an adults-only cruise with us because I was singing and it was a week, and that would be very hard to leave him for a week. So we asked if he could come. He's so well behaved, and it was a gay cruise, and he was the only baby on it. And at the end of the day, that is his community too, you know?

SPEAKER_00 31:03

Absolutely. And we and as we have more kids traveling, I'm tour managing, you're the artist, obviously. We're traveling a lot. We it's gonna get harder and harder to like figure all this out, to figure out how to bring all these kids along the ride with us. But you know, we're up for the challenge because that's our life. So this is what we're gonna do. Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 31:24

So buckle up and we'll figure it out as we go. Someone said to us, one kid is an accessory, two kids are a lifestyle.

SPEAKER_00 31:32

Sounds factual, and it's it's giving up. Also, kind of sounds scary too. Because I'm like, wait, we're not living the lifestyle yet, right? It hasn't happened yet. This isn't the lifestyle because it feels like a lifestyle. Yeah, and that little nugget needs every energy, every bit of your energy.

SPEAKER_02 31:47

That child, I promise, is not an accessory. True that that child runs our whole household.

SPEAKER_00 31:53

I think one of the biggest shocks as far as places that I've enjoyed has been like, I love being right in the middle of a city with a kid. Like, I thought that was gonna be more stressful. But I think what is funny, well, it in Europe, one thing that really surprised me, it's so big kid friendly, but there are no changing tabling stations, changing tables anywhere. And so we would be like in the middle of a city. I mean, do you remember all the crazy places we've changed a diaper? And I've realized that your shame level gets lower and lower. All of a sudden you have absolutely zero shame being in like an alleyway next to like a restaurant, and you're like, as long as it's safe, like I am laying my kid down, and we'd have like these little like sheet things, and you just lay them down on like stonework that's existed since the 1600s, and you're changing your baby outside of a restaurant, it's just been a lot of places on that Sirmione bus. When like I've changed the diaper on a bus, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 32:51

While you were like silently panicking that we were going the wrong way, I was changing his diaper on my lap.

SPEAKER_00 32:57

We have changed him on a plane. We have is gonna sound like a Dr. Seuss book. We have changed him on a plane, we have changed him on a train, we have changed him in the air, we have changed him on the ground.

SPEAKER_02 33:07

Okay, but when we were in Tulume a couple months ago, you were like, I'm gonna take Bex to I'm gonna go change Bex. And I was like, Okay, cool. I'm here eating my burrito with no idea. After I have my burrito, I go to the bathroom and I'm like, you changed a baby here? Yeah, how?

SPEAKER_00 33:28

Well, Beckham and I have also figured out how to do stand-up diaper changes sometimes. That is cool, yeah. That's a move. Um, definitely a lot of floor diaper changes, unfortunately. A lot of bathroom floor diaper changes, um parks, trunks, a lot of trunks.

SPEAKER_02 33:44

I just always like if they don't have a diaper changing station in the bathroom, I'm taking him to the trunk.

SPEAKER_00 33:49

Yeah, but we normally don't have a car with we didn't have a car with us a lot in Europe. You just have to figure it out. Yeah. Like it would just be like almost like, all right, hun, you do the lookout and I'll change him right here on the room. It's like you're peeing in the woods. That's really what it feels like.

SPEAKER_02 34:04

Except, you know how like the longer you go for hikes, the less shame you have when you pee in the woods. That's how it became on the street.

SPEAKER_00 34:12

Well, you have to. If you have any shame, I'm just gonna go ahead and put that out there. If you have any shame about changing a baby in obscure places, don't plan on traveling because the world, like unless you're like at Disney World or something where they're like, this is sign points to the bathrooms, and those are the ones with the baby changing stations. Most places aren't like that because you're going to different parts of the world that have different cultures. And also a lot of these places like have existed for centuries, and so they didn't have changing stations back, you know, hundreds of years ago. So you just gotta roll with it. So if you got any issues with that, I just you know, be prepared. Be prepared. Parks are great. I mean, sometimes you just gotta shield I mean, or not shield, hold up a towel, yeah, and just just roll with it. So that's definitely an interesting side to traveling as we have. I'm um a little nervous about uh the next phase, like flying with Beckham thus far has been great for the most part. I mean, he has his moments, but it's been pretty manageable. But now that we're entering toddler phases, I think he is running. The algorithm is feeding me kind of terrifying imagery of toddlers on planes.

SPEAKER_02 35:23

Oh no, I know.

SPEAKER_00 35:25

Well, babies like just sleep a lot, and I feel like toddlers are like, whose hair can I pull in front of me?

SPEAKER_02 35:31

I will tell you this much. We are not like a huge screen family. But if I need to put Miss Rachel on my phone and give them a pair of headphones for the plane, I have no shame in doing that.

SPEAKER_00 35:43

I know people, everybody's got their own things, they take their own paths and more power to you. We're kind of a household where like movies are on our TV, but we're not doing handheld devices, hopefully, for a very, very long time. And that's just our own thing. But the exception to me is like it hasn't happened yet, really. But the exception to me is like um plane rides or like long drives. At some point, I will be like, listen, it's gonna be you gotta be.

SPEAKER_02 36:09

If you want to watch Toy Story, sweetheart, while you're on a five-hour drive to Indiana, yeah, you can watch Toy Story because like everybody's gotta survive in those moments, like you gotta be able to get through. And it's literally safety. Like, if he's screaming, it's really hard to focus on like the traffic. Right.

SPEAKER_00 36:25

And just also the comfort of people around us on plane rides. Like he's been really good so far, but I am so not afraid of that life. You know, we'll just have the iPads that are stashed away 95% of the time, and then you whip them out in emergency situations, and you go, All right, kid, we're gonna do it. And then and then the kids like special occasion, cool. I get to watch a show on a screen in front of me. They're like, I'm gonna be really good. At least that's what I'm telling myself. Right. So hopefully that's true.

SPEAKER_02 36:55

Oh my god. What I will never forget the war that I did by myself when Beckham was like five months old. We were driving back from Indy to Nashville, and he had the blowout of the century. And I literally remember walking in and being like, oh yeah, he he pooped for sure. Where I'm in this McDonald's bathroom. I lay him down. He's like not rolling yet, like he is just like a little blob still. But the amount of shit that came out of this itty bitty baby was next level. I mean, I remember I took the diaper off. I put it on the ground.

SPEAKER_00 37:44

It always happens when you don't have what you need.

SPEAKER_02 37:46

Oh, 100%. You know? I put it on the ground, then I am starting with the wipes. I finished the I finished the entire bag of wipes. I mean, not that it was full, but like at least 20 wipes.

SPEAKER_00 38:00

I remember you walking out, look actually looking like you had been to war.

SPEAKER_02 38:05

Like I felt like I had been in battle.

SPEAKER_00 38:08

The privilege of us to think that that's the same.

SPEAKER_02 38:11

Oh my god, no, seriously. I mean, but in a very different way. Just like a shit storm, like an actual shit storm, you know? And like I had to throw his onesie away. Like, no, looking back, see you later. There was there was no, but not in a wash.

SPEAKER_00 38:27

I I think that you there's different phases of becoming a parent. I think like the second that you know, when you get pregnant, you're like, I'm becoming a parent. The baby comes out, you're becoming a parent. But it might feel like it doesn't really actually happen until you have your first blowout where everything around you is covered in shit. And you're like, Yeah, there you go. How do I clean up car seat? I am mother, hear me roar.

SPEAKER_01 38:48

I am mother, hear me roar.

SPEAKER_00 38:51

Like it's an awful situation in the moment, but looking back, you're like, that was a real test. That happened.

SPEAKER_02 38:57

The number of times I've Googled, can I hose down my child's car seat? And every single time it tells me no.

SPEAKER_00 39:04

The gross factor of having a kid, you just have to like, if you're someone who's like, um, what's it like a germophobe? Like, sorry, but like if you want to have a kid or if you are about to have a kid, like that's gonna either either you will be mortified the rest of your life, or you're just gonna have to one day wake up and be like, I got a deal. I mean, just obviously you like wash your hands a ton, you wipe your kid down a ton, like after every meal, we like try to really get his like hands and everything kind of washed down, but like you just at there comes a point where you just are like, This is my life now, this is how it's gonna be. So that's a journey.

SPEAKER_02 39:42

It is such a journey, and it's such like a uh a full like uh brain switch to just this is happening. Yeah, because although I'm not necessarily a germaphobe, I do like to be clean. Yeah. And it's just it just doesn't happen. So I just have to have wipes handy all the time. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 40:02

I feel like we um I what I really want is for other people to tell us like what are the best places that they've gone to where they've felt like supported as a parent, or like, okay, this you could be in a stroller the whole time, or like I know that we're like just kind of setting up to having people being able to tell us what you know, some advice and stuff like that. So if people have like, okay, these are places I love to travel with our kid, like you can come into our DMs and stuff, but the best way to reach us is our email hello at hellohoovers.com. And then we want to see like where are you taking your kids? To be honest, we will probably use them and go there and say thank you and probably like do some videos and stuff from there because that is like so it's like such good knowledge. I've researched every single trip we've gone on. I researched like crazy to go like where should we go? Exactly where should we stay? Is that hotel walkable to that? Like, I'm very particular about making sure we book the right places, and still sometimes it's like, oh, I feel like I could have done better on like finding a kid-friendly place. And like to me, the best way to do it, it's like, tell me about in like in the States too, like wineries that have like a big green space, breweries that have like cool playgrounds. I'm like, give me both. Like, I'm not just trying to go to kids' places, I'm trying to go places where kids feel comfortable and adults feel comfortable to like co-mingle and like you do you and we'll do us, but we're like all and also like the kids enjoy being around other kids too. So to me, I'm like, if I just take him somewhere to a restaurant and he's just sitting there and he's like, Where are my friends? And that's where I feel like I need some help.

SPEAKER_02 41:38

Yeah, we need a little bit of you know, parental advisory.

SPEAKER_00 41:42

Yes, we do, parental advisory. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 41:45

I mean, for the most part, Bex is like very adaptable and like can deal with whatever environment that we're in. But every now and then, out of nowhere, he needs help. He'll be a menace. He can be a menace.

SPEAKER_00 42:00

Yeah, I mean, toddlers are menaces, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 42:02

Yes, and I'm like, oh my god, what do we do? And then I'm like, shout out, Miss Rachel.

SPEAKER_00 42:07

Miss Rachel does come in in emergency situations for sure.

SPEAKER_02 42:12

Oh my gosh, she is our number one, she's our 911. She is, she is.

SPEAKER_00 42:16

It's one of those things where we try to only use her in emergency situations, but they happen and we need her. And shout out, Miss Rachel, for all of the sanity that you have saved for the millions of parents around the world who have gone, nothing else worked, but Miss Rachel did. Yeah. So she might be, she might be our key when we're on a plane and we're like, all right, he's acting a fool.

SPEAKER_02 42:38

Even the Miss Rachel songs, like when he's really upset, I'll be like, one little blue fish swimming in the water.

SPEAKER_00 42:46

Oh my gosh. Is this turning into like a parenting podcast or like a nursery rhyme podcast where we just sit and those are th that's a thing.

SPEAKER_02 42:54

Is it a thing?

SPEAKER_00 42:55

That's a thing where you can play like um instead of playing music, you can play like baby podcasts for your kids and they can just listen to bubble bubble bubble bubble pop. Miss Rachel, you might have some competition of Miss Brooke Eden over here doing nursery rhymes. No one does it like Miss Rachel.

SPEAKER_02 43:11

She's got she is queen.

SPEAKER_00 43:13

I'll hail. Yes. I'll hail. Beckham's favorite song right now is Chris Hausman's Up and Down. And so it goes up up up up and down. And then um Miss This is up, this is up, this is down, this is down. So it's basically we basically remix Miss Rachel and Chris Hausman with all the up down songs right now. So Beckum literally calls Chris up, up, up, up, up, up, up. Oh, uncle up up, yeah. Yeah, because that's yeah. So now it's like we got Chris Hausman, he loves a cow gay song, he loves Adam Mac music, he always wants mama music turned on. So that's the phase we're in right now. Mama, Mama, Mama honey points to the speaker. And um, and then Miss Rachel gets thrown in there too.

SPEAKER_02 43:54

So yeah, but like, yes, I will absolutely find myself singing like bubble. Bubble pop or like icky sticky sticky sticky bubble gum or like hop little bunny hop hop hop like that is the next phase of parenting unlocked after the blowouts.

SPEAKER_00 44:11

Then it's singing random Miss Rachel songs throughout the day. I think you've hit the next level. I'm concerned to see what the one is after that. I got to the next level. Yeah, right. Hi.

unknown 44:21

Hi.

SPEAKER_00 44:22

Pretty girl. Hi. Hi, good girl. Hi. I was talking to a dog, by the way. For those of you not watching on uh YouTube, that was a dog. Our friend's dog is here, and she just hopped up on the couch. So that's who I was calling little girl. It wasn't me. It wasn't you. Just thought that was important to clarify.

SPEAKER_02 44:41

So Beckham has this little box. It's a little Tony box, and you can put a line like Simba on it, and it plays the Lion King or Daniel Tiger, and it, you know, Daniel Tiger tells you a story. Well, mama made a Breakedon one.

SPEAKER_00 44:58

A custom Brickidan one. So all he has to do is plop that little guy up on the little figurine. Yeah, up on the um box. Tony box. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 45:06

And he is in this phase right now where he only wants mama. Like Daniel Tiger has been chopped liver ever since El Mo. You made it as much.

SPEAKER_01 45:17

Miss Rachel.

SPEAKER_02 45:18

Miss Rachel has been chopped liver. That's never happened before. He just wants mama. And so it's so funny. I, of course, he the first song that plays is Giddy Up. And so I get up in line dance with him, and he is trying so hard. He's staring at my feet, and whoa, he's staring at my feet and like trying to stomp on the ground and he's spinning and it's so cute. And I'm like, oh my gosh. Like he definitely influences what I'm writing about right now.

SPEAKER_00 45:46

He's your AR.

SPEAKER_02 45:47

He's my AR. Like, if he's not jumping at the song, I'm like, it's shit. We gotta get rid of it.

SPEAKER_00 45:52

And you you've been writing mama songs lately too, right?

SPEAKER_02 45:56

Yeah. I just wrote a song called Mama Still Got It. Mama Still Got It.

SPEAKER_00 46:01

Because Mama Still Got It, y'all. A. We haven't dug into your music as much as I wish that we had. So next time we'll talk more about Brick Eden and your music and what you've been writing and what you're up to.

SPEAKER_02 46:11

Mama Still Got It.

SPEAKER_00 46:12

Let's do it, Mama. Bye. I'm looking at Brooke. I'm looking at Brooke, like, okay, we're gonna do it. Did we have to say bye? Yeah. Bella goes, all right, say bye, and I look over at you, and then you didn't say anything. Good thing this is not live. Good thing this is not live. We would have failed tonight. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 46:32

Okay, on the count of three. Ready? One, two, three. See ya next time. Just tell me what we were saying.

SPEAKER_00 46:39

Oh.

SPEAKER_01 46:40

I thought we were saying bye.

SPEAKER_00 46:41

I thought we were saying bye. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 46:45

Wait, are we saying bye or see you next time?

SPEAKER_00 46:48

Why don't you say see you next time and I say bye?

SPEAKER_02 46:50

Okay, that's good. That's good. Okay, okay, okay. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 46:52

Ready? Yeah. See you next time. Bye.