September 2, 2024 • 24 mins
Can material wealth alone sustain strong family relationships in today's tech-driven world?
Explore this compelling question as David shares personal frustrations with the deterioration of meaningful connections within modern households. David argues that societal pressures and an over-reliance on digital devices have left families more disconnected than ever.
Drawing from his own experiences, he propose travel as a powerful remedy to this malaise. By taking a break from daily responsibilities and the constant buzz of notifications, families can find the space to reconnect on a deeper emotional level.
However, In this episode David cautions against poorly-planned, stress-inducing vacations, emphasizing the importance of mindful and meaningful travel experiences that truly foster family unity.
In another fascinating segment, discover how David revolutionized the families holiday traditions by replacing material gifts with unforgettable travel experiences. Initially skeptical, he soon realized that most pricey presents quickly faded from memory, offering little lasting joy or connection.
Instead, David and his family now reveal exciting travel plans through a simple manila envelope, a switch that has ignited his family's anticipation for the holidays and created enduring memories. David also shares insider tips on how to travel luxuriously without breaking the bank, proving that incredible vacations don't need to be exorbitantly expensive.
Tune in to learn how you can transform your family's relationships and holiday traditions through the magic of travel.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
You are listening to.
Travel is Cheaper than Divorce.
This podcast for all those whomay be struggling with their
spouse or their children and therelationship with them.
We help give you tips andtricks by using travel as the
means to be able to help yourrelationships with your family.
I will provide those tricks andother ways to help travel with
(00:29):
little or no cost.
So let's get into it.
I am extremely tired.
I'm tired of all the people inthis system, in the system of
the world.
I will just call it not reallygetting that.
(00:49):
The biggest problem we have,one of the biggest problems we
have, is the denigration of thefamily, and that denigration is
not because of a lack of therapyor whatever it might be.
Access to therapy seems to behigher than ever.
It's that nobody looks at eachother anymore.
Nobody sees each other anymore,nobody spends time with each
(01:14):
other anymore.
Things like this, things likephones and other things, are the
things that babysit.
They're the ones that tellthings about it.
If you're having issues withyour spouse or your children and
I know that that is the casefor some of you who are
listening then your solutionsometimes is to go on to Google
and hope that Google will solveyour problems for you.
(01:34):
I'm telling you that that isnot the solution.
I'm telling you this fromexperience.
This world is full of stress,everybody's stressed out.
They're so stressed out andthey can't see past their own
job, they can't see pastanything and they can't see the
solution to the problem.
Now, my solution and what Iwant to bring to the world, is a
(01:57):
solution to the problem that iscompletely, I would say,
unconventional, something thatmaybe has never been sold or
maybe you never thought ofbefore.
Okay, maybe you're a person whowho spends most of their time
just providing for their family.
They've just spent their entirelife just providing for their
family.
That person is is the person Iam and and was that.
(02:24):
That was my whole, entire goal.
I just need to provide for myfamily.
That's a noble goal as a, as aprovider, at a breadwinner of
the house.
But if you just buy them ahouse right, you buy them stuff
then that's all that matters tothem, because that's what you
(02:44):
told them that matters.
And maybe you, maybe you takehim out on sports events and
things that's not what I did,but and you travel, you know, to
go take him to.
You know a baseball game foryour child like miles away.
Is that really spending timewith your children, or is that
(03:05):
you spending time on thesideline?
Is that an analogy for yourentire life?
Are you just spending time onthe sideline?
That, I think, is somethingthat needs to be addressed.
Listen, everybody has stressand that never will change.
I have stress, everybody hasstress, everybody has stress and
that never will change.
I have stress, everybody hasstress.
But if there is a way, if therewas a solution to the stressful
(03:29):
problems, like even in yourmarriage with your children, and
I can provide that, or if I canhelp teach you or at least
provide something to you in thatcase, or to tell you the story
that I went through, then Ithink that would be something
that could be valuable toanybody.
(03:49):
But let me talk to you rightnow.
Who are listening?
You do not have to remain in amarriage that is stressful or a
family that is stressful.
There are too many men wholeave their marriages, who leave
(04:09):
their families because they arenot getting what they want.
That's a very, in my opinion,very selfish mentality.
What does your family need?
That's the question.
And as you work through thatquestion, what does my family
need.
That is the solution that I wantto provide to you, because
(04:30):
ultimately, you just need to getaway.
You need to get away from itall and sinking yourself in a
house in four walls, and notonly just and not only that, but
sometimes you're not even evenin the four walls.
You're not even in the fourwalls.
You're so stuffed into yourtelevision, into your, into your
(04:54):
electronics and for some menand the percentage is high so
stuffed in pornography that theycan't, they can't see what's
real anymore, they don't touchthings anymore.
Their life is simply going towork.
Your life may be something likethis you go to work, you come
home, maybe you have churchresponsibilities, maybe you have
(05:17):
civic responsibilities, but allof these are responsibilities
and you want to be a providerand you always want to provide
the things that your familyneeds.
And maybe you considered goingon vacation to get away from it
all, but you just can't see tofind the money.
(05:39):
Or, even worse, even worse, youtake them on a vacation that is
so budget constrained that theactual memories are worse.
You take them out to get bettermemories and you stay in a
hotel that is so run down thatyou can't sleep.
And now you're at each other'sthroat even more.
(05:59):
That really is not the way totravel with your family.
So, and I mean maybe you couldtell a little bit, but let me
just tell you a little bit of myexperience.
See, my wife and I we don'thave a perfect marriage.
Even now, the things I'm tryingto tell you, I don't know if
(06:19):
anybody really does.
You might find that couple outthere that you think has a
perfect marriage because they ofsocial media, right.
Everything we see may not bereal, but that was even
pre-social media, right.
You saw people out in the worldand you say, wow, they have a
perfect marriage.
No, they don't, no, they don't.
(06:43):
In fact, I wonder if theexperience sometimes of the
people who seem to have the mostperfect marriages are the ones
that are struggling the most.
I don't know that because Idon't want to get into people's
business, but I wonder if that'sthe case because they're hiding
things or burying things, andthat is a problem unto itself,
(07:03):
as I've realized more recently.
So you can kind of get the ideahere that when my family and my
wife and I were struggling, mywife was and I were foster
parents for a while, and whilewe were foster parents.
We had some of the moststressful times in our life and
(07:27):
I will certainly get into thatat a later time but we were
extremely stressed.
But the thing is, my wife wasmore stressed than I was, and
this is what most men don't getabout.
Women, in my opinion, is thatthey come home from work.
If they're working outside thehome, that's less common than it
used to be, but it still is themost common thing.
(07:48):
You get home from a businesstrip, you get home from wherever
for work and your first thoughtis well, I'm going to get what
I need, I'm going to relax whenthey don't realize that their
spouse the entire day either.
They work.
I don't know if they do, but ifthey stay home, they still work
.
There was a study done yearsago.
I find fascinating that if a,if a homemaking wife or a uh, a
(08:14):
stay at home mom that's what theterm was were to get paid for
all that she does on the market,she would be paid over six
figures.
And this was years ago.
I read the study.
It's probably way more thanthat now.
But just because they don't getpaid, you don't think their
work's more valuable than yours.
That's such a selfish mentality.
But this is the problem.
(08:35):
We come home and we say Iworked all day, I worked all day
and so you need to take care ofme.
Nope, nope, nope.
My experience with women ingeneral and, to be frank, I've
only had one, one spouse.
(08:55):
So you know, I'm I'm not, Idon't have multiple experiences
with being married multiple,multiple, different people, but,
but my experience from otherpeople is that is that women in
general want to take care of youanyways, but are you willing to
take care of your spouse andare you willing to take care of
your children?
I'm going to give you a verysimple way.
(09:16):
I want to help you.
That's what I want to do.
I want to help you find thatsolution.
So let me get back to what I wastelling you about how it went
with my spouse and I before Iwent off on that little tangent
there, we, we, I got home, weget home from work and again I,
I.
This was the mentality I had,same as as that some of you out
(09:38):
there might have is I want to betaken care of.
It got so bad that she's likeyou know, I don't even know.
You know, I don't even know ifI need you, I just need your
money.
Essentially, those aren't thewords she used, but that's
essentially where it came downto.
There was no emotionalconnection, zero.
So so the the issue that we'rehaving right now is that is that
(10:08):
people?
Well, anyways, let me justcontinue the story, I think.
I think that will be helpful.
My spouse came to me and said wejust need to get out of this
house.
Again, going back to the fourwalls, again, we need to get out
of this house.
So what she wanted ultimatelywas to get out of the area.
(10:32):
This wasn't a house thing asmuch, because we did go on hikes
every so often and those arenice and that did help a little
bit, but it's a relief for acouple hours right back to where
we were before.
So, ultimately, she wanted toget out of the house and travel,
wanted to get out of the houseand travel.
(10:57):
So I did what I've always beenvery good at and I just started
researching and researching, andresearching, and I go over and
over and over again, because Iknew there was something that
could help here and I believedin her solution.
That's the thing.
I actually believe that, sinceshe's home all day and she was
(11:21):
stressed about being in thehouse because, again, like I was
saying before, I didn't finishthe stop but they're in the
house all day.
If they're a stay-at-home mom,that is their workplace and you
come home and say, no, I want tostay in this workplace because
I haven't been in, I want tostay in your workplace because I
haven't been home all day.
How does that make sense to her?
So she's.
(11:42):
The solution that she broughtforward for her and I listened
to her because of the things wewere talking about brought
forward for her and I listenedto her because of the things we
were talking about was to getout of not just the house but
the area.
(12:03):
At this moment of my life, I wasbuilding a business.
I did not have disposableincome to speak of, we had
foster kids.
We had other kids, ourbiological kids and the foster
care assistant they call thosebio kids and so we had a lot we
had at one point of our lives asdoing foster care.
We had six kids in the house Onmy floor.
A lot of people people, somepeople can't even handle two,
(12:25):
but we had six and that's okay.
If you can't handle more thantwo, everybody has their limits.
I'm not trying to shame anybodyon that.
I think six was a little toomuch for us anyways, but that's
the way we were.
So we didn't have a lot ofdisposable income.
We're taking a lot of money totake care of the kids and the
(12:47):
house and the mortgage andeverything.
We're taking a lot of money totake care of the kids and the
house and the mortgage andeverything.
So what we decided what Idecided to do is again is to go
through and do some research andresearch and research and
research some more.
And at first I wasn'tresearching ways to get out and
get away without spending anymoney.
(13:08):
I mean, that wasn't even in myhead.
I was actually researchingdestinations to go.
I was trying to figure out okay, where can I go, where can we
go, where can we afford to go?
And then I stumbled onsomething that has changed our
lives.
It's changed our marriage, it'schanged my relationship with my
(13:28):
kids that you'll hear about inlater episodes.
But I stumbled onto somethingwhere I realized there is this
whole nother world out therewhere you can be stress, where
you can lower your stress, evenfinancially, and and get out.
(13:49):
I had no idea at the time thatwhen I did this when we started
to travel more and we havetraveled quite a bit, and that's
part of what I want to talkabout.
Is that how much that made adifference in my kids' lives, in
(14:09):
my marriage, you know, and I'mnot going to tell you what to do
in yours, I'm just telling youmy experience, and my experience
is that getting out and gettingaway, it will change a lot of
things for you.
There is an epidemic, epidemicof divorce and one-parent
(14:30):
families in this entire country.
I don't care what race, I don'tcare what religion, I don't
care.
It's happening everywhere,Everywhere, everywhere, and
(14:51):
there is a way I believe that isunconventional, that's not
being talked about, and this iswhat I want to bring to you.
I want to bring to you asolution that has not been
talked about very much, or it'sbeen talked about, as you know.
(15:11):
Be nice, do this once in awhile, it might help.
No, no.
I want to give you anotherexample.
In my household, we, about threeyears ago, in the midst of all
this that I was learning andthat we are growing together in
(15:33):
this way, in the midst of allthis, we decide that we are
going to stop giving our kidsChristmas presents.
You, man, are the horror of mymother when I said that what
You're not going to give yourkids Christmas presents no,
we're not.
We decided to take and funnelall of the money we would spend
(15:55):
on Christmas presents and funnelit into travel.
Now I understand this.
Actually, I've been talking topeople.
This is becoming more and moreof a trend lately, because our
reasoning was that memories aremore important than stuff.
Your kids will never Ishouldn't say never, but it's
(16:18):
less likely that they willremember the stuff that you
bought them for Christmas 10years from now.
But they will remember thememories or, even worse, as I
hear from some people who grewup and are grown up, they'll
remember the lack of memories.
And so we decide that we weredone with that.
(16:43):
We're funneling so much moneyand, by the way, I want to be
frank with you again this was myspouse's idea two years before
you implemented.
Because I resisted it too,because, you know, I grew up in
a household where presents werea big deal.
So my spouse said that and then, about three, three years ago,
(17:05):
I was cleaning out.
No, it was even longer thanthat, sorry, it's been.
Oh, it's been five or six yearsago.
We are cleaning out what, whatwas our playroom downstairs, and
I realized that half of thetoys or whatever electronics,
you know stuff that we gave themfor Christmas, six months later
, within six months, they didn'tgive a living care about that.
(17:26):
I was so mad because I'm kindof.
You know, I've been in the.
My background is in thefinancial industry.
I've been in the financialindustry for 15 plus years and
it drives me insane when I wastea dollar and so I was looking
at that.
It drove me insane.
What was the point?
What's the point?
(17:47):
What's the point of giving themstuff To make them feel good
inside for five minutes?
I mean.
Memories last so much longer,so much longer.
And so we decide that we weredone.
We were done with Christmaspresents.
(18:08):
Now, I say that kind of halfwaybecause we do give them quote
unquote Christmas presents, butthey're usually a lot cheaper
and they always have to do withthe trip we're taking them on.
So our big reveal duringChristmas, or our Christmas
present, is literally a manilaenvelope and inside the manila
envelope taped because my kidsare teenagers and think they can
go look at things.
So pains in the butts, butwhatever you could relate to
(18:36):
that I'd imagine, taped inside.
Taped inside of that manilaenvelope is our destination and
usually a lot of information onit.
Like, we took the kids one yearon a cruise.
And when we took them on thatcruise, this is right at the
tail end of the pandemic Cruiseswere dirt, dirt cheap and
that's you know.
Again, I don't like the wasteof dollar.
So we put information on theboat, we put information on all
(18:58):
the activities on the boat, allthis other stuff that was inside
the manila envelope.
We don't let them know whatwe're doing beforehand.
So that's the big, big presentis literally a manila envelope
with papers inside that Iprinted off my printer, that's
it.
But they are so excited they'reactually get somewhat anxious
(19:19):
and I don't know if I should usethe word angry, but they get
really pissed off that theydon't tell them before Christmas
.
They want to know where they'regoing.
So bad, because this is whathas been built up for them.
I have never seen my kids moreexcited about opening a manila
envelope than they were openingpresents six, seven years ago.
They don't care about the stuffas much anymore, so we started
(19:53):
doing that.
We do give them presentsrelated to the trip.
One year again, we took them ona cruise.
We wrapped up presents that onewas like a boat, like a little
toy boat.
Again, these are little things.
We're not spending a lot ofmoney on presents anymore.
The present is the trip.
Everything goes relates aroundit.
In fact, that's one of ourfavorite things to do is to wrap
(20:14):
up these presents and have themopen everything but the manila
envelope to try to get them toguess where we're going.
So, anyway, that is that is.
That is something that haschanged in our household.
And now they get really, reallyexcited more excited, it seems
like for Christmas, since westarted switching that.
And I'm telling you, that's thepower of travel.
(20:36):
It's the power of getting out,it's the power of getting away.
Ultimately, all that doesn'tmatter.
The power is the memories.
That's the power.
None of this other stuffmatters.
It's the memories.
And, like I said, going awayand going to a baseball game
with your kid and you, callingthat travel is not travel.
That's not building a memory.
(20:57):
You're on the sideline.
He may be building a memorywith his team and whatever, but
is he really building a memorywith the travel when you're on
the sideline?
Is your spouse even there or isshe working?
I don't know.
I don't know.
(21:17):
But this is just the experienceI have and throughout this
entire podcast, all the episodesof the podcast, I want to get
in more specifics.
I want to get in more specificson what in my story, what I've
(21:37):
done and what you can do as well, and how it's changed things
and why this was so important tome and why it really is
important to you.
So that is the goal here.
My goal is to show you a way tobring your family together in
(21:58):
an unconventional way, in a waythat most people would not even
considered.
I didn't.
I thought it was just nice totravel and my wife really wanted
to travel.
So I said, all right, we'll tryto find a way to travel, and I
did.
(22:18):
I found a way to travel inluxury, not going to the
cheapest hotels and on thecheapest flights.
Sitting in the back of theplane Like worst experience ever
.
I feel like sitting in the backof the plane like worst
experience ever.
I feel like sitting in the backof a plane.
I hate, I absolutely hatesitting in the back of the plane
, only because then it takesforever to get off the plane.
It drives me insane.
But anyways, that's.
I digress off of that point.
But?
But this not yeah, not sittingin low class hotels and and
(22:46):
sitting in the back of a plane,because that doesn't build as
good of memories, if not any.
Like I said earlier, it couldactually build bad memories,
worse memories, if you actuallystayed home.
But I learned how to travel inluxury for little to no cost.
Little to no cost because theexcuses I hear from people when
(23:09):
I talk to them I don't have themoney, I don't have the money, I
don't have the money.
Then don't use money, don't usemoney.
But the thing is is thatthere's this whole other world
out there that I discoveredafter years and years of
(23:29):
research that has helped myfamily get there.
So, anyway, that is really whatI want to tell you about you,
the listener.
I want to tell you about that.
I want to tell you about that.
I want to tell you about thememories.
(23:49):
I want to tell you about thethings I have built in my own
family because of this and whatis really possible for you.
Because it is possible.
Money isn't the issue.
Don't talk to me about money.
I've been in the financialindustry for over 15 years.
I know all about money.
(24:11):
Don't talk to me about money.
If you want to do it, I willhelp you Because it is possible,
but I need you to know thatit's important too.
You have been listening to.
Travel is Cheaper Than Divorcewith me, your host, david Packer
(24:32):
.
Please connect with us on ourYouTube channel at Travel Point
Pros.
There, you will learn many tipsand tricks on how to use points
and miles to travel in luxuryfor little to no cost.
Remember to like and subscribeand comment on any of the videos
that you find helpful to you.
Thank you for listening.
You are listening to.
Travel is Cheaper than Divorce.
This podcast for all those whomay be struggling with their
spouse or their children and therelationship with them.
We help give you tips andtricks by using travel as the
means to be able to help yourrelationships with your family.
I will provide those tricks andother ways to help travel with
(00:29):
little or no cost.
So let's get into it.
I am extremely tired.
I'm tired of all the people inthis system, in the system of
the world.
I will just call it not reallygetting that.
(00:49):
The biggest problem we have,one of the biggest problems we
have, is the denigration of thefamily, and that denigration is
not because of a lack of therapyor whatever it might be.
Access to therapy seems to behigher than ever.
It's that nobody looks at eachother anymore.
Nobody sees each other anymore,nobody spends time with each
(01:14):
other anymore.
Things like this, things likephones and other things, are the
things that babysit.
They're the ones that tellthings about it.
If you're having issues withyour spouse or your children and
I know that that is the casefor some of you who are
listening then your solutionsometimes is to go on to Google
and hope that Google will solveyour problems for you.
(01:34):
I'm telling you that that isnot the solution.
I'm telling you this fromexperience.
This world is full of stress,everybody's stressed out.
They're so stressed out andthey can't see past their own
job, they can't see pastanything and they can't see the
solution to the problem.
Now, my solution and what Iwant to bring to the world, is a
(01:57):
solution to the problem that iscompletely, I would say,
unconventional, something thatmaybe has never been sold or
maybe you never thought ofbefore.
Okay, maybe you're a person whowho spends most of their time
just providing for their family.
They've just spent their entirelife just providing for their
family.
That person is is the person Iam and and was that.
(02:24):
That was my whole, entire goal.
I just need to provide for myfamily.
That's a noble goal as a, as aprovider, at a breadwinner of
the house.
But if you just buy them ahouse right, you buy them stuff
then that's all that matters tothem, because that's what you
(02:44):
told them that matters.
And maybe you, maybe you takehim out on sports events and
things that's not what I did,but and you travel, you know, to
go take him to.
You know a baseball game foryour child like miles away.
Is that really spending timewith your children, or is that
(03:05):
you spending time on thesideline?
Is that an analogy for yourentire life?
Are you just spending time onthe sideline?
That, I think, is somethingthat needs to be addressed.
Listen, everybody has stressand that never will change.
I have stress, everybody hasstress, everybody has stress and
that never will change.
I have stress, everybody hasstress.
But if there is a way, if therewas a solution to the stressful
(03:29):
problems, like even in yourmarriage with your children, and
I can provide that, or if I canhelp teach you or at least
provide something to you in thatcase, or to tell you the story
that I went through, then Ithink that would be something
that could be valuable toanybody.
(03:49):
But let me talk to you rightnow.
Who are listening?
You do not have to remain in amarriage that is stressful or a
family that is stressful.
There are too many men wholeave their marriages, who leave
(04:09):
their families because they arenot getting what they want.
That's a very, in my opinion,very selfish mentality.
What does your family need?
That's the question.
And as you work through thatquestion, what does my family
need.
That is the solution that I wantto provide to you, because
(04:30):
ultimately, you just need to getaway.
You need to get away from itall and sinking yourself in a
house in four walls, and notonly just and not only that, but
sometimes you're not even evenin the four walls.
You're not even in the fourwalls.
You're so stuffed into yourtelevision, into your, into your
(04:54):
electronics and for some menand the percentage is high so
stuffed in pornography that theycan't, they can't see what's
real anymore, they don't touchthings anymore.
Their life is simply going towork.
Your life may be something likethis you go to work, you come
home, maybe you have churchresponsibilities, maybe you have
(05:17):
civic responsibilities, but allof these are responsibilities
and you want to be a providerand you always want to provide
the things that your familyneeds.
And maybe you considered goingon vacation to get away from it
all, but you just can't see tofind the money.
(05:39):
Or, even worse, even worse, youtake them on a vacation that is
so budget constrained that theactual memories are worse.
You take them out to get bettermemories and you stay in a
hotel that is so run down thatyou can't sleep.
And now you're at each other'sthroat even more.
(05:59):
That really is not the way totravel with your family.
So, and I mean maybe you couldtell a little bit, but let me
just tell you a little bit of myexperience.
See, my wife and I we don'thave a perfect marriage.
Even now, the things I'm tryingto tell you, I don't know if
(06:19):
anybody really does.
You might find that couple outthere that you think has a
perfect marriage because they ofsocial media, right.
Everything we see may not bereal, but that was even
pre-social media, right.
You saw people out in the worldand you say, wow, they have a
perfect marriage.
No, they don't, no, they don't.
(06:43):
In fact, I wonder if theexperience sometimes of the
people who seem to have the mostperfect marriages are the ones
that are struggling the most.
I don't know that because Idon't want to get into people's
business, but I wonder if that'sthe case because they're hiding
things or burying things, andthat is a problem unto itself,
(07:03):
as I've realized more recently.
So you can kind of get the ideahere that when my family and my
wife and I were struggling, mywife was and I were foster
parents for a while, and whilewe were foster parents.
We had some of the moststressful times in our life and
(07:27):
I will certainly get into thatat a later time but we were
extremely stressed.
But the thing is, my wife wasmore stressed than I was, and
this is what most men don't getabout.
Women, in my opinion, is thatthey come home from work.
If they're working outside thehome, that's less common than it
used to be, but it still is themost common thing.
(07:48):
You get home from a businesstrip, you get home from wherever
for work and your first thoughtis well, I'm going to get what
I need, I'm going to relax whenthey don't realize that their
spouse the entire day either.
They work.
I don't know if they do, but ifthey stay home, they still work
.
There was a study done yearsago.
I find fascinating that if a,if a homemaking wife or a uh, a
(08:14):
stay at home mom that's what theterm was were to get paid for
all that she does on the market,she would be paid over six
figures.
And this was years ago.
I read the study.
It's probably way more thanthat now.
But just because they don't getpaid, you don't think their
work's more valuable than yours.
That's such a selfish mentality.
But this is the problem.
(08:35):
We come home and we say Iworked all day, I worked all day
and so you need to take care ofme.
Nope, nope, nope.
My experience with women ingeneral and, to be frank, I've
only had one, one spouse.
(08:55):
So you know, I'm I'm not, Idon't have multiple experiences
with being married multiple,multiple, different people, but,
but my experience from otherpeople is that is that women in
general want to take care of youanyways, but are you willing to
take care of your spouse andare you willing to take care of
your children?
I'm going to give you a verysimple way.
(09:16):
I want to help you.
That's what I want to do.
I want to help you find thatsolution.
So let me get back to what I wastelling you about how it went
with my spouse and I before Iwent off on that little tangent
there, we, we, I got home, weget home from work and again I,
I.
This was the mentality I had,same as as that some of you out
(09:38):
there might have is I want to betaken care of.
It got so bad that she's likeyou know, I don't even know.
You know, I don't even know ifI need you, I just need your
money.
Essentially, those aren't thewords she used, but that's
essentially where it came downto.
There was no emotionalconnection, zero.
So so the the issue that we'rehaving right now is that is that
(10:08):
people?
Well, anyways, let me justcontinue the story, I think.
I think that will be helpful.
My spouse came to me and said wejust need to get out of this
house.
Again, going back to the fourwalls, again, we need to get out
of this house.
So what she wanted ultimatelywas to get out of the area.
(10:32):
This wasn't a house thing asmuch, because we did go on hikes
every so often and those arenice and that did help a little
bit, but it's a relief for acouple hours right back to where
we were before.
So, ultimately, she wanted toget out of the house and travel,
wanted to get out of the houseand travel.
(10:57):
So I did what I've always beenvery good at and I just started
researching and researching, andresearching, and I go over and
over and over again, because Iknew there was something that
could help here and I believedin her solution.
That's the thing.
I actually believe that, sinceshe's home all day and she was
(11:21):
stressed about being in thehouse because, again, like I was
saying before, I didn't finishthe stop but they're in the
house all day.
If they're a stay-at-home mom,that is their workplace and you
come home and say, no, I want tostay in this workplace because
I haven't been in, I want tostay in your workplace because I
haven't been home all day.
How does that make sense to her?
So she's.
(11:42):
The solution that she broughtforward for her and I listened
to her because of the things wewere talking about brought
forward for her and I listenedto her because of the things we
were talking about was to getout of not just the house but
the area.
(12:03):
At this moment of my life, I wasbuilding a business.
I did not have disposableincome to speak of, we had
foster kids.
We had other kids, ourbiological kids and the foster
care assistant they call thosebio kids and so we had a lot we
had at one point of our lives asdoing foster care.
We had six kids in the house Onmy floor.
A lot of people people, somepeople can't even handle two,
(12:25):
but we had six and that's okay.
If you can't handle more thantwo, everybody has their limits.
I'm not trying to shame anybodyon that.
I think six was a little toomuch for us anyways, but that's
the way we were.
So we didn't have a lot ofdisposable income.
We're taking a lot of money totake care of the kids and the
(12:47):
house and the mortgage andeverything.
We're taking a lot of money totake care of the kids and the
house and the mortgage andeverything.
So what we decided what Idecided to do is again is to go
through and do some research andresearch and research and
research some more.
And at first I wasn'tresearching ways to get out and
get away without spending anymoney.
(13:08):
I mean, that wasn't even in myhead.
I was actually researchingdestinations to go.
I was trying to figure out okay, where can I go, where can we
go, where can we afford to go?
And then I stumbled onsomething that has changed our
lives.
It's changed our marriage, it'schanged my relationship with my
(13:28):
kids that you'll hear about inlater episodes.
But I stumbled onto somethingwhere I realized there is this
whole nother world out therewhere you can be stress, where
you can lower your stress, evenfinancially, and and get out.
(13:49):
I had no idea at the time thatwhen I did this when we started
to travel more and we havetraveled quite a bit, and that's
part of what I want to talkabout.
Is that how much that made adifference in my kids' lives, in
(14:09):
my marriage, you know, and I'mnot going to tell you what to do
in yours, I'm just telling youmy experience, and my experience
is that getting out and gettingaway, it will change a lot of
things for you.
There is an epidemic, epidemicof divorce and one-parent
(14:30):
families in this entire country.
I don't care what race, I don'tcare what religion, I don't
care.
It's happening everywhere,Everywhere, everywhere, and
(14:51):
there is a way I believe that isunconventional, that's not
being talked about, and this iswhat I want to bring to you.
I want to bring to you asolution that has not been
talked about very much, or it'sbeen talked about, as you know.
(15:11):
Be nice, do this once in awhile, it might help.
No, no.
I want to give you anotherexample.
In my household, we, about threeyears ago, in the midst of all
this that I was learning andthat we are growing together in
(15:33):
this way, in the midst of allthis, we decide that we are
going to stop giving our kidsChristmas presents.
You, man, are the horror of mymother when I said that what
You're not going to give yourkids Christmas presents no,
we're not.
We decided to take and funnelall of the money we would spend
(15:55):
on Christmas presents and funnelit into travel.
Now I understand this.
Actually, I've been talking topeople.
This is becoming more and moreof a trend lately, because our
reasoning was that memories aremore important than stuff.
Your kids will never Ishouldn't say never, but it's
(16:18):
less likely that they willremember the stuff that you
bought them for Christmas 10years from now.
But they will remember thememories or, even worse, as I
hear from some people who grewup and are grown up, they'll
remember the lack of memories.
And so we decide that we weredone with that.
(16:43):
We're funneling so much moneyand, by the way, I want to be
frank with you again this was myspouse's idea two years before
you implemented.
Because I resisted it too,because, you know, I grew up in
a household where presents werea big deal.
So my spouse said that and then, about three, three years ago,
(17:05):
I was cleaning out.
No, it was even longer thanthat, sorry, it's been.
Oh, it's been five or six yearsago.
We are cleaning out what, whatwas our playroom downstairs, and
I realized that half of thetoys or whatever electronics,
you know stuff that we gave themfor Christmas, six months later
, within six months, they didn'tgive a living care about that.
(17:26):
I was so mad because I'm kindof.
You know, I've been in the.
My background is in thefinancial industry.
I've been in the financialindustry for 15 plus years and
it drives me insane when I wastea dollar and so I was looking
at that.
It drove me insane.
What was the point?
What's the point?
(17:47):
What's the point of giving themstuff To make them feel good
inside for five minutes?
I mean.
Memories last so much longer,so much longer.
And so we decide that we weredone.
We were done with Christmaspresents.
(18:08):
Now, I say that kind of halfwaybecause we do give them quote
unquote Christmas presents, butthey're usually a lot cheaper
and they always have to do withthe trip we're taking them on.
So our big reveal duringChristmas, or our Christmas
present, is literally a manilaenvelope and inside the manila
envelope taped because my kidsare teenagers and think they can
go look at things.
So pains in the butts, butwhatever you could relate to
(18:36):
that I'd imagine, taped inside.
Taped inside of that manilaenvelope is our destination and
usually a lot of information onit.
Like, we took the kids one yearon a cruise.
And when we took them on thatcruise, this is right at the
tail end of the pandemic Cruiseswere dirt, dirt cheap and
that's you know.
Again, I don't like the wasteof dollar.
So we put information on theboat, we put information on all
(18:58):
the activities on the boat, allthis other stuff that was inside
the manila envelope.
We don't let them know whatwe're doing beforehand.
So that's the big, big presentis literally a manila envelope
with papers inside that Iprinted off my printer, that's
it.
But they are so excited they'reactually get somewhat anxious
(19:19):
and I don't know if I should usethe word angry, but they get
really pissed off that theydon't tell them before Christmas
.
They want to know where they'regoing.
So bad, because this is whathas been built up for them.
I have never seen my kids moreexcited about opening a manila
envelope than they were openingpresents six, seven years ago.
They don't care about the stuffas much anymore, so we started
(19:53):
doing that.
We do give them presentsrelated to the trip.
One year again, we took them ona cruise.
We wrapped up presents that onewas like a boat, like a little
toy boat.
Again, these are little things.
We're not spending a lot ofmoney on presents anymore.
The present is the trip.
Everything goes relates aroundit.
In fact, that's one of ourfavorite things to do is to wrap
(20:14):
up these presents and have themopen everything but the manila
envelope to try to get them toguess where we're going.
So, anyway, that is that is.
That is something that haschanged in our household.
And now they get really, reallyexcited more excited, it seems
like for Christmas, since westarted switching that.
And I'm telling you, that's thepower of travel.
(20:36):
It's the power of getting out,it's the power of getting away.
Ultimately, all that doesn'tmatter.
The power is the memories.
That's the power.
None of this other stuffmatters.
It's the memories.
And, like I said, going awayand going to a baseball game
with your kid and you, callingthat travel is not travel.
That's not building a memory.
(20:57):
You're on the sideline.
He may be building a memorywith his team and whatever, but
is he really building a memorywith the travel when you're on
the sideline?
Is your spouse even there or isshe working?
I don't know.
I don't know.
(21:17):
But this is just the experienceI have and throughout this
entire podcast, all the episodesof the podcast, I want to get
in more specifics.
I want to get in more specificson what in my story, what I've
(21:37):
done and what you can do as well, and how it's changed things
and why this was so important tome and why it really is
important to you.
So that is the goal here.
My goal is to show you a way tobring your family together in
(21:58):
an unconventional way, in a waythat most people would not even
considered.
I didn't.
I thought it was just nice totravel and my wife really wanted
to travel.
So I said, all right, we'll tryto find a way to travel, and I
did.
(22:18):
I found a way to travel inluxury, not going to the
cheapest hotels and on thecheapest flights.
Sitting in the back of theplane Like worst experience ever
.
I feel like sitting in the backof the plane like worst
experience ever.
I feel like sitting in the backof a plane.
I hate, I absolutely hatesitting in the back of the plane
, only because then it takesforever to get off the plane.
It drives me insane.
But anyways, that's.
I digress off of that point.
But?
But this not yeah, not sittingin low class hotels and and
(22:46):
sitting in the back of a plane,because that doesn't build as
good of memories, if not any.
Like I said earlier, it couldactually build bad memories,
worse memories, if you actuallystayed home.
But I learned how to travel inluxury for little to no cost.
Little to no cost because theexcuses I hear from people when
(23:09):
I talk to them I don't have themoney, I don't have the money, I
don't have the money.
Then don't use money, don't usemoney.
But the thing is is thatthere's this whole other world
out there that I discoveredafter years and years of
(23:29):
research that has helped myfamily get there.
So, anyway, that is really whatI want to tell you about you,
the listener.
I want to tell you about that.
I want to tell you about that.
I want to tell you about thememories.
(23:49):
I want to tell you about thethings I have built in my own
family because of this and whatis really possible for you.
Because it is possible.
Money isn't the issue.
Don't talk to me about money.
I've been in the financialindustry for over 15 years.
I know all about money.
(24:11):
Don't talk to me about money.
If you want to do it, I willhelp you Because it is possible,
but I need you to know thatit's important too.
You have been listening to.
Travel is Cheaper Than Divorcewith me, your host, david Packer
(24:32):
.
Please connect with us on ourYouTube channel at Travel Point
Pros.
There, you will learn many tipsand tricks on how to use points
and miles to travel in luxuryfor little to no cost.
Remember to like and subscribeand comment on any of the videos
that you find helpful to you.
Thank you for listening.
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