The Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast - Scaling Mountains with Jason Tartick, Caelynn Miller-Keyes, Annaliese Puccini and Trista & Ryan Sutter

Episode Date: August 10, 2022

Ben and Ashley are in Lake Tahoe and hanging out with some of our Bachelor Nation favorites! Jason Tartick, Caelynn Miller-Keyes, Annaliese Puccini and Trista Sutter open up about how their life journeys have evolved since being on The Bachelor. Caelynn shares how Dean has pushed her to try new things (and she’s pushed him to shower more), Annaliese tells us about #TentLife, and Jason drops some truth about embracing unexpected moments that could evolve your journey, like going on a reality dating show. Thanks to Hyundai, we’re all Evolving our Journey! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Hi, my name is Enya Eumanzor. And I'm Drew Phillips. And we run a podcast called Emergency Intercom. If you're a crime junkie and you love crimes, we're not the podcast for you. But if you have unmedicated ADHD... Oh my God, perfect. And want to hear people with mental illness, psychobabble.

Yes, yes. Then Emergency Intercom is the podcast for you. Open your... free iHeartRadio app search emergency intercom and listen now this is the ben and ashley i almost famous podcast with iheart radio hello and welcome to another podcast live from tahoe we are here thanks to hunday um we're hanging out a whole bunch of us bachelor people together in like tahoe for the first time in like two and a half years at our producer um amy sugarman's humble abode pretty much not really at Amy's house but you know what I mean we're around we're around her house this is

this is why we come to Tahoe because this is where Amy's from um so guys we're all we're talking about evolving your journey because that is what Hyundai stands for let's go around and talk about like not not we won't do a Ben way Ben Ben will do Benway okay Ben Ben Ben Ben oh by the way guys Ben's at the top of a mountain right now he's stranded at the top of a mountain we took a tram all the way up. I've never been on anything like that as far as like going skiing because I've only got skiing once on Bachelor Winter Games. So you diehards out there.

You know how it went. I never tempted afterward. And that hill wasn't very high. We went out of this huge tram today. Y'all here. Okay, wait, hold. I'll tell you who I'm with here. This is super casual.

I'm with Annalise, Kaelin, Jason Tartick. He's joining me for my first almost a day's podcast of this week. We have Ryan Sutter, who's also joining me for my first. podcast this week. And Trista Sutter. So we're all hanging out. You guys, um, is that a normal like tram experience for those skiers here? Or was that like the highest thing ever? Were we a mile high? Were we a mile higher than we already are? Which I think Lake Tahoe already is like a mile high. So I will say when you guys were talking about the altitude. So in the tram there was conversation about how high we were. And I think they came up with 8200 feet, something like that, right? We actually

live at 8,500 feet. So it's. It's really high. It's gorgeous, but it's not, I mean, in terms of altitude, it's not abnormal for us. What's most surprising, I think, about that whole tram experience is that you talked about Ben, Ben missed the tram because we were 8,500 feet in the air, and somehow he found a museum and a documentary, and he's plugged in in a museum reading or listening to some documentary when we left. He's the only one of our friends that stayed, right?

And I guess we left without even realizing that he was gone. No, I think we realized he was gone. There were some people who realized. I had to text Ryan because he and Max were off looking for the lake that they went hiking to today. And he came running up like, oh, I got to get there. But Ben obviously didn't have it on his radar to get here on time. Okay, well, going back to evolving our journey with Hyundai, well, I would say that I evolved my journey today by going up there that high and going on something like that, right? This was my adventure for the day.

But I said, Ben can do his, like, serious. No, let's not get serious in this podcast. It's just a fun podcast. Because when Ben says, of all your journey, he gets serious, you know? And I get, like, let's talk about tramps. But Annalise has a fun, evolve your journey story that she was just about to tell.

But I was like, no, no, no, no. Wait until the mic is hot. Okay. Annalise's mom, she goes to Burning Man. So, like, does this rub off on you? you is this like a teaching style for her do you ever go to burning man with her what kind of like activities is she partake in there because i hear crazy things please tell us so so i'll start from i have i've like wanted to go i'm from california from northern california from san francis

she's like i'm a hippie i'm in the culture yeah i like a little hippie-ish you know i can i can go that way but um but i've always sort of had an interest in it and i have a ton of friends that go and I had done a six months solo trip through Europe and then I was like, I came back and I was like, you know what, I'm going to end this like journey with going to Burning Man. So I told my mom, I'm going to go to Burning Man. This was before doing The Bachelor.

So many journeys. You're evolving so many journeys. So many journeys. So yeah, so that was a lot of evolving. That whole period of time was like a big evolution for me doing a six month solo trip and then Burning Man. But I tell my mom, I'm like, I'm going to go to Burning Man.

And she goes, oh, my God, I've always wanted to go. And I'm like, no, there's not what I was not a plan, Mom, I don't want you going with me. And so then she's like, okay, we're going. And I'm like, no, we're not, we're, I don't know how to tell you this. No, we are not going. But then we did go together. We both went to Burning Man. We got, we got stuck in the parking lot the first night.

There was a huge rainstorm. It was just like a crazy experience. But it was so much fun. And I'm an artist. I was a fine arts major in college and my mom's like really creative and and so for us like we love Halloween. We love costumes. We like we loved the art aspect, the music, the community aspect of like being unplugged. You have no service. You're like meeting people and actually just like going and sitting at somebody's camp and like having a conversation with a stranger. It was it was cool.

So I did it three times and then I was on Paradise and it, it, uh, overlaps, the reunion show overlaps with Burning Man. So I didn't go the last two years and my mom went those two years without me. So she's gone five times and I've gone three times. So also, side note, so both times I was at the reunion show, one of those times being broken up with, I really wanted to call my mom, but she was at Burning Man. So I was trying in a hotel.

So she's unplugged out there. What's the sleeping situation? So she now has a little like camping. that she, that I actually took on a road trip during COVID. It's awesome. Um, and she has the whole set up, the amenities of like a bathroom and a kitchen. So it was great. Once she got that, which I think was year two, I still was tenting it, uh, which is very rough. Like no shower for 10 days, you know, port a potty situation. Kaylin's like, uh, my regular life with like, welcome to my life. Yeah. So, like, fun fact about me, I could go

very long time without showering. I like don't, I don't, I'm not a person that shower is very often. I don't know if that's gross, but I just like, now that I'm a mom. It's like every third day. So I wasn't every other day, but now I'm not going to be like three to five days. Burning me in like 10 days. It's so dry and dusty. It's easy for me anyways. But anyways. So now my mom has this trailer and it's great because I would tent it and then I'd like go ride my bike over to her trailer and I'd cook eggs in the morning. I'm like, this is luxury. Wait, why were you in the trailer with your mom? No, I'd like, go. ride to her camp because we're at different camps so i'd be like why was there different camps there's

so many camps there'll be like a ton of different people have like i can't even think of a name right now but they'll have one that's like just dedicated to like cats or like english people or like you know i'm just trying to think of like what i've seen there's like a Barbie camp there's like all sorts of things okay okay so this is really super interesting and i'm i want to ask more questions but i'm also concerned because all my questions are rated R. I'm not sure that Hyundai wants to hear about that. So we're going to have you come back and talk about burning a band some other time. Moving on to Kaylin because she made a really cute, sweet comment at dinner yesterday about how

her life has just, her horizons have been broadened because of her life with Dean. What was the exact quote you said? It was really sweet. It's so cheesy and Dean would cringe But it's so on topic with evolving your journey. It is so cheesy. I hate it. But I really feel like I didn't start living until I met Dean. Just because he's opened my eyes to so many things like skydiving and rock climbing and living in the van and just like broke me out of this like uptight shell that I was in.

So it's these past three years have been like the best of my life. I love that. That's amazing. Jason. How do you feel in a, oh, by the way, you guys, Ben has just arrived from the top of the mountain. How was the documentary? It was awesome. It was really fun.

I watched the Olympic documentary from 1960. It was 1960 that they did the Olympics here? I'd just to let you know, it was the very first televised Olympics ever. So it really put winter sports on the map. That's what I'll stop talking. I had a great time. I'm glad I'm late to this because I was learning so much about life. I'm going to keep.

So, okay, you evolved your journey by watching this documentary. We're talking about evolving your journey because Hyundai, you know, that's what they believe in. And that's what we believe in. But I said that they can go Ben's style on explaining this and go deep and, like, spiritual. Or they can go Ashley's style and be like, there was this one time where I pet an awesome dog. I feel like you have so much depth in both the ways, Ashley. You've got to give yourself more credit. Thanks.

Okay, Jason. any anecdotal story for us? Well, first of all, when you do this Burning Man episode, I'd love to know because I'm very confused. I don't know much about it. I'd want to know 101 because I heard cat areas. I heard nice eggs with mom. I'm very confused.

I thought it was a music festival. So give me that link when it comes out. Evolve my journey. I don't know. I don't really know. I think, I don't know. It's been a wild ride, I think. I think I'd talk about this often.

But never a million years. I think I would go on a reality show, go on the batch. against what everyone in the world told me to do. And as a result of that, it's changed my life in every single way. And like even just being here and talking to you guys, never would have happened if I went on that show. So I'm going to take the Ben route. It's going to get a little more deeper.

But I think, like, evolve your journey when opportunities come your way. And when they do, like, just dive into them and don't look back. Because so many people will be there to judge. But like one action you make today could change your life forever. I always say one of the cheesy sayings that you should live by is that cheesy stings like they cannot be the title of the episode but I'd like to get back to burning man because that wasn't cheesy that was very intense and I want to know more the magic does happen outside of your comfort zone for sure

hi my name is enya umanzor and I'm Drew Phillips and we run a podcast called Emergency Intercom If you're a crime junkie and you love crimes, we're not the podcast for you. But if you have unmedicated ADHD... Oh my God, perfect. And want to hear people with mental illness, psychobabble. Yes, yes. Then Emergency Intercom is the podcast for you. Open your free IHeartRadio app.

Search Emergency Intercom and listen now. Now we have the cute merry couple. They're coupled up. snuggily on the corner of the couch. Trista, Ryan, do you want to answer this question together or separately? No, no, no, no, because I think Trista's saying, if we do it together, then Ryan won't say anything.

Exactly. Which is fine. I'm going to give him the mic. Ryan, how has your journey evolved over the past like 20 years with Trista? 20 years? I was just going to talk about the last couple minutes. That works for me. That works for me.

Good, because I just pet an awesome dog last weekend. We were out of, we were out of wedding and we went on a hike and I'd seen this dog. I follow these rescue mutts sites on Instagram. Oh, I think. And there was this dog. And this dog was named Iris and it was an awesome dog for sure. So like like what kind of dog was it? It was just a mutt. It was just like someone had rescued it off of a New Mexico Indian reservation or Native American reservation. And it had been it was being fostered. And so they had posted a post on Instagram about looking for a permanent home, which I wasn't able to convince anyone that it should,

at home should be ours, but, but it was just kind of crazy that I had just seen her. And we were walking, Trista and I were walking on a hike in Buena Vista, which was not where we live. And here comes this little dog, Iris, and she was sweetheart. Did you talk about adopting her before you met her in real life? No, I never talked about that stuff because I never went. And so it's just not worth it. But we have a great dog, so that's fine. But it was just crazy seeing this dog walking.

How many dogs would you ideally want? I wouldn't, we have one, I wouldn't mind two. Okay, I think two is great. But we'll see. I could honestly have three. Yeah, I could have three, too. Now that you've talked about it, I feel like, yeah, you convinced me. Okay, good.

I actually just am sitting here and envy of everyone. Ben, for figuring out some way to finagle him with his way to be late to this thing, which is usually what I'm good at when I saw, I'm like, how did I miss this documentary? I've never been burning man. Because you had a wife texting you're telling you to get your butt on the train. I know. Burning man I've missed out on it, despite the fact that they, I don't know if you know this, but Burning Man hires a fire department, a unique fire department every single Burning Man.

Wait, why are unique? Just unique every year. So it's new people every year. So they just build their own fire department every year for specifically for burning man. So it's not like they hire different towns department every year. No, they just hire, like you can apply and you can do it. that. So I've always been jealous of that. So now we have to do

a collaborative thing here where you and Elise go to Burning Man together and then you come and do a podcast. Yeah, we'll talk about it afterwards. My mom got two tickets this year, but I'm not convinced I'm going to go, so you can go with my mom. Time me up, yeah. Your mom sounds great, but not as great as Dean. Her mom is really great. I remember me.

I'm super jealous of Kalin's relationship with Dean or Envious. It sounds like I could use a life-changing experience like that, although Trista's done a pretty good job over the last 20 years of opening my eyes. Very similar to Deems. Well, I'm just trying to go through everyone and say how appreciative sort of I am of their lives and incorporating me in here because I think it's weird for Trista and I, because we were on this show so long ago that we don't relate necessarily to everybody.

And so to get this opportunity to sit here briefly and listen. to everybody talk about their experiences is pretty cool. So I just more of a, which doesn't seem obvious not because I feel like I've been talking my face off all of a sudden. I'm more of a listener than a talker. But I have appreciated the opportunity to listen to all these wonderful people and their stories about their relationships and their experiences. And so it's been cool.

How did you, as somebody who is like more reserved? As somebody who doesn't like holding the mic, how did you sign up for the show and And how did you thrive on the show? I was signed up. There was a woman who's now married to a good friend of mine who I was roommates with in college. She was friends with the casting producer who they were looking for contestants for this show. And she signed everyone who lived in this house together up. And we all got calls.

I initially, so this is like Temptation Island type era. And I initially declined the offer. I was like, I don't feel like I'm good at it. Cemptation Island was pretty trashy. Yeah, I was like, I can't do this. I watched secretly in my bedroom as a ninth grader. And then when my mom would walk in, it was like a little purple TV. Oh, that's terrible.

Hit off. I love it. Yeah, so I said no. And then, um. Which is shocking because he has a really hard time saying no. Well, that's how I ended up on it was they were, they were persistent. And I was like, okay, fine. It broke you down.

Yeah. And so I ended up on it. And, um, didn't, like, I, I took a week. off of work because I told my fire chief I'm like I got this thing I got to go do it for a week I should be back and then every week I kept having to ask for more time off and I just tried to be myself and I mean it's the cliche answer you just go on there and you're sort of authentic and you try to be yourself and as you progress through it I felt like Trista and I were developing a pretty strong relationship and so then you just get immersed in that and that keeps you sort of motivated and

going and you want you really because you're so focused there's no other outside life distractions you can really put your whole all of your energy into trying to get her to get to know who you really are and really trying to find out who she is and so that part was easy i thought maybe you guys feel the same way i felt like watching the show when it came out was much more difficult than actually being on the show so i watched the first episode up until trista started making out with Russ on a port patio in Las Vegas. It's definitely harder for you to watch back because you were the quote winner. Yeah.

So I was like, this isn't going to be good for our relationship if I keep watching this. So I stopped. But that was much harder than actually turns out being on the show and working my way through trying to develop a relationship. Was it a love at first sight feeling? This is a question for both of you. Just how far in did you just know? We were probably at, what's Seattle?

like I guess fantasy sweets is that what it was called back then it's still what it's called well I know but I feel like it was something else right before that was more innocent back then just a little bit um it was it was a I really like um what's love at first sight I really like at first sight he was one of my top four the first night okay um and then from there it just obviously solidified and then grew and kept growing. You? I don't know if I've ever heard. There were no other choices for me.

Hand the mic over. This is going to be good. We actually, in those days, like, all of the guys got along really well. And when we, after the first night and we got rid of a few, there were, it was like a frat house kind of environment. So we would get our one-on-one dates or whatever, and guys would be like, okay, hold my drink. I'm going to go out. to just make sure, like, we're ready to go when we get back. So it was, it was, I was always interested in Trista just knowing a little bit about her going into the show.

But I wasn't fully interested until it started, like, until the guys started getting whittled down a little bit. And then you really kind of, it became less of a party atmosphere and more of a, I distinctly remember the time. I actually talked to Bob, who was, who was just here. about it because you get, you get competitive and you're thinking yourself, well, am I just trying to win this show or do I really care about her? And so we had a pretty long conversation about it, which is kind of what I mean about the guys on that show. It was a different type of a relationship where you felt like you could convide in them even though they were trying to kind of trying to get the same girl. So at that point, I think we were down to like maybe eight

guys or something like that, six or eight guys. At that point, I was like, okay, I really am to her. I'm going to just go. I'm going to fully invest myself into it. And it wasn't about the other guys or the other friendships. It was all about trying to just let her know how I really felt. So it was, it was, yeah, that's how it was. This is quickly becoming a Trista and Ryan in-depth episode. I'm here for this. And I think we should. I'm breaking note producers. Let's do this. I just have to ask one more question, though. How long were you together before you got married and did you feel rushing to getting married or were you like totally ready? Because I know like a lot of bachelor couples coming off the show now. It's such a weird

thing because like they get engaged so fast, but then they get into the real world and then it's like, oh, are we dating or are we planning a wedding? Is this still me answering? I think looking back, it was probably a little too soon to get engaged to get married, but you like you're just riding the wave of the show. And then suddenly you're sort of spit out into real life. You're not allowed to see each other anymore. But for us, I think that strengthened our relationship a little bit. And it was a different world when we were on the show. So we talked a lot on the phone and that forced me to become more of a conversationalist with her, but forced us to really, you know, we couldn't just go to a movie and just sit there in

silence. We had to sort of communicate. And so our relationship grew pretty quickly, even outside, of the show. And so I don't feel like we rushed into our wedding. You know, everybody's obviously different in that regard. But for us, we were fortunate enough to find ourselves still caring for each other outside of the show environment, which I think is where a lot of people get messed up, is that there, all these other outside influences come pouring back into their lives and then they're distracted and things get kind of muddled. But for us, like I said, social media didn't really like it was like i think my space was about as much as you could do so we were we were good and i think um both of us knew that that's what we wanted um i have never wanted

a long engage i hate the word fiance how many months was it between engagement and marriage a year yeah but way less than that if you count when we were actually able to hang out with each other so yeah so earlier when when when by And Jason and I want to know this answer from you, Ryan. Bob was telling us that when you were living in the house, you walk in, you're a former NFL football player, you're good looking, you're strong, you're put together, you're writing poetry, you're writing notes. This is not a lie either. You're saying like the guys would be out like raging and you'd be like back processing your thoughts like a great human does. my question for you, though, is you were strapping, charming, smart.

Jared calls him Superman because look at him. Big muscles. Exactly. He's in Clark Kent mode right now. Takes off those glasses. Then he's Superman. My question for you is, how do you have bigger biceps today that he did on the day of the show? Who says Ben and ask serious questions?

Wow, that's a strong transition there. Jason and I were wondering. and I have to ask. Yeah, we watch a plan. It's my son, Max, is 15, and he's hyper, he's, like, in hyper workout mode. And I can tell he's starting to feel like he's, like, on the brink of challenging me in some sort of physical contest. And so I have to maintain some sort of physical fitness so that I can continue to take my 15-year-old son.

That was a great answer. He's also a firefighter, so he has to save people. So he actually is Superman. Yeah. All right. Well, I mean, I can't think of a better answer for the question. How have you evolved your journey than what these lovely people have given us? You don't have to have one that's unique to you. Oh, you want me to answer for myself? I'm just saying that like I don't think we could have completed this podcast in a better way. I think it's fantastic. Evolving my journey? Oh my gosh. I wish. I could just think of a good dog that I've pet lately. Definitely, like, what I'm going through now with life is, it is hard.

Like, motherhood is hard. Just being a parent is so hard. And people tell you that all the time, right? Like, that's all you hear. But then when you experience it, you're like, oh, my gosh, this actually is like the hardest job in the world. And it is exhausting. And it is a full-time job and everything on top of it.

You're just like, how am I juggling, like, this work-life balance? there really is no work-life balance because every single hour in your day is filled with one or the other. So I think my journey is currently evolving and, and it will continue to. And yeah, and we'll continue to.

And it's like, I love my child so much. Like, so much. But it's so crazy. It's just like the weirdest thing. And I can't keep saying it on different forms of media. But it's like weird how you feel like you need a break. You're like, oh, you know, I'm going to

Tahoe for 48 hours. I'm going to get a good break. I'm going to get a good sleep. And then you're here and you're just like, I miss him and I need to go back right now. And I'm worrying about him. Is he breathing in his crib and all that stuff? It's so crazy. So it's just like, this is a crazy journey

that I'm learning to navigate now. And I'm only six months in. And it's crazy because I feel like Truss, I can totally relate. But and Ryan, it takes every month is different. So it's like a constant evolving journey. Yeah.

And there we go. And it will continue to do that. I mean, still our kids, like, it's, it may be not every month. Yeah. Maybe not every month at this age, right? But it is every six months, every year, you know. And it's beautiful. Yeah.

It's beautiful. I know. It's so crazy. And then he smiles. It's like, he cries all the time, right? But then, like, he smiles and you're like, ah. Right. Right.

Right. I think that about Max, too, because he's like, oh, you're smiling. See, you're six months old, 15 years old. It's all the same. You're 15. Can you please smile once for me? You know, props to Trista and Ryan's son, Max, who is here on this trip with his parents because it is not an easy age to go hang out with a whole bunch of people that are not your age. And maybe are a little bit more outgoing than you.

I don't know, just a little bit. He has no peers here. And he's being a champ. He is. It's fine. He's good. He likes adventures. So he just came on a little adventure, got some airline miles, you know.

There you go. Got to have some really good food last night. Such good food. And maybe tonight too. So thank you Hyundai for this amazing experience, this amazing podcast. And for encouraging us all to talk about our journeys. Do you have anything besides the documentary that you want to talk about? Heavy or light?

Yeah, and you know, not a lot. I was, I like what Jason said. Jason's a smart dude. And, you know, I think when I think of evolving my journey, I go back to the Applebee's in Warsaw bar. And I remember sitting at the bar next to my boss at the time, I was running a youth camp in Warsaw, Indiana, living with my parents. I was out of college. And she said, Ben, you need to get out of here. and I said why she goes you're going to get stuck in the same rhythm and routine and you're going to be okay with it but you're going to wake up one day and you're going to realize you missed out a lie she goes my brother has a job opening in Denver and I already called him and I think you should take it and so I said yes not immediately but after a couple weeks or a week I guess of thinking about it and I look back on like that random weird moment that changed the course of everything else for the future, right? I mean, I think, like, if I don't go to Denver, I don't go on the show. If I don't go on the show, I don't have the opportunities I do today. If I don't go on the show, I probably don't meet my wife. If I don't meet my wife, you know, who knows where I'm at? And so I think what Jason was saying, it's like, I can't, you know, every, like, it's weird. If you look back on life and you're like, okay, we're sitting in Tahoe today, who am I going to meet? What's going to happen that I'm not even going to recognize as a moment of pivoting or transition, but it changes the course of everything. Um, and so that's what I'd say is like, I just have learned to appreciate or like try to stay aware of the many moments that seem insignificant, but have a life changing impact. Oh my God, I do that so much lately. Like, I'm constantly just pausing and being like, I can't believe how blessed I am. Like, I can't believe like this is my life. And so much, I know we like suck up to the show a lot. But I don't know where my life would be without the show.

I feel like everybody in this room can say that. You are not sucking up to the show, by the way. No, because I'm just like, oh, like my, like my, that's just your truth. My whole family and like my whole career. Like, I would have, I have no idea, no idea where I'd be without the show. And I feel like we have a couple of people in this room that, like, so many significant others have been found of the show. That's just like, what in the world where we, where it would be?

It's not sucking up to the show. I think the thing that, because I used to feel that way. And I used to feel like, oh, the more I talk about that, the less like it feels like oh yeah i've did this thing that not many people have done it's just your unique experience like some people have a really great job or a really bad job or they grow up in a place they love or they don't like that changes that like that's your story that changed you but anybody listening has that moment or that thing yeah that's like they want them launch into whatever they're at today um but for us it's the show so we talk about it because that is your

story yeah that is unique to you uh and that's something to either celebrate or be really upset about. Like you have like kind of two options when it comes to show. You can either be really upset that you did it and it could like not help or you can look back and be like, it changed everything for the better. And I think that's where you and I sit.

And that might be unique to us. But that's my journey. And I love the theme of evolving your journey and talking about it and thinking about it and processing through it. So Hyundai, thank you. Thank you.

Bye. Follow the Ben and Ashley I, almost famous podcast on Eye radio or subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. Hi, my name is Enya Emanzor. And I'm Drew Phillips. And we run a podcast called Emergency Intercom. If you're a crime junkie and you love crimes, we're not the podcast for you.

But if you have unmedicated ADHD... Oh my God, perfect. And want to hear people with mental illness, psychobabble. Yes, yes. Then Emergency Intercom is the podcast for you. Open your free eye heart. Radio app, search emergency.com, and listen now.

This is an IHeart podcast.