Falling in Love in Colombia

Joined this week by fellow Canadian and backpacker Meadow to discuss her time volunteering in northern Colombia. Including:

• Ditching the family to keep traveling
• Living a "reality tv" existence
• The moment she realized there was another Canadian at the hostel
• Spending a night in Tayrona National Park
• Falling in love in Palomino
• & much more!

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
A high right welcoming on our next guest to the podcast.
I met this homegrown Canadian Butte at the Valley Hostel and
Columbia. She was volunteering at the time
and hadn't seen a fellow Canadian in months.
We enjoyed reminiscing about ourhome country and our upbringing.
We also spent a couple days out in Tayrona Park, including a

(00:20):
night I surely will never forget.
Hint, it involves shrooms and one epic sunset.
The adventure seeking outdoor enthusiast.
Proudly Canadian. That was such a good intro.
I feel honored. That was really great.
Stay there, you rather like. Hi, guys.

(00:45):
OK, where do you want me to start?
What do we where do? We go well.
Well, before we start with anything, we do a segment that I
call speed round questions just to warm you up a little bit.
Are you familiar with this? I did listen to when your most
recent podcast today. I felt like I had to be somewhat
prepared. So yes, I am familiar.
OK, perfect, Perfect. Then we'll start her off right

(01:08):
away. Are you ready?
Yeah. OK, happy to be home.
I wish you were traveling. Um, a bit of both.
I do have another truck coming up, so I'm happy to be home for
the moment. OK, uh, volunteer or vacation
traveler? Volunteer, definitely.
Latino or Canuck? Ohe God.

(01:32):
Um, I'm gonna have to say Latino.
All you cut out for a second. What did you say?
I'm sorry, I'm gonna have to sayLatino.
OHP, there you go. There you go.
Bogota or Magician? Bogota.
Ah, really? OK, we'll get into.
That unpopular opinion but I loved Bogota.

(01:53):
Interesting. OK Tayrona Park or beautiful BC.
Probably BC I did love Tarona but.
Now BC is home, I get it. Fluent in Spanish or fluent in
Spanglish? I'd say I'm pretty fluent in in
Spanish. Yeah, yeah, I'd say you're
pretty good. Uh, salsa nights are

(02:14):
discotheque. Salsa.
Slow down or see everything. See everything?
Beecher Mountains. A beach across the mountains.
A beach OK for that one. That Alpine lake, as long as

(02:37):
there's water involved. OK, fair enough, fair enough.
That one gets everyone cause it's hard to pick one.
Immerse yourself in the culture or stay on the gringo trail.
Immersed in the culture, definitely.
Hell yeah, absolutely, Absolutely.
I saw some of those videos on Instagram.
Alright, well, first questions Iwant to ask you is 1, where are

(02:58):
you right now? And two, what are you doing?
Right now I'm back at home. I'm from BC as you know.
I am living in Nelson, BC right now, but I'm actually staying at
my parents in a really small town an hour outside of Nelson
so hanging out here for the moment.

(03:18):
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just hanging out, working,
working away, saving for the next trip.
Yeah, So I'm working. I do have it is still in BC.
It's a sailing trip that I'm going on across like Thinker
Island and then I'm going to university in the fall, so.
All big move is big moves. OK, so tell me a little bit

(03:39):
about this sailing trip. How many days?
Where exactly are you going? Everyone's sailing right now.
The last interview was talking about sailing too.
Uh, so yeah, I start in Victoriaand I'm going, um, around
Vancouver Island. So I'm starting like on the
inside, going to the top and then back down and it's about 12
days I believe. While these OK and are you doing

(04:01):
the sailing or are you just likesun tanning on top just living
life to the fullest. I'm, I'm doing the sailing, so
I've never sailed before, have never been on a sailboat.
And so we show up, they give us a bit of training and then send
us all out on the boat. And so it's a group of, I think
that around like 20 other people, it's a pretty big boat.
You have 20 other people, we're all learning how to sail for the

(04:23):
first time. And it's a bunch of other like
18 to 25 year olds I believe it is.
So I'm pretty stoked about it. Oh great.
So when we see in the news that there's a bunch of sailboats
that went down around Vancouver Island, we know who it was.
Do you know anyone else in the group going or is this all just
yeah, OK, I'll strangers. Yeah.
Solo. Hell yeah.

(04:44):
Well, that sounds, sounds like agood time to me.
I mean, hopefully it's better than my experience, that's for
sure. Like everyone's already heard
about that. So we don't need to we don't
need to go into that. But anyways, for everyone
listening, you and I met in the at the Valley Hostel, right?
And you were volunteering at thetime.
So I was hoping you can kind of go into how the heck did you end

(05:04):
up there of all places? And why?
Why did you want to volunteer? So, um, I was there for a month
and this was like near Terra in a park on the Caribbean coast.
I found the volunteering thing through World Packers.
And so my entire trip to Colombia was very spontaneous.

(05:25):
I was there for two weeks with my parents and then just didn't
get all my flight back home and so.
I did. OK.
I like that. Yeah.
See you guys. I'm actually gonna stick around
for a little bit. I'll see you.
Back yeah. So I didn't have a ton of money
saved at the time. And so I was like really, really
budget backpacking, which was why I did so many of like those

(05:46):
volunteer things. And so I was just ending my last
volunteer trip near medicine andI was like desperately looking
for my next place to go because I knew I couldn't afford to stay
at a hostel for like another twoweeks until like my trip ended
or another month or until I figured it out.
So I was like insanely like looking every day on world

(06:07):
Packers trying to find my next trip.
So I did apply with the valley and they said, well, we can only
have you for two weeks in two weeks from now.
And so I just accepted it because I had nothing else.
And then last minute I was goingto spend some extra time in
Palomino. Last minute.
They were like, hey, actually someone pulled out.
You can start right now. So I ended up staying there for

(06:29):
a month and that was kind of theend of my trip.
I blew out right after that. But yeah, it was so much fun as
you know, like I was bartending there.
I worked in the kitchen and the BBQ like a few times so.
I let loose terms work in the kitchen and BBQ.
From what I remember you usuallygot out of those shifts, but.

(06:52):
I did. I did.
They, I was really good on the bar.
So they kept scheduling me to work on the bar.
And then like the few days that I like was in the kitchen, I was
able to switch with other peoplewho preferred being in the
kitchen. And then, yeah, So I think the
entire time that I was there, I think I worked in the kitchen
maybe two or three times and then the BBQ once.

(07:15):
And I was there for a month so. Crazy crazy crazy.
Can I have so many questions butFirst off this website can you
mention it one more time and howdoes it work like do you have to
sign U? Is there a membership?
Is it free? Like you create an account and
then you just apply like. No, it's called World Packers
and you basically like create a profile out a whole bunch of

(07:36):
stuff about you and it's really easy to start.
Even if you've had like 0 volunteer experience, you do
have to pay a membership. It's like a once a year thing.
I think it was around 60 USD to pay for.
It. So it is expensive but then if
you like how it works is you apply to places to volunteer and

(07:57):
you'll work a couple hours a week but they will give you.
Everyone has different benefits but usually it's free
accommodation. Some places have free meals.
On the Valley hostel was free accommodation and free meals and
then we also got discounts on parties.
Um, so yeah, every volunteer experience will have like
different, um, like pros I guessto.

(08:19):
Yeah, yeah. Oh, for sure.
Well, I know, like that's a big plus right as you're, you're
volunteering your time and we'lltalk about like a bit more on
what you did and how much time you're actually working.
But in exchange you get the freecommendation, the free, the free
meals is huge because usually free accommodation, like if
you're in South America, it's not a ton of money, but the
three meals a day like that addsup quick.
So that's a that's a huge bonus.Yeah, yeah, yeah.

(08:42):
But how many? How many hours are you doing a
day, and how many days a week did you have to volunteer?
So at the Valley I was doing 6 hours a day and I was doing five
days a week. And yeah, some of my shifts
would be split up. So sometimes I would work from
7:00 to 12:00 or whatever six hours from 7:00 AM is.

(09:05):
No, that's that's five hours. OK.
And that yeah, it was 6 to 1. And then sometimes, like when I
was working at the bar in the morning, we'd like make coffees.
It was like a a coffee bar. I would work 7:00 to 10:00 and
then 12:00 to 3:00. So I had like a couple hours in
between. And I love that because I was in

(09:27):
the sun the entire time. I would like work and I would go
tan in the sun for two hours andthen come back to work.
I loved it. I got so tanned.
But. So most places it's like 4 to 6
hours a day and then four to five days a week.
OK, OK, yeah, six hours is pretty involved.
Well, it looks like you lost the10, unfortunately, so you're
gonna have to get back out thereand that good old Canadian

(09:48):
summer, but the the lights just shining right off you.
But it might just be the blonde though, you know, It might just
be that. Actually just did fake tan so
this is kind of embarrassing. Oht no.
OK, well you might need a couplemore.

(10:10):
All good. So, um, on your time off of the
Valley Hostel, what were you doing?
Like were you going out for excursions?
Were you kind of just chilling the hustle and tan and getting
to know people? Were you doing on the off days?
There was always so much to do. There was some really cool, like
cafes and restaurants, Markaba, which you know, they were like a
jungle, like Sir Bar, we went there.

(10:31):
There was quite a few like cool waterfalls and like short little
hikes. So these really cool
destinations that we do. And there was tons of beaches
near by. There was Tairona Park obviously
that we did get to see on a few of our off days.
We did due to a day trip to Palomino.

(10:51):
Yeah, the close beach town. And yeah, there is always
something to do. And then, yeah, there was
obviously like the really big parties, like Rio Hostile was
about like 3045 minutes away. So we'd always schedule.
We'd everyone would try and schedule their day off the next
day of the big Rio hostel. Of course, but someone's getting

(11:14):
left with the shitty shift, right?
So yeah. The the 7:00 AM shift and
usually they just don't sleep. They go straight from Rio hostel
to work. Yeah, you're better off not
sleeping and we'll get into thatbecause that just sounds like
pure chaos. And I'm honestly glad I skipped
it but backtracked into your time there.
So I can you remind me actually,because I totally forget.
It feels so long ago now, but what area is Tyrone actually or

(11:38):
not Tayrona Valley Hostel actually in?
So it's on the Caribbean coast near Santa Marta.
So it's about an hour outside bybus near Santa Marta.
And then it's in the middle of nowhere in the jungle.
So as you remember, like you'd get off the bus and then you
could either walk up and like literally have to cross a river

(12:00):
or you could take a motorcycle taxi and they would like drive
you way up the mountain to this hostel.
And my first, like when I showedup, I did take the taxi because
it was like just a long travel day.
It was a 23 hour travel day by bus or 25 actually, sorry, 25
hours from bus because I was coming from medicine and it was

(12:23):
too broke to pay for flights. And so it was like a long travel
day. I was like, I'm going to pay the
$4.00 it is to take the taxi, which at that time was like so
much money. But yeah, I like took the
motorcycle taxi and like with all my bags stuff, we like
literally drove straight throughlike that river to get out some
possible like it's quite rural, middle of nowhere in between

(12:46):
Santa Marta and Palomino on the cribbing coast.
Yeah, it was quite nice to be kind in the middle of nowhere,
though. I remember actually taking that
that hike into it because I refused to take it like a motor
taxi or anything like that. I was like, no, no, no, I'm I'm
doing this, I'm hiking it. I remember when I first arrived
there with Hot and Tice, like I don't know why, but I was so
tired by the time I got there. Like it's a good little climb at

(13:08):
the end and you off to cross that pretty sketchy suspension
bridge too, that has a couple nice little holes in it there.
But yeah, quite the experience. Do you have any stories that you
wanted to mention about your time at the hostel that you can
share? Oht let me think.
Um, I did kinda wanna talk aboutwhat it was like volunteering at

(13:31):
a hostel like that because it was myself and at one point we
had 12 other volunteers working there.
Wow. So really I think it was like
something, I think it was 6 volunteers as normally the
amount that's there. But then they had extra people.
They had that couple that was doing like the yoga classes, the
girl was doing the tattoos, the guy was the DJ.

(13:52):
They were such a cool couple. They were from Ecuador.
So we had them. We had like two other like girls
for social media. Like at one point we had 12
volunteers all working and then plus there is the staff that
works there regularly. It is very similar to being on a
reality TV show. OK, OK.

(14:12):
The amount of people, like in close quarters, we're all living
together and like everyone is single.
Everyone is like in close quarters with all these like new
people that they're meeting every day.
Like it was so insane. Like, everyone was coupling up

(14:32):
and like, and then people would leave and then they would, like,
find a new person. And it was like, yeah.
It literally felt like an episode of Love Island.
Oh my gosh, I was gonna say something like Below Deck or
even going back to the good old camp days.
I don't know if you ever went tosummer camp, but if you did that
and you you became a counselor, I I feel like it'd be the same.

(14:53):
Vibe. Oh, definitely.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Remember I did couple out pretty
early on in my time there. Yeah, it was me.
There was this other Italian girl who we both like I keep
saying coupled up, but we like met these like other Colombian
guys that both worked at the hospital.
And those two are obviously bestfriends because they worked

(15:15):
together and like we're really close.
And yeah, there was like a few other like people that work
there and like gas or like the volunteers and guests that would
like couple up and like, yeah, me and then the two other people
like we, we're always going to the parties together.
We were always hanging out together because we were like
the two couples I guess, even though we made each other like 4

(15:40):
days before. But we just like had this like
insane bond. And then yeah, the other girl
laughed. It was the end of her trip.
She flew back to Italy and then yeah, me and like the other guy
that worked there kinda stopped talking.
And then that I think when we weren't talking is when you and

(16:01):
I met and we went on this camping trip or like hiking trip
to the park. And I remember like just got
back. He like found out that I went
with a group of like 3 guys and he was like he went on all about
loyalty and like how he like really doesn't like when other
girls are like with other guys. I'm like I went to the National

(16:25):
Park with these like 4 also likerandom strangers, like we were
just friends, all of that. And I was like, we literally met
four days ago. Yeah, that is crazy.
But it is interesting, right, Because everything's accelerated
when it comes to travel like allthese new.
Relationships and. Bonds and romance.
Actually, because you're like living together, like you really

(16:46):
learn each other really quickly.Use like skip the honeymoon
phase and everything you're likeright into like real life with
them pretty much. But it's still very much there's
a hiding honeymoon. Hmm.
Oh, 100% yeah, yeah, yeah. You're just living that like I
called like the travel high. It's interesting because I've
noticed personally and with likefriends experiences, right?

(17:06):
Like when you're traveling and you're in the moment, like you,
you're riding this high and everything, like you have this
connection and all that. But then when you actually go
home and like you, you separate and you're not together all the
time. Like all of a sudden that
usually tends to fade as interesting because I was
talking to a friend who was likehead over heels for this girl he
met traveling. And I said, yeah, but be
careful. I was like, cause when you get

(17:27):
home, like it might change, likeit might not be the same
anymore. And that end up being the case.
But yeah, when you're fully nurse and it it's, it's kind of
a crazy experience. Yeah, I was like fully immersed.
So I was like, I could move to Colombia for this man.
So we could just talk. Like this is it.
And like we've known each other for like a week or whatever.
And then soon as I laughed I waslike, I don't even know him.

(17:50):
You actually think about it, youlook back and go, wow, that's
actually kind of crazy. Yeah, that was insane.
Completely stuck in the high of it like.
No, yeah, but that's the beautiful thing about traveling,
right? Like it opens you up to those
experiences. So that's that's that's one
thing I love for sure. Well, do you wanna quickly touch
on our little trip to Tayrona since we keep bringing it up?
Because it was a fun little experience, I thought.

(18:12):
So as you know, like I was working at the hospital, my two
days off weren't scheduled together.
And so I had like my schedule for the next week as well.
And I only had like one day off.I didn't have two consecutive
days off. So I was like, I gotta go to the
park at some time at some point,like I just need to figure out
who I'm going with because I don't want to go alone.

(18:34):
I didn't do any planning. So I was really, really hoping I
could just like pop on to someone else's group.
They did all the planning, everything and I could just join
them. And that's exactly what
happened. So I was, when I met you, I was
actually working at the bar and I was like making drinks and I
heard from way across the hostel, I heard someone yelled
bruski. And at that point I had barely

(18:57):
met any Canadians. And during that trip, I met like
a few people from Quebec, but like, no one from Western
Canada. And like, yeah, I heard brewski
across the bar and like, immediate click, that was like,
there's a Canadian here. And I like, turned to the person
I'm working with and I'm like, Iknow there's a Canadian here.
And like, eventually you came closer to the bar and I was

(19:18):
like, I was like, hey, you're from Canada, right?
And you're like, yeah, how'd youknow?
I'm like it's written all over you.
Yeah, it's pretty. Obvious like I was like thinking
to myself, I'm like this guys from Calgary, AB like I just
know it like everything about you just Calgary, AB and I was
like I was like, yeah. So like where in Canada are you

(19:38):
from? And you're like Calgary and I
was like nailed it. That's exactly like.
Ohhhhh yeah, yeah. Yeah, and then you were talking
about like going to Tehran and the next day and I was like,
cool, I'll tag along. Yeah, yeah.
And. Yeah, that's basically what
happened. It was you, Tyson, Hodd, and

(19:59):
yeah, we just. When it got on the bus, went to
Tirana Park, it was about two hour hike in and then it was
gorgeous beaches. You mentioned this before, I'm
sure, but you guys did mushrooms.
I did not. Um, but it's fun to be around
you guys. Um, and then, yeah, like the

(20:21):
next day, um, woke up for breakfast.
I was the first person like who was awake, you guys going for
breakfast. And then we kind of split off
from there and then, yeah, I hadto go back to work.
So I, I left and then you guys showed up.
Well, I wanted. You still beat us there.
You beat us there by. The longer hike.

(20:42):
So I wanted to like leave earlier so I had enough time to
do the longer hike before I wentback to work.
And you guys were like thought that we're tired, we're just
going to the short hike. And so it was a 2 hour hike out
the way you guys did. And it was a four hour hike the
way I did. And I beat you guys and you guys
still didn't show up till 4 hours later at the hostel.

(21:05):
Yeah, we were, we were slow moving that day and we were
taking a lot of breaks. Like I'm pretty sure every time
there's a little food stand had was going to get like a a
popsicle or a. Smoothie cycles were so good
though, I can't blame them. Good.
But I remember I didn't, I didn't have the first popsicle
when we're hiking because I was like, no, I gotta earn it like
some kind of hard or something. I don't know what was going on

(21:27):
there, but Oh my gosh. But I'll tell people and
quickly. So Tayrona National Park,
beautiful park on the Caribbean coast of Colombia.
And yeah, we wanted to go spend night there because we thought,
hey, that would be really cool. I'd probably see some nice
stars, get a nice sunset. And while we were preparing for
this trip, I was like, man, whatwould make this just a little
bit better, though? And I had heard through the

(21:49):
Grapevine in the hostel that there is this ferry that lived
close by. And so I managed to get the
number and then I can mention from whom.
And I contacted the ferry and said, hey, ferry, we're planning
to go Tayrona Mark, we're spending a night and we're
wondering if you had some shrooms just to make it a
magical experience. And she's like, yeah, I do
actually. I have a strong medium mild.

(22:11):
And yeah, how much do you want, basically?
And I was like, OK, well, we're going strong because what's the
point of getting the medium of the mild?
And we'll do, we'll do 3 grams like 1g each.
So I I wasn't here for this partbut she ends up delivering on
the hostel, rolls up in her ATV with her kid like this whole
this. Whole know that she delivered
them for you. Yeah, she hand deliver them, but

(22:33):
this is actually when I was doing yoga, if you remember
that. Yeah.
Yeah. So we were doing or actually you
didn't get to do yoga because there's too many people.
Yeah, Yeah, that's right. Yeah, I might, I might have
stole your spot on that one. That's my butt.
But anyway, so I'm sitting theredoing yoga and I'm texting the
boys like, hey, like you gotta do this drug handoff because I'm
busy doing yoga. Why I'm doing yoga, I don't even

(22:54):
know to be honest. But anyways, so they had to do
the the transaction. So she pulls up in the TV or the
kid, she's got a dog. I guess there's like a dog fight
between her dog and one of the dogs of the hostel.
There's a whole yeah situation. Thought about that.
I like because I was in the hospital at the time and I like
heard the dogs and I was like, holy shit, like what's going on

(23:15):
or whatever. I didn't know that you were the
cause of the dog. Why I wasn't the cause, I was
just the reason she was there. So yeah, anyways, but apparently
super nice lady. Um, yeah.
So anyway, she delivered those and then yeah, we want to take
on the park. And The funny thing is, is after
we were hiked in and we got to the beaches, I remember Hayden
Tice there being a little like, I don't know what the word is,

(23:37):
but not appreciative. Basically they're like, Oh yeah,
you know, this beach is OK, but like, yeah, whatever.
Because at that point, our trip,right?
We've seen so many beaches. And that is one thing that
happens when you travel for a long time is you're like, oh,
cool, other waterfall or old cool, another mountains.
So anyways, they're having that moment with the beaches.
But of course, we're getting ready for sunset and we end up
taking the shrooms and they kicked in right at the right

(24:01):
time, right as we were getting the sunset.
I remember sitting there and I'mlooking at you and I'm looking
at them. I'm going, oh, Yep, it's
working, it's working. And yeah, it was, it was a quite
the experience. After that we ended up, I
remember just laying on the beach for like 5 hours looking
at the stars, like could not move.
I remember we were at like the lookout spot, like on that

(24:24):
Pierre or whatever you would call it.
And I was like trying to you guys to take like Instagram
photos for me because like it was such a beautiful spot.
The sun was setting. I was like trying to get
Instagram photos for you guys. We ended up like also doing like
a group photo and you guys couldnot keep it together.
And by the end of the sunset there, you guys were just like

(24:44):
laying on the floor like. Melted.
Oht yeah. I'll, I'll look at the two boys
and like their eyes were just huge, like whoa.
And then I remember like, because we were at that lookout
spot and then we wanted to move down to the beach, which is like
literally 50 meters and I don't know how long.
It took us to get guys like 20 minutes to walk down the like 2

(25:06):
sets of stairs and like every point I was like OK, let's go.
And then you guys would take twosteps and guys be like, whoa,
look at this view went to appreciate this.
Yeah, yeah. So, so yeah.
Anyways, it it was a great time.It was a a great night, you

(25:27):
know, great sunset, great looking at the stars.
So yeah, that was that was a good time.
That's one for the memories for sure.
I do remember the one part too. We're we're laying on the beach
there and you were trying to start a conversation because
you're like, oh, you're like, you're the first Canadian I've
seen in two months. Like you're trying to talk about
back home and reminisce a littlebit.

(25:47):
I'm lying there. I remember looking at you and be
like, I'm so sorry, but like I can't have this conversation
right now. Like I'm in a cult, completely
different world. So even like back at the hostel,
like, I was very homesick at that point and I like, didn't
really want to admit it. And so you were like the only

(26:08):
Canadian I'd met. So I like, completely clung on
to you. And I was like constantly like,
let's talk about home. What's going on at home?
What do you miss most about being at home?
And I like didn't really like wanted minute and I also like
didn't really clue it at the time, but I was like really
homesick and like just looking to like reminisce about home
with someone. Yeah, right.

(26:30):
So yeah, I definitely did do that a lot.
No, it's well, hopefully like, you know, help you reminisce a
little bit outside of obviously the 19 Carolina, but yeah, no, I
I get that for sure. It is nice to have that little
kind of not taste at home, but you know, kind of, yeah, someone

(26:51):
that you can talk about it with for sure.
Especially because, like you said, like there's not as many
Canadians I find traveling. Like I've met a lot of Dutch, a
lot of German, and they're all saying the opposite.
They're like, Oh my gosh, we don't wanna see anymore like
Dutch or German. Like we want to talk to other
people, but Canadians is not quite as prevalent.
Yeah, I've met a lot of people from Quebec, but I did meet a

(27:13):
girl from Spokane and Spokane's like about like a three hour
drive from me. So that was like really cool.
Like we did have a lot to talk about.
We still had like very big cultural differences being from
like the US and Canada that we kind of like could talk about
and laugh about, but then so many similarities because we
were so close to each other. So that was really.

(27:34):
Have you met anyone during your travels that was from BC?
Um, when I was in Cartagena at the very beginning of my trip, I
met someone from White Rock. Um, but like, aside from that, I
don't think that I met OHT. No, actually at the Valley I did
meet a girl, I think she was from Revelstoke.

(27:55):
OHK revenue, OK, Yeah, yeah, yeah.
She only stayed there for a day or two and we didn't really talk
that much, but yeah, it was. She was from SO school.
Oh my gosh, what's going on up there?
I'm like where I am right now. I'm like right below like the
rooftop terrace where the bar is.
And I think they're getting it, uh, prime time right now.

(28:16):
But anyways, we'll continue on. What?
What is it above you? Rooftop terrace.
Terrace. Paris.
I don't know. That and like your last episode
that I, like listened too quick and you like and I was like,
that's not how you say it. Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's a

(28:40):
terrorist. I decided to put my own flare on
some weird sometimes. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I have noticed, though. Interesting enough, because we
were talking about, like I said,Bruce, and that's how you knew I
was Canadian. The more I've traveled, the more
I've, like, adjusted my accent, my tone when I talk to people
because obviously a lot of Europeans, English as second
language. And I noticed if I just talk

(29:00):
normally, they're like, huh. So I've actually had to change
how I talk, like, slow it down. Not as much as the accent, like,
oh, you know, like I'm going here.
Yeah, yeah, the Albertan accent I definitely would say is very
strong. It's also very specific.
Like nowhere else in Canada would you really hear an
Albertan accent aside from in Alberta.

(29:21):
And they have like very specificlike tones and words that they
use that you definitely two years.
So I can see from like a foreigner's perspective, like
how difficult it would be to understand, but.
Yeah, specially the more into the country you go, like the
crazier it gets. But alright, so that's your time

(29:42):
volunteering. Now, I wanted to ask you about a
couple occasions because I nevergot the chance to go there,
mostly because I was forcing them to be totally honest.
But we'll start with Palomino, which you already mentioned.
Now, from what I know, it's a backpacker hotspot, it's right
on the beach, and it's a pretty big party scene.
Yeah, I loved Palomino. I went back to Palomino a few

(30:05):
times. So like I said before, I went to
Colombia for two weeks with my family.
It was my parents and my two brothers and we spent a couple
days in Palomino. But being like with a family, we
didn't really see like that truelike backpacker experience, I

(30:25):
guess. And so when I went back, loved
it and then went back like a fewmore times, I probably like
throughout my whole trip, I probably spent around two to
three weeks in Palomino. Wow.
OK, OK. Yeah, I did fall in love in
Palomino as well. OK, alright, we'll.
Try it Wednesday. It's falling in love, but

(30:48):
whatever you want to call it while you're traveling.
But yeah, it was so much fun. Like I stayed at almost every
hostel in Palomino. I tried like all the food there.
Palomino was definitely very touristy and it was like one of
the most touristy places that I went in Colombia.

(31:09):
Most of the food wasn't Columbiafood, Colombian food.
It was like different, um, therewas like a really good French
bakery that was there. There was a lot of like Asian
food. There was tons of pizza.
So like it was really cool to like trial like the different
food and all the different restaurants and like all the
different like Colombian twists that they had on the food.

(31:31):
So that was really good. The party scene was huge.
They had like a party every night on the beach and then
there was also like a bonfire after party.
And like, as you know, the Colombians, they like to go out
late. And.
So fix up being like the backpackers, but in Colombia it
was you go out very early, but you still stay out really late

(31:56):
like the Colombians do so. All my my Internet connection is
unstable. Can you hear me though?
I can hear you, yeah. OK.
OK, we'll backtrack. So you're just talking about
staying up late with the bonfires?
Yeah. So yeah, there was like the main

(32:18):
party on the beach that happenedevery night.
And then there was after party on that was like a bonfire
further on the beach. So yeah, with being like a weird
mix between all the backpackers and foreigners, but still being
in Columbia, there was you couldliterally go out at like 9:00
PM, but then stay out till 6:00 AM.

(32:40):
So the beach parties were reallycool.
But then every week it was like some weird day, like a Monday or
like a Tuesday. It happened.
There was at this one bar, it was like this techno night.
And every time I was in Palomino, like I went to it, it
was so much fun. Um, it was like this really
small bar. It was kind of like one of those

(33:02):
if you know, you know, type things.
Yeah, yeah. Those are nice ones.
So it was like it was a smaller crowd, but it was like so much
fun. They had like really cool DJ's
there, just like a really fun scene.
Um, and that is where I met who I believed was the love of my
life. OHK OK, well, before we get to

(33:24):
the love of your life, we're going to take a quick pause here
because I'm using zoom free. So I'll zoom you want to reach
out and sponsor the podcast, give me the premium membership.
That would be great. But we'll take a quick break
here and then we'll start up again and we'll we'll dive into
the the romantic story, how I'm excited Romeo and Juliet.
What's up everybody? Welcome back to another episode

(33:45):
of the Up in the Clouds broadcast.
I'm your host, Adrian, and it's been a crazy couple weeks.
I've been back in Canada and just catching up with everyone,
trying to recoup a little bit, trying to relax, trying to
decompress, trying to do everything, trying to plan
everything. It's been a lot.

(34:06):
But anyways, we're here. We're ready for another fun
episode. Now, the interview that we got
for you today, I was actually going to save it for our
Columbia recap episode. However, I had a gentleman who
was supposed to come on for an interview over the past week.
We tried twice, didn't work out either time.

(34:27):
So we're gonna keep up with thisinterview today.
It's a great one. It's with my friend Meadow,
fellow Canadian from British Columbia, a matter out in
Colombia, and she talks about her experiences while traveling
throughout the country, including some volunteer work
she did, as well as some fun little side adventures and
stories. So it's going to be really good
interview. Like I said, was hoping to keep

(34:49):
it for the Columbia recap. But I think what I'm going to do
is I'm going to bring on recurring guest types and me and
him are going to go over the thewhole country of Colombia,
everything we did, all the stories, all that.
So stayed tuned for that for thenext couple weeks.
But anyways, um, yeah, life update today is Tuesday the 11th

(35:11):
and on Wednesday the 12th I'm flying to Vancouver, BC.
Just a quick little one hour flight, just hopping over,
actually going to go see a friend of mine that I met in
Costa Rica, Mr. Kyle. So yeah, it's going to be good
to go meet up with him, share some stories.
He's been doing some work on theyacht out there, so I'm excited

(35:32):
to hear what he has to tell me. And we might even play a little
bit of pitch and putt. I've been really dying to play
some golf. I haven't had a chance to all
summer. And I've been watching a lot of
golf shows, golf movies like Happy Gilmore too.
So I've just kind of got the itch, you know, I want to get
out and hit some balls. Not that I'm going to do well,
but anyways, it's still be a good time.

(35:53):
So yeah, tomorrow flying to Vancouver, quick little flight,
stay in the night. Crazy thing about Vancouver and
just Canada in general. Like don't get me wrong, it's
been nice to be home and see everyone, but wholely fuck is
Canada expensive? Like what are we doing here?
I remember the first day I got back at one, got groceries for
three days, three days $90.00. Are you kidding me?

(36:19):
How do people even afford to feed their families right now?
I don't understand. But anyways, the reason I'm
going on this many little rant right now is because I was
booking a hostel in Vancouver and you know, I figured you know
what, I'll book the flights far enough or far enough.
I'll book the flight so there's a good gap in between so I can
spend the night in Vancouver. I'm not going flight to flight
and being super tired. And so I'm looking for a hostel

(36:43):
and the prices are insane. The prices in Vancouver are more
expensive than how Wii what the heck, who are we kidding here?
So anyways, not thrilled about how much I'm spending for a
hostel for the night. Yeah, but anyways, it's one
night. Be good to see Kyle.
So it is what it is, but I couldnot believe that.

(37:03):
Just absolute craziness. ANYWAYS, the next day, the
Thursday, I'm going to be hopping on a flight to Honolulu,
HI. Now the reason this is happening
and the worked out this way is originally when I was looking at
flights to Australia from Latin America, the cheapest flight,
and I mean cheapest by a good $700.00 actually went up through

(37:27):
the states, up through Hawaii and then down to Australia.
So I said, well if that's the case, if I can save you know,
upwards of $700.00 and have the chance to go home.
Not to mention I was broke, but still that's that's a little
side. So I figured I might as well do
that. So that's what I ended up doing.
I got a flight from Vancouver toHonolulu for $240.

(37:50):
Now you're saying how the heck did this guy find a flight for
that cheap? Now keep in mind it's one way,
but I think they're also must have been some kind of crazy
sale because I ended up usingskyscanner.ca and these
flights just popped up. I'm sure if you look now, it's
probably not the same. I really don't know the reason
why, but when I saw those races I jumped on it immediately.

(38:12):
So cheap flight to Honolulu, I'min Honolulu.
I'm thinking, you know what, I could just hop on another flight
to Hawaii, but why waste an opportunity?
I'm in Hawaii, how many chances do you get to go there?
Why not stay a week, check it out, chill on the beach and
hopefully get some things sort of frustration.
So I'm going to be staying in Hawaii for a week.

(38:34):
Cannot wait. I'm going to be in Waikiki,
right on the beach, surfing, hiking and probably doing some
golf actually. So really looking forward to
that. And then after a week in Hawaii,
I am finally going to be making my way to Sydney, Australia.
Now the flight from Honolulu to Sydney was only $200.00.

(38:54):
So yes, I got some amazing deals.
I had to jump on that opportunity.
So if you want, if you're interested, if you want to go to
Hawaii or if you want to get to Australia, I recommend looking
into those flights. I can't guarantee they're going
to be the same price now, but again, I don't know.
I got luckyskyscanner.ca, no free ads, but check it out and

(39:15):
maybe you can find some cheap flights as well.
But anyways, that is the life update.
It's been a great two weeks. You know, we had a party the
first weekend. We went camping the second
weekend, poker night with the boys, played some tennis, all
fun stuff. But it's time to hit the road
again. It was nice to be home.

(39:35):
It was nice to get some money. Sold my car got that money.
Still waiting for money from thegovernment, but that's I don't
need to get into that. But yeah, no good to be home but
ready to hit the road again, getthe next journey charter
started. So yeah, pretty fired up for
that. I have absolutely no plan right
now for Australia, but the way it's looking and maybe people

(39:59):
that are listening, if you're from Australia or have some
experience in Australia, you canreach out maybe with any tips,
recommendations or any contacts may have.
It would be greatly appreciated.But right now I'm thinking I'll
spend maybe a month in Sydney just exploring it.
It sounds like Sydney is far more expensive than other
locations like Perth or Brisbane.
So I'm thinking go to Sydney because that's where the flights

(40:22):
to, that's where it's cheapest to fly to.
Go there, spend a month, Just Dance the hostels, check out the
beaches, check out the Opera House, all that kind of stuff.
Just get there, spend a month applying to jobs, getting
everything set up, get the bank account set up, personal
identification number, all of that, and then after a month
make my move. So whether that's going to
Perth, Brisbane, wherever it is,line up a job, go move there,

(40:46):
find an apartment and then dial in a routine for the next X
amount of months, make some money, save it hopefully and
then we'll go from there. So that is what I'm working on
right now. But anyways, that's probably
good on the life update front. You're probably getting tired of
listening to me. I do look forward to doing some

(41:09):
more of these recap episodes soon because that's when you get
to hear a lot of my stories and I know we have some catching up
to do. We still got Columbia,
Patagonia, Ecuador, and Peru, and some of those were my
favorite locations and countries.
So there is a lot to share. I will be getting to it once I
can dial in a normal routine. I don't have all these travel

(41:30):
days and and whatnot, so workingon it, working on it.
But for today, our guest medal, she's coming on.
Talk about our experience in Colombia.
We met at one of the hostel. She was volunteering at the
time. Had a great time catching up,
had a great time sharing storiesand memories from Canada.
And yeah. So thank you so much, Meadow,
for coming on. And without further ado, let's

(41:51):
head all over the interview. OK, fire away.
Yep, we're ready. We're listening.
OK, no, I'm OK. Sorry.
I thought you're gonna do an intro there.
OK, I'm ready. We already did the job we
already did. OK, I'll, I'll just say and
we're back for break now. Thanks for Zoom for sponsoring
the podcast. I no longer have to take 7

(42:13):
minute breaks in between 40 minute meetings.
ANYWAYS, yeah, so continue on with your romance travel story.
OK, so this was at one of these like this like techno party at
one of these bars. And I was there with a group of
I think it was like 3 or four other girls that I had met like
two hours ago in the postal. And like we were all staying in

(42:35):
the same room. It was a girls only room.
And like immediately we all became best friends, went out to
this bar together because it waskind of like an if you know, you
know thing and one of the girls knew.
So we all tagged along with her and yeah, like there was
something happening at the bar. They were like had worked for
like 7 years, like they had beenopen.

(42:57):
But like the that night was likethe first night that they had
the neighbors complain about thenoise.
So they had to keep the music pretty low.
It was still like a very fun night.
There was such a cool group of people, but like you could talk
over the music versus like usually you can't do that.
So it was like a lot of mingling, a lot of meeting
people. And so we had kind of talked to
everyone that night, and I saw this guy walking around and he

(43:21):
like, he looked like he knew what was going on.
He was obviously Colombian. He like, was talking to all the
people that worked there and like, walking around and stuff.
He like, looked like he belonged.
So I, like, was kind of intimidated to, like, talk to
him. So it wasn't until like, we kind
of talked to everyone that I like he was standing alone.
And I was like, OK, I guess I'llgo up to him.

(43:42):
And yeah, I did. I did talk to him.
He didn't speak a word of English.
So this was all in Spanish that we were talking and I like
introduce myself. I asked him where he's from.
Um, he's from Bogota and like, he, um, I later found out like a
couple nights later from Sophie's Instagram that.

(44:03):
He OK, hold on. We can't just skip over that
stalking his Instagram. OK, I wouldn't say stalking.
I like looked at his Instagram profile like it wasn't like just
normal, normal stuff. So I was looking at his
Instagram profile and saw that he was actually the DJ that

(44:24):
night and that was like his set playing.
Oh, OK. Right.
And so, yeah, they, like, kinda got to talking.
And then we, like, left the bar and we're like sitting on the
steps, like outside of the bar. And like, he had like, kissed me
or whatever. And I was like, Oh my God, I'm
in love. Alright.

(44:44):
Yeah. And so I like, I go back to the
girls and we're like hanging outthere for a few more hours.
And then they like the other girls ended up staying up until
like 6:00 in the morning. I was kind of tired.
It's like 3 in the morning at this point or two in the
morning. And I was like, I'm just going
to walk back to the place. And it was like about a 15
minute walk. But it's a very like safe town.

(45:05):
So I wasn't too worried. They were like, Are you sure
you're OK to go along? I'm like, don't even worry about
me. I'm fine.
Enjoy the rest of your night. And so I was walking back to the
hostel and this guy pulls up behind me on his motorcycle and
is like, hey, do you want like aride back to your hostel?
And I'm like yes, of course I did finally get on the back of

(45:28):
this guy's motorcycle who I met like literally like 20 minutes
ago. And he drives me back to the
hostel and my place was on the beach.
So instead of like driving me from the road to the beach, he
like drove me to the beach. And then we like walked along
the beach until we got to like my hostel.
And then like he kissed me goodnight.
And I was only supposed to be inPalomino for like 3 more days.

(45:50):
I was supposed to leave Wednesday and we're like trying
to make a plan to like, see eachother again.
And I'm like, what are you doingtomorrow?
And he's like, actually, like, I'm leaving to go back to Santa
Marta, like the closest city because like, I'm going to be in
like I'm going to be gone for like the next three days.
And I'm like, well, shit. Like I leave Wednesday and he's

(46:11):
like, well, I'm not back till Thursday.
And I'm like, funny coincidence.I'm actually gonna be here on
Thursday. OHP, that changed quickly.
I completely changed my travel plans.
I was like, I'll stay for this guy who I've known for 20
minutes. It is what it is.
So yeah, like, like hanging out on Thursday.

(46:32):
We went to, like, one of the parties, had the time of our
lives. And I was like, in love with
him. And we like, dance together all
night. And then I went to Bogota like
the next day. And I was in Bogota for the next
month volunteering. And then I had like my next
volunteer trip, which was near medicine.
And then finally I was like, funny coincidence.

(46:54):
I'm going to be back in like Palomino soon and so I'm like
literally this was like my 25 hour trip from managing to get
to. My God, you took the bus.
I took the bus cause I was too broke for flights.
It was like a $2.00 flight or itwas like an $80 bus, so I did
the bus um, and, and I didn't have to pay a night at a hostel

(47:19):
because I was on the bus It's. True.
That's actually a good point, yeah.
Right, yeah. So I took the bus, finally got
to like Palomino and I was like,hey, you crazy coincidence, I'm
actually back. And yeah, we like hung out the
rest of the time. I was in Palomino and then one
of the last nights I was there Ihad like messed up one booking

(47:42):
my hostel and I didn't see that there was female only dorms.
I usually go for those because they're cheaper, but I didn't
see it well book in the hospital, so I just put like the
mixed dorms or whatever and I guess there was female only
dorm. So I was the only girl out of
eight guys in that room. Oh boy.

(48:04):
Everyone who had like, met was like guys or whatever.
And I was like telling them the whole story.
I was like, I met this guy. I'm in love with him.
This is like the situation I'm back in Palomino.
Like it's been almost two monthsat this point since we last saw
each other. And I'm like telling them all
this story and they're like giving me advice or whatever.
And yeah, like then last night or like one of the parties we

(48:28):
went to, I was like with the guys and I was like, this is
him. Like, kind of like trying to be
subtle, like looking across the room, like pointing my finger,
This is what I'm talking about. And they're like giving me
thumbs up, giving me advice. They're like, hell yeah, girl.
And then yeah, like the last night I was there, like, I
texted him. I was like, are you going to
like this party tonight? I don't think he did text me

(48:50):
back. He or like he said like maybe
and was like, kind of like key or whatever.
I was like, you know, it doesn'tmatter.
I went out with like a bunch of these people I met and I was at
the party and I saw him on the dance floor and I was like also
dancing or whatever. And at one point, like,
literally like 3 people away from each other on this, like,
crowded dance floor. And I'm like, there's no way he

(49:12):
doesn't see me. Yeah.
And I'm like still very nervous at this point.
I'm like because I don't really know what's going on.
Like we barely know each other. I'm like, I really like him, but
like I am only here for them to the amount of time like I'm
traveling, like they don't really know like what to do.
I'm like, do I tell them that I'm right here?

(49:33):
Do I say hi to him or whatever? And so literally for an hour
we're like dancing beside each other pretty much.
And I'm like with my friends, but I'm also like looking at him
and like trying not to be weird,just like don't know what to do
and then. For the hour though.
Like literally for so long. And then I like, kind of leave.

(49:53):
I go to the bar, I grab a drink.I come back and he's dancing
with another girl who was like another, like, tourist.
Yeah, forever. And he's like dancing with her.
And I'm like, hey, well, I can'tsay hi now.
Like he's with another girl or whatever and I like book over
and like literally 5 minutes later they were like making out

(50:14):
on the. Dashboard No.
And like, I was absolutely heartbroken.
And yeah, so I like, I kind of like was with my friends for a
little bit after that, but I waslike, I'm just gonna go home.
Like I'm a little heartbroken. I'm just going to go back to the
hostel. Not.

(50:35):
Home. At the time and yeah, I just
kind of went back to the hostel and I was like, that was kind of
because you go through, as you know, you go through so many
highs and lows traveling and you're like really high.
You're like, this is the best. Like barricades like this is
awesome. I like can't believe I'm here.
When you're at the Lowe's, you're like, what am I doing?

(50:55):
Like you're comparing your life to all your the people back
home. You're like, why am I here?
This is absolutely ridiculous, like completely going through
your head. So at that point I was like out
of low. I was like, why am I even in
Columbia? Like I should have gone home
with my parents. What am I doing here?
What am I doing with my life? Completely heartbroken.
And then the next day I like started volunteering at the

(51:16):
hostel and I was like, well actually life is great again.
Yeah. Maybe I was a little dramatic.
Well, no, but I I got it though,like you're.
When you go through those like big highs and lows where it just
like OHT yeah, you're on top of the world and then you feel like
life could not get any worse when really like it's not that

(51:39):
big of an issue, but it still feels like heart wrenching to
you at the time, like. Well, well, two points on that.
One is I've had some serious lows as well, but it's actually
usually when they end up going out, which is interesting.
And the second thing is, before I even left for my trip, one of
my good buddies who's already done Central South America, he
did like 10 years ago, he kept telling me he's like, you know,

(52:00):
it's all about the highs and thelows, the highs and the lows.
And at the time, I'm thinking, what is this guy going on about
the highs and the lows? Like, why does he keep saying
it? And now I've been traveling for
seven months. I'm like, holy shit, yeah, I
know what he's talking about. It's like insane.
Like especially like at that point I was like, life cannot
get any. I'm being so dramatic.
This is over. Like I'm like, don't even know

(52:23):
really just over a boy. And I'm like, life could not get
any worse. My heart has been ripped out of
my chest. Like what am I doing with my
life? And then next day I started
working at the Valley and I was like, actually life is great.
Yeah, you rebounded quickly. But no, I, I, I do get it.

(52:43):
Like, everything's just more intense when you're traveling.
So yeah. It's definitely.
Well, I'm sorry it didn't work out.
I'm sorry there was no happy ending.
But. He still likes all my photos and
responds to me on Instagram likehe'll.
He'll ohk ohk. Those that I saw him, it's not
that deep. I don't care.

(53:04):
We barely knew each other. But yeah, we still follow each
other on Instagram. We have each other on Strava.
I give them kudos all the time. Strava Oh my God, you guys are
serious. But it's actually interesting
how that works, like with Chapelas well, like the travel
romances and relationships because like it's almost just
like everyone's so open and free.
Like even if you do have a travel romance, I've seen people

(53:26):
that are like together, but likethey're not.
And then like the girl will go like explore different interests
and the guys like, oh, whatever.Like it's all good.
And I'm like, what the heck is going on?
I've never seen so many open relationships until I started
traveling. Like people think together for
like 2 years, five years, 10 years, and then they start
traveling and they're in a real thin relationship.

(53:48):
Yeah, yeah, exactly. And especially with the people
who need along the way. Yeah.
Ohe, yeah, yeah, 100 percent, 100%.
But I, I like to usually just, like sit behind the scenes, you
know, and just, like, watch the show, obviously.
OK. Yep.
Oh my gosh. OK, well, I want to say I know
you gotta go soon. I just want to say thank you.
Thank you so much for coming on.It's great to see you again even

(54:10):
though it's over Zoom, but stilland.
Thanks for having me, I feel honored.
Hey, I'm the one that's honored and it sounds like y'all more
stories, so we're gonna do a Part 2 at some point down the
road. So I'm excited for that.
But in the meantime, before we wrap things up here, the
platform is now yours. If you want to let people know

(54:32):
where to find you so they can follow your travels or whatnot.
Feel free to share your Instagram, whatever else if you
want. If you don't want to, that's
cool too. Um, yeah, I'm just on Instagram,
Instagram's Meadow under score Rubber.
If you do want to follow me, I don't have any big international
trips coming up so might not seemuch there, but I am a cool

(54:53):
person so. And you know, I'm, I'm pretty
cool. I'm pretty cool.
Well, you're gonna go sailing soon.
That's still a trip, right? Yeah, I'm going sailing.
Nothing international, but it will be super fun.
I'm excited. It's all good, doesn't have to
be international, especially when you live like places like
Canada or the US. There's plenty of exploring
countries so. Got lots of camping trips and

(55:13):
hiking trips coming up so I'm excited.
Hell yeah. Well, I've got a camping trip
coming up and it's going to be back in good old Calgary.
Because for everyone listening, I am actually coming back to
Calgary for two weeks. I wasn't planning on it, but
it's just the way it worked out.It looks like all the flights
the Australia go through Hawaii so I figured I might as well
stop by and and say hello. So looking forward to.

(55:37):
Alright, well, thank you so muchfor having me.
I'm going to get out of here. OK.
Sounds good. Thanks for coming on and yeah,
we'll see you soon. Yeah, we'll organize something
like. Alright, sounds good.
Thanks man.