Dionna Hickox - Travel, Wellness, Menopause, Dog Momager and Nomadic Lifestyle

On this very first episode of the Heart Stormings podcast, I will be having a conversation with Dionna Hickox (Instagram Link), successful content creator for travel, wellness and menopause, dog momager to Kevin the Berner (Instagram Link), wife, mother, grandmother and all around amazing human being!

Dionna will tell us how she got started in content creation, her journey through wellness, exercise and now perimenopause, what it's like to live a nomadic lifestyle both in a custom built van and via Airbnb and how her Bernese Mountain Dog Kevin's social media presence (@itskevintheberner) started and has really taken off - he has over 250k followers collectively on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and now Threads. 

Stick around to the end of the podcast for Dionna's update on her next once in a lifetime adventure with her husband Justin!  You can also check out Dionna's travel adventures on their YouTube channel

During this episode, Dionna talks about how much she loves Bow Wow Buddies for her dogs.  This podcast has no affiliation with Bow Wow Buddies, but if you'd like to give them a try, you can click on this link and get 10% off of your order by using code KEVIN

Transcript

 Hi, I'm Cheryl. Welcome to Heart Storming, the podcast where we get to hear relatable and inspiring stories from amazing women who are living the lives that they truly want instead of trying to live up to the expectations of others. After decades of hard work and frustrations, women are redefining what having it all means on our own terms.

Instead of just brainstorming to find solutions, let's start heartwarming ideas to help each other by sharing what's in our heads and our hearts.

Wow, this is so exciting. Welcome to the very first episode of the Heart Storming podcast. On today's inaugural episode, I will be having a conversation with Dionna Hickox, successful creative entrepreneur and travel wellness and menopause, dog momager to Kevin the burner. Wife, mother, grandmother, an all around amazing human being.

Welcome, Dionna. Thank you so much for agreeing to be one of my first guests on this brand new podcast. Yeah, I truly appreciate it. Especially since I don't think I did a very good job of explaining fully what this podcast is about, so I truly appreciate it. Yeah, so about six years ago, I started to notice, or maybe I finally woke up too, during conversations.

I was starting to hear a lot of, I'm only, or I'm just. I'm only a stay-at-home mom, or I'm just a secretary. What is that? Where is that coming from? And I was also starting to notice a lot of women in their forties who all of a sudden seemed to become disposable, getting laid off by the droves, which was a very interesting phenomenon.

And so I noticed a lot of women were out there trying to figure out what it is they wanna do next. And so I thought it would be really cool to set up a podcast or some sort of platform so that amazing women like yourself who've gone out and done your own thing and you're doing what you wanna do because it's what you enjoy to give other women ideas and inspiration for doing something for themselves as well. 

Unfortunately, six years ago when I first thought about this, I chickened out. I wasn't brave enough to move forward and create the podcast, and during the pandemic I really started to see more and more women experiencing the same thing.

Thanks to Mel Robbins, I gotta give a shout out to Mel. I love Mel. She does not mince words. She's straight to the point. She gave me the kick in the pants to give it another shot. There you go. To give it a go. And here we are. Yay. And although I'm still very new at this and probably sound like I'm flubbing my way through it, but I am having a lot of fun, so I don't know what I was so nervous about.

So I am very grateful that I decided to give it a go. I'm also grateful that you have agreed to come on this podcast and tell your story. A little bit of background for listeners who may not be on Instagram. I found out about Dionna because I was initially following her Bernese Mountain Dog, Kevin's Instagram page because I have a Berner of my own Miss Sadie Bear...

After a while, I also discovered that you have your own page, and I was having a lot of fun watching your stories and how you ended up selling everything and moving into a van and then discovering maybe Van Life isn't for me. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, we will definitely dive much deeper into the backstory behind your temporary nomadic life and a man.

Yeah. But, um, absolutely. I just wanted to give that explanation for why I connected with you, why I thought you would be a perfect guest for this podcast. There are so many women out there that aren't. Necessarily brave or bold enough to go out there and do something on their own. Mm-hmm. Do something different.

Mm-hmm. They don't truly understand or may not truly understand. They have options. They don't have to go back to the nine to five grind. There are other things they can do. They can go out and have fun, and you are a perfect example of that. I love that. Good. Awesome. We're on the same page. That's great. So the one question I ask every single person I've interviewed so far is do you recall what your dreams were as a, as a little girl, and are you doing that now?

Yeah. You know what's funny is I, I think that I probably had the same. Dreams as a little girl that most little girls my age had back then, right? Like my, I wanna be a movie star and I wanna be a singer and a model and all these things, which as I grew up, I was like, I don't wanna be any of those. I actually am.

I, I always call myself an outgoing introvert. Like I love being around people. I love one-on-one, but if I'm in a group, it really, of strangers, I get really awkward and uncomfortable, but I love one's. But yeah, so I prefer, and why I love having my dog's page behind scenes. I, whereas I struggle sometimes

 I was asked to model once and it was just a local clothing company.  And I just, it, it actually made me flash back and go, gosh, I remember when I was little and I looked at like, Cindy Crawford, like, she was so gorgeous, and I was like, I wanna be like her. You know? And, and I mean, not that I'm like her, but, you know, just kind that, that, that dream that you thought that you wanted not realizing, you know, Yeah, it kind of goes away and then you're just like, I'm kinda doing something that I never really ever thought I would do.

Amazing. The reason why I asked that question is because I've had that question asked of me a few times and I couldn't answer it. Like, I literally could not say this was my dream growing up. I was totally. Go to school, get the job, work hard, you're gonna get promoted, you'll move up in the world. And surprise, surprize, it didn't work out past my forties.

In twenties and thirties, it might have worked out, but in my forties, it was like, huh, surprise. That standard doesn't work. And having it all, I don't know if. You might have been a little young for the, "Having it All" book that came out in the early eighties, how you had to be the perfect business woman, the perfect wife, perfect mother.

And I think that's part of the reason why I'm hearing a lot of, well, I'm only, or I don't have kids, therefore I'm not. You know, or I only am a stay-at-home mom. I hate that. Yeah. Doesn't matter what you're doing. You should be respected for still being here after the hell we've been through for the last several decades.

Right. So, absolutely. Yeah. I love that. Someone said to me it was. Kind of interesting she said, cuz I kept saying, I don't know. I don't, what are my dreams? Dreams. I've never had the space to dream. And she's like, it's not a thing Cheryl. It's a feeling. Get outta your head and into your heart and remember what makes you feel good.

And that's where heart storming comes from. Yeah. It's, you know, what makes you feel good. I love that. And I'm like, oh, okay. Well I do love connecting people. I do love creating communities and helping people. So if nothing else comes outta this podcast, if I can inspire and motivate one person to go out there and take a chance, that's perfect for me.

So, yeah, so that's, that's where that question came from. Yeah. No, I see. I love, I love that because, you know, your, your goal of bringing people together, being the connector. I don't know if you've ever read the book, um, oh my gosh, now I forgot it. My book ever. Oh my gosh. Yeah. Menopause brain. Forget things immediately.

Tell me. But it's my favorite. It'll come back to me, you know, probably after we get off this call. Um, but, but being the connector and connecting people and building a community, like, that's, that's what I love. Like I have this group I put together and it was because I. My husband loved to hike and I didn't.

And so, um, one day I just put out on Facebook, this was like four years ago. I'm like, Hey, does anybody wanna go on a hike with me? And I had like a couple women, um, you know, one or two I knew one or two I didn't know. And we all went on a hike and I'm like, oh my gosh. So I started doing that every month.

And I, every month it would kind of grow. And so I was like, you know, I'm gonna put together a Facebook group. It was called the Selfie Sisters. Nice. And so every month I would schedule a, I would schedule a hike, but then my thing was I didn't wanna be the leader of it. My job was to bring people together.

And then when we got to the hike, I'm like, somebody else needs to lead us because I'm not a leader, you know? And I. I've done that during Covid with the book club. I'm like, I'll bring everybody together. But then I actually have somebody that leads the book club. Cause I was like, that's not my gift. My gift is kinda like you said, bringing people together.

Right. That's beautiful. Awesome. Yeah. One of the questions I wanted to ask you is, so it seems you've been, a creative for your own business for quite some time now. You started mm-hmm. I'm sorry, I low key stalked your profile, so I can get a little more information before this interview. But it looks like you started off as a fitness consultant and then you've moved your way up into menopause, which we should definitely talk about.

But I'm just wondering how you transitioned from one to the next. So, Yeah, so it's, it's kind of funny, like there's never been any real strategy behind, like the things that I share. It's kind of like I'm just living my life out loud. Right. And, uh, probably about. I think probably about eight or nine years ago, um, I was in a very different place.

I, I was a smoker. I didn't work out. I had horrible eating habits and my husband was really healthy. Right? I was, I always joke and say I was a closet smoker, like nobody ever saw me smoke, so I'd like hide out and I'd like change my clothes, you know, do all these things. And, um, but I wasn't fooling anybody, my husband.

Super intimidates me. I don't really know what I'm doing and when I go, I'm just gonna go on the treadmill cause I at least know how to walk. And, um, so he, uh, one day we decided, or he decided, I can't remember who, um, to start doing an at-home workout program like p90x, right? So Tony Horton, you know, and he's like, and his thought was, okay, I'm gonna get Dionna to start working out, start creating these healthy habits, and then I'll go back to the gym.

Well, he loved the workouts and I was consistent with them. And so we decided to be the Beachbody is the, the company that, that owns all these like workouts. So they're like, you can be a coach. I use that word really loosely because I'm like, I'm not a professional. You know, I just learned. Right. So that was, I think the gift that I had is building groups and communities of other women like me, like.

I'm not perfect. I'm gonna mess up, here's a workout I'm doing, do you wanna do it together? Right. And that's kind of how that started and then Amazing. Yeah. And then just learning and failing forward and, and through that I stopped smoking and, and it wasn't because I was ready to show up for me, but I'm a people pleaser by nature, a reform people pleaser, I should say.

And so I'm like, have show up these ladies.

I have to, I have to be there. They're, they're relying on me. So it was such a gift to, to have that. And so we've been doing that for probably about the last 10 years, and it looks much different than it did. Then before it was like, okay, we're doing this job and it's great and we're gonna show up on social media.

All awkward and you know, made a lot of missteps along the way, but we learned from every one of them and now I'm just like, okay. Sometimes I work out and sometimes I don't. And but then transitioning to, oh my gosh, my body's changing now. I menopause. Yeah. Weight and the workouts and the eating that used to work for me is now not.

And so I just living my life. Out loud, because I'm like, if I'm feeling this way, if I'm going through this, I know there's other people that are, yeah. Feeling and thinking the same way and it feels very isolating, you know? Cause I. 2% of my life. Right? Right. You don't see me in the corner crying and going, failing.

I can't tell you how many times I cried with the van. Like, oh, what's wrong with me? You know? And that was, I think, starting the transition into menopause as well. So I'm like, I'm gaining weight and I'm in a foreign place and it's hot and it's cold and the van's breaking down and you know, just the perfect storm for everything.

And uh, yeah. And that's kind of where, where what I share comes from is like what I'm, but I try, don't wanna. The suck of it, or it right in the middle where I'm still like freaking out. I, I will share it after I'm kind of a little outta it. Yeah. Cause if I'm still processing all this stuff, I can't really, I can't really share about it, you know?

Yeah, yeah. But it's just, it's so important for others to see that they're not alone going through that. So. Amazing. Amazing for you and you're way braver than me. I don't even post pictures of myself, let alone video. So well done. Yeah, it's, it was actually a gift. So when we first started doing the, the online workout stuff, I was the exact same way.

I was like, I don't like, like, oh my gosh, selfies and ah, what is all this stuff? But my husband loved video and he still does, and why he's got such a successful like YouTube channel right now is he loves being in front of. And so when we first started doing our, our workouts, We're just gonna do it. It was before TikTok or Instagram reels or anything like that came along.

We would just show up on video. And so I remember at first I used to have cue cards that I read verbatim. I couldn't ad lib anything and, and by doing that and being so scared, it just, it just helped me kind of work through it. It's still awkward being like, I still cannot record myself. If my husband's home.

I'm like, you need to leave. I need to go, I need to do this and I don't want anybody around, I don't need you to watch me doing this. Oh, totally get it. And I, I find, I find if I'm pre prep or I have some sort of script in front of me, I don't sound genuine. I get all up in my throat. Yeah. Cause I'm trying to remember all the words I'm supposed to say.

And I find I'm way better just being. Whatever. And the magic's in the editing after the fact, right? Absolutely, absolutely. Yes. And that's actually why, just, just super recently I just started, cause I usually share a lot of stuff on my Instagram stories and I don't really share so much on my page so much, but I was like, why don't I flip flop that?

Why don't I, all the stuff that I was just sharing with my stories, why don't I just. Make it a real and and, and see because then it doesn't disappear in 20 hours and maybe more people can benefit from it. Right. So you probably have more people following your post than you even know. They probably check your page.

Hey, what's Dionna up to today? Speaking of which, I've really been enjoying your posts, about your experiences with perimenopause. Not that menopause is a fun thing to talk about, but it's an important subject. Yeah. It's been so great to see you sharing different products and ideas that have or haven't worked for you.

Oh, I'm glad to see more and more pages openly discussing menopause, but they seem to be promoting a one size fits all solution, which to me is very dangerous. Yeah, yeah. The one that I know for sure that no two women go through the same experience. Yes. What I love about your page is that you aren't heavy selling any one solution.

You are, like you said, Just living out loud and sharing your own experiences. Yeah. Thank you. Um, I, yeah, I think that's super important. There's, there's quite a few doctors in naturopath and menopause specialists that I follow. I might not, I don't wanna say believe that's the wrong word. I might not agree with a hundred percent of what they're saying, but I, but I think that it's still really important to kind of like, listen to all sides and be able, okay, I'm gonna try this.

Mm-hmm. This sounds reasonable for me. This kind of makes sense. And then there's other things that I'm like, ah, that doesn't make sense. Like I know that some menopause. Um, professionals talk about the importance of getting tested. Um, you know, getting your blood and finding out where you are, your saliva and you know, all this stuff, and finding out where your estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone are.

And then I've seen the other camp that they're like, no, you need to base it on symptoms only. And so there's, you know, but I follow both camps and I take away with what makes sense. And then I also do what. What I feel is right and, you know, listening and speaking to, to my, you know, naturopath as well and figuring out, ok, well what, what is your belief and what are the benefits of this?

And I do ask lots of questions. I ask my naturopath, I'm like, well, I, I heard this. Why, why do you agree or not agree with it? And so it's, it's, I think it's important for us to have all this information and be okay with totally, um, you know, cut. Picking what, like you said, what works best for us because it's not a one size fits all.

It's so great. You have a naturopath that you trust too, cuz that's not easy to do either. Cause there's really good ones. Yes. And then there's not so good ones. That's really important for people to understand that just because. The one person you've gone to said you should do this. You shouldn't seek other information just to make sure it's Exactly, and just understanding like when you're, when you're in like a body that's like, um, new to you, right?

Like it seems like, and it didn't happen overnight, but it almost felt like, wow, this 15 pounds just like overnight just appeared, you know? And, and it wasn't that way, but like, trying to get used to a new body that maybe didn't, isn't working in the same way or is like, you know, Calories and calories out isn't working the same way that, that it did when you're in your thirties and you know, and then just having a really supportive spouse and, and talking with them. 

Yeah. I'm curious, cuz I started following you when you guys moved from the house to the condo and then all of a sudden you're like, okay, now we're moving to a van. And I think I even sent you a note saying, wow, I am so impressed you have such a tight, tight relationship with your spouse that you're willing to do that.

Yeah. Yeah, so we, um, had a home that was, um, the house that, you know, my kids were at that they both graduated, um, living in that home. And so when my son graduated, he was going off to school. My daughter had actually already moved out and we're like, all right, well, we don't need to stay here. And honestly, The, the housing market was great, so it was a great time to sell, you know, and we're like, Hey, we don't have to buy something else right now.

We can kinda figure out what we, what we wanna do next. And so we rented a condo, um, for a year and probably maybe about six months into it, my husband watches a lot of like the outdoor stuff and, and you know, all these van lifers. And he's like, oh my gosh, how cool would it be to do, you know, van Life? And I'm like, awesome.

Cool. And then he's like, what do you think about building a van? And, and he talked about it for a while and I usually just go, that's a great idea, honey. Um, knowing that he, he'll just get over it. Like, he, he, he'll, he'll like, what do you think about a Lamborghini this week? And I'm like, great idea, honey.

You know, just. How about, how about we build a house in Thailand? I'm like, great idea honey, knowing that it's gonna go away. Um, but the van didn't. Um, and so he's just like, I, I think I wanna do this. And I, you know, I was scared and excited. I had like all the feelings, right? Cause I'm like, oh, an adventure.

And I'm like, oh. But I also like safety and, you know, the comforts of, of having a home base and. And I'm like, but okay, we're not gonna, we're we'll do this and we're not gonna give ourself a timeline. So it's not like we're gonna commit to a year. If for some reason we're a month into it and we're like, this is horrible.

We're not gonna do this for anybody else but ourselves. Right, right. Perfect. And so, um, yeah, we put, we put everything in storage. We got our van delivered, I think mid August. In the last day of August. We moved out, our condo moved into that with our two dogs. And just took off. Um, we, we stayed around the area that we currently live in.

Cause my daughter was having baby number two and so I didn't wanna be too far away until after she had the baby. And so we were just kind of traveling, you know, within a, you know, three or four hour for like a month until she had the baby. And then we started taking off and we went to, yeah, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Idaho, Oregon.

And through that we decided, Living in a van full time with two dogs sucks,

But um, it was a beautiful, beautiful van. Very impressive van. Yes, I can understand the appeal but that tight, those tight quarters. My goodness. Your dogs did live their best lives. Yes, I'm sure cuz you were always with them. Always. Yes, so they, it was funny. People thought that like, oh my gosh, they're just in the van full time.

And I'm like, actually, we always chose places as much as we could that were like off grid, and it was just, Nobody was around. So the dogs had so much more freedom. Um, yeah. But it was then the weather started turning and you know, there's a lot of things to consider when you have one dog that does not like hot weather.

So the AC was always on, and then you have a little dog that doesn't do well in cold. And so trying to find balance. Well, it was an experience. It was a lived experience. Yes. It's pretty amazing you had a Yes career that you could do that both of you. That's amazing. Absolutely. And I think, absolutely. Yeah.

I think we all kind of daydream of getting rid of the mortgage and living in a tiny house and it's all gonna be sunshine and rainbows, but it's sometimes it is and sometimes it isn't. And it's important to be honest. That's right. Wow. That's right. Wow. Good for you. Yeah. Yes, thank you. Of course I wouldn't do it.

So I'm always impressed with somebody that goes out there and does stuff like that. So Very, and it is really great that you have such a strong relationship that he accepted that, you know what? This isn't working for me. Although I'm sure if you secretly asked him, he wasn't all that happy with the night.

He did. He did too, for sure. Well, at least you tried. Yeah. Now you can. Yeah. So now you can say you tried. He tried. So that's, that's, that's amazing. So now you're back in your original city, Uhhuh, so you can be close to family. Yeah. And bond with your girls so you can go hiking again. Yes. Makes a big difference, isn't it?

Absolutely. Oh my gosh. Absolutely. Yes. It's been great. It's just nice. Having a familiar area where you're like, okay, I don't need to use the map or you know, Google map to figure out where I'm going. And you know, because as much as I always say I'm an introvert, like it is nice to like have quality time.

So like I'm gonna go wine tasting with a girlfriend later on and I'm like, oh, just those little moments, like I don't need to be surrounded with people, but I do need that, that connection piece. And so we're just here for. Until the end of, um, July, and then we're actually gonna start traveling again. Um, it's just gonna look a little bit different.

So, um, right now we're just an Airbnb. We just go from Airbnb to Airbnb and we may, we may take the van with us. We'll see. Um, if it sells, if it sells, then it won't. If it doesn't sell, then we'll take it with us. Then we'll have some parttime experiences with it. Just not a fulltime experience, but you're making it work for you and that's the whole point, right?

Yeah. Yeah. For sure. What I would love to do at this phase, and we'll see if it actually happens, is we have so many things that we haven't shared about our experiences traveling over the past, what, 10 months? Um, full-time that we would love to share. Yeah. Like if people that wanna be digital nomads or maybe they're stream fan life or how to.

Airbnb on the cheap, you know, things like that. So we do have a travel YouTube channel that we put together that, that we haven't been super consistent with. But I, I would, I would love to sh provide more value, but I also don't wanna be stuck. You know how there's a lot of, you know, people that just do one thing, but I'm like, I, I think I get bored if I just do one thing.

So I'm like, I wanna be a little bit of travel and a little bit of wellness and a little bit of crazy dog mom, and, you know, so, and Mr. Kevin, I'm sure a lot of people follow Kevin already. He's the superstar in the family. He sure is. He's, he's your super model. That's right. That's right. Oh my, oh my gosh.

She's so cute. That one video of you two where he's hugging your arm. Oh my gosh. I must have seen that three bazillion times on different sites that probably may or may not give you credit for it, but it is so cute. So when I got Kevin, I, I thought he was gonna be a therapy dog. That was my goal. But since he's got kind of a fear of people that didn't really work out as well as I thought I was gonna, but yeah, I was like, I didn't realize how much I needed him because when I got him, both my kids lived at home and then transitioning.

To being an empty nester. I was like, if I didn't have something to kind of keep me occupied with this page, I think I would've felt the loss of my kids leaving the house a lot more. And, but with Kevin, so I was like, yeah, that was, I didn't even plan that, but I was like, Okay. Cuz I like to be needed and he's a very needy dog and so I was just like, oh, ok.

He still needs to be, somebody still needs me, you know? Yeah. I dunno how long ago I started following Kevin, probably when he was still a puppy. But what got you started on the page and when did it really take off? Um, so what made me start the page was I had no intention of doing a page for him at all.

Like I, um, cause I was like, I, I struggle keeping up on my own page. I can't imagine like adding another one. Cause I had a full-time job at the time and, um, And, uh, but I remember one time putting a poll on my page, on my stories. Cause I was sharing him all the time, like, oh, look at my cute little puppy.

And I was like, who would want him to have his own page? And so many people said, me, you know, like I do. And I was like, I'm not good enough. You wanna, you wanna see him without me? Okay, whatever. And, uh, so I'm like, okay. I, like I said, both the kids were at home and so I said, this is gonna be a family page.

So I gave my husband. Access. Access, you know, to the page and more like, I'm like, we're all gonna do this together. But what I forgot to do is ask them if they wanted to do it. I just told them that they were gonna do it and they didn't think it was as gonna be as fun as I thought it was gonna be. And so it turned, you know, I started just posting stuff myself and nobody else did.

And, um, And so it was just kind of fun. And, but then I would get messages of people saying, you know, it really made me happy or really, you know, I was having in a bad mood or having a bad day. And it really made me smile. And so I was like, oh my gosh. And that's kinda where I'm like, I want him to be a therapy dog.

And he's kinda doing what a therapy dog would do. You know, making people feel good and making them smile. And, um, so I'm stop. This is the coolest thing ever. And so it, it started doing that, and then I.

When it really started taking off it, it took off pretty quickly. Cause I was like, it's a Bernese Mountain dog, puppy. There's nothing cuter in the world than a, you know. Yeah. Um, but I think what it was is probably a couple, um, other accounts picked it up and maybe shared. Cause back then if it shared, you'd get some traction.

Um, people say, our claim to fame is that we were on, we weren't. She shared it on her Twitter page, which would be pretty cool. But she didn't mention him or I at all. It was just, she just took the video and then somebody that knew me. Oh. Cause it was like one of our workout videos. And so one of, um, so somebody had seen that on her Twitter and said, oh my gosh, I just saw you and Kevin on her Twitter page.

And so. Nobody that didn't already know us would know that they were on, but I still say that was like, we were on Ellen, but, um, that didn't, that didn't, that didn't help his account. Yeah. That that's still pretty cool. Yeah. Very cool. Yeah. Oh my goodness. And then the sponsorships started rolling in, or not really?

Um, it was very slow, like sponsorships at first, like I remember. Um, you know, one sponsorship was like, Hey, we'll give you a picture in exchange for a, a post. And I was like, oh my gosh, I get a free picture, you know? And then, and then somebody's like, Hey, we'll give you a little bit of money for, you know, like, I'll give you a hundred bucks if you do this.

I'm like, oh my gosh, gimme hundred bucks. You know? And so it kinda grew from there. And then learning, because social media and content creation is it's newer business model, and so there's learning curve every single. Brand deal or, um, brand that we worked with. We learned something new, we learned what worked well.

We also learned we can't do this again. Um, so everything, everything was learning and then it just kind of evolved from there. And so, um, you know, we're kind of selective on the brands that we partner with because we wanna make sure that it's good a, you know, Use or we've already used or that we could stand behind.

It's an ethical value, purpose driven company. Um, and so yeah, there's things that we absolutely love that I'm. We can't share it enough. Um, like the bow Wow buddies. I dunno if you've ever seen those. Those are my favorite things ever. Yes. Yeah. My favorites. Yes. Uh, well, I don't know if I mentioned it to you.

I live up in Canada. Oh. And it took us the longest time to get bow Wow buddies. And we finally did, and it was like $250 each. I'm like, no. Oh my goodness. But now they're 50, which is a little more reasonable, so I am tempted to give it a shot. Yeah. But yeah, it took the longest time to get up there. Oh yeah.

We very rarely get the cool stuff until well after the fact. Oh yeah. So I'm glad to see. So I, you know, I of course tried the, um, what do you call 'em, the bully sticks. Oh. Mm-hmm. And both of my dogs have almost choked on them, so we stopped doing it. Yes. Cause they go. One minute, they're halfway done, and the next minute, the next, I know they're, yeah.

It's like, oh my God, don't do that to me. Exactly. And that frightens me because, um, Kevin, not even with Bully Sticks, but other things, when he was a puppy, he would choke and so like, we had to pull things out. So I was like, he, neither one. And my little guy, if he. Knows you're coming towards him. He will swallow things whole cause he's like mine.

And so, um, I never ever had them eat bully sticks. And when they had this, I was like, this is so amazing. Like, now they can enjoy it. And so every, even though I probably shouldn't give it to 'em every night, they literally have one every night. It's like they're after dinner, treat before bed, and. I didn't even know a side effect was like their, their teeth are so much better too, but I mean, just not having, and I still wouldn't give it to 'em and leave the house just in case one wiggled free.

Right. Um, but we haven't had that happen. But I was like, oh my gosh, this is so great. And it keeps them busy too. You're like, we have friends over. Yeah. They stink like crap. They do, but um, they do last a long time compared to other, other bones and stuff. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. So where's your first adventure after this stint back at home.

Oh, wait a minute. Did I not See you guys get vaccinated to go to Africa? Oh, yes. We're gonna Africa. Yes, we're gonna. Oh mate, that's my dream trip. Bucket list. Dream trip. Oh, amazing. It is. It, it was a bucket list dream trip. It was, it was kind of funny. Um, we were gonna be going to Europe, which I've never been to Europe, but his, uh, my husband's brother actually lives there right now for work.

So he has been there for a couple years and, And we're like, oh, we should go visit him. And then I saw the price of like airfare, and I'm the frugal one in our family. My husband loves to spend money. I love. That's how much it costs to fly. And I'm like to Europe, like I, cause I wasn't super excited to go cause I was like, I don't really know what I wanna see.

And then I'm like, I would rather go somewhere like really cool if we're gonna spend that money. Like, I dunno, Africa. And he's like, yes. And so, yeah. So he has a, a friend, like a longtime friend

and actually put together different. Adventures for people. So they do, you know, um, climbing Mount Kili Majaro and they do safaris and things in Peru and all these things. So we started having a conversation with, um, his team and it was really cool because you, you meet with somebody and they. From their team and you just kind of explain what you wanna do, what you don't wanna do.

Do you wanna walk? Do you wanna to be, you know, really bougie, do you wanna rough it, you know, and all this stuff. And then three or four different calls, you kind of narrow it down to, okay, well here's your package customized for you. And so, yeah, so we're gonna be gone for 10 days. I, Tanzania, we're doing pretty much the.

Safari and Vans. I think we have one day where it's a walking safari, and then we're gonna go into town one day and do some work with the Red sweater project. Which is a school that Oh, cool. Um, makes, uh, makes high school affordable for kids, especially girls. Cause I guess a lot of times girls don't go to school there.

Um, so I'm really excited to kinda check that out, but yeah. Oh, I'm so jealous. Oh my gosh. Yeah. That's gonna be amazing. I can't wait to see all your videos, cuz I know you two will share. Yes. Yeah. Oh my gosh. I'm probably gonna have to get a new phone just for the storage alone. I'm sure we're. Yeah, no kidding.

Are you glamping it or are you staying in a tent? Tent? Um, I think it's kind of glamp. Um, so it's gonna, it's gonna be a tent. They're all tents, but I think they're like stationary tents. Cause the one thing I can't rough it too much. Like I, I don't mind not having good amenities. The only thing I need. Is a comfy bed because like I get so sore, like I get hip pain and back pain.

And so I'm like the only thing that I require is a bed that, that I can sleep. And then everything else, I don't mind roughing up. Like I don't mind not washing my hair for 10 days and you know, throwing it in a ponytail. Yeah. All that stuff. But I was like, I just have to have something that's not gonna make me stay up all night.

Cause I've stayed at places like that and I'm like, Okay. Word to the whys. Need a comfy bed. Yeah. And maybe not mosquitoes flying around your head all night. That's true too. Good. But that's helpful. Well, this has been so much fun. Thank you. Yeah. Very much for your time. I really appreciate it. Yeah, no, I'm so excited for you.

I'm, I love that you're just, that you're going for it. Thank you. Like you're like, I wanna do this and you're doing it. Yeah, it may completely flop, but I don't care cuz I'm having fun. Mm-hmm. And I'm meeting really cool people. That's nice. That's the best part is I get to meet and chat with really cool people.

So yes. Thank you so much. No, thank you.

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