October 16, 2024 • 24 mins
In episode 100, Camille is going to share about her 6-week journey to North Carolina, to help out with the Hurricane Helene disaster recovery efforts.
Join Camille as she explains how and why she has decided to undertake this journey at this point in time. She is going to give you some really interesting insight into a past experience that influenced this decision and what the expects to be doing and experiencing during this 6-week venture.
So, kick back, grab some coffee, or whatever, and enjoy the return of the Remote Work Retirement Show podcast.
Here is Camille's direct link for All Hands and All Hearts, the organization she will be working with, and she talks about in this episode. All donations will go directly to them. Please feel free to share.
https://give.allhandsandhearts.org/camille
Click here to read the show notes for this episode:
https://www.camilleattell.com/blog/100
You can also take her FREE training at:
www.camilleattell.com/remote-training
If you want to learn more about how to leverage your digital products or service visit:
www.camilleattell.com/remoteworkschool
Connect with Camille on Instagram: @camille.attell
Connect with Camille on Linkedin: Camille Attell, MA
Read more about the RV and Remote Work Lifestyle at https://www.morethanawheelin.com/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
In episode 100, I'm going toshare about my six week journey
(00:04):
to North Carolina, to help outwith the hurricane Helene
disaster recovery efforts....
you're listening to the remotework retirement show.
I'm your host, Camille Attell.
And this is the only show thathelps semi retirees figure out
the remote work options.
I believe the remote work is thenew retirement plan and that
(00:24):
many retirees have both theability and desire to work, how
they want so they can live howthey want.
Let's dig into today'sepisode....
Hello again, friend.
It has been a minute since Ihave recorded a podcast.
I believe the last time Irecorded something was in may of
(00:45):
2024.
And before I get into today'stopic.
Which is not exactly aboutremote work, but as always, I
will link the topic to remotework.
I want to tell you what I thinkhappened in terms of why I
haven't recorded an episode in awhile.
Now, if you're new to the show,none of this matters, but I
don't know.
Maybe you'll find itinteresting.
(01:06):
And if you're excited thatyou're returning to the show,
because I'm finally back, I wantto tell you why it took me so
long.
So back in, I don't know, maybeMarch, April of 20, 24, if you
were following along, I was onthe road.
And as you probably know, I usedto be a full-time RVR for many,
many years.
(01:27):
I had built a business from myRV and hadn't been on the road
for a while.
So my husband Bryce and I gotback on the road in 2024 for
about five weeks, we went to seethe solar eclipse in Texas.
Along with hitting some other,uh, hotspots on our travels.
And I was recording a, um, likea travel series basically, which
(01:49):
seemed to be pretty popular.
And then I was kind of depletedafter that.
I got home and I needed to getback into the groove of work.
And a funny thing happened.
We have, um, Ray Luxor on ourteam.
She is our customer experienceambassador for remote work
school.
And we were talking one day andshe said, you know, you have
(02:09):
episode 100 coming up on thepodcast and you should do
something special.
And I was thinking the samething because we think alike and
I was like, I know I reallyshould do something special.
And I kept trying to figure outwhat the special was going to
be.
And I just, I couldn't seem tocome up with anything.
And I think what happened is theold perfectionist tendencies
(02:30):
that I have started to creep in.
Because there was somethingabout this 100 episode that
really got into my head and Iwas like, I got to make it
special and cool.
And I got to do something withballoons and champagne.
Like in my head, this wassupposed to be some like amazing
episode and I just, nothing.
(02:51):
I was worthy.
No topic I could come up withwas, was worthy.
So then I was like, well, letme, let me just press pause on
this.
And until I come up withsomething and nothing came to me
and then months went by andother things happened in the
business, both good.
And you know, I'm not going tosay bad, but you know,
challenges in the business.
And I just got further andfurther away from recording an
(03:13):
episode.
And the reason why I want toshare that with you is I think a
lot of people can relate tohaving this big looming thing
way over you.
In fact, I know people canrelate to this because they work
with people like this all thetime in remote work school,
where someone might be workingon, for example, a website and
(03:34):
they're not ready to launchtheir business until their
website is perfect or they're.
Working on the perfect servicesor they, you know, want to get
that the perfect set of emailswritten.
It's always like.
Trying to, to strive for thislevel of.
Of I'll call it perfection, butmore specifically.
(03:55):
A level where no one can judgeyou because you've done
everything right.
I mean, let's really just breakdown the word perfectionism,
because that's what it's about.
People are perfectionistsbecause they don't want to get
judged.
They don't want to get calledout.
They don't want someone to finda mistake or an error, or they
don't want to be embarrassed orashamed of the work that they're
putting out.
(04:16):
And while I'm a recoveringperfectionist, I will say the
number 100.
Really did something to mepsychologically, and it stopped
me in my tracks.
Um, So despite my best effortsto get back to the podcast.
I let that sink my ship.
And I just want to give youpermission if you're listening
today to this episode and yourelate to this, be getting
(04:39):
stuck, being hung up on gettingthe thing you're working on.
Absolutely perfect.
Because you know, let's getreal.
It's never going to be perfect.
It's never going to match.
The thing you're picturing inyour mind, it never ever will.
And it may stop you from puttingthe thing out that you want to
put out.
So I just want to encourage younot to follow in my footsteps on
(05:00):
this one, because I, I failed onthis.
I really let this get to me andit is now months have gone by.
And the problem with that isthere are people who listened to
this podcast pretty regularly.
And by me not showing up, Ididn't get to serve them.
And that's the real bummer.
I made it about me and not aboutthem.
(05:20):
Now that said, I think I finallycame up with the best topic I
could think of to celebrate 100episodes of doing this podcast
because it is a really bigachievement.
To do something a hundred timeswho knew, I mean, when I started
this podcast, Yeah, back in.
I don't know.
I think now it was like Decemberof 20, 21.
(05:41):
I fought tooth and nail not todo it.
But I'm a former member ofremote work school named sir
Isaac Smith.
He, he became a podcast producerand he really encouraged me to
do this thing.
And it was just a big, bigundertaking again, because I put
so much pressure on myself tomake it as perfect as it could
be.
So I never thought that I wouldget to 100 episodes.
(06:03):
I don't even know that I thoughtI would get to 10.
But it was kind of a one foot infront of the other sort of
thing.
And the less I worried about it,the more I got into a groove
until of course this numbersnuck up on me.
But I I'm happy to say I came upwith something that I think is
quite worthy.
Of celebration.
And that is to share with you.
(06:24):
I a journey that I'm takingsomething I've I've wanted to do
for a really long time and theopportunity presented itself.
And that is, I will be travelingto North Carolina here just in
a, in a matter of days.
To participate in the hurricaneHelene disaster recovery
efforts.
And I want to talk about thattoday because full transparency,
(06:45):
I am raising funds as well, aswell as going and volunteering
on the ground, which we'll talkabout here in a minute.
I'm also raising money.
And so this entire episode,which I don't think will be too
long, I am, um, encouraging youto go to my link.
I'll put it.
In the show notes here for you.
So you can just click on it.
But I'm going to encourage youto donate any amount that you
(07:07):
can.
I don't care if it's a dollar$5,$10,$25 or more, whatever,
whatever you can spare.
Would be incredibly helpful.
Now the funds will be goingdirectly to an organization that
I'll be working with called allhands and hearts.
This organization has beenaround since 2005.
And what they do is they deploydisaster recovery teams in areas
(07:31):
globally, where there aredisasters.
So they've gone to places likeMexico for earthquakes, they've
gone to Florida for hurricanesand they will be going to
Florida for Milton.
Of course.
And they are in fact, going intoNorth Carolina, the Asheville
and surrounding areas.
To help with the hurricanerecovery efforts.
(07:53):
And so any donation that youmake will go directly to that
community, especially if youdonate through my page.
Now I'll give you the, I'll saywhat the link is, but it's
probably going to be hard foryou to remember.
So, like I said, I'll put thelink in the show notes as well.
You can just.
At the end of this episode, goand click on it.
Um, but the link is give G I V Edot all hands and hearts.
(08:18):
Dot org.
Slash Camille C a M I L L E.
That's my direct link.
And it'll take you to my page.
You'll be able to read moreabout what I'm doing and why I'm
doing it.
And then you'll be able todonate.
You can donate with your name.
You could donate anonymously.
And if you can't donate, that'stotally understandable.
I ask that you at least sharewhat I'm doing.
(08:40):
Share the link to my page withyour friends and your family,
your network, maybe share it onFacebook or Instagram or Tik TOK
or wherever.
I don't care.
Wherever, if you can share thatwould be super helpful.
So, let me start by saying, whydo I even want to do disaster
recovery in the first place?
Why does this call to me?
(09:02):
So this goes back to the year2006.
I want to say.
In 2006, I had the opportunityto go to burning man.
Now, if you've never been toburning, man, it is really
something.
And I think people have theiropinions or their perceptions
about what burning man is.
(09:23):
And I certainly had a perceptionat the time that burning man was
this.
Kind of, I don't know, weirdparty in the desert where there
was art and that's about all Iknew about it back in 2006.
So I went to burning man withtotal strangers.
I should say this is, should bea story for another time.
I was supposed to go with afriend.
(09:43):
And unfortunately, last minuteshe couldn't go, but she had,
she was going with some otherfriends, I didn't know.
And she said, you should stillgo with these people.
And I was like, okay.
So I go to this place I've neverbeen before with total
strangers.
And when I got there.
The first day was verydisorienting.
I didn't even get there untilthe middle of the night because
(10:06):
my plane broke.
I had to rent a car again withtotal strangers.
I met Moby the singer.
If you know who that is.
It was a whole, it was a wholething.
Again, I should record adifferent podcast.
Get into the details on all ofthat.
So I get to burning man.
It's like midnight.
I had to roll in the dirt.
I guess that's a thing you dowhen you're new there.
(10:26):
I don't know.
And on day one, I just feltreally uncomfortable.
It was strange.
I mean, it's a place where thereare no rules.
There are no laws.
I mean, obviously you can't, youknow, Do any harm to anybody
that's, you know, a rule and alaw, but I mean, other than that
kind of anything goes.
And for the first couple ofdays, I just felt weird.
(10:49):
I mean, it was very much likeculture shock.
'cause you know, when you livein.
Well, let's just say America, asan example, you know, there's a
lot of rules and a lot of lawsyou drive on the right side of
the road there.
You know, you can't go intostores without a t-shirt and you
know, shoes.
And like, you, you take thesethings for granted.
You go to burning man, and allof that just gets thrown out of
(11:10):
the window.
And it was very shocking to me.
And so for the first couple ofdays, I just thought, I don't
think this is for me.
I kind of want to leave, but Ican't get out of here cause I
didn't have a ride.
And I just felt stuck now here'sthe turning point.
The one thing that was reallyappealing to me about that
experience is that there were alot of art installations, really
(11:33):
amazing art installations.
I can't even put it into wordsthat the structures that people
build, the creativity that poursout of people is really
something.
And one day I was just kind ofwalking around, looking at the
art and I walked upon a camp.
And this camp, what it was, wasa, an installation that showed
(11:55):
that people who were at burningman in 2005.
So the year previously, Werethere when hurricane Katrina
hit, when it hit new Orleans.
And that camp.
Had all these pictures andstories, they literally packed
everything up from burning man.
And they drove all the waystraight down to as close as
(12:16):
they could get to the impactedhurricane zone.
Of Katrina, the flooding zone, Ishould say.
They set up camp.
And they stayed there for sixmonths.
And helped with recoveryefforts, they help with
sanitization of water.
They help with helping I set updifferent ways to keep
themselves safe.
(12:38):
They were able to bring in foodand make sandwiches and, and
bring in supplies for people.
And the reason that they wereable to do that.
Is because the whole point ofburning man, the philosophy
around burning man is radical.
Self-reliance.
It's all about.
You know, I could go as far assaying is survivalism, not for
(12:59):
everyone.
I mean, for some people it'sstill a party in the desert.
But the point of burning man andthe origins of burning man is
radical self-reliance and thiscamp was able to pack up, get
themselves into a disaster zoneand then help the citizens in
that disaster.
And that really made an impacton me.
(13:19):
It just changed the wholedynamic of burning man from this
weird thing I didn't understandto.
Okay.
I get it.
And from then on, I always hadthis desire that I wanted to go
do something like that somedaywhere I could help people.
Um, in a situation like that,because beyond that influence of
(13:40):
that camp, I also am built.
To be good in crisis situations.
I'm very, I have good leadershipskills.
Um, I am a fast decision maker.
I'm good under pressure.
And I always thought I'dprobably be good at something
like that.
The challenge for me is fromthat point on and for the next,
(14:01):
you know, 15 plus years, I had ajob.
I had a tried and true corporatejob where I had to work.
You know, eight to five everyday.
So there was never going to be atime when I could get deployed
to a disaster zone.
And not put my own job and myown income at risk.
Until now.
And so that brings me to presentday.
(14:22):
So now I explained to you whyI've always wanted to do that,
do that.
Now let's talk about how I'mable to do it.
Now, the reason why I'm able todo this is because I run a
remote business, a 100% remotebusiness, which means I can take
this business anywhere.
And while, and I have taken itanywhere.
I've taken it on the road.
As I mentioned, I was on theroad earlier this year.
(14:45):
First five weeks and took thebusiness with me.
Um, when I was RVM full-timefrom 2016 to 2020, and even a
little bit of 2021, I wasworking full time from my RV.
Now I have never taken thebusiness into a disaster zone.
So that's new and that will posea new set of challenges.
(15:06):
Because I don't know what theinternet will be.
Like.
I ha I have been in contact withthe volunteer team there in
North Carolina, and I've askedthem about internet and the best
they can tell me is, they haveit in some areas, in some areas
it has yet to be, um, totallyrestored.
Now, lucky for me, I've dealtwith stuff like this before, so
(15:26):
you know, this isn't my firstrodeo for internet.
So I bring internet with me.
I do have a hotspot.
Um, it's old, it's an oldVerizon hotspot.
Ideally, I would have Starlinkinternet, but I don't, uh, and
I'm not going to pay for itright now.
So I'm just going to cross myfingers that this old thing
works.
If not, I will be able toprobably get to some town
(15:49):
somewhere when needed to jumponline and do some stuff.
I also am able to work from myphone.
And sometimes the phone getsbetter internet than my
computer.
The shifts that I'll be workingwill be 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM.
Eastern.
So the good news about that is Iwill still have many hours left
in the day for the Pacific timezone and, and the other time
(16:11):
zones where I can still beavailable.
So Ray, who I mentioned earlier,she'll be managing the morning
shift.
And then I will come online whenshe typically gets off.
Um, her shift.
And I'll still have Sundays off,so I'll be able to work on
Sundays.
So this'll be interesting.
I mean, again, I don't knowexactly how it's going to work.
(16:31):
If you're listening to thisepisode and you are a customer
in remote work school, which isour online coaching and course
program that helps you learn howto work online, obtain remote
work, or start a remotebusiness.
Don't worry.
You've already heard from me.
You've seen in our Facebookgroup that we do not anticipate
any disruptions because we alsohave coach mark Kilby who will
(16:55):
still be working with you.
We have Ray, we have otherpeople in the community.
That will still be around andavailable, and I will still be
able to do our live coachingcircle.
So I don't anticipate anyimpacts to the customers.
Now let's talk about.
What I will be doing once I'mthere.
And I'll also, um, paint foryou, the picture of the living
(17:18):
situation in air quotes.
So the goal of what all handsand hearts will be doing in this
area of North Carolina.
Is primarily removing down treesin debris.
If you've been seeing thefootage, which not everyone has
followed this hurricane, by theway, um, it's, it's surprising
(17:39):
to me because I'm living andbreathing this every day and it
just feels so present for me.
But yesterday I went to a upsstore to ship some things.
And I was explaining to them howI'm going to the hurricane
Helene disaster zone.
And they were like, oh, do youmean Milton?
And I was like, well, no,because you know, this was like
(17:59):
in the middle of Milton, so no,I'm not flying into a hurricane.
I said, no, this is hurricaneHelene.
This, this happened, you know,just a couple of weeks ago in
North Carolina and late, thelady had no idea what I was
talking about.
Which is just baffling to me.
This area was hit.
So incredibly hard.
This area of North Carolina,doesn't usually get hurricanes.
(18:22):
Um, and even though they hadhurricane warnings, they, they
had never had been hit likethis.
Uh, ever.
And so they didn't realize thatthe, the surge would be so
massive.
We're talking about amountainous region.
We're not even talking about thecoast.
And, um, I mean, wholecommunity's got washed away.
(18:43):
Homes, cars, mobile homestructures, businesses.
I mean the river arts districtdown in Asheville, which is a
place I have spent a lot of timein I've taken classes.
There was completely washedaway.
Uh, by the rising rivers.
And those structures have eitherbeen down or gutted.
(19:03):
I do so it's hard for me tounderstand.
Um, and I get it.
People, people are living theirown lives.
I really do.
I do understand that people havetheir own.
Things are dealing with in theworld.
So I guess I don't expecteveryone to know what's going on
everywhere.
I certainly get that.
But because this was such ananomaly storm that hit this
(19:23):
region.
So incredibly hard, I justthought, well, everyone must
have heard about this, but theyhaven't.
So what I'll be doing in thearea, just to get back to that,
I guess I went off on a tangent.
There is clearing trees anddebris, especially on roads and
trails.
I will also be going intostructures to do what's called
mucking and gutting.
So that'll be tearing out, um,things in the building that are
(19:48):
not salvageable.
It'll be clearing debris in someplaces, it may be clearing some
toxic material.
Don't worry.
I've got, you know, hazmat gearand, and PPE equipment.
Um, it could even be moldsanitization, although I've
heard from the volunteercoordinator there that.
They can't even start treatingthe mold because it's still too
(20:10):
wet and you've got to wait forthings to dry out before you're
going to be treating any mold.
So let me shift gears and talk alittle bit about the living
conditions, because I talked toyou about why I'm going, how I'm
going.
And so let's talk about whatit'll look like day to day.
So I will be living communally.
Uh, they have secured a weirdgiant warehouse in this area
where I'm headed.
(20:30):
Um, they.
They weren't sure if they weregoing to have cots for us or
not.
So they encouraged us to bringas much.
Bedding as we could, but thegood news is, they think that
they may be able to get bunkbeds.
So fingers crossed, I guess,although I don't know bunk beds,
I don't know if that's anybetter.
I am a weird sleeper.
(20:52):
I anticipate I may be up severaltimes during the night and I
don't want to disturb a bunkmate.
So who knows?
Maybe I'm just going to take allmy bedding to the corner of the
building and sleep on the groundand just deal with it.
I don't know.
So it'll be communal living inthis warehouse.
I will have to pack lots oflayers of, of warm gear because
it, it will probably get prettychilly.
(21:14):
I, um, will be sharing mealswith people.
The good news is they will havethree meals a day for us
breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
I don't anticipate this is goingto be any type of gourmet food.
We're talking oatmeal.
Some sandwiches.
I don't know.
Maybe if I'm lucky, a hot pot ofstew at night.
So they do encourage us to bringin our own snacks.
(21:34):
I'm also bringing in quite a bitof gear I'm bringing in.
Um, as I mentioned some of myown PPE equipment, I'm bringing
in first aid.
I've got, um, everything fromlike antidiarrheal.
Cause you just don't know.
With the food and theconditions, what that's going to
be like.
I've got bug spray and,,protective gloves.
Um, I, where, you know, I'mbringing it in quite a bit of my
(21:58):
own stuff.
Now they will provide hard hatsand hazmat suits as well, if
need be.
And you know, I'm not going into something completely where
I've got to do everything on myown.
I am again, working with a veryreputable organization.
That has done this many, many,many times.
And I trust them.
(22:18):
I mean, I've done a lot ofresearch.
Um, and I've talked to peoplethere who are already on the
ground to try to understand.
What it is I'm going, I'mwalking into.
So there you have it.
That's really the gist of it fornow.
Um, if I have decent internet, Iwill keep you posted.
I'll do more podcasts on thistopic.
Once I get there, I canhopefully give a report on how
(22:41):
things are unfolding and I thinkit's going to be a very dynamic
situation.
I think it's possible.
We may not have that lodging thewhole time.
We're there.
We may have to move andrelocate.
I also, wouldn't be surprised ifat some point they redeploy us
to Milton, depending on, whatwe're dealing with there.
(23:01):
We'll see, like I said, I'msupposed to be there for six
weeks.
That puts me there through thefirst, uh, at least first week
of December.
So that's it.
There, you have it.
I talked to you today about, uh,what inspired me to do this
going all the way back to almost20 years ago at burning man.
I talked to you about why I amable to do this, which is
(23:22):
because I run a remote business,but I'll keep you posted on how
that's going.
And then I shared with you aboutsome of the things I'll be doing
and what the living conditions.
We'll be like on the ground.
So that's what I've got for youtoday.
I hope you found thisinteresting and inspirational.
As I mentioned, this is thehundredth episode of the remote
(23:43):
work retirement show.
And, I dragged my feet on thisone.
So, thanks for being patientwith me one more time.
You can go to my link.
At the end of today's episode,you can donate all donations are
appreciated of any kind.
And if you can't do that, thenat least, you know, put me in
your thoughts and prayers andall of the communities being
(24:03):
affected by these hurricanesand, uh, be sure to share my
page as well.
Thank you so much for listening.
In episode 100, I'm going toshare about my six week journey
(00:04):
to North Carolina, to help outwith the hurricane Helene
disaster recovery efforts....
you're listening to the remotework retirement show.
I'm your host, Camille Attell.
And this is the only show thathelps semi retirees figure out
the remote work options.
I believe the remote work is thenew retirement plan and that
(00:24):
many retirees have both theability and desire to work, how
they want so they can live howthey want.
Let's dig into today'sepisode....
Hello again, friend.
It has been a minute since Ihave recorded a podcast.
I believe the last time Irecorded something was in may of
(00:45):
2024.
And before I get into today'stopic.
Which is not exactly aboutremote work, but as always, I
will link the topic to remotework.
I want to tell you what I thinkhappened in terms of why I
haven't recorded an episode in awhile.
Now, if you're new to the show,none of this matters, but I
don't know.
Maybe you'll find itinteresting.
(01:06):
And if you're excited thatyou're returning to the show,
because I'm finally back, I wantto tell you why it took me so
long.
So back in, I don't know, maybeMarch, April of 20, 24, if you
were following along, I was onthe road.
And as you probably know, I usedto be a full-time RVR for many,
many years.
(01:27):
I had built a business from myRV and hadn't been on the road
for a while.
So my husband Bryce and I gotback on the road in 2024 for
about five weeks, we went to seethe solar eclipse in Texas.
Along with hitting some other,uh, hotspots on our travels.
And I was recording a, um, likea travel series basically, which
(01:49):
seemed to be pretty popular.
And then I was kind of depletedafter that.
I got home and I needed to getback into the groove of work.
And a funny thing happened.
We have, um, Ray Luxor on ourteam.
She is our customer experienceambassador for remote work
school.
And we were talking one day andshe said, you know, you have
(02:09):
episode 100 coming up on thepodcast and you should do
something special.
And I was thinking the samething because we think alike and
I was like, I know I reallyshould do something special.
And I kept trying to figure outwhat the special was going to
be.
And I just, I couldn't seem tocome up with anything.
And I think what happened is theold perfectionist tendencies
(02:30):
that I have started to creep in.
Because there was somethingabout this 100 episode that
really got into my head and Iwas like, I got to make it
special and cool.
And I got to do something withballoons and champagne.
Like in my head, this wassupposed to be some like amazing
episode and I just, nothing.
(02:51):
I was worthy.
No topic I could come up withwas, was worthy.
So then I was like, well, letme, let me just press pause on
this.
And until I come up withsomething and nothing came to me
and then months went by andother things happened in the
business, both good.
And you know, I'm not going tosay bad, but you know,
challenges in the business.
And I just got further andfurther away from recording an
(03:13):
episode.
And the reason why I want toshare that with you is I think a
lot of people can relate tohaving this big looming thing
way over you.
In fact, I know people canrelate to this because they work
with people like this all thetime in remote work school,
where someone might be workingon, for example, a website and
(03:34):
they're not ready to launchtheir business until their
website is perfect or they're.
Working on the perfect servicesor they, you know, want to get
that the perfect set of emailswritten.
It's always like.
Trying to, to strive for thislevel of.
Of I'll call it perfection, butmore specifically.
(03:55):
A level where no one can judgeyou because you've done
everything right.
I mean, let's really just breakdown the word perfectionism,
because that's what it's about.
People are perfectionistsbecause they don't want to get
judged.
They don't want to get calledout.
They don't want someone to finda mistake or an error, or they
don't want to be embarrassed orashamed of the work that they're
putting out.
(04:16):
And while I'm a recoveringperfectionist, I will say the
number 100.
Really did something to mepsychologically, and it stopped
me in my tracks.
Um, So despite my best effortsto get back to the podcast.
I let that sink my ship.
And I just want to give youpermission if you're listening
today to this episode and yourelate to this, be getting
(04:39):
stuck, being hung up on gettingthe thing you're working on.
Absolutely perfect.
Because you know, let's getreal.
It's never going to be perfect.
It's never going to match.
The thing you're picturing inyour mind, it never ever will.
And it may stop you from puttingthe thing out that you want to
put out.
So I just want to encourage younot to follow in my footsteps on
(05:00):
this one, because I, I failed onthis.
I really let this get to me andit is now months have gone by.
And the problem with that isthere are people who listened to
this podcast pretty regularly.
And by me not showing up, Ididn't get to serve them.
And that's the real bummer.
I made it about me and not aboutthem.
(05:20):
Now that said, I think I finallycame up with the best topic I
could think of to celebrate 100episodes of doing this podcast
because it is a really bigachievement.
To do something a hundred timeswho knew, I mean, when I started
this podcast, Yeah, back in.
I don't know.
I think now it was like Decemberof 20, 21.
(05:41):
I fought tooth and nail not todo it.
But I'm a former member ofremote work school named sir
Isaac Smith.
He, he became a podcast producerand he really encouraged me to
do this thing.
And it was just a big, bigundertaking again, because I put
so much pressure on myself tomake it as perfect as it could
be.
So I never thought that I wouldget to 100 episodes.
(06:03):
I don't even know that I thoughtI would get to 10.
But it was kind of a one foot infront of the other sort of
thing.
And the less I worried about it,the more I got into a groove
until of course this numbersnuck up on me.
But I I'm happy to say I came upwith something that I think is
quite worthy.
Of celebration.
And that is to share with you.
(06:24):
I a journey that I'm takingsomething I've I've wanted to do
for a really long time and theopportunity presented itself.
And that is, I will be travelingto North Carolina here just in
a, in a matter of days.
To participate in the hurricaneHelene disaster recovery
efforts.
And I want to talk about thattoday because full transparency,
(06:45):
I am raising funds as well, aswell as going and volunteering
on the ground, which we'll talkabout here in a minute.
I'm also raising money.
And so this entire episode,which I don't think will be too
long, I am, um, encouraging youto go to my link.
I'll put it.
In the show notes here for you.
So you can just click on it.
But I'm going to encourage youto donate any amount that you
(07:07):
can.
I don't care if it's a dollar$5,$10,$25 or more, whatever,
whatever you can spare.
Would be incredibly helpful.
Now the funds will be goingdirectly to an organization that
I'll be working with called allhands and hearts.
This organization has beenaround since 2005.
And what they do is they deploydisaster recovery teams in areas
(07:31):
globally, where there aredisasters.
So they've gone to places likeMexico for earthquakes, they've
gone to Florida for hurricanesand they will be going to
Florida for Milton.
Of course.
And they are in fact, going intoNorth Carolina, the Asheville
and surrounding areas.
To help with the hurricanerecovery efforts.
(07:53):
And so any donation that youmake will go directly to that
community, especially if youdonate through my page.
Now I'll give you the, I'll saywhat the link is, but it's
probably going to be hard foryou to remember.
So, like I said, I'll put thelink in the show notes as well.
You can just.
At the end of this episode, goand click on it.
Um, but the link is give G I V Edot all hands and hearts.
(08:18):
Dot org.
Slash Camille C a M I L L E.
That's my direct link.
And it'll take you to my page.
You'll be able to read moreabout what I'm doing and why I'm
doing it.
And then you'll be able todonate.
You can donate with your name.
You could donate anonymously.
And if you can't donate, that'stotally understandable.
I ask that you at least sharewhat I'm doing.
(08:40):
Share the link to my page withyour friends and your family,
your network, maybe share it onFacebook or Instagram or Tik TOK
or wherever.
I don't care.
Wherever, if you can share thatwould be super helpful.
So, let me start by saying, whydo I even want to do disaster
recovery in the first place?
Why does this call to me?
(09:02):
So this goes back to the year2006.
I want to say.
In 2006, I had the opportunityto go to burning man.
Now, if you've never been toburning, man, it is really
something.
And I think people have theiropinions or their perceptions
about what burning man is.
(09:23):
And I certainly had a perceptionat the time that burning man was
this.
Kind of, I don't know, weirdparty in the desert where there
was art and that's about all Iknew about it back in 2006.
So I went to burning man withtotal strangers.
I should say this is, should bea story for another time.
I was supposed to go with afriend.
(09:43):
And unfortunately, last minuteshe couldn't go, but she had,
she was going with some otherfriends, I didn't know.
And she said, you should stillgo with these people.
And I was like, okay.
So I go to this place I've neverbeen before with total
strangers.
And when I got there.
The first day was verydisorienting.
I didn't even get there untilthe middle of the night because
(10:06):
my plane broke.
I had to rent a car again withtotal strangers.
I met Moby the singer.
If you know who that is.
It was a whole, it was a wholething.
Again, I should record adifferent podcast.
Get into the details on all ofthat.
So I get to burning man.
It's like midnight.
I had to roll in the dirt.
I guess that's a thing you dowhen you're new there.
(10:26):
I don't know.
And on day one, I just feltreally uncomfortable.
It was strange.
I mean, it's a place where thereare no rules.
There are no laws.
I mean, obviously you can't, youknow, Do any harm to anybody
that's, you know, a rule and alaw, but I mean, other than that
kind of anything goes.
And for the first couple ofdays, I just felt weird.
(10:49):
I mean, it was very much likeculture shock.
'cause you know, when you livein.
Well, let's just say America, asan example, you know, there's a
lot of rules and a lot of lawsyou drive on the right side of
the road there.
You know, you can't go intostores without a t-shirt and you
know, shoes.
And like, you, you take thesethings for granted.
You go to burning man, and allof that just gets thrown out of
(11:10):
the window.
And it was very shocking to me.
And so for the first couple ofdays, I just thought, I don't
think this is for me.
I kind of want to leave, but Ican't get out of here cause I
didn't have a ride.
And I just felt stuck now here'sthe turning point.
The one thing that was reallyappealing to me about that
experience is that there were alot of art installations, really
(11:33):
amazing art installations.
I can't even put it into wordsthat the structures that people
build, the creativity that poursout of people is really
something.
And one day I was just kind ofwalking around, looking at the
art and I walked upon a camp.
And this camp, what it was, wasa, an installation that showed
(11:55):
that people who were at burningman in 2005.
So the year previously, Werethere when hurricane Katrina
hit, when it hit new Orleans.
And that camp.
Had all these pictures andstories, they literally packed
everything up from burning man.
And they drove all the waystraight down to as close as
(12:16):
they could get to the impactedhurricane zone.
Of Katrina, the flooding zone, Ishould say.
They set up camp.
And they stayed there for sixmonths.
And helped with recoveryefforts, they help with
sanitization of water.
They help with helping I set updifferent ways to keep
themselves safe.
(12:38):
They were able to bring in foodand make sandwiches and, and
bring in supplies for people.
And the reason that they wereable to do that.
Is because the whole point ofburning man, the philosophy
around burning man is radical.
Self-reliance.
It's all about.
You know, I could go as far assaying is survivalism, not for
(12:59):
everyone.
I mean, for some people it'sstill a party in the desert.
But the point of burning man andthe origins of burning man is
radical self-reliance and thiscamp was able to pack up, get
themselves into a disaster zoneand then help the citizens in
that disaster.
And that really made an impacton me.
(13:19):
It just changed the wholedynamic of burning man from this
weird thing I didn't understandto.
Okay.
I get it.
And from then on, I always hadthis desire that I wanted to go
do something like that somedaywhere I could help people.
Um, in a situation like that,because beyond that influence of
(13:40):
that camp, I also am built.
To be good in crisis situations.
I'm very, I have good leadershipskills.
Um, I am a fast decision maker.
I'm good under pressure.
And I always thought I'dprobably be good at something
like that.
The challenge for me is fromthat point on and for the next,
(14:01):
you know, 15 plus years, I had ajob.
I had a tried and true corporatejob where I had to work.
You know, eight to five everyday.
So there was never going to be atime when I could get deployed
to a disaster zone.
And not put my own job and myown income at risk.
Until now.
And so that brings me to presentday.
(14:22):
So now I explained to you whyI've always wanted to do that,
do that.
Now let's talk about how I'mable to do it.
Now, the reason why I'm able todo this is because I run a
remote business, a 100% remotebusiness, which means I can take
this business anywhere.
And while, and I have taken itanywhere.
I've taken it on the road.
As I mentioned, I was on theroad earlier this year.
(14:45):
First five weeks and took thebusiness with me.
Um, when I was RVM full-timefrom 2016 to 2020, and even a
little bit of 2021, I wasworking full time from my RV.
Now I have never taken thebusiness into a disaster zone.
So that's new and that will posea new set of challenges.
(15:06):
Because I don't know what theinternet will be.
Like.
I ha I have been in contact withthe volunteer team there in
North Carolina, and I've askedthem about internet and the best
they can tell me is, they haveit in some areas, in some areas
it has yet to be, um, totallyrestored.
Now, lucky for me, I've dealtwith stuff like this before, so
(15:26):
you know, this isn't my firstrodeo for internet.
So I bring internet with me.
I do have a hotspot.
Um, it's old, it's an oldVerizon hotspot.
Ideally, I would have Starlinkinternet, but I don't, uh, and
I'm not going to pay for itright now.
So I'm just going to cross myfingers that this old thing
works.
If not, I will be able toprobably get to some town
(15:49):
somewhere when needed to jumponline and do some stuff.
I also am able to work from myphone.
And sometimes the phone getsbetter internet than my
computer.
The shifts that I'll be workingwill be 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM.
Eastern.
So the good news about that is Iwill still have many hours left
in the day for the Pacific timezone and, and the other time
(16:11):
zones where I can still beavailable.
So Ray, who I mentioned earlier,she'll be managing the morning
shift.
And then I will come online whenshe typically gets off.
Um, her shift.
And I'll still have Sundays off,so I'll be able to work on
Sundays.
So this'll be interesting.
I mean, again, I don't knowexactly how it's going to work.
(16:31):
If you're listening to thisepisode and you are a customer
in remote work school, which isour online coaching and course
program that helps you learn howto work online, obtain remote
work, or start a remotebusiness.
Don't worry.
You've already heard from me.
You've seen in our Facebookgroup that we do not anticipate
any disruptions because we alsohave coach mark Kilby who will
(16:55):
still be working with you.
We have Ray, we have otherpeople in the community.
That will still be around andavailable, and I will still be
able to do our live coachingcircle.
So I don't anticipate anyimpacts to the customers.
Now let's talk about.
What I will be doing once I'mthere.
And I'll also, um, paint foryou, the picture of the living
(17:18):
situation in air quotes.
So the goal of what all handsand hearts will be doing in this
area of North Carolina.
Is primarily removing down treesin debris.
If you've been seeing thefootage, which not everyone has
followed this hurricane, by theway, um, it's, it's surprising
(17:39):
to me because I'm living andbreathing this every day and it
just feels so present for me.
But yesterday I went to a upsstore to ship some things.
And I was explaining to them howI'm going to the hurricane
Helene disaster zone.
And they were like, oh, do youmean Milton?
And I was like, well, no,because you know, this was like
(17:59):
in the middle of Milton, so no,I'm not flying into a hurricane.
I said, no, this is hurricaneHelene.
This, this happened, you know,just a couple of weeks ago in
North Carolina and late, thelady had no idea what I was
talking about.
Which is just baffling to me.
This area was hit.
So incredibly hard.
This area of North Carolina,doesn't usually get hurricanes.
(18:22):
Um, and even though they hadhurricane warnings, they, they
had never had been hit likethis.
Uh, ever.
And so they didn't realize thatthe, the surge would be so
massive.
We're talking about amountainous region.
We're not even talking about thecoast.
And, um, I mean, wholecommunity's got washed away.
(18:43):
Homes, cars, mobile homestructures, businesses.
I mean the river arts districtdown in Asheville, which is a
place I have spent a lot of timein I've taken classes.
There was completely washedaway.
Uh, by the rising rivers.
And those structures have eitherbeen down or gutted.
(19:03):
I do so it's hard for me tounderstand.
Um, and I get it.
People, people are living theirown lives.
I really do.
I do understand that people havetheir own.
Things are dealing with in theworld.
So I guess I don't expecteveryone to know what's going on
everywhere.
I certainly get that.
But because this was such ananomaly storm that hit this
(19:23):
region.
So incredibly hard, I justthought, well, everyone must
have heard about this, but theyhaven't.
So what I'll be doing in thearea, just to get back to that,
I guess I went off on a tangent.
There is clearing trees anddebris, especially on roads and
trails.
I will also be going intostructures to do what's called
mucking and gutting.
So that'll be tearing out, um,things in the building that are
(19:48):
not salvageable.
It'll be clearing debris in someplaces, it may be clearing some
toxic material.
Don't worry.
I've got, you know, hazmat gearand, and PPE equipment.
Um, it could even be moldsanitization, although I've
heard from the volunteercoordinator there that.
They can't even start treatingthe mold because it's still too
(20:10):
wet and you've got to wait forthings to dry out before you're
going to be treating any mold.
So let me shift gears and talk alittle bit about the living
conditions, because I talked toyou about why I'm going, how I'm
going.
And so let's talk about whatit'll look like day to day.
So I will be living communally.
Uh, they have secured a weirdgiant warehouse in this area
where I'm headed.
(20:30):
Um, they.
They weren't sure if they weregoing to have cots for us or
not.
So they encouraged us to bringas much.
Bedding as we could, but thegood news is, they think that
they may be able to get bunkbeds.
So fingers crossed, I guess,although I don't know bunk beds,
I don't know if that's anybetter.
I am a weird sleeper.
(20:52):
I anticipate I may be up severaltimes during the night and I
don't want to disturb a bunkmate.
So who knows?
Maybe I'm just going to take allmy bedding to the corner of the
building and sleep on the groundand just deal with it.
I don't know.
So it'll be communal living inthis warehouse.
I will have to pack lots oflayers of, of warm gear because
it, it will probably get prettychilly.
(21:14):
I, um, will be sharing mealswith people.
The good news is they will havethree meals a day for us
breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
I don't anticipate this is goingto be any type of gourmet food.
We're talking oatmeal.
Some sandwiches.
I don't know.
Maybe if I'm lucky, a hot pot ofstew at night.
So they do encourage us to bringin our own snacks.
(21:34):
I'm also bringing in quite a bitof gear I'm bringing in.
Um, as I mentioned some of myown PPE equipment, I'm bringing
in first aid.
I've got, um, everything fromlike antidiarrheal.
Cause you just don't know.
With the food and theconditions, what that's going to
be like.
I've got bug spray and,,protective gloves.
Um, I, where, you know, I'mbringing it in quite a bit of my
(21:58):
own stuff.
Now they will provide hard hatsand hazmat suits as well, if
need be.
And you know, I'm not going into something completely where
I've got to do everything on myown.
I am again, working with a veryreputable organization.
That has done this many, many,many times.
And I trust them.
(22:18):
I mean, I've done a lot ofresearch.
Um, and I've talked to peoplethere who are already on the
ground to try to understand.
What it is I'm going, I'mwalking into.
So there you have it.
That's really the gist of it fornow.
Um, if I have decent internet, Iwill keep you posted.
I'll do more podcasts on thistopic.
Once I get there, I canhopefully give a report on how
(22:41):
things are unfolding and I thinkit's going to be a very dynamic
situation.
I think it's possible.
We may not have that lodging thewhole time.
We're there.
We may have to move andrelocate.
I also, wouldn't be surprised ifat some point they redeploy us
to Milton, depending on, whatwe're dealing with there.
(23:01):
We'll see, like I said, I'msupposed to be there for six
weeks.
That puts me there through thefirst, uh, at least first week
of December.
So that's it.
There, you have it.
I talked to you today about, uh,what inspired me to do this
going all the way back to almost20 years ago at burning man.
I talked to you about why I amable to do this, which is
(23:22):
because I run a remote business,but I'll keep you posted on how
that's going.
And then I shared with you aboutsome of the things I'll be doing
and what the living conditions.
We'll be like on the ground.
So that's what I've got for youtoday.
I hope you found thisinteresting and inspirational.
As I mentioned, this is thehundredth episode of the remote
(23:43):
work retirement show.
And, I dragged my feet on thisone.
So, thanks for being patientwith me one more time.
You can go to my link.
At the end of today's episode,you can donate all donations are
appreciated of any kind.
And if you can't do that, thenat least, you know, put me in
your thoughts and prayers andall of the communities being
(24:03):
affected by these hurricanesand, uh, be sure to share my
page as well.
Thank you so much for listening.
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