Off Your Beaten Path

Join us this week as we interview Brandon Barnard - Automobile Clay Modeler.  This is what you can expect to hear:

If you are a car nerd like George, you already know what a Clay Modeler does.

If you are like Nicole, you had no idea this cool job even existed!

Find out how we met Brandon.

Hear about a typical day for a modeler - hint...it involves coffee!

Learn about how someone would become a clay modeler.

What goes into building a car from clay?

What happens to the model when they are done?

Communication is key in this field!

Brandon has a fun side hustle - near and dear to our heart.  It involves vintage championship sports!

There might be a little hockey talk...

Join us this week as we interview Lynnette Katz - Family Travel Planner with Wish Upon a Star With Us! This is what you can expect to hear in this episode:

How a Travel Agent can help take the stress out of planning a vacation - at NO extra cost to you

Hear about how a Travel Agent becomes your advocate

Find out where her love for Disney began - it is all about the memories

She loves to book travel because she wants to help her clients make memories together!

Our favorite Disney desserts and rides - she stirs something up in us!

Hear about what sets Disney apart from other destinations

Find out how to bring out your inner child!

Why she loves Alaska so much!

Learn about Adventures by Disney

Choose Your Own Adventure on the Galactic Starcruiser

Join us this week as we interview the team at Ivanoff Seafood located in Kodiak, AK. This is what you can expect to hear in this episode:

What do you call female who fishes?

This business is a family affair!

Their love for food drives their passion for fishing

What in the world is a sea cucumber?

What does it take to own a fishing business in Alaska

Hazards of diving in murky water

How they deal with the fishy smell in their clothes

Find out how they acquired the fishing vessel New Dawn

How you can get fresh Alaska seafood delivered directly from their boat to your door!

Join us this week as we interview our friend and neighbor: Brendan Fahey - owner and captain of Sail NW Adventures.  This is what you can expect to hear in this episode:

After graduating college, he lost his job because of the 2008 financial crisis.  This led him to look towards his skills to create a new opportunity for himself.

He did not come from a sailing family, but credits a local sailing program for turning him onto the sport.

Discover how a visit to Skagway 11 years ago, stuck with him.  

Find out what his favorite thing about Skagway is...most residents would disagree!

Learn how he acquired his sailing vessel: Hopscotch

The pandemic brought us together (see it wasn't all bad)

Bears are terrorizing our neighborhood

Find out how you can experience his once in a lifetime trip through the wilderness of Southeast Alaska!

Adventures during his longest sailing trip to date!

Join us this week as we interview our good friend Anthony "Biggie" Bencomo - owner of Deli Fresh Threads.  This is what you can expect to hear in this episode:

How he turned his love for sandwiches into a popular clothing brand

Why he considers sandwiches the King of Meals

Where he finds inspiration for his designs

How his background in Marketing fueled his attention to detail for his own brand

His advice on how to grow your business even if you have champagne taste on a beer budget

Where you can get his signature sandwich

His sandwich community which includes some very famous people with Food Network Ties

Business ownership is a marathon, not a sprint!

Join us for the first episode of Season 2!  This season we want to introduce you to people who have COOL jobs.  Get inspired by these people who have used passion and drive to create unique opportunities!

We made it back to the United States, but our journey home is far from over.  Join us on the last four legs of our journey home.  This is the FINAL episode of season 1!

On this week's podcast, we do all this...and then some!

Enjoy visits with family and friends

Visit lots of our favorite Orlando eateries

Bought Alex a funny cake

Closed the chapter on our life in Florida

Played tourist in Orlando

Discovered an adorable Florida town

Fell in love with a baby

Stocked up on Kringle

Got marked by a lion

Struggled with our luggage

Pretended to be hip in Seattle

Saw some crazy stuff in the Seattle library

And...Nicole had surgery

Off Your Beaten Path is a weekly travel podcast about trading in your daily grind for a life worth living! Take a new path each week as your hosts Nicole and George inspire you to live bold and explore outside the lines. Take that trip, work with purpose, and live a life less ordinary by getting Off Your Beaten Path.

Please feel free to leave us a comment or question below!

Thank you so much for listening!

We fell in love with Seville so much that we had to break it up into two separate podcasts!  This is part 2 of our podcast about our time in Sevilla, Spain.  

On this episode, you can expect to hear about the following:

Two amazing day trips 

Some of the most unique and stunning architecture

Our unintentional Game of Thrones vacation continues

Sunsets by the river

Tex-Mex Spanish Style

Tapas, Tapas, Tapas

George discovers some new favorite beverages

We stick out like a sore thumb

Travel dilemmas caused by weather in New York

Off Your Beaten Path is a weekly travel podcast about trading in your daily grind for a life worth living! Take a new path each week as your hosts Nicole and George inspire you to live bold and explore outside the lines. Take that trip, work with purpose, and live a life less ordinary by getting Off Your Beaten Path.

Please feel free to leave us a comment or question below!

Thank you so much for listening!

We have joined the masses and have fallen in love with Sevilla, Spain!

Explore this amazing location with us!   We have so much to share about this slice of heaven on Earth, that we have split this location into two episodes.  

On this first episode, you will hear about our first four days in Sevilla!  We covered a lot of ground...averaging AT LEAST 2.5 miles of walking every day!  We hope you will fall in love with this city as we share our experiences with you!  A few of the topics we will discuss include:

Streets lined with orange trees

Slowing down, siestas, and tapas!

Followed in the footsteps of Obi-Wan Kenobi at the Plaza de Espana

Spotted Christopher Columbus at the Seville Cathedral

Walked on top of mushrooms

Enjoyed some Flamenco

Continued on our Arepa extravaganza

Learned about the historical significance of the Jewish people in Seville

Discover some of the best desserts of the whole trip!  

Off Your Beaten Path is a weekly travel podcast about trading in your daily grind for a life worth living! Take a new path each week as your hosts Nicole and George inspire you to live bold and explore outside the lines. Take that trip, work with purpose, and live a life less ordinary by getting Off Your Beaten Path.

Please feel free to leave us a comment or question below!

Thank you so much for listening!

Join us this week as we enjoy the very popular destination of Benalmadena, Spain on the Costa del Sol.  There is a reason why Spain is so popular with Europeans.  With an average of 35 days of rain each year and an average temperature of 74.  This could very well be THE perfect place to vacation in the winter (or anytime, really!)

While our main goal for this leg of our trip was relaxation, we explored quite a bit too!  Here is what you can expect to hear about in this episode:

Mind blowing food

Butterflies

Hot tubs

Beautiful Beaches

A major export from Spain

A road trip through the mountains

A town built in the walls of a gorge

A historic bull fighting ring

An amazing bridge 

And

A Buddhist Temple

Off Your Beaten Path is a weekly travel podcast about trading in your daily grind for a life worth living! Take a new path each week as your hosts Nicole and George inspire you to live bold and explore outside the lines. Take that trip, work with purpose, and live a life less ordinary by getting Off Your Beaten Path.

Please feel free to leave us a comment or question below!

Thank you so much for listening!

Despite our medical issues during our first week in Spain, we did manage to squeeze in some fun!

Join us in Madrid and Valencia!

We eat lots of Arepas

Enjoy our first Churros with Chocolate

Visit a Cathedral (that George forgot about)

Enjoy the sights and sounds of the Central Market

Visit the Aquarium

See amazing architecture

Take in some beautiful sunsets

AND

Get overwhelmed by the traffic patterns!

Off Your Beaten Path is a weekly travel podcast about trading in your daily grind for a life worth living! Take a new path each week as your hosts Nicole and George inspire you to live bold and explore outside the lines. Take that trip, work with purpose, and live a life less ordinary by getting Off Your Beaten Path.

Please feel free to leave us a comment or question below!

Thank you so much for listening!

This is a "very" special episode!  Journey with us as we have to navigate the Spanish healthcare system...more times than we could have imagined! I am pretty sure Spain was not ready for us this time! 

When you travel for an extended period of time, it is inevitable that you will have some tough days.  We had an extremely tough week when we first arrived in Spain.  So much so that we almost scrapped the rest of our trip.

This is an episode you don't want to miss!  

All of this and more:

We find out our Spanish is not as good as we thought.

George gets probed by aliens.

We visit a hospital/doctor every day for 7 days straight.

Nasal tampons are a thing.

Our ice cream date is ruined!

We might have gotten whiplash.

The bad "H" word...Nicole becomes superstitious.

We learned a VERY important lesson.

Great Airbnb hosts - for the WIN!

Off Your Beaten Path is a weekly travel podcast about trading in your daily grind for a life worth living! Take a new path each week as your hosts Nicole and George inspire you to live bold and explore outside the lines. Take that trip, work with purpose, and live a life less ordinary by getting Off Your Beaten Path.

Please feel free to leave us a comment or question below!

Thank you so much for listening!

Join us as we finish our trip through Germany!

Hear all about our adventures:

We visit an iconic German town

Got up close and personal with some wild animals...and strange statues

We celebrated New Years with some moonshine and fireworks

Visited a Castle on a cliff

Tried a Croffle

And

Checked items off the bucket list

Off Your Beaten Path is a weekly travel podcast about trading in your daily grind for a life worth living! Take a new path each week as your hosts Nicole and George inspire you to live bold and explore outside the lines. Take that trip, work with purpose, and live a life less ordinary by getting Off Your Beaten Path.

Please feel free to leave us a comment or question below!

Thank you so much for listening!

Join us this week as we spend our first few days in Germany!

We visit some Christmas Markets

We try lots of street food with names that are difficult to pronounce 

Stumble upon a winter game that is new to us

Nicole gets hugged by a stranger

George traces his family roots to his father's hometown

We add another amazing Cathedral to the list of ones that "wow" George

and...it is raining again!

This week's Takeaways:

1.  If you see a long line at a food stall in a Christmas Market, join the crowd.  You won't be disappointed.

2.  Melty cheese is always a good option.

3.  We cannot speak German.

Off Your Beaten Path is a weekly travel podcast about trading in your daily grind for a life worth living! Take a new path each week as your hosts Nicole and George inspire you to live bold and explore outside the lines. Take that trip, work with purpose, and live a life less ordinary by getting Off Your Beaten Path.

Please feel free to leave us a comment or question below!

Thank you so much for listening!

Join us this week as we celebrate Christmas in Belgium!  Find out why Belgium has now been added to my list of favorite things. Hint:  It might have to do with chocolate, waffles, and potatoes (among many other reasons).

Find out why we picked Belgium for our "no stress"  Christmas holiday.  Belgium tops the list with some of the BEST food we have eaten on this trip!  We learned some interesting facts about where the Barber Pole and some other slang terms originated.  We learned that we have been doing hot chocolate wrong our whole lives.  And don't miss the bit about "Nicole proof" doors!

Key takeaways:

1.  Belgium has ruined all other chocolate and waffles for us! 

2.  The Dutch language uses at least 15 letters in very word!

3.  Nicole hates spiral staircases.  

Bonjour from Paris, France!  Join us as we explore the City of Lights!

We get a fancy upgraded rental car, seek out some American breakfast, visit a few Christmas markets, check off our must see attractions, learn all about the French Revolution(s), spent a lot of money, walked A LOT...and so much more!

This week's takeaways:

1.  Ask how much something is before you commit to buying it.

2.  Pack a snack...and some great walking shoes.

3.  Bring your own butter!

Find out what happens when Omicron threatens all of our travel plans.  We complete our road trip around Ireland. Join us in Dublin for two solid days of exploring!

We complete our hot chocolate tasting tour of Ireland, visit some historic cathedrals, learn about brewing and distilling from the masters, visit a museum of EPIC proportion, explore Viking history in Ireland, AND win some money at the track!

This week's takeaways:

1. Hot chocolate is always a great way to start the day in Ireland.

2. Vikings can be funny!

3. Being a planner can backfire in a pandemic.

Travel with us as we take our longest legs of our road trip through Ireland!

We visit a beautiful castle, have our first argument of the trip, respect my parents wishes, buy some local art, wake up next to some cows, and fail at a round about...several times! 

This week's takeaways:

1. Is it really a round about if it is not round?

2. Make sure the batteries are charged!  

3. Winter is Coming!

Off Your Beaten Path is a weekly travel podcast about trading in your daily grind for a life worth living! Take a new path each week as your hosts Nicole and George inspire you to live bold and explore outside the lines. Take that trip, work with purpose, and live a life less ordinary by getting Off Your Beaten Path.

Please feel free to leave us a comment or question below!

Thank you so much for listening!

Find out about our visits to Limerick, Galway, and The Cliffs of Moher.

We stumble on a new business idea, butcher some more words, search for relatives, almost get blown away by gale force winds, drive on a bike path, and find some deliciousness in Galway!

This week's takeaways:

1.  Ireland does not have crispy bacon.

2.  Wind and rain will not stop us!

3.  Tracking ancestry is hard when everyone has the same name!

Off Your Beaten Path is a weekly travel podcast about trading in your daily grind for a life worth living! Take a new path each week as your hosts Nicole and George inspire you to live bold and explore outside the lines. Take that trip, work with purpose, and live a life less ordinary by getting Off Your Beaten Path.

Please feel free to leave us a comment or question below!

Thank you so much for listening!

On this week's episode, we survived Winter Storm Barra...and visited Cobh, Beaufort, and the Ring of Kerry.

We also discuss the "strange" things we have encountered while being in Ireland, as well as some bumps in the road with our phone service.  Find out what amazing Airbnb experience we took part in and what kind of store we stumbled upon!  

We also bring the "weather" everywhere we go!

This week's takeaways - 

1.  Bring your raincoat to Ireland.

2.  Guinness Chocolate cake is a must!

3.  Don't skip a visit to Dingle.

4.  Airbnb Experiences for the win again!

Off Your Beaten Path is a weekly travel podcast about trading in your daily grind for a life worth living! Take a new path each week as your hosts Nicole and George inspire you to live bold and explore outside the lines. Take that trip, work with purpose, and live a life less ordinary by getting Off Your Beaten Path.

Please feel free to leave us a comment or question below!

Thank you so much for listening!

We have arrived in Ireland! 

Join us as we get accustomed to driving on the "wrong" side of the road...while lacking sleep from our flight from New York.  

We visit our first castle, get addicted to all things Cadbury, learn about Waterford Crystal, and start checking things off of our Ireland wish list!  

Key Takeaways:  

1.  Always order hot chocolate...and don't forget the Bailey's!

2.  In three days, you will finally be comfortable driving on the opposite side of the road!

3.  Make a wish list...and be flexible with what you are able to fit in!  Remember to enjoy every moment!

Off Your Beaten Path is a weekly travel podcast about trading in your daily grind for a life worth living! Take a new path each week as your hosts Nicole and George inspire you to live bold and explore outside the lines. Take that trip, work with purpose, and live a life less ordinary by getting Off Your Beaten Path.

Please feel free to leave us a comment or question below!

Thank you so much for listening!

Our trip is officially underway!  We take you on the road with us as we make a very deliberate pit stop in New York City - Brooklyn to be exact!  We just can't get enough of the city at Christmas!  

On this episode, hear about our 19 hour journey to Ireland, which included a ferry ride, a few bumpy flights (one that was terrifying), and some fun new meetings with relatives!

We explored Brooklyn with a local, ate REAL bagels and dined at the iconic Grimaldi's Pizza.  We were wowed by Broadway and rubbed elbows with famous people!

One major perk of working in a seasonal world is that we can pick how long we want our vacations to last. In our opinion, this is the ultimate in work/life balance.  We share with you how we are able to take an 81 day vacation to Europe, as well as our unique way we saved money to take this trip!  Our European itinerary has been finalized and we will also release that today too!

Key Takeaways from today's episode:

1.  Determine what work/life balance means to you...and then prioritize!

2. You have to be adaptable to change and willing to be flexible...even if you are a super planner!

3.  You don't have to be rich to travel!  You just have to be savvy and resourceful!

Some resources that we talked about today: 

Seasonal jobs can open doors that you never dreamt of before!  You can trade your boring 9-5 jobs for an opportunity to travel AND work.  We will walk you through the different ways you can explore the world for extended periods of time, while making a living!  

Here are the resources for some of the employers and job sites we mentioned in the podcast: