Citizens of the World: A Stoic Podcast for Curious Travelers - Animal Sanctuary Volunteering in Belize and Other Travel Updates Swapped Between Nomadic Friends

Episode Date: June 3, 2018

My nomadic friend Cristal Dyer and I called each other to catch up on where we are in the world, and thought we’d let you listen in. You remember Cristal from the Oaxaca, Mexico, and Travel Deal episodes of the Postcard Academy. She shares her VERY hands-on experience volunteering at an animal sanctuary in Belize and will tell you how you can get involved in the program at the Belize Zoo. We also talk about her new expat life in Mexico.   I’ll be talking about where I am now (Slovenia); my new favorite beach destination to avoid the crazy crowds of Venice; and the place I visited last year that I cannot stop thinking about, and that I really think you should go to.    I’m your host, Sarah Mikutel. If you so desire, you can sign up for my newsletter here. And thank you so much for listening to this show. I know you’re busy and have many listening options, so it means a lot to me that you’re here. You are the best.   Find more travel stories and guides at postcardacademy.co   This podcast is brought to you by Audible. Not a member yet? Postcard Academy listeners can get a FREE audiobook and a 30-day free trial at audibletrial.com/postcard Do you ever go blank or start rambling when someone puts you on the spot? I created a free Conversation Cheat Sheet with simple formulas you can use so you can respond with clarity, whether you’re in a meeting or just talking with friends.Download it at sarahmikutel.com/blanknomore and start feeling more confident in your conversations today.

Welcome to the Postcard Academy, your weekly travel and culture podcast. I'm your host, Sarah Micatel, and today we are chatting with our friend Crystal Dyer. You remember her from the Wauaca, Mexico, and Travel Deal episodes. We wanted to catch up on where we are in the world, so we thought we would let you listen in. You will hear all about our hopes and dreams, but if you don't care about any of that, we will also be hearing all about Crystal's very hands-on experience, volunteering at an animal sanctuary in Belize, and we'll share how you can get involved in that program if that's something you're interested in. I will be talking about where I am now, Slovenia, plus my new favorite

beach destination to avoid the crazy crowds of Venice, and the place that I visited last year that I cannot stop thinking about and that I really think you should go to. Today's podcast is brought to you by Audible, and you Postcard Academy listeners can get a free audiobook and a 30-day free trial. If you go to audible trial.com slash postcard, where you will find more than 180,000 titles to choose from for your iPhone, Android, and or Kindle, that's audibletrial.com slash postcard. And I'm also really curious about what's on your summer reading list, and by reading, I, of course, mean listening. If you would like to share, please go to postcardacademy.co, and let me know what's on your list. All right, let's jump into my conversation with

Crystal. I'm also. So I'm staying in like an Airbnb, which is great, but it's a bit more of a hostile situation. Hostile as in hostile where you would stay, not hostile as an angry. And so there's like two guys in the kitchen and we're kind of like over a train line. But we shall soldier on. At least it'll be better than our windy rooftop episode.

Yeah. Yeah. Oh, it's so nice to hear your voice. Where are you? It's good to chat as well. Because, you know, like when you're traveling, you never really take the time to just call each other and chat. Yeah. So where are you right now exactly? So I'm in Pliadil, Carmen, which is, it's about an hour south of Cancun. And I'm in an Airbnb right now, but I think I mentioned to you that I was moving. I had found an apartment, but recent developments is that one of the ladies that I've been hanging out with, she has a spare bedroom and she was going to put it up on Airbnb. But because I only needed for two months, because remember my family are coming to visit in August,

yeah, she's just offered me a spare bedroom and it's super cheap. It's like maybe 300 a month. It's all furnished. She has a nice townhouse. She has two dogs, which are really cute. That sounds perfect. So where did you meet here? So we actually met through an expat group on Facebook.

Very nice. And she's also a digital nomad, so she works online as well. Very cool. So will you be got, is she living on the beach? Is her house on the beach? She is maybe not on the beach. So it's about maybe a 10 minute drive to get to the beach. Okay.

But it's in a less touristy area. It's more residential. Very cool. So you can practice your space. Danish, eat some good food. Yeah, and she's really sweet, and she's from the States. We have a lot in common as well. She works, she's like a project manager, and she manages to do that online.

And I used to be a project manager in my old corporate days. Yeah. I can't picture you in corporate life. No, I can't picture me like that either. I have to tell you, when I was at the zoo, I was working from 9 to 5, or 830 to 5. even. And I, by the end of the day, I was exhausted. I didn't want to do anything. I can't remember like working that many hours. I don't know how people do it. Oh yes. I forgot about the zoo. Well, let's talk about that. So you were in Belize at the Animal Sanctuary. So yeah, tell me about

that day to day. So, um, it was different to what I expected. Because when, when the first time I went before I saw you in Wahataka, I met the interns who were going through the experience. And a couple of days, I got to hang out with them while they were doing their job. And I kind of expected that I would mostly be doing, like, more boring stuff. So chopping up food, getting diets ready for the animals, maybe doing a lot of cleaning. Apparently, they like to get the interns to do all boring jobs. But when I got there, and I was doing it myself, I was actually doing a lot of things. a lot more interesting things than I thought I would be doing.

A lot of the days were really intense. Like one day, I was working with the birds. So these are like the parrots, the toucans. We have some eagles and vultures, lots of really big birds as well. But these parrots in particular, we had to go in with two people because they had babies. So they'd laid some eggs recently, and they're being very protective. So when you go in to feed them in the cage, they just go absolutely insane and attack. And I would be the one who was the lucky one to go into the cage, well, the enclosure.

And I would have to wear my glasses, my sunglasses inside, because the birds would literally be trying to peck my eyes out. They would be landing on my head. So by the time I got out, my hair was like sticking up everywhere. That's crazy. But they never hurt me. Maybe I was lucky. Maybe they were just kind of warning me. But it was always really bad timing because they would always be a tour group that would come up at the same time.

And they would love to take videos of me just getting attacked by all these birds. Oh, no, you're going to be all over YouTube. Crazy birdkeeper gets attacked. Yeah. So a lot of my days spent just like taking care of the animals, which I really loved and getting to know all their different personalities. Oh, so basically what I did at the zoo was they rotated me through the different types of animals. So we started off with birds and then mammals, so monkeys and tapirs. And then we went to the, I guess, the more dangerous animals, so the cats.

Wait, wait, before we move on, what's a tapir? Yes. The tapir. So it's kind of one of my new favorite animals. It's a cross between a hippo and a horse, I guess, yeah? Horse and a Hippo. Interesting. You'll have to put a picture up

when you write up about it. So then they're not the most attractive creatures, but they're one of the only kind of wildlife at the zoo where you could get in there and like give them hugs, not really hugs, but

you know, scratched their neck. They like to be scratched underneath their neck. If you get really close to them, which I did towards the end, they'll let you scratch their stomach, so they'll lay down and you can scratch your stomach just like a dog. And two of the Tapirs, it actually had a baby. So one was pregnant the last time I was there, and then she gave birth the day before I came back. So there was a little Tapir baby running around.

And for my first two weeks, I spent a lot of time with the baby doing what's called observations, which is just a fancy word for me sitting there and watching them go about their lives, which could be boring. But, you know, it was kind of really interesting seeing how these animals interacted with each other, because in the wild they're very solitary. But here at the zoo, they were next to other tapirs, so all the enclosures were following each other. So they interacted a little bit. And the mom, her name is Navidad. The husband was Fuego. They still had a really good relationship. So they still spend a lot of time together, which was really sweet. That is very sweet. Are they vegetarians? They are vegetarians. Yes. They love bananas. That's that they're

favorite. But I would always walk around at the zoo with some carrots in my back pocket. So whenever I had a break, I would go visit them. They sound so sweet. I've never heard of this animal. Is this just in Belize or South America? So they're, oh, I feel like I know so much about animals now. So this particular species is called the Central American Tapir. And so you can find it from the south of Mexico. Apparently there's some close to where I am right now, but not many. and then all the way down to Panama. But they also have other species. There's a type of tapir in Malaysia, apparently.

But they look a little bit different. So they're all kind of slightly different. Apparently, the species is a little bit more, I guess, less aggressive. So if you found it in the wild, if it didn't have a baby, it would just move around you. If it did have a baby, it would be more aggressive. Well, they sound adorable. I feel like they should be somebody's mascot. They are.

And some people, they keep them as pets. which is not good. You should never keep while left as pets, but that's how, I guess, nice and friendly they can be. Yes. And so you called this a zoo, and it is, the name is, I think, Belize Zoo, but it's really kind of a misnomer. It's more of an animal sanctuary, right? For somebody who might get a pet like this, but it shouldn't be a pet. Yeah, exactly. So the Belize Zoo started off as a, I guess, a sanctuary for animals that were being used in a document. There was this lady who she was participating in the documentary. She was being used as the wildlife expert. And then when the documentary finished filming, they kind of just abandoned the animals.

She didn't want to just let them go back in the wild because what happens when an animal was used to humans, I guess seek out humans for their food, which is not good. Because if you're just a regular person, you see a jaguar walking up to you going, hey, where's my lunch? You're going to freak out and you're probably going to kill it. So she decided to keep them in a piece of land that she bought, and eventually the zoo, which became the Belize Zoo, grew and grew and grew. So now she has, I think, about 55 species of animals there. They're all native, so none of the animals can be found outside of Belize, which I think is really cool, so you're not going to find any elephants or giraffes there.

And she uses that as a way to teach the local people, as well as tourists, all about the native wildlife so how you should treat them what happens to them so the tapirs in particular that's a national animal of Belize and they're quite endangered in Belize because they will start crossing some of the busy highways get hit by a car and people won't know what to do with them so she uses it as a way to educate the people as well which is really cool yeah and that's Sharon Matola so I definitely plan on talking to her in the future at some point I hope you Yeah, but so this sounds like so hands on. You got to do some really cool stuff.

And I definitely saw you a video at one point of a jaguar licking your head. Was that a jaguar? Yeah. So his mom, one jaguar called Junior Buddy. And he was, he's one of the few jaguars that have been born in captivity. His mom came in as a problem jaguar. So she was a jaguar that had started to get used to humans. I guess due to deforestation,

people starting to get further and further into the jaguar habitat. The jaguar starts to get desperate. So jaguar is a very territorial. They will fight to the death and to protect their territory. So once you start building into their territory, they're still going to think that that's their piece of land. And if you have any livestock there, you've got chickens or cows, they're going to think that that's something,

that they can eat. So when that starts happening, they're called problem, Jaguars, and then people like Sharon will get called, and she will hopefully be able to capture them. It takes a while to capture a jaguar in the wild. But if she does, she'll bring them in, and we'll try and rehabilitate them.

So I guess get them used to living in captivity. They're not gonna be able to get cooked back out into the wild. But what happened with Junior Buddy's mom is she was pregnant, but nobody realized, because this was quite early in the state, of the zoo and she gave birth sooner being put into captivity but she rejected him which is quite sad and the zoo the zookeepers got to handraised junior buddy he got taught some tricks and now he's just this amazing poster jaguar for the zoo he's adorable and he does these experience

with people who visitors to the zoo and one of them is an experience where you can go into his enclosure, but you're in a cage. So it's like you're the jaguar, and he interacts with you a little bit, and one of the best things is he does a jaguar kiss, where he licks you on the forehead. That's what I got to do. He sounds like the cutest,

and I'm sad that his mom rejected him. Do you think she was just too traumatized by the move to the zoo? Well, they say that in animals and captivity are actually, that there's a higher chance of rejected. they're young. Because it's a change in surroundings, it's very different from them. Instually, they know it's like a total situation than if they had a baby in the wild. If you have an animal in captivity who has a baby, you still have to do things.

You have to make sure that it's okay. Maybe they'll take the baby away to weigh the baby, that kind of stuff. So there's a lot of interactions with humans, even though they try and keep it to a minimum. It's still happening. Yeah. Well, I'm glad you guys are giving junior. buddy a home? Yeah. He just turned 11, so he's a little bit on the older side for a Jaguar now. So if you're going to go to Belize, you should definitely go visit him. And yes, if people visit,

then that money goes to help sustain the zoo and the different programs that go there. How did you apply for this program? So on their website, Belizeoo.org, they have an information section on how you can participate or help the zoo. And there's, a section on an internship. So I found out about it when I visited the first time. And I wasn't planning on doing it, but when I left, and I think I was talking to you about this, it was all I could think about. I was like, I could actually spend a month hanging out with these amazing animals. I love animals, you love animals, and getting to know them. And I wasn't really, I thought maybe all I would be doing is just helping prepare their food. But really, they let you get quiet

hands-on. Once they figure out that you're not, you know, a crazy person who's going to stick their arm in the jaguar's mouth, they're pretty trusting. Why did you decide to go back to Mexico? Well, Mexico, it was a logical choice. It's right next to Balees. And you know that I love Mexico. And I really wanted to find a place. So I was at the zoo for a month. And even though I had these great plans where I'd be able to work at the zoo during the day and then work at nighttime, That never happened. I probably every week got about 10 hours of work done when usually I would be getting maybe about 20 hours. So I really wanted to find somewhere where I could get some work done, but also, you know, have a nice relaxed lifestyle as well. So I knew about Playa del Carmen because my family vacation here sometimes, it's more of a, you know, a fun vacationy spot.

there's restaurants, bars. The beaches are beautiful. But I did know that there's an expat community here. So a bunch of digital nomads, I've seen them talking about it. And I thought I would give it a try as more of an expat rather than a vacationer. So you found your housing through the expat group? First I signed up for an Airbnb for I think a week and a half, just to feel it out. Then I wasn't finding anything, but then I started to meet all these cool people. So I thought, okay, I'll stay. I booked in for another couple. weeks and then in the last few days is when my friend offered for me to stay at her place. I did get another offer. I mentioned to you before that I found this amazing apartment.

It was two bedrooms and it was pretty close to the beach, but I'm paying about a third of the price to stay at this other house. It is just a room and I get my own bathroom and it is 10 minutes drive from the beach. But here in Mexico, a 10-minute drive would be about $2 to $3 by taxi. So it's not the end of the world. Yeah, that sounds like a pretty good compromise. And yeah, it's nice that you can live with somebody who you like and that you're saving money. That's always a great thing.

Exactly. Exactly. I miss Mexico, I have to say. So tell me all about you. What have you been up to? Well, right now I am in Slovenia in Ljubljana. So I would say about like six months ago, maybe longer I saw a photo of Ljubljublj. lake bled. And I was like, that place looks so magical. I'm going to go there this summer.

So this week I am making it happen. I'm staying in Lubliana. And today I did a day trip to two amazing places. One was the, and my pronunciations are going to be like totally wrong, but the Pustania Caves, which was just so cool. So these are these three million year old caves that were carved out due to like water dripping through the limestone for millions of years. And so you take a train ride, like a 15 minute train ride through these caves and then you get out and they walk you around and it feels like you're on Mars or in some sort of like fairy tale movie. And it was just such a neat experience. It was really cold down there. Like a constant 50 degrees. It was so neat. And then you take the train ride back out.

And then after that, I went to Priyama Castle. And so that is a castle that's several hundred years old, and it's built into a cave. And they had a really good audio guide that sort of told you a little bit about the history, but they repeated several times how uncomfortable the castle was just because it was always damp, and it was just for protection. And so they were pretty much like, this was not a fairy, it was not the greatest place to live, but it kept you alive. But it was very pretty.

And yeah, so I've just sort of been bebpping around Slovenian. Tomorrow I finally get to go to Lake Blood. So I'm very excited about that. I'll share some photos with you. And then just enjoying some Slovenian food and touring about the town. It sounds very interesting. You know, like the funny thing about us, I'm always in love with Latin America

and you spend a lot of time in Europe but you have really opened my eyes to some of the possibilities and I do need to get my butt down there sometimes. I would love to go traveling around Europe with you because I don't know I feel like I see certain things or maybe just because

I feel like we have so many things in common the things that I like I'm like I got Crystal really like this but I really like Slovenia but I think it started to like really blow up tourist wise like three or five years ago. It kind of made me want to explore something even more off the beaten path. I say more off the beaten path, like from an American perspective, I guess, who doesn't get over to Europe as much. And it made me think I'd like to try Bulgaria, which is not something I had really been thinking

about before. And then I also want to go back to Sarajevo, I think. I went last year. And it's like haunting me in a sense. Everyone I know who's gone there has fallen in love. with it and felt like they didn't spend enough time there. And they are only just starting to get tourists there because of the Balkans war. It was war-torn for a lot of the 90s and is still kind of recovering in a sense. But it's such a lively place where both tourists and locals are like going to the same places. And they really want tourists to come. There's all these articles out there right now about cities having backlash and they don't want tourists to come. anymore. And Sarah was like, yes, please come. Like, you will help our economy. We love you. We want you to

come. So for anyone interested in going, they've got a film festival in August and that would be a great time to go. But I should say, before I came to Slovenia, like the reason I decided to come here now is because over the weekend, I was in this place called Yeaselow, which was amazing. It's a beach town that's not that far from Venice. I was there. for a friend's birthday weekend, so her family has an apartment there. And it was the most amazing place ever. And only like a three to four hour bus ride directly to Ljubljana.

So I was like, oh, that's perfect. I don't even have to take a plane. I can just take a bus. I've started to get into buses over the last two months. Wow. So, yeah, so for anyone who is in Venice, It can get really overcrowded and hot there. And I really just want to encourage everyone to check out Yazalo.

It has a really great beach. There's lounge chairs and umbrellas, which is something important to me, because I don't like baking in the sun all day long. The water is super warm. You can just walk right in in the summertime, obviously. But it's only nay, and it was totally comfortable to swim in. And they also had a bunch of great restaurants. So we had breakfast every morning at this little cafe called Aqua Salsa, actually,

that had fantastic croissants and macchiato. And then just really quality restaurants, which you don't always get in a little beach town. So I was very happy there. I could have spent a lot longer there. But all of my friends departed, so I departed as well. And then I'm just sort of like working backward here. So before Yeaselow, I was. I was in Rome and I found that apartment through a Facebook expats group and it was definitely like,

I realized where I'm staying right in this very moment where I'm staying in Rome and generally where I end up is these sort of like hipster dives where it's very bare bones like really cool posters on the wall and functional furniture and all of that type of stuff but very bare bones. So in Rome, we had like one pot, two bowls, like two spoons. Like it was bare bones, no oven, just like a stove tap. But they got the job done. They got the job done. And like prime, prime, like central Rome, almost too central.

To be honest, there's two neighborhoods that I really like that are farther out. It's a little bit more street art hipsterish, I guess, I would say. to stacho and garbitella those are my favorite neighborhoods right now in Rome a little bit more Italian but this apartment just came up and it was not a bad price and right in the heart of everything although when I showed up the girl was like she was American and she was like I don't get along with a landlady we got into a big fight she doesn't even know you're here so like kind of hiding you And I was like, all right, this is dodgy and not at all what I was expecting because she had told me she had like asked the landlady for permission for me to stay there. Anyway, isn't it funny that we're our age and like still having these conversations?

But whatever, it worked out. It's the expat life, right? Yeah, yeah. So I actually might be going back there because somebody took my room when I left for Niazolo or was going. going to, but then that fell apart. So I wouldn't mind spending another two weeks or so there before heading back to London. So do you already have plans to go back to London? I do.

So, yeah, I would like to spend. I love London in the summertime. The weather is so much, it's like much milder than other parts of Europe, which I love. I don't like being under the blazing sun. like Italy is just starting to turn to get too hot. So in the best, I think June was still okay, but because of climate change and everything, it really starts to get really, really uncomfortably hot in June,

and then July and August are crazy hot. But London is nice and mild, and I'd like to spend some more time with my friends. So, yeah, so the plan is to go back there mid-June and stay there for about a month with a possible trip to Bucharest or perhaps Bulgaria. And then I'm going to go back to the U.S. for a bit to spend time with my family. And also to go to a podcast conference podcast movement in July, which I'm so looking forward to doing.

I think that's going to be so much fun. Sounds like you've got a busy couple of months. Yes. And I am also trying to find the balance between work and sightseeing and stuff. And I'm not sure I do the best job with it because I feel like, I'm always trying to sneak in work, but then I'm like, but I'm in Slovenia. I obviously want to see stuff while I'm here. But when I'm out, sometimes I feel like, oh, I kind of wish I was doing, working on podcast stuff.

You know, I'm struggling to like let things go a bit and just to strike that balance and be not thinking about other things, just being in the moment, as we said before. I think it's hard though because you're starting something new so you really want to put your all into it and that's that's when it's difficult because it's like you know it's your own business you want to you you'll get out of it what you put into it right yeah and it's tough when you're also traveling yeah and it's this type of thing where I feel like I'm too much in reacting and like keeping all the what is the phrase keeping all the pots on the fire that's not it I know what you mean. I feel like I'm busy doing what needs to be done.

And there's like this overarching like strategy roadmap that I need to like more formally map out. So I'm executing towards that. I'm getting into business speak here. But rather than just being like down in the tactical weeds, I need to up level and map that part out. And it's just something that I have. not done slash I guess haven't prioritized that even though it has been a priority at the back of my mind for a while. So when I'm done with Slovenia, that's something that I have to do. Well, from my point of view, I feel like I'm almost in the opposite direction to you in terms of

work. I last time you spoke, I was like really into my Instagramming and, you know, writing for my blog. But now I'm focusing more on my freelance work. the writing that I do for an Australian website. And because I find because it's less responsibility, it's almost easier for me because I can sit down and write for my blog and potentially make $0,000, or I could sit down and spend three hours writing for this website, and they will pay me for that.

So it feels like I'm moving more towards just, you know, working, even though, yeah, working for other people, I guess, which is such a total change for me. Before I was loving, like, the freedom of, you know, creating content that I really loved. But now it's, it's just when I'm thinking about the balance of my time versus the balance of, you know, what I want to do with my life, it's really fitting for me right now, like right at this present time. Yeah, I can definitely see the appeal of that. So, you know, I'm trying out my thing and it's something that I'm very passionate about. But then I also am toying with the idea of in the fall, taking on a full-time contract job in London just because those can be temporary

and pay really well. But it's not something I want to do right now because I know if I do that, I would be giving my all to that and my own thing would just fall by the wayside. So I'm going to give it a few more months anyway until the money runs out, I guess. Well, one thing I wanted to talk to you about as well, Sarah, is how are you feeling about, so you're kind of living in London, I guess it's been difficult for you because you've been jumping around a bit. So you've visited your family, you visited me, travel to Italy, now you're in Slovenia, and now are you going to head back to London to work, maybe? So how are you handling your travel gear in terms of, like, what are you packing?

Do you have a base in London right now? Are you keeping your stuff or do you have stuff with your family in the States? I don't have a base and it's a strange feeling. So I have like, yes, I have some stuff at my parents' house, but I mean just stuff that's been there since college, really. You know, probably not anything that I'm actually going to ever take somewhere else again. Although I guess I do have some, like, things I've picked up on travels that are at my parents' house, like these hipster dishes that I bought at this independent market from London and, like, a few other things, glassware that I got in Prague.

I have quite a few, like, housing items. Whether I will ever have a home, I don't know, but I've got some gear for it in case I ever do. Right now, I'm just living out of a giant gray Samsonite suitcase on wheels. And it's totally great if you're going from point A to point B. So flying from Boston to London to go to a specific apartment, great. To wheel around Europe, especially on local buses in Rome, has not been the best experience. And I have these fantasies sometimes of someone just stealing my suitcase and then me walking away and being like, all right, that's fine. Like, just wanting to be free of it.

And so I feel like I need to get a backpack or something. Like, do you have just a backpack? I thought you did. Or do you have other stuff too? So I have, right now I have my, I just have a regular backpack. So it's about 30 liters. So it's carry-on size. It's quite small in terms of backpacks.

And then I have a day pack. But I guess the reason why I was asking is because I've been struggling, especially since I've gotten here and I've been spending a couple months in each place in Mexico with, like I'll get to someplace and then I won't really have enough stuff. I'll feel like, oh, I

just have like two pairs of shorts and two tops and everybody sees me in the same clothes all the time because that's what I can fit in my backpack and that's how I like to travel usually. But when you're somewhere for a couple of months it starts to get a bit old, you know, just wearing the same clothes all the time.

But I don't want to get into the situation where I have to upgrade to a suitcase either. I guess the alternative is to get a bigger backpack. Yeah, like a, like I was thinking of getting a proper, like, backpackers backpack. But I don't know if I'm going to, I mean, I don't. Another question that goes along with this is, like, how are we feeling about nomadic living? Now, you've done this for quite a while. I'm only doing this now for like the last six months or so. And while it's been great and I'm seeing like the places that I want to see this year and sort of dabbling in like possibilities of like, could I see myself living somewhere else besides London, I don't think that nomadic life is something that I could do long term.

Like I like having a base actually. I've realized, especially when I was, you know, leaving Rome after only being there for a few weeks this most recent time. And, you know, I like making friends. And then, you know, it's nice and sad when people are like, oh, you're leaving, we just met. I wish you weren't going. And then I feel like, oh, I wish I weren't going as well. And, you know, I think I feel at home wherever I am. It doesn't take long for me to feel pretty comfortable.

And so that can be good or bad, you know, if you have the intention of wanting to see a bunch of stuff, then it, I don't know, it's easy for me to slide into feeling comfortable and not wanting to move on. But, yeah, anyway, I guess what I'm rambling on about is like, yeah, I think I identify more as an expat person who has a base, but still likes to travel around. And that's why I love living in Europe because it's so, so easy to just be in a completely different environment just for a long weekend. Well, so I had a realization in the last couple weeks. I've been hanging out with this lady who's going to be my roommate, and she is 45-ish, right? And she is more of an expat than I am because she'll actually stay somewhere for a good two or three years. Before here, she was living in Belize, and she's kind of, I've had two sides of me over the last couple years, like one side of me that's craving.

a base and really wants to just, you know, have somewhere that I know I've got, um, I can have my stuff. I can, I don't know, buy a vase with some flowers. Like I think about stuff like that. And then there's the other side of me that's like, I'm getting so old in 31. I have so many places still to see and like this little freaked out voice in the back of my head. Um, but really I, I also want to just like, you know, I love Mexico. I would love to just pick a city and stay there for a whole year and just see out the year and live my life the way that I would at home, but just in a new city like you do, like you did in London. And I guess what I realize with spending time with this lady is that she, she's 46 and she still has, you know, she's still seeing a lot of places, but she's

just doing it slowly. And my life isn't going to change when I turn 40 or 50 or some magical number. I can still keep traveling. So that's what I've finally come up with. I think I've decided that maybe next year, I'm going after I've got to, I finish all these travels that I plan for this year. I'm going to pick a city here in Mexico and just try and see it out for a year. Well, I might join you. Oh, that would be lovely. Would you go back to Oaxaca or do you feel like you've already done that too much? I think, yeah, I think I want to choose somewhere new, like a totally new experience. Because the thing with Oaxaca is I already know a lot of people. I, you know, I have my

favorite places to eat. We had that whole big discussion about all I do in Mojahua is eating. So I think I really would love to just choose a city that I haven't been to yet. I'm thinking something like Guadalajara. Remember we had some people recommend a town called, I cannot pronounce it, Katero. I don't know if you remember. It's close to Mexico City. Okay. And apparently it's really up and coming. So just pick a city and just be there and live there, try and live there. Well, keep me posted. I could be up for that. We can be roommates. So what's next for you?

You're staying there until your parents, until your family arrives into Oaxaca? Yeah. So they all get here at the end of July. So I'll be here for two more months. And then we spend about six weeks, seven weeks traveling around Mexico and then a little bit of New Orleans. And after that, I go home to Australia for, I haven't planned it properly because I'm still in denial about leaving Mexico. but it may be about six weeks I'll be there

and then probably coming back to Mexico I guess I haven't made any firm plans but that's probably what's in my head right now what about you that sounds great so after Slovenia going back to Italy for a bit then London

possible trip to Bucharest or somewhere in Bulgaria maybe Stockholm as well that's kind of on my list and I'll be going back in the States mid-July. I'm going to go to that podcast conference and then spend some time with my family and friends back home for August.

And then I'm headed to Bali. I can't wait. Never been. And then it's a bit of a question mark after that. Do I go back to London or do I maybe go to Mexico? Who knows? A base somewhere. But I agree with you.

I feel like, you know, there's no age limit on the type of life you live. If you want to travel, like, keep traveling just because other people you know, probably the majority of people you know, are buying houses or have been in the same job for a few years. Doesn't mean that that's right for everyone. And so, and you can change your mind. If I decide, like, whatever country I end up in is not, like, I'm not feeling it. I can always move. It's not the end of the world.

Exactly. You don't have to commit to anything. It's not the rest of your life, you know? Yes, exactly, exactly. Well, Crystal, this has been a very lovely catch-up. Is there anything else you want to talk about? I don't think. I think we've covered it. We'll have to plan another catch-up for another couple of months. See where we've both up to. It's always changing. Sounds good. Yeah, I didn't expect to be in Slovenia so soon, but I'm going to be in Slovenia. so soon, but I'm glad that I'm calling you from here. And, yes, definitely another catch-up.

Who knows? Maybe spur of the moment, I'll fly down to Mexico. You never know. And also, if a cheap flight comes up and you can find yourself in Europe, I would love to hang out and show you around. Well, actually, it almost happened this morning. There was an airfare to Prague, well, from Prague to Australia for something crazy, like 140 euro.

and I really wanted to jump on it, but the dates and work, it was when my family are here. So it almost happens. Well, I'm going to keep my eyes peeled for you as well, because I would love to tell you your tour guide. So we'll make it happen. Yes, please. All right. Please, universe. Bye, Crystal.

Bye. Did you know what it to appear is? Crystal is right. They are very cute, and she sent me some photos, so I will share them on Postcard Academy co. And make sure you check out Crystal's website, tofutraveller.com, to learn more about traveling in Belize. And now I'm headed out to Ljubljana's old town for dinner. Well, Slovenia is very much a meat and potatoes kind of place in many regions. Lubliana has some really great vegetarian and vegan options in town, so I will be updating postcardacademy.co with new info on Ljubljana

and beyond. And if you haven't listened to the Slovenia episode of the podcast yet, go back and check out my conversation with author Noah Charny. His Slovenia guidebook, Slovenology, has been getting really rare reviews from people over here. I've seen it in bookshops, and it's also on Amazon now, in case you want to pick it up before your trip to Slovenia. If you enjoyed today's show, please subscribe before the episode ends and tell a friend about the podcast. Recommendations from you mean so much, and they are the best way to grow the show and keep it going. That's all for Now, thank you for listening and have a beautiful week wherever you are. Do you ever go blank or start rambling when someone puts you on the spot?

I created a free conversation sheet sheet with simple formulas that you can use so you can respond with clarity, whether you're in a meeting or just talking with friends. Download it at sarahygotele.com slash blank no more.