The Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast - I’m Living With My Ex-Husband, And It’s Better Than You Could Imagine!

Episode Date: August 20, 2026

Could you imagine living with your ex-husband after 30+ years? Kathy Swarts is connecting with Lynn Large, who’s going viral on TikTok for documenting her journey to becoming roommates with her ex-husband in her Chapter Two! This episode will inspire you to find joy in your second act and show how choosing a non-traditional path can be fulfilling! Email us at: [e-mail] or call us at 844-4-I Do Pod (844-443-6763)Follow I Do, Part 2 on Instagram and TikTokSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed human. Get Bell Pure Fiber Internet with Crave, Netflix, and Disney Plus from $94 a month. Price guaranteed for two years on Internet with a two-year term and auto pay credit. Visit bell.ca for details and to check availability. Bell, connection is everything. I survived nine months in captivity, and I've spent my life exploring how other people survive what should have destroyed them. I'm Elizabeth Smart, and these.

These are the Survivor Files. Every week, I'm with survivors who live through the unthinkable, abducted, stalked, controlled, and nearly silenced. These are stories about what it takes to make it out alive. Listen to The Survivor Files with Elizabeth Smart on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If your bookshelf and your For You page are equally important to your personality, welcome home. Pro Society is a weekly podcast that's part book club, part group chat for anyone who thinks pride and prejudice and love island to serve the same level of discourse. Each week, we're connecting the dots between books, the internet, and pop culture with your favorite writers, book talk creators, and plenty of overthought opinions. I'm obsessed.

I'm obsessed. Listen to Pro Society on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Did you hear the new episode of the Hey Jonas Podcast? We are at D23, so we'll see who stops by. The cast of Frozen stopped by. Kristen Bell, Josh Gad, and Adina Mansell. I auditioned for Frozen. What?

For Christoph. They said, okay, what are you going to be singing today? I said, I don't know. That must have been why you didn't get it. Oh, you probably won't. Plus, John Stamos, Hayden Christensen from Star Wars and more. And I guess I can share that... No way.

Listen to the latest episode of Hey Jonas on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, I do part two. Celebrity mentor, Kathy Schwartz, and today I get to connect with a real-life single gal in her Chapter 2 era, who is going viral on TikTok for sharing her nomadic life choices and recently moving back in with her ex-husband from 32 years ago. I can't wait to hear more about her inspiring story. Please welcome Lynn to the pod. Hi, Lynn. Hi, how are you?

I'm great. How are you doing? I'm awesome. It's great to meet you. And we're just, I've got so much I want to talk to you about. Great. So this is I do part two. But before we can get into chapter two, we've got to start with your chapter one. So tell us all a little bit about your first marriage, how old you were at the time, all that. Oh, that's great. Well, I was in my early 20s and I was, I think, about 24, 23, 24. And I was living in L.A. and it was the early 90s and so much fun. So I had grown up, I was a dancer for most of my life.

And so I had been in Europe for a two-year stint. And after that, I was like, I just can't go back to Memphis, Tennessee. So one of my girlfriends, ironically, I'm in her house right now in San Diego visiting her. But she had a dance squad of sorts called the All-American Girls, and we performed for corporate events. So she said, come join my team. And so I did. And we were owned by the World Basketball League. And then they folded.

And so the team folded. And so I was at a crossroads. I was like, what am I going to do? Do I want to go back to Memphis or make it work in California? So, you know, I did what most of us did back then. I got a cocktail waiters job, you know. Good tips. It used to be for sure, right?

I mean, you could go anywhere in America and really make a good living doing that. And so there was a brand new nightclub opening up in Beverly Hills called Tatoo, T-A-T-O-U, and they had outposts in New York and also Aspen. And so I went there and I got a job there as a cocktail waitress. And it was there that I met Rick. He was the bartender. And that was, you know, because it was the early 90s, I mean, there was a lot of partying going on. It was just a great time, so much fun. It was kind of the OJ Simpson era and all of that, Nicole Brown Simpson.

So Rick and I were off that night, or we had worked, and then it was kind of after our shift. And so we were sitting in one of the booths. They had these rounded booths, you know, so glamorous. And so we're sitting in one of the booths. And he leans over to me and says, let's go get married. And we had been dating, you know, we had been dating. You know, we had been dating for a while, months. I mean, months, right?

Now, how old are you at the time, Lynn? How old were you? You know, I'm around 23, 24 years old. Okay, okay. Which I have a daughter right now that's 24 years old living here. So it's all just so surreal the whole thing. Yeah. And so we're the same age.

He's actually a few months younger than me. And so, okay, so we, so he says, let's get married. And so we had been dating for a while and we were just, we were so deeply, madly in love. I mean, we were just, he carried me wherever we went, you know. I mean, we were just all over each other all the time. It sounds idyllic, Lynn. It sounds idyllic. Right, right? What could go wrong? What could possibly go wrong? You're going to tell me. So anyway, so we leave and we go, we find this woman in the middle of the night that's willing to marry us. We like rouse her out of her out of bed. And so she's got her robe on. And I think she puts a bagel

in the toaster oven and she's eating her bagel and you know we're sitting down and you know she marries us okay and we keep working at the bar and we're just having a blast we're having so much fun and you know on and on it goes and we're still partying you know and which means drinking and drugging you know a little snorting a little of this and drinking a lot of that and and and I, it was working for me, you know, it was just really fun. And we both were having a great time. And then there was something that happened where there was a time when I had gone to Las Vegas with a friend. And it was during that trip that I realized that I had a problem that I couldn't stop.

And it scared me. And I went back home to Rivick and I said, you know, I think I have a problem. And we're kids. I mean, you know, and he says, don't worry. We just won't do it. it anymore. And I was like, oh, thank goodness. I'm so relieved and, you know, it's just going to dust it under the rug and it just won't be any problem. Well, a couple nights later, I called him. He's at the bar and he's partying. He's having fun, you know, and what that did for me, Rick didn't do anything

wrong, but what happened for me, because this is my story, is that I internalized that I was alone and that I didn't know. I just didn't have the tools. I didn't have the skills. I was just a young girl and I didn't really know at the time that I could just ask somebody else. I could have called my mom. You know, I could have said to anybody, but I did it. I really didn't know it. And so what happened instead is that I continued to use and the shame spiral started. And so that's a very real thing in addiction, you know, so you have the shame spiral and then the only thing that relieves that is yet another drink or drug. And then it just kind of starts the whole thing over and over. And so I was lying to Rick and hiding from him. And he trusted me so much because we did.

I mean, we were just like that. And I would just lie just to stay out, just to keep using, you know, and he'd be at home and bed. And he's like, are you coming home? Like, you know, And so eventually over months, you know, I eventually just stopped coming home. And my family, you know, my family was trying to find me and get involved and all of that. But fast forward all of that to say that we were married for, that was about eight months into the marriage where I stopped coming home. And so we actually got an annulment and he made all that happen. And I was glad to be rid of the marriage. It was terrible.

I just became kind of dead inside and just wanted to use. And then I hit bottom and my dad came out and got me. And I went to treatment for, you know, a long time for a year, actually. And today I've been sober 28 years. And. Right. Wow. Yeah.

Oh, it's amazing. It's the greatest thing. It's one of the best things that's ever happened to me. And so it's part of like who I am. I love sharing my story because it's one of hope and it's possible. And, you know, if it can happen for me, it can happen for anybody. And yeah. Wow.

So there's all that. You know, the, the, I did end up marrying somebody else. And, you know, so did Rick. Well, wait a minute. I want to, before you got into that, did when you, um, and Rick, when you had the marriage and dull, did you guys keep in contact at all or did it was just a hard out? Yeah. So, well, so because I was still.

a sick, because I was a sick person, he was not. He was doing his own, I can't speak for him, but because he was doing his own work and his own healing and his own way, it took me from the time that Rick and I got at the annulment, it still took me a few years to get clean. Got it. So I was like in and out of rehabs. So for me, I was totally checked out. So I couldn't keep in touch with him because I was still sick. Yeah. So when I, so Rick, had to do his own healing without me, so to speak. Do you know what I mean? I think we all have to do our own healing, don't you? Ultimately, yes. But to answer just in the moment, we didn't stay in touch. So he, yeah, so he did what he did. And then I kept kind of using and in and out and all of that.

And then once I worked the steps of AA and I got to the amends part, you know, I made my amends with Rick. And I'm very familiar with AA, so I understand what that. is the 12-step program. So after how much later you did get married a second time, tell us a little bit about that, how long it lasted, kids, all of that. Yeah, yeah. So I got married probably a year outside of when I stayed in the rehab for a year. And then I was married within a year after that.

So I was 31 years old when I got married. And I spent my 30th birthday. So I was probably 32, actually, when I got married. And we, maybe even 33. It's funny, you know, I don't think about the dates. But I had my first daughter when I was 34 and my second when I was 39. And so I got pregnant on my honeymoon with my second husband. So that was probably 33, right?

Wow. Yeah. And so, yeah. So we were married for seven, eight years. We were married for eight years. And I have now not been married for 18 years. So just to kind of fast fact. So yes, I have two amazing, gorgeous daughters who have never seen their mom

higher drunk or anything. I've always been so worried. I know. It's amazing. Breaking the cycle. Yeah, you're breaking the cycle. You're smile. I mean, you have the energy.

I'm curious, though, the first marriage, no kids and annulled. The second marriage, two daughters. When did you start feeling? So that complicates things, right? When did you start feeling that things weren't working out? in that marriage? You know, if I'm really honest, which I am, I had concerns from the beginning, you know, I was right out of rehab.

I did not know who I was. I had so much going on, you know, and I was frightened, you know. I was a really frightened person. I had burned all my bridges. I had, you know, was, again, fresh out of rehab and, like, really didn't know what to do with myself. and my second husband, you know, his name's Steve, and he is very white night, you know, I mean, he is the quintessential white night.

Yeah. And so I just freaking fell like hook, line and sinker. I mean, he was wanted to save me and I was like, well, I obviously need to be saved. But I did have, you know, I have a really close relationship with the God of my understanding. And so I did have this sort of background, like you, it's your choice. Yeah. But, you know, maybe, you know. So was the, if you will, was the hurdle realizing that you sort of had to find out who you were in that marriage that you felt like, as you say, he was the white night, he rescued you.

Did you begin to feel I don't need rescuing? That's exactly what happened. So I had such a kick-ass program in recovery. I mean, and I just, I really got to work on. on myself. I mean, I really set to becoming a whole person and had a great sponsor and I worked the step. I did everything she told me to do. I took every, every suggestion. I was going to say, I wanted it so badly. You are a walking, talking advertisement for AA 12. I'm just going to say, I'm very familiar with the program and you have definitely worked it for sure. I have worked it.

Okay. So now you, you, you, you, you've been single 18 years. You, you decided to start living this nomad, you know, kind of life after your second divorce. I'm so curious because I was married almost 46 years. So this, I find this fascinating. Why did you choose that path? And then, you know, why did you choose that path rather than staying where you were in rebuilding your life in the same area that you'd been in? Yeah. Well, so I haven't been married for 18 years. So I've been single rebuilding my life in Sarasota all this time, right? Up until two and a half years ago. So what I did is when I left the marriage, I moved into a house with my daughters and we were sharing custody. And I had been a stay-at-home mom.

So I was like, what am I going to do, you know, to like support myself? And I, you know, as a dancer for many years, I know about nutrition. I've got a farmer's market mom. I'm a farmer's market girl. You know, grew up in the South. I know all about it. I know about the benefits of food as medicine, all of that. And so I, when I left the marriage with my second with Steve, I, um, I started getting depressed.

And, you know, I didn't want to take, because of my recovery, I did not want to take an antidepressant, but I ended up taking one because I was started snapping at my girls. And I was, I was noticing myself like my, my restless, irritable and discontent was like cropping up. And it, that scared me. And so I did take an antidepressant for maybe a year or something. so, but within that time, I don't remember which came first, but I decided to do a juice cleanse for myself. And nobody in my town was doing them. So I put together this, this raw food and juice cleanse, and I did it for five days. And I just, it really just reset me in a way that,

yeah, just everything, you know, really just reset me. And so I started carrying my little juice around. And, you know, this was, I was maybe 42 or something like that. I was carrying my juice around and people were saying, you know, where did you get that? What are you doing? And do it for me, do it for me. And so I started taking groups of 10 people at a time and doing it out of my house and doing this food and juice cleanse. And so one of my neighbors came over and I was like, I don't know what I'm going to do for work.

You know, I'm just, what am I going to do? I'd been working at this deli part time. and I just couldn't figure it out because I wanted to be home with my girls. So that's why I was trying to make it work. That was my value, right? Yeah. And so, because obviously it could just go get a corporate job, but I didn't want to do that. Well, especially what you'd been through.

I think you realized the importance of family and raising your kids. I mean, clearly. 100%. And it was just a decision I made. It was like, I want to do it this way. And I'm still like that. I think I'm just wired that way, too, you know? And they were little.

I mean, they were two and seven. They were babies. Which, can I just say as what you had been through and then to start racing a two-year-old and a seven-year-old on your own is just, it's admirable. I mean, that's the least of it is how admirable. Oh, well, thanks. Get Bell, Pure Fiber Internet with Crave, Netflix, and Disney Plus

from $94 a month. Price guaranteed for two years on Internet with a two-year term and auto pay credit. Visit bell.com for details and to check availability. Bell. Connection is everything. When I was 14 years old, I was kidnapped and held captive for nine months. I survived, and I've spent my life exploring how other people survive what should have destroyed them. I'm Elizabeth Smart, and these are the Survivor Files.

I just remember this low, taunting voice next to my ear saying, shut up, don't say anything. Every week, I'm with survivors who live through the unthinker. I knew if he woke up, without a doubt, he was going to hurt me. I started feeling that there was someone at the end of my bed, and I just started screaming. They are abducted, stalked, controlled, and nearly silenced. But these aren't stories about what's taken from them. There's stories about what it takes to make it out alive. Listen to the Survivor Files with Elizabeth Smart on the IHeart Radio app Apple Podcast.

or wherever you get your podcasts. If your bookshelf and your for-you page are equally important to your personality, welcome home. This is Prose Society, the weekly podcast that's part book club, part group chat for thought daughters, pop culture obsessives, and anyone who thinks Pride and Prejudice and Love Island

deserve the same level of discourse. I'm Eli Rallo, and every week we're connecting the dots between books, the internet, and the conversations everyone can't stop having. I'm going to have to look up this story. I'm obsessed. From bestselling authors and your favorite book talk creators to the latest pop culture moments, nothing is off the table.

It's like if you can hide some real messages inside compelling characters, then that is a Trojan horse. Whether you're looking for literary deep dives, smart pop culture conversations, or a community of readers who love to think a little too much, you're in the right place. Listen to pro society on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

Podcasts. See you between the pages. On the new podcast Solita, we share the messy reality of traveling alone as a woman. I can wait four hours for the next bus or this random dude is offering me a ride on his motorcycle. I chose option B. I'm Julie Pinero and I travel by myself because it's a rare space where I can say yes without asking anyone else first. I'm on a mission to reclaim the word Solita, trading the pity for possibility. Every time I tried to be alone, I kept meeting people, and they were like, you smiled at us. Not a lot of people smile around here.

It's when you're alone that you're most receptive to the world as it is and not the lies you're sold about it. It can be a time where you push your limits, change your mind, or wake up to a new version of yourself. So whether you're a solo travel veteran or you're too nervous to book your first trip, I hope you listen to Solita on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you're you get your podcasts. Okay, so let's fast forward to now. You started sharing your nomadic lifestyle on TikTok, which got my attention. What has a response been from other single women?

Let's start there. You know what's so about the nomadic stuff? Well, I mean, you recently really, okay, did we all know this back to California? You're now roommates with your first ex-husband from 32 years ago. You're sharing it all on TikTok. And as I just said, it's getting a lot of attention. Yes. How did that idea to live together again come to fruition?

Yeah, that's a great question. I mean, you know, it's a lot. It's a long life to like, you know, cram into a cute little podcast, right? And so I'm like, how? I mean, you know, we want to wrap it up a little bit. But it's like it's been a journey. And so basically, let's see.

So the nomadic thing happened when both of my girls left. home. They said, we don't want to be in Sarasota anymore. Essentially, I mean, this is just a very short, hard and fast conversation. But essentially, both my girls did not want to stay in Sarasota. My oldest daughter moved to California. And the day she moved to California, my McKenzie and I dropped, dropped her off at the airport. We came back to the house and we looked at each other and we were like, this ain't it. We don't want to be here without her. You know, we just, it just, it just, It was really hard. So then, so basically what happened is I had this business for 12 years.

I had a cold press juice company is where I was leading to. I'm sorry, yes. It's okay. I had that for 12 years and I literally carried that thing on my back. It was my identity. It was my whole life. But I was able to stay at home with the girls. They became part of my business.

I had a food truck for seven years. I had a brick and mortar for three years. But essentially why I came to the nomadic lifestyle is, that after COVID, once COVID happened, I, you know, it became harder and harder to sustain my company for various reasons from, but we don't have to get into. But suffice it to say, I was just like, this is just not working anymore. I just don't want to do this anymore. I mean, my feet started hurting my body. This is important. This is, this is what I'm going to say right now is important. My body started giving me cues. Like, hey, sis, hey.

I don't know what you're doing, but we're not going with you. So you're going to need to do something different or we're going to break down completely. And so it was kind of a whisper. It was kind of a, you know, and then it started getting like, it started with my feet. So my feet, because I was standing for 12. I tell people, I stood for 12 years, basically, you know, literally. Yeah. You know, and it just, you can't do that and not have consequences in your body.

Yeah. Well, and I will say. Yeah. I think a lot of people don't listen to their bodies. Yeah, the body speaks first, right? Well, the ego speaks first. But, you know, the body doesn't lie. That's what I meant to say.

You're right. And yeah, so the body doesn't lie. So I started, you know, listening. And I have a coach. I've had a coach for 18 years since I was going through my divorce with, you know, their dad. And so we just started working this, you know, like, what am I going to do? What are my options? You know, this is my livelihood.

This is my identity. This is my whole life. This is how I've raised my daughters. This is where I am. I pay for everything this way. You know, I don't want to go work for somebody else. What can pay me enough? Where do I, I don't even want, if I did something else, I wouldn't even want to be in Sarasota.

So it was just listening, journaling, my coach, talking about it, telling the truth. You know, the number one tool is, you know, go. to observation, like what's happening. Tell the truth about it. Write it down. Tell your trusted friend, your trusted coach, you know. And so I really went to work on this. And I have the skills because of my recovery and my history and all of these things. So they've just expanded over the years and deepened in different ways. And so that's kind of what I did in a nutshell with my coach. And there were very specific steps I did. But essentially I got to the place where I was like, I will walk out the door of this company and leave the key behind.

Like, I'm not attached. I don't care. Something's got to change. And then I met my friend Peter quickly. He was a nomad. And so I was like, I want to do what you're doing. And so I saw it in somebody else. And this is the way life is, right?

Yeah. That's why you and I are on this podcast. Yes. And I will say that's not coincidental that, you know, this all came to be with Peter, I would say. I would definitely say that as well. And so I said to him, how do I do what you're doing? And he said, well, the first thing you got to do is eliminate your your fixed expenses. And I just sat back and I was like, I mean, I was just trying to keep the lights on.

I mean, I didn't have some P&L with like, oh, well, let me just go to my book, my accountant. And, you know, it wasn't that. It was like fixed expenses. What's it, you know, what's a fixed expense kind of thing? You know, really, like what are my fixed expenses? and I started going through them in my head. But essentially, I got rid of my fixed expenses. It took me about a year and a half to three years.

The timing's a little shady for me. So you get rid of fixed expenses. I mean, obviously. My business? Apartment, apartments, business. Yeah, employees. Everything. Yeah.

Even like my cell phone bill, it was like, okay, well, I have a cell phone bill. That's a fixed expense, but I have to have a cell phone bill. But I spent two days getting my phone bill. getting my phone bill down to $25 a month. Like, that's a thing now. You can get unlimited. Did you know that? No, but I want to hear about it.

I know. I'll tell you, Lynn, I got to tell you, you're talking me into becoming a nomad, so keep talking. I know, I know. So essentially, I got my fixed expenses down to just a few hundred dollars a month. And now they are just, I'm into AI and workflows and marketing, and I love helping businesses and all that stuff. So I have my membership, you know, my subscriptions to Claude and, you know, chat,

UBT and all that kind of stuff. And that's probably the bulk of it. My car insurance is $100 a month. I kept my car, which is paid for. I shipped it out to California and it's here with me now, which is so fun. And so, yeah, my car insurance is my biggest expense. I'm trying to figure out how to get rid of that. But I'm like, what state do you not have to have car insurance?

Yeah, I'm saying you're thinking, as you're talking, I'm thinking, I got to pay this. Oh, I forgot to pay my electric bill. I mean, I'm literally listening to you going, wow. So, okay, so you are now, well, right now you're in San Diego, but you are, how is it working? Can you tell me a little bit about how it's going with living with your ex-husband? Because for listeners who might say, you know, is she going backward in time? Is she trying to renew a relationship?

Does all those questions? Yeah. Yeah. So you had asked me kind of how it came to be that Rick and I even got. to this place. And so I would say that once my daughter moved here, you know, I wanted to come visit a bunch, right? So I would come out. I would stay with friends. I would stay with my daughter. Well, that's not really working out right now. She doesn't have enough room. So I called Rick. And I said, hey, you know, I'm coming into town. Are you around? And he said, you know, actually,

I'm going to be gone. It was my birthday this year in March. And he said, you, you know, you're going to You can stay in the apartment. And I was like, oh my gosh, I'm going to stay in the marital apartment. Like by myself, this is so cool. So really March of this year was the first time that I stayed there. I had stayed before, but we don't need to go into that. So anyway, I stayed there by myself. My best friend flew out.

I have some girlfriends here. Part of why I'm here right now is I was a Pompom Girl in college. So we're having a Pompom Pong Reunion. in so all my pom-pom girlfriends came and we had this party in my old apart it was like just so surreal so surreal yeah so i went some i i left because i'm nomadic i went to maui to help a friend i'm doing a lot of that kind of stuff so i went to help a friend i was coming back through ring ring now i got rick right i'm like ooh he let me stay there last time maybe you'll let me say again you know just asking And he said, well, I'm going to be here, but you can stay, you know.

And I thought, oh, my gosh, I'm going to actually stay with Rick in the apartment. This is so weird. You know, and of course, naturally, my brain is flooded with, are we going to kiss? Am I going to be attracted to him? Is it going to be weird? Am I going to, I mean, what's going to happen? You know, because I'm a female. I'm a girl.

I'm a human. It's just the human experience. Yeah, exactly. And so he graciously let me stay in the second. bedroom and it was so much fun. It was just so much fun. It was just friends. It was natural. It was so much fun. I told him, make a list. You know, I'm like a helper person. Like I know technology. I can do all these things. He was like, okay. So we organized some of his closet. I helped him with this remote controls. You know, we just did this whole little fun exchange, right? Wow. And then when I set to leave,

Now, this is where it kind of weaves because I had set in my mind that I wanted in my nomad life, that I wanted to spend a year in California. And I had a vision of I want to go up and down the coast and see my pom-pong girlfriends, see my daughter as much as possible, and frankly, just be back in California. I love it here. I mean, why wouldn't you love being in California? Why wouldn't I love being in California? Other than the terrible weather they have.

I know. It's awful. And so, um, so when I, when I went to leave, when it was the day for me to leave, Rick invited me to come back and just said, you know, would you like to come back? And I said, I thought you'd never ask, you know? And he said, do you want some drawer? You want to keep some of your stuff here? And you know, I just, there's two little tiny drawers and I just put a sweater and some shoes in there, you know, just like, you know, just like a tiny little token. of, I don't know what this is. Well, I would, yeah, kind of planting a, just planting a piece of stability, a tiny piece of stability.

Thank you. Yes. So I did that. I went back home and then I kind of got my deal together and just to ship my car and closed down. My sister, I've been staying at my sisters in Sarasota. That has been my, we're really just talking about a home base is the language as a nomad. Okay.

So ideally you have a home base. And so my sisters was my home base. So I shut that all down. And got my car ready and my clothes and all that. And then I, I, you know, came back to California. I guess I've been here three weeks now. And so, so what happened is I've had no traction on TikTok. I've been posting since I had my juice company.

And just, you know, having fun, like nothing. And then one day on the beach, I just said, it's like 19 days until I relocate to California where I'll be living out my next chapter, you know, staying with my, rooming with my ex-husband from 32 years ago in our marital apartment. And like I woke up to just, I guess they call it going viral, you know. And I was like, that is wild to me. You know, it just was so shocking. Well, here's the thing, Lynn. Yeah. To you maybe, but to those of us who are planted firmly, you know, terra firma for years and years, the idea of initiating a nomadic life, A, and then B, moving into, as you said, the marital apartment with your ex-husband of, I mean,

that's not something that, you know, we read every day. It's not something that people do. You know, people are afraid to get out of marriages, never mind, you know, they stick with what they know. And here you are, just a burgeoning life of freedom and with, apparently, your ex-husband of 32 years. So it's a little interesting. It is. Well, thank you for, you know, and I, you know, because of the way I see the world, I look at, I'm just, I'm just look, I read every comment, you know, and I know that we're all mirrors for each other. Yes. Right. I'm a mirror for everybody watching and commenting and listening and

looking and interested. It's not even about me. It's about, it's about that, you know. And so I, my hunch, and I love, I love hearing from you about kind of the other side, because, I'm so curious, you know. And so I'm thinking, wow, this is really, people are really longing or there's something there for, is it, is it the love piece? Is it the freedom piece? Is it that I'm happy piece? Is it all of it?

Well, I think it's all of that. I think people would be curious, you know, you've been married twice. Do you believe in love? Do you believe in marriage? Do you believe you're going to have another relationship? I think those go along with the. decisions you paid. Yeah. I was like, I wonder what she's going to ask me. And I had a feeling you might you might ask that. And so I was just kind of thinking about it walking around the house here.

And, you know, the truth is, is I absolutely believe in marriage. I absolutely believe in love. I absolutely would, it would be so super fun to have someone to live life with and, and, and create a life with at 58 years old. And, you know, I would. say, you know, I try to choose my words, but I mean, I'm not actively looking. Yeah. I just, but I'm open. My heart is open. I am able to give and receive love.

I have found other ways to give and receive love and receive human touch, which I think is something that is not talked about, but just needing, you know, hugs and touch and, you know, that sort of thing, right? Yeah, I agree. And finding healthy ways to get that. outside of a love relationship or a traditional. Traditional. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. I latch on to my kid. So I think that's just part of it. I mean, yeah, that's part of it. So many elements,

obviously you have an entrepreneurial mind. Yes. You've created this life for yourself that is amazing. And people are voyeurs. They want to know, wow, what is she doing? So when you put something like that on TikTok,

of course it's going to generate questions and comments. And so I think, that's where the interest lies. I, again, my life, I was married at 20. My husband died when I was 65. So I was, you know, very different story, right? But so many things you're saying I agree with. Now I'm building a life for myself.

It just looks different than how you're building your life. Yes. But all those things, physical touch and experiences and meeting people and trying new things because we only go around this world once. I think most people, if they're not experiencing, that want to feel that and you're sort of a model, you're representing what it could look like. Love that. Yeah. Thank you for that. Yeah, that's great. That's great. Get Bell, Pure Fiber Internet with Crave, Netflix, and Disney Plus from $94 a month.

Price guaranteed for two years on internet with a two-year term and auto pay credit. Visit bell.ca for details and to check availability. Bell, connection is everything. When I was 14 years old, I was kidnapped and held captive for nine months. I survived, and I've spent my life exploring how other people survive what should have destroyed them. I'm Elizabeth Smart, and these are the Survivor Files. I just remember this low, taunting voice next to my ear saying, shut up, don't say anything. Every week, I'm with survivors who live through the unthinkable. I knew if he woke up, without a doubt, he was going to hurt me.

I started feeling that there was someone at the end of my bed, and I just started screaming. They are abducted, stalked, controlled, and nearly silenced. But these aren't stories about what's taken from them. There's stories about what it takes to make it out alive. Listen to the Survivor Files with Elizabeth Smart on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts. If your bookshelf and your for-you page are equally important to your personality, welcome home.

This is Prose Society, the weekly podcast that's part book club, part group chat for thought daughters, pop culture obsessives, and anyone who thinks pride and prejudice and love island deserve the same level of discourse. I'm Eli Rallo, and every week we're connecting the dots between books, the internet, and the conversations everyone can't stop having. I'm going to have to look up this story. I'm obsessed. I'm obsessed. From bestselling authors and your favorite book talk creators to the latest pop culture moments, nothing is off the table.

It's like if you can hide some real messages inside compelling characters, then that is a Trojan horse. Whether you're looking for literary deep dives, smart pop culture conversations, or a community of readers who love to think a little too much, you're in the right place. Listen to pro society on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. See you between the pages. On the new podcast Solita, we share the messy reality of traveling alone as a woman. I can wait four hours for the next bus or this random dude is offering me a ride on his motorcycle. I chose option B. I'm Julie Pinero and I travel by myself because it's a rare space where I can say yes without asking anyone else first. I'm on a mission to reclaim the word Solita, trading the pity for possibility.

Every time I tried to be alone, I kept meeting people, and they were like, you smiled at us. Not a lot of people smile around here. It's when you're alone that you're most receptive to the world as it is and not the lies you're sold about it. It can be a time where you push your limits, change your mind, or wake up to a new version of yourself. So whether you're a solo travel veteran or you're too nervous to book your first trip, I hope you listen to Solita on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you're you get your podcasts. For people who are listening right now who are divorced on their own, whatever, and they feel weighed down by that experience. I don't have that experience of divorce,

but those people who are feeling, you know, weighed down by that experience, what advice would you give them to help them lift themselves, you know, out of the sadness? Well, one tool that I have that immediately comes to mind is one that I've been practicing, ironically for the last three years when I'm not really down. But it's, I wish I had known it when I was down, right? So, and it's this notion of, of being with yourself while you're there. And what that, that, that's respecting yourself. So respecting yourself by being with yourself in that moment and giving a shit about yourself.

Yeah. To the point of where you, you're with yourself in it. You write it down. You make it important. You make it important. You write it down. You talk about it. You stay with it. And there's something about that that helps it go faster, you know, get through it faster. You know, somebody said once a feeling's job is to be felt, and once it's felt, it moves on. Right. But and then just staying the course, you know, like staying the course, you know, knowing what your values are. I mean, values are so critical because, my values shape my future decisions, you know, and so we don't want to make the same mistakes and that sort of thing. I think one thing, you're, I, I hate the word because it's so overused now, but practicing gratitude. Gratitude, huge. Yeah. For me, it's huge. But the other thing, and I thought you were going there, for me, after my husband died, I had to learn, as you just said, to be with myself. Yes. And, but the other thing was loving my husband.

myself and being better than okay with who I am. And I think you have found that. That's how it seems to me. I think so many of us and so many people out there particularly going through divorce are struggling with self. I would say 100%. And I get that. And when you said earlier, you know, people can't even imagine leaving marriages, you know, and that just went right to my heart because I see that so much. Fear, fear. Yeah. And listen, there's pros and cons with both. My best friend she's married forever. And I'm like, yeah, that's a tick in your column, you know. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. Yeah. Yeah. Well, it is for now. It, you know, it appears, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that's very, it's just, there are different paths. And again, I think your path is just

so interesting that you've committed to this life at least for a year, maybe longer. Talking just a little bit more about divorce. You know, I have a lot of friends who are divorce, we all do. And we hear, at least I hear, people talking a lot about what they've lost in a, you know, we lose in a divorce. What have you gained from your divorces? Oh, wow. I thought you were going to say, what have you lost? Because I was like, oh, I could go there. Well, go both. Go, give me both answers. You know, listen, you know, my tagline on TikTok is we live the life we focus on. So I was just sharing with a girlfriend yesterday. I told her I was going to be doing this podcast with you. And I said, you know, I mean, things are not, you know, social media is a highlight real.

We all know this, right? Yeah. But I choose. I actively choose the gratitude posture, right? Yeah. Service posture. The, you know, serving others is like, I mean, it's so not sexy. It's just not sexy at all.

It's not like not going to get followers or anything like that. But literally being of maximum service to others is like the key to life. I mean, I just, so there's that side note. But so yeah, I mean, I would say that one of the not so sexy, fun, great things about being nomadic potentially is there's, you have to be okay with a lot of uncertainty. Yeah. You know, a lot of uncertainty. Yeah. And, you know, be prepared to, you know, pivot at any given moment, you know, and not, I don't, I don't have a certain amount of income coming in.

like I'm relying on gigs and collaborations and side hustles. But that's by design. I want it that way. But it does take courage, Lynn. And as women, in this old patriarchal society we're in, we've been trained not to do that, to plant our feet firmly and dig roots. So again, I think. So you did share this beautiful video about how at 58, you're feeling so happy.

you're feeling so happy from the inside out and for people 50 plus to not think that their best years are behind them. This struck me because I'm 73 and I do not believe my best. Thank you. I do not, as are you, I do not believe my best years are behind me at all. But what things today at this moment bring you happiness? I mean, you've touched on a few, but I just want to make sure we're covering all the bases there. Yeah, what things make me happy, make me feel happy. in this, yeah, right now in your life. Yeah. Being with my, being with people I love. Being with people I love,

I was so isolated in my marriage, in my marriage, my second marriage and my business, it really isolated me. And so that's the nomadic thing. I'm staying with people. That's the choice I've made because I don't want to be by myself. And that goes into the marriage thing, future love and all of that. Because I don't have a life partner. I'm creating it in other ways. I'm fine. and getting my needs met through friendships. And I have men in my life that, you know, I can get a hug from or whatever, right? Or whatever else you want. Or whatever.

All you got to do is ask. That's right. Sometimes you don't even have to do that. It's just a look. Sometimes it's just a look. I mean, we say sometimes we say men are big, dumb animals. No, but they can read an eye. Yes, they can.

Yes, they can. Yes. So being with my daughters, animals, nature, you know, laughing, TikTok. I'm freaking love TikTok. I mean, it's like, it makes me laugh. I mean, those scaring videos where they scare people. I mean, I'm just like sending them to my sister, you know, I mean, I'm a juvenile in a lot of ways. I don't think that at all. I think you're someone who is in touch with your life and is building the best life that you possibly can. And I think you're, I think you are a model for people to look at to see how they could restructure their life if they're in a rut or, they're unhappy or they're divorced. I mean, could go on and on. So I am, I, I, I've thoroughly enjoyed this.

And, and, um, thank you. You're amazing. You can follow along with Lynn's journey on TikTok at Lynn at large. Yep, my last name is large, just for the record. So that's kind of fun. Well, that was just, that was, that was, that was a lucky happenstance, wasn't it? Yes, it was. That's my favorite thing I got back after my marriage.

after my second marriage is I went back and reclaimed my maiden name. So I just got that back a couple years ago. And it's like my favorite thing I've done so far. It's just another point of strength for you as far as I'm concerned. Thank you. It's an honor to be with you. Well, thank you. I appreciate it.

And are you trying to navigate your chapter two and need some advice? Send us an email or leave us a voicemail. All the info is in the show notes and follow us on socials. I do part two. An I Heart podcast where falling in love is the main objective. I survived nine months in captivity, and I've spent my life exploring how other people survive what should have destroyed them. I'm Elizabeth Smart, and these are the Survivor Files. Every week, I'm with survivors who live through the unthinkable, abducted, stalked, controlled, and nearly silenced.

These are stories about what it takes. to make it out alive. Listen to the Survivor Files with Elizabeth Smart on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If your bookshelf and your for-you page are equally important to your personality, welcome home.

Pro Society is a weekly podcast that's part book club, part group chat for anyone who thinks Pride and Prejudice and Love Island deserve the same level of discourse. Each week, we're connecting the dots between books, the internet, and pop culture. With your favorite writers, book talk creators, and plenty of overthought opinions.

I'm obsessed. I'm obsessed. Listen to Pro Society on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Did you hear the new episode of the Hey Jonas Podcast? We are at D23. So we'll see who stops by. The cast of Frozen stopped by.

Kristen Bell, Josh Gad, and Adina Mansell. I audition for Frozen. What? For Christoph. They said, okay, what are you going to be singing today? I said, I don't know. That must have been why you didn't get it. That's probably one.

Plus, John Stamos, Hayden Christians, from Star Wars and more. And I guess I can share that... No way. Listen to the latest episode of Hey Jonas and the Iheart radio app. Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast. On the new podcast, Solita,

we share the messy reality of traveling alone as a woman. I can wait four hours for the next bus or this random dude is offering me a ride on his motorcycle. I chose option B. I'm Julie Pinero and I travel by myself because it's a rare space where I can say yes without asking anyone else first. I'm on a mission to reclaim the word Solita,

trading the pity for possibility. Listen to Solita on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.