June 20, 2026 • 54 mins
In this powerful and deeply personal episode of A Life Less Ordinary, the Wishing Well's Terrie Dean and Harry Reif explore the transformative connection between travel and well-being.
From relieving stress and boosting creativity to strengthening emotional resilience, we unpack the science-backed benefits of getting away—and why travel is more than just a vacation. Inspired by real-life health challenges, heartfelt stories, and expert insights from organizations like the NIH, AARP, and Make-A-Wish, this episode highlights how travel can restore hope, renew energy, and bring meaning back into our lives. You’ll also hear moving personal journeys—from a spontaneous, joy-filled getaway before surgery to global adventures driven by courage and purpose.
Whether you’re navigating a major life transition, supporting a loved one through illness, or simply seeking a reset, this episode will inspire you to reclaim your joy and prioritize experiences over routines. Discover how travel can heal, reconnect, and help you live a truly extraordinary life—no matter what you’re facing.
From relieving stress and boosting creativity to strengthening emotional resilience, we unpack the science-backed benefits of getting away—and why travel is more than just a vacation. Inspired by real-life health challenges, heartfelt stories, and expert insights from organizations like the NIH, AARP, and Make-A-Wish, this episode highlights how travel can restore hope, renew energy, and bring meaning back into our lives. You’ll also hear moving personal journeys—from a spontaneous, joy-filled getaway before surgery to global adventures driven by courage and purpose.
Whether you’re navigating a major life transition, supporting a loved one through illness, or simply seeking a reset, this episode will inspire you to reclaim your joy and prioritize experiences over routines. Discover how travel can heal, reconnect, and help you live a truly extraordinary life—no matter what you’re facing.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is a Lifeless Ordinary, the travel show and podcasts
from your friends at the wishing Well two forty three
f Avenue in Harsmert and online at the wishing Well
dot biz. The wishing Well is your ultimate luxury concierge
travel agency and A Lifeless Ordinary is a travel show
and podcasts hosted by Terry Dean, bringing her over forty
years of experience in the travel industry to help guide
(00:21):
you to great experiences in your travel, whether it be
around the block, around the country, or around the world.
Let's bring in Terry Dean.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
And say hello, Chris, how are you.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
I'm doing really well. It's good to see you. And
Harry of good.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Good to see you. Good to see you both. Harry
feels like it's been forever. Well.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
Harry and I hung out last week.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
I know you did. I add some things going on,
had a great time.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Actually, the things going on are pretty much where our
show is going today.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Yeah they are. They're very relevant to where I felt
like it was important to take a Lifeless Ordinary today.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
We'll catch up with that here in just one second.
I do want to see how you're doing personally. You're
doing well.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
I hope doing well. The office is thriving, I will say,
I mean, the wishing Well is such a gem, you know,
it really is. I'm so honestly, I'm so proud, Chris,
of all of the folks who work for us and
with us. I'm so grateful to this community for supporting
our business. It has been an outstanding year. And you know,
(01:25):
when everybody else talks about challenges and struggling and that
kind of thing, you almost feel a little guilty when
you are as blessed as we are at the wishing Well.
So thank you all. We just love it when you
support us.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
If you're new to our show, every Saturday morning we
talk travel and that's just one part of the wishing Well.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Indeed, Harry rolled.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
Up this morning in one of your delivery vans. I
thought he was bringing me flowers.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
Nice try, I thought, oh, I'm getting flowers.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
And you also do event planning, right, we do know
you got the three legs of the stool there to
get us everything we need for living a life that
is a lot less ordinary.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
You know, it's really funny, Chris. In the very beginning
of the wishing Well's roots, I had mentioned to my
parents that I wanted to create a kind of business
that did travel, that did event planning, because I always
thought those two things so naturally went hand in hand
(02:29):
because all of my career that's exactly what I did,
and that's what I saw evolve. And then it wasn't
until after we started the Wishing Well and I got
my dad's thumbs up to go ahead and pursue this,
and I'm sure he'd be proud from wherever he's looking
at me today. But we decided that it was only
(02:53):
fitting for us to create our own floral boutique as
well to support the event business that we had. So
it all works kind of together and very well.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
It's really about making people smile, and I can't think
of a more fun business to have where we spend
all our days, all of her, all our time working
to make people smile.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
And you do, we hope, So I mean that's the goal, Chris.
Every day that I come in, first of all, every
day I walk in the door, I thank God that
he has supplied such a great place for me to
hang my hat every day, and believe me, I wear
about ninety nine different hats throughout the day. But I'm
so grateful to have that and to have the wishing
(03:40):
well as what supports this community.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
So the wishing well is part of your life. It
is you have other things going on in your world
than just work.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
I do.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
You have a very lovely daughter who is okay if
I talk a little bit about what she went through. Y.
So you weren't here last week. We mentioned that Harry
and I we're hanging out together and we had a
guy's outing for the show. I did your daughter had
a bit of a scare with her eyes.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Yeah, so it was most unusual, something I didn't really anticipate,
nor did I understand. By the way, for those of
you who are just tuning in, this is a lifeless
ordinary and we usually talk about traveling. We're going to
believe me when I tell you this is a great
segue into what we're going to be talking about later.
But I have a special needs daughter. She's very small.
(04:30):
She's tiny, She's about the size of a twelve year old.
But she's adorable. And she's thirty eight years old, and
she's always had some a struggle with her eyesight and
hearing and that kind of thing. It just comes with
kind of the bag of tricks that she was given
when she was born, but I took her to the
(04:51):
doctor thinking that she was dealing with probably some allergies,
headache and some eye red eye, that kind of thing.
Took the doctor only to find out that she had
a condition called blastoma glaucoma, which was actually a critical emergency,
and so she was taken immediately over to UVA Hospital
(05:12):
in Charlotte, Sviil. Thank God for UVA Hospital, and they
were able to at least treat her immediately. And then
the reason that I wasn't here last week then was
because she had surgery. And I'm grateful to say that
surgery was successful. She is mending and she's in repair.
(05:33):
But the great thing that I was able to do
before she had to have the emergency surgery because they
treated it first with medicine to see if they could
eliminate some of the major swelling that was going on.
And let me give you some comparisons here, Chris, my
eye and your eye has a pressure point. You've been
(05:56):
to the doctor before, they she that little gun in
your eye. Yeah, that and if it's normal, it's usually
between ten fifteen at the most. That's your pressure pressure
and your eye. My daughter's was fifty nine. Oh my gosh,
it was five and a half times more than yours
or mine, which did make that an emergency. When she
(06:18):
got over to UVA, they were able to start some
medicine right away. That really helped. Even in that one
day that we were there and we had to let
this medicine do its thing for because you couldn't operate immediately.
That would have been tragic. But in any event, she
(06:40):
was on the medicine for a few days. That gave
me an opportunity to plan a very quick and happy
getaway prior to her surgery, which is one of the
things we're going to talk about today.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
One of the French benefits she has is mom knows
how to do travel. Well, mom does know how. Yeah,
and so you guys, you took a little ernie. Can
we talk about where you went?
Speaker 2 (07:01):
Yeah? Yeah, we Actually I'm going to save that because
I have plans to talk about that later.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
But well, let me tell you what the show is
entitled today. If you're listening to this online later, you
already know because it's in the link. But the show
today is to your health. It is, and there are
about a lot there's lots of research out there I'm
sure you'll talk more about this as we dig deeper
into this. Travels good for the soul.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
Oh man. You know it.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
Whether you know it, whether you just need to decompress
from your job, or you want to get away from
your crazy family, or you want to take your crazy
family with you.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Yeah, it's good for you. It is true. And I'll
tell you there's a lot of people out there that
are that are probably in between these areas of life
as well. You know, we may all have some kind
of health challenge or health what I'm going to call
abbreviation in our life. But it doesn't have to stagnate us.
(08:04):
It doesn't have to be the barrier that keeps us
from letting life happen. And I think it's very important
as I prepared for this show today that I began
to start the focus on that.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
I've hit that age where all of a sudden, it's
not my friend's parents that are sick, it's my friends
that are sick. My wife, Becca and I, we have
dear friends. One of them is dealing with cancer, and
the wife, she's dealing with the cancer as much as
he is sure she is, and it is crazy to
(08:41):
watch her because She is one of the loveliest, sweetest
people you've ever She is angry at everybody right now.
I'm sorry when you told me we were going to
do a show to your health for travel on thinking
they need a vacation, they need to get away from
all of the doctor's appointments in the medical conversation and
people prying into their business.
Speaker 3 (09:02):
Yea.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
And so I'm excited to talk.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
About this well, you know, and there's there's three words
that really came to my mind throughout this whole process,
and it was, you know, faith, trust, and hope.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
And you know that you've got to have the faith
to have the other two.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
You know, it's absolutely true. But I want to talk
to you about where we settled on going for Morgan's trip.
But before we do that, the choice, by the way,
was so perfect, it was so perfect for her. But
I want to spend a little time about some of
the situations that that hundreds of travelers face, Chris all
(09:41):
the time. You probably know some and not all end
of life, but just even just health changes and events.
And I also want to talk to you about how
the experts, and when I say experts, I'm talking about
National Health Institute and AARP and make a Wish Foundation
how they weigh in on this very interesting and really
(10:05):
trending subject in travel right now. So I didn't just
snatch this out of the air, and this wasn't something
that just fell on me so we could have a
good radio show today. This is something that's actually coming
more onto the forefront, and these organizations are starting to
focus on these things because really, don't we all want
to find something that's going to make us feel better?
(10:27):
We all do, you know? So I want to talk
first about why this topic is gaining some popularity in
the travel industry and why just travel in general is
so important and healthy for you. First of all, travel
provides I think, profound psychological and physical advantages, actively lowering
(10:52):
stress levels, but it enhances your cognitive flexibility and creativity.
It fosters some personal growth and a little bit of
empathy empathy as you go through many different cultures, and
it sharpens problem solving skills. And it also recharges both
the mind and the body for better overall health. And
(11:14):
I declare to you, Chris, as I was preparing for
this show, I thought so much about some of the
previous shows that we have just recently done. And I
know you're going to remember we've done health and body
and mind awareness and well being travel, We've done the
Safari travels, which are out of the box kind of experiences.
(11:38):
I mean, all of this sort of culminated to me
and I went, this is great. This is absolutely great
that we have these moments where we can focus on
these things and know that there's some true meaning behind them.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
Does our travel, if we're doing it for health benefits,
does it have to be to a spall location or
can it just be anything to beget.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
Heavens know, because mind healing and emotional healing doesn't always
occur in the SPA. It occurs with people you love
a lot of times, and it's the moments that you
create which can be life changing and redirecting, you know.
(12:23):
So one of the things that just travel in general
does is it relieves stress and it prevents a lot
of that burnout that we ordinarily accumulate day to day. Today,
you get to step away from your daily responsibilities, you
lower that cortisol, which is really the stress hormone, and
(12:43):
it replaces it with endorphins, kind of like what people
get when they've run, you know, they get that. That's
why they love to run. Some people are addicted to that,
by the way, you know, because it just really increases
those endorphins and that mental physical attachment. It really effectively
combats burnout, and it rejuvenates your energy level. And the
(13:07):
second thing is it boosts creativity and cognitive skills. That's
one of the benefits of travel. If we're going to
direct this point toward international destinations, really navigating foreign environments,
it requires quick thinking. Good lord, we see that every
day at the Wishing Well, from calculating currency to managing
(13:30):
complex transit routes. Research shows Chris that this mental stimulation
directly increases cognitive flexibility and broadens your capacity for deep
creative thinking.
Speaker 3 (13:43):
You're talking about people engaged. When you're at home, you're
in a routine. Right, you go home, you do the
same thing tomorrow. You'll probably do something very similar in
the day after. When you travel, each moment, whether it's
in an airport or whether it's in a new city
or a hotel, you're challenged to look at that environment,
(14:03):
assess that environment, figure out how you feel inside that environment,
and how you're going to adapt in that environment. So
that's really really important. Likewise, you're going to when you're
in a new environment, you're going to engage in some
cultural empathy and open mindedness. You go into a new environment,
(14:24):
you see different people, you see different cultures, experiencing how
other people live firsthand. Even if you're going across country,
you're going to see some of that. You've got to
step outside of that routine, outside of that comfort zone,
and that's going to cultivate really important qualities, qualities like tolerance,
(14:44):
qualities like empathy, and an appreciation for the diversity of
the world. You don't focus on your sad sack environment.
You know that you may be in easy to get
down when you're sick, but if you see the rest
of the world, all of a sudden, you have a
brand new context to think about things in And those
are things you wouldn't think about if you're sitting at
(15:07):
home in your chair, in your bed, you know, in
your back porch.
Speaker 1 (15:11):
I would imagine depending upon them. And we're not talking
about as you said, these are not all end of
life scenarios.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
These absolutely not.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
Sometimes you just need to get away for your own
mental well being. I would imagine though, sitting at home
and just dwelling in whatever it is that you really
this vacation or this trip needs to accomplish. It's good
to have a distraction. It's no kidding, you know something.
Even if you just want to sit on the beach
and watch the sunset for a week, that's got to
(15:42):
be better than sitting on the couch watching you know,
TV for a week.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
And this next one, this next point in general about
why travel is so good for you, I think this
is an important one. It strengthens your mental well being
and happiness. Exactly to the point you were just making, Chris.
It just simply planning a getaway sort of triggers the
(16:06):
release of dopamine. And once you're on the road, exposure
to new environments like beaches and mountains, bustling cities, it
releases those feel good hormones that actually combat anxiety, and
it improves your overall outlook on life. The next thing
(16:26):
that travel does, it enhances problem solving and adaptability. So
again I want to remind listeners today who are here
with us on a lifeless ordinary what we're talking about is, yes,
we're talking about how travel in general makes you feel
and the benefits of travel in general, but really more specifically,
(16:48):
I'm sort of reaching out to those of you who
may be in a situation in your life. It could
be an emotional situation and that may be making you
some what mentally unhealthy. This could be some sort of
visit that you've just had to your doctor. He's given
you some not so good news or not news that
(17:08):
you wanted, and that's sort of put you on the edge.
But that's what we're pointing to here with these points
about how travel in general is good for you.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
Well, I mean, I can think of scenarios that don't
involve the doctor. You just got, you know, riffed from
your job, you got laid off exactly, or maybe you've
lost a spouse because they ran off or you know,
gone forbid, you've lost them permanently. Those are all reasons
that your mental health need to recharge as well.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
Yeah. Yeah, and there's more, you know that there are.
There are two more reasons why I think travel in
general is so good for you, and that is because
it encourages physical activity. I can tell you this. You
are not going to be able when you go on
vacation to remain a couch potato, at least not for
(18:03):
very long, because being depressed or overly concerned about your
personal situation can bring about that lethargy and hopelessness that
you might be feeling in your current environment. But you
got to get out of there. Traveling naturally keeps you
on the move, helps you explore new things on foot.
Maybe you're hiking, you're swimming, You're burning a few calories,
(18:25):
boosting your cardiovascular health, and it often provides more physical
activity than a standard daily routine at home.
Speaker 3 (18:33):
You might remember three years ago, Terry, when I went
in for my heart Faiul surgery. I had a heart
valve replacement about three years ago Kresk, and just before that,
I was feeling a lot of the things that we're
talking about today. I was thinking about my place in
the world, what it might be down the road, and
all of the things that we're talking about were at
(18:55):
the top of my mind. Seen things happen on any vacation,
but when there's something big happening, more so more focused.
I took a trip to New York City. I visited
some friends that came in from out of the country.
They traveled from France. I met them in New York
City and I walked five and six miles with a
faulty heart in New York City. When I came back,
(19:18):
I was prepared for the surgery. I was really in
a better mood. I was in physically better shape. And
the day after the surgery, I bounced out of that
bed really quickly and was able to walk and move around.
And I think it's exactly the kinds of things that
we're talking about right now. I was energized, I was
(19:41):
in a new environment. I had that physical activity.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
I just.
Speaker 3 (19:48):
Took all of those to heart. I didn't know I
was doing it, but that's exactly what happened, and it
ties into the next one. When you travel, you're likely
to interact with locals, fellow too, tist, tour guys, and
people you may not see every day. These are friends
that traveled from France happened to be coming to New
York anyway. I scheduled the weekend to go up there
(20:10):
and meet them. I was so happy to see them,
so happy to meet them, so happy to be moving around,
sharing meals, walking experiences that I just felt great. I was,
you know, pulling on my social network of creating lasting,
memorable relationships with these friends that I see. You know
(20:31):
once every four or five years I stepped away from
that isolation.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
Our show today is entitled to your Health. Every Saturday,
we talk about travel here on a Lifeless Ordinary. In today,
it's all about rejuvenation, maybe a little bit of escape,
just getting your body, your mind, your soul, everything healed,
and travel will do that. We're going to take a
(20:57):
quick break and when we come back, I want to
dig a little deeper in and how these seven areas
that you just talked about, how that really goes into
how I plan my health retreat. Absolutely, we'll talk more
next here on a Lifeless Ordinary.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
Why do you recharge your cell phone?
Speaker 3 (21:12):
Maybe because, just like you, it functions much better with
a little revitalization. The wishing Well helps people refresh and
revitalize with individually designed, customize vacation planning. We'll send you
anywhere in the world, plus offer advice on packing, navigating customs,
and more. Wishes really do come true at the Wishing Well.
Visit us at two forty three and a half Avenue,
(21:33):
call us at five four zero nine zero eight two
three three three, or on the web at the wishing
Well dot biz and welcome back.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
To a Lifeless Ordinary. This is the travel show and
podcast from your friends at the wishing Well. Those friends
Terry Dean Harry Rife. We sit down every Saturday morning
to talk travel. If we are sparking any questions that
maybe we don't answer in the show, but you would
like answers to, I encourage you to reach out to
(22:01):
Terry or Harry. You can give them a call at
five four oh nine oh eight twenty three thirty three.
You could stop by and see them there locate on
nef Avenue in Harrisonburg. Also, they're on the web and
there's a link on their website where you could email them.
Just go to the Wishingwell dot biz. Our show is
to your health and we just reviewed seven areas of
(22:23):
how travel is beneficial to our health, whether it's getting
out and seeing other cultures, meeting other people, planning, just escaping,
all beneficial. How is this all now tie in together?
If I'm thinking, well, I'd like to get away.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
Yeah, Well, first of all, it's the very reason that
the wishing Well in a lifeless ordinary was even created
in the first place, and that is to come up
with all of these subliminal reasons that we deliver those
benefits of travel to you week after week after week.
So now that you know what's so cool about traveling,
(23:06):
want to take this a step further, Chris. We want
to look into some of what the experts say, what
they've found out, and what is happening during or might
could be a life changing health event, and what do
they say about the benefits of travel. Well, one of
the most fascinating studies that I've recently come across wasn't
(23:28):
conducted by travel company at all. It came from researchers
from the National Institute of Health who were trying to
better understand what really matters to people. And they surveyed
more than three thousand Americans from all walks of life,
and they asked a surprising, simple question, do you have
a bucket list? That was the question, and the answer,
(23:50):
an overwhelming ninety one percent said yes. Now that alone
isn't really interesting, But what really caught my attention was
what people actually put on those lists. The number one
answer wasn't making more money, It wasn't buying a bigger house,
It wasn't climbing the corporate ladder. It was travel. Nearly
(24:16):
eight out of ten people said they dreamed of seeing
new places, exploring the world, experiencing destinations they'd always imagined visiting,
and in fact, travel ranked slightly higher than accomplishing any
kind of personal achievement, reaching a major milestone in life,
or achieving financial goals, or even pursuing an adrenaline filled adventure.
(24:39):
So you know, sorry, all you know exers out there,
you missed it. It was travel all the time. It
was travel. Just think about that for a minute, I mean,
because that's amazing to think how important travel is to
people who think about what's on my busy get list.
(25:01):
And you know why we create bucket lists. This is
the things we want to do before we dot dot dot.
And so when people stop and they consider what they
want to do most before that time runs out, they
usually don't think about things. They think about experiences, and
they think about standing under the northern lights. They want
(25:23):
to watch the sun rise over the Serengetti. They want
to take that river cruise through Europe. They want to
walk cobblestones in villages that their grandparents once walked around in,
and they want to share a special trip with their
kids or their grandchildren. And this study, Chris also revealed
something else that I found incredibly moving. A lot of
(25:43):
bucket list dreams aren't really about the destination at all.
They're not, and I can tell you that because I
just experienced that with my daughter. But they're about connection.
They're about meaningful time with people we love, and they're
about life smilestones, and they're about creating those memories that
(26:06):
last long after the souvenirs are gone and they're forgotten.
Speaker 1 (26:12):
I want to thank you because I know today's show
is not easy, because what sparked this is within your
own family going through affright, and thank goodness, blessed hands
were available to step up and help heal your daughter.
(26:33):
These are what we're talking about today is exactly about
what you and your daughter are experiencing together, your living life.
Your life might not be, you know, the ordinary life
that someone else is living, and their life doesn't seem
ordinary to you either. But I just want to say
thank you because I know it's not always easy to
(26:54):
sit down in front of a microphone and share with
the you know, all of the people who join us
every Saturday, our personal life experience.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
But you know what, it's important for me on this
show to be honest and no matter how hard it is,
and it is hard. You know, it's hard to talk
about life sometimes and how it trips over what we
do professionally, but it's real and everything we say and
do on this show is all about showing you who
(27:23):
we are.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
What It'd be nice if it was like it was
on TV.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
Wouldn't life? It seems so controlled?
Speaker 3 (27:30):
Right?
Speaker 1 (27:31):
Life is anything about ordinary?
Speaker 3 (27:33):
Well, sometimes in this show we talk about luxury travel,
and I know we spend a lot of time talking
about travel and you know, a life less ordinary, it
kind of points toward luxury. What we're talking about this
morning is a different kind of luxury, a really different luxury.
And that's the luxury of being with people you love,
(27:54):
getting through situations that are difficult, whether it's you know,
the loss of a job you mentioned, loss of a spouse,
a child, something traumatic, bad news, But it's the luxury
of being able to move.
Speaker 2 (28:07):
Around that, move through.
Speaker 3 (28:09):
That and grow in the experience.
Speaker 1 (28:12):
Okay, I feel like what we're talking about today is
celebrating our own life.
Speaker 2 (28:17):
It is taking control back. Yeah, sometimes when it seems
like it's been taken away from you. And you know,
that's exactly what we did after we knew Morgan was
facing something you know, as we took that control back
and said no, you don't, No, you don't get to
steal our joy and we get to create that. And
(28:39):
I would encourage any of you all who are listening.
You know, I'm not at all full disclosure. We're not
medical physicians or anything like that. And please don't anybody
go book a trip to New York if you've got
a cardiac problem like Harry did. But you know what
I'm saying is take control back. Make sure you don't
(28:59):
lose your joy over whatever those situations are that come
up in life. Because travel is I'm going to tell
you it is the magic wand it truly is. Now
one of the other studies that I thought was very
important came across my desk from AARP. And you know
(29:20):
what's fascinating. Researchers at AARP discovered that the benefits of
travel don't actually begin when you board the plane. They
begin the moment you start dreaming about that trip. Remember
those endorphins I was talking about, the dopamine. In fact,
their study found that simply creating a travel bucket list
gives people something incredibly valuable, and that is hope. Oh yeah,
(29:44):
and think about that it's not a ticket, it's not
a reservation, it's not even a departure date. Just the
act of imagining where you want to go and what
you'd like to experience creates a sense of anticipation and
optimism about the future. And for a lot of people,
that's power, and that's powerful enough to change your trajectory.
(30:05):
The researchers found that nearly seven out of ten baby
boomers are optimistic they'll reach the next destination on their
bucket list. And even more interesting, people began making positive
changes in their lives long before they ever left home.
I think that's fascinating. I love this kind of research.
By the way, it just it really stimulates my brain.
(30:28):
But more than half reported they're getting in better physical
shape so they can fully enjoy those upcoming travel arrangements.
Others are saving more money, they're researching the destinations, they're
learning about these new cultures. In other words, travel gives
us a reason to prepare for tomorrow. There's always a tomorrow.
(30:51):
That song in Annie, what was it wasn't it? Annie?
The sun will come up tomorrow.
Speaker 3 (30:56):
Well tell me if you don't know anybody that's going
on vacation, that talks about losing weight and preparation for
a vacation, what a healthy thing to do.
Speaker 2 (31:06):
It does, Harriet, encourage us to look forward instead of backwards.
It gives us a goal, a purpose, an adventure kind
of just waiting over that horizon. And I see that
every day at the Wishing Well. Honestly, I see that.
I see people who come in with one expression on
their face and leave with a completely different one. And
(31:29):
that's when I know I've done my job well.
Speaker 1 (31:32):
I would imagine most people when they walk in are thinking,
there's no way we can afford to do what our
dream is. In the truth, you make dreams come true.
Speaker 2 (31:41):
We want to, you know, we know that we have to.
When you see people's eyes light up and conversation becomes
less about aging and more about living. And it's not
about a decision to save. It's a decision to plan,
you know, a decision to stop saying someday and start saying,
let's figure out how. Because the truth is, very few
(32:04):
journeys happen by accident. They just don't. They happen because
somebody decides that their dream deserves a place on the calendar.
And maybe that's the real reason that the lesson is here.
I mean, it's travel isn't just about seeing the world,
It's about creating something to look forward to. I want
to switch gears a little bit and talk about yet
(32:25):
another organization that kind of has spent their entire efforts
on this particular thing, and that's Make a Wish. Make
a Wish considers travel an essential transformative part of a
child's treatment plan. I find that so interesting that they
(32:46):
put that in their motto, because travel provides proven physical
and emotional benefits that boost a child's survival chances. More
than seventy five percent of all wishes granted and involves
some form of travel. That organization emphasizes several key concepts
(33:08):
regarding travel wishes, life changing, healing, replacing fear with joy,
and family unity. So I'm pretty sure by now you
realize there's something very compelling and information compelling enough to
indicate that these are facts that point to significant benefits
(33:29):
of choosing travel. And Chris, if I'm not mistaken, I
think you've got a great story to Make a Wish.
Speaker 1 (33:36):
Well. So this predates my wife and I knowing each other,
so the details of this will will probably not be
accurate she'll be listening on the podcast later and going,
that's not how any of this went, Chris. But her
son had a heart condition trunks and there's a big,
longer name for it, but essentially what it is is
(34:00):
your your artery and your vein and your heart are connected.
Instead of going into the different ventricle and atrium, they're
all going the same place, so all the blood mixes
instead of getting sent to the lungs, and so you're
not getting the oxygen that you need. And they discovered
(34:21):
it when when he was a newborn, he wasn't feeding.
He wouldn't feed, and he was turning blue and just
you know, all the things that a new mom and
dad don't want to have to deal with. And they
did surgery. He had multiple surgeries, and as he got older,
Make a Wish got involved and they took the family
(34:41):
to Disney World and had a blast. And Becca still
gets the pictures out and you know, and you see
the kids with their Mickey ears on, and it just
distracted them from all of the all of the reality
of what their life was because in his situation, it
wasn't a you have the surgery and then life is normal.
(35:04):
It was this gets you to the next surgery, and
this will get you to the next surgery, and you know,
you fear for the worst. Ultimately, the worst happened when
he was fifteen. He was he was living his best life. Well,
he was chasing all the girls in school. He was
We're convinced that we'd be grandparents multiple times over at
(35:25):
this point because he liked the girls, and he liked skateboarding,
and he was out skateboarding and he had a heart
attack and died. Yeah, And you know, he went doing
what he loved best, that was out having having having fun.
Speaker 2 (35:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (35:40):
And but the Make a Wish organization made made the
life for a week a little bit, a little bit
easier on the family.
Speaker 2 (35:49):
Yeah. And and I've had an opportunity to work with
them as well on a client's trip. Young man that
I still know. His daughter and my daughter were in
a lot of special challenged things together. Challenge Baseball was
something that they both did together. And she was in
(36:11):
the Make a Wish program and she was also awarded
a trip. She went down to Florida. She wanted to
see the manatees.
Speaker 3 (36:19):
Oh wow.
Speaker 2 (36:20):
And it was an awesome request and she had quite
a few challenges with the mobile apparatus that she has,
and we were able, through a few phone calls to
be able to get them through to their destination. And
here's the good news, Chris, that young woman, my daughter
(36:42):
is thirty eight years old, and his daughter is not
far behind my daughter. And she's still here with us today.
And you know, who knows, but what that trip, that
one meaningful situation in her life boosted her adrenaline to
the point where she was able to make it over
(37:02):
a hump. Who knows, but it was something special. And
each one of us has a story. You know. I
want to hand this off to Harry because he's got
a very special story about his sister too, But I
do want to share with our audience. I promised I
would about where I took Morgan and why that was
so important. First of all, with the pressure in her eyes,
(37:25):
there was no way I could put her on a plane.
That would have not been wisdom. So I knew it
had to be a driveable destination. So we decided that
we would go to Pigeon Forge down to Dollywood. That's
someplace that we had never been, and we wanted to
stay in one of Dolly's brand new resort and spa
facilities there. It's called dream More.
Speaker 3 (37:52):
What a name. It's a perfect name for that facility.
Speaker 1 (37:56):
It is.
Speaker 2 (37:58):
Everything that happened there was all about Morgan. It was
all about what she wanted to do. I know at
one point we were making our way to a little
shopping area and a gristmill that still works, and there
were little shops down there, and she happened to see
a trolley go by, and she goes, I want to
(38:20):
ride the trolley, And I said, okay, let's do that.
Dropped everything that we were doing and got on the
trolley and rode that for about an hour and a
half and then went to the Hatfields and McCoy's dinner
show and had a big fun time. She spent a
lot of the time in the pool. We went to Dollywood,
and for you listening, if you have any desire to
go to Dollywood, yes it's worth it. Yes, she's a
(38:43):
wonderful human being and she has given so much of
her heart and her soul to the people of Ceverville, Tennessee,
that it is amazing to see what one little country
girl's dream could do. But it was all so very appropriate,
and it all was so very wonderful how it came together.
(39:05):
So that's what I did with Morgan, and I know
Harry's got a great story about his sister. I want
him to share because it also really ties into what
we're talking about today.
Speaker 3 (39:15):
Well, it ties into what you were saying about make
a wish, what both of you were saying, Chris and Terry,
and that is make a wish is there to give hope,
to give inspiration to the people with problems. But don't
miss for a moment what it does for the families
of those people too, whether it's moms you know or
(39:38):
you know, or dads or relatives who are there, or
people like me who are at the other end. When
I'm getting the phone calls from Morgan down and Dollywood
telling me about the pools, telling me about the spa,
it makes us all happy to see those people that
are going through stress and know that they've forgotten about
(39:59):
it for a little bit. That hope is contagious because
her talking to me made me feel better about what
was going to happen to I was sitting at home
worrying while Terry and Morgan were gone, but when I
heard they were having a blast, It's like, why didn't
I get to go to But the story that I
think Terry wants to share is it's not just about kids,
(40:23):
It's also about adults. I had a younger sister who's
no longer with me, and she was a very private person.
She didn't share a lot, and all of a sudden
I noticed she was traveling. She was traveling like crazy.
And she wasn't going to Pigeon Forge, Terry. She was
(40:46):
going to China, she was going to India. She was
going any place in the world that she found a
trip that caught her attention, and she traveled by herself.
She did this for over two maybe three years.
Speaker 2 (41:00):
You might recall she even went to Italy, and while
she was in Italy, she indicated to us that she
saw the Pope three times and she thought he was
stalking her.
Speaker 1 (41:11):
Every corner she went.
Speaker 3 (41:12):
Here came the popemobile and the motorcade, and she really
took joy in that. And she noticed that and she
forgot what was going on, and I thought, my crazy sister,
My crazy sister. It wasn't until toward the end of
that journey that I realized why she was traveling. She
was traveling for two reasons, Chris. She was traveling because
(41:36):
she was looking for a cure for the special kind
of cancer that she had that the doctors here told
her was hopeless. She was traveling around the world doing research,
talking to people, meeting people in different places, learning about
different cultures, understanding the medicines that they practiced in different
(41:59):
parts of the world, Medicines that I didn't give any
credentials to. She was checking them all out. But the
second thing is I looked at all the things that
she collected on her travels. After she passed, I was
part of having to go through her things and kind
of put them to order and share them with the family.
(42:22):
And that turned out to be a tough thing when
I went into it, but I walked away with a
lot of joy, and I smiled a lot because my
crazy sister, in her travels, collected some of the most
unusual and unique things that as I was looking at them,
even though I didn't have her anymore, I had the
(42:45):
things that she brought back that were her memories for
the moment, And now there are memories that I have,
her nieces and nephews have, and every time we look
at those things on the wall, every time we pull
those things, you know, down off the shelf, even books
that she found. You can't help but thinking of her.
(43:08):
So what we're talking about today is, you know, travel
is healing in so many ways. It heals the people
to travel, It inspires the people to travel, and it
also inspires everybody around them, everybody that they touch. And
I apologize if this sounds like we're getting a little heavy.
(43:30):
That's not my intent. But if I can make an
impression upon everybody listening today, I think I've done a
good job.
Speaker 1 (43:38):
One of the things that comes to mind is I've
listened to both of you talk, and both of your
voices of cracked and emotions are real. Is none of
this happens without a lot of strong love. That's true,
And what we're talking about today is well, loving our family,
(43:59):
loving our elves, loving ourselves enough to say I need
an escape for a bit, and loving each other enough
to build those memories together. Yeah, you know, thank god,
Morgan's eye issue is just that, it's an issue with
(44:21):
her eyes. But you will never forget your trip to Dollywood,
and hopefully she never forgets either. And I hope the
next time she sees a trolley She's like, remember when
we were in Dollywood exactly, or the next time she
sees the Hatfields and McCoy's, which, from being from West Virginia,
I can tell you they're everywhere. Our show today is
(44:44):
entitled to your Health, and we are talking about traveling
to rejuvenate, travel to celebrate ourselves, celebrate our health, and
to you know, deal sometimes when the health isn't there
as well. We're going to take a quick break when
we come back. I would like to talk quickly if
(45:06):
we have a couple of minutes about logistics, because I
would imagine depending upon Harry traveling to New York with
a heart issue, there are some considerations that we should
take into account. We'll talk more about that when we
come back here on a life less ordinary.
Speaker 2 (45:22):
Why do you recharge your cell phone?
Speaker 3 (45:23):
Maybe because, just like you, it functions much better with
a little revitalization. The Wishing Well helps people refresh and
revitalize with individually designed, customize vacation planning. We'll send you
anywhere in the world, plus offer advice on packing, navigating customs,
and more. Wishes really do come true at the Wishing Well.
Visit us at two forty three and a half Avenue,
(45:44):
call us at five four zero nine zero eight two
three three three or on.
Speaker 1 (45:48):
The web at the wishing Well dot biz and welcome
back to a life less Ordinary. Today our show is
entitled to your Health, as we talk about how travel
can be rejuvenating, it can be healing. If you've got questions,
maybe you're finding yourself in a situation right now where
you would like to get away. Terry and Harry are
(46:11):
here to help and they would love to talk to
you at five four oh nine oh eight twenty three
thirty three. They're on the web at the wishing Well Biz.
You can also stop by and see them at their
location on nef Avenue in Harrisonburg. And while you're there,
give yourself some flowers absolutely that make you smile too,
a nice big rose bouquet. So before we went to
(46:33):
break I mentioned logistics, and so as we've been talking,
I've been thinking about just different types of you know,
medical conditions that might cause you know a bit of
a hurdle for you to get through, whether it's security
or booking a flight or just staying in a car
(46:55):
for a long period of time. What do we need
to know if we are in a wheelchair. Yeah, is
that something that we can accommodate.
Speaker 2 (47:03):
Yes, So you know, whenever somebody has a particular challenge,
whether it's a wheelchair, or whether it's a heart condition,
or they have a pacemaker, or they have metal implanted
in their bodies, or you know, pick something. The first
word of importance here is planning. Okay, so you really
(47:25):
do have to do some careful planning with certain challenges
that you may have. The other thing is transparency. You
have to if you you know, especially if you are
using a travel professional, and I would recommend highly doing
that if you want to travel, particularly with some of
(47:45):
the things that we've indicated here in the show today.
You know, for example, Morgan couldn't fly. She had far
too much pressure already and it would have been a
lack of wisdom for me to put her on a plane.
So if I were doing this travel for somebody else
that I didn't know, and they came to me and
(48:07):
they said, you know, we want to take this trip
and that wasn't disclosed, that could be a mistake. You know,
you want to make sure that you don't make those
kinds of mistakes.
Speaker 1 (48:17):
Should I have that conversation with my doctor.
Speaker 2 (48:19):
Indeed you should, yeah, first of all, And that's a
good point, Chris. A physician should always be involved in
the types of decisions that you make when travel is involved,
especially if your health is a part of the reason
why you're traveling. They should be kind of the final
word on whether or not you should do that. But
(48:39):
when it comes to things like wheelchairs, I mean, we
are so well equipped at the Wishing Well. And I
can tell you because I have a special needs person
in my life, I'm pretty adapt at developing some situations
and strategies for people who travel where it can be
(49:01):
a lot easier. And we can ease that burden on
you when you travel, because I already know how that happens.
Speaker 1 (49:06):
Can you make sure that they have a wheelchair waiting
for me so I don't have to run through.
Speaker 2 (49:11):
The absolutely And one of the things that people don't
know is that's a free service, you know, some of
these adaptations that are required for some people who have
special needs or special requirements, they're absolutely free. We live
in a great country where ada is so prevalent, you know,
So those are great things to know. And there's more
(49:33):
than just a wheelchair. There's scooters, there's scooters that are
available on cruises, there's scooters that are available in places
like Disneyland and Dollywood, and as you move internationally, it's
really important also, Chris, to know the rules change ADYA
is something that's Americans with Disabilities Act. It doesn't cover
Americans overseas with disabilities, so we have to know what
(49:55):
exists in different countries.
Speaker 1 (49:57):
Should I be telling the hotel about my medical condition.
Speaker 2 (50:02):
Yes, absolutely, and that's a great point. Once upon a time,
and usually I mean in years past, Morian and I
share a birth month. She's born on the sixteenth of July.
I was born on the twenty fourth, so typically she
and I will always take off and go somewhere together
for our birthdays. And one year, the hotel that we
went to, I was completely unaware of the topography that
(50:26):
this hotel was built on, and had I known in advance,
I wouldn't have probably made that choice. But yes, anytime
that you have some mobility issues or anything like that, again,
transparency is something that's very very.
Speaker 3 (50:43):
Important and one of the things I want to point
out also for people that are listening. A lot of
times special needs situations require special medical equipment.
Speaker 2 (50:54):
There's a lot of rules.
Speaker 3 (50:55):
People know about all the things that you can carry
on to a plane, whether it's liquids, whether it's equipment.
There are special special rules for medical equipment. If you're
aware of them, it's really helpful to know that beforehand,
so you can get the equipment on board. You don't
want to worry about that equipment following you or perhaps
being lost. I'll cite this case, very special case. A
(51:19):
friend of mine was traveling with a girl who not
only needed a wheelchair, Chris, she had a very specialized,
custom fit wheelchair. Terry arranged for him to sit in
one of the baggage handler's vehicles as they loaded at
in the bottom of the plane for her trip to Disney,
because he was worried if she got down there without
(51:39):
that chair, she'd be immobile the whole time.
Speaker 1 (51:41):
What if I have an IV or I'm going through chemo.
And I know that we can't hit every different medical situation,
but in most situations, can they accommodate my medical situation?
Speaker 2 (51:57):
And great questions, Chris, And here's what I'll say, And
I think and I hope that's this is going to
be the one thing that a lot of our listeners
all of our listeners will take from today's A life
less ordinary is that there are no barriers to you
when it comes to travel. I have a client right
now who has had MS for years and has had
(52:20):
to teach herself to walk five times. She's had to
relearn to eat food with utensils three times. And this
woman still goes to Europe every single year in her chair,
but she navigates cobblestones and everything else. So the word
for today is, do not say yes to barriers, overcome
(52:43):
them with your joy, and let travel be that instrument
that creates that joy.
Speaker 1 (52:48):
I want to thank you both again for sharing your stories.
The conversation today not necessarily easy, but man, it is
so exciting to celebrate it is. Celebrate our memories as
we're talking about it. But also one of the things
you said that's going to stick with me is just
when you start talking about it, it's sparking all of
(53:09):
the endorsements. Just talking about all this has been really
encouraging and uplifting to me. I hope that our listeners
today have gotten something really powerful out of today's show.
We've got like ten seconds. How do we get in
touch with you?
Speaker 2 (53:25):
The wishing well is at two forty three f Avenue
in Harsenburg. You can call us five four Oho nine
oh eight two three three three or look us up
on the web. We're at the Wishingwell dot biz.
Speaker 1 (53:37):
This has been a life less ordinary the travel show
from your friends at the wishing Well at two forty
three nef Avenue in Harrisonburg. If you have any questions
on topics discussed today, please reach out to the wishing
Well online at the Wishingwell dot biz or five four
Oho nine oh eight twenty three thirty three.
Speaker 3 (53:53):
Eight.
Speaker 1 (53:53):
Past episodes are available on the iHeartRadio app. And we'll
see again next Saturday morning at ten for a life
less Ordinary. I'm the wishing Well MHM.
This is a Lifeless Ordinary, the travel show and podcasts
from your friends at the wishing Well two forty three
f Avenue in Harsmert and online at the wishing Well
dot biz. The wishing Well is your ultimate luxury concierge
travel agency and A Lifeless Ordinary is a travel show
and podcasts hosted by Terry Dean, bringing her over forty
years of experience in the travel industry to help guide
(00:21):
you to great experiences in your travel, whether it be
around the block, around the country, or around the world.
Let's bring in Terry Dean.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
And say hello, Chris, how are you.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
I'm doing really well. It's good to see you. And
Harry of good.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Good to see you. Good to see you both. Harry
feels like it's been forever. Well.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
Harry and I hung out last week.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
I know you did. I add some things going on,
had a great time.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Actually, the things going on are pretty much where our
show is going today.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Yeah they are. They're very relevant to where I felt
like it was important to take a Lifeless Ordinary today.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
We'll catch up with that here in just one second.
I do want to see how you're doing personally. You're
doing well.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
I hope doing well. The office is thriving, I will say,
I mean, the wishing Well is such a gem, you know,
it really is. I'm so honestly, I'm so proud, Chris,
of all of the folks who work for us and
with us. I'm so grateful to this community for supporting
our business. It has been an outstanding year. And you know,
(01:25):
when everybody else talks about challenges and struggling and that
kind of thing, you almost feel a little guilty when
you are as blessed as we are at the wishing Well.
So thank you all. We just love it when you
support us.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
If you're new to our show, every Saturday morning we
talk travel and that's just one part of the wishing Well.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Indeed, Harry rolled.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
Up this morning in one of your delivery vans. I
thought he was bringing me flowers.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
Nice try, I thought, oh, I'm getting flowers.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
And you also do event planning, right, we do know
you got the three legs of the stool there to
get us everything we need for living a life that
is a lot less ordinary.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
You know, it's really funny, Chris. In the very beginning
of the wishing Well's roots, I had mentioned to my
parents that I wanted to create a kind of business
that did travel, that did event planning, because I always
thought those two things so naturally went hand in hand
(02:29):
because all of my career that's exactly what I did,
and that's what I saw evolve. And then it wasn't
until after we started the Wishing Well and I got
my dad's thumbs up to go ahead and pursue this,
and I'm sure he'd be proud from wherever he's looking
at me today. But we decided that it was only
(02:53):
fitting for us to create our own floral boutique as
well to support the event business that we had. So
it all works kind of together and very well.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
It's really about making people smile, and I can't think
of a more fun business to have where we spend
all our days, all of her, all our time working
to make people smile.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
And you do, we hope, So I mean that's the goal, Chris.
Every day that I come in, first of all, every
day I walk in the door, I thank God that
he has supplied such a great place for me to
hang my hat every day, and believe me, I wear
about ninety nine different hats throughout the day. But I'm
so grateful to have that and to have the wishing
(03:40):
well as what supports this community.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
So the wishing well is part of your life. It
is you have other things going on in your world
than just work.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
I do.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
You have a very lovely daughter who is okay if
I talk a little bit about what she went through. Y.
So you weren't here last week. We mentioned that Harry
and I we're hanging out together and we had a
guy's outing for the show. I did your daughter had
a bit of a scare with her eyes.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Yeah, so it was most unusual, something I didn't really anticipate,
nor did I understand. By the way, for those of
you who are just tuning in, this is a lifeless
ordinary and we usually talk about traveling. We're going to
believe me when I tell you this is a great
segue into what we're going to be talking about later.
But I have a special needs daughter. She's very small.
(04:30):
She's tiny, She's about the size of a twelve year old.
But she's adorable. And she's thirty eight years old, and
she's always had some a struggle with her eyesight and
hearing and that kind of thing. It just comes with
kind of the bag of tricks that she was given
when she was born, but I took her to the
(04:51):
doctor thinking that she was dealing with probably some allergies,
headache and some eye red eye, that kind of thing.
Took the doctor only to find out that she had
a condition called blastoma glaucoma, which was actually a critical emergency,
and so she was taken immediately over to UVA Hospital
(05:12):
in Charlotte, Sviil. Thank God for UVA Hospital, and they
were able to at least treat her immediately. And then
the reason that I wasn't here last week then was
because she had surgery. And I'm grateful to say that
surgery was successful. She is mending and she's in repair.
(05:33):
But the great thing that I was able to do
before she had to have the emergency surgery because they
treated it first with medicine to see if they could
eliminate some of the major swelling that was going on.
And let me give you some comparisons here, Chris, my
eye and your eye has a pressure point. You've been
(05:56):
to the doctor before, they she that little gun in
your eye. Yeah, that and if it's normal, it's usually
between ten fifteen at the most. That's your pressure pressure
and your eye. My daughter's was fifty nine. Oh my gosh,
it was five and a half times more than yours
or mine, which did make that an emergency. When she
(06:18):
got over to UVA, they were able to start some
medicine right away. That really helped. Even in that one
day that we were there and we had to let
this medicine do its thing for because you couldn't operate immediately.
That would have been tragic. But in any event, she
(06:40):
was on the medicine for a few days. That gave
me an opportunity to plan a very quick and happy
getaway prior to her surgery, which is one of the
things we're going to talk about today.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
One of the French benefits she has is mom knows
how to do travel. Well, mom does know how. Yeah,
and so you guys, you took a little ernie. Can
we talk about where you went?
Speaker 2 (07:01):
Yeah? Yeah, we Actually I'm going to save that because
I have plans to talk about that later.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
But well, let me tell you what the show is
entitled today. If you're listening to this online later, you
already know because it's in the link. But the show
today is to your health. It is, and there are
about a lot there's lots of research out there I'm
sure you'll talk more about this as we dig deeper
into this. Travels good for the soul.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
Oh man. You know it.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
Whether you know it, whether you just need to decompress
from your job, or you want to get away from
your crazy family, or you want to take your crazy
family with you.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Yeah, it's good for you. It is true. And I'll
tell you there's a lot of people out there that
are that are probably in between these areas of life
as well. You know, we may all have some kind
of health challenge or health what I'm going to call
abbreviation in our life. But it doesn't have to stagnate us.
(08:04):
It doesn't have to be the barrier that keeps us
from letting life happen. And I think it's very important
as I prepared for this show today that I began
to start the focus on that.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
I've hit that age where all of a sudden, it's
not my friend's parents that are sick, it's my friends
that are sick. My wife, Becca and I, we have
dear friends. One of them is dealing with cancer, and
the wife, she's dealing with the cancer as much as
he is sure she is, and it is crazy to
(08:41):
watch her because She is one of the loveliest, sweetest
people you've ever She is angry at everybody right now.
I'm sorry when you told me we were going to
do a show to your health for travel on thinking
they need a vacation, they need to get away from
all of the doctor's appointments in the medical conversation and
people prying into their business.
Speaker 3 (09:02):
Yea.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
And so I'm excited to talk.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
About this well, you know, and there's there's three words
that really came to my mind throughout this whole process,
and it was, you know, faith, trust, and hope.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
And you know that you've got to have the faith
to have the other two.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
You know, it's absolutely true. But I want to talk
to you about where we settled on going for Morgan's trip.
But before we do that, the choice, by the way,
was so perfect, it was so perfect for her. But
I want to spend a little time about some of
the situations that that hundreds of travelers face, Chris all
(09:41):
the time. You probably know some and not all end
of life, but just even just health changes and events.
And I also want to talk to you about how
the experts, and when I say experts, I'm talking about
National Health Institute and AARP and make a Wish Foundation
how they weigh in on this very interesting and really
(10:05):
trending subject in travel right now. So I didn't just
snatch this out of the air, and this wasn't something
that just fell on me so we could have a
good radio show today. This is something that's actually coming
more onto the forefront, and these organizations are starting to
focus on these things because really, don't we all want
to find something that's going to make us feel better?
(10:27):
We all do, you know? So I want to talk
first about why this topic is gaining some popularity in
the travel industry and why just travel in general is
so important and healthy for you. First of all, travel
provides I think, profound psychological and physical advantages, actively lowering
(10:52):
stress levels, but it enhances your cognitive flexibility and creativity.
It fosters some personal growth and a little bit of
empathy empathy as you go through many different cultures, and
it sharpens problem solving skills. And it also recharges both
the mind and the body for better overall health. And
(11:14):
I declare to you, Chris, as I was preparing for
this show, I thought so much about some of the
previous shows that we have just recently done. And I
know you're going to remember we've done health and body
and mind awareness and well being travel, We've done the
Safari travels, which are out of the box kind of experiences.
(11:38):
I mean, all of this sort of culminated to me
and I went, this is great. This is absolutely great
that we have these moments where we can focus on
these things and know that there's some true meaning behind them.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
Does our travel, if we're doing it for health benefits,
does it have to be to a spall location or
can it just be anything to beget.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
Heavens know, because mind healing and emotional healing doesn't always
occur in the SPA. It occurs with people you love
a lot of times, and it's the moments that you
create which can be life changing and redirecting, you know.
(12:23):
So one of the things that just travel in general
does is it relieves stress and it prevents a lot
of that burnout that we ordinarily accumulate day to day. Today,
you get to step away from your daily responsibilities, you
lower that cortisol, which is really the stress hormone, and
(12:43):
it replaces it with endorphins, kind of like what people
get when they've run, you know, they get that. That's
why they love to run. Some people are addicted to that,
by the way, you know, because it just really increases
those endorphins and that mental physical attachment. It really effectively
combats burnout, and it rejuvenates your energy level. And the
(13:07):
second thing is it boosts creativity and cognitive skills. That's
one of the benefits of travel. If we're going to
direct this point toward international destinations, really navigating foreign environments,
it requires quick thinking. Good lord, we see that every
day at the Wishing Well, from calculating currency to managing
(13:30):
complex transit routes. Research shows Chris that this mental stimulation
directly increases cognitive flexibility and broadens your capacity for deep
creative thinking.
Speaker 3 (13:43):
You're talking about people engaged. When you're at home, you're
in a routine. Right, you go home, you do the
same thing tomorrow. You'll probably do something very similar in
the day after. When you travel, each moment, whether it's
in an airport or whether it's in a new city
or a hotel, you're challenged to look at that environment,
(14:03):
assess that environment, figure out how you feel inside that environment,
and how you're going to adapt in that environment. So
that's really really important. Likewise, you're going to when you're
in a new environment, you're going to engage in some
cultural empathy and open mindedness. You go into a new environment,
(14:24):
you see different people, you see different cultures, experiencing how
other people live firsthand. Even if you're going across country,
you're going to see some of that. You've got to
step outside of that routine, outside of that comfort zone,
and that's going to cultivate really important qualities, qualities like tolerance,
(14:44):
qualities like empathy, and an appreciation for the diversity of
the world. You don't focus on your sad sack environment.
You know that you may be in easy to get
down when you're sick, but if you see the rest
of the world, all of a sudden, you have a
brand new context to think about things in And those
are things you wouldn't think about if you're sitting at
(15:07):
home in your chair, in your bed, you know, in
your back porch.
Speaker 1 (15:11):
I would imagine depending upon them. And we're not talking
about as you said, these are not all end of
life scenarios.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
These absolutely not.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
Sometimes you just need to get away for your own
mental well being. I would imagine though, sitting at home
and just dwelling in whatever it is that you really
this vacation or this trip needs to accomplish. It's good
to have a distraction. It's no kidding, you know something.
Even if you just want to sit on the beach
and watch the sunset for a week, that's got to
(15:42):
be better than sitting on the couch watching you know,
TV for a week.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
And this next one, this next point in general about
why travel is so good for you, I think this
is an important one. It strengthens your mental well being
and happiness. Exactly to the point you were just making, Chris.
It just simply planning a getaway sort of triggers the
(16:06):
release of dopamine. And once you're on the road, exposure
to new environments like beaches and mountains, bustling cities, it
releases those feel good hormones that actually combat anxiety, and
it improves your overall outlook on life. The next thing
(16:26):
that travel does, it enhances problem solving and adaptability. So
again I want to remind listeners today who are here
with us on a lifeless ordinary what we're talking about is, yes,
we're talking about how travel in general makes you feel
and the benefits of travel in general, but really more specifically,
(16:48):
I'm sort of reaching out to those of you who
may be in a situation in your life. It could
be an emotional situation and that may be making you
some what mentally unhealthy. This could be some sort of
visit that you've just had to your doctor. He's given
you some not so good news or not news that
(17:08):
you wanted, and that's sort of put you on the edge.
But that's what we're pointing to here with these points
about how travel in general is good for you.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
Well, I mean, I can think of scenarios that don't
involve the doctor. You just got, you know, riffed from
your job, you got laid off exactly, or maybe you've
lost a spouse because they ran off or you know,
gone forbid, you've lost them permanently. Those are all reasons
that your mental health need to recharge as well.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
Yeah. Yeah, and there's more, you know that there are.
There are two more reasons why I think travel in
general is so good for you, and that is because
it encourages physical activity. I can tell you this. You
are not going to be able when you go on
vacation to remain a couch potato, at least not for
(18:03):
very long, because being depressed or overly concerned about your
personal situation can bring about that lethargy and hopelessness that
you might be feeling in your current environment. But you
got to get out of there. Traveling naturally keeps you
on the move, helps you explore new things on foot.
Maybe you're hiking, you're swimming, You're burning a few calories,
(18:25):
boosting your cardiovascular health, and it often provides more physical
activity than a standard daily routine at home.
Speaker 3 (18:33):
You might remember three years ago, Terry, when I went
in for my heart Faiul surgery. I had a heart
valve replacement about three years ago Kresk, and just before that,
I was feeling a lot of the things that we're
talking about today. I was thinking about my place in
the world, what it might be down the road, and
all of the things that we're talking about were at
(18:55):
the top of my mind. Seen things happen on any vacation,
but when there's something big happening, more so more focused.
I took a trip to New York City. I visited
some friends that came in from out of the country.
They traveled from France. I met them in New York
City and I walked five and six miles with a
faulty heart in New York City. When I came back,
(19:18):
I was prepared for the surgery. I was really in
a better mood. I was in physically better shape. And
the day after the surgery, I bounced out of that
bed really quickly and was able to walk and move around.
And I think it's exactly the kinds of things that
we're talking about right now. I was energized, I was
(19:41):
in a new environment. I had that physical activity.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
I just.
Speaker 3 (19:48):
Took all of those to heart. I didn't know I
was doing it, but that's exactly what happened, and it
ties into the next one. When you travel, you're likely
to interact with locals, fellow too, tist, tour guys, and
people you may not see every day. These are friends
that traveled from France happened to be coming to New
York anyway. I scheduled the weekend to go up there
(20:10):
and meet them. I was so happy to see them,
so happy to meet them, so happy to be moving around,
sharing meals, walking experiences that I just felt great. I was,
you know, pulling on my social network of creating lasting,
memorable relationships with these friends that I see. You know
(20:31):
once every four or five years I stepped away from
that isolation.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
Our show today is entitled to your Health. Every Saturday,
we talk about travel here on a Lifeless Ordinary. In today,
it's all about rejuvenation, maybe a little bit of escape,
just getting your body, your mind, your soul, everything healed,
and travel will do that. We're going to take a
(20:57):
quick break and when we come back, I want to
dig a little deeper in and how these seven areas
that you just talked about, how that really goes into
how I plan my health retreat. Absolutely, we'll talk more
next here on a Lifeless Ordinary.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
Why do you recharge your cell phone?
Speaker 3 (21:12):
Maybe because, just like you, it functions much better with
a little revitalization. The wishing Well helps people refresh and
revitalize with individually designed, customize vacation planning. We'll send you
anywhere in the world, plus offer advice on packing, navigating customs,
and more. Wishes really do come true at the Wishing Well.
Visit us at two forty three and a half Avenue,
(21:33):
call us at five four zero nine zero eight two
three three three, or on the web at the wishing
Well dot biz and welcome back.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
To a Lifeless Ordinary. This is the travel show and
podcast from your friends at the wishing Well. Those friends
Terry Dean Harry Rife. We sit down every Saturday morning
to talk travel. If we are sparking any questions that
maybe we don't answer in the show, but you would
like answers to, I encourage you to reach out to
(22:01):
Terry or Harry. You can give them a call at
five four oh nine oh eight twenty three thirty three.
You could stop by and see them there locate on
nef Avenue in Harrisonburg. Also, they're on the web and
there's a link on their website where you could email them.
Just go to the Wishingwell dot biz. Our show is
to your health and we just reviewed seven areas of
(22:23):
how travel is beneficial to our health, whether it's getting
out and seeing other cultures, meeting other people, planning, just escaping,
all beneficial. How is this all now tie in together?
If I'm thinking, well, I'd like to get away.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
Yeah, Well, first of all, it's the very reason that
the wishing Well in a lifeless ordinary was even created
in the first place, and that is to come up
with all of these subliminal reasons that we deliver those
benefits of travel to you week after week after week.
So now that you know what's so cool about traveling,
(23:06):
want to take this a step further, Chris. We want
to look into some of what the experts say, what
they've found out, and what is happening during or might
could be a life changing health event, and what do
they say about the benefits of travel. Well, one of
the most fascinating studies that I've recently come across wasn't
(23:28):
conducted by travel company at all. It came from researchers
from the National Institute of Health who were trying to
better understand what really matters to people. And they surveyed
more than three thousand Americans from all walks of life,
and they asked a surprising, simple question, do you have
a bucket list? That was the question, and the answer,
(23:50):
an overwhelming ninety one percent said yes. Now that alone
isn't really interesting, But what really caught my attention was
what people actually put on those lists. The number one
answer wasn't making more money, It wasn't buying a bigger house,
It wasn't climbing the corporate ladder. It was travel. Nearly
(24:16):
eight out of ten people said they dreamed of seeing
new places, exploring the world, experiencing destinations they'd always imagined visiting,
and in fact, travel ranked slightly higher than accomplishing any
kind of personal achievement, reaching a major milestone in life,
or achieving financial goals, or even pursuing an adrenaline filled adventure.
(24:39):
So you know, sorry, all you know exers out there,
you missed it. It was travel all the time. It
was travel. Just think about that for a minute, I mean,
because that's amazing to think how important travel is to
people who think about what's on my busy get list.
(25:01):
And you know why we create bucket lists. This is
the things we want to do before we dot dot dot.
And so when people stop and they consider what they
want to do most before that time runs out, they
usually don't think about things. They think about experiences, and
they think about standing under the northern lights. They want
(25:23):
to watch the sun rise over the Serengetti. They want
to take that river cruise through Europe. They want to
walk cobblestones in villages that their grandparents once walked around in,
and they want to share a special trip with their
kids or their grandchildren. And this study, Chris also revealed
something else that I found incredibly moving. A lot of
(25:43):
bucket list dreams aren't really about the destination at all.
They're not, and I can tell you that because I
just experienced that with my daughter. But they're about connection.
They're about meaningful time with people we love, and they're
about life smilestones, and they're about creating those memories that
(26:06):
last long after the souvenirs are gone and they're forgotten.
Speaker 1 (26:12):
I want to thank you because I know today's show
is not easy, because what sparked this is within your
own family going through affright, and thank goodness, blessed hands
were available to step up and help heal your daughter.
(26:33):
These are what we're talking about today is exactly about
what you and your daughter are experiencing together, your living life.
Your life might not be, you know, the ordinary life
that someone else is living, and their life doesn't seem
ordinary to you either. But I just want to say
thank you because I know it's not always easy to
(26:54):
sit down in front of a microphone and share with
the you know, all of the people who join us
every Saturday, our personal life experience.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
But you know what, it's important for me on this
show to be honest and no matter how hard it is,
and it is hard. You know, it's hard to talk
about life sometimes and how it trips over what we
do professionally, but it's real and everything we say and
do on this show is all about showing you who
(27:23):
we are.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
What It'd be nice if it was like it was
on TV.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
Wouldn't life? It seems so controlled?
Speaker 3 (27:30):
Right?
Speaker 1 (27:31):
Life is anything about ordinary?
Speaker 3 (27:33):
Well, sometimes in this show we talk about luxury travel,
and I know we spend a lot of time talking
about travel and you know, a life less ordinary, it
kind of points toward luxury. What we're talking about this
morning is a different kind of luxury, a really different luxury.
And that's the luxury of being with people you love,
(27:54):
getting through situations that are difficult, whether it's you know,
the loss of a job you mentioned, loss of a spouse,
a child, something traumatic, bad news, But it's the luxury
of being able to move.
Speaker 2 (28:07):
Around that, move through.
Speaker 3 (28:09):
That and grow in the experience.
Speaker 1 (28:12):
Okay, I feel like what we're talking about today is
celebrating our own life.
Speaker 2 (28:17):
It is taking control back. Yeah, sometimes when it seems
like it's been taken away from you. And you know,
that's exactly what we did after we knew Morgan was
facing something you know, as we took that control back
and said no, you don't, No, you don't get to
steal our joy and we get to create that. And
(28:39):
I would encourage any of you all who are listening.
You know, I'm not at all full disclosure. We're not
medical physicians or anything like that. And please don't anybody
go book a trip to New York if you've got
a cardiac problem like Harry did. But you know what
I'm saying is take control back. Make sure you don't
(28:59):
lose your joy over whatever those situations are that come
up in life. Because travel is I'm going to tell
you it is the magic wand it truly is. Now
one of the other studies that I thought was very
important came across my desk from AARP. And you know
(29:20):
what's fascinating. Researchers at AARP discovered that the benefits of
travel don't actually begin when you board the plane. They
begin the moment you start dreaming about that trip. Remember
those endorphins I was talking about, the dopamine. In fact,
their study found that simply creating a travel bucket list
gives people something incredibly valuable, and that is hope. Oh yeah,
(29:44):
and think about that it's not a ticket, it's not
a reservation, it's not even a departure date. Just the
act of imagining where you want to go and what
you'd like to experience creates a sense of anticipation and
optimism about the future. And for a lot of people,
that's power, and that's powerful enough to change your trajectory.
(30:05):
The researchers found that nearly seven out of ten baby
boomers are optimistic they'll reach the next destination on their
bucket list. And even more interesting, people began making positive
changes in their lives long before they ever left home.
I think that's fascinating. I love this kind of research.
By the way, it just it really stimulates my brain.
(30:28):
But more than half reported they're getting in better physical
shape so they can fully enjoy those upcoming travel arrangements.
Others are saving more money, they're researching the destinations, they're
learning about these new cultures. In other words, travel gives
us a reason to prepare for tomorrow. There's always a tomorrow.
(30:51):
That song in Annie, what was it wasn't it? Annie?
The sun will come up tomorrow.
Speaker 3 (30:56):
Well tell me if you don't know anybody that's going
on vacation, that talks about losing weight and preparation for
a vacation, what a healthy thing to do.
Speaker 2 (31:06):
It does, Harriet, encourage us to look forward instead of backwards.
It gives us a goal, a purpose, an adventure kind
of just waiting over that horizon. And I see that
every day at the Wishing Well. Honestly, I see that.
I see people who come in with one expression on
their face and leave with a completely different one. And
(31:29):
that's when I know I've done my job well.
Speaker 1 (31:32):
I would imagine most people when they walk in are thinking,
there's no way we can afford to do what our
dream is. In the truth, you make dreams come true.
Speaker 2 (31:41):
We want to, you know, we know that we have to.
When you see people's eyes light up and conversation becomes
less about aging and more about living. And it's not
about a decision to save. It's a decision to plan,
you know, a decision to stop saying someday and start saying,
let's figure out how. Because the truth is, very few
(32:04):
journeys happen by accident. They just don't. They happen because
somebody decides that their dream deserves a place on the calendar.
And maybe that's the real reason that the lesson is here.
I mean, it's travel isn't just about seeing the world,
It's about creating something to look forward to. I want
to switch gears a little bit and talk about yet
(32:25):
another organization that kind of has spent their entire efforts
on this particular thing, and that's Make a Wish. Make
a Wish considers travel an essential transformative part of a
child's treatment plan. I find that so interesting that they
(32:46):
put that in their motto, because travel provides proven physical
and emotional benefits that boost a child's survival chances. More
than seventy five percent of all wishes granted and involves
some form of travel. That organization emphasizes several key concepts
(33:08):
regarding travel wishes, life changing, healing, replacing fear with joy,
and family unity. So I'm pretty sure by now you
realize there's something very compelling and information compelling enough to
indicate that these are facts that point to significant benefits
(33:29):
of choosing travel. And Chris, if I'm not mistaken, I
think you've got a great story to Make a Wish.
Speaker 1 (33:36):
Well. So this predates my wife and I knowing each other,
so the details of this will will probably not be
accurate she'll be listening on the podcast later and going,
that's not how any of this went, Chris. But her
son had a heart condition trunks and there's a big,
longer name for it, but essentially what it is is
(34:00):
your your artery and your vein and your heart are connected.
Instead of going into the different ventricle and atrium, they're
all going the same place, so all the blood mixes
instead of getting sent to the lungs, and so you're
not getting the oxygen that you need. And they discovered
(34:21):
it when when he was a newborn, he wasn't feeding.
He wouldn't feed, and he was turning blue and just
you know, all the things that a new mom and
dad don't want to have to deal with. And they
did surgery. He had multiple surgeries, and as he got older,
Make a Wish got involved and they took the family
(34:41):
to Disney World and had a blast. And Becca still
gets the pictures out and you know, and you see
the kids with their Mickey ears on, and it just
distracted them from all of the all of the reality
of what their life was because in his situation, it
wasn't a you have the surgery and then life is normal.
(35:04):
It was this gets you to the next surgery, and
this will get you to the next surgery, and you know,
you fear for the worst. Ultimately, the worst happened when
he was fifteen. He was he was living his best life. Well,
he was chasing all the girls in school. He was
We're convinced that we'd be grandparents multiple times over at
(35:25):
this point because he liked the girls, and he liked skateboarding,
and he was out skateboarding and he had a heart
attack and died. Yeah, And you know, he went doing
what he loved best, that was out having having having fun.
Speaker 2 (35:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (35:40):
And but the Make a Wish organization made made the
life for a week a little bit, a little bit
easier on the family.
Speaker 2 (35:49):
Yeah. And and I've had an opportunity to work with
them as well on a client's trip. Young man that
I still know. His daughter and my daughter were in
a lot of special challenged things together. Challenge Baseball was
something that they both did together. And she was in
(36:11):
the Make a Wish program and she was also awarded
a trip. She went down to Florida. She wanted to
see the manatees.
Speaker 3 (36:19):
Oh wow.
Speaker 2 (36:20):
And it was an awesome request and she had quite
a few challenges with the mobile apparatus that she has,
and we were able, through a few phone calls to
be able to get them through to their destination. And
here's the good news, Chris, that young woman, my daughter
(36:42):
is thirty eight years old, and his daughter is not
far behind my daughter. And she's still here with us today.
And you know, who knows, but what that trip, that
one meaningful situation in her life boosted her adrenaline to
the point where she was able to make it over
(37:02):
a hump. Who knows, but it was something special. And
each one of us has a story. You know. I
want to hand this off to Harry because he's got
a very special story about his sister too, But I
do want to share with our audience. I promised I
would about where I took Morgan and why that was
so important. First of all, with the pressure in her eyes,
(37:25):
there was no way I could put her on a plane.
That would have not been wisdom. So I knew it
had to be a driveable destination. So we decided that
we would go to Pigeon Forge down to Dollywood. That's
someplace that we had never been, and we wanted to
stay in one of Dolly's brand new resort and spa
facilities there. It's called dream More.
Speaker 3 (37:52):
What a name. It's a perfect name for that facility.
Speaker 1 (37:56):
It is.
Speaker 2 (37:58):
Everything that happened there was all about Morgan. It was
all about what she wanted to do. I know at
one point we were making our way to a little
shopping area and a gristmill that still works, and there
were little shops down there, and she happened to see
a trolley go by, and she goes, I want to
(38:20):
ride the trolley, And I said, okay, let's do that.
Dropped everything that we were doing and got on the
trolley and rode that for about an hour and a
half and then went to the Hatfields and McCoy's dinner
show and had a big fun time. She spent a
lot of the time in the pool. We went to Dollywood,
and for you listening, if you have any desire to
go to Dollywood, yes it's worth it. Yes, she's a
(38:43):
wonderful human being and she has given so much of
her heart and her soul to the people of Ceverville, Tennessee,
that it is amazing to see what one little country
girl's dream could do. But it was all so very appropriate,
and it all was so very wonderful how it came together.
(39:05):
So that's what I did with Morgan, and I know
Harry's got a great story about his sister. I want
him to share because it also really ties into what
we're talking about today.
Speaker 3 (39:15):
Well, it ties into what you were saying about make
a wish, what both of you were saying, Chris and Terry,
and that is make a wish is there to give hope,
to give inspiration to the people with problems. But don't
miss for a moment what it does for the families
of those people too, whether it's moms you know or
(39:38):
you know, or dads or relatives who are there, or
people like me who are at the other end. When
I'm getting the phone calls from Morgan down and Dollywood
telling me about the pools, telling me about the spa,
it makes us all happy to see those people that
are going through stress and know that they've forgotten about
(39:59):
it for a little bit. That hope is contagious because
her talking to me made me feel better about what
was going to happen to I was sitting at home
worrying while Terry and Morgan were gone, but when I
heard they were having a blast, It's like, why didn't
I get to go to But the story that I
think Terry wants to share is it's not just about kids,
(40:23):
It's also about adults. I had a younger sister who's
no longer with me, and she was a very private person.
She didn't share a lot, and all of a sudden
I noticed she was traveling. She was traveling like crazy.
And she wasn't going to Pigeon Forge, Terry. She was
(40:46):
going to China, she was going to India. She was
going any place in the world that she found a
trip that caught her attention, and she traveled by herself.
She did this for over two maybe three years.
Speaker 2 (41:00):
You might recall she even went to Italy, and while
she was in Italy, she indicated to us that she
saw the Pope three times and she thought he was
stalking her.
Speaker 1 (41:11):
Every corner she went.
Speaker 3 (41:12):
Here came the popemobile and the motorcade, and she really
took joy in that. And she noticed that and she
forgot what was going on, and I thought, my crazy sister,
My crazy sister. It wasn't until toward the end of
that journey that I realized why she was traveling. She
was traveling for two reasons, Chris. She was traveling because
(41:36):
she was looking for a cure for the special kind
of cancer that she had that the doctors here told
her was hopeless. She was traveling around the world doing research,
talking to people, meeting people in different places, learning about
different cultures, understanding the medicines that they practiced in different
(41:59):
parts of the world, Medicines that I didn't give any
credentials to. She was checking them all out. But the
second thing is I looked at all the things that
she collected on her travels. After she passed, I was
part of having to go through her things and kind
of put them to order and share them with the family.
(42:22):
And that turned out to be a tough thing when
I went into it, but I walked away with a
lot of joy, and I smiled a lot because my
crazy sister, in her travels, collected some of the most
unusual and unique things that as I was looking at them,
even though I didn't have her anymore, I had the
(42:45):
things that she brought back that were her memories for
the moment, And now there are memories that I have,
her nieces and nephews have, and every time we look
at those things on the wall, every time we pull
those things, you know, down off the shelf, even books
that she found. You can't help but thinking of her.
(43:08):
So what we're talking about today is, you know, travel
is healing in so many ways. It heals the people
to travel, It inspires the people to travel, and it
also inspires everybody around them, everybody that they touch. And
I apologize if this sounds like we're getting a little heavy.
(43:30):
That's not my intent. But if I can make an
impression upon everybody listening today, I think I've done a
good job.
Speaker 1 (43:38):
One of the things that comes to mind is I've
listened to both of you talk, and both of your
voices of cracked and emotions are real. Is none of
this happens without a lot of strong love. That's true,
And what we're talking about today is well, loving our family,
(43:59):
loving our elves, loving ourselves enough to say I need
an escape for a bit, and loving each other enough
to build those memories together. Yeah, you know, thank god,
Morgan's eye issue is just that, it's an issue with
(44:21):
her eyes. But you will never forget your trip to Dollywood,
and hopefully she never forgets either. And I hope the
next time she sees a trolley She's like, remember when
we were in Dollywood exactly, or the next time she
sees the Hatfields and McCoy's, which, from being from West Virginia,
I can tell you they're everywhere. Our show today is
(44:44):
entitled to your Health, and we are talking about traveling
to rejuvenate, travel to celebrate ourselves, celebrate our health, and
to you know, deal sometimes when the health isn't there
as well. We're going to take a quick break when
we come back. I would like to talk quickly if
(45:06):
we have a couple of minutes about logistics, because I
would imagine depending upon Harry traveling to New York with
a heart issue, there are some considerations that we should
take into account. We'll talk more about that when we
come back here on a life less ordinary.
Speaker 2 (45:22):
Why do you recharge your cell phone?
Speaker 3 (45:23):
Maybe because, just like you, it functions much better with
a little revitalization. The Wishing Well helps people refresh and
revitalize with individually designed, customize vacation planning. We'll send you
anywhere in the world, plus offer advice on packing, navigating customs,
and more. Wishes really do come true at the Wishing Well.
Visit us at two forty three and a half Avenue,
(45:44):
call us at five four zero nine zero eight two
three three three or on.
Speaker 1 (45:48):
The web at the wishing Well dot biz and welcome
back to a life less Ordinary. Today our show is
entitled to your Health, as we talk about how travel
can be rejuvenating, it can be healing. If you've got questions,
maybe you're finding yourself in a situation right now where
you would like to get away. Terry and Harry are
(46:11):
here to help and they would love to talk to
you at five four oh nine oh eight twenty three
thirty three. They're on the web at the wishing Well Biz.
You can also stop by and see them at their
location on nef Avenue in Harrisonburg. And while you're there,
give yourself some flowers absolutely that make you smile too,
a nice big rose bouquet. So before we went to
(46:33):
break I mentioned logistics, and so as we've been talking,
I've been thinking about just different types of you know,
medical conditions that might cause you know a bit of
a hurdle for you to get through, whether it's security
or booking a flight or just staying in a car
(46:55):
for a long period of time. What do we need
to know if we are in a wheelchair. Yeah, is
that something that we can accommodate.
Speaker 2 (47:03):
Yes, So you know, whenever somebody has a particular challenge,
whether it's a wheelchair, or whether it's a heart condition,
or they have a pacemaker, or they have metal implanted
in their bodies, or you know, pick something. The first
word of importance here is planning. Okay, so you really
(47:25):
do have to do some careful planning with certain challenges
that you may have. The other thing is transparency. You
have to if you you know, especially if you are
using a travel professional, and I would recommend highly doing
that if you want to travel, particularly with some of
(47:45):
the things that we've indicated here in the show today.
You know, for example, Morgan couldn't fly. She had far
too much pressure already and it would have been a
lack of wisdom for me to put her on a plane.
So if I were doing this travel for somebody else
that I didn't know, and they came to me and
(48:07):
they said, you know, we want to take this trip
and that wasn't disclosed, that could be a mistake. You know,
you want to make sure that you don't make those
kinds of mistakes.
Speaker 1 (48:17):
Should I have that conversation with my doctor.
Speaker 2 (48:19):
Indeed you should, yeah, first of all, And that's a
good point, Chris. A physician should always be involved in
the types of decisions that you make when travel is involved,
especially if your health is a part of the reason
why you're traveling. They should be kind of the final
word on whether or not you should do that. But
(48:39):
when it comes to things like wheelchairs, I mean, we
are so well equipped at the Wishing Well. And I
can tell you because I have a special needs person
in my life, I'm pretty adapt at developing some situations
and strategies for people who travel where it can be
(49:01):
a lot easier. And we can ease that burden on
you when you travel, because I already know how that happens.
Speaker 1 (49:06):
Can you make sure that they have a wheelchair waiting
for me so I don't have to run through.
Speaker 2 (49:11):
The absolutely And one of the things that people don't
know is that's a free service, you know, some of
these adaptations that are required for some people who have
special needs or special requirements, they're absolutely free. We live
in a great country where ada is so prevalent, you know,
So those are great things to know. And there's more
(49:33):
than just a wheelchair. There's scooters, there's scooters that are
available on cruises, there's scooters that are available in places
like Disneyland and Dollywood, and as you move internationally, it's
really important also, Chris, to know the rules change ADYA
is something that's Americans with Disabilities Act. It doesn't cover
Americans overseas with disabilities, so we have to know what
(49:55):
exists in different countries.
Speaker 1 (49:57):
Should I be telling the hotel about my medical condition.
Speaker 2 (50:02):
Yes, absolutely, and that's a great point. Once upon a time,
and usually I mean in years past, Morian and I
share a birth month. She's born on the sixteenth of July.
I was born on the twenty fourth, so typically she
and I will always take off and go somewhere together
for our birthdays. And one year, the hotel that we
went to, I was completely unaware of the topography that
(50:26):
this hotel was built on, and had I known in advance,
I wouldn't have probably made that choice. But yes, anytime
that you have some mobility issues or anything like that, again,
transparency is something that's very very.
Speaker 3 (50:43):
Important and one of the things I want to point
out also for people that are listening. A lot of
times special needs situations require special medical equipment.
Speaker 2 (50:54):
There's a lot of rules.
Speaker 3 (50:55):
People know about all the things that you can carry
on to a plane, whether it's liquids, whether it's equipment.
There are special special rules for medical equipment. If you're
aware of them, it's really helpful to know that beforehand,
so you can get the equipment on board. You don't
want to worry about that equipment following you or perhaps
being lost. I'll cite this case, very special case. A
(51:19):
friend of mine was traveling with a girl who not
only needed a wheelchair, Chris, she had a very specialized,
custom fit wheelchair. Terry arranged for him to sit in
one of the baggage handler's vehicles as they loaded at
in the bottom of the plane for her trip to Disney,
because he was worried if she got down there without
(51:39):
that chair, she'd be immobile the whole time.
Speaker 1 (51:41):
What if I have an IV or I'm going through chemo.
And I know that we can't hit every different medical situation,
but in most situations, can they accommodate my medical situation?
Speaker 2 (51:57):
And great questions, Chris, And here's what I'll say, And
I think and I hope that's this is going to
be the one thing that a lot of our listeners
all of our listeners will take from today's A life
less ordinary is that there are no barriers to you
when it comes to travel. I have a client right
now who has had MS for years and has had
(52:20):
to teach herself to walk five times. She's had to
relearn to eat food with utensils three times. And this
woman still goes to Europe every single year in her chair,
but she navigates cobblestones and everything else. So the word
for today is, do not say yes to barriers, overcome
(52:43):
them with your joy, and let travel be that instrument
that creates that joy.
Speaker 1 (52:48):
I want to thank you both again for sharing your stories.
The conversation today not necessarily easy, but man, it is
so exciting to celebrate it is. Celebrate our memories as
we're talking about it. But also one of the things
you said that's going to stick with me is just
when you start talking about it, it's sparking all of
(53:09):
the endorsements. Just talking about all this has been really
encouraging and uplifting to me. I hope that our listeners
today have gotten something really powerful out of today's show.
We've got like ten seconds. How do we get in
touch with you?
Speaker 2 (53:25):
The wishing well is at two forty three f Avenue
in Harsenburg. You can call us five four Oho nine
oh eight two three three three or look us up
on the web. We're at the Wishingwell dot biz.
Speaker 1 (53:37):
This has been a life less ordinary the travel show
from your friends at the wishing Well at two forty
three nef Avenue in Harrisonburg. If you have any questions
on topics discussed today, please reach out to the wishing
Well online at the Wishingwell dot biz or five four
Oho nine oh eight twenty three thirty three.
Speaker 3 (53:53):
Eight.
Speaker 1 (53:53):
Past episodes are available on the iHeartRadio app. And we'll
see again next Saturday morning at ten for a life
less Ordinary. I'm the wishing Well MHM.
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