All Episodes

September 21, 2019 22 mins

In this bonus episode, recorded in the RV that has taken us around the country and to these National Parks we've been talking about all season, we decided to introduce ourselves a little bit. Both of us come from very different backgrounds and have very different stories, and we talk about how those disparate paths led us to each other and to this life on the road.

Have questions for us? We'd love to hear from you! Follow Parklandia on Instagram @parklandiapod, and join the Parklandia Rangers Facebook Group

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mark as Played
Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hi, I'm Matt and I'm Brad. You're listening to park Landia.
We packed up are loft in Chicago Botton r V
and now we're traveling the country full time with our dogs,
been exploring America's National Park. On today's episode, we're gonna
share with you about who we are and where we
came from. Today we're doing a little bonus episode to

(00:25):
tell you more about us and our background and who
we are as as people recording this in our r
V right now. Yes, this special episode is recorded in
this very beautiful r V. Yes we have this, but
we turned the little dining table into a Makeshifts studio. Yeah,
and you know what, we'll throw up a photo of

(00:46):
that just so you can see kind of how we
record on the road, because it's kind of fun to see. Yeah,
we're still getting used to it. We're gonna first start
off with Matt, and where did you grow up then,
so to give a little background or a lot of
background condensed into a few minutes. Um, I grew up
in southern New Hampshire in a town called Candya, which

(01:09):
is a few minutes outside of Manchester, the state's biggest city.
But I'm still I'm not sure if most people are
aware that don't even exists. It's about an hour north
of Boston, so very like a peaceful, semi rural area
in New Hampshire. And I grew up with brother and sister.

(01:30):
I was the oldest, right, I'm the oldest, and we
had a lovely childhood um playing soccer in the local
sports league where my brother and I were always in
the same team, and we're always like the star athletes
of the soccer team were always very very good. And

(01:51):
can we just note real quick, I'm sorry I have
to throw this in there, but you might be the oldest,
but sometimes you treated like the youngest where like your
sister and good, yeah, here's the youngest and then you
do Yeah that was I'm sorry, I have to bring
up embarrassing moments as well. That was the thing. But yeah,
that definitely happened. So I am got back out of
the star, right, let's get back on track with my

(02:14):
soccer stardom. So yeah, I remember like that was one
of my favorite memories was the local soccer league. And
this guy who lived on the street from us was
our coach for years and we're on the team with
his son and I feel like he always still preferred
Brian and I had to be like the starting soccer
players because we were really good. Yeah, so that was

(02:37):
really great. And then also all of us were really
into the outdoors. Nothing too hardcore intense. We wouldn't We
weren't into like intense hiking or like backcountry stuff or anything.
But when I say outdoors, I mean like we would
explore the woods around our house because there's lots of those,
and all year around, whether it was winter and we're

(02:58):
like build forts or go sledding straight into the woods
like perilously, or in the summer especially just venturing off
into the hills and the woods and along the brooks.
And then that was that was so wonderful. And there
was like three My favorite thing there was. There was
three hills in the in the woods. Um and my

(03:18):
brother and my sister and I all kind of claimed
one and named one. And Brian's quote unquote mountain was
slide mountain, which kind of is a misnomer because you
can't slide off. It's like a sheer rock face, so
you just plummet if you go off of it. And

(03:39):
Emily's my sister, she had this kind of like tree
saturated mountain thing, and she called it Queen Mountain, which
is you know, fine, and then right, yeah, okay, and
then mine was on the other side of hers, and
early signs of narcissism here, I called mine mountain me

(04:02):
and that's just that's probably something to I could spend
a whole episode evaluating that from my psychological perspective. But yeah,
so this was like our domain, and we would do
all sorts of games here as we became teenagers, were
paintball back here with cousins and my uncle and yeah,

(04:23):
just all kinds of adventure. And in addition to that
kind of adventure where we would do lots of family
vacations and trips, and a lot of that was at
the time like stuff I wasn't super interested in. I
was just boring Brady kid, and I'm sure like my
brother and sister were the same. And especially during summer vacations,
we just wanted to like hang out in New Hampshire

(04:45):
and probably go to the mall, which is so stupid,
but we would do all these adventurous travels, like one
time we took a train a sleeper car from Boston
to Seattle and that took a few days probably, and
what an epic adventure that was, and that's something I
would love to do today, but at the time I
was just like whiny and like over it. And another

(05:08):
trip which was I think very formative and had long
lasting like memories even at the time that I didn't
realize it was. We flew to Las Vegas and then
rented a r V and drove around to like place
like the Grand Canyon and Zion and I think Bryce
as well, and that was not only like an amazing

(05:33):
and fun thing to do as a family and an RV,
but like I think that was the first and only
time that we've visited national parks as the family. So fortuitous. Again, yeah,
very fortuitous. So I basically did what we're doing now,
but as a kid, and for like a week and
for like a week, yeah not like where are you're in?

(05:53):
Yeah right, that's crazy. It's just crazy. So yeah, that
was a snippet of like my upbringing. And then for
college I moved. That's when I moved to Chicago after
horrible high school. Um just you know, high school sucks,
but I wanted she get away and do my own
thing and kind of start completely fresh. So I moved

(06:13):
to Chicago to go to culinary school at Robin Morris
University and had a wonderful time. That was a blast,
even though I didn't I don't cook professionally now or
really ever, but you learned all the techniques. Yeah. So
I got into food writing. I kind of stumbled into
and start of writing for the college newspaper, and that

(06:34):
was a wonderful experience and again very fortuitous, and I
just discovered like, oh, I like food writing more than
I like cooking. So I just applied what I learned
in a different direction. And all these years later after
culinary school, have basically completely forgotten every skill I've learned
because I don't cook really at all anymore, so those

(06:57):
lessons are are long gone. But I have the great memories,
and it's what helped me established myself in Chicago as
a writer, and then did that for years and years,
and then transitioned into more travel writing and then after
that into more like nature national park writing and all that,

(07:18):
and that started this path that ultimately let us here.
And I met you in Chicago obviously, yes, yeah, while
I was living in Ukrainian village. Remember driving up that
first date and you were in front of our loft. Yeah,
you had Huck and Finn your I know, so I

(07:39):
had had them both for a few years at that point. Yeah,
when you drove in from your You're living in the
suburbs at the time, and you drove in, parked your
car and you saw I was just like outside taking
them for a little walk. So that's when I first
fell in love with you. Yeah, and that's but that
that lefted its hold still to this day some of

(08:01):
our most special members because it's where we literally met. Um.
It was the first property we bought together. You know,
we rented it for years and then we bought it.
Very meaningful and and yeah, I know it. Uh. I
really missed that loft, all of it, the neighborhood, the building.
It was just a really wonderful place to be and

(08:24):
spend a few years and invest in two and then
you know, yeah, home is where mad is though. So
well park Landia would turned soon after this short break,
and then we will talk more about my life and
growing up. I am Matt and I'm Brad. This is

(08:51):
park Landia. So now we're gonna learn more about Brad
and his upbringing and where he came from. I didn't
wanted to say hello, hey, Finn, Hi, yeah, come here.
Oh yeah. So I'm saying that's built in Detroit, driven

(09:14):
in Chicago or around the US nowadays. But um, I
actually have to tell you I didn't grow up in Detroit.
I grew up a mile north of Detroit and East Point,
which used to be named East Detroit. Um. And for years,
my high school is East detrit High School, and just
recently they rebranded it to East Point, which is the

(09:35):
actual city's name, because they finally decided to catch up
with the times. I remember there's times like we were
at we're at games, are like, oh my gosh, you
guys have weapons because you're from Detroit. You're just Detroit.
I'm like, jeez, oki, But it's kind of funny. But honestly,
my my childhood, we uh grew up on the on

(09:59):
Steven's Dry I've been the smallest house on our block
and I loved it. Um, there's so many great memories
there that I had. And um, you know, we had
a huge backyard and that's the most important piece because
in this backyard my dad had built a fort a
play for it, and it was it wasn't anything too crazy,

(10:20):
but it was just like a little room, four walls
and a tented roof. I was able to climb on
the roof, which led me jumping off onto it, into
a trampoline, into a pool, you know, all those kind
of fun things. But and then at one year, I
think he made an extension where he put a a
tire swing in and I remember like spinning in that
tire swing, but it was too close to the support

(10:43):
beam and the actual play for it, and I smashed
my head right into the side of it because I
got pushed too hard in these circles because you're on
a tire swing, so you have to go to the
max because that's just life. But um, and it was great.
You know. There's just so many childhood memories in that backyard,
but one of my favorite is in the back corner

(11:06):
there was two poles that were like splits where like
kids could get in between and it would lead into
our dead end street and the house right behind usum
belonged to my childhood best friends Christina and Leah, and
they to me, they were like the little house on

(11:27):
the Prairie style of family, and I personally was like
the bad boy. My nickname was Badly Bradley. So um.
But it was a really like romantic childhood in that
aspect of like adventure. And while our family didn't go

(11:47):
on a lot of trips, I'll tell you that I
explored every corner of East Point, all the houses and everything.
I was in mayor's houses like with their kids, and
and uh I was also in the not so best
neighborhoods with other kids. And but it was one of
those things that it it uh it allowed me to
start understanding people. And then I remember on that dead

(12:10):
end street there was Nancy and Santy. They had a
tomato garden in their backyard and there was like all
different kinds of tomatoes and they would like grow them.
So it was like actually like my first like lessons
in gardening, and um, we would just get those tomatoes,
cut them up and then put salt over them and
just see them. And that would be like the midnight

(12:31):
they stacked versus a um, you know bag of chips
or something like that. And uh yeah, I mean there
was times where I ran away from home and like
they would know I was at their house because I
would just look in their fridge and like take their food,
and Nancy would call my mom be like, hey, your
son's over here, some worries. I'm gonna feed them. Yeah, Man,

(12:52):
memories your childhood sounds like t Killa mocking Bird or something.
It really is, like it was a magical childhood. And
then of course there's like dramatic changes. You know, when
I turned thirteen. You know, I come from a split family.
You know, my mom and dad got divorced. My dad left,

(13:12):
um I did his thing, but my mom in that
same year and my sister went into the army, and
my mom worked her rear off two support me and
to be there for me as much as she could
while she was going throwing things. And we have come
up on a mutual agreement that we grew up together

(13:33):
and that was so important to me because she she's
helped me build my character. And uh, we also have
another joke where it's you know, she might not have
been able to pay for college because I also went
into the Marines, but she definitely paid for the School
of hard knocks because every time I fell, she had

(13:53):
taken me back up and you know, take care of
me beautiful. Also in thirteen, you Knowle and Christina moved
to Fraser, Michigan, and UM, you know, so I kind
of lost my support system, but that was no one's fault.
We were growing up and so, UM, it's one of
those things that, uh, I had to I had to
grow up quick and learn how to take care of myself. So,

(14:15):
you know, I got my first job at sixteen at
a hardware store, joined the Marines at seventeen with my
parent signatures on the dodge lines. I did four years
in the Marines, and UH, when I got out, I
really got into activism because I served during Don't Ask,
Don't Tell, and I was out it, so it really
wasn't something that I wanted to happened to other people.

(14:41):
So when I moved to Illinois, before meeting matt Um,
I was going through UM like counseling and also working
the activism route for marriage equality in Illinois. And during
that time it was a really interesting time because I
would be the president of our college at Page Pride

(15:02):
Alliance and Sociology Club, and I would work with the
students that were younger than myself. I would tell them
who I am, my story, and we would work to
get better systems in place at the college and in
the state level, and it was just a really amazing
and interesting time because by the end of the marriage

(15:25):
equality route, I mean knocking on seven thousand doors talking
to representatives. We ended up winning by two votes, but
I was exhausted with marriage. I'm like, I'm never getting married,
ever getting married. And uh, all of a sudden, one
of my friends told me to download the app Tinder,

(15:46):
and I said, no, I don't want to. I don't
want to date, don't want to do do anything. He goes,
just do it, and so I said, okay. So I
swiped right on this really handsome gentleman in a banana sweatshirt.
I mean it has bananas everywhere. And if you go
to Matts, I'm saying, you'll see that picture and while
cut out of that picture and um and that's Matt

(16:08):
Kersey dot com. Yeah. So it's actually kind of fun though,
because uh so we connected and you know, the rest
is uh sweet history, as they would say, um and
through Matt, I actually decided to go to Robert Morris,
which I was part of the Eye Center and Live
Broadcasting scholarships there, and I had a really great time

(16:32):
learning about how to be technically savvy with no equipment
from recording to like broadcasting too audio and it actually
kind of helped me set up for this. Now, enough
about each of us, but together, we don't have a
let's say, story about like engagement Like. I mean, it

(16:56):
was cute, it was fun, but I think our real
story was when we were shot thing for engagement rings.
So it was late fall, probably November, and we were
downtown Chicago. I don't know what we're doing. We were
just going out for the night or something. And while
we're downtown, at some point you're like, I think you

(17:18):
suggested like we should look for engagement rings. So I
was like sure. And then instead of going into some
specific store because we had nothing in mind specifically or
I didn't, um, you came up with this idea, this
game or something called fate. Yeah, you came up with

(17:39):
this idea called fate, and you suggested, like we kind
of walk, just walk around downtown Chicago, and then at
each crosswalk, if it was the walking symbol, you would
cross it. If there was a flashing like saying like
stuff or something, you turn right or whatever. And then
if it's completely opps then you turn left and you'd

(18:02):
look to see if the other Man's walking man was there. Yeah,
so basically, you never move backwards. You can only move
forward because I'm really cheesy, So if you haven't figured
that out yet, I love being cheesy, and you know
it's you can never move backwards. Yeah. Anyways, so we
were doing that and letting that dictate our direction, and
I was getting worried because like it seems like it
was taking us towards Navy Pier and I'm like no, yeah,

(18:24):
and it's crazy because we're like we were right next
to Jeweler's row. I'm like, that's easy. But there's at
one point where we walked around the building like two
or three times, like it was like so silly. And
that's when I think you were like starting to like
boil over. Well I was just like, yeah, I'm getting
probably called and like hungry, I'm sure, and we wind

(18:45):
up on Michigan Avenue at Sacks fifth Avenue. I think, yeah,
well yeah, but it happened. Was like we were I
saw the walking symbol and I'm like, we need to run.
So we started to run because I knew that there
was and I just knew that we had to run,
and so we we dashed to make sure that we
made that walking man symbol. And then we get there. Yes,

(19:10):
so we get there and then we go in and
go up to the men's department start looking at the
rings and they have a good selection, and then we
both see this ring that has black diamonds on it,
and we sell it together because we were looking by
ourselves and nothing. And then we get together and we
start looking in. The first ring that we see is
this ring with black which is I mean, just beautiful

(19:32):
in and of itself as a ring. But like I
thought it was extra fortuitous because the first song I
ever played for Brad back when we first met was
this song called black Diamond by air A y e R.
And it's just a beautiful, lovely, upbeat romantic song black.

(19:52):
You know about black diamonds being like this rare gem
and finding it and yes, and I usually expressed that
with music. I guess let someone else be cheesy for me,
but um so it was really special and exciting. I
was like, Wow, what are the chances that this is
even here at all, this black diamond ring? And I

(20:13):
just loved it. And it's also just like different, not
your usual diamond and gorgeous, So Brad like kind of
half sneak, like I tried to be sneaky. I know,
I'm pretty sure I knew what you're doing, so I
like can pretended to go continue and look around while
you bought it. Sometimes I think I'm so slick. I'm

(20:36):
not so. Yeah, So that's how that happened. And then
it was probably a few weeks after that that you
actually proposed with that ring. Yeah, and I had that
matching ring without black diamond. Yeah, because I'm not extra
I mean what I mean, I don't deny it. We
are so thankful for all of you who listened to

(20:57):
Parklandia the podcast, and we just wanted to introduce ourselves
and a little bit about our lives and who we are,
how we met, and you know, to give you some background.
Stay tuned because we're going to have more special episodes.
We're going to have more lots more fun stuff, fun
fun things. We're gonna introduce more RV topics, more reviews

(21:20):
about different products within the RV industry, and things in
the future seasons and you know there's gonna be many
surprises ahead. And keep on listening and enjoying this travel together. Yes,
and we love any ideas and feedback you guys have.
You've been sending some great ideas, so continue to do

(21:41):
so on our Parklandia Rangers group on Facebook. We're also
on Instagram at parkla India Pod and Twitter at Parkley
India Pods, so we're pretty easy to find and reach,
so please continue to do so. We we love it.

(22:06):
You've been listening to the Parklandia Podcast, a show about
national parks by I Heart Radio, created by Matt Krouac,
Brad Carouac, and Christopher Hassiotas, produced and edited by Mike
John's executive produced by Christopher Hasiotas. Special thanks to Gabrielle Collins,
Crystal Waters and the rest of the Parklandia crew and
Hey listeners. If you're enjoying the show, leave us a

(22:27):
review on Apple podcast. It helps other people like you
find our show. You can keep up with us on
social media. Check out photos from our travels on Instagram
at Parklandia Pod, and join in the conversation in our
Facebook group Parklandia Rangers. Thank you so much for listening.

Parklandia News

Advertise With Us

Follow Us On

Hosts And Creators

Brad Kirouac

Brad Kirouac

Matt Kirouac

Matt Kirouac

Show Links

AboutRSSStore

Popular Podcasts

1. On Purpose with Jay Shetty

1. On Purpose with Jay Shetty

I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!

2. Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang

2. Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang

Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.

3. The Joe Rogan Experience

3. The Joe Rogan Experience

The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2024 iHeartMedia, Inc.