June 19, 2023 • 13 mins
So we got out of town overnight this week. It was a great reminder that simplicity isn't always a bad and complex isn't always good. Camping and kayaking with family and , as always, trying something new.
a Special shout out to WiseOwl Outfitters for their outstanding hammocks. Possibly the most comfortable I've been when taking a break in the woods.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Unknown (00:04):
Hello there friends, both old and new. Welcome to the
strive seek fine podcast, I'myour host chance went home to
bite sized lifestyle advice froma fellow traveler on the road to
a better life. Brought to you bysomeone who is a longtime
educator, writer, parent, and anoutdoor enthusiast, who may just
(00:31):
may like a good DRAM because ourfuture is set not just through
our choices, but by ourwillingness to explore and find
a better way. Greetings from theLost Valley reservoir. This was
(00:52):
part of my scouting trip lastweek. Specifically, it was part
of the Huckleberry excursion. Ineeded to get out this weekend,
my wife needs to get out. And weneeded to come north because one
of my daughters is working forher aunt for a week. So we just
(01:14):
loaded all the camping stuff up,dropped off one daughter brought
the others up to this littlereservoir and got lucky. Found a
open spot right next to thereservoir. Dropped kayaks in the
water, a little cut hiking. It'sbeen a red letter day, it's
(01:36):
gonna be a short one, becausetomorrow morning early, got
loaded all up and get back sothat we can take care of some
other things. But it's stillthat moment of release. But it
brought two things to mindtonight. Well, three, really.
(01:59):
First one is I've kind of beenhinting on the Facebook group
that I had a episode coming uprevolving around odd things in
nature that's accurate. It's 95%written. I just don't like how
(02:20):
it's come together. So I'm nottabling it, but I'm still
working on it. And then I hintedabout The Winter's Tale, which
is also coming, but is only justa little bit written. So those
are coming. In part because theyare not quite on my mind the way
(02:41):
this is. It's been a busy yearfor everyone. And when we you go
off on adventures, as I like toand you'd like to and hundreds
and 1000s Maybe different ways.
You have to keep in mind asyou're doing those things,
(03:05):
you're doing mental calculus.
Well, that's what some peopleare doing. I won't call what I
do calculus, but you're doing abenefit analysis. And as you
shift in responsibilities, thosebenefit analysis changes. For
(03:26):
instance, when I was in my 20s,somebody to invite me to go do
something fun. I didn't worrytoo much about what else was
going on. I didn't worry abouthow much it was going to hurt
the next morning. I didn't work.
And instead, I went had fun. letthe chips fall where they may.
(03:51):
And off we went bad kids to thatequation. At getting older that
equation and it shifts suddenlya one day camping trip doesn't
necessarily seem to make thebenefit as high as the cost
(04:15):
because of the work that ittakes to get there. I'm going to
be honest, I need to shift mythinking. Because life's not
going to slow down. I just havegot to learn to accept it. And
finding these little one day andtwo day excursions are going to
(04:39):
become the new five day camptrip. And I'm going to have to
learn to accept it. There's waysto make it easier. And that's
the other thing on my mind. Howdo you say Simplify to make
these things possible. I don'thave a big expensive camping
(05:06):
rig. I have lots of littlethings that I have built up over
the last 20 years. I still havethe hatchet that I bought more
than 20 years ago now, but Istill have the hatch that I
bought 20 years ago, when I wasdating my now wife for a camping
trip we were going on, becauseI'd lost my last one that I
(05:29):
bought as a teenager. We havecamp boxes that had been packed,
unused for a year, maybe tomultiple coolers, they get more
use for house parties than theydo going up into the woods. Got
a truck that can take usanywhere. But we are tent
(05:51):
campers. We are we don't have atrailer, we throw the tent out
today we threw the through thekayaks on top of the bed and got
it all going that way. Thatmeant leaving some things alone.
(06:12):
Well, excuse me, leaving somethings at home. Specifically, I
have a great campstove that Ibought about 11 years ago for a
excursion I went on. Well, let'sbe honest, I always Camp Chef
(06:35):
for a friend of mines footballteam as they were, they went on
a football camp up in themountains and I tagged along and
cooked for the coaches and thevoice a moment of service so to
speak. I left that at homedidn't decided that we didn't
(06:56):
have space for it. And if you'dseen how the kayaks were sitting
on the back of my truck, I mayput a picture of it. You'd agree
with me. For safety sake leaveit at home. So instead of
cooking nice meals on thislittle excursion
(07:17):
we roasted hot dogs openfire.
Kids loved it. To remindreminder there is simple isn't
bad. Complexity isn't good. It'sthe experience that matters.
(07:37):
My oldest daughter couldn't waitto cook on cook on the hot dog
stick because he hadn't done itin years. And the six year old
couldn't wait to do it becausethe only time she used the old
hot stock stick was makings'mores at home
I'm gonna say it again.
Simplicity isn't bad. Andcomplexity isn't good. It's what
(07:59):
you make of it. So as I sit herebetween rainstorms because
that's what happens when I gocamping. We get rained out at
least part of it. Everybody,here's got a relaxed look on
their face. We're building upthe fire again and get ready to
(08:21):
pull out the hot dog stick to dosome s'mores.
Looking at my kids faces,they're smiling. We're missing
daughter number two. It's notright to be doing this without
her. But we're all having fun.
And we're all kind of relaxed.
(08:49):
So he doesn't take five days todo it. It just takes the right
space to take care of things.
And I'll be honest, from apersonal end of things, doesn't
hurt that cell phone service isspotty and I left my work phone
alone at home. Soit makes it even better. I'm
(09:13):
able to relax so take it forwhat it's worth friends. pull
things back. Find the littlethings that bring you joy. And
don't let busy get in the way ofthem even if it's a two hour
movie, even if it's an hour atthe lake it doesn't matter if it
(09:43):
brings you back around to theright headspace. Go find
yourself some joy friends Thisis chants with strife seek find
from the Lost Valley reservoir,keep seeking my friends. Two
(10:08):
things I didn't mention becauseof when I was recording. One on
this trip. One of the new thingsI tried was at Christmas I was
given a hammock and hadn't had achance to use it yet. The
question I have after havingdone it is why I didn't do it
sooner. The wise owl Outfittershammock that I was given by some
(10:33):
close friends is morecomfortable than an air mattress
more comfortable than an easychair. Why didn't I do this a
long time ago. I'm getting readyto dig holes in my backyard so I
can hang it up here at home. Sowhy is owl Outfitters? Good
shout out for a wonderfulproduct to you. And if you're
looking for a small podcaster tosponsor, I'm offering myself up
(10:58):
because I'm declaring yourhammock, my official hammock of
summer. Great place to read.
Great place to sleep great for agood many things including
having a cold and frostybeverage in the mid afternoon
after kayaking. As I saidearlier, I recorded that between
(11:22):
rainstorms. And I didn't realizehow true that was. The Whitmore
family seems to be a good curefor drought. Because within an
hour of recording the episode,we had one more downpour and
then it took a break and we hadwe kicked up the fire did
s'mores hung out. And as I builtthe fire back up from that the
(11:44):
real storm hit. And by morningwe had Oh, three inches of water
in the bucket outside my tent,not saying how much actually
fell that firewood was soaked.
waterproofing on the tent wassuspect because it was raining
just a little bit on top of allof us in the tent. And here's
(12:08):
the secret didn't matter had agreat time. It's part of the
experience, and it's a goodstory. Well, friends, that's it
for this week's edition ofstrive seek find. Thank you
again for listening. If you'dlike to join the discussion, or
have ideas for future episodes,hop on over to the strife seek
(12:31):
find podcast group on Facebook.
Alternatively, if Facebook's notyour thing, you can find me on
Instagram at strife seek findpodcast on Twitter. As at chance
Whitmore five. We're even onemail. The links for all those
(12:51):
are in the show notes below.
Until next time, my friends,keep seeking your own brilliant
future
Hello there friends, both old and new. Welcome to the
strive seek fine podcast, I'myour host chance went home to
bite sized lifestyle advice froma fellow traveler on the road to
a better life. Brought to you bysomeone who is a longtime
educator, writer, parent, and anoutdoor enthusiast, who may just
(00:31):
may like a good DRAM because ourfuture is set not just through
our choices, but by ourwillingness to explore and find
a better way. Greetings from theLost Valley reservoir. This was
(00:52):
part of my scouting trip lastweek. Specifically, it was part
of the Huckleberry excursion. Ineeded to get out this weekend,
my wife needs to get out. And weneeded to come north because one
of my daughters is working forher aunt for a week. So we just
(01:14):
loaded all the camping stuff up,dropped off one daughter brought
the others up to this littlereservoir and got lucky. Found a
open spot right next to thereservoir. Dropped kayaks in the
water, a little cut hiking. It'sbeen a red letter day, it's
(01:36):
gonna be a short one, becausetomorrow morning early, got
loaded all up and get back sothat we can take care of some
other things. But it's stillthat moment of release. But it
brought two things to mindtonight. Well, three, really.
(01:59):
First one is I've kind of beenhinting on the Facebook group
that I had a episode coming uprevolving around odd things in
nature that's accurate. It's 95%written. I just don't like how
(02:20):
it's come together. So I'm nottabling it, but I'm still
working on it. And then I hintedabout The Winter's Tale, which
is also coming, but is only justa little bit written. So those
are coming. In part because theyare not quite on my mind the way
(02:41):
this is. It's been a busy yearfor everyone. And when we you go
off on adventures, as I like toand you'd like to and hundreds
and 1000s Maybe different ways.
You have to keep in mind asyou're doing those things,
(03:05):
you're doing mental calculus.
Well, that's what some peopleare doing. I won't call what I
do calculus, but you're doing abenefit analysis. And as you
shift in responsibilities, thosebenefit analysis changes. For
(03:26):
instance, when I was in my 20s,somebody to invite me to go do
something fun. I didn't worrytoo much about what else was
going on. I didn't worry abouthow much it was going to hurt
the next morning. I didn't work.
And instead, I went had fun. letthe chips fall where they may.
(03:51):
And off we went bad kids to thatequation. At getting older that
equation and it shifts suddenlya one day camping trip doesn't
necessarily seem to make thebenefit as high as the cost
(04:15):
because of the work that ittakes to get there. I'm going to
be honest, I need to shift mythinking. Because life's not
going to slow down. I just havegot to learn to accept it. And
finding these little one day andtwo day excursions are going to
(04:39):
become the new five day camptrip. And I'm going to have to
learn to accept it. There's waysto make it easier. And that's
the other thing on my mind. Howdo you say Simplify to make
these things possible. I don'thave a big expensive camping
(05:06):
rig. I have lots of littlethings that I have built up over
the last 20 years. I still havethe hatchet that I bought more
than 20 years ago now, but Istill have the hatch that I
bought 20 years ago, when I wasdating my now wife for a camping
trip we were going on, becauseI'd lost my last one that I
(05:29):
bought as a teenager. We havecamp boxes that had been packed,
unused for a year, maybe tomultiple coolers, they get more
use for house parties than theydo going up into the woods. Got
a truck that can take usanywhere. But we are tent
(05:51):
campers. We are we don't have atrailer, we throw the tent out
today we threw the through thekayaks on top of the bed and got
it all going that way. Thatmeant leaving some things alone.
(06:12):
Well, excuse me, leaving somethings at home. Specifically, I
have a great campstove that Ibought about 11 years ago for a
excursion I went on. Well, let'sbe honest, I always Camp Chef
(06:35):
for a friend of mines footballteam as they were, they went on
a football camp up in themountains and I tagged along and
cooked for the coaches and thevoice a moment of service so to
speak. I left that at homedidn't decided that we didn't
(06:56):
have space for it. And if you'dseen how the kayaks were sitting
on the back of my truck, I mayput a picture of it. You'd agree
with me. For safety sake leaveit at home. So instead of
cooking nice meals on thislittle excursion
(07:17):
we roasted hot dogs openfire.
Kids loved it. To remindreminder there is simple isn't
bad. Complexity isn't good. It'sthe experience that matters.
(07:37):
My oldest daughter couldn't waitto cook on cook on the hot dog
stick because he hadn't done itin years. And the six year old
couldn't wait to do it becausethe only time she used the old
hot stock stick was makings'mores at home
I'm gonna say it again.
Simplicity isn't bad. Andcomplexity isn't good. It's what
(07:59):
you make of it. So as I sit herebetween rainstorms because
that's what happens when I gocamping. We get rained out at
least part of it. Everybody,here's got a relaxed look on
their face. We're building upthe fire again and get ready to
(08:21):
pull out the hot dog stick to dosome s'mores.
Looking at my kids faces,they're smiling. We're missing
daughter number two. It's notright to be doing this without
her. But we're all having fun.
And we're all kind of relaxed.
(08:49):
So he doesn't take five days todo it. It just takes the right
space to take care of things.
And I'll be honest, from apersonal end of things, doesn't
hurt that cell phone service isspotty and I left my work phone
alone at home. Soit makes it even better. I'm
(09:13):
able to relax so take it forwhat it's worth friends. pull
things back. Find the littlethings that bring you joy. And
don't let busy get in the way ofthem even if it's a two hour
movie, even if it's an hour atthe lake it doesn't matter if it
(09:43):
brings you back around to theright headspace. Go find
yourself some joy friends Thisis chants with strife seek find
from the Lost Valley reservoir,keep seeking my friends. Two
(10:08):
things I didn't mention becauseof when I was recording. One on
this trip. One of the new thingsI tried was at Christmas I was
given a hammock and hadn't had achance to use it yet. The
question I have after havingdone it is why I didn't do it
sooner. The wise owl Outfittershammock that I was given by some
(10:33):
close friends is morecomfortable than an air mattress
more comfortable than an easychair. Why didn't I do this a
long time ago. I'm getting readyto dig holes in my backyard so I
can hang it up here at home. Sowhy is owl Outfitters? Good
shout out for a wonderfulproduct to you. And if you're
looking for a small podcaster tosponsor, I'm offering myself up
(10:58):
because I'm declaring yourhammock, my official hammock of
summer. Great place to read.
Great place to sleep great for agood many things including
having a cold and frostybeverage in the mid afternoon
after kayaking. As I saidearlier, I recorded that between
(11:22):
rainstorms. And I didn't realizehow true that was. The Whitmore
family seems to be a good curefor drought. Because within an
hour of recording the episode,we had one more downpour and
then it took a break and we hadwe kicked up the fire did
s'mores hung out. And as I builtthe fire back up from that the
(11:44):
real storm hit. And by morningwe had Oh, three inches of water
in the bucket outside my tent,not saying how much actually
fell that firewood was soaked.
waterproofing on the tent wassuspect because it was raining
just a little bit on top of allof us in the tent. And here's
(12:08):
the secret didn't matter had agreat time. It's part of the
experience, and it's a goodstory. Well, friends, that's it
for this week's edition ofstrive seek find. Thank you
again for listening. If you'dlike to join the discussion, or
have ideas for future episodes,hop on over to the strife seek
(12:31):
find podcast group on Facebook.
Alternatively, if Facebook's notyour thing, you can find me on
Instagram at strife seek findpodcast on Twitter. As at chance
Whitmore five. We're even onemail. The links for all those
(12:51):
are in the show notes below.
Until next time, my friends,keep seeking your own brilliant
future
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