November 20, 2019 • 10 mins
In this crossover episode, we appear on the show Committed, hosted by Jo Piazza.
Last year Brad and Matt Kirouac gave up their very comfortable and secure lives in a beautiful loft in a gorgeous neighborhood in Chicago to live as nomads in an RV with the goal of visiting all of 61 the country’s national parks. Their new lifestyle challenges every single part of their relationships and they’ve been forced to dig deep to see if they really want to be in this together.
Listen to the full episode and subscribe to Committed at committedpodcast.com
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, This is Matt and this is Brad from park Landia.
We were lucky enough to be featured on the show
Committed by Joe Piazza. Here's a snippet of that show.
Now Committed is a production of I Heart Radio. The
(00:29):
plan was to be nomads. I mean, I wish it
was more complicated or there was actually more strategic planning,
but we wanted to just be able to explore this
beautiful country in the national parks, especially trial by Error,
and that Trial by Error was really rough. In the
beginning last year, Brad and Matt Cairoat gave up there
(00:55):
very comfortable and very secure lives to live as nomads
and in RV no bigger than most people's bathrooms. It's
been tough, like it's been really really hard, and we've
had to dig deep and see if we really want
to be together. There's no doubt about it that living
(01:16):
this lifestyle will challenge you in every single direction of
your life. And it's like kind of horrifying but also
just like the most exciting, thrilling thing ever. I definitely
feel that we've had in the RV like our highest
highs for sure, best memories, and also like our lowest lows,
so it's like all the extremes crammed to Like I'm
(01:43):
Joe Piazza, this is committed. Matt and Brad have been
(02:17):
together for four years now and they've spent the better
part of the last year traversing the country in their RV.
But before all that, they met on Tinder, and this
was I think both of our first times actually like
using Tinder felt like an actual possibility as opposed to
like all these other Tinder matches or non matches are
(02:39):
just like man. Probably went back and forth and talked
for a couple of weeks, I would say before meeting, Yeah,
because I was just busy wrapping up my activism for
marriage equality in Illinois, which I said I would never
get married, and well here we are today. But yeah, no,
I think it's just one of those crazy instances where
(03:00):
we both weren't expecting anything out of Tinder and we
both just downloaded the app. You know, we really only
talked to each other. Brad came to meet me at
my loft I was currently renting in Chicago. He was
living in the suburbs at the time, so probably like
forty minutes away, and it's kind of miraculous that we
(03:20):
even matched because I don't know, like what my geographic
range was on dinner, but I don't think it a
lot in for a suburb um. But we both expected Yeah,
Brad must have been in the city or something of
the time where he popped up on my app and
I was like, so, I don't know, it was just
(03:42):
it was a different feeling. They went to this cute
little dessert shop in an area of Chicago known as
the Ukrainian Village, Black Dog Gelato. They took a walk.
Matt gave Brad an adorable nickname. Matt said, you know what,
I'm going to call you, Basil because the first ice
cream eight together was Basil, and so we kind of
(04:03):
bonded over food really quick, and it also got serious
really quick. I basically moved in right away. It felt right.
It absolutely did. Although looking back in retrospect, I'm like, wow,
that's a lot faster than the average. But for us,
it really works. We got engaged, like I think literally
three months after we Matt, and the funny part about
(04:26):
that is one of my our friends, she said, you
guys are just a bunch of lesbians. You got you
moved in, you have two dogs. For lesbians, it's cats,
but it was you know, those stereotypes. She was just
making that funny joke and kind of resonated. We got married.
I think it was nine months after the engagement, one
(04:46):
year to the day. Yeah, right, pretty much exactly one
year to the day, and it was Labor Day weekend.
We got married at Prad's cousins house in the suburbs
of Chicago, in this town called Warrenville. The whole wedding
was like super personal and how all these little intimate touches,
Like not only was the location special for us, but
(05:07):
all the food was special. The people who made our cake,
Dave and Megan Miller, owned this placed in Chicagohood Baker Miller.
They made us a special kind of tiared bunt cake
which was so delicious and it just wondering I think
it had been was a banana banana plum banana plum, amazing.
And then we also had of course black targ gelato
(05:29):
location of our first date. They were there with this
little vintage looking ice cream cart, thaying that they would
push around the yard. We had sparklers instead of flowers
in the middle of the table because everything was sparklers
because I was all outside themed and it was just
it was a really magical, fun, easy going night. It was.
It was after their wedding. Matt was working as a
(05:53):
freelance food and travel writer. Brad did marketing and events
for Maple Syrup Farm. They bought their adorable loft in
the Ukrainian Village neighborhood in Chicago together, and they were
completely in love with it and each other. The neighborhood
was homey, filled with wonderful people, coffee shops, and restaurants.
(06:14):
It was Brad who made their apartment a real home.
Before they got together, Matt was eating off paper plates
with plastic forks. One of the first things Brad did
was get them some proper plates, some silverware. They nested
for a couple of years, and they loved their nest.
The problem is both of them were on the road
all the time. They hardly saw each other. We saw
(06:39):
each other probably for two days every three weeks for
their entire it was a lot. Yeah, because I was
traveling a lot. I would have a lot of work trips,
and then Brad would also be working and traveling for
the on the Maple Trail. Yeah, pretty much. So it
just got to the point where, like, we needed to
(07:00):
make some adjustments, serious adjustments, so that we can see
each other in a more regular basis. Everything started to change.
When Matt visited the bad Lands in South Dakota for
a story, he felt obsessed with national parks. I became
obsessed with them kind of overnight. I just became infatuated,
(07:21):
and it triggered this like curiosity where I wanted to
learn more about national parks, visit more national parks. Not
only was I personally obsessed with them and wanting to
visit them, but as a travel writer, I was able
to write more about national parks. And then since I've
kind of pivoted more towards that, focusing on writing about
(07:42):
nature and national parks. But writing about national parks would
mean even more time apart. For the new couple, the answer,
the only answer, as they saw it, was for them
to travel together. And to travel together that meant they
had to become nomads. I just said, Matt, let's look
into get an r V, and he started thinking about it.
(08:04):
We started talking about it. Since I work remotely and
I can be anywhere, there was really no reason why
the r V wouldn't work, and the RV thing, it's
like kind of this Americana dream that a lot of
people have, including me. Like I had been on an
r V trip with my family when I was eleven
or twelve or something and remember it. Probably it was
(08:24):
one of my favorite vacations ever. About twenty days later,
I'm looking at r vs. Thirty days later, I'm buying
an RV and Matt's like freaking out because I'm like, oh, yeah,
we need to each put down three grand because we
keep our finances separate. Everything is so that way. It's
very equal within our relationship and Matt's money's Matt's money
and my money is mine, but we sharing the journey together.
(08:47):
During that time, He's like like three grand, what because
you told me it was gonna be zero down. I'm
like yeah, but then this financing and blah blah blah
blah blah, and it was just one of those fun
parts where the dynamics kind of shifted. They had hoped
they can airbnb their loft, but that was against the
h o A rules, so they ended up having to
sell it fast. That was in Chicago for two weeks,
(09:12):
completely flipped the house. It was a crazy romant of
a time to get that on the market so quick,
but you know, we did it. We did it, and
unfortunately when we put on the market it was November,
so then you have Thanksgiving, you have Christmas, then Chicago
was going through one of the worst winters ever. Then
you have the government shutdown. It took us six months
to sell it in a market that takes thirty days,
(09:34):
and so that was really difficult and very strenuous, not
only on financial but are in a personal relationship because
of how we handle finances. So there was times where
I actually had to borrow money from Matt because it
just drained me. It created these little moments of panic, like,
oh my gosh, did we make a huge mistake because
(09:54):
we were that was like that loft was like our
dream home and like the perfect neighborhood with the perfect
neighbor It is surrounded by all our favorite restaurants and
coffee shops and friends living close by. So that was
stressful for sure. We end up getting it figured out.
There was a team that all worked out time for
a quick break. When we get back, Brada and Matt
(10:14):
hit the road. So if you like that and want
to hear the full episode check out committed well link
to it in our show notes too. As always, thank
you for listening.
Hi, This is Matt and this is Brad from park Landia.
We were lucky enough to be featured on the show
Committed by Joe Piazza. Here's a snippet of that show.
Now Committed is a production of I Heart Radio. The
(00:29):
plan was to be nomads. I mean, I wish it
was more complicated or there was actually more strategic planning,
but we wanted to just be able to explore this
beautiful country in the national parks, especially trial by Error,
and that Trial by Error was really rough. In the
beginning last year, Brad and Matt Cairoat gave up there
(00:55):
very comfortable and very secure lives to live as nomads
and in RV no bigger than most people's bathrooms. It's
been tough, like it's been really really hard, and we've
had to dig deep and see if we really want
to be together. There's no doubt about it that living
(01:16):
this lifestyle will challenge you in every single direction of
your life. And it's like kind of horrifying but also
just like the most exciting, thrilling thing ever. I definitely
feel that we've had in the RV like our highest
highs for sure, best memories, and also like our lowest lows,
so it's like all the extremes crammed to Like I'm
(01:43):
Joe Piazza, this is committed. Matt and Brad have been
(02:17):
together for four years now and they've spent the better
part of the last year traversing the country in their RV.
But before all that, they met on Tinder, and this
was I think both of our first times actually like
using Tinder felt like an actual possibility as opposed to
like all these other Tinder matches or non matches are
(02:39):
just like man. Probably went back and forth and talked
for a couple of weeks, I would say before meeting, Yeah,
because I was just busy wrapping up my activism for
marriage equality in Illinois, which I said I would never
get married, and well here we are today. But yeah, no,
I think it's just one of those crazy instances where
(03:00):
we both weren't expecting anything out of Tinder and we
both just downloaded the app. You know, we really only
talked to each other. Brad came to meet me at
my loft I was currently renting in Chicago. He was
living in the suburbs at the time, so probably like
forty minutes away, and it's kind of miraculous that we
(03:20):
even matched because I don't know, like what my geographic
range was on dinner, but I don't think it a
lot in for a suburb um. But we both expected Yeah,
Brad must have been in the city or something of
the time where he popped up on my app and
I was like, so, I don't know, it was just
(03:42):
it was a different feeling. They went to this cute
little dessert shop in an area of Chicago known as
the Ukrainian Village, Black Dog Gelato. They took a walk.
Matt gave Brad an adorable nickname. Matt said, you know what,
I'm going to call you, Basil because the first ice
cream eight together was Basil, and so we kind of
(04:03):
bonded over food really quick, and it also got serious
really quick. I basically moved in right away. It felt right.
It absolutely did. Although looking back in retrospect, I'm like, wow,
that's a lot faster than the average. But for us,
it really works. We got engaged, like I think literally
three months after we Matt, and the funny part about
(04:26):
that is one of my our friends, she said, you
guys are just a bunch of lesbians. You got you
moved in, you have two dogs. For lesbians, it's cats,
but it was you know, those stereotypes. She was just
making that funny joke and kind of resonated. We got married.
I think it was nine months after the engagement, one
(04:46):
year to the day. Yeah, right, pretty much exactly one
year to the day, and it was Labor Day weekend.
We got married at Prad's cousins house in the suburbs
of Chicago, in this town called Warrenville. The whole wedding
was like super personal and how all these little intimate touches,
Like not only was the location special for us, but
(05:07):
all the food was special. The people who made our cake,
Dave and Megan Miller, owned this placed in Chicagohood Baker Miller.
They made us a special kind of tiared bunt cake
which was so delicious and it just wondering I think
it had been was a banana banana plum banana plum, amazing.
And then we also had of course black targ gelato
(05:29):
location of our first date. They were there with this
little vintage looking ice cream cart, thaying that they would
push around the yard. We had sparklers instead of flowers
in the middle of the table because everything was sparklers
because I was all outside themed and it was just
it was a really magical, fun, easy going night. It was.
It was after their wedding. Matt was working as a
(05:53):
freelance food and travel writer. Brad did marketing and events
for Maple Syrup Farm. They bought their adorable loft in
the Ukrainian Village neighborhood in Chicago together, and they were
completely in love with it and each other. The neighborhood
was homey, filled with wonderful people, coffee shops, and restaurants.
(06:14):
It was Brad who made their apartment a real home.
Before they got together, Matt was eating off paper plates
with plastic forks. One of the first things Brad did
was get them some proper plates, some silverware. They nested
for a couple of years, and they loved their nest.
The problem is both of them were on the road
all the time. They hardly saw each other. We saw
(06:39):
each other probably for two days every three weeks for
their entire it was a lot. Yeah, because I was
traveling a lot. I would have a lot of work trips,
and then Brad would also be working and traveling for
the on the Maple Trail. Yeah, pretty much. So it
just got to the point where, like, we needed to
(07:00):
make some adjustments, serious adjustments, so that we can see
each other in a more regular basis. Everything started to change.
When Matt visited the bad Lands in South Dakota for
a story, he felt obsessed with national parks. I became
obsessed with them kind of overnight. I just became infatuated,
(07:21):
and it triggered this like curiosity where I wanted to
learn more about national parks, visit more national parks. Not
only was I personally obsessed with them and wanting to
visit them, but as a travel writer, I was able
to write more about national parks. And then since I've
kind of pivoted more towards that, focusing on writing about
(07:42):
nature and national parks. But writing about national parks would
mean even more time apart. For the new couple, the answer,
the only answer, as they saw it, was for them
to travel together. And to travel together that meant they
had to become nomads. I just said, Matt, let's look
into get an r V, and he started thinking about it.
(08:04):
We started talking about it. Since I work remotely and
I can be anywhere, there was really no reason why
the r V wouldn't work, and the RV thing, it's
like kind of this Americana dream that a lot of
people have, including me. Like I had been on an
r V trip with my family when I was eleven
or twelve or something and remember it. Probably it was
(08:24):
one of my favorite vacations ever. About twenty days later,
I'm looking at r vs. Thirty days later, I'm buying
an RV and Matt's like freaking out because I'm like, oh, yeah,
we need to each put down three grand because we
keep our finances separate. Everything is so that way. It's
very equal within our relationship and Matt's money's Matt's money
and my money is mine, but we sharing the journey together.
(08:47):
During that time, He's like like three grand, what because
you told me it was gonna be zero down. I'm
like yeah, but then this financing and blah blah blah
blah blah, and it was just one of those fun
parts where the dynamics kind of shifted. They had hoped
they can airbnb their loft, but that was against the
h o A rules, so they ended up having to
sell it fast. That was in Chicago for two weeks,
(09:12):
completely flipped the house. It was a crazy romant of
a time to get that on the market so quick,
but you know, we did it. We did it, and
unfortunately when we put on the market it was November,
so then you have Thanksgiving, you have Christmas, then Chicago
was going through one of the worst winters ever. Then
you have the government shutdown. It took us six months
to sell it in a market that takes thirty days,
(09:34):
and so that was really difficult and very strenuous, not
only on financial but are in a personal relationship because
of how we handle finances. So there was times where
I actually had to borrow money from Matt because it
just drained me. It created these little moments of panic, like,
oh my gosh, did we make a huge mistake because
(09:54):
we were that was like that loft was like our
dream home and like the perfect neighborhood with the perfect
neighbor It is surrounded by all our favorite restaurants and
coffee shops and friends living close by. So that was
stressful for sure. We end up getting it figured out.
There was a team that all worked out time for
a quick break. When we get back, Brada and Matt
(10:14):
hit the road. So if you like that and want
to hear the full episode check out committed well link
to it in our show notes too. As always, thank
you for listening.
Parklandia News
Hosts And Creators
Brad Kirouac
Matt Kirouac
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