Track 1_001-5

The person in the transcription talks about their favorite drink, a citrus mint tea called the medicine bowl. They also mention trying oat milk in a vanilla latte. The conversation then shifts to the host of a podcast meeting a new friend who enjoys solo traveling. The friend talks about the reasons for solo travel and shares experiences from recent trips to Nashville and Vermont. They discuss the process of choosing destinations and planning trips. What do you drink in there? What's your favorite drink? Normally, before I come to record, I'll normally get the medicine bowl. Oh, what's that? No! I just recently found out what that is like six months ago. But basically, if you order, they call it a citrus mint tea. Okay. But it has like ingredients that's great for cold. Oh. And that's how it became popular. Okay. So they call it the medicine bowl. Wow. Okay, yes. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, yes. Oh, okay. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Oh, of course. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Nice. Yes. Yeah. Okay. That's nice. Oh. Yeah. I just got into oat milk. My daughter, yeah, a couple weeks ago when I, you know, saw her in California, her is the grande iced vanilla latte with oat milk. And that tastes like a dessert. That's scrumptious. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah. I like it. Yes. Yes. I like it. So are you ready? I am. All right. All right. Let's see here. Okay. So here we go. Mm-hmm. Welcome to the show. You're listening to the Limiting Your Life Podcast. I'm your host, Katrina Hager-Smith. I just want to share a little story with you. Yesterday, as I was leaving the studio from recording another interview, I decided to go and eat at one of my favorite brunch spots here in Nashville. And so it's Milk and Honey. And so it's always crowded when I go there. And so when I walked in the door, as usual, it was crowded. I normally head over to the bar because I have my laptop with me normally. And for sure, there was not a seat at the bar. So I sat there, well, stood there for about 20 minutes, and a seat became available. So I sat down. I opened my laptop. I ordered my coffee and my breakfast. And I sat there for about 20 minutes. And the bartender came over, and she handed the check to the young lady next to me, and she just wished her a happy birthday. So I turned to her, and I'm like, oh, today's your birthday. And she said, yes, well, actually, yesterday was. I just turned 51, and I just landed in Nashville. This is my first trip here. I'm like, are you here by yourself? And she said, yeah. She said, I normally travel for my birthday. And I do solo travels, and so I'm here until Thursday. And then I'm going to Memphis after that. And she just started telling me about her travels. And I'm like, that is so, so special. So we sat there and talked for nearly another hour. And I told her, I'm like, what are you doing tomorrow? So today, I am so excited to share with you my new friend, Carrie Danlin. Carrie, welcome to the Living TV Live podcast. Hi, Katrina. I bet you never thought during your travels that you would end up here in a podcast studio. No, no, not at all. But what a perfect setting, like the music city, you know. This is another asset to it or another, you know, parlay. So I'm so excited to be here. Thank you for having me. You're so, so welcome. So today is day two for you here in Nashville. Yes. How are you enjoying the city, and what have you done so far? I am totally enjoying it. I'm, you know, just blown away by it. I just got back from the Country Music Hall of Fame, and I loved every minute of it. I'm not the biggest fan of country music, but when I went there, I was, you know, shocked to find that I knew a lot of, you know, the history of it and how, you know, music started. I think anybody that is interested in music should go there, and I really had a great time doing that. Last night, I was on Broadway. Oh, yes. A lot of people watching is what I did. And so, you know, I made sure that, you know, the lights were on and it was dark and just took my time and went through, you know, a couple of music venues, a couple of honky tonks, and just enjoyed myself and all walks of life, all different ages. So it's been a good time. It's so fun. Yeah. Broadway is so fun. Yeah. Yes. So sometimes we travel for different reasons. Sometimes it's to learn more about ourselves, to go to new places, to learn new cultures, or to just check certain things off of our bucket list. What is your reason and what has inspired you to take solo travels? Well, it's all about, you know, the bucket list, of course. These were places that I've always wanted to go to, you know, for my whole entire life. You see it in the books. You see it in the pages. This is even before, you know, social media. But now that social media is so prevalent, I mean, that's what you see. You see everybody on their vacation or you see the influencers. And they're making, you know, for whatever, you know, people say about the influencers, they're really doing the work, you know. They're doing the homework. So then when we go and we want to go to those places, we're like, hey, we want to, like today I had, like, a really great bagel sandwich from somebody. I don't know if it was from YouTube or from Instagram. I'm like, they did the work for me. That's why I'm at the bagel place, you know. But going back to the solo travel, it's essentially not waiting for anybody, you know, like not waiting for anybody to rescue you or something. Or removing, I know like one girl, she does it with her mother. She has these gal getaway trips that she gets all of these girls that or ladies that don't have, you know, anyone to go with. Hey, let's go. And they go abroad. You know, a lot of times they go overseas. But it's, you know, you have the chat with your girlfriends in the chat. It never gets out of the chat. Like you never go anywhere. Like you're still in your living room. So it's like, no, I'm, you know, brave enough if I, you know, put the itinerary together and just, you know, make sure that I'm looking over my shoulder and making sure that I'm in safe neighborhoods and, you know, don't go down a dark alley and such. Just, you know, I can do this. You know, I mean, as soon as like high school started, I was eating by myself, you know, at lunch. And I'm like, I can do this, you know, and so you build from there. You you go to dinner by yourself. You go to the movies by yourself. And while I love having company and like my best companion is my daughter. And, you know, we go on some fabulous trips. You know, she's not always readily available. She lives in California and she has her own life. But like, you know, I've been taking these small trips and and I took baby steps. And that's like the best advice I can give anybody. It's like take baby steps. You know, if you're a little shy about traveling on your own. So during the pandemic, I went to Vermont because I'm like, I don't know a lot of people. I want to go to Vermont and like pick apples and go to the, you know, Vermont Teddy Bear Store with me. So I was just like, you know, I got in my car, which was like the safest during COVID. So I wasn't on a plane or anything. And I just, you know, drove out there like 11 hours. But, you know, you you have your podcast on your phone so you can listen to that or like some really good tunes. And then you drive out there and, you know, and just you put an itinerary together. You're you're very kind of like a little busy, but then you also make sure that you have time to relax. So then, you know, you don't really feel alone. You don't like like, oh, gosh, what did I just do? In fact, it's kind of funny. When I went on that trip to Vermont, it was it was my actual birthday. It was really kind of gloomy and rainy in Burlington that first day. I got my birthday Starbucks, so I got my free Starbucks. And then I'm just kind of walking around. Nobody's really outside because it's like raining. You know, I got my umbrella and I'm just sitting out there kind of in the cold going, what have I done? Like, I'm really far away from home, you know, and I've been by myself a lot, you know. But this was like a travel and I was like, oh, my gosh. But then, you know, I was just like, oh, let's see what's on my itinerary next. And I was like, here's an apple orchard, you know, and I'm just like, yay, we'll just go there now. And so but yeah, I just I mean, I love it. And every trip I build on and I feel more comfortable. And so, you know, and navigating where I need to go. So what's your process? How do you determine where are you going next? Good question. I just, you know, sometimes it's just, okay, this is where I need to go right now. Like this year was really unusual because I did a lot of trips this year. So I started off with, okay, I'm going to go to finally going to go to New Orleans. And it was a trip that I was supposed to take a year and a half ago. But then Hurricane Ida had different plans. And I'm like, okay, I need to see this place before it finally blows away. So I know, a poor city, it suffered so much. Well, you know your name was wonderful. Just wonderful. Yeah. Yeah, really captured my heart and stuff. So I was, yeah, so I knew I wanted to go there. I was good. I was like, hey, let's, you know, especially when you're down there. If you look at it geographically, I'm like, I can check off like Mississippi and Alabama. And, you know, I flew into Pensacola and I went to the famed Flora-Bama, that huge bar restaurant that sits on the gulf right there. And I started my journey that way. So, yeah, it was just like I needed to go. I made sure it was like before hurricane season. And I went. But prior to that, and this is what I do. Like, okay, so I, and I have more fun planning the trip than actually going on it. Like I love going on the trip, but like sometimes it's really fun to plan the trip. And so. I saw your, I call it a mood board. It looks like a mood board. Oh, yeah. But you just enter the information in the notes in your phone. Yes. Yeah, it's the app that it's note. And, yeah, when we were talking yesterday, I love to tease my daughter that it's my PowerPoint presentation. And she's like, that is not a PowerPoint presentation. But, yeah, and mood board is great too because like I have the pictures and, you know, the itinerary and, you know, all the places I'm going to go, you know, all my flight information and my hotels and stuff like that. So that's really fun to put that together. I also, I look on Pinterest, and I get a lot from Instagram as well as YouTube. I'm like, you know, now I'm like a 50-some-year-old woman like sitting back at home watching YouTube videos all day. But it's really about travel, you know. And I get so inspired by that because I find out new things and, you know, if this is worth it or that place is not worth it. Because when you do travel, you want to make the most of your vacation. You don't want to spend oodles of, you know, amount of money, and then, you know, you're disappointed and such like that. So when I was planning that trip to New Orleans, then I was like, you know, I need to go to like Maryland and Delaware. And that would be like, you know, real easy to do, just jump in my car. Oh, it's only five and a half hours. Look at that. Well, I. Look at that. Yeah, so I'm always planning the second trip. And when I was, yeah, telling you yesterday, like I used to be a competitive figure skater when I was a child. And so one of the figure skaters I follow, his name is Johnny Weir, and he was an Olympic figure skater. And he was doing his last ice show for the public here in America earlier this year in March. And so I was like, he was asking people, hey, you know, just on his Instagram stories, fans of mine, if you would like to like come out and see me skate. And I was like, oh, wow, look at that. It's in Delaware. And I'm like, you know, and I'm just like, well, that just answers that question, because why would I go to Delaware, you know, someone I know is in Delaware. But I hear Rehoboth Beach is very beautiful. I didn't get a chance to see that. But, yeah, so and then when I planned that little, you know, like one day, so I do a three-day weekend. And because it's such a short, you know, stay, I was like, you know, it's the cherry blossom season. And I could squeeze in a little side trip to D.C. and then see the cherry blossoms. Yeah, so like because you're by yourself, you don't have to ask the other person, hey, would you mind like taking a little side trip to D.C., like on our way out of town. Like somebody else would be like, no way. Like I know my daughter would be like, come on, haven't you seen enough? Let's go home. So, yeah, so that's just how I kind of plan it. And then, you know, I wanted to see my daughter out in California this year. So I decided she got a new place with her boyfriend. They moved into a townhome. That was Labor Day weekend. And then I hadn't been to New York in a long time. And, you know, I went there for a weekend. David Spade, actually, the comedian from Saturday Night Live, was doing a show out there. And I was like, you know, I had been seeing comedians all year. Like after COVID, it's like this is the year to laugh, you know. So I saw like, you know, a bunch of comedians this year, like Adam Sandler and Bill Maher and others. And so I just, you know, I was like making little trips out of that. So I know people probably do that as well. They'll go see a performer. They'll go see a concert. And they'll make a little mini vacation out of it, which is a really great idea. So, but, yeah, this year was just really unusual. And even back in August, you know, like we had the two big superstars performing. Like we had Taylor Swift and we had Beyonce. My daughter was able to score from her work free tickets to Beyonce in Vegas. Yeah. So, yeah, it was a really great trip. And that was a short, you know, Friday through Sunday trip. And it was just nice to, you know, meet her out there and enjoy myself. Yeah. Yeah, she did. She, you know, did the assignment. I guess they say, but I was already in Vegas when I heard, like, that's what you were supposed to do. I had all, I was wearing all black. So I just, you know, just a little, little silver jewelry and such. But yeah. Oh, wow. That is my favorite place. I would say it's Palm Springs, California. I just love the, just the ambiance of it. You know, it's just so lush. It's the palm trees. It's like pinks and greens. And I just love that, just that serene desert, you know, where the old movie stars used to go, you know. And I've been to Sinatra's house because Sinatra's my guy, you know. I would say, yeah, I see a record right over there next to you of Sinatra 65. So. I, yes, I saw that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, maybe so. Maybe so. Yeah. After the opry tonight. So, yeah, he's my guy, you know. So I've been to his house several times. We got the tour last October and such. So, you know, and then you got the Joshua Tree National Park outside of that area. You know, the Coachella Valley is just beautiful. And I've been to Joshua Tree with my daughter. We love going to the national parks. I would say a lot of the national parks probably really wowed me. We've been to Zion National Park. We've been to Olympic National Park in Washington. And even the Everglades was amazing just because, you know, we're in one of those little speedboats. And then up comes, you know, an alligator. So, yeah. And that excited you? This alligator, okay, was missing limbs. And she came right by our boat. She was blind in one eye. She had half her tail chewed off. And then she was missing an arm. Yes. They know her. They named her. And I almost thought it was one of those Disney animatronics, you know, because, you know, we're in Florida. And so we're taking pictures of, you know, Betsy or whatever her name was. And she comes right by the boat. And then I just inadvertently just, like, kind of moved closer to my daughter because I don't know if this beast can come out of the water and, you know, start chomping on us. But, yeah, I would say any of the national parks have absolutely wowed me because it's just so authentic. It's untouched. This is why we preserve those areas because it's gorgeous. Yeah. Terri, tell me what is something new you've learned about yourself while traveling so far? Another great question. Well, that I could get up really early in the morning and catch my flight at 6 a.m. with little to no coffee. Yeah, that's been amazing. And my Uber because I have to catch the Uber first to get to the airport. But I think really is being open, having a conversation with you yesterday. I have noticed every time I've gone, and this is what I love most about being, you know, the single, the solo traveler is because these conversations just come out of nowhere. Like I go to these places and I'm checking off, you know, the bucket list. And you get consumed by checking off the bucket list. And I don't think, excuse me, I don't think that you're very present because you're looking at the site or you're looking like, oh, my God, I got to get this picture or, you know, somebody's in my way or whatever. But I think it's those quiet times that this is something that you're not expecting. It's not on your itinerary. It's not on your bucket list is to have these conversations with the locals or with another fellow traveler. And, you know, especially when I was in New Orleans. So, you know, the Hotel Monte Leon and then inside is the carousel bar. And so the carousel bar, like it spins every 15 minutes. It will go around in the circle and, you know, you're drinking your drinks. So I sat down and I see another woman. She sat down next to me and she was hoping that she would get a seat with her husband. And then another one, you know, popped up. And then we're just going around. And I talked to her for two hours. I don't know how many times that carousel bar went around in a circle. But it was just like, you know, I didn't expect to be there for like two hours. But I was having such a nice conversation with her. Like I got her phone number. She says if you need somebody in the assistance in the city, you know, in a city like New Orleans, you sometimes, you know, it's good to have assistance. Or, you know, you just need some ideas, you know. She gave me ideas of places to go. And everywhere I've gone on my trips, I have found, you know, that's what's so amazing. Because I do, I'm kind of an introvert. Like I'm doing this podcast now. I do really well on one-on-one. But like in groups, I'm, you know, a little shy. It depends on the group. I can't believe it. It really does. It's really like it just depends on the group of folks. You know, some people are just warm and other people aren't. You know, they're intimidating or whatever. I wish I wasn't intimidated at 51, but it's true. But so, you know, I don't, you know, I think over time, too, in life, you know, things that happen and you're older, you become hardened. And I know I'm just like, you know, I don't need anybody. I'm just going to do it on my own and get out of my way. You know, like elbowing everybody out of my way and stuff like that. And I can travel like that, and that'll be fine. And anybody else can do that as well. It's not like breaking the law. But I just noticed when I do travel that I'm like probably the quintessential Carrie. Like I'm probably what I'm supposed to be on my regular day-to-day, you know, not so like, oh, I'm working from home, that's a beautiful thing, but I'm still screaming at my computer. Or just like not always as pleasant as I should be with, you know, family members or friends and such, you know, just because like life or whatever. But, yeah, when I'm on my travels, I'm just open, you know, and you have to be open. And I guess, you know, I mean, if I'm not open, I wouldn't be doing this podcast right now with you. So, you know, just be open for anything and just, oh, wow, here's your, you know, new friend next to you. So, yeah. Now, speaking of, are you in a relationship at all? I am not dating, no. I was going to say, how is that going? Oh, yeah. Well, I mean, you know, I think back in the day I definitely would have been waiting for, you know, Mr. So-and-so, Mr. Big or whatever, you know, to be asking me out and going on trips. And I have gone on trips, you know, with significant others. And, you know, it depends on the person and it's okay and we had a nice time and such. But, like, now if somebody were to come into my life, I mean, like, well, this is what I do, you know, and I'm probably going to take a trip and you're not going to be invited, you know. Sorry. I'll see you in a couple of days, hon. You know, I mean, I wouldn't mind somebody coming, but I would really have to have somebody that's really adventuresome that wants to, you know, again, like, yeah. Okay. So what are some of the top cities or experiences left on your bucket list? Yeah. So my goal right now is to see all 50 states. So after this weekend I'll have 13 left. So I – That's a lot of cities. Yeah, yeah. Well, my parents were real – I know, like, they always made a vacation a priority for my brother and I. But, you know, over the years, life, you know, gets in the way and, you know, going to school and everything, raising my daughter, and so, you know, doing things on my own. So I saw a lot of the United States, but I still, you know, I mean, going out west was something not easy from the Midwest, you know, because we're coming from Ohio. So we would stay more on the East Coast, see a lot of Florida, see a lot of the Carolinas and such. So, yeah, what I have left is, you know, I have, like, Maine and New Hampshire. I have what I call the sexy states, and that would be, like, the Great Plains of the Dakotas and Nebraska and Iowa and Minnesota and such. And then, of course, we got, you know, the big parks. So we got, you know, we got Wyoming and Montana. So we're looking at, you know, Yellowstone, and we're looking at the Grand Tetons and the Glacier National Park up in Montana and stuff. And, of course, lastly would be, like, Alaska. So that's what I'm looking forward to. And, you know, and I just renewed my passport this year, and that little guy is sitting in a drawer somewhere, and he's waiting, you know. And I'm, like, I know, I know. And, like, so there's all these ideas in my head. And there were some trips that I was signed up for to go abroad, like to Thailand. And I was interested in Croatia, and I got to get to Ireland because I'm Irish and Catholic and such. But I don't know yet, you know. I mean, those are just kind of waiting in the wings until I got to figure it all out, you know. That's something probably I would do on, like, a woman's solo group tour, which is perfectly fine. I feel like you could still be a solo traveler, you know, doing that. But it's nice to have assistance, you know, especially when the language barriers and currency is such. But, yeah, so those are, you know, the things I'm looking forward to right now. But I am taking a break. So after this weekend, I'm going to be in a little cocoon. And so will my credit cards. I'll do that whole thing where they – Yes, yes. I think you put them in a block of ice or something. You store them in the back of your freezer. And, yeah, so you don't touch them. So that's what I will do. So where are you off to next after leaving NASA? Yeah, I have nothing. I have nothing in the – I know, I know. And, like, I said – No, when you leave here. Oh, oh, yes. Okay, so, like, after Nashville, yes. Sorry about that. You need a power nap. Yes, I do. I do, yes. I do. I got some good sleep last night. I was at the Fairfield Inn, I don't know, in Antioch. So, like, very nice hotel. I was surprised. A king-size bed. So, yes, tomorrow, Memphis. So I'm on my way. Now, before I get to Memphis, have you heard of the Loveless Cafe? Yes, I have. Okay. You know what? Why? I've lived here 23 years, and I have never gone. Oh, my goodness. You should meet me out there tomorrow morning, but, like, a crack of dawn. Oh, well, how early? Well, I want to get out there because it's almost, like, from my hotel, it's, like, 48 minutes or something. And then from, like, Nashville to Memphis, it's almost, like, it's three hours. Yeah, yeah, and I, you know, and then the big – Oh, really? Yeah, yeah. I hear the biscuits are – I know. That's why – yeah, that's why I'm going. I'm like, you have those. Yeah. I mean, and the jams that come with it. Oh, my gosh. I mean, yeah. Yeah, so, and then Graceland is for the tomorrow afternoon. Oh, you have to go. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I'm excited about that. I've been wanting to go since, you know, I was a little girl. And so we got that, and I'm going to, you know, see as much as I can in the city tomorrow, Beale Street as well. I also want to go up to that pyramid because I hear you've got a great bird's-eye view of the whole city. You can see the great Mississippi and you can see Arkansas. Yeah, it's the old Bass Pro Shop. It's – now they made it into, like, a resort. It's like a hotel. I think I've seen that on the highway. Yes, yes, it's right there. Yeah. Nice. Yeah. Lastly, Carrie, what would you say to women who are contemplating getting on the road and traveling solo, but they're free? Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Like I was saying earlier, just take baby steps, you know, even if it's like you have the weekend. Maybe it's just a Saturday to Sunday, and you're like, oh, I don't know. You know, I don't like being by myself. I don't know if I can do this. I'm like, you could just really do a staycation in your own town and have a great time, you know. There's cute little B&Bs or an Airbnb, you know, depending where you live. I mean, there's – I don't know. I mean, like if I was kind of making baby steps – I lived in Cleveland, which I do live in Cleveland – I would go out to the Finger Lakes in New York or something like that and make, like, you know, a long weekend. Just, you know, you can go anywhere and just do it. Or, you know, if you've never done anything solo before, you know, go out to dinner or make a lunch date with yourself. Go out to the movies. Like, the movies is the easiest thing. You're in the dark. Nobody's looking at you. They're looking at the screen. For some people, you know, they like to go with a whole entourage, and they're not used to, like – I don't know. Yeah, right. So, yeah. Well, thank you so much. Yeah. It was so fun meeting you. Oh, absolutely. I'm glad we sat there and had a little chat and that you're here with us today. Yeah. I wish you well. And you know what I think you should do? Yeah. I think you should start your own YouTube channel. Oh. I got the name, Carrie in the City. Oh, my gosh. And I could do, like, a whole, like, play on the sex in the city. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Do you see merch? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.