February 15, 2025 • 24 mins
This episode explores the transformative power of travel and self-discovery, as Charles shares his journey from corporate life to embracing a minimalist approach to happiness. We discuss the importance of reflecting on personal struggles, the value of meaningful experiences over material possessions, and the steps toward becoming an entrepreneur.
Charles Achampong
- Instagram: @aroundtheworldinfamilydays
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlesachampong
- Website: https://www.charlesachampong.com
- Email: info@charlesachampong.com
• Emphasizing the connection between travel and self-discovery
• Addressing struggles faced during corporate transitions
• Discussing the philosophy of minimalism in travel
• Highlighting the significance of family experiences
• Sharing practical advice for aspiring entrepreneurs
• Engaging in a light-hearted 20 Questions game
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Voiceover (00:03):
Tales from the wild, stories from the heart.
A journey into the mind andsoul of fired up business
professionals, where they sharetheir vision for the future and
hear from a different non-profitorganization every month as
they create awareness of theirgoals and their needs.
Dive into a world of untamedpassion as we join our host,
(00:27):
Shireen Botha, for this month'sepisode of Friends from Wild
Places.
Shireen Botha (00:36):
I must say so you listeners you heard it here
it's going to be released inJanuary.
It's going to be released inJanuary, um, you'll be hearing
these episodes, the series,three of them, in February.
So, if you're listening to usright now, it's February,
meaning it's out already.
Go get it, get it, go get it.
(00:57):
Go get it, please.
It's an amazing book with somany exciting stories.
Um, if you want to be inspiredand you do, like the idea of
traveling and you have ponderedabout it, well then that you are
the person that needs to buythis book.
So, please and buy it.
But, charles, if you had toshare one of the biggest
(01:17):
struggles on this journey, right, this long journey of being in
the corporate world, taking thebreak, charles, if you had to
share one of the biggeststruggles on this journey, right
, this long journey of being inthe corporate world, taking the
break this road.
What is that one struggle thatyou've probably you don't want
to go through again?
(01:37):
It was a really big one for you.
How, how did it impact you?
How did you grow from it?
How did you, you know, get overthat massive struggle?
Like what was it?
What helped you get through it?
Charles Achampong (02:01):
That's a good question.
You know, I think I am muchmore comfortable in my shell,
I'm much more comfortable withwho I am and you know all my
idiosyncrasies, my strengths andmy weaknesses, and I it's
interesting I feel like I neededa trip around the world for me
to be able to have time toreflect and think and spend time
(02:23):
with my family, to be able tohave time to reflect and think
and spend time with my family.
So I think it was a strugglebecause, in many ways, not that
I felt like I was trying to actas if I was someone else, but
I'm much more in tune with thethings that I like and the
people that I like being aroundand the activities that I enjoy.
I've had some time to reflecton what brings me joy, what you
(02:43):
know, that balance between my metime and spending time for
myself, and then the we time isspending time with my family and
friends, like I, I've, I've,I've really removed all of the
all of the energy vampires thatsuck all the energy out of me,
because I was just going throughthe motion and doing the things
that society had told me to do,right, or notionally, that I
thought that society had told meto do, and so I've just now
(03:06):
more focused on the things thatmake me happy, and I try to not
rely on other people to make mehappy.
This way as well, I tried tofind the joy in myself.
So when I get up in the morning, you know if I'm thinking about
the things I have to do thatday, or even, you know, or I
(03:30):
didn't sleep well.
Whatever the excuse may be, youknow, I just find that I am
responsible for my own joy andmy own happiness, and so it was
a struggle in the past because Iwas relying on other things
other external environment,other people, situation, the
weather determined whether ornot I was going to be happy or
in a good mood.
I'm generally an extremelysometimes to my detriment of my
family good mood.
I'm generally an extremelysometimes to my detriment of my
family almost overly optimisticand almost overly happy, but I'm
much more genuinely happy withmy situation and the way I am
(03:55):
and the way things are.
You know, I'm so grateful andso privileged for the
opportunity that we had totravel and to spend the time
with my kids, and I knowthere'll be a point when our
kids are not going to want tohang out with us anymore and
they'll grow old.
They want to hang out withtheir friends, all that stuff.
They'll go through theiremotions and their you know the
teenage angst and all that.
But I'm just so grateful that noone can take away the
(04:15):
experience that I've gonethrough and that I'm just so
joyful that I have thatexperience.
And now I want to be able totell the story to others, to say
that, hey, even if it's not atrip that you want to do, just
help you think through what isyour pause and how can you
integrate that into your dailyroutine, you know, and so that
you can just find time foryourself.
And just talking about theimpact that that had for me.
(04:37):
So it was a struggle beforehandbecause I was just going
through the motions, you know,floating through life on
autopilot, very comfortable life, but yeah, I think it's just.
I'm just much more happier,much more confident, I'm just
more accepting of my identityand who I am.
Tanya Scotece (04:59):
Nice, wow, that's .
That's.
That just just blows me away,just completely blows me away.
I have two questions, charles.
So when you are like on thejourney, right, and how do you
not want to take a lot of thingsfrom each place that you
visited, like I'm going to justproject right.
(05:34):
Like, for example, you gosomewhere, you know we take
extra bags to bring it back,like how do you control that?
To say, wow, I'm on the trip ofa lifetime, and how do you not
take a suitcase and ship it allback ahead of you, like, how do
you.
Charles Achampong (05:48):
Great question.
Yeah, great question, you knowso.
Fortunately, my wife and I areon the same page when it comes
to these things.
That you know, less is more.
You know.
It's funny.
When we were, when we weregetting ready to leave, we were
again.
I mentioned how we rented ourhouse out to neighbors and so we
had to put our personalbelongings into storage, and
(06:09):
it's not until I don't think wehave a lot of stuff.
I'm quite a minimalist.
The kids are pretty good-ish interms of the number of toys and
things that they have.
We've kept that to a minimum,etc.
Etc.
And so when we were packing upeverything and personal
belongings, you realize how muchstuff you have stuff.
We put a lot of stuff instorage.
(06:30):
And then, when you're traveling, you realize like, wow, I even
I've forgotten all the stuff weput into storage.
Like I don't know what it is.
It's, of course, you know it'swinter clothing, because we're
not traveling and we're cold,but all the other things that we
have is just stuff.
Does it make me any happier?
Does it bring contentment to mylife?
Not really.
It's the experience of where Iam right here and right now.
(06:50):
And it's the experience ofwhere I am right here and right
now, and so to answer yourquestion, tanya, for us we made
an agreement before leaving thatwe were not going to get
another suitcase.
We're not going to ship morestuff on.
No, I'll take a step back.
What I will say is that theworld has become much more, in
an unfortunate way, in some wayscommoditized when it comes to
traveling, monetize, when itcomes to traveling.
(07:15):
Things that you can find in themarkets and souks in Istanbul
or in Marrakesh, in Morocco orin other places of the world.
You can usually pretty muchfind it anywhere, you know, in
your own backyard, depending onwhere you live in the world.
You know, particularly in theWestern world, such as here in
Canada or wherever you are Likeit's very difficult now to get
those authentic experiences orauthentic things that are not
available elsewhere or notavailable for purchase online.
(07:36):
So you know, when you're goingtraveling somewhere and you're
trying like, wow, this is aunique thing, you're like, well,
there's a place just down thestreet from us that sells the
same thing, right, and ifanything, it's all probably made
from the same place anyhow.
So there were things like thatthat were kind of like do we
really need this?
Is it?
(07:56):
Do we really want to lug itaround?
We're first two weeks in, we'vegot another eight months to go.
Do we really want to carryaround this stuff, teddy?
Because you know such a?
You know that.
So that's from a practicalityperspective.
I think that's where it is andall this stuff is available
everywhere.
So very rarely, I feel like,can you get the experience or
things that are not available,that are available in one
particular place that are notavailable elsewhere.
We made made the decision topurchase one piece of art from
(08:20):
each country that we went to.
So that was the thing that weagreed to do, that we purchased
one thing of art from each placethat would adorn our walls and
provide us that memory of thatplace.
So the kids got little things,you know, but key chains they
love key chains and so you knowyou can hear them coming down
the street from school becausetheir backpacks are kind of
rattling away, you know, withtheir key chains from each
(08:42):
different place around the world.
And they bought little thingsfor their friends, little tokens
and stuff like that.
But nothing massive that we gotand all the pieces of art that
we received were things that youcould wrap up or you could put
easily into the suitcase.
It didn't take up a lot of roomand, again, because it was
clothing for the summer, thegirls my two daughters were able
(09:05):
to put their stuff into onesuitcase, and so we kept the
other suitcase, the fourthsuitcase, for their school books
, their laptop, little thingslike that.
So, yeah, that really, at theend of the day, we've got a
piece of art from each place wewent to.
They have their key chains fromeach place that we went to, so
we don't have a lot ofquote-unquote stuff that we
(09:26):
brought along from the trip, sowe never felt the need to do
that.
If anything, our house I'm inthe basement, but upstairs is
one piece of art that's framedand that's our reminder of our
trip, plus, of course, theplethora of pictures that we
took on the trip, which are inthe book as well.
Tanya Scotece (09:41):
Yeah, wow, wow, okay.
And then the second question,because I had two.
Yeah, this question is um so,aside from like documents like,
aside from like documents likeaside from passport and you know
anything legal, what would yousay is the number one item that
you will not leave home without?
Charles Achampong (09:59):
Oh, I mean, I guess in this day and age, your
cell phone is really what'sthere, I mean that follows you
everywhere.
That's very important, becauseI think what we did is that we
made sure that we had taken apicture of all of our important
documents.
Of course, you save them onyour email or on a on the cloud
and you have access to them aswell.
(10:19):
But I think, yeah, that was theother thing.
The piece that actually came inhandy was our our little in in.
I think it's maybe a provinceor maybe it's a Canadian thing
as well, that everyone gets alittle yellow booklet, when you
travel internationally, of yourimmunizations, international
immunizations.
So that was helpful in some ofthe places that we went to to
prove that we had immunizationsfrom from those places as well.
(10:43):
But you know, so, to be verysimple, you know crafts.
I mean I've given a few things,but I think the piece that I
found that was really helpful onour trip was the fact that we
provided each of our daughterswith a digital camera, one of
these old kind of old schooldigital cameras.
So, rather than having to useour phone to take pictures and
capture their moments, they wereable to, they were able to use
(11:05):
these digital cameras to takepictures on their own.
So they didn't have to like canwe borrow your cell phone to
take a picture of?
There's something cool.
So that was.
It was so to be able to see thetrip through their eyes of
what's important and what's notimportant, things where I
thought I was.
You know I would like that'strivial or you know I'd gloss
over it and then to be able toactually then see um them take
pictures and for them to gothrough those pictures is quite
(11:25):
entertaining.
So I think all those thingsthere, but I think the piece for
me that was really helpful froma family kids perspective was
them having their own digitalcameras, small little portable
digital cameras that they coulduse on the trip wow, oh, you
know it's.
Tanya Scotece (11:36):
It's interesting, charles, is that reminds me of?
And my daughter is going to begetting married.
So um a few years ago, Iremember back in the day, there
was you know how like people, ifthey got married, like in like
a formal setting, they wouldhave, like you know, you hire a
photographer or videographer orboth.
But then it became popular tohave those kind of portable or
(11:57):
cameras on the table, so the sothe guests can take the pictures
right.
So it reminds me, from whatyou're sharing, especially for
your daughters, that it's like,it's almost like these moments
in time that are preserved, andit doesn't matter if it's a trip
or a wedding or whatever.
You get to see it through thelens of somebody else's eye.
Charles Achampong (12:18):
That's a great example.
That's exactly it.
Tanya Scotece (12:20):
Exactly.
Charles Achampong (12:21):
That's great, and you know that the cameras
are even even some of them havethe Polaroids where you can
actually take them, or evenphoto booths, that type of thing
but exactly, that's exactly it.
Shireen Botha (12:30):
I think that's amazing, charles.
That's such a good thing to do.
You know it's their story.
What's important to them,they'll click and it actually
gives such a window into yourchild's mind Exactly, and that's
important to them.
So one last question, and thenwe'll get into something more
lighthearted Charles, do youconsider yourself an
(12:51):
entrepreneur?
Charles Achampong (13:01):
Hmm Cool, um, charles, do you consider
yourself an entrepreneur?
Hmm cool, maybe an accidentalentrepreneur, an accidental
author?
You know, I, um, I do.
Now I do.
Yes, it's such a loaded term orword but I feel like it's
become much more mainstream now.
But yes, I would considermyself an entrepreneur now.
I um this idea of now.
I mean, the biggest hurdle forme now as becoming an
entrepreneur is this idea ofselling myself.
I've always been used to.
You know you sell yourself whenyou go to an interview or you
(13:21):
meet someone or you're selling aproduct or service.
You know you're selling thatproduct or service and not
necessarily yourself.
But the biggest thing as anentrepreneur is that you're
you're setting, you're sellingnot only whatever product or
service that you have, but yourcredibility to sell that product
or service, and so that'ssomething you know.
Being able to build my ownbrand has been a very
interesting journey thus far,through the book and through
(13:42):
speaking opportunities as well,on this idea of pausing or
failure immunity.
So, yes, I do consider myselfan entrepreneur.
Shireen Botha (13:48):
It's been an evolving journey, but I'm making
my way there yeah, you are, youare and you know, a lot of our
listeners are these.
You know, young entrepreneursor even old entrepreneurs.
We really focus on the, theentrepreneurs and business
owners like myself who reallychanged their careers much later
(14:09):
on in life, um and made themassive leap um to become a
business owner, uh, at like late30s, late 40s, uh, and yes more
of me.
There's lots more people similarto me, and so if there are any
(14:30):
people listeners out there thatare in a position where they
would something new, they'd liketo try it on their own, but
(14:54):
they're too scared.
What would be your advice tothem to make that of faith?
Charles Achampong (15:01):
Yeah, you know it's, everyone's got unique
situations or circumstances.
Maybe you're working full time,Maybe it's part time, maybe
you're consulting, but I thinkthe biggest thing for me is that
I you need to make that firststep.
You need to do something.
You know you need to make thatnot necessarily a commitment,
but you need to actually dosomething, make that tiny step
(15:24):
forward to actually doingsomething.
So you know, I use the example.
Yesterday I posted my first.
Again, this whole social mediathing has been such an
interesting experience for me.
Linkedin I've played a muchmore active role on, but
Instagram I've never hadaccounts and an account until
maybe a few months ago, beforethe book started.
And Facebook, I think I wassharing earlier that my wife
(15:45):
largely managed that and I hadno interaction or dealing with
that, and so I had to post.
I decided, you know, let mepost a video.
And I was just so gun shy ofposting a video of me talking
about this idea of my book andpausing, et cetera, et cetera.
And you know I was worriedabout what other people would
say Was I delivering the rightmessage?
(16:05):
All the usual things that yougo through your head when you
start second guessing yourselfright and wanting to stay in
your quote unquote comfort zone.
Right, and I just said you knowwhat?
Let me do something.
Let me put out a post.
I'm going to take a video.
I went through variousiterations, changed a few things
, but it's this idea of just dosomething, make.
If your goal is to you knowwhatever is, become your own
(16:25):
boss, become an entrepreneur, dosomething that at least moves
you in that direction.
You don't need to leave yourday job nine to five and just
quit a whole cold turkey andjust walk in and become an
entrepreneur.
But do something.
I met a gentleman who lovesphotography.
I'm like, okay, well, take acourse, you don't need to go buy
the most expensive camera outthere, but do something that
(16:47):
moves you forward in some small,key, incremental way, because
otherwise we get stuck in ourhead about the would've,
could've, should'ves, and soit's important that you take
that first step and then youagain get up the next time.
Make that next first step.
Document what the experiencewas like.
(17:07):
You know, get a mentor, getcoaching, but please make that
first step.
Do something to be able to moveyou forward in some small,
incremental way, so at least youcan show the progress of what
it is that you're trying to doabsolutely.
Shireen Botha (17:17):
I love that.
It was such a great answer.
Thank you, charles.
So, yes, a little bit morelight-hearted, we're going to
come come to a segment called 20questions.
It's a game I don't know ifyou've seen it, but it's speed
20 questions.
Okay, so you get one minute,you and Tanya.
You get one minute to answer asmany questions as I ask you in
(17:40):
one minute, and whoever answersthe most questions is the winner
.
What do you get?
I'm not sure.
I'll think about that.
Charles Achampong (17:50):
I love that.
Tanya Scotece (17:50):
Okay 20 questions .
I've never played this game, sodo we answer together or you're
just asking Charles?
Shireen Botha (18:00):
I will ask Charles first, and I'll give him
one minute to answer as many ofthe questions as possible, and
then I'm going to ask you nextand ask you questions and see
how many questions we can answeras fast as possible.
Okay, so, charles, let me getthe one minute on the clock.
Charles Achampong (18:21):
Okay, let's do this.
Shireen Botha (18:23):
Are you ready?
Timer One minute.
Let's do this.
Are you ready?
Timer one minute no long-windedanswers.
Charles Achampong (18:31):
This is good and yeah go, charles.
Shireen Botha (18:38):
What is your favorite food?
Charles Achampong (18:41):
favorite food , I would say lasagna great.
Shireen Botha (18:43):
What is your favorite color?
Charles Achampong (18:44):
blue what is your favorite color?
Blue.
Shireen Botha (18:47):
What is your favorite pit?
Charles Achampong (18:51):
Favorite pit, yeah, favorite pit, pet dog.
What do you mean?
Oh pet, oh, okay, sorry, yes,okay, dog, sorry yes.
Shireen Botha (19:01):
What is your favorite song?
Charles Achampong (19:02):
Oh, oh, sorry , you froze there.
What was your question?
What is your favorite song?
Oh, sorry, you froze there.
What was your question?
What is your favorite song?
Oh, favorite song Sunny.
I can't remember the name ofthe singer.
Shireen Botha (19:16):
Yes, what is your favorite celebrity?
Charles Achampong (19:21):
I'd say I'm a big fan of Obama.
Shireen Botha (19:23):
Barack Obama, I'd say Okay, what is your favorite
holiday?
Charles Achampong (19:29):
My favorite holiday would be Thanksgiving.
Shireen Botha (19:31):
Awesome Favorite fruit.
Charles Achampong (19:34):
Strawberries.
Shireen Botha (19:35):
Awesome Favorite season, summer.
Seven, you got seven.
Charles Achampong (19:41):
Seven, oh, my God.
Shireen Botha (19:43):
That's pretty good.
That's pretty good, oh geez.
Charles Achampong (19:45):
All right, that's pretty good, that's
pretty.
Oh geez.
Shireen Botha (19:48):
All right.
Tanya game on All right let'ssee Roll up your sleeves,
because here we go.
Let's put the timer on.
All right.
What is your dream destination?
Indonesia.
Do you like watching goodmorning cartoons as a kid?
No.
What was your favorite subjectin school?
(20:11):
Mortuary?
What is your biggest fear?
Tanya Scotece (20:18):
That's a good one .
Fear of failure.
Shireen Botha (20:22):
Are you a night person or a morning person?
Both.
What are your three favoritesongs?
Tanya Scotece (20:30):
three favorite songs neil diamond, we have
caroline rivers of babylon andwe have made in america by toby
keith wow what do you likewearing often?
Black, always black.
Least favorite food, leastfavorite food is going to be
(20:53):
liverwurst.
Shireen Botha (20:54):
My gosh, do you like your job?
Yes, oh my gosh, that was justTanya by nine.
Charles Achampong (21:02):
Good job, tanya Good job, that was really
good.
Shireen Botha (21:05):
That was very good, that was fantastic.
Good job, that was really good.
That was very good, that wasfantastic.
Tanya Scotece (21:09):
All right, it's funny because you actually like
it's, because you don't havetime to think.
That's got to be the truth thatcomes out of you, you know what
I mean Exactly.
I didn't think liverwurst wasmy worst food, but I guess it is
, you know oh man it's true, I'mlike, oh, favorite food.
Charles Achampong (21:27):
I don't think I've actually really thought.
I'm like I eat everything, so,but favorite I'm like yeah, yeah
, good you're right, you'reright, you're gonna really be
with it, otherwise you could beoverthink it overthink it yeah
yeah, thank you forparticipating.
Shireen Botha (21:41):
Uh, that does unfortunately bring us to the
end of the podcast.
Thank you so much, um, forbeing here, charles.
We really appreciate you beingon the show.
Charles and Tanya, if there'ssomeone out there that's
connected with you and wouldlike to reach out to you, where
can they find you?
Go ahead, charles, sure.
Charles Achampong (22:01):
Sure.
So they can find me through mywebsite of CharlesAchampongcom.
Or they can find me throughLinkedIn by looking at my name,
Charles Achampong, or onInstagram.
It's at Around the World inFamily Days.
So those are the three placesthat you can find me, or via
email info atCharlesAchampongcom.
Shireen Botha (22:26):
Love it.
Tanya Scotece (22:27):
Tanya.
Okay, I live on LinkedIn.
I don't have a TV, haven't hadone for about 30 years, so
LinkedIn is my hub.
You can find me at TanyaT-A-N-Y-A, s-c-o-t-e-c-e.
If anybody has any interest ina mortuary career, I am the
director of the program at MiamiDade College.
I do expert witness servingfuneral home and cemetery
(22:47):
wrongdoings, and I'm alsoinvolved in senior placement,
matching people with communitieswho can no longer live alone.
So that is my wheelhouse and bemore than happy to connect with
any listener in any arena.
And how about you, shireen?
Where can we find you?
Shireen Botha (23:02):
Thank you, tanya.
Yeah, you can find Shireen'sbookkeeping services on LinkedIn
as well as their website, butyou can also find me, Shireen
Bueta, on all the socials,whether it be Instagram, tiktok
or Facebook.
That's Shireen Botha.
You can follow me in myadventures.
But for the podcast listeners,you are so welcome to always
(23:26):
come back here.
This is such a safe space foreverybody.
Uh, please know thatfriendsfromwildplaces.
buzzsprout.
com is the websitefriendsfromwildplaces.
buzzsprout.
com.
Uh, please go.
If you want to subscribe it'sonly five dollars a month for
extra content and if you'relistening and want to listen to
(23:48):
some more great content fromother entrepreneurs and business
owners from all over the world.
The previous series, we spoketo Estrella, who is the
co-founder of Last Farewells, soshe was amazing.
If you want to go listen tosome more content, go and click
(24:09):
on to those, but other than that, you can for sure find us on
YouTube.
Please come and subscribe againthere.
Thanks so much for listening,guys, and remember you got this
and stay wild.
Bye, guys.
Voiceover (24:25):
You've been listening to Friends from wild places
with Shireen Botha.
Be sure to subscribe to thepodcast from the links to catch
every episode and unleash yourpassion.
Tales from the wild, stories from the heart.
A journey into the mind andsoul of fired up business
professionals, where they sharetheir vision for the future and
hear from a different non-profitorganization every month as
they create awareness of theirgoals and their needs.
Dive into a world of untamedpassion as we join our host,
(00:27):
Shireen Botha, for this month'sepisode of Friends from Wild
Places.
Shireen Botha (00:36):
I must say so you listeners you heard it here
it's going to be released inJanuary.
It's going to be released inJanuary, um, you'll be hearing
these episodes, the series,three of them, in February.
So, if you're listening to usright now, it's February,
meaning it's out already.
Go get it, get it, go get it.
(00:57):
Go get it, please.
It's an amazing book with somany exciting stories.
Um, if you want to be inspiredand you do, like the idea of
traveling and you have ponderedabout it, well then that you are
the person that needs to buythis book.
So, please and buy it.
But, charles, if you had toshare one of the biggest
(01:17):
struggles on this journey, right, this long journey of being in
the corporate world, taking thebreak, charles, if you had to
share one of the biggeststruggles on this journey, right
, this long journey of being inthe corporate world, taking the
break this road.
What is that one struggle thatyou've probably you don't want
to go through again?
(01:37):
It was a really big one for you.
How, how did it impact you?
How did you grow from it?
How did you, you know, get overthat massive struggle?
Like what was it?
What helped you get through it?
Charles Achampong (02:01):
That's a good question.
You know, I think I am muchmore comfortable in my shell,
I'm much more comfortable withwho I am and you know all my
idiosyncrasies, my strengths andmy weaknesses, and I it's
interesting I feel like I neededa trip around the world for me
to be able to have time toreflect and think and spend time
(02:23):
with my family, to be able tohave time to reflect and think
and spend time with my family.
So I think it was a strugglebecause, in many ways, not that
I felt like I was trying to actas if I was someone else, but
I'm much more in tune with thethings that I like and the
people that I like being aroundand the activities that I enjoy.
I've had some time to reflecton what brings me joy, what you
(02:43):
know, that balance between my metime and spending time for
myself, and then the we time isspending time with my family and
friends, like I, I've, I've,I've really removed all of the
all of the energy vampires thatsuck all the energy out of me,
because I was just going throughthe motion and doing the things
that society had told me to do,right, or notionally, that I
thought that society had told meto do, and so I've just now
(03:06):
more focused on the things thatmake me happy, and I try to not
rely on other people to make mehappy.
This way as well, I tried tofind the joy in myself.
So when I get up in the morning, you know if I'm thinking about
the things I have to do thatday, or even, you know, or I
(03:30):
didn't sleep well.
Whatever the excuse may be, youknow, I just find that I am
responsible for my own joy andmy own happiness, and so it was
a struggle in the past because Iwas relying on other things
other external environment,other people, situation, the
weather determined whether ornot I was going to be happy or
in a good mood.
I'm generally an extremelysometimes to my detriment of my
family good mood.
I'm generally an extremelysometimes to my detriment of my
family almost overly optimisticand almost overly happy, but I'm
much more genuinely happy withmy situation and the way I am
(03:55):
and the way things are.
You know, I'm so grateful andso privileged for the
opportunity that we had totravel and to spend the time
with my kids, and I knowthere'll be a point when our
kids are not going to want tohang out with us anymore and
they'll grow old.
They want to hang out withtheir friends, all that stuff.
They'll go through theiremotions and their you know the
teenage angst and all that.
But I'm just so grateful that noone can take away the
(04:15):
experience that I've gonethrough and that I'm just so
joyful that I have thatexperience.
And now I want to be able totell the story to others, to say
that, hey, even if it's not atrip that you want to do, just
help you think through what isyour pause and how can you
integrate that into your dailyroutine, you know, and so that
you can just find time foryourself.
And just talking about theimpact that that had for me.
(04:37):
So it was a struggle beforehandbecause I was just going
through the motions, you know,floating through life on
autopilot, very comfortable life, but yeah, I think it's just.
I'm just much more happier,much more confident, I'm just
more accepting of my identityand who I am.
Tanya Scotece (04:59):
Nice, wow, that's .
That's.
That just just blows me away,just completely blows me away.
I have two questions, charles.
So when you are like on thejourney, right, and how do you
not want to take a lot of thingsfrom each place that you
visited, like I'm going to justproject right.
(05:34):
Like, for example, you gosomewhere, you know we take
extra bags to bring it back,like how do you control that?
To say, wow, I'm on the trip ofa lifetime, and how do you not
take a suitcase and ship it allback ahead of you, like, how do
you.
Charles Achampong (05:48):
Great question.
Yeah, great question, you knowso.
Fortunately, my wife and I areon the same page when it comes
to these things.
That you know, less is more.
You know.
It's funny.
When we were, when we weregetting ready to leave, we were
again.
I mentioned how we rented ourhouse out to neighbors and so we
had to put our personalbelongings into storage, and
(06:09):
it's not until I don't think wehave a lot of stuff.
I'm quite a minimalist.
The kids are pretty good-ish interms of the number of toys and
things that they have.
We've kept that to a minimum,etc.
Etc.
And so when we were packing upeverything and personal
belongings, you realize how muchstuff you have stuff.
We put a lot of stuff instorage.
(06:30):
And then, when you're traveling, you realize like, wow, I even
I've forgotten all the stuff weput into storage.
Like I don't know what it is.
It's, of course, you know it'swinter clothing, because we're
not traveling and we're cold,but all the other things that we
have is just stuff.
Does it make me any happier?
Does it bring contentment to mylife?
Not really.
It's the experience of where Iam right here and right now.
(06:50):
And it's the experience ofwhere I am right here and right
now, and so to answer yourquestion, tanya, for us we made
an agreement before leaving thatwe were not going to get
another suitcase.
We're not going to ship morestuff on.
No, I'll take a step back.
What I will say is that theworld has become much more, in
an unfortunate way, in some wayscommoditized when it comes to
traveling, monetize, when itcomes to traveling.
(07:15):
Things that you can find in themarkets and souks in Istanbul
or in Marrakesh, in Morocco orin other places of the world.
You can usually pretty muchfind it anywhere, you know, in
your own backyard, depending onwhere you live in the world.
You know, particularly in theWestern world, such as here in
Canada or wherever you are Likeit's very difficult now to get
those authentic experiences orauthentic things that are not
available elsewhere or notavailable for purchase online.
(07:36):
So you know, when you're goingtraveling somewhere and you're
trying like, wow, this is aunique thing, you're like, well,
there's a place just down thestreet from us that sells the
same thing, right, and ifanything, it's all probably made
from the same place anyhow.
So there were things like thatthat were kind of like do we
really need this?
Is it?
(07:56):
Do we really want to lug itaround?
We're first two weeks in, we'vegot another eight months to go.
Do we really want to carryaround this stuff, teddy?
Because you know such a?
You know that.
So that's from a practicalityperspective.
I think that's where it is andall this stuff is available
everywhere.
So very rarely, I feel like,can you get the experience or
things that are not available,that are available in one
particular place that are notavailable elsewhere.
We made made the decision topurchase one piece of art from
(08:20):
each country that we went to.
So that was the thing that weagreed to do, that we purchased
one thing of art from each placethat would adorn our walls and
provide us that memory of thatplace.
So the kids got little things,you know, but key chains they
love key chains and so you knowyou can hear them coming down
the street from school becausetheir backpacks are kind of
rattling away, you know, withtheir key chains from each
(08:42):
different place around the world.
And they bought little thingsfor their friends, little tokens
and stuff like that.
But nothing massive that we gotand all the pieces of art that
we received were things that youcould wrap up or you could put
easily into the suitcase.
It didn't take up a lot of roomand, again, because it was
clothing for the summer, thegirls my two daughters were able
(09:05):
to put their stuff into onesuitcase, and so we kept the
other suitcase, the fourthsuitcase, for their school books
, their laptop, little thingslike that.
So, yeah, that really, at theend of the day, we've got a
piece of art from each place wewent to.
They have their key chains fromeach place that we went to, so
we don't have a lot ofquote-unquote stuff that we
(09:26):
brought along from the trip, sowe never felt the need to do
that.
If anything, our house I'm inthe basement, but upstairs is
one piece of art that's framedand that's our reminder of our
trip, plus, of course, theplethora of pictures that we
took on the trip, which are inthe book as well.
Tanya Scotece (09:41):
Yeah, wow, wow, okay.
And then the second question,because I had two.
Yeah, this question is um so,aside from like documents like,
aside from like documents likeaside from passport and you know
anything legal, what would yousay is the number one item that
you will not leave home without?
Charles Achampong (09:59):
Oh, I mean, I guess in this day and age, your
cell phone is really what'sthere, I mean that follows you
everywhere.
That's very important, becauseI think what we did is that we
made sure that we had taken apicture of all of our important
documents.
Of course, you save them onyour email or on a on the cloud
and you have access to them aswell.
(10:19):
But I think, yeah, that was theother thing.
The piece that actually came inhandy was our our little in in.
I think it's maybe a provinceor maybe it's a Canadian thing
as well, that everyone gets alittle yellow booklet, when you
travel internationally, of yourimmunizations, international
immunizations.
So that was helpful in some ofthe places that we went to to
prove that we had immunizationsfrom from those places as well.
(10:43):
But you know, so, to be verysimple, you know crafts.
I mean I've given a few things,but I think the piece that I
found that was really helpful onour trip was the fact that we
provided each of our daughterswith a digital camera, one of
these old kind of old schooldigital cameras.
So, rather than having to useour phone to take pictures and
capture their moments, they wereable to, they were able to use
(11:05):
these digital cameras to takepictures on their own.
So they didn't have to like canwe borrow your cell phone to
take a picture of?
There's something cool.
So that was.
It was so to be able to see thetrip through their eyes of
what's important and what's notimportant, things where I
thought I was.
You know I would like that'strivial or you know I'd gloss
over it and then to be able toactually then see um them take
pictures and for them to gothrough those pictures is quite
(11:25):
entertaining.
So I think all those thingsthere, but I think the piece for
me that was really helpful froma family kids perspective was
them having their own digitalcameras, small little portable
digital cameras that they coulduse on the trip wow, oh, you
know it's.
Tanya Scotece (11:36):
It's interesting, charles, is that reminds me of?
And my daughter is going to begetting married.
So um a few years ago, Iremember back in the day, there
was you know how like people, ifthey got married, like in like
a formal setting, they wouldhave, like you know, you hire a
photographer or videographer orboth.
But then it became popular tohave those kind of portable or
(11:57):
cameras on the table, so the sothe guests can take the pictures
right.
So it reminds me, from whatyou're sharing, especially for
your daughters, that it's like,it's almost like these moments
in time that are preserved, andit doesn't matter if it's a trip
or a wedding or whatever.
You get to see it through thelens of somebody else's eye.
Charles Achampong (12:18):
That's a great example.
That's exactly it.
Tanya Scotece (12:20):
Exactly.
Charles Achampong (12:21):
That's great, and you know that the cameras
are even even some of them havethe Polaroids where you can
actually take them, or evenphoto booths, that type of thing
but exactly, that's exactly it.
Shireen Botha (12:30):
I think that's amazing, charles.
That's such a good thing to do.
You know it's their story.
What's important to them,they'll click and it actually
gives such a window into yourchild's mind Exactly, and that's
important to them.
So one last question, and thenwe'll get into something more
lighthearted Charles, do youconsider yourself an
(12:51):
entrepreneur?
Charles Achampong (13:01):
Hmm Cool, um, charles, do you consider
yourself an entrepreneur?
Hmm cool, maybe an accidentalentrepreneur, an accidental
author?
You know, I, um, I do.
Now I do.
Yes, it's such a loaded term orword but I feel like it's
become much more mainstream now.
But yes, I would considermyself an entrepreneur now.
I um this idea of now.
I mean, the biggest hurdle forme now as becoming an
entrepreneur is this idea ofselling myself.
I've always been used to.
You know you sell yourself whenyou go to an interview or you
(13:21):
meet someone or you're selling aproduct or service.
You know you're selling thatproduct or service and not
necessarily yourself.
But the biggest thing as anentrepreneur is that you're
you're setting, you're sellingnot only whatever product or
service that you have, but yourcredibility to sell that product
or service, and so that'ssomething you know.
Being able to build my ownbrand has been a very
interesting journey thus far,through the book and through
(13:42):
speaking opportunities as well,on this idea of pausing or
failure immunity.
So, yes, I do consider myselfan entrepreneur.
Shireen Botha (13:48):
It's been an evolving journey, but I'm making
my way there yeah, you are, youare and you know, a lot of our
listeners are these.
You know, young entrepreneursor even old entrepreneurs.
We really focus on the, theentrepreneurs and business
owners like myself who reallychanged their careers much later
(14:09):
on in life, um and made themassive leap um to become a
business owner, uh, at like late30s, late 40s, uh, and yes more
of me.
There's lots more people similarto me, and so if there are any
(14:30):
people listeners out there thatare in a position where they
would something new, they'd liketo try it on their own, but
(14:54):
they're too scared.
What would be your advice tothem to make that of faith?
Charles Achampong (15:01):
Yeah, you know it's, everyone's got unique
situations or circumstances.
Maybe you're working full time,Maybe it's part time, maybe
you're consulting, but I thinkthe biggest thing for me is that
I you need to make that firststep.
You need to do something.
You know you need to make thatnot necessarily a commitment,
but you need to actually dosomething, make that tiny step
(15:24):
forward to actually doingsomething.
So you know, I use the example.
Yesterday I posted my first.
Again, this whole social mediathing has been such an
interesting experience for me.
Linkedin I've played a muchmore active role on, but
Instagram I've never hadaccounts and an account until
maybe a few months ago, beforethe book started.
And Facebook, I think I wassharing earlier that my wife
(15:45):
largely managed that and I hadno interaction or dealing with
that, and so I had to post.
I decided, you know, let mepost a video.
And I was just so gun shy ofposting a video of me talking
about this idea of my book andpausing, et cetera, et cetera.
And you know I was worriedabout what other people would
say Was I delivering the rightmessage?
(16:05):
All the usual things that yougo through your head when you
start second guessing yourselfright and wanting to stay in
your quote unquote comfort zone.
Right, and I just said you knowwhat?
Let me do something.
Let me put out a post.
I'm going to take a video.
I went through variousiterations, changed a few things
, but it's this idea of just dosomething, make.
If your goal is to you knowwhatever is, become your own
(16:25):
boss, become an entrepreneur, dosomething that at least moves
you in that direction.
You don't need to leave yourday job nine to five and just
quit a whole cold turkey andjust walk in and become an
entrepreneur.
But do something.
I met a gentleman who lovesphotography.
I'm like, okay, well, take acourse, you don't need to go buy
the most expensive camera outthere, but do something that
(16:47):
moves you forward in some small,key, incremental way, because
otherwise we get stuck in ourhead about the would've,
could've, should'ves, and soit's important that you take
that first step and then youagain get up the next time.
Make that next first step.
Document what the experiencewas like.
(17:07):
You know, get a mentor, getcoaching, but please make that
first step.
Do something to be able to moveyou forward in some small,
incremental way, so at least youcan show the progress of what
it is that you're trying to doabsolutely.
Shireen Botha (17:17):
I love that.
It was such a great answer.
Thank you, charles.
So, yes, a little bit morelight-hearted, we're going to
come come to a segment called 20questions.
It's a game I don't know ifyou've seen it, but it's speed
20 questions.
Okay, so you get one minute,you and Tanya.
You get one minute to answer asmany questions as I ask you in
(17:40):
one minute, and whoever answersthe most questions is the winner
.
What do you get?
I'm not sure.
I'll think about that.
Charles Achampong (17:50):
I love that.
Tanya Scotece (17:50):
Okay 20 questions .
I've never played this game, sodo we answer together or you're
just asking Charles?
Shireen Botha (18:00):
I will ask Charles first, and I'll give him
one minute to answer as many ofthe questions as possible, and
then I'm going to ask you nextand ask you questions and see
how many questions we can answeras fast as possible.
Okay, so, charles, let me getthe one minute on the clock.
Charles Achampong (18:21):
Okay, let's do this.
Shireen Botha (18:23):
Are you ready?
Timer One minute.
Let's do this.
Are you ready?
Timer one minute no long-windedanswers.
Charles Achampong (18:31):
This is good and yeah go, charles.
Shireen Botha (18:38):
What is your favorite food?
Charles Achampong (18:41):
favorite food , I would say lasagna great.
Shireen Botha (18:43):
What is your favorite color?
Charles Achampong (18:44):
blue what is your favorite color?
Blue.
Shireen Botha (18:47):
What is your favorite pit?
Charles Achampong (18:51):
Favorite pit, yeah, favorite pit, pet dog.
What do you mean?
Oh pet, oh, okay, sorry, yes,okay, dog, sorry yes.
Shireen Botha (19:01):
What is your favorite song?
Charles Achampong (19:02):
Oh, oh, sorry , you froze there.
What was your question?
What is your favorite song?
Oh, sorry, you froze there.
What was your question?
What is your favorite song?
Oh, favorite song Sunny.
I can't remember the name ofthe singer.
Shireen Botha (19:16):
Yes, what is your favorite celebrity?
Charles Achampong (19:21):
I'd say I'm a big fan of Obama.
Shireen Botha (19:23):
Barack Obama, I'd say Okay, what is your favorite
holiday?
Charles Achampong (19:29):
My favorite holiday would be Thanksgiving.
Shireen Botha (19:31):
Awesome Favorite fruit.
Charles Achampong (19:34):
Strawberries.
Shireen Botha (19:35):
Awesome Favorite season, summer.
Seven, you got seven.
Charles Achampong (19:41):
Seven, oh, my God.
Shireen Botha (19:43):
That's pretty good.
That's pretty good, oh geez.
Charles Achampong (19:45):
All right, that's pretty good, that's
pretty.
Oh geez.
Shireen Botha (19:48):
All right.
Tanya game on All right let'ssee Roll up your sleeves,
because here we go.
Let's put the timer on.
All right.
What is your dream destination?
Indonesia.
Do you like watching goodmorning cartoons as a kid?
No.
What was your favorite subjectin school?
(20:11):
Mortuary?
What is your biggest fear?
Tanya Scotece (20:18):
That's a good one .
Fear of failure.
Shireen Botha (20:22):
Are you a night person or a morning person?
Both.
What are your three favoritesongs?
Tanya Scotece (20:30):
three favorite songs neil diamond, we have
caroline rivers of babylon andwe have made in america by toby
keith wow what do you likewearing often?
Black, always black.
Least favorite food, leastfavorite food is going to be
(20:53):
liverwurst.
Shireen Botha (20:54):
My gosh, do you like your job?
Yes, oh my gosh, that was justTanya by nine.
Charles Achampong (21:02):
Good job, tanya Good job, that was really
good.
Shireen Botha (21:05):
That was very good, that was fantastic.
Good job, that was really good.
That was very good, that wasfantastic.
Tanya Scotece (21:09):
All right, it's funny because you actually like
it's, because you don't havetime to think.
That's got to be the truth thatcomes out of you, you know what
I mean Exactly.
I didn't think liverwurst wasmy worst food, but I guess it is
, you know oh man it's true, I'mlike, oh, favorite food.
Charles Achampong (21:27):
I don't think I've actually really thought.
I'm like I eat everything, so,but favorite I'm like yeah, yeah
, good you're right, you'reright, you're gonna really be
with it, otherwise you could beoverthink it overthink it yeah
yeah, thank you forparticipating.
Shireen Botha (21:41):
Uh, that does unfortunately bring us to the
end of the podcast.
Thank you so much, um, forbeing here, charles.
We really appreciate you beingon the show.
Charles and Tanya, if there'ssomeone out there that's
connected with you and wouldlike to reach out to you, where
can they find you?
Go ahead, charles, sure.
Charles Achampong (22:01):
Sure.
So they can find me through mywebsite of CharlesAchampongcom.
Or they can find me throughLinkedIn by looking at my name,
Charles Achampong, or onInstagram.
It's at Around the World inFamily Days.
So those are the three placesthat you can find me, or via
email info atCharlesAchampongcom.
Shireen Botha (22:26):
Love it.
Tanya Scotece (22:27):
Tanya.
Okay, I live on LinkedIn.
I don't have a TV, haven't hadone for about 30 years, so
LinkedIn is my hub.
You can find me at TanyaT-A-N-Y-A, s-c-o-t-e-c-e.
If anybody has any interest ina mortuary career, I am the
director of the program at MiamiDade College.
I do expert witness servingfuneral home and cemetery
(22:47):
wrongdoings, and I'm alsoinvolved in senior placement,
matching people with communitieswho can no longer live alone.
So that is my wheelhouse and bemore than happy to connect with
any listener in any arena.
And how about you, shireen?
Where can we find you?
Shireen Botha (23:02):
Thank you, tanya.
Yeah, you can find Shireen'sbookkeeping services on LinkedIn
as well as their website, butyou can also find me, Shireen
Bueta, on all the socials,whether it be Instagram, tiktok
or Facebook.
That's Shireen Botha.
You can follow me in myadventures.
But for the podcast listeners,you are so welcome to always
(23:26):
come back here.
This is such a safe space foreverybody.
Uh, please know thatfriendsfromwildplaces.
buzzsprout.
com is the websitefriendsfromwildplaces.
buzzsprout.
com.
Uh, please go.
If you want to subscribe it'sonly five dollars a month for
extra content and if you'relistening and want to listen to
(23:48):
some more great content fromother entrepreneurs and business
owners from all over the world.
The previous series, we spoketo Estrella, who is the
co-founder of Last Farewells, soshe was amazing.
If you want to go listen tosome more content, go and click
(24:09):
on to those, but other than that, you can for sure find us on
YouTube.
Please come and subscribe againthere.
Thanks so much for listening,guys, and remember you got this
and stay wild.
Bye, guys.
Voiceover (24:25):
You've been listening to Friends from wild places
with Shireen Botha.
Be sure to subscribe to thepodcast from the links to catch
every episode and unleash yourpassion.
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