April 26, 2025 • 38 mins
Join us for an inspiring conversation with Susan Athari, founder of The Modern Empty Nester, as she shares her journey from uncertainty to celebration in the empty nest years. Realizing that this life stage deserves more than just survival, Susan advocates for a dynamic and adventurous approach that redefines what it means to be an empty nester.
In our discussion, Susan passionately emphasizes that today’s empty nesters are not like those of previous generations. “We’re not the empty nesters sitting by the phone waiting for our kids to call,” she quips. Instead, she encourages embracing spontaneity, exploration, and self-discovery in this exciting chapter of life.
Highlights
- Susan’s personal journey from doubt to embracing the freedom of the empty nest.
- Practical travel tips, including essential packing considerations and the joys of slow travel.
- Insights on making the most of local opportunities and attractions.
- The empowering experience of taking solo trips to build confidence and independence.
Key Takeaways
- Transform your empty nest experience by saying “yes” to new opportunities and spontaneous adventures.
- Discover the joy of slow travel by immersing yourself in a single location to fully appreciate the experience.
- Build lasting friendships with like-minded individuals for shared adventures, enriching your new life chapter.
Susan Athari Bio
Susan Athari is an attorney, content creator, and blogger who went from drafting legal briefs to researching the best in midlife travel, deals, foodie finds, and bucket list experiences for empty nesters. She does the deep dive for you, saving you time and money, and her law experience brings both practical and valuable advice. An advocate for rediscovering yourself, she shares insights in turning life’s transitions into new opportunities for adventure. Although becoming an empty nester poses unique challenges, Susan encourages free birds to embrace their newfound freedom and rediscover their personal dreams. With a focus on helping others “spread their wings”, she shares all things travel, fueled by a renewed appreciation of this unique time. Her goal is to inspire each empty nester to start living their best life.
Find Susan Online: Instagram
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
It really doesn't have to be far at all,
especially in the fall.
You know you're up inMassachusetts so many beautiful
places to go see the leavesBeautiful.
I mean you're really close to alot of great towns where you
can really experience the seasonso beautifully.
So I mean we just we got to doit.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Welcome to this Empty Nest Life.
Join Jay Ramsden as he leadsyou on a transformative journey
through the uncharted seas ofmidlife and empty nesting.
If you're ready to embark onthis new adventure and redefine
your future, you're in the rightplace.
Here's your host, the EmptyNest Coach, Jay Ramsden.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
Susan Natari from Modern Empty Nester.
Welcome to the show.
I'm so excited to have you here.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Hi Jay.
Thank you so much for invitingme.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
Oh yeah.
Well, I knew when I like Ithink we crossed paths on
Instagram and I was like, oh, Igotta get to know this person
more and figure out what's goingon and what they're doing.
And I love, like, the ModernEmpty Nester theme.
So tell me, like, how did thatcome to be?
Like, how did you start thatand start doing travel and tips
and that sort of information forpeople in the second half of
(01:12):
life?
Where did it?
Where did it come from?
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Well, you know, I was on Instagram.
I've been, I spent some time onthere and I noticed that a lot
of Instagrammers are really GenZers and I just felt like
there's just something missing.
There's no one that's targetingour age.
There's no one targeting us andas Empty Nesters, you know, it
(01:38):
is really a time where we shouldbe focusing on ourselves.
So, when the kids were leavingthe nest, I'm like I kind of
consider myself a seasoned emptynester.
Now I have three out of thenest.
It's been a while and I knew itwas going to be hard, because I
was someone who left law tospend time with my kids and
(02:03):
really didn't go back for quitea long time because I was so
busy with them.
So I kind of was anticipatingthat, oh, something is going to
change and it's going to be hard.
It's going to be really hardbecause the focus is your kids
for so long.
So I started a business somefriends a wellness business.
(02:25):
I am a wellness coach too, butI just felt like there was still
something more that I wanted todo and I went online and I was
like I don't understand why ourage group isn't represented here
, because, you know, we areactually a missed opportunity
(02:46):
and people who really aren'trepresented enough online.
And I also had heard at thattime like a lot of people who
were very depressed when theybecame empty nesters.
And I thought, you know, Iremember when it was first my
time becoming an empty nester,one of my friends had called me,
(03:06):
it was my birthday.
And she said, she said, oh,you're going to be an empty
nester, it's so great.
And I said what are you talkingabout?
Like, this is gonna be reallyhard, you know.
And she said, no, it's great,you're gonna see, you're gonna
be able to do so many things.
And I thought, hung up thephone and I thought, okay, I
don't, she's crazy, I don't knowwhat she's talking about.
(03:27):
But little by little, I thought,yeah, you know, this is
supposed to be a time wherewe're supposed to be doing
things for ourselves.
And so, little by little,that's what I started to think
of what, what would be good?
And we, we, we can't be, we'renot our parents' generation.
I thought, you know, they makeus feel, so, you know, guilty.
(03:48):
I think, sometimes for doingthings for ourselves, they're
the ones who worked hard, saved,and it was all for retirement.
You didn't do anything untilthen you know, just save, save,
and then retirement comes, andwhen are you going to actually
get to do anything?
You know, maybe you're not evenhealthy at that time, maybe
you're too tired.
(04:08):
So I really think this is thetime that we should be doing
things for ourselves.
I don't know what we're waitingfor, and so that's why I called
it Modern Empty Nesters.
We're not the empty nesters ofour parents' generation sitting
by the phone waiting for us tocall and just sitting home all
(04:33):
the time.
We are busy people.
We've got things to do, placesto go, things to see.
So much to learn still, and youknow we've got to get it done.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
I love that.
Like the concept of modernempty nesters kind of falls into
.
What I talk about with peopleis like we have modeling of life
like all the way through weknow what, going to elementary
school, high school, all thatkind of stuff.
Like we know university,getting married, having kids,
having a job, that's all modeledfor us.
And like even retirement, likeoh, here's what retirement
(05:02):
should look like.
But nobody models like thein-between and that's where you
are with Modern Empty Nesterright, that's where we are in.
Our lives is like we're inbetween.
There's no modeling for whatthat looks like.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
So I love that you're doing that.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
I love that you're showing people like here are
things you can do and you makeit simple, right.
What I appreciate is likeyou're in the DMV right DC,
maryland, virginia and you'renot like off like in Europe
doing stuff.
You're popping into DC oryou're popping into like
different places in Maryland or,you know, down to North
Carolina.
(05:36):
Like you make it simple, it'snot extravagant.
So I try to do that, yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
I try to do that.
I mean, of course, sometimes,you know, luke's travel is good.
We all have a little luxury inour lives, including myself, so
you'll see some of that, and Ithink we deserve it, because we
have done a lot.
We've spent 18 years, you know,raising our kids and putting
them first.
So you know we really need tostop feeling guilty for doing
(06:04):
things for ourselves and ingetting it done.
But it all doesn't have to beexpensive, and so we obviously
have retirement, you know, downthe road.
So we don't want to.
We want to have a nice, healthymix of things to do, and it
could be, you know, an excitingtrip to Europe.
It could be a walk in your city, you know, down the street, and
(06:28):
you discover so much, and it'ssomething that we kind of take
for granted sometimes.
I mean, we live here, where I'min Northern Virginia, near DC,
just 20 minutes away, and youknow, sometimes you know I'll
say to my husband OK, let's gofor a walk, but like we always
walk in the neighborhood, butwhy don't we walk in DC?
So like we'll go, walk and walkand walk and discover so much
(06:52):
about our own cities that wedidn't even know existed.
And so you pick differentneighborhoods, different parks,
different aspects that you wantto hit.
A new museum exhibit comes up,let's walk in, let's's go.
And it's so fun, it's so fun tobe spontaneous, and I think you
know that's really what weshould be doing, because I mean,
(07:13):
I don't just when we sit athome sometimes I get so restless
, I'm like, oh my god, we'rewasting time.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
You know, we gotta go yeah, what for people who
aren't necessarily spontaneous?
Right, because I know there's alot of people out there who are
.
But some people are like, oh, Idon't know about that, just be
like you said going for a walk,doing something simple.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
If the weather's nice , go sit outside and have dinner
outside somewhere.
Take advantage of the simplethings that are around you.
I know it's hard to bespontaneous as an empty nester,
especially a new one.
You couldn't do that before,you never could.
You couldn't just go out on aweeknight if you wanted to.
But guess what?
(08:10):
Now you can.
Your friends are your friends,call you to say, hey, let's,
let's have a ladies night.
You can say, yes, you're like,oh okay, let's do it, you know.
Or let's go to a movie.
Or let's like oh okay, let's doit, you know, or let's go to a
movie, or let's.
It's such a strange feeling atfirst because we really couldn't
do that, and if we did we feltso guilty.
(08:31):
So it's really really importantto start doing that.
And then, once you take thefirst step and the plunge to
doing things like that, oh mygosh, it's such a good feeling,
such a good feeling Like.
I guess I can give you a veryextreme example of spontaneity
where last year, friends of ours, we were supposed to go on a
(08:55):
trip to Florida and a hurricanehad hit and it had closed, and
so I was half joking, half notsaying to them what if we just
went to brains, to champagne,because I was like I don't know
why it was on my mind, I waskind of joking but it.
(09:16):
But then we did it.
They said okay.
I was like, oh, okay, and itwas such a fun feeling to be
like that.
That's obviously extravagant,and we were lucky that we could
afford to do that.
But it doesn't have to beFrance, it could be anywhere.
And it's just the fact that wejust said, okay, let's do it.
(09:37):
We just shifted gears to acompletely different idea and it
was so fun.
We felt so I don't know likerebellious in a way that we did
that and we just and we didsomething for ourselves and it
was one of the best trips.
We had a really good time and,um, a great experience, so I
(09:57):
highly recommend it.
And it was even on an off timeuh, in december, not your
typical time to go, so you mightsee a post of mine um christmas
time in champagna, but it waslike christmas markets were
there.
Um, it's only 45 minutes fromfrom paris, so there are.
You just have to think a littlebit out of the box doesn't have
(10:19):
to be a lot and just say yes,and you will feel so exhilarated
because you did something foryourself yeah, say yes, and
you'll feel exhilarated.
I love it I love.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
That's a huge takeaway and I, yeah, get in the
car or hop on.
I know there's lots of placesaccessible by train.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
Hop on the train, go one, stop it doesn't have to be
up on the amtrak go one stop andexplore a new city.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
Doesn't have to be far Up on the Amtrak.
Go one stop and explore a newcity.
It doesn't have to take a lotof time.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
It really doesn't have to be far at all,
especially in the fall.
You know you're up inMassachusetts so many beautiful
places to go see the leavesBeautiful.
I mean you're really close to alot of you know great towns
where you can really experiencethe season so beautifully.
Here we see the same.
(11:05):
So I mean we just we've got todo it.
Speaker 3 (11:09):
We've got to do it.
Yeah, like actually go and doit.
I'm curious what's one placethat you want to go to that you
haven't gone to yet?
Speaker 1 (11:16):
Oh gosh, I have so many places that I want to go.
I mean, I tend to, I would loveto do more national parks.
I always like, tend to, I wouldlove to do more national parks.
(11:47):
I do, I always like, want to goto Europe and stuff.
But national parks aresomething that I would think is
we have so many beautiful placeshere in the United States that
we really something toexperience.
But the window of time is notthat great, so you kind of have
to be a more of an advancedplanner for that one um, so that
would be really exciting.
Um, a lot of exciting tripscoming up in 2025.
You'll see later, but you knowit is um, there there's a lot.
There's always.
There's always somewhere new,there's always something
exciting new.
(12:08):
And I, I I did even drive crosscountry um once, actually sort
of semi-spontaneous trip, wherea friend had to bring her son's
car across the country and Isaid you know, maybe I'll, maybe
I'll join you in the car.
You know, I was like a newempty nester and, um, we had the
(12:29):
best time, it was such a greattime and we actually had to do
it only in a week, so it wasn't,you know, as much time as we'd
even want to, but so much toexplore, even in the car.
I love road trips.
I love them.
You feel so free and it's justlike what a great feeling.
You don't know where you'regoing to end up.
Speaker 3 (12:46):
That's right.
That's a.
That's a great.
I think that's another greatInstagram thing.
Right, empty nest road tripright, somebody can hop onto
that and start start workingthrough empty nest road trip.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
So much to post.
I just, I just can't even takeit, there's so much information
to share.
Speaker 3 (13:02):
When I think about, like the spontaneity, or even
just like travel, like what's acouple of travel tips that
you've learned in your work thatmay be helpful for other people
to know.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
You mean for international or domestic?
Speaker 3 (13:15):
No, just the domestic travel tips or things that you
picked up along the way, evenjust doing stuff locally.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
Well, I would say, look online to see what current
exhibits are coming.
There's always something new.
There's so many excitingexhibits that you wouldn't even
realize unless you startresearching what's happening in
your own town, and so that's thefirst step.
(13:43):
Right there there could be anew restaurant that just opened
and I love to go.
You know, catch them, if I can.
When they first open, I kindlike not so new anymore, but, um
, I think it's really exciting.
(14:06):
And and when that happens andum, so that's like just in your
own town there's a lot to do.
Um, where you can, I meaninternationally, you know, first
of all, you want to um checkyour passport first.
Obviously you have to make sureit's not going to expire soon.
That's one thing.
Make sure your names match yourreservation, especially women
(14:33):
with their maiden names.
This has happened to me,actually, and I actually
couldn't even get on a cruiseonce because of that.
The travel agent used anothername, my married name, but my
passport didn't have that, andso it was a big, big mess.
So make sure names match yourIDs, because sometimes other
(14:56):
people are doing thereservations, whether it's a
travel agent.
So you want to always doublecheck that.
Bring a portable charger.
I think that's so important.
I've been on the streets ofParis by myself and all of a
sudden the phone died.
That was my map.
I didn't have the portablecharger charged up enough to
(15:18):
have it go, so it kind of cutsinto your time.
You know that way.
So there are lots of littletips here and there Don't
overpack, and wear good shoes.
Wear good shoes.
I'm a classic overpacker myself.
So you know I'm starting tolearn little by little.
(15:40):
Start tearing it down, becausesometimes when you travel,
especially abroad, you might bein an apartment where the
stairwell is narrow or it's toomany stairs to carry a heavy
suitcase, especially if there'sno one to help you.
So there's so many, there'sjust so much out there so many
(16:00):
different tips.
Speaker 3 (16:01):
Yeah, travel to Europe on a carry on.
You can make it work.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
Yeah, that's my goal.
Speaker 3 (16:06):
That's your goal.
Yeah, I love that that you likethink about the different
things that people may need, andyou talk about that a lot, I
think, in your, in yourInstagram, like you even have, I
think, lots of tips andinformation and gear.
I think I saw travel gear, yes,on your page as well.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
And also things that you can use on a plane that
would make especially longertrips on a plane more
comfortable, the more long haulflights.
So, because there's a lot ofplaces we want to see, right, we
won't want to just stay locally.
If we can afford it and areable to do it, some places are
across the world and the flightsare long.
(16:45):
So we got to.
We want to be comfortable.
I mean we at this point in ourlives, to me, comfort is number
one.
I think we deserve it and Ithink you know that's why I,
like I love actuallyhighlighting products that will
make people's lives a littlemore easy, a little more
comfortable and um, you know,just kind of um.
(17:10):
And then that's what I do, I, I, I try to research top quality
and align myself with goodquality companies with high
quality products that are goingto really help.
I'm not going to.
I only recommend what I loveand um and have used for the
most part as well, and so Ithink it is um, it's so
(17:32):
important and I hopefully it'shelpful in saving people time
and money.
That's what I try, that's good.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
What's what's like your number one of comfort thing
that you have to have with youwhen you travel?
Speaker 1 (17:43):
Oh well, if I'm on a plane, for example, I always
have to have some kind of asweatshirt, pullover something
for the plane.
They're always cold.
You've got to have something inyour bag, no matter what, and I
like soft things because I wantto feel cozy on the plane.
(18:03):
So like some kind of softpullovers, you know, sweater,
sweatshirt, I don't care what itis, but this is the number one
thing.
There's nothing worse thanbeing cold on the plane.
I can't take that.
Speaker 3 (18:16):
Yeah, especially since they don't do blankets
anymore on planes.
It's really hard to get ablanket on a plane unless you're
sitting up front.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
I always bring an extra set of clothes in my
carry-on too, because you neverknow, sometimes your luggage can
be lost, and this has happenedalso, so you want to be sure to
have something with you, just incase.
Or maybe you're on the planeand there's turbulence and your
(18:43):
drink spills all over you.
I mean, what a disaster.
You don't want to sit there forhours with wet clothes, so it's
always good to have an extra,you know, something with you
just in case Such good advice.
And headphones.
Headphones are really important.
Noise canceling I've learned bymy lesson.
I was near crying baby recently.
(19:04):
No one loves babies more thanme, I'm all about it, but not
necessarily when they're nearyou, and so you know, I I I've
had like the little earphones,but my husband was sitting
pretty with his noise cancelingheadphones.
So of course, after that I gota pair for myself and I actually
did a review on on the websiteUm of of.
(19:27):
I highlighted the top onesbecause people have different,
you know, tastes and opinions onwhat they want.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
Yeah, what's your go-to noise canceling headphones
?
Speaker 1 (19:37):
Um, I like Bose.
I think Bose is pretty good.
But um, uh, I think Bose ispretty good, but I'm not going
to lie.
I just recently was in theApple store and saw the new
Apple ones and I was like oof,those look nice.
So, you know, I you can't haveeverything and you, you know you
can get something also on, likea black Friday sale or
something or any of those.
These are great times to takeadvantage of that, because you
(20:01):
can actually find some good,good deals.
Speaker 3 (20:03):
Good deals.
Yeah, I'm not sure when thisepisode will drop, but you know
we're it's October.
This could drop in November,right before Black Friday, as a
good reminder.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
Well, there's always a good sale at some point, and I
try to highlight them if theycome up, because sometimes it's
a good time to grab some ofthose travel essentials that you
need.
Speaker 3 (20:23):
I love that.
What's like one thing you wishfor your future self.
Right, we're in this era rightnow where we're taking advantage
of everything.
Right, you're like highlightingthat take advantage of
emptiness life.
I do the same thing, but what'sone thing that, when you look
forward like, what do you wishfor your future self?
Speaker 1 (20:39):
Well, I mean, I always wish for good health,
because if I don't have goodhealth, I can't do, I can't live
life on my own terms, right?
So we have to take a good careof ourselves as best as we can,
eat well, stay active and andjust do the best you can,
because that is obviously thenumber one.
(21:01):
Can't be traveling too much ifyou don't feel well.
So, um, you know that's, Iwould say that's the number one
thing, um, but then, you know,hopefully new experiences will
come along and, um, you know,I'd love to write more.
Maybe.
You know, go back and dosomething meaningful and long
(21:25):
you never more collabs, just somany things.
I can't even tell you.
I have so many.
I'm like one of those peoplewho has so many ideas, so you
never know what's going to comenext.
Speaker 3 (21:36):
I love that.
Do you?
Do you offer legal advice onyour site with travel?
Speaker 1 (21:41):
No, I don't, but actually that is something that
I was thinking that I wouldfocus on more in 2025.
Maybe knowing some of yourlegal rights for travel, because
I think this has come up nowquite a lot, where there's been
a lot of canceled flights, youknow, and due to weather or due
(22:05):
to data breaches or due to otherthings, and so I think it would
be nice to highlight some ofthose things as well, because
you you just don't.
You know you need to be armedand know what your rights are.
Right, and it'd be nice to justhave something where you could
just click this is it?
Speaker 3 (22:24):
Yeah, like in a nutshell, here's the thing.
If you're a modern empty nesterand you're traveling, here's
the go-to tips for yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:30):
Even for myself.
I mean, like this is great.
I love researching things Likethat's.
That's what.
I just research thingssometimes a little too much, but
I want to know that I've gottenthe best thing or going.
(22:51):
I want to find the best placesto go see, go eat, you know, go
visit and experience.
So, um, that's also somethingelse that you know we need to
know is what are our rights?
What makes life easier as atraveler?
You know I don't like standingalong lines anymore.
I don't have that kind ofpatience, and so you know we
want to, we want to speed thingsup, you know.
(23:12):
Plus, I also think it's nice tolearn about how we can save
money and travel.
How can we maximize our pointson credit cards for free travel,
getting free upgrades?
It's surprising that actually alot of people don't really read
a lot of the fine print of whattheir card offers.
There's so many things that canthat you know it actually does.
(23:35):
So I'm going to be highlightingthat more.
I do do some of that in theSavvy Nestor newsletter that I
also have, and you know, ifanyone wants to subscribe, it's
on the website but and it's onInstagram, but I do money saving
tips on that, and some of it ison travel and on how to
(23:56):
maximize value for travel,because we all want to save
money and there's nothing betterthan traveling, and traveling
when you know it's free.
Yeah, that's so good, moreexciting, so good.
Speaker 3 (24:08):
Yeah, I love that.
I just taught my daughter howto use points to and miles to
actually book a flight and shewas like, wait, but then it only
costs $12 plus the miles.
And I was like, yeah, that's socool, exactly.
Speaker 1 (24:24):
You.
It doesn't mean you have toopen up a bunch of cards, but at
least know what card your cardsoffer, and you know there's
some that have better point.
Uh, you know, depending on whatyou're doing, whether you're
eating out or whether you'rebuying groceries or gas, they
all give different, differentvalues.
Speaker 3 (24:41):
So like why not maximize it so you can save for
a new trip?
That's right, yeah, what worksbest for you?
There's so many differentoffers that work.
You just got to decide what'sthe right mix for yourself.
Speaker 1 (24:51):
Yeah exactly Cause the kids will have a different
card, for example, than we mayhave, and so because their goals
and their uh spending habitsare different.
So it just you have to look andsee what you spend more on than
you know.
I obviously like travel, sotravel cards are more attractive
(25:14):
to me.
My mother doesn't really goanywhere, um, she doesn't need
that.
Hers right more on groceries orgas she likes the cash back
yeah.
Yes, exactly, and kids alsolike that.
Speaker 3 (25:25):
Nice.
What's the biggest motivator inyour emptiness life right now?
Speaker 1 (25:30):
I think finding new experiences for myself and my
husband.
Obviously it's fun, it gets megoing and also spending time
with my family and friends.
I really am really trying tohave more meaningful
relationships, spending moretime with them, whether it's
(25:52):
here or on travel.
You know we have a fun group offriends who also like traveling
a lot and I think that's areally fun thing for empty
nesters to do is find peoplethat you kind of align with,
travel wise and go do it, and itcan also be couples.
(26:13):
It could be ladies trips, itcould be guys trips.
I think guys trips are veryunderrated and are very
important.
I don't know if you experiencedany of that but I think it's
really important for men also tobond and connect.
So that's been actuallysomething that has been.
My husband is now, I think,feels like he can kind of engage
(26:40):
in more now that the kids aregone too, and you know he's
having so much fun and doingthings that I wouldn't
necessarily want to do, likehe'll go hike, serious hiking,
you know, like I probably can'thandle that as much, or he'll go
, they'll go skiing, or you know.
So it's.
It's good they come backfeeling refreshed, connected and
(27:02):
just ready to tackle on the new.
You know, work week Everybodyneeds a good break, so I think
that's that's really fun.
I love finding new things for myEmpty Nest followers and I
think it's just I'm just alwayslooking into new things.
(27:23):
I just have so many ideas that Ican't even post them all in
time, but I will be and I'mactually, you know, going to be
gearing up more for 2025.
I think 2025 is going to be abig year, and so you know I'm
going to be actuallyhighlighting more experiences
for empty nesters, whether it'sit's echo travel, slow travel,
(27:51):
um, you know, um, uh, biz, notreally as much business, travel
more for for um pleasure, Iwould say, so you get a break.
But, um, there's so manyexperience, travel that people
can do, um, and a lot of peopleare going and going to shows and
(28:12):
concerts that are not localanymore.
This is a whole new kind ofphenomenon I've noticed too, and
so that's kind of exciting.
So it could be for shows, itcould be for events, it could be
for like a tennis tournament,it could be for literally
anything.
You can make anything, a tripout of anything, and if you've
(28:33):
always said, oh, I wish I coulddo that, well then let's do it.
There's nothing stopping you sogood.
Yeah, I think you know.
We've just got to act on it.
What else are we going to do?
Right Literally we're in thesweet spot of life, right.
Speaker 3 (28:48):
So true Is it.
Speaker 1 (28:50):
We, like you said, we're in that middle ground,
where we are.
You know, the kids just left.
Hopefully we're feeling goodProbably don't have grandkids
yet and hopefully parents arefeeling okay.
You got to grab these moments.
That's the way I feel.
I feel like time is of theessence.
(29:10):
I don't know what it is, but Ijust feel like grab them.
You don't know what's going tohappen tomorrow, and so you want
to do something.
Just get it done.
Speaker 3 (29:19):
Reserve it, get it done.
Yeah, move on and do it.
You had talked about slowtravel and I was reading about
that recently.
Can you talk a little bit moreabout that?
Speaker 1 (29:28):
Well, that's something I also hope to do more
in the future too.
It's more spending, morequality time in a place.
I mean, I think after COVID,everybody was just anxious to
get back to countries and citiesthat they've always wanted to
go to, and so it was just likeboom, boom, boom, I need to go
(29:50):
here, I need to go there, likeyou don't know if you can do it
again because of COVID.
So now things seem to besimmering down.
I think that people are nowwanting to.
Just now, you can.
You can, if you want you, goback to that city but really
savor the time there and reallymaybe get an apartment, maybe
(30:10):
feel like local, maybe hang outat the cafe.
You don't have to go to everysite if you don't want.
It's about experiencing life inthose cities, and I definitely
that's on my list of things todo and would love to spend, you
know, more time there, for sure.
Speaker 3 (30:28):
Yeah, I love that concept.
My wife and I and the kids, wewent to England and Ireland this
summer and we basically did itin about six days and it felt
like, okay, we saw a ton ofthings, but it felt so rushed as
opposed to being able to goback and being like all right,
we're going to spend a week inone place and just like pretend
like we live there.
And exactly what you know, whereare we going to go to dinner
(30:51):
and where are we going to go getcoffee?
And are we going to go see thisyou know museum or this, or are
we just going to hang out inthe park, like whatever it may
be.
It's just like slowing down andI like that concept of slow
travel, so I'm glad that youbrought it up.
It's like we don't have to doall the things so quickly and
you can do the same thing athome.
Speaker 1 (31:13):
Right at home too, right, yeah, you can imply the
concept of slow travel at homeas well, Right, right, no, I, I,
yeah, you can do it at home too, exactly, and just, you know,
you, you get, get in touch, like, start learning about new
neighborhoods, spend more timethere, what it's like to be
there, I think, absolutely, Ithink I think it's great and you
know, I, absolutely.
I think I think it's people and, um, you know, my husband was
(31:35):
going on a guy's trip and, um, Ithought, oh, okay, well, I
guess I'll, I'll just be home,you know.
(32:08):
And then I thought, wait aminute, why am I going to be
sitting home alone, when I couldbe sitting alone in the middle
of Paris?
This is going to be great.
Alone in the middle of Paris,this is going to be great.
And so I was determined to dothat and I did, and that was a
really big step, I think as anempty nester, because never
would I ever feel like I coulddo that.
And I was a French major incollege and study abroad and
(32:29):
couldn't even do that at thattime.
I even had wanted to work inFrance and a job offer in DC
prevented me from doing that.
So I always felt like I hadthis unfinished business of
wanting to go spend a littletime there on my own time, not
having kids with me, not havingmy husband rushing around, and
(32:50):
always, you know, thinking ofwhat he would like to do, my
husband rushing around and I'malways, you know, thinking of
what he would like to do.
I thought, okay, you know,maybe I'll, maybe I'll do that,
and it's, it's a.
It was a daunting idea to go bymyself because nobody was there
at that time that I knew, but Ifelt like I needed to do it and
I think it's a very it's acharacter building thing to be
able to go by yourself and makeyou.
(33:11):
It makes you feel a lot moreindependent and like a true
empty nester, and I did that andit was very exciting.
And I have to say, when it's aweird feeling, you get off the
plane and you're, you're, you'reall you know, walking quickly
off the plane and then yourealize, oh, there's nobody
waiting for me, there's nobodyhere.
(33:32):
I don't even know anyone hereright now and I thought, oh well
, I guess it's my own scheduleand so it takes a little time to
get in the swing of it.
But that is, you know, anotherform of kind of slow travel
where you can go on your ownexperience a city on your own,
whatever city you feelcomfortable doing, but that
(33:54):
you've always wanted to do.
Like it should be about whatyou've always wanted to do,
because there's no other time todo it.
So if that's something that'salways nagged you in the back of
your mind that you oh, I wish Icould do that, just do it.
There's no better exhilaratingfeeling than doing that.
Speaker 3 (34:12):
So good.
Yeah, I have a friend who livesin Florida, but she came up to
like she was switching betweenher career she was retiring out
of one and starting a new careeras a coach.
And she was like you know what?
I'm going to come up to Bostonand I'm going to take a, like a
weekend class at Harvard becauseI can, right.
(34:32):
So I make the point because youdon't have to go to Paris,
right, I love that you did that.
But also let people know thereare things you can do within the
US yes, even closer to home,where you can go and do
something.
Speaker 1 (34:44):
Harvard has a lot of great classes.
Yeah, you can take, as an olderperson, for enrichment in
person, and I know people who'vedone that.
I even know people who rentedapartments there to do that very
same thing.
But you can do it in your owntown and go back to school.
It kind of is fun feeling youknow, but it's again, that would
(35:06):
be something that you've alwayswanted to learn or you know, or
a hobby that you've alwayswanted to do.
Like you want to become apastry chef, go take a class,
you can do it.
You can do anything you putyour mind to doing.
Speaker 3 (35:21):
You just want to do it.
Such a great takeaway.
Speaker 1 (35:23):
Go paint, go take painting class.
Museums even have paintingclasses.
I mean, how exciting is thatyou could take a painting class
in somewhere like Italy?
Speaker 3 (35:35):
Dream big, dream big Right.
And if you can't afford big, dosmall Right Do small, do local,
even a friend.
Speaker 1 (35:44):
I had a friend who did a pastry class she had
trained in Paris.
Such a fun class and it was soit was, she was so good and it
was so delicious.
You know, your friends,actually are these resources
untapped resources?
They have so many talents.
Just ask, right Just ask andthey'll be so happy to show you.
Speaker 3 (36:06):
So good, Susan.
What is your empty nest lifemotto?
Speaker 1 (36:11):
Free as a bird.
It's your time to fly.
I love it and it is.
I mean you are free as a bird.
I mean we have work, obviously,and you have other commitments,
but basically you're not tieddown to the children anymore, so
they you should.
You're free, that's your job,it's your time to fly.
They're flying, so they.
(36:31):
So they're off, doing their own.
You know they're on their ownjourneys, but it's important for
them to see that you are alsoflying high and that you're
doing you know what you love,and not just waiting for them to
call.
We got to show them how it'sdone because they are watching
us.
We're role models right.
Speaker 3 (36:53):
Absolutely, absolutely.
And it's so important toremember too, like in nature, an
empty nest is really an emptynest, right?
The baby birds go, the parentsdo too.
Yes, right, they don't comeback to the same nest.
They go and do stuff they goand do a different part of the
forest, yeah, so yes, exactly,you're right.
Speaker 1 (37:10):
They have other things to do now, not just
sitting in the nest.
Maybe modernemptynestercom andI was.
(37:40):
I'm on Facebook, but I'm notreally focusing on the Facebook
part of it because there wassome unusual activity.
So definitely, instagram rightnow is where it's at and the
website and people can subscribeto the Savvy Nestor newsletter
to hear more from me andmoney-saving tips that they'll
be getting.
That, you know, hopefully isrelevant to their empty nester
(38:03):
life and midlife.
And just stay tuned for muchmore Follow along on Instagram
and there's going to be a lotmore coming up with city guides
and big travel suggestions for2025.
I'm gearing up, I'm going on adeeper dive and I'm so excited
for it.
Speaker 3 (38:24):
So good, susan, thank you for being here.
Speaker 1 (38:26):
Thank you so much for having me.
It's been such a pleasure.
Speaker 2 (38:31):
Are you ready to start living and enjoying your
empty nest years?
If so, head over toJasonRamsdencom and click work
with me to get the conversationstarted.
This Empty Nest Life is aproduction of Impact One Media
LLC.
All rights reserved.
It really doesn't have to be far at all,
especially in the fall.
You know you're up inMassachusetts so many beautiful
places to go see the leavesBeautiful.
I mean you're really close to alot of great towns where you
can really experience the seasonso beautifully.
So I mean we just we got to doit.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Welcome to this Empty Nest Life.
Join Jay Ramsden as he leadsyou on a transformative journey
through the uncharted seas ofmidlife and empty nesting.
If you're ready to embark onthis new adventure and redefine
your future, you're in the rightplace.
Here's your host, the EmptyNest Coach, Jay Ramsden.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
Susan Natari from Modern Empty Nester.
Welcome to the show.
I'm so excited to have you here.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Hi Jay.
Thank you so much for invitingme.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
Oh yeah.
Well, I knew when I like Ithink we crossed paths on
Instagram and I was like, oh, Igotta get to know this person
more and figure out what's goingon and what they're doing.
And I love, like, the ModernEmpty Nester theme.
So tell me, like, how did thatcome to be?
Like, how did you start thatand start doing travel and tips
and that sort of information forpeople in the second half of
(01:12):
life?
Where did it?
Where did it come from?
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Well, you know, I was on Instagram.
I've been, I spent some time onthere and I noticed that a lot
of Instagrammers are really GenZers and I just felt like
there's just something missing.
There's no one that's targetingour age.
There's no one targeting us andas Empty Nesters, you know, it
(01:38):
is really a time where we shouldbe focusing on ourselves.
So, when the kids were leavingthe nest, I'm like I kind of
consider myself a seasoned emptynester.
Now I have three out of thenest.
It's been a while and I knew itwas going to be hard, because I
was someone who left law tospend time with my kids and
(02:03):
really didn't go back for quitea long time because I was so
busy with them.
So I kind of was anticipatingthat, oh, something is going to
change and it's going to be hard.
It's going to be really hardbecause the focus is your kids
for so long.
So I started a business somefriends a wellness business.
(02:25):
I am a wellness coach too, butI just felt like there was still
something more that I wanted todo and I went online and I was
like I don't understand why ourage group isn't represented here
, because, you know, we areactually a missed opportunity
(02:46):
and people who really aren'trepresented enough online.
And I also had heard at thattime like a lot of people who
were very depressed when theybecame empty nesters.
And I thought, you know, Iremember when it was first my
time becoming an empty nester,one of my friends had called me,
(03:06):
it was my birthday.
And she said, she said, oh,you're going to be an empty
nester, it's so great.
And I said what are you talkingabout?
Like, this is gonna be reallyhard, you know.
And she said, no, it's great,you're gonna see, you're gonna
be able to do so many things.
And I thought, hung up thephone and I thought, okay, I
don't, she's crazy, I don't knowwhat she's talking about.
(03:27):
But little by little, I thought,yeah, you know, this is
supposed to be a time wherewe're supposed to be doing
things for ourselves.
And so, little by little,that's what I started to think
of what, what would be good?
And we, we, we can't be, we'renot our parents' generation.
I thought, you know, they makeus feel, so, you know, guilty.
(03:48):
I think, sometimes for doingthings for ourselves, they're
the ones who worked hard, saved,and it was all for retirement.
You didn't do anything untilthen you know, just save, save,
and then retirement comes, andwhen are you going to actually
get to do anything?
You know, maybe you're not evenhealthy at that time, maybe
you're too tired.
(04:08):
So I really think this is thetime that we should be doing
things for ourselves.
I don't know what we're waitingfor, and so that's why I called
it Modern Empty Nesters.
We're not the empty nesters ofour parents' generation sitting
by the phone waiting for us tocall and just sitting home all
(04:33):
the time.
We are busy people.
We've got things to do, placesto go, things to see.
So much to learn still, and youknow we've got to get it done.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
I love that.
Like the concept of modernempty nesters kind of falls into
.
What I talk about with peopleis like we have modeling of life
like all the way through weknow what, going to elementary
school, high school, all thatkind of stuff.
Like we know university,getting married, having kids,
having a job, that's all modeledfor us.
And like even retirement, likeoh, here's what retirement
(05:02):
should look like.
But nobody models like thein-between and that's where you
are with Modern Empty Nesterright, that's where we are in.
Our lives is like we're inbetween.
There's no modeling for whatthat looks like.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
So I love that you're doing that.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
I love that you're showing people like here are
things you can do and you makeit simple, right.
What I appreciate is likeyou're in the DMV right DC,
maryland, virginia and you'renot like off like in Europe
doing stuff.
You're popping into DC oryou're popping into like
different places in Maryland or,you know, down to North
Carolina.
(05:36):
Like you make it simple, it'snot extravagant.
So I try to do that, yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
I try to do that.
I mean, of course, sometimes,you know, luke's travel is good.
We all have a little luxury inour lives, including myself, so
you'll see some of that, and Ithink we deserve it, because we
have done a lot.
We've spent 18 years, you know,raising our kids and putting
them first.
So you know we really need tostop feeling guilty for doing
(06:04):
things for ourselves and ingetting it done.
But it all doesn't have to beexpensive, and so we obviously
have retirement, you know, downthe road.
So we don't want to.
We want to have a nice, healthymix of things to do, and it
could be, you know, an excitingtrip to Europe.
It could be a walk in your city, you know, down the street, and
(06:28):
you discover so much, and it'ssomething that we kind of take
for granted sometimes.
I mean, we live here, where I'min Northern Virginia, near DC,
just 20 minutes away, and youknow, sometimes you know I'll
say to my husband OK, let's gofor a walk, but like we always
walk in the neighborhood, butwhy don't we walk in DC?
So like we'll go, walk and walkand walk and discover so much
(06:52):
about our own cities that wedidn't even know existed.
And so you pick differentneighborhoods, different parks,
different aspects that you wantto hit.
A new museum exhibit comes up,let's walk in, let's's go.
And it's so fun, it's so fun tobe spontaneous, and I think you
know that's really what weshould be doing, because I mean,
(07:13):
I don't just when we sit athome sometimes I get so restless
, I'm like, oh my god, we'rewasting time.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
You know, we gotta go yeah, what for people who
aren't necessarily spontaneous?
Right, because I know there's alot of people out there who are
.
But some people are like, oh, Idon't know about that, just be
like you said going for a walk,doing something simple.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
If the weather's nice , go sit outside and have dinner
outside somewhere.
Take advantage of the simplethings that are around you.
I know it's hard to bespontaneous as an empty nester,
especially a new one.
You couldn't do that before,you never could.
You couldn't just go out on aweeknight if you wanted to.
But guess what?
(08:10):
Now you can.
Your friends are your friends,call you to say, hey, let's,
let's have a ladies night.
You can say, yes, you're like,oh okay, let's do it, you know.
Or let's go to a movie.
Or let's like oh okay, let's doit, you know, or let's go to a
movie, or let's.
It's such a strange feeling atfirst because we really couldn't
do that, and if we did we feltso guilty.
(08:31):
So it's really really importantto start doing that.
And then, once you take thefirst step and the plunge to
doing things like that, oh mygosh, it's such a good feeling,
such a good feeling Like.
I guess I can give you a veryextreme example of spontaneity
where last year, friends of ours, we were supposed to go on a
(08:55):
trip to Florida and a hurricanehad hit and it had closed, and
so I was half joking, half notsaying to them what if we just
went to brains, to champagne,because I was like I don't know
why it was on my mind, I waskind of joking but it.
(09:16):
But then we did it.
They said okay.
I was like, oh, okay, and itwas such a fun feeling to be
like that.
That's obviously extravagant,and we were lucky that we could
afford to do that.
But it doesn't have to beFrance, it could be anywhere.
And it's just the fact that wejust said, okay, let's do it.
(09:37):
We just shifted gears to acompletely different idea and it
was so fun.
We felt so I don't know likerebellious in a way that we did
that and we just and we didsomething for ourselves and it
was one of the best trips.
We had a really good time and,um, a great experience, so I
(09:57):
highly recommend it.
And it was even on an off timeuh, in december, not your
typical time to go, so you mightsee a post of mine um christmas
time in champagna, but it waslike christmas markets were
there.
Um, it's only 45 minutes fromfrom paris, so there are.
You just have to think a littlebit out of the box doesn't have
(10:19):
to be a lot and just say yes,and you will feel so exhilarated
because you did something foryourself yeah, say yes, and
you'll feel exhilarated.
I love it I love.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
That's a huge takeaway and I, yeah, get in the
car or hop on.
I know there's lots of placesaccessible by train.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
Hop on the train, go one, stop it doesn't have to be
up on the amtrak go one stop andexplore a new city.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
Doesn't have to be far Up on the Amtrak.
Go one stop and explore a newcity.
It doesn't have to take a lotof time.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
It really doesn't have to be far at all,
especially in the fall.
You know you're up inMassachusetts so many beautiful
places to go see the leavesBeautiful.
I mean you're really close to alot of you know great towns
where you can really experiencethe season so beautifully.
Here we see the same.
(11:05):
So I mean we just we've got todo it.
Speaker 3 (11:09):
We've got to do it.
Yeah, like actually go and doit.
I'm curious what's one placethat you want to go to that you
haven't gone to yet?
Speaker 1 (11:16):
Oh gosh, I have so many places that I want to go.
I mean, I tend to, I would loveto do more national parks.
I always like, tend to, I wouldlove to do more national parks.
(11:47):
I do, I always like, want to goto Europe and stuff.
But national parks aresomething that I would think is
we have so many beautiful placeshere in the United States that
we really something toexperience.
But the window of time is notthat great, so you kind of have
to be a more of an advancedplanner for that one um, so that
would be really exciting.
Um, a lot of exciting tripscoming up in 2025.
You'll see later, but you knowit is um, there there's a lot.
There's always.
There's always somewhere new,there's always something
exciting new.
(12:08):
And I, I I did even drive crosscountry um once, actually sort
of semi-spontaneous trip, wherea friend had to bring her son's
car across the country and Isaid you know, maybe I'll, maybe
I'll join you in the car.
You know, I was like a newempty nester and, um, we had the
(12:29):
best time, it was such a greattime and we actually had to do
it only in a week, so it wasn't,you know, as much time as we'd
even want to, but so much toexplore, even in the car.
I love road trips.
I love them.
You feel so free and it's justlike what a great feeling.
You don't know where you'regoing to end up.
Speaker 3 (12:46):
That's right.
That's a.
That's a great.
I think that's another greatInstagram thing.
Right, empty nest road tripright, somebody can hop onto
that and start start workingthrough empty nest road trip.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
So much to post.
I just, I just can't even takeit, there's so much information
to share.
Speaker 3 (13:02):
When I think about, like the spontaneity, or even
just like travel, like what's acouple of travel tips that
you've learned in your work thatmay be helpful for other people
to know.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
You mean for international or domestic?
Speaker 3 (13:15):
No, just the domestic travel tips or things that you
picked up along the way, evenjust doing stuff locally.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
Well, I would say, look online to see what current
exhibits are coming.
There's always something new.
There's so many excitingexhibits that you wouldn't even
realize unless you startresearching what's happening in
your own town, and so that's thefirst step.
(13:43):
Right there there could be anew restaurant that just opened
and I love to go.
You know, catch them, if I can.
When they first open, I kindlike not so new anymore, but, um
, I think it's really exciting.
(14:06):
And and when that happens andum, so that's like just in your
own town there's a lot to do.
Um, where you can, I meaninternationally, you know, first
of all, you want to um checkyour passport first.
Obviously you have to make sureit's not going to expire soon.
That's one thing.
Make sure your names match yourreservation, especially women
(14:33):
with their maiden names.
This has happened to me,actually, and I actually
couldn't even get on a cruiseonce because of that.
The travel agent used anothername, my married name, but my
passport didn't have that, andso it was a big, big mess.
So make sure names match yourIDs, because sometimes other
(14:56):
people are doing thereservations, whether it's a
travel agent.
So you want to always doublecheck that.
Bring a portable charger.
I think that's so important.
I've been on the streets ofParis by myself and all of a
sudden the phone died.
That was my map.
I didn't have the portablecharger charged up enough to
(15:18):
have it go, so it kind of cutsinto your time.
You know that way.
So there are lots of littletips here and there Don't
overpack, and wear good shoes.
Wear good shoes.
I'm a classic overpacker myself.
So you know I'm starting tolearn little by little.
(15:40):
Start tearing it down, becausesometimes when you travel,
especially abroad, you might bein an apartment where the
stairwell is narrow or it's toomany stairs to carry a heavy
suitcase, especially if there'sno one to help you.
So there's so many, there'sjust so much out there so many
(16:00):
different tips.
Speaker 3 (16:01):
Yeah, travel to Europe on a carry on.
You can make it work.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
Yeah, that's my goal.
Speaker 3 (16:06):
That's your goal.
Yeah, I love that that you likethink about the different
things that people may need, andyou talk about that a lot, I
think, in your, in yourInstagram, like you even have, I
think, lots of tips andinformation and gear.
I think I saw travel gear, yes,on your page as well.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
And also things that you can use on a plane that
would make especially longertrips on a plane more
comfortable, the more long haulflights.
So, because there's a lot ofplaces we want to see, right, we
won't want to just stay locally.
If we can afford it and areable to do it, some places are
across the world and the flightsare long.
(16:45):
So we got to.
We want to be comfortable.
I mean we at this point in ourlives, to me, comfort is number
one.
I think we deserve it and Ithink you know that's why I,
like I love actuallyhighlighting products that will
make people's lives a littlemore easy, a little more
comfortable and um, you know,just kind of um.
(17:10):
And then that's what I do, I, I, I try to research top quality
and align myself with goodquality companies with high
quality products that are goingto really help.
I'm not going to.
I only recommend what I loveand um and have used for the
most part as well, and so Ithink it is um, it's so
(17:32):
important and I hopefully it'shelpful in saving people time
and money.
That's what I try, that's good.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
What's what's like your number one of comfort thing
that you have to have with youwhen you travel?
Speaker 1 (17:43):
Oh well, if I'm on a plane, for example, I always
have to have some kind of asweatshirt, pullover something
for the plane.
They're always cold.
You've got to have something inyour bag, no matter what, and I
like soft things because I wantto feel cozy on the plane.
(18:03):
So like some kind of softpullovers, you know, sweater,
sweatshirt, I don't care what itis, but this is the number one
thing.
There's nothing worse thanbeing cold on the plane.
I can't take that.
Speaker 3 (18:16):
Yeah, especially since they don't do blankets
anymore on planes.
It's really hard to get ablanket on a plane unless you're
sitting up front.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
I always bring an extra set of clothes in my
carry-on too, because you neverknow, sometimes your luggage can
be lost, and this has happenedalso, so you want to be sure to
have something with you, just incase.
Or maybe you're on the planeand there's turbulence and your
(18:43):
drink spills all over you.
I mean, what a disaster.
You don't want to sit there forhours with wet clothes, so it's
always good to have an extra,you know, something with you
just in case Such good advice.
And headphones.
Headphones are really important.
Noise canceling I've learned bymy lesson.
I was near crying baby recently.
(19:04):
No one loves babies more thanme, I'm all about it, but not
necessarily when they're nearyou, and so you know, I I I've
had like the little earphones,but my husband was sitting
pretty with his noise cancelingheadphones.
So of course, after that I gota pair for myself and I actually
did a review on on the websiteUm of of.
(19:27):
I highlighted the top onesbecause people have different,
you know, tastes and opinions onwhat they want.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
Yeah, what's your go-to noise canceling headphones
?
Speaker 1 (19:37):
Um, I like Bose.
I think Bose is pretty good.
But um, uh, I think Bose ispretty good, but I'm not going
to lie.
I just recently was in theApple store and saw the new
Apple ones and I was like oof,those look nice.
So, you know, I you can't haveeverything and you, you know you
can get something also on, likea black Friday sale or
something or any of those.
These are great times to takeadvantage of that, because you
(20:01):
can actually find some good,good deals.
Speaker 3 (20:03):
Good deals.
Yeah, I'm not sure when thisepisode will drop, but you know
we're it's October.
This could drop in November,right before Black Friday, as a
good reminder.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
Well, there's always a good sale at some point, and I
try to highlight them if theycome up, because sometimes it's
a good time to grab some ofthose travel essentials that you
need.
Speaker 3 (20:23):
I love that.
What's like one thing you wishfor your future self.
Right, we're in this era rightnow where we're taking advantage
of everything.
Right, you're like highlightingthat take advantage of
emptiness life.
I do the same thing, but what'sone thing that, when you look
forward like, what do you wishfor your future self?
Speaker 1 (20:39):
Well, I mean, I always wish for good health,
because if I don't have goodhealth, I can't do, I can't live
life on my own terms, right?
So we have to take a good careof ourselves as best as we can,
eat well, stay active and andjust do the best you can,
because that is obviously thenumber one.
(21:01):
Can't be traveling too much ifyou don't feel well.
So, um, you know that's, Iwould say that's the number one
thing, um, but then, you know,hopefully new experiences will
come along and, um, you know,I'd love to write more.
Maybe.
You know, go back and dosomething meaningful and long
(21:25):
you never more collabs, just somany things.
I can't even tell you.
I have so many.
I'm like one of those peoplewho has so many ideas, so you
never know what's going to comenext.
Speaker 3 (21:36):
I love that.
Do you?
Do you offer legal advice onyour site with travel?
Speaker 1 (21:41):
No, I don't, but actually that is something that
I was thinking that I wouldfocus on more in 2025.
Maybe knowing some of yourlegal rights for travel, because
I think this has come up nowquite a lot, where there's been
a lot of canceled flights, youknow, and due to weather or due
(22:05):
to data breaches or due to otherthings, and so I think it would
be nice to highlight some ofthose things as well, because
you you just don't.
You know you need to be armedand know what your rights are.
Right, and it'd be nice to justhave something where you could
just click this is it?
Speaker 3 (22:24):
Yeah, like in a nutshell, here's the thing.
If you're a modern empty nesterand you're traveling, here's
the go-to tips for yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:30):
Even for myself.
I mean, like this is great.
I love researching things Likethat's.
That's what.
I just research thingssometimes a little too much, but
I want to know that I've gottenthe best thing or going.
(22:51):
I want to find the best placesto go see, go eat, you know, go
visit and experience.
So, um, that's also somethingelse that you know we need to
know is what are our rights?
What makes life easier as atraveler?
You know I don't like standingalong lines anymore.
I don't have that kind ofpatience, and so you know we
want to, we want to speed thingsup, you know.
(23:12):
Plus, I also think it's nice tolearn about how we can save
money and travel.
How can we maximize our pointson credit cards for free travel,
getting free upgrades?
It's surprising that actually alot of people don't really read
a lot of the fine print of whattheir card offers.
There's so many things that canthat you know it actually does.
(23:35):
So I'm going to be highlightingthat more.
I do do some of that in theSavvy Nestor newsletter that I
also have, and you know, ifanyone wants to subscribe, it's
on the website but and it's onInstagram, but I do money saving
tips on that, and some of it ison travel and on how to
(23:56):
maximize value for travel,because we all want to save
money and there's nothing betterthan traveling, and traveling
when you know it's free.
Yeah, that's so good, moreexciting, so good.
Speaker 3 (24:08):
Yeah, I love that.
I just taught my daughter howto use points to and miles to
actually book a flight and shewas like, wait, but then it only
costs $12 plus the miles.
And I was like, yeah, that's socool, exactly.
Speaker 1 (24:24):
You.
It doesn't mean you have toopen up a bunch of cards, but at
least know what card your cardsoffer, and you know there's
some that have better point.
Uh, you know, depending on whatyou're doing, whether you're
eating out or whether you'rebuying groceries or gas, they
all give different, differentvalues.
Speaker 3 (24:41):
So like why not maximize it so you can save for
a new trip?
That's right, yeah, what worksbest for you?
There's so many differentoffers that work.
You just got to decide what'sthe right mix for yourself.
Speaker 1 (24:51):
Yeah exactly Cause the kids will have a different
card, for example, than we mayhave, and so because their goals
and their uh spending habitsare different.
So it just you have to look andsee what you spend more on than
you know.
I obviously like travel, sotravel cards are more attractive
(25:14):
to me.
My mother doesn't really goanywhere, um, she doesn't need
that.
Hers right more on groceries orgas she likes the cash back
yeah.
Yes, exactly, and kids alsolike that.
Speaker 3 (25:25):
Nice.
What's the biggest motivator inyour emptiness life right now?
Speaker 1 (25:30):
I think finding new experiences for myself and my
husband.
Obviously it's fun, it gets megoing and also spending time
with my family and friends.
I really am really trying tohave more meaningful
relationships, spending moretime with them, whether it's
(25:52):
here or on travel.
You know we have a fun group offriends who also like traveling
a lot and I think that's areally fun thing for empty
nesters to do is find peoplethat you kind of align with,
travel wise and go do it, and itcan also be couples.
(26:13):
It could be ladies trips, itcould be guys trips.
I think guys trips are veryunderrated and are very
important.
I don't know if you experiencedany of that but I think it's
really important for men also tobond and connect.
So that's been actuallysomething that has been.
My husband is now, I think,feels like he can kind of engage
(26:40):
in more now that the kids aregone too, and you know he's
having so much fun and doingthings that I wouldn't
necessarily want to do, likehe'll go hike, serious hiking,
you know, like I probably can'thandle that as much, or he'll go
, they'll go skiing, or you know.
So it's.
It's good they come backfeeling refreshed, connected and
(27:02):
just ready to tackle on the new.
You know, work week Everybodyneeds a good break, so I think
that's that's really fun.
I love finding new things for myEmpty Nest followers and I
think it's just I'm just alwayslooking into new things.
(27:23):
I just have so many ideas that Ican't even post them all in
time, but I will be and I'mactually, you know, going to be
gearing up more for 2025.
I think 2025 is going to be abig year, and so you know I'm
going to be actuallyhighlighting more experiences
for empty nesters, whether it'sit's echo travel, slow travel,
(27:51):
um, you know, um, uh, biz, notreally as much business, travel
more for for um pleasure, Iwould say, so you get a break.
But, um, there's so manyexperience, travel that people
can do, um, and a lot of peopleare going and going to shows and
(28:12):
concerts that are not localanymore.
This is a whole new kind ofphenomenon I've noticed too, and
so that's kind of exciting.
So it could be for shows, itcould be for events, it could be
for like a tennis tournament,it could be for literally
anything.
You can make anything, a tripout of anything, and if you've
(28:33):
always said, oh, I wish I coulddo that, well then let's do it.
There's nothing stopping you sogood.
Yeah, I think you know.
We've just got to act on it.
What else are we going to do?
Right Literally we're in thesweet spot of life, right.
Speaker 3 (28:48):
So true Is it.
Speaker 1 (28:50):
We, like you said, we're in that middle ground,
where we are.
You know, the kids just left.
Hopefully we're feeling goodProbably don't have grandkids
yet and hopefully parents arefeeling okay.
You got to grab these moments.
That's the way I feel.
I feel like time is of theessence.
(29:10):
I don't know what it is, but Ijust feel like grab them.
You don't know what's going tohappen tomorrow, and so you want
to do something.
Just get it done.
Speaker 3 (29:19):
Reserve it, get it done.
Yeah, move on and do it.
You had talked about slowtravel and I was reading about
that recently.
Can you talk a little bit moreabout that?
Speaker 1 (29:28):
Well, that's something I also hope to do more
in the future too.
It's more spending, morequality time in a place.
I mean, I think after COVID,everybody was just anxious to
get back to countries and citiesthat they've always wanted to
go to, and so it was just likeboom, boom, boom, I need to go
(29:50):
here, I need to go there, likeyou don't know if you can do it
again because of COVID.
So now things seem to besimmering down.
I think that people are nowwanting to.
Just now, you can.
You can, if you want you, goback to that city but really
savor the time there and reallymaybe get an apartment, maybe
(30:10):
feel like local, maybe hang outat the cafe.
You don't have to go to everysite if you don't want.
It's about experiencing life inthose cities, and I definitely
that's on my list of things todo and would love to spend, you
know, more time there, for sure.
Speaker 3 (30:28):
Yeah, I love that concept.
My wife and I and the kids, wewent to England and Ireland this
summer and we basically did itin about six days and it felt
like, okay, we saw a ton ofthings, but it felt so rushed as
opposed to being able to goback and being like all right,
we're going to spend a week inone place and just like pretend
like we live there.
And exactly what you know, whereare we going to go to dinner
(30:51):
and where are we going to go getcoffee?
And are we going to go see thisyou know museum or this, or are
we just going to hang out inthe park, like whatever it may
be.
It's just like slowing down andI like that concept of slow
travel, so I'm glad that youbrought it up.
It's like we don't have to doall the things so quickly and
you can do the same thing athome.
Speaker 1 (31:13):
Right at home too, right, yeah, you can imply the
concept of slow travel at homeas well, Right, right, no, I, I,
yeah, you can do it at home too, exactly, and just, you know,
you, you get, get in touch, like, start learning about new
neighborhoods, spend more timethere, what it's like to be
there, I think, absolutely, Ithink I think it's great and you
know, I, absolutely.
I think I think it's people and, um, you know, my husband was
(31:35):
going on a guy's trip and, um, Ithought, oh, okay, well, I
guess I'll, I'll just be home,you know.
(32:08):
And then I thought, wait aminute, why am I going to be
sitting home alone, when I couldbe sitting alone in the middle
of Paris?
This is going to be great.
Alone in the middle of Paris,this is going to be great.
And so I was determined to dothat and I did, and that was a
really big step, I think as anempty nester, because never
would I ever feel like I coulddo that.
And I was a French major incollege and study abroad and
(32:29):
couldn't even do that at thattime.
I even had wanted to work inFrance and a job offer in DC
prevented me from doing that.
So I always felt like I hadthis unfinished business of
wanting to go spend a littletime there on my own time, not
having kids with me, not havingmy husband rushing around, and
(32:50):
always, you know, thinking ofwhat he would like to do, my
husband rushing around and I'malways, you know, thinking of
what he would like to do.
I thought, okay, you know,maybe I'll, maybe I'll do that,
and it's, it's a.
It was a daunting idea to go bymyself because nobody was there
at that time that I knew, but Ifelt like I needed to do it and
I think it's a very it's acharacter building thing to be
able to go by yourself and makeyou.
(33:11):
It makes you feel a lot moreindependent and like a true
empty nester, and I did that andit was very exciting.
And I have to say, when it's aweird feeling, you get off the
plane and you're, you're, you'reall you know, walking quickly
off the plane and then yourealize, oh, there's nobody
waiting for me, there's nobodyhere.
(33:32):
I don't even know anyone hereright now and I thought, oh well
, I guess it's my own scheduleand so it takes a little time to
get in the swing of it.
But that is, you know, anotherform of kind of slow travel
where you can go on your ownexperience a city on your own,
whatever city you feelcomfortable doing, but that
(33:54):
you've always wanted to do.
Like it should be about whatyou've always wanted to do,
because there's no other time todo it.
So if that's something that'salways nagged you in the back of
your mind that you oh, I wish Icould do that, just do it.
There's no better exhilaratingfeeling than doing that.
Speaker 3 (34:12):
So good.
Yeah, I have a friend who livesin Florida, but she came up to
like she was switching betweenher career she was retiring out
of one and starting a new careeras a coach.
And she was like you know what?
I'm going to come up to Bostonand I'm going to take a, like a
weekend class at Harvard becauseI can, right.
(34:32):
So I make the point because youdon't have to go to Paris,
right, I love that you did that.
But also let people know thereare things you can do within the
US yes, even closer to home,where you can go and do
something.
Speaker 1 (34:44):
Harvard has a lot of great classes.
Yeah, you can take, as an olderperson, for enrichment in
person, and I know people who'vedone that.
I even know people who rentedapartments there to do that very
same thing.
But you can do it in your owntown and go back to school.
It kind of is fun feeling youknow, but it's again, that would
(35:06):
be something that you've alwayswanted to learn or you know, or
a hobby that you've alwayswanted to do.
Like you want to become apastry chef, go take a class,
you can do it.
You can do anything you putyour mind to doing.
Speaker 3 (35:21):
You just want to do it.
Such a great takeaway.
Speaker 1 (35:23):
Go paint, go take painting class.
Museums even have paintingclasses.
I mean, how exciting is thatyou could take a painting class
in somewhere like Italy?
Speaker 3 (35:35):
Dream big, dream big Right.
And if you can't afford big, dosmall Right Do small, do local,
even a friend.
Speaker 1 (35:44):
I had a friend who did a pastry class she had
trained in Paris.
Such a fun class and it was soit was, she was so good and it
was so delicious.
You know, your friends,actually are these resources
untapped resources?
They have so many talents.
Just ask, right Just ask andthey'll be so happy to show you.
Speaker 3 (36:06):
So good, Susan.
What is your empty nest lifemotto?
Speaker 1 (36:11):
Free as a bird.
It's your time to fly.
I love it and it is.
I mean you are free as a bird.
I mean we have work, obviously,and you have other commitments,
but basically you're not tieddown to the children anymore, so
they you should.
You're free, that's your job,it's your time to fly.
They're flying, so they.
(36:31):
So they're off, doing their own.
You know they're on their ownjourneys, but it's important for
them to see that you are alsoflying high and that you're
doing you know what you love,and not just waiting for them to
call.
We got to show them how it'sdone because they are watching
us.
We're role models right.
Speaker 3 (36:53):
Absolutely, absolutely.
And it's so important toremember too, like in nature, an
empty nest is really an emptynest, right?
The baby birds go, the parentsdo too.
Yes, right, they don't comeback to the same nest.
They go and do stuff they goand do a different part of the
forest, yeah, so yes, exactly,you're right.
Speaker 1 (37:10):
They have other things to do now, not just
sitting in the nest.
Maybe modernemptynestercom andI was.
(37:40):
I'm on Facebook, but I'm notreally focusing on the Facebook
part of it because there wassome unusual activity.
So definitely, instagram rightnow is where it's at and the
website and people can subscribeto the Savvy Nestor newsletter
to hear more from me andmoney-saving tips that they'll
be getting.
That, you know, hopefully isrelevant to their empty nester
(38:03):
life and midlife.
And just stay tuned for muchmore Follow along on Instagram
and there's going to be a lotmore coming up with city guides
and big travel suggestions for2025.
I'm gearing up, I'm going on adeeper dive and I'm so excited
for it.
Speaker 3 (38:24):
So good, susan, thank you for being here.
Speaker 1 (38:26):
Thank you so much for having me.
It's been such a pleasure.
Speaker 2 (38:31):
Are you ready to start living and enjoying your
empty nest years?
If so, head over toJasonRamsdencom and click work
with me to get the conversationstarted.
This Empty Nest Life is aproduction of Impact One Media
LLC.
All rights reserved.
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