#70 Forgot How to Have Fun? (with Dr. Mike Rucker)

Episode Transcript
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Brian Wilson (00:07):
Hey guys.
If you ever feel like life isjust drive, eat, sleep, and
repeat, and somewhere along theline, fun got jumped to the
bottom of the priority list?
Yeah.
Same here.
But what if making room forfun, I mean real, meaningful
fun, could actually help us staysharp, feel better, and not

(00:30):
burn out so fast.
I know I'm interested.
Hey, this is Brian Wilson, theold hand with a new plan, and
this is Enjoying Life OTR.
Today, Cindy sits down with Dr.
Mike Rucker, a psychologist,behavioral scientist, and author
of the 2023 hit book, The FunHabit.
And this guy has been featuredin the Wall Street Journal,

(00:53):
Psychology Today, Forbes, and awhole ton of other fancy places.
But what he's sharing todayisn't just theory.
It's real stuff.
We can all use it to make lifeon and off the road a little
more joyful.
Even if all you got is a sunsetand 10 or 15 minutes just to

(01:13):
breathe.
So if you're ready to rethinkwhat counts as fun and maybe get
a few ideas you can use outthere, you're in the right
place.

Cindy Tunstall (01:27):
Okay, Mike, I loved your book.
The Fun Habit, How to Pursuitof Joy and Wonder Can Change
Your Life.
Great title.
Love that.
You said in the book that funisn't just a luxury, that it's a
necessity.
You know, but most of us treatit like it's something extra,
you know, that we'll get to itwhen we have time.
And um, I wondered if you couldshare with our audience what it

(01:47):
costs us when we have that kindof mindset about fun.

Dr. Mike Rucker (01:52):
Yeah, so I think what we're learning is
that similar to in the 90s whenwe kind of championed sleep
deprivation.
Um, and now, you know, no onedoes that.
Even folks that are staunchproductivity experts, you know,
know that if you don't have agood sleep foundation, your
life's gonna crumble fairlyquickly.

(02:14):
We're learning the same aboutenjoying what you do.
Um, the problem with that isthat it's a bit of a slower
burn.
So oftentimes folks can't makethe direct line.
But what we know is those folksthat are fun starved
eventually, you know, start toburn out.
And uh, you know, whether ornot you sort of understand
burnout, I meant the symptomsare fairly familiar to most

(02:37):
people, right?
You just don't really see theworld uh in a way that's
optimistic.
You tend to, even if you'resleeping okay, wake up without a
lot of energy, um, you begin tonot be able to think
creatively.
So, like even if you don't feelthat you're a creative person,
just all of your problems tendto look bigger than they are
because you have to really relyon the little bit of resilience

(03:01):
that you have.
And so for all those reasons,it becomes important to at
least, in the context of the waywe describe Twine, which is
really just enjoying what you doat least some of the time, um,
it becomes important to findsome ways to do that, even for
the time poor, because if youdon't find any joy in life,
ultimately you start to questionwhether life's worth living.

(03:23):
And, you know, at that point,um, you can't save you with fun
anymore, right?
It really does require deeperwork.
And so what we're trying to dois make sure you don't get to
that point.

Well, I really love that because one of the
things you shared in the book,um, and it was kind of shocking
to me, you know, many of ouraudience are um, you know,
trying to live a healthierlifestyle.
We're driving, you know, we'retrying to um take better care of
our bodies.
And um, you mentioned somethingin your book, and it kind of
shocked me that when we havemore fun in a more balanced,
like our fun tank is full, thatit actually helps with impulse

(03:55):
control.
Um, and I thought about, youknow, for snacking and um, you
know, trying to do, you know,we'll become more disciplined
because we have that in ourreserves to do that.
Could you explain to ouraudience a little bit about that
connection?
I thought that was sofascinating.

Yeah, it's really interesting neuroscience.
And that fact I just got backfrom a conference in Austin and
so learned about it more becauseif you have a predisposition to
something like ADD or ADHD, itbecomes even more prevalent.
And that is that, you know, weall thrive on challenge or
novelty.
You know, we need some of thatin our life.

(04:29):
And that can be in a healthyway.
And psychology, we have a geekyword for it called active
leisure, or it can be in a waythat really just sort of allows
you to escape the discomfortthat you're in.
And so, you know, we tend to inthe most simplified terms,
we're we're living in thespectrum, right?
We're either enjoying what wedo, and that can be something

(04:51):
just mildly enjoyable.
Like, you know, I confess inthe book, my wife is pretty low
key for her fun things are arefairly low arousal.
But folks like me that kind ofneed some adventure into our
life, um, it doesn't reallymatter what your predisposition
is, you know.
I mean, it will matter withregards to what you're drawn to.
But for the folks that don'thave any of that in their life,

(05:12):
um, what happens is they justwant to displace that kind of
unfun environment that they'rein.
And you can do that in allhosts of ways, right?
You can kind of pacify yourselfwith social media use.
Um, you can, you know, engagein eating things that aren't
really good for the future self,but in that moment feel okay.
Um, and so we live in thesedopamine deficits, and that can

(05:36):
really become a downward spiralto be, you know, to answer your
question specifically.
And so by filling those gapswith things that lead us
forward, then we do feelfulfilled.
In fact, we know that folksthat do that deliberately and in
a way over time, you know,makes it so almost their fun cup
is over uh filled.

(05:57):
What we found, and and thegeeky term for this is a hedonic
flexibility principle, unlikewhat we used to think in in
philosophical terms, we don'talways go and look for the next
fun thing.
In fact, if we feel like we'regetting enough fun, and you
know, for any single person, um,there's going to be a window of
that.

(06:17):
But uh if we feel like we'reenjoying things, then we go seek
out harder challenges or wefeel fulfilled, so we go look
for personal growth or whateverit is.
It's not, you know, similar toif someone was really poorly
sleeping, we wouldn't say gosleep, you know, 14 hours a day,
right?
I meant it's really how do weget back on the rails to

(06:39):
something healthy?
And the same as for fun.
We're not talking about a lifeof whimsy or or or escape or
telling you to go to Burning Manevery weekend.
It's really that if you're likethere is no joy in my week at
all, how can we solve for that?
And the nice thing is is thatyou know, there's an abundance
of micro pleasures all around usif we go looking for them.
So sometimes we just need thatnudge, you know, that reminder

(07:01):
that it's important and thatreminder that, you know, simple
pleasures are right around thecorner.

When you were talking about that in the book,
I I thought about like when I'mdriving, I actually really love
driving.
I even like a um, you know,overcoming a challenging driving
situation that feels veryrewarding to me.
And I, you know, kind of fillsmy cup.
I'm like, yeah, I did that.
That was awesome.
Um, but even like the joy of inin, you know, enjoying the
pleasure of getting to watch thesunset, you know, that that,
you know, few hours of watchingthat change in the sky.

(07:29):
And it really just, I mean, Ithought it's a simple pleasure
as that could be that for you.
So I I found that also veryencouraging.
Another thing that you sharedin the book that I found really
shocking was that we should havetwo hours of fun incorporated
into our day, which I thought,oh my gosh, at the end of the
day, I'm done.

(07:50):
I have no no time or energy forfun.
So um that a little bit caughtme off guard.
But um, can you talk about thatjust a little bit to our
audience and um how we can maybereframe the way that we're
thinking about fun and um beingable to meet that meet that goal
of two hours of fun a day?

Yeah.
And um, you know, one of thetools in the book is activity
bundling.
I would assume that that'ssomething that's readily
available to drivers, like, canyou catch up with an old friend?
Or is there something that youwant to learn where when you're
not working, you know, listeningto a good audio book about
something, you know, that youlike to learn more about and and
hopefully engage in cannotprovide fertile ground for

(08:34):
actually doing the thing onceyou get off work.
And so I think the maintakeaway here though is if you
know 12 hours just feel likedrudgery, what are some simple
ways that you can, you know,whether it is looking at a
sunset, whether it's callingsomeone that you're like, you
know what, I just I want to talkto this person that where when
I'm with them, even if it isjust over the phone, is really

(08:56):
enjoyable.
Or again, you know, if it's aconnection to an old hobby long
lost, you know, can I do that insome capacity so that I'm
present and at least thinkingabout that thing so that when I
do have the availability to doit, um, one, I'm better
positioned to do it.
But then two, I know, you know,I've done some of the back
work, so I get to enjoy it evenmore.

Well, I really love that.
And I think about my work, andI was like, you know, I I got to
last week out on a trip and Igot to go out west and I was in
Arizona and I got to see theGrand Canyon one day, and the
next day I got to visit thepetrified forest and you know, I
just resetting in Arizona, so Ihad time to do some little side
excursions.
And um, you also talk about theimportance of savoring those
moments.
Can you talk to our audience alittle bit about the value of

(09:41):
savoring those phone fun momentsand um how that can also help
keep our fun takeful?

Yeah, so savoring is a great way to sort
of extend the fun of the thingsthat you have done.
You know, oftentimes, you know,uh I assume a lot of your
listeners are kind of stuck,maybe, you know, in in a
nighttime drive where there'snot much to see.
And we as humans, you know, andwhether you're an evolutionary
sort of, you know, have a slantum or not, there's a

(10:12):
predisposition to kind ofthinking of the negative, right?
Because um, again, some peoplethink it's because, you know, as
a species, we want to survive.
And so we should have apredisposition to think about um
what our threats are.
But we live in a modern worldwhere saber-toothed tigers and
things like that aren't comingto us.

(10:32):
And even if you don'tnecessarily buy into that, we
know even in present day, um,you know, through just checking
in with folks, that there isthis bias towards the negative.
And so allowing ourselves thatspace to at least free our mind
to some degree to think aboutthe positive in a mindful way
becomes extremely important.

(10:53):
And it does that for a fewreasons.
So, one, again, now we'respending that time thinking
about something other than ourworries, right?
A reminder that, again, thesesimple pleasures are all around
us.
And the other thing it does isit allows us, well, again, I
won't use too many more geekywords, but in psychology, what
we call emotional flexibility.
And so if you have been througha period that's been pretty

(11:16):
rough, that reminder that thereare there are also nice things
out there allows us to then beready for when bad things do
happen because it's thatreminder, like, okay, in this
moment things aren't great,right?
Maybe we got bad news, ormaybe, you know, we got a flat
tire or whatever it is.
Though that moment, there is achallenge, but we can get back

(11:38):
to something that does light usup.
And so savoring those momentsis a reminder that, okay, yes,
in this moment, uh, as a form ofresilience, things aren't that
great, but I can get backeventually to the things that
are.
And the problem is when wedon't remind ourselves of that,
oftentimes we're like, you knowwhat, life just sucks, right?
We we get ourselves into a rut.

(11:59):
Um, and that rut often canbecome a downward spiral.
So, you know, saving thatsavoring things has a whole host
of positive aspects, but themain ones are one, the ability
to kind of extend the value offun in the moment when we can't
have any.
And then again, the ability tobuild that emotional resilience
that if we are kind of stuck insomething that really isn't

(12:22):
enjoyable, that reminder that Ican get myself back to that
sunset.

So, what are some ways that we could savor
moments?
Like, example, my trip to theGrand Canyon, like you, like
what would it be a way that Icould, you know, extend that
that pleasure memory in my mind?
Is that could you give walk usthrough that just a little bit
about what that might look likepractically?

Yeah.
And the thing is, um, so I'llgive you a bunch of different
examples.
I think the problem isoftentimes, you know, when we're
giving this type of advice,maybe if you only give one or
two bullets, someone will belike, oh, but that sounds awful.
And so what I'll start with isthe invitation is to do it in a
way that seems enjoyable foryou.
Because if it seems likehomework, right, then we've

(13:06):
gotten off course.
So for some that like to writethings down, certainly
journaling is one that's beenwell studied and known to have a
big benefit.
But personally, I don't enjoyjournaling.
So there's also research tosuggest that that's not
something that lights you up.
Um, and it looks like a chore,right?
Like someone says, you know,keep a gratitude journal on,

(13:27):
find three things a day to begrateful for.
Like if that sounds horrible toyou, then don't do it, right?
Um, but it is for for a lot offolks a great way to savor, to
kind of, you know, write in richdetail so that when you go back
to that entry, you can relivethat moment.
Um so that's a great way.
For folks like me that are morevisual, um, you know, taking a
picture or some sort ofartifact.

(13:49):
Like I went when I ran with thebulls, I actually took dirt
from the stadium.
And so that when I look at it,just that kind of tactile um
element, that thing in real lifecan bring me back to that
memory.
And then if you're someone thatlikes taking pictures,
obviously curating photos fromthe entire experience so that
you're telling the visual uhstory can be great.

(14:10):
And then the nice thing aboutthat too, especially if you're
someone that has folks over atthe house or if you have kids,
you know, book books will pickup that book.
And then by, you know, kind ofa gentle amazing forcing factor,
they're like, well, you know,what's this all about?
And you get to tell them um,you know, back about how that
experience affected you.
And that can be an amazing,sort of spontaneous way to savor

(14:33):
our memories.

Well, thank you for breaking that down because I
I feel like that too aboutjournaling.
And I I think about lookingaround my house, like I have
shells from a trip to the beach.
I've got some rocks that Ipicked up, you know, on the
oceanside when I was in Alaska,and um, and even went to dinner
with friends last night and theyhad seen my photos online and
were asking me about my trip andum, you know, got to tell them
that story.
So um I really think that wasreally helpful to think about

(14:57):
what's fun for you, because itis unique for everyone.
And um, you know, what worksfor me is not gonna work for
everybody, but really justpaying attention to what really
fills your tank personally.
So I think that was veryhelpful.

And I've actually got a bonus for you
that wasn't in the book becauseit wasn't something available
yet.
But what I've heard, and I'mgonna start trying this, so I
can't give you first handknowledge, but I can tell you
anecdotally, folks that I trust,so secondhand knowledge, are
loving this method.
And that is, and there are awhole host of different apps.
I don't have a dog in thespite, so you know, everyone has

(15:33):
heard of ChatGPT, but there'scertainly apps that are um
available that are specific forthis purpose.
Um, but that is just talkinginto one of these apps that
transcribes your own notes.
Um, and then there's some thatwill actually synthesize, sorry,
it's a bit weird for me, butthat will actually organize
those.
And so you could ask itquestions like these are things

(15:54):
that really fill me up.
What are some things that maybeI should do in the future?
So one, you know, if it's justkeeping those audio notes, you
know, writing them down actuallyuh seems like drudgery, but
getting someone to write themdown for you, you know, there's
all sorts of free or reallyinexpensive apps where you can
just, you know, share thatmemory into your phone and then

(16:16):
it will document it for you.
So that's something that wasn'tin the fun habit.
But I know folks thattraditionally didn't like to
keep written journals have foundreally valuable because how
easy is that, right?
To just kind of talk toyourself at the end of the night
into your phone and then havesomeone actually document that
for you.

I love that idea.
That is so helpful for me.
Great tip.
And I I use AI and I use ChatGPT and I do that to organize
thoughts, but even to use it forthis experience was really fun
for me.
What's something similar Icould do at this location?
Because it'll search outsimilar things.
So love that idea.
Thank you for that.

Of course.

Okay, for somebody that has been, you
know, maybe they're feelingburnout, you know, and they they
realizing that this is a needfor them.
What what are some really umgreat first steps that they
could take on their pursuit?
We've talked about some ideasabout ways that they could um,
you know, fill their fun take,but what are some practical
things that they could do toshift their mindset from just

(17:19):
the drudgery of work andincorporating this new mindset
of valuing fun?

Yeah, so one that starts with grace, right?
I think like any big thingwhere I've found, you know,
where it doesn't work is takingit on as a grandiose project,
right?
Like I'm gonna make myself fun.
Like, no, like anything, youknow, let's start small so that
you get an early win and yourealize how important this can
be.

(17:45):
I think for folks that aresuper busy, which obviously your
audience is, it's how can Icreate these small moments
throughout my day.
So maybe it's, you know, timingyour lunch break or, you know,
whenever you're going to take abreak to somewhere where you
actually can enjoy thatexperience.
So whether that's pulling offat the side of the road, again,
you know, to something majestic,or if you're an introvert, um,

(18:09):
that, you know, and this is justhypothetical, but uh, you know,
someone who enjoys reading,like making sure you sit down,
you're you're mindful when youdo it and you really do enjoy
what you're reading so that it'sa true escape.
And again, that's if you enjoyreading.
Um, only you are gonna knowwhat that is.
But I the best place to startis to begin with small breaks

(18:30):
throughout the day.
Because where monotony androutine really do eat us up is
when the day becomes so routinethat if I ask you what you did
last week, you couldn't eventell me.
So where we want to start is toadd experiences indexed in your
brain where I'm like, what didyou do?
And you're like, well, itwasn't much, but I'm really,
really enjoying this book,right?
Or that, you know, what youshared with me.

(18:52):
Like, I really enjoyed thesunset.
It was so cool.
What are those things that youwould want to savor, right?
In the end.
And again, they're soaccessible.
Like just the invitation to doit, oftentimes it's like, you
know, you're almost embarrassedif you didn't think about it
yourself, right?

Well, I really love this because I'm a more
extroverted person.
So like um, I like connectingwith people.
Like, so almost every funexperience I have, I want to
somehow find a way to looppeople into that for me.
And that that's a savoring themoment thing for me.
But like, even I found peoplelike I know certain people, like
when I share a sunset picture,you know, that they're gonna
love that experience and get totalk about, oh my God, that was

(19:31):
incredible with the themountains in the back.
And like I have certain peoplethat I go to to share that
experience with them.
So I I think that was that'svery helpful.
I like that.
Very practical.

Well, and there's two funny things there,
right?
It's I feel like extrovertsstart podcasts, introverts write
books.
So I think you're in goodcompany, right?
Like it'd be pretty hard to bean introvert and you know, uh
source your guests and havethese conversations.
Um, so I I think you found uh,you know, found a good fit.
Um, and the podcast is great,by the way.

(20:02):
The other is um, and this isimportant for introverts to hear
it.
In fact, I I guess, you know,um being an extrovert myself,
uh, it was good that I had twocollaborators that were
introverts because so many ofthese types of books really only
speak to extroverts, and evenfun itself, right, kind of gets
a bad name because when we thinkabout fun, you know, you think

(20:24):
about the Instagram influencerclicking their heels on a beach.
And so when I work withintroverts, a lot of times
they'll be like, you know what?
I'm okay being, you know, anunfun person.
I've just settled into that.
I'm like, why would you eversay that?
And they're like, well, I don'twant to go, you know, to a bar
and drink and dance all night.
And it's like, well, that's oneperson's fun, but like there

(20:47):
must be things that you enjoy.

So you're saying whatever your personality type,
there are things that youenjoy.
They just may be different.
So, like, say somebody enjoyssitting poolside and not talking
to anybody or enjoying a greatmeal all alone, you know, in the
corner of the restaurant wherenobody's bothering them, but
they're having, you know, thisenjoying this experience by

(21:10):
themselves.
So fun may look different, butjust figuring out what works for
you.

Yes, that's as fun of a person that's posting,
you know, pictures in front rowat a Taylor Swift concert or
whatever their jam is, right?
And so reframing fun into justenjoying the things that you do
becomes extremely importantbecause if being on fun is part
of your identity, then you'renot gonna go looking for it,

(21:38):
right?
And so I find I'm just uhgrateful that you gave me that
invitation because I thinkintroverts sometimes really need
to hear that.
Like fun doesn't have to bewith other people.
And if the real thing that wewant to do is just make sure
that you feel connected to whatyou're doing, um, so that, you
know, it is bigger thanyourself.
So sometimes that is ourfriends and family, but it also

(22:01):
can be with that hobby or withthe thing that we're reading.
Or, you know, if you'respiritual, it can be um, you
know, that connection you haveis something bigger than
yourself, whatever it is.
Um, it's just knowing that theworld isn't you, that you're not
living on an island.

Well, I think this is wonderful that you
shared this because I think uh acomparison is a big problem.
And I think social media, thisis one of the downsides of
social media, because we looklike that's the life we're
supposed to be living.
So just really owning and beingokay with who you are and what
fills your tank and just thatawareness.
I think if we get nothing elseout of this conversation, being
aware of the things that um arefun for you and then placing a

(22:41):
high value on those becauseyou're you need that.
We all need that, right?
So I love that you shared that.
Okay, I have another questionfor you.
Um think about my day driving.
Sometimes at the end of theday, I'm spent, so I'm gonna,
you know, watch some Netflixbefore I go to bed, or I know um
many drivers that will dogaming and things like that.
Um, or you know, I definitelywill hop on social media.
How do we know when somethingis actually filling our fun tank

(23:05):
or it's just escapism?
And is that necessarily a badthing?
Can you talk to us a little bitabout that?

Yeah, of course.
So it's pretty clear that it'snot a bad thing if you are
enjoying it, right?
And so I probably could havedone a better job in a book
making this distinction becauseif let's say you have a very
curated social feed where you'reonly getting information from
your loved ones and people thatyou want to learn from, right?

(23:34):
Like let's say you're anorganizer and so you're looking
at organizing influencers andthey're giving you information,
that is filling your fun cup,right?
By definition, because that'senjoyable and you're probably
storing those new memories.
The same thing goes with uh ashow where if I asked you a week
from now, like what happened inthat show, and you can tell me

(23:54):
in rich detail, like of coursethat was fun.
For me, just recently, that waswith show Severance.
I I just love that show.
Um, and so that was time wellspent.
But what you're talking about,again, is are uh there's two big
questions to ask, right?
If we know that it'sunimportant, even if we're
tricking ourselves because it'sdisplacing uh, you know,

(24:16):
frustration or boredom or orwhatever it is we're finding
unfun, then we're not gonnastore that memory.
And so if I ask you a week fromnow, like, what what is it that
you did?
Um and you're like, I don'tknow, I sat down and turned on
the TV, then that isproblematic, right?
And so you likely either wantto use that time, you know, for
more renewal type things, orfigure out what is it that I

(24:39):
could do, even if it is passiveleisure, um, that's a little bit
more enjoyable so that at theend of the day, I I'm storing
new memories.
And then it really is am Idisplacing things in a way where
I'm as trying to escape fromsomething rather than making
myself better?
So there's it if you're in aperiod, you know, in the book I
unpack kind of trying to, youknow, make sense that my

(25:02):
brother's untimely death.
Like if I was running fromthat, which I certainly was at
the beginning, then you'realways going to be running from
it, right?
But if the escapism is leadingyou towards something, right?
The psychological space toactually unpack whatever it is
that's weighing you down, thenthat is a very healthy way of um

(25:23):
engaging in something.
And so those are the two bigthings to ask yourself.
One, has it become just a youknow, a habit um and a way to
cope?
And so that it's not leadingyou any, you know, to any form
of betterment or or orenrichment.
And then second, is itsomething that um if I asked

(25:43):
you, you know, how did you spendyour time, um, are you actually
encoding those memories?
And the quick science lessonthere is that we know when we
are storing new memories, andeven if it is from you know,
something passive like watchingtelevision, we're creating new
neural pathways.
And we now know the the scienceis getting pretty strong here,
that just like buildinganything, that scaffolding that

(26:05):
we create with all those newmemories will really help us out
later in life with regards tostaving off cognitive decline.
So it has both uh physiologicaland psychological benefits.

Well, Mike, I'm glad that you talked about that
because we definitely haveseasons where we're going
through grief, you know, whetherwe've had a loss of a thing or,
you know, just you know, goingthrough a difficult transition
with the relationship, or, youknow, so there's definitely
seasons of time where the seasonis painful and it's not going
to be all fun.
So I really love the book thatyou balanced that.
You talked about you're notreally trying to just pretend

(26:37):
like everything's okay all thetime and um avoid um dealing
with real issues.
So I thought it was a wonderfulbalance and I'm a huge fan of
the work.
Before we wrap up, Mike, do youhave any other closing thoughts
that you would like to sharewith our audience before our
time ends?

Yeah, I think, you know, I know the work is
hard.
Um, you know, and so figuringout ways to create those micro
moments, whatever that means foryou.
Um and the easiest way to dothat is just be premeditated
about it, right?
If you do feel stuck, um, justyou know, pull out a pen and
paper, or you know, again, nowthere's a better way if you're

(27:17):
wanting just, you know, talkinto an app and figure out what
it is that you might like to do,right?
Because oftentimes it's reallyjust that first simple step.
Like, you know what, I don'tknow, you know, it is our common
answer.
And we can solve that with just30 minutes of premeditation
about what it is I do want todo, right?
And so maybe if you know whereyou're gonna be over the next uh

(27:40):
two weeks, you know, on theroad, is there one stop?
That would be interestingenough, but that would be, you
know, the thing that ignites umyour ability to kind of find the
next fun thing to do.
Um, so creating a list isimportant.
And then if if you're so stuckthat even that becomes hard,
like talk to a friend that doesseem to be doing okay.
Generally, our fun friends canbe the best guides, right?

(28:02):
Like, what are you doing that'senjoyable?
And maybe that's not somethingthat you would want to do, but
it would at least allow you tosee how they're spending their
time so that you could see howyou might fit in the things that
you want to do within yourschedule.
Because it's not about whatthey're doing per se, but how
they're doing it and going aboutit.
Um, and then actually creatingthat safety.
And then lastly, you know, justreiterating that we are

(28:25):
learning that enjoying ourdowntime, right?
Whether you call that leisureor fun or whatever, is as
important as sleep.
But the problem is that when wedo fun starve ourselves, it
really is a slow burn.
So we don't learn the negativeeffects until sometimes it's too
late.
And so getting in front of it,at least just giving it some

(28:46):
thought is is really important.
It's part of the reason we'reseeing this record level of
burnout across all vocationshere, especially in North
America.
And so, you know, I'm kind ofon a crusade to make sure that
less people uh suffer that fate.

Well, thank you, Mike.
I'm on that crusade with you,so I'm all about enjoying Live
OTR.
So I'm so grateful for yourbook, and I hope that everyone
in my audience will read it andshare it with everybody because
I think the lack of fun isepidemic in the United States,
and we need to fix it.
And it's um you get some reallypractical, simple things that
we could do.
So thank you so much for yourtime.

(29:23):
I'm a big fan, and I'm sograteful for you.

Uh thank you so much.
That was a pleasure being withyou.

Brian Wilson (29:33):
Wow.
That conversation was packedwith some good stuff.
Let's hit some of the bigtakeaways real quick.
Fun isn't just a feel goodfluffy stuff.
It's a tool for better health,clearer thinking, and more
resilience.
Shared joy can actuallystrengthen our impulse control.
We can start small, a momenthere, a moment there.

(29:54):
Even five minutes is somethingthat lights you up.
Savoring those moments mattersjust.
As much as creating them.
And fun doesn't have to looklike anyone else's.
It just has to feel like you.
Hey, big thanks to Dr.
Mike Rucker for joining us andsharing so many fresh, doable
ways to reconnect with whatmakes life feel good again.
Even in the middle of astressful day, loss or long days

(30:19):
on the road.
You can find a link to hisbook, The Fun Habit, and all the
Mike's social links right herein the show notes.
So go give him a following.
Grab a copy of this episode hithome.
All right.
Next up, we pulled together alineup of past guests and
drivers sharing how they findfun out here on the road.
Hell, you might even hear me inthere someplace.

(30:41):
These aren't things that we'regoing to do every day,
obviously, but we wanted toshare some of the many ways that
our drivers are enjoying lifeOTR.
Like Dr.
Mike said, what is fun for themmight not blow your skirt up or
float your boat.
And that's okay, man.
But every single story is areminder that there's more than
just one way to enjoy this life.

(31:01):
These folks are about toinspire you to think outside the
box and maybe even trysomething new yourself.
So, as always, this is BrianWilson, your old hand with a new
plan.
Catch me later.
Enjoy life out there, OTR.

Gemma Ford (31:18):
I 48.
Um been pretty much everywhere.
And like you said, I try, Ihave to get out the truck.
I, you know, because I mean,I'm a team driver and I just uh
have random co-drivers.
It's not like a spouse, youknow.
So um when I when we reset, Ihave to get out because we just
book it.
We get from cross country and Ineed to stretch my legs.

(31:41):
I need to see people and youknow, talk to people.
I'm a chatty Kathy.
So, you know, I just and then Ilove food.
So I like trying differentfood.
And I figure God's blessed mewith this opportunity.
I need to see what he has tooffer out here, you know.
When I first started driving, Ium had a co-driver named Sarah.

(32:02):
She's my best friend for life.
And um, well, she left to drivewith her husband, but she got
me into uh geocaching.
And um she would always go,Hey, we're not gonna park in an
OC, we're gonna go alligatorwrestling and zip lining over
alligators.
And I'm like, what?
You know, so she was, I waslike, okay, I guess that's what

(32:27):
we're gonna do, you know.
And I mean, she was like, Ohno, this right here, we're going
to Beale Street, and we're inWest Memphis, we're going to
Beale Street and hanging outwith motorcycles, you know.
And it was, it was like, okay,so because prior to her, I drove
a couple of months, but Ididn't do that.
I never even got out the truck,you know.
Um, and I was like, there's gotto be more to this.

(32:49):
And then she left, and I gotanother co-driver, um, a young
man, Emmanuel, and I drove withhim.
He we still talk, he's like myson.
And uh he left because hewanted local work, and um, he
was down for what Sarah taughtme to do.
So he would, we would sit thereand research and go, oh, you
know what?
We're we can uh rent a car andgo stay at the shining.

(33:12):
We're you know, we're only like50 miles away.
Let's half this bill, you know.
Yeah.
So he would, you know, and he'slike, oh, wait, the stockyards
are right around the corner.
We're here, let's go to thestockyards.
So I then ended up gettinganother co-driver, this
co-driver that I have now, andI've had for a while.
He's a great guy.
Um, but he doesn't like to dothings.

(33:34):
So I had to go ahead and put,you know, because I get social
anxiety, but I was like, youknow what?
These people don't know you.
Go out there.
This is your life, you know?
And so I had to do it on myown, and that's what I started
doing.
And I was like, okay, yeah,because it gets lonely out here,
you know, and I know for me,it's either get over my social

(33:56):
anxiety or stay in the truck andbe depressed and hate this job.
You know what I mean?
Because for the first 70 hoursthat I'm driving, not that I
hate it, but it's stressful.
Yeah.
Because I'm trying to keep, youknow, I'm you know, I tell my
co-drivers, you've got threejobs, and so do I.
And that is to get me home tomy family, get the motoring

(34:20):
public home to their family, anddeliver this load.
It never changes in the order.
So with that mentality, for 70hours, I'm thinking work, work,
work, work, work.
And, you know, looking about,can I even back into this place?
You know, I mean, just all ofit, you know.
Um, and then if I didn't getout of that funk for the at my

(34:41):
reset for even a couple ofhours, it would just I it would
just wear me down.
It would just wear me down andit would get me into, I think
for myself, a depressive stateto where um I would just quit
and not do this, you know, andbe like, okay, I'm I'm just this
is just too depressing.
It's too much.
It's just like with people whohave nine to fives and they had

(35:03):
the weekend and they plan to dosomething.
It's to get out of that nine tofive, you know, funk.
And I mentally would tellmyself, these people don't know
me.
You know what I mean?
Nobody's gonna harm me.
Um it just um, and then it'slike I'm a likable person, you
know.
So why shouldn't I be out inthe public meeting people?

(35:24):
So I have these talks,seriously, these talks with my
head all the time.
Really?
Yeah, I do.
And I'm just like, oh, that youknow, everybody's coupled off,
or it's families, and you're theonly solo person.
People are gonna think you'restrange.
People, and I have to tellmyself, people aren't looking at
you like that, they reallydon't care like that.

Jon Kruger (35:45):
Battleship Alabama is at Mobile Bay, and a couple
of time drive that not a wholelot, but relatively often, I am
going to stop there eventuallywhen I have some time, maybe
when I've been heading home andshe's not home yet, and and go
on the battleship, you know,take the tour because they have
parking right there, not rightat the place, but just outside

(36:08):
where I can walk.
Because parking to theiroversized vehicles, their their
parking uh fees are prettysteep.
But just down the road, there'sa place I can park and walk.
And there's some goodrestaurants there too that I can
walk to and eat.
You know, I'll I'll try to dothat about once a week.
I'll try to hit up a nicerestaurant, have a good, decent
meal.
You know, that kind of helpsyou stand on the road a little

(36:31):
while.

AkilAli (36:34):
Once I got out for the first time and started
exploring, you know, the citiesI was in, that's when children
really became interesting.
You know, from the jobs, okay.
This is really like freetravel.
I had seen this place when theydid helicopter rides, and I've
I've always wanted to ride on ahelicopter.

(36:55):
So I took my birdie while I wasgetting my children a little
bit, and I walked over there tothe place where they do the
helicopter rides.
Yeah, I got in a helicopter onmy brake.
He he he took me all aroundlike the Fleet Hill Mountains.
Uh I mean it was a beautifulview.
Um, you know, I could see likerivers and waterways.

(37:21):
Of course, just being in thesky, I I was able to see the
casino and I see my truck fromfrom way up there in the air.
And that's when it started itall.
I made a commitment to myselfthat I was going to explore it
everywhere that I went.
So now I go up north a lot.

(37:43):
So when I go to you knowBaltimore and Maryland, I'm
going to eat the Med Seagullthat was fun.
Yeah, I love that.

Andy Prickett (37:54):
You know, there was one time we I would I was
going through the middle of NewMexico and I had heard of White
Sands National Park, but Ididn't know that I was about to
drive right past it.
And my girlfriend was with meagain this time, and and I was
like, that's White SandsNational Park.
Like I had no idea it's rightthere.
Um, so I pulled over.

(38:14):
There's a big place to pullover there.
And this is just something thatI, you know, I had a couple
extra hours to kill.
I wasn't in a hurry.
It wasn't a reset.
There's no Ubers down there,it's in the middle of nowhere.
But there was a taxi company.
So I Googled taxis around me,found this guy to come out, and
I'm like, hey, I'm parkedoutside this national park, but
it's too far to kind of walkaround in there.

(38:36):
Will you come and pick me upand just drive me around the
park?

Oh, I love that.

Didn't even blink an eye, didn't think twice
about it.
He's like, Yeah, sure, noproblem.

So we what a great idea.
I love that.

Well, he just played tour guide, and for maybe
25 bucks, we um I already hadthe national park pass, so it
didn't cost anything to get in.
And I had him, oh, stop here.
So he stopped, kept the meterrunning.
We went up, run, ran and playedon the sand dunes and took
pictures and just had a had aball for a couple hours and had
him bring us back off, drop meback off in the truck, and kept

(39:10):
going to my delivery.

Oh my gosh, I love that so much.
And for 25 bucks, I mean that'sa great break.
I mean, oh my gosh, I love it.

Yeah, it's really nothing.
So you really just have to beopen to uh the the
possibilities.
You have to be open to creatingexperiences like that out of
nothing.
You have to be willing to makethe stop.
You know, even if it's just ifyou don't have a lot of money, I
totally get that.
You know, throw a bike in yourtruck.
People have a bike or haveaccess to one or they're super

(39:41):
cheap.
Throw it in your truck, uh,throw some camping gear.
That's another thing I want tostart doing when we're coming
into the warmer months.
And uh I do spend a lot ofmoney and I kind of need to, I'm
aware of that.
I kind of need to stop doingthat so much.
So, you know, throw a backpacktogether of some ultralight
camping gear and get a bike andhit a campground on these

(40:03):
resets.
Just I have a hammock.
You can string a hammock up andsit next to a lake with a
fishing pole and you know, be 10minutes from a truck stop, but
feel like you're on vacation.

So great.
I love it.
So great.
I love it even how you'redriving and you're kind of just
looking for your next adventure.
I mean, even that just thatlittle subtle shift and you
know, what could I possibly do?
You know, I love that.
Because even if you couldn'tgo, like if you couldn't make
the trip now, you know, youcouldn't make a stop, even kind
of making a mental note that youwant to go back there.

(40:36):
I'm sure you do that a lot aswell.

Oh, all the time.
I have spent a couple times, uha few times where I've gone to
the Tampa area, Clearwater Beachand all that, and got a rental
car and spent uh a night on thebeach in a hotel.
The hotels aren't thatexpensive there.
Yeah.
Um, you know, and spent acouple days just sitting on the
beach drinking Roman Cokes andplaying in the ocean and

(41:01):
exploring the touristy littlebeach towns and stuff.
So far.
And and it's it's like avacation, even though it's just
a couple days.

So yeah, so great.
Yeah, I love the beach, so I'malways like, ah, this is great.
I feel like it does somethingto my soul.
I love being in the beach, solike something magical happens
there.

Like that's it.
And since um and since I I ridemotorcycles a lot, I found an
app called Rider Share, and Iactually rented a Harley on one
of those trips and just rodearound the beaches on a Harley.
So that was like justfantastic.
Like that doesn't get any ofthat out of that.

Oh my god.

For me for me.

Yeah, yeah.
So great.

What's the name of the app?
It was actually it was actuallycheaper than renting a car
renting the target.

How fun.
I love that.
What's the name of the app?

Uh Rider Share.
It's it's not an app, it's awebsite.
It's called Rider Share.

Nice.

They do require a pretty hefty uh security
deposit.

Yeah, I'm sure.

But you get it, you get it, you get it back when
you return the bike.

Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, I'm sure that you makesure you can bring your bike.

When you return the bike unharmed, right?

Yeah, that's good.
That's fun though.
What a great idea.
Okay, tell me about your umnational parks pass.
How much does that cost a year?
And then what do you get fromthat?
What tell me about that in casesomebody wants to?

Yeah, there's uh I get the what's called the
America the Beautiful Pass, andit's $80 for the year, and it
goes from it's 12 months fromwhen you buy it.
So it's not like a January toDecember thing.
It's it's 12 months, uh, it's$80, and that gets you into any
national park in the country,which is a great value because

(42:44):
if you go into uh Yosemite orYellowstone or Glacier National
Park or something like that,they can be $30 to $40.

Yeah, I was gonna say like $30, right?
Yeah.

Exactly.
So I I went from uh if you gofrom Yellowstone down to the
Grand Tetons, that's two ofthem.
And you come back, you have topro pay again if you come back
through Yellowstone.
Yeah, that's 60 or 80 bucksright there.

Yeah, yeah, that's a good m that's good
money.

Yeah, absolutely worth it.
And like, you know, that onetime I was in New Mexico at
White Sands, I just I didn'teven know that was there.
And I just happened to have itin my wallet, and bam, you know,
it's just you get in for free.

Well, what I love about that too, the pass is
like it'll let you it'll allowyou the choice to make a s a
short trip there.
Whereas if you were gonna pay$30 and you're only gonna be
there 30 minutes, nobody's gonnado that.
You know, we weren't gonna payfor that.
But when you have the pass,it's like, why not go have lunch
at the park, you know?

Yeah, if I had to pay to get into White Sands and
I had the taxi guy bring me inthere, I might not have.

Yeah, it's just another obstacle to eliminate.

Yeah, but if you buy it and yeah, it's 80 bucks,
but if you buy it once, it'sgood for the whole year.
You can get into any park inthe whole country, especially if
you're someone who's out in thewestern states where the
majority of the parks are.
Right.
It's just such a great tool tohave in your pocket.

Yeah, I love it.
Great idea.
And what about the parkingthere?
Just generally speaking, wouldyou say typically that the parks
you have to park the truck at atruck stop and then drive in?
Or what could people expectthat are wanting to maybe
venture out and to see thenational parks for the first
time and they're they're a truckdriver?
You know, they're on the roadfull time, so you know, they're

(44:29):
always gonna have to deal withthe truck.
So what could they expect tohave to deal with when they're
trying to venture out for thefirst time, maybe?

Yeah, they're all gonna be different.
White Sands is the only onethat actually had a big enough
place out right outside thepark.
Like I could have just walkedin there, yeah, but it's such a
big park.
I didn't, you know, you reallyneed a at least a bike.
If you had a bicycle, you couldpark right there and just ride
your bike in there.
Yeah, most of them, honestly, Ican't think of any that you

(44:57):
could you can park at.
So yeah, I would say almost allof them, you're gonna need to
park in a truck stop or findsome kind of truck truck parking
nearby and rent a car.

Yeah, yeah.

But like I said, some some of these places like
Salt Lake City is such a greatplace to rent cars.
I my last reset when I wentdown, I I got that van uh for
two days for $42.

Wow, crazy.
Yeah, that's crazy.

And the and the Uber to the place was eight
dollars.
So Uber there, an Uber back,that's $16, $42 for the rental
car.
Yeah, you have to pay for gas,which is crazy right now.

But yeah, it's well worth it though.
What a great weekend.

You you if you had to pay for an air uh airfare
to get to Salt Lake or whereverto go to some of those national
parks and then pay again forthe national parks, you know, it
would cost you uh severalhundred dollars or or a couple
thousand bucks maybe to go on avacation like that.
But we're paid to go to theseplaces.
Yeah, yeah.
It's a very minimal cost.
If you have to pay forty tosixty bucks for a rental car and

(45:59):
a few bucks for an Uber, I meanyou're almost getting a free
vacation out of it.
So why not?

Yeah.
You know, and I always think,you know, we don't have to, you
know, we're all about makingmoney out on the road, you know,
and like you said, everybodyhas their own financial
situation, so it's different foreverybody.
But you know, so maybe you'renot gonna make a trip like this
every month, or you know, maybeonce every six months, or you
know, but still you can you cando it at some time, you know,
and just being on the lookoutwhile you're traveling for

(46:24):
different options.
And um, like you said, very lowcost vacation.
And it's so refreshing, right?
I mean, you leave that timegoing, man, that was great, you
know.

So good.
Oh, absolutely.
Yeah.
Um, and and you can get so farout from you know where you
park.
Like I've I've did one in inthe Seattle area one time and
went all the way to MountRaidere National Park.
And when you're up in themountains, I mean you feel like
you're in the Swiss Alps upthere.

Wow.

And you're just out for a couple days, but it is
so refreshing when you go backto work, you feel like you've
had a proper vacation sometimes.

Yeah, so good.

I'm usually exhausted by the time I go back
to work because I when my feethit the ground, I don't stop.
I just I go all the time.
That's because I have to seethings.
I have I have to seeeverything.

Yeah, so great.

Jess Graham (47:19):
And the load that I delivered on uh October 31st
was to a Hershey candy plant.
They back then they it wascommon that when you pulled up
at the Hershey gate, they gaveyou a candy bar.
Uh she hops out and she's inher costume and she's got her
pillowcase, and she walks up tothe guard shack with me and
goes, trick-or-treat.
He opened his desk drawer andemptied the entire desk drawer

(47:42):
of candy for drivers into herbag.
Oh my gosh, I love one stop,half a pillowcase, and the
second stop was the loves thatgave her candy as well.
Um so two stops, and she gotmore candy than any of her
cousins, and she got the goodcandy because it was Hershey's.
Yeah.
Um and so that's that's one ofthose memories that, you know,

(48:06):
stay with you forever of, youknow, you have you've
trick-or-treated, but have youever trick-or-treated at Hershey
plant?

Oh my gosh, so great.

Jess Graham (48:17):
You know, yeah, I've I haven't felt like
sometimes I've been parked in arandom place and haven't felt
like exploring.
I'm just tired or I've gotpaperwork to do because, you
know, as an owner operator, it'sup to me to do my paperwork.
Um, you know, but uh makingyourself comfortable, even in
your own space.
Like I said, my truck is set upwith I rotated my bed so it

(48:37):
runs along the passenger side.
I don't have a passenger seat,that's where my toolbox sits.
And then I actually have atable with a desk and a chair in
my truck just so that I canpull out my paperwork and sit at
because up until then I wastrying to balance my laptop on
my steering wheel.
And you know, that that'sexhausting.
Eating every meal, because Idon't like eating on my bed,

(49:00):
eating every meal on my steeringwheel, that's not fun.
Right.
You know, you know, I want topaint my nails.
I'm trying to do that at thesteering wheel or on my bed.
That's like none of this isfun.
Yeah, you know, but you know,things I I carry just for even
times where I don't feel likeexploring, is like my camp chair
and my umbrella.
I have a little umbrella that Ican pop up on my camp chair and

(49:22):
I can just get out, open thechair up and sit in front of my
truck, or if there's a grassyknoll in the wherever I'm at, I
can go sit in the shade or restareas are my favorite because
they tend to have some space.
And I just I have my camp chairand I'll I'll be reading my
book or doing whatever I'mdoing.
Just getting out, like gettingout of the box.

(49:43):
You know, sometimes staring atthe walls will make you crazy.
But she's a good solid, solidtruck.
And I've made it comfortable.
We've gutted the interior anddone a lot of things.
I know you've seen the pictureson some of the groups when
they're like, what's the insideof your sleeper look like?
And then they're like, What?
Everybody always comes onyourself.

(50:03):
It's just I I now have thatflexibility.
Like, you know, when you're acompany driver, I I mean, I
always had things in my truck tomake it personalized.
When I was a company driver, I,you know, sticky tape or the
double-sided velcro pictures andartwork hanging in my truck,
and all of my trucks had a nameand a theme.
The personality of the trucktells me how we're gonna do it

(50:24):
and what its name is.
I love that.
Very creative.

Brandon Johnson (50:29):
Whenever I can, I uh try to find me a fishing
hole.
Um, whenever I get stuck on thelow where they won't be in
sleep with it for a couple ofdays, waiting to get unloaded or
whatever.
Uh go to the nearest Walmart,get me a fishing permit, and uh
I'll find somewhere to gofishing if I can.
My favorite place to go is uhKey West.

(50:52):
Literally, you can pull upanywhere down there and start
fishing.

Are you cooking your fish or you just catch and
release?

It all depends.
If I can get me a hotel roomwith the kitchen in it, I'm
kicking it, but uh I keep acooler.
If I'm going right back near myhouse, I got my cooler on the
back of my truck, so I just keepice on, I mean fish on ice
until uh I can get them backhome and I clean them and put

(51:23):
them in the freezer or whatever.
But uh, and then like if I'mnot going right back home, it'll
be somebody else out therefishing with me too, and I just
let them have the feet spread.

Yeah, just recording it.

Yeah, oh yeah.

So you just fishing from the beach or what?
Do you take a boat out or what?
Standing out on the pier, orhow you doing that?

Uh most time just fishing from uh outside of
the road or going to a pier orsomething.
Now I have taken a boat out uhdown to Miami, uh in South
Carolina, a charter boat thatgoes out and go fishing for like
four to six hours or somethingand come on back in.
But most of the time I'mfishing uh right outside the
road.
If there's a spot wide enoughwhere I can park my truck on the

(52:04):
side of the road, hey, it wasgonna have fun.

I love that.
I love that you do that.
It's so fun.
I love the ocean, so I'm thesame way.
If I can get anywhere near it,I'm like, I'm gonna go, I'm
gonna find a way to make itwork.

Oh yeah.
If it's a big military move, itmight be 50 trucks from my way
going to the same place, and weall get low together, we all
leave together, so you might seeus going down the road with 50
10 will military stuff on theback.

(52:37):
So whenever you can get a crowdlike that and control the
traffic, you get to piss a lotof people off, but uh it's just
it's a pretty sink just to seeall that going down the road,
though.

Yeah, so like a big convoy going on, y'all keep
the same schedule and justdominate highway.

Yeah, and you get all the people in the full
wheelers coming by recordinglymaking their little TikTok
videos or whatever.
So it's pretty cool.
And then, like, if we getsomewhere, um we unload on that
Thursday or whatever, we prettymuch go there till Monday

(53:22):
looking for another load.
So we all go check into a hotelroom.
I keep my grill on the back ofmy ETA and Wooler.
So hey, we'll go to Walmart,buy a bunch of food, we'll cook
out on the grill all weekend bythe pool, have some drinks.

So I love how you do that.
Do you know these guys beforeor you just meet them on the
truck?

Some of them like we have nine trucks, so
sometimes it's just my crew, butuh any other guys that we meet
at the road or out on the roador on the military base or
whatever, and we tell them whatwe doing there, everybody's
welcome.
I love that.
Even if we had a truck stop,just cooking out in the parking
lot, yo, come over, see hey,let's drink a beer, uh eat a hot

(54:06):
dog, or stay a piece of chickenon the other side.
So, yeah.

How often do you do that?

Uh whenever I'm gonna be stuck for a while.

Yeah.

Yeah, absolutely.

Yeah, I love that.
I always hear that the oldtimers that have been driving a
long time say they used to cookout all the time.
And I'm always like, you know,if you miss that, why don't you
still do it?
I mean, you still gotta takeyour breaks and you still gotta
do your resets.
And you know, I know somepeople, you know, keep on
rolling, they don't they don'tstop, but you know, like some of
the schedule demands that youdo.

(54:37):
So I'm like, well, why don'tyou just break out the grill if
you like that?

And I think like for me, I grew up around
trucks all my life.
Like, even though I went offand did other jobs, I always
wanted to be a trucker growingup.
So hearing the the old schooltruckers tell stories and stuff,
we learned from them.
So when we came down here, westarted doing what they were
telling us.
But if you didn't grow uparound any truckers hearing this

(55:04):
story, then you don't know howto have fun out on the road.
So yeah, they just just driveand go.

Drive those keep those wheels running and make
that money.

Oh yeah, oh yeah.
But I mean, anytime you getstuck somewhere waiting on
another load, like you'resupposed to enjoy that time.
Don't stay cooked up in yourtruck, get your hotel room so
you can stretch out, like gosomewhere, ask the phone, walk
down the road, or uh, like Isay, drill out of them.

(55:37):
Anything.
Because I mean, trucking is alot.
You you're away from yourfamily, weeks, months, or
however long uh you stay out onthe road at a time.
So I don't know, you dealingwith all the traffic on the
highway, people cutting you off,doing stupid stuff, trying to
make you kill them, and stuff.
Sometimes you just gotta getaway from trucking, clear your
head.
That's why I like to gofishing.

(55:59):
But yeah.

Kellie Colburn (56:04):
I have found with anytime fitness.
So I signed up in in Idaho iswhere I signed up, and they give
you the little key fob, and youcan literally go in anytime
24-7.
I think for truckers andeverything, it is important to
have that 24-hour access becauseour sketch uh trucker schedules

(56:26):
are a little different thannormal people.
You know, you may be one thatdrives at night, and you know,
you may park at three o'clock inthe morning and decide that's
when you want to go to the gym.
You need a place that you'regonna be able to have access to.
A lot of the anytime fitnessesthat I've been to, there is
usually a place for trucks topark within a half mile.

(56:48):
You know, they'll be in a bigshopping center and you'll see
trucks there and stuff likethat.
And like I said, you can get inanytime.
And I think that's importantfor anybody who works on the
road because our schedulesaren't normal most of the time.

Todd Kantor (57:06):
Oh, yeah, absolutely.
Uh the adventure is the bestpart about it.
Um, our first run when we firstgot our truck, it was uh 2017
uh Volvo VL 780.
Uh, when we first got ourtruck, our first truck, we got
to go down to Jacksonville,Florida for our first run.
And at that point in time, bothmy girlfriend and I had never
seen the ocean.

(57:27):
And so we get this run, andwe're just like, oh my god,
we're going to Florida.
Wow.
And we get down there, we finda truck stop to park at, and we
uh pay the parking, and we uhgot an Uber down to the beach in
Jacksonville, and we went andtook some pictures by the ocean.
Because like I said, we'd neverseen it before, and we we
walked from there to a seafoodrestaurant and tried gator for

(57:49):
our first time, and it was justan amazing experience uh for a
person who just kind of jumpedheadfirst into this, you know.

Yeah, I love that.
What uh that's a great firstadventure.
I grew up in the I've alwayslived on the coast, so I've
always grown up by the ocean.
So I always love to hear thatexperience of people going to
the ocean for the first time.
What did you what did youthink?

It was different.
You get you get it down toFlorida and there's lizards like
everywhere, like inJacksonville, you could
practically step on them.
Like you see a little glimmerof movement off to the side, and
you're like, what the heck wasthat?
And you look over, and thenthen all of a sudden there's
lizards everywhere.
It's it's it's such a shock tome.
And then you see things likepelicans or crabs climbing up

(58:31):
trees, and you're just like,whoa, where the heck am I?

So where are you originally from?

Minnesota.
We uh we are both born andraised from central Minnesota.

Yeah, so it's quite a shock.

Absolutely.

Well, tell me all some other things that you
guys have been able to do on theroad.
It must be fun traveling as acouple.

Absolutely.
It's uh it's great.
One of our first times going toWashington, uh, we were going
through it was kind of springtemperature, uh, spring season,
and my girlfriend and I weredriving, and I was in a sleeper,
and she wakes me up, she'slike, Don, wake up, wake up,
wake up.
And I look outside, and thereis hundreds, I mean hundreds of

(59:13):
elk that are apparently inmigration.
And I and my jaw just drops.
I'm just like, Wow.

Oh my gosh, that would be so great.

It was it was an amazing experience.
I one of my favorite thingsabout doing this also is being
able to see all the wildlifethat I've never seen before.
Like in Minnesota, you don'treally have elk or moose or
things like that, and so to seestuff like that is pretty cool,
actually.

So exciting.
I I love that.
So great.

Well, we work a lot of Southern California, and
that the 9 15 passes directlythrough Vegas, and we get the
opportunity to sometimes stopand do a little bit of a layover
there, and uh we park our truckin a truck stop called uh Wild
Wild West, which uh I believe$15 for 24 hours worth of
parking, and it's literallyright across the strip.

(01:00:05):
So we park there and we'll gowander over and go eat at one of
the fancy buffets there orcheck out the uh plagio
fountains with the lights andeverything like that and just
kind of wander Vegas.

Cindy Tunstall (01:00:16):
So fun.
Vegas is so fun.
I love to go there.

Todd Kantor (01:00:20):
It's beautiful when you roll in through a 15 going
over that hill.
It just goes from like almostpitch black to just lights
everywhere.

Yeah, it's like a whole nother world.

Todd Kantor (01:00:30):
Yep.

Jess Graham (01:00:34):
Clear with your family and friends because over
the years you'll find that youwon't get invited to as much.
It's lonely out here.
We have a very isolated life.
And I I have, you know, partsof my career where I suffered
with like gray days, is what Icall them, where I'm just like,
nobody even knows I'm out hereor what I'm doing.
And so I actually had the cometo Jesus talk with my sister and

(01:00:58):
said, We both know I'm notgonna be at 90% of the things
you're doing, but I need 100% ofthe invites.
I need to know every timeyou're planning something that
you want to include me in it,whether I'm gonna be there or
not.
I'm gonna do my best to bethere.
So that was that was arealization that was when I had
that talk with my family, itmade sure that they were they

(01:01:21):
were aware that, yeah, I amchanging, I am growing, I'm I've
got a weird schedule, but westill value you and want you to
know that your your connectionto us is important.

So I love that so much.
I love that so much.
It's so practical and it's sosimple and um so effective.
I think probably drivers thathave been driving for years and
years could have thatconversation, you know, because
the family at home is used tothem.
And then I think the family athome also may be worrying, you
know, I don't want to make youfeel bad because you're missing

(01:01:53):
out on the party, you know.
So I love this tip, even fordrivers that have been on the
road for years.
Great, great advice.
Exactly.

Every holiday that comes up, I get a text from my
sister.
Here's our schedule, here's ourplans, I'm making reservations,
like Mother's Day reservation.
Here, do I need to put a plusone for you?
You know, like, and I tell heryes or no, or like what my
schedule, you know, she gives methat leeway.
So it definitely was one ofthose things that helped

(01:02:25):
transition me back into like nota nameless, faceless, homeless
person barely existing, to I'mback into being active and part
of my family.
One other thing that I think asa woman driver is so important
because we all want to just wedon't want to end up feeling
like a man in a man's world.
You know, we as we drive daily,we've got our ball cap and our

(01:02:47):
jeans or in, you know,sweatpants on.
One thing that I've always beengood about carrying is a little
black dress and a pair ofsandals so that anytime I want,
I can get dressed up and go out.
Love that.
That's one of the keys to thehappiness.
You know, I'm a girly girl andI I uh I don't want to lose my
femininity just because I'm inan industry that's dominated by

(01:03:09):
males.
Like I I still want to be trueto who I am and and myself and
get my grandma told me early on,you know, when you're having a
bad day, that's the day you needto get up and fix your face and
hair the most.
So do it.
You know, if you're if you'restruggling with something, if
you're struggling with your ice,it's it's taken 12 years for me
to get to this point.

(01:03:29):
But like I said, I have areally good group of friends,
and it's really important fordrivers starting in the industry
to try and find their tribe andbeing part of groups like yours
that are encouraging, you know,sharing these hot little
secrets and these ways of justincorporating being a human and

(01:03:52):
not just a faceless robotpassing through.
You know, that definitely Ithink more so than a lot of the
other groups that I'm in, isactually addressing the issue of
how to actually learn to livethis lifestyle because it is a
lifestyle.
This is not a job, and andtrucking has never been a job,

(01:04:13):
it's always been a lifestyle.
So you can either let itconsume you or you can take
charge and you can rule it.

Brian Wilson (01:04:22):
The first five miles on my bike.
Oh man, there's days and it'llabout kill me.
But it she it seems to be aboutfive, five and a half miles in.
That's when that runner's highor those endorphins start
kicking in and I start feelingbetter.
And I've got the oxygen to mylegs and and to my back and to
my arms, and everything startsfeeling so much better.

(01:04:42):
And that's when I go, you know,I took I took a ride Tuesday, I
left Tuesday to go to uh uh uhTuesday night.
I left for Denver with a loadof flowers.
I got up to the hub early.
Oh, I went to Chicago, that'swhat it was.
Uh I went to Chicago Monday,delivered Tuesday morning, came
home or came back to the hub inKalamazoo, and I got my bike out

(01:05:05):
and I went out and I rode for30 miles.
It was just, it was it was abeautiful day.
I found some really a coupleplaces I'd never been before.
But once those endorphins kickin and it makes, you know, the
the pain in my knees go away alittle bit, maybe a little bit
in your back, and all of asudden, next thing you know,
I've been gone for two and ahalf hours.
It's like wow.

(01:05:26):
And it was just it was a greatride.
Um, so yeah, the runners high,it really is a thing.
That that's uh that's a realthing.
And your body does feel goodabout that stuff.

Doc Dye (01:05:38):
I don't look at it really as a job.
I always looked at it as avacation and an adventure
because you know, got to go.
I mean, I've been all over theUnited States, Mexico, and
Canada.
I like to do different thingsand uh I like, you know, to uh
check out different lakes and Iusually carry a fishing rod with
me and get out and go fishingand stuff like that.

(01:06:00):
But uh I always looked at it asan adventure, and then I'd say
uh later on in my driving years,back in late 90s and all, when
uh when poker was becoming realpopular, you know, at the
casinos playing poker.

Yeah.

Doc Dye (01:06:15):
I s I started playing Texas Hold'em.

Oh, nice.

Doc Dye (01:06:19):
And so I really got to liking that.
I hit casinos probably twice aweek playing poker.

Oh fun.
So what do you do with thetruck?
They have truck parking, or howdoes that work out?

Doc Dye (01:06:31):
Yeah, most of them do.
I could probably tell you whereevery casino is from here to
California that you can park abig truck in.
And my dream is to win theWorld Series of Poker.

Oh fun.

Doc Dye (01:06:41):
I don't I don't know if you know what that is.

I I do, I'm very familiar.

Doc Dye (01:06:45):
But they show it on TV on ESPN every year.

Yeah, I've watched it.

Doc Dye (01:06:50):
Well, four years ago I was in Vegas and I got to play
in the World Series.
Oh fine.
But I didn't big time event.
Right.
I didn't get into the mainevent.
I played some other events andI was wanting to get to the main
event, but I really needed towin one of the other events to
advance to the main eventbecause the main event is a ten
thousand dollar buy-in.

Right.

Doc Dye (01:07:12):
And uh I got to beat like seven thousand players to
get to the top to win it, but itcan be done.

Yeah, it can.
Somebody's gotta win it, mightas well be you.

Doc Dye (01:07:22):
Right.
I have a lot of confidence, butuh that's my dream to win the
World Series of Poker one year.

How fun.
And uh Yeah, that's good moneytoo.
The prize is big, right?
How much money you went when toget that?

Doc Dye (01:07:35):
You get ten million dollars if you get first place.

Nice.

Doc Dye (01:07:39):
Even if you finish like ninth place, it's like a
million dollars.

Yeah, I I know that's big money all the way up
at the top there.
That's awesome.

Doc Dye (01:07:47):
And then it goes on down the line to like 400th
place, like four hundred andfiftieth place, you get your ten
thousand back, and then itstarts increasing after that.
The higher up you finish, yeah,the better you can do.
But I I I just want to finishfirst.
I just want the child.

I know, right?
How fun.

Doc Dye (01:08:04):
Right.
Yeah, it would be great.

Yeah, that would be great.
How fun.
Well, I love that you do that.
That's fun.
Okay, so you like to you liketo um play poker and you said
you go fishing, so you take yourfishing ride on there.
What how do you uh how doesthat work out when you're out
over the road?
What how do you manage to getin some fishing time?

Doc Dye (01:08:21):
Well, what I do is I'm re-riding along and I'll see
like a place you know that'sthat's like if I'm riding along
down by a river or something,you know, or a lake or
something, and I see a placewhere you can pull a truck off
and park, and I'll pull off andpark and just jump out there and
start throwing my rod in,trying to do a little fishing.
Years ago when, oh God, it wasa long time ago, we was up in uh

(01:08:45):
I want to say it's Vermont orNew Hampshire.
I can't remember exactly where,but Ricky Skaggs lives there.
Because uh we was at a hotelright up the street and we saw
Ricky Skagg's bus.
I was asking them, I said,What's his bus doing there?
He said, Well, he lives rightthere.
I went, oh, okay.
And I was asked about a lake,and they told me where a lake

(01:09:05):
was nearby there.
And back then I pulled a vantrailer, you know, a box
trailer.

Yeah.

Doc Dye (01:09:10):
So we was going to the lake, found this place where
they rented canoes.
We rented a canoe and threw itin the back of the trailer and
closed the trailer doors andwent down to the and went down
to the lake, and you know howthey got a boat ramp and all,
and and everybody seen that bigtruck coming in the lake parking
area down there.
Luckily we had enough room topark.

(01:09:31):
And I banked the trailer downthe boat ramp.
You did not.
That's too funny.
I banked the trailer down theboat ramp with that.
And and everybody came overthere, you know, and they was
all looking.
I guess they thought some bigboat was gonna come out the
back, you know.
I knew what they were waitingon for me to open that door and

(01:09:51):
pull that big fancy racing boatout the back.
Right.
And um my my my ex, she said,what are you doing?
I said, unload a canoe.
She said, We can tow it to theboat ramp.
I said, Yeah, but this is morefun.
Watch your boat.
And so I opened, I opened thetrailer door and reached up in
there and dragged that canoe outof the back door, and everybody
went, Oh, we thought you had abig boat now.

(01:10:14):
I said, What'd I do?
I got a canoe.
So we unloaded the canoe andeverybody was cracking up.

That is too funny.

Doc Dye (01:10:23):
Yeah, and we put our beer in it and all that, and and
you know, a canoe ain't verystable.
Right.
And uh, and we was out thereand we got out there in the
middle of that big old lake, anduh and uh I was cutting up with
her.
I said, Why don't you rot?
Don't do that.
Well, it turned over.
So beer will float for a whileonce it, you know, once it falls

(01:10:45):
out of the boat.
Right.
And this other guy, and thisother guy in a big boat come up,
he said, well, because we werestruggling trying to get it
turned back over, it was hangingon the canoe, and he said,
Y'all need some help.
And I said, Yeah, we need somehelp.
He said, Well, hang on, I'llget the beer for you.
And he took a dip that anddipped all the beer up.
He helped us get itstraightened up and get back

(01:11:09):
out.

That's funny.

Doc Dye (01:11:11):
That was pretty funny.
Yeah.

Yes, I've gotten to go to a couple historic
sites, I've got to do somehiking trails, I really enjoy
nature.
Uh, got to check a huge itemoff my bucket list and got to go
to the Grand Canyon.
Oh wow.
Well, how was that when you'rein the truck?
How'd that work?
I parked the truck at a tripstop.

(01:11:40):
Uh Google, Google's my bestfriend.
And Google showed me where arental center was in the area I
happened to be in.
And so I called him up andsaid, Hey, I'm gonna be in town
sit down for a day.
Do y'all have a rental car?
And luckily they did, and wewere able to go explore.

(01:12:02):
It was a lot of fun.
I haven't been to the GrandCanyon as an adult.
I went as a child, but Ihaven't been.
What's it like?
What are the things that yougot to do while you were there?
Do they let you go down intothe canyon or are you just
probably see people taking theirpictures up from the top?
Did you go hiking down, orwhat'd you do for the day?
I cannot go hiking down.
That's more of the south rim.

(01:12:23):
I went to the west rim, that'swhere they had the skywalk.
Oh, nice.
So I was able to go onto theskywalk, and you walk out, and
the whole bottom of it is glass,so you're looking straight
down.
That would must have beengorgeous.
Did you get some great picks?
I did get some really goodpictures and got to explore a

(01:12:48):
lot of different areas on theWestern Round, and it was just
if you get a chance to just sitthere and pause and just see how
massive and I mean I canimagine what an ant would feel
like.
I mean, it's just I'm sure it'sbrand.
Yeah, it really puts thingsinto perspective that you know

(01:13:11):
you you got these dailyirritants, and then you see
something that that massive, andit's just like it it really is
just not as irritant as it seemsat the time, you know.
What a great way to spend yourday off.
I mean, oh my gosh.

James Strong (01:13:34):
Like the main thing I do, like I say, I I go
to all types of different gyms.
I work out outside a lot.

Yeah.

So I might be in the middle of a park, you know,
in uh in Arkansas or in Missourior something like that, just
running on trail, you know,trails with people.
Yeah, rope and talking.

Nice.

So I'm more of a nature person.

Yeah, I love that too.
That's good.

She and I were like, you know, we've we've been
out here for like four yearsnow, and we've seen the whole
country, but we've neverexperienced it.
So we actually decided thatlike that day, as we're walking
through the French quarter, weneed to be proactive about
making sure that anytime we wantto meet up and stop, or anytime

(01:14:17):
we call each other and say,hey, we need to meet somewhere.
We need to take a 34, we needto get out of the truck.
I just need my sister, bestfriend, time.
Anytime we want to be able todo that, we have the money
available.
So we both got a prepaidWalmart card and uh the green
dot.
And we were, again, bothfinancially unstable at the
time, that was the only one wecould get.

(01:14:38):
And it gave me the routingnumber and we had payroll
deductions where you could splityour payroll up, and every
payroll, $25 out of that checkwent to that prepaid Walmart
card.
And it stacks up.
So you're not paying attention,it stacks up.
So that anytime we called eachother and said, Oh, hey, we're
running by each other, we bothhave time on our loads.

(01:14:59):
Let's stop here or let's stopthere.
Let's let's get a hotel room,let's get dinner, let's so we we
made a plan to like beconscious about making sure that
anytime we want to go enjoylife out here and see something
or do something, the money'salways there.
I now have a credit card,Capital One Venture card,

(01:15:23):
because I can get airline milesand such on it.
And it saves me booking onhotels and such when I book
through it.
And that card is literally justfor adventures.
And I use it when I stop to go,you know, um, like my budget
weekly in my when I plan mybudget for how much I'm gonna
spend out here on the road everyweek.
I include the cost of a hotelroom in my budget every week.

(01:15:45):
Whether I use it or not is upfor debate because I don't
always get one.
Yeah.
But sometimes I'm just driving,it's hot.
My AC in this almost30-year-old truck is never the
greatest sometimes.
Um, or I just am tired oflooking at my four walls.
And I just, I just need to getout.
Maybe I see I want to, I gotextra time on my load and I want

(01:16:06):
to school.
So I I factored into my weeklybudget, one hotel room.
And I have that card that I useit and then I pay it off.
So it's I always have the fundsavailable anytime I want to
stop, take an Uber, go, go dosomething.
And that's just that's morphedfrom my $25 a week budgeting to

(01:16:26):
include enjoying life to now I'mstable enough that I can, you
know, I've got it, I've got mysystem in place where I'm never
gonna go through place and belike, oh, I I don't know.
I just I just can't afford tostop.
San Antonio is always great.
You know, we we booked a hotelthere.
We met up one day for like afour-day weekend because it was

(01:16:48):
one summer.
She had her granddaughter and Ihad my niece riding with me,
and they were the same age andthey were friends.
And um, so we met up and wewent to Schlitterbahn, which is
that amazing water park there inSan Antonio Grontells.
And, you know, you know, it wasit was great doing all the
water slides and floating in thelazy river, just so much fun.

(01:17:10):
Um, and then we did the riverwalk, and you know, just it's
just experience San Antonio.
One of the biggest regrets thatshe and I have is we were
running out to Washingtontogether and we both had time on
our load.
And we were going, you know, wego, we don't go up through
Utah.
We would cut up to US 30 toKenemer, or like, you know, and

(01:17:32):
around, and you'd go through umthe hot springs in hot lava
springs in I think Idaho orOregon, one of the I can't
remember exactly.
But one of these times we werelike, we should stop and float
down the river.
And we didn't, and to this daywe still regret it.
So, like that's one of thosethings that like if you feel

(01:17:52):
like you want to stop somewhere,even if it's just for an hour
or two, do it.

That's a great reason.
Right there, because you circleback around, you think I'll do
it next time.
But it's like if you have time,like make it happen.
I'm I love that.

Yeah, like work, like work on building your trip
planning skills up so that youcan include extra stopping time
somewhere.
Like I trip plan based, like Iset my ETA with my broker based
on you know what I can run.
And then I also add in a nap.
Like literally, my trip planevery day has me taking a one
hour nap, whether I use it ornot.

(01:18:27):
If I don't use it, I'm ahead ofschedule.
If I do, if I need it, it wasbuilt in and I'm not gonna set
myself up for failure.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So it's like you have to, youhave to actually like be
conscious about planning, youknow, like if you know up ahead
you've got a little bit of time,don't dilly dally.
Put the put the metal downs,don't take the stopsies and you

(01:18:48):
know, stop at every truck stopalong the way.
Get there so that you canactually get out and and see
what you want to see.
One of the places that I don'tgo to anymore, but I really want
to is that um statue in, Ithink it's South Dakota of the
the native woman of the blank.
I can't remember, you know whatI'm talking about.

(01:19:09):
I can't remember her name, butit it's just some of those
bucket lists, you know.
Well one time I had a load thattook me up and I was running uh
back roads up to Herkin, Utah.
Um, and I was passing right bythe Grand Canyon.
You know I stopped.

(01:19:30):
Um built it in my I knew I wasgoing that way, and I routed
myself that way just so that Icould stop and in Williams.
And I took the train up, sawthe Grand Canyon, took the train
back to Williams, and thencontinued on my way.
You know, if you see a roadsideattraction, stop.
I follow Stephanie Stuckey,who's rebuilding the Stuccies

(01:19:51):
brand.
And I love her because shestops at any any pitch anything,
you know, and that's in mything.
When I see a sign for world'slargest whatever, I'm even if I
can't stop, it's on the road.
So at least that's I can getoff the highway and take the the
road that it is on, I can atleast slow down a little bit and
be like, that's pretty cool.

Yeah, I love it, you know.
One of the things, Jess, that Ilove about our enjoying life
OTR Facebook group is becausepeople can, you know, when you
sometimes we just symbol acrosssomething great that has truck
parking.
It's right off the highway,wasn't planned, it's just a
random thing.
We can share these stops, likeif you're passing through, and
now like the the community isgrowing.
So, you know, you could search,you know, South Dakota and see

(01:20:35):
is there something, you know,that people have posted about,
and it happens to be you mightfind something that's just right
on your route.
So like it's a way we couldincorporate it into our trip
planning because you know,finding these places and
overcoming the challenge of whatam I gonna do with the truck
and you know, how far off theroad is it?
You know, it's like it's it'san added burden to try to do all
that legwork.

(01:20:55):
So when we do stumble acrosssomething fun to do, and there's
truck parking and you know, orit's you know easily accessible
to truck parking, you know, ashort Uber ride, or there's a
restaurant that'll deliver tothe truck stop, or whatever the
little tip is that we couldshare with each other, it just
makes taking some of that extralabor out of finding fun things
to do and sharing them with thecommunity.

(01:21:17):
So I love all of these thingsthat you've shared.

Garry DoMoe (01:21:21):
I was doing a dedicated flower account for a
company out of Sandusky, agreenhouse out of Sandusky that
delivered to um Home Depot,Menards, and Lowe's.
But, anyways, I had I had twodays worth of downtime.
And in Sandusky, there's thisresort called Sawmill Resorts
where you can buy day passes.
So I called there and theyallowed me to park my bobtail

(01:21:44):
there, and I paid the $25 a dayfor the day passes, and I was
able to go there and enjoy thethe beaches and the the play
some golf and run some golf golfclubs.
And when I was there, I haddinner, I got to meet the um the
race cart driver John Force.

Oh wow, fun.

And yeah, and that that was one of the funner
things I've done.

I love that for 25 bucks.
I mean, that's a deal.

Yeah, yeah, to enjoy all the amenities that
they had at that resort.
It was really nice.
Yeah, right in Sandusky.
I don't know if you're familiarwith Sandusky or not.
It's right on it's it's righton Lake Erie, and Sandusky is is
the home of the um of CedarPoint, where they have the
largest, fastest roller coastersin the world.
Then before COVID hit, I wasgoing, um, the company I work

(01:22:40):
for is based out of Minneapolis.
Okay.
So that that allowed me to bein Minneapolis quite a little
bit.
So that in Minneapolis, Istarted doing open mics because
I wanted to I want to be astand-up comedian and do comedy.
And the only way to do it is toactually get in front of us,
get in front of people and do itand see what see what you can

(01:23:02):
make them laugh, you know.
Which I've always had the giftof gab.
I've been like been able tonaturally make people laugh, but
it I tend to do better when Iget in like a flow, you know
what I mean?
Yeah.
When I get rolling, I can I canget people laughing more.

Maybe it's time for you to get behind the mic
again.

Yeah, and that's the that's the big thing is
working them, working thembutterflies out because jumping
in front of strangers is a lotdifferent than talking junk in
front around your friends andlike you know, but I like it.
I enjoy comedy, you know.
I enjoy I enjoy it quite a bit.
I listen to a lot of comedy.

Larry Cechin (01:23:46):
Well, what do you tell people when they ask you
how how how's junk-wise?
It's a lot of fun at times.
It can be most at times.
It's me, I got a friend of minegonna be coming in to town
today, and we're gonna be hereat this lot, and we're gonna
barbecue some pork chops and puton some fried potatoes and have

(01:24:08):
a little barbecue.
You know, we're gonna enjoyourselves.
Yeah.
You know, enjoying ourselveswhile we're over the road.
I don't find myself doingthings like that more than going
into public restaurants and andand eating and spending all
that crazy money.
We're screwing drivers, it's inhis blood, his heart's in it.

(01:24:32):
And that's where I'm at.
Because all I know my wholelife, just all I've ever wanted
to know my whole life.
I mean, even on a bad day, Istill love my job.

Yeah.

And that's uh that's a job you want to get.
Yeah, it is.
You I'm listening to driverssometimes.
You know, you know, you justlisten when you go to the truck
stops or you know, getting yourfood ticket or standing light at
you know, parties to get alunch or whatever.
They need a bunch of tissue.
I mean, you know, I mean I meanif you're not if you're not
happy, get out and you know, andand do something else.

(01:25:06):
You know, um, like I said,anybody can drive a truck.
And it's not that it's notdifficult.
You know, it's it is for somepeople.
Well, but it is for somepeople, you know.
Well, I guess what I'm sayingis like, you know, the guys that
are out here and the heartsain't in it, they're the ones
that are turning the corners andknocking down the streetlights.

(01:25:28):
Yeah, you know.
What we do out here is we keepAmerica moving.
I think I'm on Facebook, it'sDaryl Squirrel D station.
Uh I I post these live uhsquirrel cage videos all the
time.
I usually start them outsomething like this.
From a squirrel cage, Dallas,Texas.
You know, uh yeah, and I'll bevideotaping my truck in the

(01:25:53):
convention center, uh, which Ijust unloaded at today.
You know, I I have fun when I'mout here.

Yeah, it's good.

You have you have to.
You gotta put a little bit ofplay in also with the work
because you deserve a little bitof relaxation and having fun.
Yeah, you know, it's good.
My other passion that I haveoutside of driving trucks is uh
my early Davidson.
I got a 51-foot IQ likefurniture moving type trailer,

(01:26:23):
and I'm able to carry mymotorcycle with me, and I have a
lift gate on the back of thistruck, you know, so wherever I'm
at, if I feel like going for aride, I'll just roll my bike out
on the lift gate, drop it down,and and I go for a ride.

I love it that you do that.
So great.
Yeah.

No, it's really it is it's really cool.
You know, I I gotta say, wow, Iguess one of my most exciting
rides that I've had in the lastthree years, I'm gonna George,
and I was loading up the nextday, so I pulled the bike out.
I don't know if any of you havebeen in downtown Augusta, you

(01:27:03):
know, out on the out on theriver in the the water there,
but there's some beautifulroads, you know, all along the
river, and you get intodowntown, and I mean we don't
get to see that much.
I mean I knew on an extent wego to the convention centers and
stuff.
For the most part, you'relimited to where you can go with

(01:27:24):
a big truck when you'redowntown, downtown anyway.

Yeah, yeah.

And right.
So to be able to pull the bikeout and go in a down in downtown
is just kind of really cool.
But I guess the Georgia wasprobably one of my most exciting
ones.
Um I'm loading the bike abouttwo o'clock in the afternoon.
It was in the summer, and Irode till like nine o'clock.
Just it it just seemed like theroad just kept going up

(01:27:49):
whatever, and I've got a newroad, and it was just new, I
mean stuff to see.
And when I got done, I went toa real nice restaurant downtown
and a really great dinner.
And it was ironic becauseeverybody in this restaurant in
downtown happened to be thereout of town, except for one guy.

Yeah.

He goes, So what are you doing riding around?
You know, I I told him, I said,Well, I'm a truck driver.
He goes, Well, wait a minute,you just wrote it on Hollywood
Davidson.
I'm like, Yes, I did.
And you know, I I carried mybike with me.
And I mean, he was justfascinated with it.
Great conversation, you know.

I love it that you do that.
That's so great.
That's like the best of both.
That would be awesome.
I don't know if I'd make anymoney if I could do that,
because I'm uh I like to traveland explore, so I'm like, wanna
be hard starting the truck backup again.
I'd be like, okay, nobody getback to work.

Oh no, you figure it out.

Yeah.
It's good.
I love it.
It's awesome.

Yeah.
I wouldn't treat it for theworld.
So enjoying life over the road,yes.
It's been a great it's been agreat career.

Yeah, I love it.

I wouldn't I wouldn't change it for the
world.

Brian Wilson (01:29:15):
Man, I really love hearing what folks are doing
out there.
Big thanks again to Dr.
Mike, Cindy, and to every otherdriver who shared a piece of
their story with us today.
Now, look at some of thoseideas might be a little more
bold than what you're willing totackle.
But that's okay.
These stories remind us thatfun doesn't have to be ordinary,

(01:29:38):
it just has to be possible.
And sometimes all it takes ishearing what someone else has
tried to start thinking outsidethe box for ourselves.
If something in this episodemade you smile, gave you an idea
you didn't have before, or evenjarred an old memory, pass it
on.
Sure.

(01:29:59):
With someone who could use alittle spark.
Okay, guys, this is BrianWilson, your old hand with a new
plan.
We'll catch you next time righthere on Enjoying Life OTR.

Hey, this is Cindy Tunstall.
One last shout out.
I just want to say, Brian, notsure we're gonna be back next
week.
So take a little break from thepodcast.
And it's not because I haven'thad a great time.
This has been so much fun.
And um thanks so much for allof you that have helped make
this show happen.
It's been so fun for me.
And I can't think of a betterway to wrap up this journey with
talking about fun, one of myfavorite things.

(01:30:34):
So thanks to our guest Mike,and I'm so grateful for the
journey.
And um also want to give ashout out to Brian, he's been
such a great co-host, he's beenso fun and a great friend to me.
So I've enjoyed sharing thisjourney with him.
And also a big shout-out toMelinda Fox Wellington, and um,
she and I started this outtogether, and it's been a super
fun ride, and I've made somegreat friends, so it's been such

(01:30:55):
a great time.
So if you want to stay in touchwith me, find me on the Enjoy
in Life OTR Facebook group.
Some of my best friends in theworld are in that community and
they're sharing their journeyand all the good stuff and the
bad stuff, the challenges thathappen out there on the road,
and I'm getting to share ourpicks and our favorite stop, so
be sure to check it out.
So it's a great place to stayin touch with me.
I'm gonna post um many of theseepisodes on the Enjoying Life

(01:31:18):
OTR YouTube channel, so um theywill be there forever, so you
can hear your episode or othersand share that with other
drivers.
So look forward to seeingy'all.
Hope to meet some of y'all onthe road someday.
That'd be awesome.
Anyway, this is Cindy Tunstallsigning out for Enjoyin' Life
OTR.
Y'all be safe out there and byall means enjoy the journey.

Victory Song (01:31:44):
Who is sillian charges through the night?
He's my way past a story totell Helvin and do it well thing
to be one, what's it fruit?
Five is straight things all wedo All the home but stands in

(01:32:08):
front Enjoy life for the Do itall Do it all Do it all Squid
still jest to you start in truespoiler four team through it all

(01:32:59):
through it all the two It's allin the food It's it's for you

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