December 9, 2025 • 31 mins
Jake and Ashley dedicate their lives to serving the veteran and first responders community which is incredibly rewarding work. It can also be thoroughly taxing. This episode is about the concept of “healthy-selfish” (the act of self-care) and in particular, the remarkably healing qualities of travel. Tune in for a conversation about some of their recent trips to Alaska, Ireland and Scotland - and how enjoying this amazing planet can reunite us with our free souls within.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Season two of The Good Stuff. I'm Ashley Shick,
and I'm joined by my husband and co host, Jacob Shick,
a third generation combat marine and CEO of One Tribe Foundation.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Ashley also comes from a family rich in military history,
and we've dedicated our lives to One Tribe's mission, serving veterans,
first responders, and their families. We're coming to you from Dallas,
so welcome.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
To Texas and joining us all season long from Los Angeles,
California is our West Coast long haired friend and producer
of The Good Stuff, Nick Cassolini.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
Today we're going to explore the concept of healthy selfish
and what traveling does for the human soul. This is
definitely a celebratory episode, but just as a quick heads up,
this show can explore some heavy subject matter, including toks
of suicide, so listener discretion is advised.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
We are so glad you're joining us again.
Speaker 4 (00:48):
Welcome to the Good Stuff.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
So this episode is going to particularly focus on healthy selfish,
which is for me, something I learned about years and
years ago, which is something everybody should practice. And for
ash and I, one thing we do is we travel
a lot, and only for work, but we do it
to recharge our batteries. And essentially that's what healthy selfish
is because we pour so much of ourselves into other
(01:23):
people in this mission, in the fight for the greater good,
to help people. He'll forward and live. Well, that drained you,
you know, it really drained your batteries, It really drained
your soul, and so we have to replenish. And so
one way we do that, we practice our healthy selfish
is through travel. And Lord knows that we have done
(01:45):
more than our fair share in the past couple of months.
And it's been amazing though. I mean, we get to
go see new places, meet new people, learn about new cultures,
and it's something that you just really get to come
back and you have a whole new, fresh, and reinvigorated
perspective on your life and all the things that you have, yeah,
(02:08):
and just being so blessed. And so it's such a
cool way for us.
Speaker 4 (02:13):
To do it.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
And of course we do other things too, but this
is a big one.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Ashley. What are some of the places you've been recently?
Speaker 1 (02:20):
Goodness gracious, how much time do you have? We just
in the past few months we actually marked off Jake's
fiftieth state, his final state was Alaska. We had a
great trip with my parents up there. That was a
very meaningful trip. It was a full circle trip. We
did our annual Shick Family Beach trip in Orange Beach, Alabama,
which is a phenomenal spot to VAK. We went to Ohio.
(02:44):
Jake received the Better World Award from the VFW Auxiliary
and their annual convention this year was in Ohio. So
that was a quick trip but a great one, good
soul food. And then we went to Ireland and Scotland,
which we've both traveled too many times before, but this
was a special trip because Natalie Stanier, who's one of
my best friends of twenty three years now, and her
(03:06):
husband Joseph that were really good friends with both of them.
Their son is playing at Kansas State and they kicked
off the football season in Dublin this year.
Speaker 3 (03:13):
So yeah, it's amazing.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
Another excuse to go to Ireland, we'll take it. And
then Natalie casually mentioned in our planning stages that she'd
never been to Scotland. Well, it's a forty five minute flight,
so we hopped from Dublin over to Edinburgh for a
couple of days and showed them the Bonnie, Scotland that
we love so much, And most recently we went to
Michigan to visit some very dear friends, Joel and Karen Ross.
(03:36):
Jake spoke to the police department in Sheboygan as well
as a lot of the community leaders, and they took
us to Mackinaw Island, which was just very cool, unbelievable.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
Yeah, so I want to hear about Alaska a little bit.
Tell me about your trip to Alaska.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
I can say this about Alaska, and it's something I
probably said a half a dozen times on the trip.
I absolutely see why they call it the frontier. Alaska
is massive and there's so many parts of it that
you know, like there's no way a human foot has
touched every square edge of that place, and it is
(04:12):
just so vast and so big and beautiful. Good lord,
it's beautiful anytime we get to go to those places.
I even felt this way in Michigan. But you get
to go outside and you just breathe in. Like I
find myself like doing multiple deep breasts every time I'm
outside because I'm like, okay, it says I'm not gonna
(04:34):
get this fresh of air back home, Like I want
to really really somehow get it into my body where
I wish, you know, I could keep it in there
all the way back here, but of course we have
to fly, and you know that's recycle doxygen's back to shit.
Speaker 4 (04:54):
But man, that place was Alaska is definitely a place
when we go back to.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
Actually you described it as full circle. What did you
mean by that?
Speaker 1 (05:03):
So my grandfather, my mom's dad, was actually killed in
a T thirty three plane crash in Fairbanks, Alaska, when
he was twenty four years old, serving in the United
States Air Force, And so Mom hadn't been back since
she was two, because that's old she was when the
plane crash happened. And for her it was just something
she always wanted to go back to Alaska, you know,
(05:23):
I asked her. I said, Mom, it's a fourteen hour
train ride from Anchorage to Fairbanks. Do you want to
fly into Fairbanks and just spend our trip there? Do
you want to fly into Anchorage and take a train
and you know, that's two days of our trip just
to travel to fair She said, I don't know that
I necessarily need to go to Fairbanks, but she just
wanted to go to Alaska. And we had such a great,
great trip. Her one request was that she wanted to
(05:44):
ride the train. So we rode the train in Alaska?
Did did we? Ever? And we It was a fantastic day.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
But you know, I'll never forget her face when we
got on that train. She was like Jamison going to
chuck cheese the first time.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
She was giddy. She loved it. And you know, why
just book a train ride when you can book a
train ride to a glacier float cruise, which is what
we did.
Speaker 3 (06:12):
What is that?
Speaker 4 (06:15):
So you know, what was the name of that glacier?
Speaker 2 (06:19):
Spencer Spencer Glacier, the Spencer Glacier. We get on these inflatables.
Me being me, I'm immediately thinking of all the things
that could go right, like like, Okay, my in laws
are on this thing, my wife is gonna be sitting
right next to me. There's a bunch of strangers we
don't know on the and I'm just, you know, trying
(06:40):
to process possible remedial action. I'm like, well, the water,
I mean, you're gonna get ypothermic quick, right, So at
least once you do get into that stage, you don't
really know what's going on.
Speaker 3 (06:53):
Them, so you have that to look forward to right,
and but it.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Will happen really quickly, so I mean that's a plus.
But we're on the sure before we get on the
enflavable right, and we had probably ten or twelve of
those inflatable boats and we're looking at the base of
Spencer's Glacier and I asked the guy, I'm like, how
far is that from here? Because I would have if
I had to guess, I would have guessed like a
(07:17):
thousand yards. And he was like, uh, it's two miles.
Was like, oh, okay, and I said, okay, So we
get in the flatable.
Speaker 4 (07:28):
He does this thing. He's young kid, he was awesome.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
Then I say, okay, so from one end to the
other end, like how long is that? And by this
point we're a lot closer and he said, oh, from
one end to the other end, and I think he
said is one mile. And it looks like you could
literally hit a golf ball too. I mean I couldn't, but.
Speaker 4 (07:49):
People could hit a golf ball. There's no way.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
It's just so vast, yeah, and so big, like it's
hard to comprehend. It's almost like an optical illusion. The
kid's insane how massive it was.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
There's icebergs floating all in this lake. It's actually the
Plaster River is what the Spencer Glacier feeds into the
Plaster River, And so you're he's taking us in this
big raft around all of these icebergs, I mean close
enough to touch. And that was the coolest thing the pictures.
I sent it to my parents and I'm like, hey,
would y'all be down? And Mom was like sure, and
(08:24):
Papa's like, what are we doing? And it said on
the website we've had people. We've had kids as young
as one and adults as old as ninety nine. I
was like, we're all able to do this. And the
weather was absolutely perfect. Yeah, it was so so beautiful.
It was so peaceful. Like Jake mentioned the clean air that.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
Was water cooler around the glacier, it was like crystal blue.
Speaker 4 (08:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
And then when the further we got into the river,
because of the sediment, they could really fine sediment, so
they don't really have salmon or or.
Speaker 4 (09:00):
Anything because they couldn't survive because of.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
The sediment from the runoff and going through this valley,
which was like, again really hard for me to comprehend
that this whole thing was created by a Glacier.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
It was phenomenal. That was just one day. I mean
we did a lot of adventures, you know.
Speaker 3 (09:18):
For the last couple of years, we've had I don't know,
an infinity amount of conversations both on Mike and off
I mean, the three of us, you know, and those
are a lot of those conversations are really deeply personal,
and they can be heavy and all these things. I
don't think I've ever heard you guys get this like
passionate about an interaction with nature. I think on paper,
(09:41):
I knew that you guys liked the outdoors and hunting
and stuff. But it's kind of fun to see you
guys so moved by the natural world. It's just not
something that we've actually talked much about.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
For me, and I'm fairly certain I can speak for
Ashley when I say this.
Speaker 4 (09:58):
Being out there.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
Admiring God's artistry, I feel so much closer to God
and so much more appreciative of all the beauty because
all the crap from back here kind of it goes
away for a minute, you know, and that's when you
can truly recharge. And that's the whole point of healthy
selfish right and being out in God's creation really is
(10:23):
what fills me.
Speaker 3 (10:25):
Back up, how did the trip to Alaska go for
your mother?
Speaker 1 (10:29):
Really? Well, yeah, it was also her birthday, so you know,
we spoiled her and we all ate too much and
sat on the patio. I know, we got the f
everywhere we go lately, it's fudge.
Speaker 4 (10:39):
Find these fudge places.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
And it's like, there's a really great place called Sweetberry
or wild Berry, Alaska in Anchorage, and I had been
there on my first trip there, and I knew Mom
would love it. So we went like three or four times.
They have the largest chocolate fountain in the world or something.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
Like that, but it's a big sign do not touch.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
And then of course we had to get a picture
of Jake almost touching. And then there's a big stuffed
polar bear that Papa had to take a picture in
front of, and then the moose. You know, we had
a great time. It was great family time. We had
great conversations in the evening and I could tell and
I asked her after, you know, do you feel and
she does. You know, it was mission accomplished. It was
(11:19):
a successful trip for her, and it was very meaningful
for us to because one of the days even We
just the four of us loaded up in a car,
which we've done. We did that in Hawaii as well.
That's one of our highlights from that trip was just driving,
just taking off and driving, stopping somewhere for lunch and yeah,
it was memories. We will hold deer for many years
(11:39):
to come.
Speaker 5 (11:41):
Did you have a Pietro onboard Jay or the Wilderness Cafe.
It is run by our onboard dining captain shopping more
than happy to help you out. Get you find that
you are building up any sort of yes.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
First or hunger.
Speaker 5 (11:57):
We do have small necks and meals as well as drinks,
playing juices and let and pop, sodas and many different cocktails.
Speaker 3 (12:07):
Need just check that out.
Speaker 5 (12:08):
If you're fighting yourself a little bit party or family,
We're going to take a quick break, but stick around.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
We'll be right back.
Speaker 6 (12:23):
That's where everything happens. Our commemorations are celebrations. We mourn
are dead. We you know if our patricks date praise
all would be coming through here if you parted here
and I was indeed it was here in nineteen sixteen
that the nineteen sixteen Rising would have started an Easter
Monday nineteen sixteen and that's down by the GPO as
(12:43):
you're positively.
Speaker 3 (12:45):
And we're back here we go. Let's jump back in
with Jake and Ash and I want to hear about Ireland.
Tell me all about this football game.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
Kansas State versus Iowa State. You know, our nephew, Bradley
stand your number ninety Go Cats. It was just another
excuse to go to Ireland and get to really spend
probably the most quality time we've had with him in
quite a few years. He's busy high school kid right
playing football. And then obviously irreplaceable time with Natalie and Joseph,
who we just their their family. So it was a
(13:15):
lot of fun. The energy was fantastic. The entire town
of Dublin was just taken over by the football fans,
which was a lot of fun, but.
Speaker 3 (13:23):
So was the stadium, mostly filled with Americans who traveled out.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
Now, I would say, in traditional fashion with the NCAA,
they have to do they try anyway.
Speaker 4 (13:34):
The best they can do.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
Fifty percent for one team, you know, fifty percent for
another team, which it was a good showing for.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
Both sides for sure.
Speaker 4 (13:42):
I was really impressed. I was like, damn, there's.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
There's a lot of people a lot of people travel
a long way to.
Speaker 4 (13:46):
Come to this game.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
But you could absolutely tell who the locals were why
because they would have these random ass jerseys on, like
Minnesota Vikings.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
Yeah, if they had an America American football jersey they
were wearing it.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
Was they were wearing Adidas. They had these particular that
are like the Bees and Thees, and that was pretty
cool to see because after the game you were walking
out and I saw an ls HU jersey and I
was like, not American, no way. Yeah, It's crazy the
(14:26):
jerseys that you would see, It's like I.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
Mean, and some of them are like throwback. It was.
It was fantastic. It was a fantastic experience overall. You know,
we did the wild Wicklow Day Tour, which was just
beautiful Irish country. There's nothing like Ireland on a sunny day.
And then actually, except for we did actually mark off
(14:49):
a bucket We checked off a bucket list item that
I've had for a long time in Ireland and that
was we visited Kilmainham Jail. For me, I've I've grown
up knowing a lot of Irish history. My my great
grandma and my grandmother both were world travelers. I mean,
between the two of them, one hundred over one hundred countries.
And I remember my great grandmother Jesse always talking about
(15:11):
jesse May, always talking about Ireland.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
And I also had a great grandmother named jesse May.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
We're not related, I checked, but she just always loved Ireland.
And I went back and I actually found this school
project I had when I was in kindergarten where I
got to choose a country and I chose Ireland, and
so I think that was a lot of her influence.
But so I've been to Ireland quite a few times
and never made it over to Kilmainham Jail, which is
(15:38):
where a lot of the Easter Rising those that in
one of the mini fights for Irish independence, they were
actually jailed and executed. So there's a song that I've
just always felt so connected to called Grace, and it's
about one of the Easter Rising soldiers who was actually executed,
(15:58):
but he was allowed to marry his bride the night
before his execution and her name was Grace, his name
was Joseph, and a.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
Picture in the chapel where they got married.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
It was so cool, and it's a beautiful song. It's
hauntingly beautiful because it's tragic, but yes, it's just it's
and that song moves me so much. And to be
in the chapel where they got married, to stand in
the courtyard where he was executed, to know that she
to see his jail cell, and to know that she
never married again. Joseph was her her man and so
(16:34):
he he allegedly wrote the words to the song on
the on the Wall and kill Maineham Jail. And so
for me, that was a huge highlight of our Ireland
trip was getting to go knock that off. We like
to go to those historic places and I think a
lot of that has to do with our ancestry, right
We've we've researched it, both Jake's ancestors and my ancestors
(16:54):
in Scotland and the many battles that they were part
of coming over to America, the American Revolution, Civil War,
you know, on into the Texas Revolution with my family,
and so to us it's important to get connected. We're
we're all connected by default, but we all have such
different pass and some of them are very dire and
they are very heartbreaking. And so you know, when we're
(17:16):
at the coliseum, when we're at clad and battlefield in Scotland.
You know, we feel connected to that land and to
those people and to their story at at glen Coe
and the Highlands. And so for me Kilmainham Jail it
was very very powerful and moving to be there and
just feel these people. All they wanted was their independence
from Britain and you know, would go on just like
(17:38):
the Alamo, they would go on to not know if
it was achieved, but it was right. So the many
generations that have been touched from that sacrifice, to me,
that's the power of travel.
Speaker 4 (17:50):
That's what's crazy about that. Jee.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
This is built in the seventeen hundred's, you know, a
lot of greystone, a lot of it's all gray stone,
you know, and bar and it's just exactly what you
think of when you think very old prison.
Speaker 4 (18:08):
Yeah, it's impactful.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
And what's crazy is I didn't even know this until
we were on the tour, but Grace was actually imprisoned
later and she's an artist. She actually was an illustrator
for a newspaper and she actually drew She did some
art on one of the walls and you can still
see it.
Speaker 3 (18:24):
That's call a little graffiti writer. Action for Grace, good
for her, Double Revel. Yeah, it's amazing.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
Yeah, so the Easter Rising of nineteen sixteen and the
tours that we did again. You know, you go to
a place and you respect their history, you respect their customs,
you respect their people, and just open your mind and learn.
And we did this wild Wicklow half day tour, which
was also phenomenal. Natalie and Joseph were with us, but
they all decided to do this hike around the lake
(18:52):
and we decided to just kick it in the park
and we had That's probably my favorite memory from our
Ireland Scotland trip is this afternoon it was like two
hours where Jake and I just sat in this park.
We took our shoes off and.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
We just shoo in my case, his.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
Shoe, my shoes, and we just grounded and we just
watched the people go by. I mean, of course it
helps that we're from Texas. It's August, we're in Ireland.
It's sixty two degrees outside right perfect, and we got
we've been so blessed with weather.
Speaker 4 (19:22):
We made art.
Speaker 3 (19:23):
We made art go on what does that mean?
Speaker 1 (19:27):
There was this little wooden tepee structure in the middle
of the park, big enough for like a tent, for
so some of the we lads and lasses, we're running
around the park and then they would go in and
sit in the tepee or whatever.
Speaker 3 (19:40):
That's fine.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
Yeah, yeah, I said, babe, do you want to walk
over to that? And he handed me his prosthetic leg
and had me go put it in the middle of
the tepee and take a picture. We made art, and
then of course we had to send it to everyone
in one tribe and say art. And then now they're
planning a new T shirt and all.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
The things, because all you see is this the skeleton
of a TP. Yeah, in my fake leg right in
the middle. It's BEAUTIFULID means so many things, inspiring people. Yeah,
and then the kids that were playing out there, they
were like they maybe scarred a little bit, but you
(20:15):
know what, the stories to tell the grand kids.
Speaker 3 (20:18):
It's a big scary skeleton man from America. I can't.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
This guy just took his leg off and gave it
to his wife and she just went and and then she,
like you did, kind of start jogging to beat the
kids to the tepee.
Speaker 1 (20:33):
They were about to take it back over. I had
to get there and get my picture.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
And she put the leg in the inside there they
were gone, they went back.
Speaker 3 (20:41):
To the I talked to me a little bit about Scotland,
the Fatherland, go off king.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
You know, I just feel connected to Scotland and I
didn't know why, you know, the first time we went,
and I looked at Ashley because of course she slept
on the flight. I didn't every time.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
Sorry not sorry, no, yeah.
Speaker 4 (21:03):
I mean it's a gift.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
And yeah, I told her the first time we went.
I was like, you know, this can sound weird coming
from me, but I feel like my soul blogs here.
Speaker 3 (21:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
And that's when this was uh yeah, COVID was still
going right, yeah, because we landed, we had to go
through customs to do all the things, and then we
had to go straight to go get tested for COVID,
and then we had to quarantine for twenty four hours
inside they'll tell rum. And so luckily my Michael Jack
was we were emailing back and forth and he was like, oh,
(21:35):
you're my favorite place, blah blah blah, and of course
I just was like, you're baby, do your thing. And
she got on and was like, oh, did you realize No,
I did not realize that I a lot of my
family comes from here, and this is where it all started,
and that my middle name is what it is because
of the Patterson clan. And I didn't know any of
(21:56):
this stuff. This is not how the Mels are my family.
They're not like, hey, you want to sit down and
have a long talk about where we're from and why
and now we got here. This is not what we do.
Speaker 1 (22:07):
And whereas that's exactly what we sit around and talk
about it.
Speaker 4 (22:12):
But we do that with the boys for sure.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
Now I'm like, hey, history is important. It's important you understand,
you know, the our history and the evolution and how
we've gotten to where we are. There's a reason that
the saying goes history repeats itself because we don't learn,
and so we we stress to them how important it
is to learn about these things. And you know, really
delve into it, ton, It'll give you a lot better understanding.
(22:36):
It'll make you, by default, a better decision maker the
more you understand about history. And so Scotland is just
for me.
Speaker 4 (22:45):
It is.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
The only thing I tell people is it's spiritual, because
that's all I kept feeling the whole time.
Speaker 4 (22:54):
Especially when you know.
Speaker 2 (22:55):
The history, it gives you such a greater appreciation of
the beauty, knowing how much tragedy and trauma and turmoil
that happened. But you see how beautiful it is now,
but you still feel that heaviness.
Speaker 1 (23:12):
But it was a lot of fun for us too
to take Natalie Joseph around because they'd never been right.
So the Fringe Festival was kind of wrapping up in Edinburgh.
Speaker 4 (23:20):
Oh that was crazy.
Speaker 3 (23:21):
I've had so many friends do that.
Speaker 4 (23:23):
Oh that was crazy.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
I've never seen anything like it. Like that was crazy.
It was packed, I mean all around the town because
we went up to the Castle and we went down
to Greyfriars Bobby and we went over to Princess Street.
I mean we walked to the entire city of Edinburgh
and then that evening, right at sunset, we climbed Arthur's Seat,
which was really phenomenal because that was another bucket list
never done and that was beautiful. Saw a little bit
of sunset. That hill kicked my butt like ten times over.
(23:48):
I had not done a physical workout like that in
quite a while. But it was early to bed because
early to rise because the next day we did do
a thirteen hour tour all over Scotland, essentially Dreux or
rode from Edinburgh out to glen Coe, where the famous
site of in the Scottish Islands of the Glencoe Massacre
between the Campbell's and the McDonald's, which is just another historic,
(24:13):
terrible tragedy and this absolutely breath taking. It's probably one
of our favorite spots on the earth that either of
us have ever been to.
Speaker 2 (24:23):
It is mine, not probably, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
It's it's truly unbelievable. And we've had the pleasure of
being three times together now and and so we got
to take them out and experience that, and then hit
up a couple of towns pit lockery on the way
into town and they're on the way back into Edinburgh,
and a couple of different just great spots, and so
it was a very long day, but it was a
beautiful day spent together and we did a luckness.
Speaker 4 (24:51):
So that's kind of cruz.
Speaker 2 (24:52):
Yeah, okay, okay, because I think what was that that
GEO will give somebody who gets a picture video of
NeSSI well, they'll write it two million dollars check to you.
And I was like, of course we're not even on
this boat. Cruise for ten minutes. Yeah, And Ashley and
Natalie without planning it.
Speaker 1 (25:09):
They have little stickers that make it look like Nessi's
in the water, and so we both took pictures and
then we were She's like, I'm found Nessy. I'm like
me too.
Speaker 3 (25:16):
Boy, art strikes again.
Speaker 4 (25:19):
We're all about that. We create a lot of art.
Speaker 7 (25:21):
Lonis on a day like today, when when it's very
very low, it's only ten miles and now that's next
to nothing. Then Lochness itself is not tidal at one
end as the Caledonian Canal.
Speaker 3 (25:32):
At the other end, it.
Speaker 7 (25:33):
Meets in the river Ness and so that means that
the surface tends to be very very flat. And because
it's very deep two d and thirty night, it meets
us the same place as nobody knows the exact depth.
I'll tell you why that isn't just a moment. Well,
it means that the surface of the loch actually come bitter.
Speaker 3 (25:50):
All right, We got to take our last commercial break
and then we'll bring it home. Welcome back. Now it's
time for Jake, Ashley and I to land the plane.
For me, traveling has just been one of the greatest
joys of my life. You know, it's just so important
(26:11):
to me. We talk a lot about on the show
about the freedom that we have as Americans, and I
can say I never feel as viscerally, unabrightedly free as
when I'm traveling. And I remember specifically, mir and I
lived in Chicago for five years and then we kind
of rolled that to the wheels fall off and we're like,
(26:32):
it's time. We're either going to go to New York
or LA. And we went to LA and we packed
our little tiny Honda fit with everything we owned and
or that was worth keeping, I should say, and we
were going to drive across the country and spend some
time with our family up in Seattle. And of course
it was like an ice storm or we left on
(26:53):
like the worst possible days, like oh, we're going to die,
like ten minutes outside of Chicago. But I just remember
being in that car with all of our things and
just feeling like we don't have to ask permission. No
one gave us the okay, this is like our choice.
There was just something about physically like traveling I sort
(27:15):
of mean like literally moving through space across land that
was It was just one of the freest I've ever felt.
And I feel that way being able to get on
a plane and come to stay with you guys, I
feel that way going overseas or to different countries. I
don't know. For me personally, it's the ultimate expression of freedom.
(27:37):
I mean, given that also, I'm you know, in a
place of privilege and luck and blessings to be able
to do it. So I don't mean to like throw
that in anyone's face, but it's it's sort of it's
one of a kind thing for me that nothing else
really can fill that void for me personally.
Speaker 1 (27:55):
I identify with that so deeply, and I want to
encourage people. Even if you say I don't have the money,
I don't have the ability put ten dollars aside, if
you can put ten dollars aside a month, grow that
travel fund, figure out where you want to go. Travel
Other places are attainable if you make it a priority.
(28:18):
And you know, I remember when when Michael Carnell, one
of Jake's best friends who we lost last year season one,
we had him tell his incredible story. I remember when
Jake went to him and said, what's on your bucket list?
And he said, you know, I've never been to Ireland
and here he is a Boston Irish proud marine, right,
he'd never been to Ireland and Jake made that happen
for him. But that's take the trip, eat the dessert,
(28:41):
take the trip, soak up the culture, right because for me,
I feel the same way. It's if I'm at home,
I've got a thousand things to do. If we're on
a trip or we're on the road, it's free. You
put it beautifully, because that's I feel the exact same way.
It's something that not only allows you to get connect
connected to other cultures and other places and nature, which
(29:04):
you can do at your local, you know, state park,
but take that time, take that self care and go
see and do and learn something new.
Speaker 2 (29:16):
Yeah, I mean I don't.
Speaker 4 (29:16):
I don't. What can I add those that? It's like
you guys said, at all, it's I agree.
Speaker 2 (29:22):
I mean I think so many people are are held
back by some some aspect or form of fear of something.
Speaker 4 (29:31):
Yeah, and just just go.
Speaker 2 (29:34):
You know, you don't have to get on a plane
and fly across oceans either, right, Ash said, I mean,
go to your local state park, go to your local
arboretum or wherever they know where they do the flowers
and all that stuff.
Speaker 3 (29:49):
I think, So I don't know, arboretum always sounds like
a boat thing to me. But I think you're right.
I think it's like trees and stuff.
Speaker 4 (29:57):
Sure, that thing, that thing.
Speaker 1 (29:58):
See how traveled we are.
Speaker 2 (30:01):
Go to the place that does flowers and plants and trees.
Speaker 1 (30:04):
Just get out of your bubble.
Speaker 2 (30:06):
Yeah, that's essentially the point, right.
Speaker 1 (30:08):
Yeah, that's our PSI for today.
Speaker 3 (30:11):
Yes, get out of your bubble, find your healthy, selfish.
Speaker 1 (30:14):
And talk to the locals.
Speaker 4 (30:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
I love talking to the locals.
Speaker 3 (30:17):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (30:17):
It's the best snapshot you can get of a new location.
Speaker 4 (30:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (30:20):
I do love learning about history, but I also just
love being with people.
Speaker 4 (30:26):
In the now. Thank you so much for listening to
the Good.
Speaker 1 (30:33):
Stuff wherever you are in this great, big, wide world.
If you appreciate this show, please subscribe, like, and review
The Good Stuff podcast, and connect with us on social media.
Speaker 4 (30:43):
We love hearing from you.
Speaker 2 (30:44):
Good bet are indifferent, so please reach out through our website.
Our links and contact information are in the show notes
of this episode, and.
Speaker 3 (30:51):
It would mean the world to us if you shared
this episode with the people in your life, whom I
also enjoy it. We'll be back next week, but in
the meantime, if you're looking for a companion piece, this episode.
Go check out our episode with Danny Manning from season one.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
Put on your bad ass capes and go be great today,
and remember you can't do awesome things without awesome people.
Speaker 3 (31:17):
The Good Stuff is executive produced by Ashley Shick, Jacob
Shick and Leah Pictures. Hosted by Ashley Shick, Jacob Shick
and Nick Cassolini, Produced by Nick Cassolini, Engineering, editing and
post production supervision by Nick Cassolini. Music by Will Tendy,
Welcome to Season two of The Good Stuff. I'm Ashley Shick,
and I'm joined by my husband and co host, Jacob Shick,
a third generation combat marine and CEO of One Tribe Foundation.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Ashley also comes from a family rich in military history,
and we've dedicated our lives to One Tribe's mission, serving veterans,
first responders, and their families. We're coming to you from Dallas,
so welcome.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
To Texas and joining us all season long from Los Angeles,
California is our West Coast long haired friend and producer
of The Good Stuff, Nick Cassolini.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
Today we're going to explore the concept of healthy selfish
and what traveling does for the human soul. This is
definitely a celebratory episode, but just as a quick heads up,
this show can explore some heavy subject matter, including toks
of suicide, so listener discretion is advised.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
We are so glad you're joining us again.
Speaker 4 (00:48):
Welcome to the Good Stuff.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
So this episode is going to particularly focus on healthy selfish,
which is for me, something I learned about years and
years ago, which is something everybody should practice. And for
ash and I, one thing we do is we travel
a lot, and only for work, but we do it
to recharge our batteries. And essentially that's what healthy selfish
is because we pour so much of ourselves into other
(01:23):
people in this mission, in the fight for the greater good,
to help people. He'll forward and live. Well, that drained you,
you know, it really drained your batteries, It really drained
your soul, and so we have to replenish. And so
one way we do that, we practice our healthy selfish
is through travel. And Lord knows that we have done
(01:45):
more than our fair share in the past couple of months.
And it's been amazing though. I mean, we get to
go see new places, meet new people, learn about new cultures,
and it's something that you just really get to come
back and you have a whole new, fresh, and reinvigorated
perspective on your life and all the things that you have, yeah,
(02:08):
and just being so blessed. And so it's such a
cool way for us.
Speaker 4 (02:13):
To do it.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
And of course we do other things too, but this
is a big one.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Ashley. What are some of the places you've been recently?
Speaker 1 (02:20):
Goodness gracious, how much time do you have? We just
in the past few months we actually marked off Jake's
fiftieth state, his final state was Alaska. We had a
great trip with my parents up there. That was a
very meaningful trip. It was a full circle trip. We
did our annual Shick Family Beach trip in Orange Beach, Alabama,
which is a phenomenal spot to VAK. We went to Ohio.
(02:44):
Jake received the Better World Award from the VFW Auxiliary
and their annual convention this year was in Ohio. So
that was a quick trip but a great one, good
soul food. And then we went to Ireland and Scotland,
which we've both traveled too many times before, but this
was a special trip because Natalie Stanier, who's one of
my best friends of twenty three years now, and her
(03:06):
husband Joseph that were really good friends with both of them.
Their son is playing at Kansas State and they kicked
off the football season in Dublin this year.
Speaker 3 (03:13):
So yeah, it's amazing.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
Another excuse to go to Ireland, we'll take it. And
then Natalie casually mentioned in our planning stages that she'd
never been to Scotland. Well, it's a forty five minute flight,
so we hopped from Dublin over to Edinburgh for a
couple of days and showed them the Bonnie, Scotland that
we love so much, And most recently we went to
Michigan to visit some very dear friends, Joel and Karen Ross.
(03:36):
Jake spoke to the police department in Sheboygan as well
as a lot of the community leaders, and they took
us to Mackinaw Island, which was just very cool, unbelievable.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
Yeah, so I want to hear about Alaska a little bit.
Tell me about your trip to Alaska.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
I can say this about Alaska, and it's something I
probably said a half a dozen times on the trip.
I absolutely see why they call it the frontier. Alaska
is massive and there's so many parts of it that
you know, like there's no way a human foot has
touched every square edge of that place, and it is
(04:12):
just so vast and so big and beautiful. Good lord,
it's beautiful anytime we get to go to those places.
I even felt this way in Michigan. But you get
to go outside and you just breathe in. Like I
find myself like doing multiple deep breasts every time I'm
outside because I'm like, okay, it says I'm not gonna
(04:34):
get this fresh of air back home, Like I want
to really really somehow get it into my body where
I wish, you know, I could keep it in there
all the way back here, but of course we have
to fly, and you know that's recycle doxygen's back to shit.
Speaker 4 (04:54):
But man, that place was Alaska is definitely a place
when we go back to.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
Actually you described it as full circle. What did you
mean by that?
Speaker 1 (05:03):
So my grandfather, my mom's dad, was actually killed in
a T thirty three plane crash in Fairbanks, Alaska, when
he was twenty four years old, serving in the United
States Air Force, And so Mom hadn't been back since
she was two, because that's old she was when the
plane crash happened. And for her it was just something
she always wanted to go back to Alaska, you know,
(05:23):
I asked her. I said, Mom, it's a fourteen hour
train ride from Anchorage to Fairbanks. Do you want to
fly into Fairbanks and just spend our trip there? Do
you want to fly into Anchorage and take a train
and you know, that's two days of our trip just
to travel to fair She said, I don't know that
I necessarily need to go to Fairbanks, but she just
wanted to go to Alaska. And we had such a great,
great trip. Her one request was that she wanted to
(05:44):
ride the train. So we rode the train in Alaska?
Did did we? Ever? And we It was a fantastic day.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
But you know, I'll never forget her face when we
got on that train. She was like Jamison going to
chuck cheese the first time.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
She was giddy. She loved it. And you know, why
just book a train ride when you can book a
train ride to a glacier float cruise, which is what
we did.
Speaker 3 (06:12):
What is that?
Speaker 4 (06:15):
So you know, what was the name of that glacier?
Speaker 2 (06:19):
Spencer Spencer Glacier, the Spencer Glacier. We get on these inflatables.
Me being me, I'm immediately thinking of all the things
that could go right, like like, Okay, my in laws
are on this thing, my wife is gonna be sitting
right next to me. There's a bunch of strangers we
don't know on the and I'm just, you know, trying
(06:40):
to process possible remedial action. I'm like, well, the water,
I mean, you're gonna get ypothermic quick, right, So at
least once you do get into that stage, you don't
really know what's going on.
Speaker 3 (06:53):
Them, so you have that to look forward to right,
and but it.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Will happen really quickly, so I mean that's a plus.
But we're on the sure before we get on the
enflavable right, and we had probably ten or twelve of
those inflatable boats and we're looking at the base of
Spencer's Glacier and I asked the guy, I'm like, how
far is that from here? Because I would have if
I had to guess, I would have guessed like a
(07:17):
thousand yards. And he was like, uh, it's two miles.
Was like, oh, okay, and I said, okay, So we
get in the flatable.
Speaker 4 (07:28):
He does this thing. He's young kid, he was awesome.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
Then I say, okay, so from one end to the
other end, like how long is that? And by this
point we're a lot closer and he said, oh, from
one end to the other end, and I think he
said is one mile. And it looks like you could
literally hit a golf ball too. I mean I couldn't, but.
Speaker 4 (07:49):
People could hit a golf ball. There's no way.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
It's just so vast, yeah, and so big, like it's
hard to comprehend. It's almost like an optical illusion. The
kid's insane how massive it was.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
There's icebergs floating all in this lake. It's actually the
Plaster River is what the Spencer Glacier feeds into the
Plaster River, And so you're he's taking us in this
big raft around all of these icebergs, I mean close
enough to touch. And that was the coolest thing the pictures.
I sent it to my parents and I'm like, hey,
would y'all be down? And Mom was like sure, and
(08:24):
Papa's like, what are we doing? And it said on
the website we've had people. We've had kids as young
as one and adults as old as ninety nine. I
was like, we're all able to do this. And the
weather was absolutely perfect. Yeah, it was so so beautiful.
It was so peaceful. Like Jake mentioned the clean air that.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
Was water cooler around the glacier, it was like crystal blue.
Speaker 4 (08:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
And then when the further we got into the river,
because of the sediment, they could really fine sediment, so
they don't really have salmon or or.
Speaker 4 (09:00):
Anything because they couldn't survive because of.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
The sediment from the runoff and going through this valley,
which was like, again really hard for me to comprehend
that this whole thing was created by a Glacier.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
It was phenomenal. That was just one day. I mean
we did a lot of adventures, you know.
Speaker 3 (09:18):
For the last couple of years, we've had I don't know,
an infinity amount of conversations both on Mike and off
I mean, the three of us, you know, and those
are a lot of those conversations are really deeply personal,
and they can be heavy and all these things. I
don't think I've ever heard you guys get this like
passionate about an interaction with nature. I think on paper,
(09:41):
I knew that you guys liked the outdoors and hunting
and stuff. But it's kind of fun to see you
guys so moved by the natural world. It's just not
something that we've actually talked much about.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
For me, and I'm fairly certain I can speak for
Ashley when I say this.
Speaker 4 (09:58):
Being out there.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
Admiring God's artistry, I feel so much closer to God
and so much more appreciative of all the beauty because
all the crap from back here kind of it goes
away for a minute, you know, and that's when you
can truly recharge. And that's the whole point of healthy
selfish right and being out in God's creation really is
(10:23):
what fills me.
Speaker 3 (10:25):
Back up, how did the trip to Alaska go for
your mother?
Speaker 1 (10:29):
Really? Well, yeah, it was also her birthday, so you know,
we spoiled her and we all ate too much and
sat on the patio. I know, we got the f
everywhere we go lately, it's fudge.
Speaker 4 (10:39):
Find these fudge places.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
And it's like, there's a really great place called Sweetberry
or wild Berry, Alaska in Anchorage, and I had been
there on my first trip there, and I knew Mom
would love it. So we went like three or four times.
They have the largest chocolate fountain in the world or something.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
Like that, but it's a big sign do not touch.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
And then of course we had to get a picture
of Jake almost touching. And then there's a big stuffed
polar bear that Papa had to take a picture in
front of, and then the moose. You know, we had
a great time. It was great family time. We had
great conversations in the evening and I could tell and
I asked her after, you know, do you feel and
she does. You know, it was mission accomplished. It was
(11:19):
a successful trip for her, and it was very meaningful
for us to because one of the days even We
just the four of us loaded up in a car,
which we've done. We did that in Hawaii as well.
That's one of our highlights from that trip was just driving,
just taking off and driving, stopping somewhere for lunch and yeah,
it was memories. We will hold deer for many years
(11:39):
to come.
Speaker 5 (11:41):
Did you have a Pietro onboard Jay or the Wilderness Cafe.
It is run by our onboard dining captain shopping more
than happy to help you out. Get you find that
you are building up any sort of yes.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
First or hunger.
Speaker 5 (11:57):
We do have small necks and meals as well as drinks,
playing juices and let and pop, sodas and many different cocktails.
Speaker 3 (12:07):
Need just check that out.
Speaker 5 (12:08):
If you're fighting yourself a little bit party or family,
We're going to take a quick break, but stick around.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
We'll be right back.
Speaker 6 (12:23):
That's where everything happens. Our commemorations are celebrations. We mourn
are dead. We you know if our patricks date praise
all would be coming through here if you parted here
and I was indeed it was here in nineteen sixteen
that the nineteen sixteen Rising would have started an Easter
Monday nineteen sixteen and that's down by the GPO as
(12:43):
you're positively.
Speaker 3 (12:45):
And we're back here we go. Let's jump back in
with Jake and Ash and I want to hear about Ireland.
Tell me all about this football game.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
Kansas State versus Iowa State. You know, our nephew, Bradley
stand your number ninety Go Cats. It was just another
excuse to go to Ireland and get to really spend
probably the most quality time we've had with him in
quite a few years. He's busy high school kid right
playing football. And then obviously irreplaceable time with Natalie and Joseph,
who we just their their family. So it was a
(13:15):
lot of fun. The energy was fantastic. The entire town
of Dublin was just taken over by the football fans,
which was a lot of fun, but.
Speaker 3 (13:23):
So was the stadium, mostly filled with Americans who traveled out.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
Now, I would say, in traditional fashion with the NCAA,
they have to do they try anyway.
Speaker 4 (13:34):
The best they can do.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
Fifty percent for one team, you know, fifty percent for
another team, which it was a good showing for.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
Both sides for sure.
Speaker 4 (13:42):
I was really impressed. I was like, damn, there's.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
There's a lot of people a lot of people travel
a long way to.
Speaker 4 (13:46):
Come to this game.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
But you could absolutely tell who the locals were why
because they would have these random ass jerseys on, like
Minnesota Vikings.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
Yeah, if they had an America American football jersey they
were wearing it.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
Was they were wearing Adidas. They had these particular that
are like the Bees and Thees, and that was pretty
cool to see because after the game you were walking
out and I saw an ls HU jersey and I
was like, not American, no way. Yeah, It's crazy the
(14:26):
jerseys that you would see, It's like I.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
Mean, and some of them are like throwback. It was.
It was fantastic. It was a fantastic experience overall. You know,
we did the wild Wicklow Day Tour, which was just
beautiful Irish country. There's nothing like Ireland on a sunny day.
And then actually, except for we did actually mark off
(14:49):
a bucket We checked off a bucket list item that
I've had for a long time in Ireland and that
was we visited Kilmainham Jail. For me, I've I've grown
up knowing a lot of Irish history. My my great
grandma and my grandmother both were world travelers. I mean,
between the two of them, one hundred over one hundred countries.
And I remember my great grandmother Jesse always talking about
(15:11):
jesse May, always talking about Ireland.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
And I also had a great grandmother named jesse May.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
We're not related, I checked, but she just always loved Ireland.
And I went back and I actually found this school
project I had when I was in kindergarten where I
got to choose a country and I chose Ireland, and
so I think that was a lot of her influence.
But so I've been to Ireland quite a few times
and never made it over to Kilmainham Jail, which is
(15:38):
where a lot of the Easter Rising those that in
one of the mini fights for Irish independence, they were
actually jailed and executed. So there's a song that I've
just always felt so connected to called Grace, and it's
about one of the Easter Rising soldiers who was actually executed,
(15:58):
but he was allowed to marry his bride the night
before his execution and her name was Grace, his name
was Joseph, and a.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
Picture in the chapel where they got married.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
It was so cool, and it's a beautiful song. It's
hauntingly beautiful because it's tragic, but yes, it's just it's
and that song moves me so much. And to be
in the chapel where they got married, to stand in
the courtyard where he was executed, to know that she
to see his jail cell, and to know that she
never married again. Joseph was her her man and so
(16:34):
he he allegedly wrote the words to the song on
the on the Wall and kill Maineham Jail. And so
for me, that was a huge highlight of our Ireland
trip was getting to go knock that off. We like
to go to those historic places and I think a
lot of that has to do with our ancestry, right
We've we've researched it, both Jake's ancestors and my ancestors
(16:54):
in Scotland and the many battles that they were part
of coming over to America, the American Revolution, Civil War,
you know, on into the Texas Revolution with my family,
and so to us it's important to get connected. We're
we're all connected by default, but we all have such
different pass and some of them are very dire and
they are very heartbreaking. And so you know, when we're
(17:16):
at the coliseum, when we're at clad and battlefield in Scotland.
You know, we feel connected to that land and to
those people and to their story at at glen Coe
and the Highlands. And so for me Kilmainham Jail it
was very very powerful and moving to be there and
just feel these people. All they wanted was their independence
from Britain and you know, would go on just like
(17:38):
the Alamo, they would go on to not know if
it was achieved, but it was right. So the many
generations that have been touched from that sacrifice, to me,
that's the power of travel.
Speaker 4 (17:50):
That's what's crazy about that. Jee.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
This is built in the seventeen hundred's, you know, a
lot of greystone, a lot of it's all gray stone,
you know, and bar and it's just exactly what you
think of when you think very old prison.
Speaker 4 (18:08):
Yeah, it's impactful.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
And what's crazy is I didn't even know this until
we were on the tour, but Grace was actually imprisoned
later and she's an artist. She actually was an illustrator
for a newspaper and she actually drew She did some
art on one of the walls and you can still
see it.
Speaker 3 (18:24):
That's call a little graffiti writer. Action for Grace, good
for her, Double Revel. Yeah, it's amazing.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
Yeah, so the Easter Rising of nineteen sixteen and the
tours that we did again. You know, you go to
a place and you respect their history, you respect their customs,
you respect their people, and just open your mind and learn.
And we did this wild Wicklow half day tour, which
was also phenomenal. Natalie and Joseph were with us, but
they all decided to do this hike around the lake
(18:52):
and we decided to just kick it in the park
and we had That's probably my favorite memory from our
Ireland Scotland trip is this afternoon it was like two
hours where Jake and I just sat in this park.
We took our shoes off and.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
We just shoo in my case, his.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
Shoe, my shoes, and we just grounded and we just
watched the people go by. I mean, of course it
helps that we're from Texas. It's August, we're in Ireland.
It's sixty two degrees outside right perfect, and we got
we've been so blessed with weather.
Speaker 4 (19:22):
We made art.
Speaker 3 (19:23):
We made art go on what does that mean?
Speaker 1 (19:27):
There was this little wooden tepee structure in the middle
of the park, big enough for like a tent, for
so some of the we lads and lasses, we're running
around the park and then they would go in and
sit in the tepee or whatever.
Speaker 3 (19:40):
That's fine.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
Yeah, yeah, I said, babe, do you want to walk
over to that? And he handed me his prosthetic leg
and had me go put it in the middle of
the tepee and take a picture. We made art, and
then of course we had to send it to everyone
in one tribe and say art. And then now they're
planning a new T shirt and all.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
The things, because all you see is this the skeleton
of a TP. Yeah, in my fake leg right in
the middle. It's BEAUTIFULID means so many things, inspiring people. Yeah,
and then the kids that were playing out there, they
were like they maybe scarred a little bit, but you
(20:15):
know what, the stories to tell the grand kids.
Speaker 3 (20:18):
It's a big scary skeleton man from America. I can't.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
This guy just took his leg off and gave it
to his wife and she just went and and then she,
like you did, kind of start jogging to beat the
kids to the tepee.
Speaker 1 (20:33):
They were about to take it back over. I had
to get there and get my picture.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
And she put the leg in the inside there they
were gone, they went back.
Speaker 3 (20:41):
To the I talked to me a little bit about Scotland,
the Fatherland, go off king.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
You know, I just feel connected to Scotland and I
didn't know why, you know, the first time we went,
and I looked at Ashley because of course she slept
on the flight. I didn't every time.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
Sorry not sorry, no, yeah.
Speaker 4 (21:03):
I mean it's a gift.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
And yeah, I told her the first time we went.
I was like, you know, this can sound weird coming
from me, but I feel like my soul blogs here.
Speaker 3 (21:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
And that's when this was uh yeah, COVID was still
going right, yeah, because we landed, we had to go
through customs to do all the things, and then we
had to go straight to go get tested for COVID,
and then we had to quarantine for twenty four hours
inside they'll tell rum. And so luckily my Michael Jack
was we were emailing back and forth and he was like, oh,
(21:35):
you're my favorite place, blah blah blah, and of course
I just was like, you're baby, do your thing. And
she got on and was like, oh, did you realize No,
I did not realize that I a lot of my
family comes from here, and this is where it all started,
and that my middle name is what it is because
of the Patterson clan. And I didn't know any of
(21:56):
this stuff. This is not how the Mels are my family.
They're not like, hey, you want to sit down and
have a long talk about where we're from and why
and now we got here. This is not what we do.
Speaker 1 (22:07):
And whereas that's exactly what we sit around and talk
about it.
Speaker 4 (22:12):
But we do that with the boys for sure.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
Now I'm like, hey, history is important. It's important you understand,
you know, the our history and the evolution and how
we've gotten to where we are. There's a reason that
the saying goes history repeats itself because we don't learn,
and so we we stress to them how important it
is to learn about these things. And you know, really
delve into it, ton, It'll give you a lot better understanding.
(22:36):
It'll make you, by default, a better decision maker the
more you understand about history. And so Scotland is just
for me.
Speaker 4 (22:45):
It is.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
The only thing I tell people is it's spiritual, because
that's all I kept feeling the whole time.
Speaker 4 (22:54):
Especially when you know.
Speaker 2 (22:55):
The history, it gives you such a greater appreciation of
the beauty, knowing how much tragedy and trauma and turmoil
that happened. But you see how beautiful it is now,
but you still feel that heaviness.
Speaker 1 (23:12):
But it was a lot of fun for us too
to take Natalie Joseph around because they'd never been right.
So the Fringe Festival was kind of wrapping up in Edinburgh.
Speaker 4 (23:20):
Oh that was crazy.
Speaker 3 (23:21):
I've had so many friends do that.
Speaker 4 (23:23):
Oh that was crazy.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
I've never seen anything like it. Like that was crazy.
It was packed, I mean all around the town because
we went up to the Castle and we went down
to Greyfriars Bobby and we went over to Princess Street.
I mean we walked to the entire city of Edinburgh
and then that evening, right at sunset, we climbed Arthur's Seat,
which was really phenomenal because that was another bucket list
never done and that was beautiful. Saw a little bit
of sunset. That hill kicked my butt like ten times over.
(23:48):
I had not done a physical workout like that in
quite a while. But it was early to bed because
early to rise because the next day we did do
a thirteen hour tour all over Scotland, essentially Dreux or
rode from Edinburgh out to glen Coe, where the famous
site of in the Scottish Islands of the Glencoe Massacre
between the Campbell's and the McDonald's, which is just another historic,
(24:13):
terrible tragedy and this absolutely breath taking. It's probably one
of our favorite spots on the earth that either of
us have ever been to.
Speaker 2 (24:23):
It is mine, not probably, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
It's it's truly unbelievable. And we've had the pleasure of
being three times together now and and so we got
to take them out and experience that, and then hit
up a couple of towns pit lockery on the way
into town and they're on the way back into Edinburgh,
and a couple of different just great spots, and so
it was a very long day, but it was a
beautiful day spent together and we did a luckness.
Speaker 4 (24:51):
So that's kind of cruz.
Speaker 2 (24:52):
Yeah, okay, okay, because I think what was that that
GEO will give somebody who gets a picture video of
NeSSI well, they'll write it two million dollars check to you.
And I was like, of course we're not even on
this boat. Cruise for ten minutes. Yeah, And Ashley and
Natalie without planning it.
Speaker 1 (25:09):
They have little stickers that make it look like Nessi's
in the water, and so we both took pictures and
then we were She's like, I'm found Nessy. I'm like
me too.
Speaker 3 (25:16):
Boy, art strikes again.
Speaker 4 (25:19):
We're all about that. We create a lot of art.
Speaker 7 (25:21):
Lonis on a day like today, when when it's very
very low, it's only ten miles and now that's next
to nothing. Then Lochness itself is not tidal at one
end as the Caledonian Canal.
Speaker 3 (25:32):
At the other end, it.
Speaker 7 (25:33):
Meets in the river Ness and so that means that
the surface tends to be very very flat. And because
it's very deep two d and thirty night, it meets
us the same place as nobody knows the exact depth.
I'll tell you why that isn't just a moment. Well,
it means that the surface of the loch actually come bitter.
Speaker 3 (25:50):
All right, We got to take our last commercial break
and then we'll bring it home. Welcome back. Now it's
time for Jake, Ashley and I to land the plane.
For me, traveling has just been one of the greatest
joys of my life. You know, it's just so important
(26:11):
to me. We talk a lot about on the show
about the freedom that we have as Americans, and I
can say I never feel as viscerally, unabrightedly free as
when I'm traveling. And I remember specifically, mir and I
lived in Chicago for five years and then we kind
of rolled that to the wheels fall off and we're like,
(26:32):
it's time. We're either going to go to New York
or LA. And we went to LA and we packed
our little tiny Honda fit with everything we owned and
or that was worth keeping, I should say, and we
were going to drive across the country and spend some
time with our family up in Seattle. And of course
it was like an ice storm or we left on
(26:53):
like the worst possible days, like oh, we're going to die,
like ten minutes outside of Chicago. But I just remember
being in that car with all of our things and
just feeling like we don't have to ask permission. No
one gave us the okay, this is like our choice.
There was just something about physically like traveling I sort
(27:15):
of mean like literally moving through space across land that
was It was just one of the freest I've ever felt.
And I feel that way being able to get on
a plane and come to stay with you guys, I
feel that way going overseas or to different countries. I
don't know. For me personally, it's the ultimate expression of freedom.
(27:37):
I mean, given that also, I'm you know, in a
place of privilege and luck and blessings to be able
to do it. So I don't mean to like throw
that in anyone's face, but it's it's sort of it's
one of a kind thing for me that nothing else
really can fill that void for me personally.
Speaker 1 (27:55):
I identify with that so deeply, and I want to
encourage people. Even if you say I don't have the money,
I don't have the ability put ten dollars aside, if
you can put ten dollars aside a month, grow that
travel fund, figure out where you want to go. Travel
Other places are attainable if you make it a priority.
(28:18):
And you know, I remember when when Michael Carnell, one
of Jake's best friends who we lost last year season one,
we had him tell his incredible story. I remember when
Jake went to him and said, what's on your bucket list?
And he said, you know, I've never been to Ireland
and here he is a Boston Irish proud marine, right,
he'd never been to Ireland and Jake made that happen
for him. But that's take the trip, eat the dessert,
(28:41):
take the trip, soak up the culture, right because for me,
I feel the same way. It's if I'm at home,
I've got a thousand things to do. If we're on
a trip or we're on the road, it's free. You
put it beautifully, because that's I feel the exact same way.
It's something that not only allows you to get connect
connected to other cultures and other places and nature, which
(29:04):
you can do at your local, you know, state park,
but take that time, take that self care and go
see and do and learn something new.
Speaker 2 (29:16):
Yeah, I mean I don't.
Speaker 4 (29:16):
I don't. What can I add those that? It's like
you guys said, at all, it's I agree.
Speaker 2 (29:22):
I mean I think so many people are are held
back by some some aspect or form of fear of something.
Speaker 4 (29:31):
Yeah, and just just go.
Speaker 2 (29:34):
You know, you don't have to get on a plane
and fly across oceans either, right, Ash said, I mean,
go to your local state park, go to your local
arboretum or wherever they know where they do the flowers
and all that stuff.
Speaker 3 (29:49):
I think, So I don't know, arboretum always sounds like
a boat thing to me. But I think you're right.
I think it's like trees and stuff.
Speaker 4 (29:57):
Sure, that thing, that thing.
Speaker 1 (29:58):
See how traveled we are.
Speaker 2 (30:01):
Go to the place that does flowers and plants and trees.
Speaker 1 (30:04):
Just get out of your bubble.
Speaker 2 (30:06):
Yeah, that's essentially the point, right.
Speaker 1 (30:08):
Yeah, that's our PSI for today.
Speaker 3 (30:11):
Yes, get out of your bubble, find your healthy, selfish.
Speaker 1 (30:14):
And talk to the locals.
Speaker 4 (30:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
I love talking to the locals.
Speaker 3 (30:17):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (30:17):
It's the best snapshot you can get of a new location.
Speaker 4 (30:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (30:20):
I do love learning about history, but I also just
love being with people.
Speaker 4 (30:26):
In the now. Thank you so much for listening to
the Good.
Speaker 1 (30:33):
Stuff wherever you are in this great, big, wide world.
If you appreciate this show, please subscribe, like, and review
The Good Stuff podcast, and connect with us on social media.
Speaker 4 (30:43):
We love hearing from you.
Speaker 2 (30:44):
Good bet are indifferent, so please reach out through our website.
Our links and contact information are in the show notes
of this episode, and.
Speaker 3 (30:51):
It would mean the world to us if you shared
this episode with the people in your life, whom I
also enjoy it. We'll be back next week, but in
the meantime, if you're looking for a companion piece, this episode.
Go check out our episode with Danny Manning from season one.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
Put on your bad ass capes and go be great today,
and remember you can't do awesome things without awesome people.
Speaker 3 (31:17):
The Good Stuff is executive produced by Ashley Shick, Jacob
Shick and Leah Pictures. Hosted by Ashley Shick, Jacob Shick
and Nick Cassolini, Produced by Nick Cassolini, Engineering, editing and
post production supervision by Nick Cassolini. Music by Will Tendy,
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