April 15, 2025 • 60 mins
Join me for An Author’s Afternoon in The Locher Room as I welcome writer, storyteller, and adventurer Vincent Russell Van Patten to discuss his latest book, When the Sky Opens and the Answers Shimmer.
Vincent’s journey is one of exploration—both of the world and the self. Living a nomadic life, he seeks to inspire bold action and illuminate the beauty found in both the light and dark moments of human existence. His newest book is a coming-of-age travel memoir that follows his adventures from the bustling streets of Lisbon to the serene hills of southern Italy, where he confronts questions of purpose, meaning, and connection. In addition to being an author,
Vincent shares weekly writings on travel, philosophy, and personal growth and co-hosts The Dare to Dream Podcast, encouraging listeners to embrace life’s grand adventure.
Don’t miss this insightful conversation as we dive into the stories, lessons, and inspirations behind his journey.
Vincent’s journey is one of exploration—both of the world and the self. Living a nomadic life, he seeks to inspire bold action and illuminate the beauty found in both the light and dark moments of human existence. His newest book is a coming-of-age travel memoir that follows his adventures from the bustling streets of Lisbon to the serene hills of southern Italy, where he confronts questions of purpose, meaning, and connection. In addition to being an author,
Vincent shares weekly writings on travel, philosophy, and personal growth and co-hosts The Dare to Dream Podcast, encouraging listeners to embrace life’s grand adventure.
Don’t miss this insightful conversation as we dive into the stories, lessons, and inspirations behind his journey.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
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[Music]
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Hi everybody, thank you for joining me in the locker room this evening. I'm Alan Locker.
Tonight I'm thrilled to welcome back Vincent Russell Venpaton, a writer, traveler, and storyteller,
to discuss his new book when the sky opens and the answers shimmer. Vincent's journey has taken him
across the world from the vibrant streets of Lisbon, where he lived and worked at a youth hostel
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to the serene countryside of southern Italy, where he embraced a simpler way of life.
We'll also talk about his time teaching English in Japan, the lessons he's learned along the way,
and his recent return home to California just last month. His story is one of adventure, self-discovery,
and the pursuit of meaning. And I can't wait to dive into it all. Please help me welcome back
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Vincent Russell Venpaton to the locker room. Hey Vincent. Hey hey thank you that was beautiful.
Thank you for having me back. Well great to see you and welcome back. I'm loving the book
and was so excited to get to the part where you travel to Eraserra and your open mic night,
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which we'll come back to. But I was in Eraserra in November of 2023 visiting friends who currently live there.
No, what? Beautiful, beautiful place. It is. Did you do any surfing? I'm not a surfer unfortunately,
and it was a little, we were there in November. So we had great weather, but it was still a little
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cool. But I'm sure MJ would have gone out in a second. She, you know, she's a big surfer, Dal.
And funny enough, my sister and brother-in-law are in traveling through Portugal right as we speak right now.
Beautiful. Yeah. Well, you were in Lisbon before that, right? I remember you saying that.
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Yeah, I mean that's where we were in Lisbon. We went to Cascay. We went to, we didn't get to Porto,
which I would have loved to. But I loved Lisbon. I loved being able to walk. I mean, it's sad because,
you know, reading your book, I wish I, you know, we were there for a short period. We maybe five days.
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So I didn't learn as much as I would have liked. Like, you know, listening, you know, reading where you were
in parts of Lisbon, I know when you were talking about the bridge and at the water where you were,
but there were so much else and so much detail that you provide that, you know, I hope to get back.
So if my path to citizenship happens, I certainly will be back for sure. Next time you've got to
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work at a youth hostel. It'll change your whole experience. We're going to get to that because of that.
Right. Yeah. I mean, not only a youth hostel, but you actually have always traveled through hostels,
whether you work there or not. Right. Yeah. For the mo, yes. Like, I'd say throughout my 20s,
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I've been staying at hostels because it's like $20 or less. It's kind of changing actually in the last
like few months. I had a pretty bad hostel experience in Japan, funny enough. And I'm like,
this might be the end of my hostel days staying in like 12 person dorm rooms. It's, I'm willing to spend
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the extra 50 bucks just to have like my own room and nice place to stay. But if you're trying to travel
for cheap and meet people, it's, it's, you can't beat it. That's so much fun. Well, and I was going to
say this later in our conversation. I wish I had done it at your age because I, I, you know,
I feel like I'm living vicariously through you by reading your stories. But I think the,
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and that's why I love speaking to you and letting others hear our conversation because,
you know, there really is so much to learn by traveling the world. And seeing,
absolutely, seeing how others live. Well, like I said, you just returned from Japan. Welcome back
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to the US of a how long had you been out of the country? Because I mean, you've been traveling
for a long time. Yeah. So I, so this book takes place in the summer of 2022. So I spent two months
working at this hostel and Lisbon Portugal and then went to Italy and worked on a farm in this
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like old town in the hills in Calabria. I did that for three weeks. So it was like spending three
months total in Europe, kind of just backpacking around. And I knew I wanted to write a book about the
experience. I was like trying to get into these interesting situations to have more stuff to write
about. And at that time, I was, I was already planning to move to Japan to teach English. That was
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kind of a dream of mine for, for years since, like, 2019 when I went to Japan for the first time. And
I kind of was just starting to realize that I wanted to be a writer. I wanted to just travel and have
interesting experiences and stories. And Japan just seemed like this other world. It was, as a kid,
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I was pretty into just like anime and I didn't actually watch much anime, but I loved like Pokemon
and Dragon Ball Z. It's kind of American. I remember from our conversation that it was a dream
of yours to live there. Did it live up to that? Oh yeah. It was, it was unbelievable. So I knew at that time,
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I was like, I just got to get to Japan and live here because living in a place is just such a
different experience than just traveling and just seeing what's like every, you know, day-to-day life.
And, but that was two months before COVID. And so the world shuts down and I'm just like, itching to
move to a foreign country because I just wanted to write about having stories and kind of just being
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challenged out there in the world. And I'm just waiting. I moved to San Diego and started this podcast
with one of my best friends called The Dare to Dream podcast. And I was working at a restaurant and
just writing about my experiences. You know, I wasn't doing much at the time. I was just writing about
what's going on my head. And then I got a, the world opens back up. It's 2022 and most of the world
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starts opening up. But Japan remains like the last democratic nation to open its borders. So the rest
of the world is open. And I'm like, I got to just go somewhere and just have, you know, just do something.
And I was like, I, that's just do a year up. And I found this website, World Packers, where you can
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have, it's called a woofing where you could kind of strange name, but you could people open up
their homes and, you know, you could find hostels to work at. Pretty much like anything where you work
and live for free. So you don't get paid, but you get like housing and sometimes food. So room and board.
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And anywhere in the world, it's pretty amazing world Packers. And I found, thank you.
You mentioned that before. You've got about that. I knew you were working at this hostel in
Lisbon for free. I didn't realize. So Wolf Packers.
Abhiage. So it's got a woofing is like the term. I forget what it stands for, but World Packers is the
(08:01):
World Packers at. Yeah. Wolf Packers. Well, Packables. Yeah, exactly. So yeah, I found the hostel to work
at in Lisbon. And then while I was there, I found the spot. Italy, just this woman who's like,
come work on my farm and you could just live here for free. And so during that, when I'm saying all
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this is during that time, I was trying to get to Japan at at some point. I was kind of biting my time
and while I'm there, you kind of find out in the book, I'd start like I have my first interview
on the way to Europe to to teach English in Japan. So that was in Toronto. So like stopped on the way.
And then I don't want to spoil it, but you probably know, I get the job while I'm in Japan, while I'm in
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Europe to teach English. So after that summer in Europe, I came home for a month and then I was off
to Japan and I was there for two and a half years. So I just got back incredible, incredible, but it lived
up to the dream. It did in so many ways. I just, back I was saying it is truly, have you been to Japan?
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I have not. No, I've been to China. I have not been to Japan. Well, yeah, well, China too. It's just
another world. I could say it from from what we're used to. It's another way of life and everything is
much different. And yeah, like I got there and it was still close to tourists. Japan was. And so for
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about so you had to have a working visa to be there or you had to be Japanese. And so I get there and
it's for like three months. Me and my friends who I met teach in English just being in Japan with
no tourists at all. And that was one of the most surreal experiences I think you can have. I don't
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know. That something like that hasn't happened since like, and it won't happen ever again. Yeah, it's
a place with no foreigners in Japan, which is known to be very isolated in like its own culture. And
that's what makes it so interesting and unique is because of its history of like being so isolated
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and creating this very distinct culture. So just being there just us kids who we're all just thrown
into this situation and we're just so excited to finally get to Japan and have like three months
to just kind of have fun and just you know get really close with this group of friends. These
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this couple from England and then this girl from New Jersey and this other young bloke from
England. We were kind of like the five best friends and we're all teachers and we're kind of just
ripping it up in Osaka. Do you know where she's from in New Jersey? No, not exactly. I forget.
I that's where I live. That's where it's of course. Where you just returned in February. What was it like
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coming home? Was it somewhat of a you know you came home after the fires? Was it sort of culture shock
returning to the United States? Yeah, so I was back in just for Thanksgiving in November. Um,
oh wait, no. November. No, it was not. I was back a year last Thanksgiving. So,
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ah, sorry, I was back in September. I came home from Burning Man kind of randomly. Oh, nice. Yes,
that was very fun. So I was back for that and then went back to Japan in October. But you had the
fires in LA just seeing that all taking place from afar was just crazy and obviously I wasn't
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even here and it was absolutely mind blowing. So coming back to that it's pretty strange. It was
almost like I didn't really want to come home and like see what had happened because it's like
the palisades and it's places I grew up and a bunch of friends lost their homes and stuff and my mom
was living in the palisades and she had had to move and so yeah, I part of me is like I don't really
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want to go back to that right now, but I also did want to be a part of just this crazy change that
was happening in my hometown. So it was kind of this conflicting emotions around that but
came home and yeah, so good to be with my friends again and family. It is and it like
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as I've traveled over the years and it was like Los Angeles will always be home because all my
families here and friends and everything. I don't know if I see myself here like in the future
permanently but it is always familiar and warm. I mean I don't know you that well but I really
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could not imagine that anyone place is going to keep you. Yeah, I don't know, I think that's
that's the big question. Where am I ultimately gonna want to set down some roots and at this point
I really don't know. I think it will be America just because it's a great country and I'm from here and
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it's like it's home. You know, it's even if you live in another country for a long time like
especially like Japan it's they say I was only a couple years but like it's it's not you'll never
quite be one of them and I feel like I want to have all these experiences I want to live in foreign
countries but this will always be my next to return to. It's very fortunate. Totally understand.
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You just shared in your blog now pronounce your blog. Sitoyan, do mom. I don't speak French but
I like the name. I love the name and you do well. Thank you. You just shared you went and played
basketball for nearly all of your 20s you thought you'd never have the chance to play it again
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and played again pain free but nine months ago you say things started to change. How I remember you
talking about being in pain in one of our conversations. Yeah so that is a long story that has been
kind of the greatest challenge and the greatest gift of my life is just going through chronic pain
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throughout the entirety of my 20s. So I'm 29 now and when I was 21 I had just a random back flare-up
that I thought I don't even know what to think at the time. It's kind of hard even to actually
remember precisely what happened but the next seven years not a day went by where I wasn't in
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some semblance of pain and yeah I just had back pain throughout my 20s didn't know what was going on.
Couldn't find any answers physically like I was a young healthy guy and just in a lot of pain and
like the rest of my life everything else was going pretty great so I was like maybe this is just
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what I got to deal with and I can't find any answers physically so I'm just hoping and praying
that one day this will just go away and when I was in Japan I thought maybe moving to
foreign country like away from just everything I knew would maybe like shake things up and you know
it heal there that didn't happen. So yeah the years just went by and I was just just dealing with
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this and feeling like I was alone in a way like obviously I had my family and my friends and stuff but
kind of really just explain and just like yeah just what I was actually going through because I was
kind of shameful about it like I'm just a kid in my 20s and a back pain and I can't understand what's
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going on and I actually yeah so it is a long story but I was trying to fix you know fix it physically
just went to countless chiropractor physical therapy for just years and nothing nothing worked and then
like nine months ago I was moving from Osaka to Tokyo and my like a month straight I had like three
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maybe four flare ups which is just like your back just feels like it just go like a like there's a
dam holding in energy and the dam just breaks is how I kind of describe it and just sheer pain
so if you've had that or if anyone listening has had that you know what's like you're just on the
floor can't really move so I can barely stand for like a month straight I'm like I just cannot live
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like this anymore and I was in a group at the time to actually fix back pain with this guy he's awesome
I was named his low back ability on my Instagram and YouTube and stuff and I thought that was the answer
because it's it was a guy who was going through exactly it seemed like I was going through as well
just his young life was just thrilled with pain and just injuries that he just cannot find answers to
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and he devised pretty much a way to get out of it and he actually did heal and it's like through
it's a program to strengthen your back and just kind of strengthen it in an unorthodox way I guess
but I thought that was the answer I'm like finally I found this community of people it was like a couple
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hundred people in this group all just trying to fix their backs and I'm like finally I found the answer
doing it these people you know we're all going through the same thing there's three sessions a week
with the guy to like go through the exercises and there's like group meetings every week a year
goes by and I'm not any better and I'm like something's got to change and right like at the year
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mark is when I had that month of just I was just out for a month and at that point I reached out to
the group and like somebody like I just need some help I'm really in a low spot right now going through
it with this I just cannot find any answers and one woman in the group I met who she messaged me
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like hey Vinnie I know like I haven't been on the group very often lately and I remember here she
started at the same time as me and in the program and I did think I'm like oh yeah she hasn't really
like how she left she hasn't been around for a few weeks or like a month and I was wondering what
happened to her and she's like yeah I actually had this kind of breakthrough and I realized that's
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not physical it's it is an emotional it's emotional pain pretty much it's called TMS and that name was
started by kind of the pioneer of mind body healing Dr. John Sarno and he called it tension my
arthritis syndrome but since then you could just call it TMS the mind body syndrome and she's like
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yeah it's it's emotional and I'll these are the books you got to read you got to start doing kind
of this inner work to to confront the pain and she didn't give this all at once it was like a
long process of working with her but she said you got to like confront the pain and there is
nothing wrong with your body it is not broken there's nothing wrong with your back it is pretty much
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energy stored inside of you that has been just perpetuating itself with fear and the worry and
once you start doing this inner work you will get better and she was like 80% better at the time
and since then she's like a personal trainer now and completely healed and I'm going to pass
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it on to my husband he has he gets pain from time to time not I mean it's been
debilitating but it'll get better you know he thinks he's actually injured it but I don't I wonder
I'm gonna pass that on yeah yeah I'm not a doctor not a physical therapist a disclaimer but I have
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never I haven't felt this good since I was 21 I'm still very much on the path of healing it's a daily
continual practice but it has changed my life and all it's crazy like the pain is real it's
physical pain but it's just created by the brain as a distraction from repressed emotions so once
you start doing this work to kind of unpack what's going on and why you may have pain it's very clear
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like when you read these books I'm not doing the best job of explaining it because it is slightly
complex but it just became so obvious that this is what was going on with me like oh my god
well the most important thing is that you feel better it doesn't matter how you get there truthfully
I mean for sure you know the most important thing is you you you got out for the first time and
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play basketball pain-free so yeah that's something to celebrate 100% I wrote a note of that this morning
played basketball with one of my best friends this morning and I'm like just driving home
I can't believe it this was when I was in that much pain like in my like 25 years old I would give
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anything just to play basketball again like I was a kid without worrying about my back in my body
like if I could get to that point it I really don't care what else is going on like I will be happy
and then I've since you know I've realized that like the way you heal is by
relaxing and pretty much being like I I need to be happy now despite when I'm going through like
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I need to relax now I need to make peace with with this and that is how
it eventually starts to fade away is to find joy again to find your life again without worrying about
the pain then it starts to realize like oh wow I don't have to create and initially you met her through
a social media group yes so I mean as a real as you know toxic as social media can be there are so
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many great things too like that oh yeah 100% I mean like us talking this is yeah well and I believe you
know you know even you and in the stories and you being able to connect with people while you are
you know on the road and just printing them on Instagram and then you know meeting them up
somewhere I love that you know part of connection that you were able to do as we were talking about
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Japan I meant to ask will there be another book yes that is the plan the plan is Japan yep good good
I assumed I absolutely assumed um you released your first book back in the summer of 2021
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hours of youth where the beauty of California and the Pacific Northwest served as the backdrop
that took you on a solitary road trip in the raw open arms of nature I was a big fan of the book
and the stories that you will into that um you stayed at many hospitals along that journey as well right
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I was doing more Airbnb on that because I was beginning of COVID so it was you couldn't really
see people and that's what made it very interesting because I was kind of that was like a much more
solitary trip just me thinking about starting this writing career and how nature is important to me
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and just kind of being in your semity and organ and up in the Pacific Northwest so as I've me just
just a lot more thinking it seemed like and the book is a little more that sort of tone and then
the second book is more of me having these you know connection with people and staying at hostels and
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it's a lot more about the people and the experiences and the just the the wacky characters that I meet
along the way for the first one's more absolutely but here we are four years later
talking about your second book how would you describe the writer Vincent was in 2021 to who he is
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currently today great question at that time I think I was
I was in and a lot of it had to do with the chronic pain I was just in complete unknown with a lot of
things like I had this great seemingly insurmountable problem I couldn't figure out how to feel normal or fix
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my body and it caused me to really try to draw wisdom from a bunch of different you know philosophy and
different people and writers and I was just like hungry for answers and that's what kind of spurred me
to go on this road trip and just be reading along the way and just really thinking deeply about
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like the purpose of it all and why is this happening and where meaning comes from and stuff this one
I think I'm trying to just kind of tell a story more it doesn't have to be quite so
heavy it's more of just something this story I'd say more is trying to just get back to
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like who we are as human beings and just show you how beautiful the world can be and really not
costing doesn't have to be an extravagant trip or anything it's just you can go work at a hostel
and have an amazing adventure or go backpacking and just do it on your own and it's more of just telling
a simpler story in a way like now I'm trying to instead of gathering so much information I'm kind
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of trying to simplify and find my own voice and my own opinions and find my own way because that is
as it all comes full circle and why I believe the pain is for a reason is the answers are inside of us
and it's I'm kind of just sick in a way of all the information and just the endless noise
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I just want to kind of find some some peace and tell my story and show people that
not all hope is lost and they're still amazing obviously amazing people out there and people
just like you and it is worth getting out there and meeting them I love that I was going to say
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describe the book but you did that but I just got to the part of the book where the title is
mentioned in words how did the words and the title come to you so the title yeah when the sky
opens and the answers shimmer that sort of means that it doesn't matter who you are where you come from
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the answers to the unexplainable questions of life are the things that you don't need to pay for
you don't need to you know look a certain way or have a certain thing the answers are the stars
the answers are the things that are available to all of us and that is just kind of opening
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the door to not needing the answers so it's kind of like a play of like the answer to all the stars
because the stars are something unexplainable and it's like the world is beauty because of that
mystery and that uncertainty we don't need the answers to everything and that in a big way is what
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connects us as human beings and what makes us human is not knowing what comes next you know in the
next life and what any of this really means it's just enough to to be here and to have the stars
above us and to be able to see the world and other you know cultures and everything so it's it's kind
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of the the stars are the answers to the unexplainable questions of life I love that love that
was it always your intent to write about your European adventure no it was pretty much the second
book was just going to be wherever I went next and so that was going to be Japan and then I was thinking
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about Buenos Aires but then Europe just seemed like the it just yeah kind of just happened and
as I was on that trip I was just writing notes about everything just got journaling about every day
and the experiences and I knew that I did want to write a book about it and that's what happened
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when when you think about arrows of youth this book your blog what is your biggest hope that
anybody who's reading takes away from from the stories you share
that's kind of like I said before life is worth living life is worth striving and
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it's getting lost and kind of just throwing caution in the wind and just having an adventure
it seems like I know I'm so glad you repeated it again it's perfect during your travels and writing
in Lisbon you came across an American girl at the hostel where you told her I just flow from park
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to park or today I flowed from park to park I tell myself I'm in Europe to write and get things done
but I don't know why I put that pressure on myself and her reply to you was have you ever thought that
by sitting in the park and watching the world you're getting a lot done that struck a chord with me
as I'm curious about all of those parks cafes bridges waters edge where you've written
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when you sit there are you like how much are you writing what are you writing what you see in front of
you the you know to me it's like you're you're you're taking in everything mm-hmm
yeah that I was like I say in the book my mind was blown just by her saying that yeah by sitting
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in the park and watching the world go by you are getting a lot done wow you are so right that is why
I'm here I'm not here to write a book I'm here to experience life and to just be here and
I mean that's why that's what I love more than anything is to just have my journal and to just
go to a place and just watch people watch like I that's my favorite form of entertainment and that's
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why I like to be in different cities and stuff I'd love to just sit on a street corner and just watch
and people walking by and and how much are you writing you know on one of those yeah sit in
a park yeah that is the like thing as a content creator that I've grappled with like I don't want to be
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the person with you know vlogging about everything and it's like everything I'm doing is about
creating content about it I I enjoy writing because I can have the experience and then reflect on it
later but why like having my journal is it's not like you know technology it's just it's the
thing that people are doing for thousands of years so I am sitting there and I just if I have an idea
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I just jot down a couple paragraphs or sometimes with my journal I keep it briefer because it takes
more effort but yeah usually just like an idea and then I put that into the computer computer
machine and it I expand on the idea from there when I can just kind of flow more easily well yeah I
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mean it's easier of course when we're typing to yeah to you know to uh flesh it out make it longer
you know put all of the memories because I'm sure there's so much in your head from those experiences
and the people you meet but it is fascinating because you you know you you reading your stories you
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can feel everything that you're taking in I mean you know just even when you talked about
a Vichy song and the impact that that song had on you when you heard it at the hostel you know you
take us in mm-hmm yeah yeah about that one that one is and it's it's hard to because you know it's a
(33:46):
song like an electronic song of Vichy when there's DJs of all time and he commit suicide and his
songs all about like I want to be remembered or live a live a life what is it well the the music video is
what kind of open me up I saw the music video at the hostel of this guy um I forgot his name exactly
(34:14):
but he makes music video kind of as a tribute to a Vichy the song is the Knights yeah uh
what are the lyrics but he says he says in the music video I want to be remembered for the life I lived
not the money I made and it's him doing all these just traveling the world and just like having fun and
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not like doing these extravagant things but just he's with his dad and he's
jumping off the thing he's just being like a silly kid and it is an amazing video
mm-hmm that just hit me that this this DJ was one of the biggest DJs of all time and he had he's
at the top of the game yet he committed suicide and the song is it's all about um these are the
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Knights you will never forget or if I want to just look at the lyrics and these are the Knights that
never die my father told me yeah father told me to remember yep exactly that that is what
hit so hard because it's like a very energetic song and I would listen to it all the time like
running on the treadmill or just exercising and trying to get through the chronic pain and like
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you know just feeling it out and I would think like I don't know it's just
your life and think about the dad like my father told me like even your son
these are the Knights you remember that sort of thing so I know where I was going with that but
(35:51):
yeah but the impact I mean it you know it had an impact in the way you tell the story um
you know you talk a lot about in the book and I think in hours of youth if I'm not mistaken I mean
you've made it a priority to talk to strangers you know on the on these journeys thinking of this
(36:11):
particular book and some of the strangers you met along the way are there any that come to mind
I've had the the biggest impact on you that's a great question um the one that comes to my well a
couple but marino I think you you read about marino he's kind of just this imagine like an 1800s
(36:36):
like grifter with like fingerless gloves and just very yeah you know he's just this guy staying at
the hostel he was a friend with the owner he didn't really teach me anything but he was like a
violinist who was just traveling around and he would like pop into this hostel whenever he was staying
in the middle you were you were asking him how he how he started playing I think I mean
(36:57):
yeah playing at a very very young age or something like that yeah he said like it was between
like this and being a pirate and yeah yeah that's what it was right yeah violinist and he just he
enjoyed what he did and he was he was just a character like I can't make this stuff up just like
(37:18):
the pencil mustache and the goatee and the felt hat and the like I he knocks in the door that I've
one I am right I'm working at the hostel and I open the door and just this this guy straight out of
a movie marino and in Lisbon and yeah he was just kind of became this character that I would see
around town sometimes just in the alleyways and it was pretty funny but yeah you were seeing him playing right
(37:42):
never actually saw him playing I would just seem like stalking the alleyways walking around with the
other hand well and I also remember in the book that you know really late in the evening you were
strolling the streets and a couple was looking for a place to stay and you were debating whether
whether to pop our night yes you had the French couple um yeah taking out the trash one and just this
(38:09):
I got a tap on the shoulder and it's like the very party district of Lisbon that the hostel is in
and I'm like in my socks and shorts you're taking out the trash amongst all the
tom fullery and just get tap on my shoulder and yeah just this like back backing couple just looking at me
and like they saw me come out of the hostel like is there any room I barely speak english and
(38:34):
oh my god boy like can I I don't really know how to how to handle this um it was i think it was easter and
okay uh i'll check and like we did have we did have room and I was just you know a little unsure if
like I'm allowed to just let people in like again very late at night without really telling the owner but
(38:56):
they paid and they like left a nice note in the morning at like the owner saw and it's like thank you
you really helped us and so well like that oh yeah they left you that yeah beautiful beautiful note
yeah two French um do you know the alphama cafe um a pharma cafe oh no alphama seller no i think so
(39:21):
it was a tiny restaurant that we found that we just loved hmm what did you what did you love about
Lisbon how's your experience just loved being able to walk around hmm just a great city to walk i felt
very safe um we had a couple friends there and they they took a set we went to a great restaurant called
(39:43):
Roccos uh um went went to the big club i want to say it's Lux but is that in my i think so yeah that
like on the beach for walk like on the water yeah yeah yeah good times yeah yeah but it was just really
ease you know we had an Airbnb there uh right right near the big square on the water what is that
(40:08):
the commercial yeah commercial the big arch with yep the Jose I can say yeah i'm most horrible
I usually I usually know no much more about the places i i visit um you were in Portugal during the
(40:30):
anniversary of the 1974 revolution and you did some digging to learn more um where you
pieced together Portugal's most peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy you know
which i sort of found interesting at this time in our political world but it's one of those many things
you've researched for the book how important is that for you just not not only to tell the story
(40:59):
but for you yourself how how much digging do you like to do um let's even say you weren't um
writing the book is this something you would do for yourself when you've come across these things
whenever it's for a book or not that's a great question i usually do not do much research when
(41:24):
when traveling and then i was in Taiwan like a month and a half ago and i i'm i wish i just knew i
went to like this this mountain top uh village called Joe Fen and it's known as like the town that
inspired the movie spirited away the like Japanese uh ghibli film and beautiful just like mountain top
(41:52):
village and just like drinking tea there and stuff and then i wrote a story about it after about the
experience and that's when i did the research and i'm like i wish i knew this stuff when i was there to
to just be able to kind of understand its history and stuff more that's interesting question because
going there and writing about it makes me want to learn more about it but
(42:16):
so like that incident in 1974 war did you do that much later?
yes i did it after like when sitting down right in the book but it was like there was
like a talk about the exhibit i guess just in this random little like library of which kind of
(42:39):
started the whole um the whole thing for me of wanting to learn more about it where there was just beautiful
paintings and stuff all like carnation themes which is the flower it's called the carnation
revolution because it was like a peaceful revolution and when it was kind of one the um a woman in
(43:00):
Lisbon that gave away all these free carnations and gave them to the soldiers and everyone was just
kind of celebrating with these carnations and so there's all this art and it's around Lisbon everywhere
was just murals and things hung up on all the walls and the alleyways and stuff of carnations so what is
this all about and upon and then it just kind of stumbled into this exhibit where learn more about it
(43:26):
but then yeah writing the chapter about it is when i kind of did a deep dive and learn more
but do you enjoy it less than that i do yeah kind of aftermath of i've learned more about it i mean
yeah it makes it much more interesting like knowing about Portugal's history is fascinating like it's
yeah it's dictatorship and peaceful transition to democracy it's just the people overthrew it and
(43:53):
kind of just made this coup and pulled it off it's pretty amazing got him people have the power
people have the power people do have the power they they certainly they certainly do let's go back
to that moment in erasera and the open mic night you literally i think had just arrived in erasera
(44:17):
when you received a text from the hostel about this event and you without hesitation
signed up um when at what age because i know you know in reading your stories and you didn't always say yes
(44:38):
right but i said no very well when when did the when did the switch happen
and yeah share why that's so important because i i love really in this book where i'm at i mean you
you have said yes to many things you know and pushed yourself to do many things that i know
(45:04):
you weren't comfortable with and i think those led to some amazing experiences
100% so yeah me so this all like the writing the traveling it all kind of just erupted like when we
talk for the first time it was eras of youth and it was almost like this great awakening where i was like
(45:26):
this is the life i want to live i know it's not gonna be easy but i want to pursue this kind of
unorthodox path and there's still you know it's like seven years later and a lot of uncertainty
i'm still trying to figure out how to actually make money and you know but it's been an adventure and
me and one of my best friends who i did the podcast with um Greg
(45:50):
we pretty much we both quit our jobs and decided to go for our dreams and mine was to be a travel writer
and he quit his job in finance and is now at life coach and he's absolutely crushing it lives in
San Diego doing great and we started the podcast to document what it's like on the journey to
(46:13):
wherever you hope to go to following your dreams instead of kind of looking back at this is how
i did it this is how i got there from the successful people we want to show you what it's like
actually struggling and not knowing what exactly to do but we realized that to go anywhere
you're gonna have to put yourself in some uncomfortable situations and get out of your comfort zone and
(46:36):
say yes to new opportunities and um a lot of that is about talking to strangers and just working
that muscle and we got it tattooed on our arms live a story worth telling and that is pretty much
the point i got in japanese and him in english because we got them in nosaka when he visited and
(46:58):
it's pretty much asking yourself wait you you got a what did you say you just got
yeah we got yeah we got that tattooed live a story worth telling
wait so i was gonna ask about the tattoo so arrows did you get the arrow finally because i'm not
there in the book you that's the book you did and you got the one from the the gal at the hostel
(47:23):
right that was the first one yes amazing all can you what can you show you are about to show
yeah show you the uh strange angle but this is japanese here amazing say that says
(47:44):
little story worth telling in like old samurai language and pretty much when you are you know
you question do i actually want to do this i want to go talk to that girl don't want to raise my hand
or when i get on stage will it be an interesting story or are you gonna stay in your comfort zone
(48:06):
and it sounds like i'm just doing this all the time i'm just no obviously i'm human and i'm
terrified of looking like an idiot a lot of time but i have i'd say i tried to work that muscle as
often as i can and it as paid off for sure so um yeah kind of all happened at once so here's the question
(48:29):
out of all the things that you've said yes to what is the yes your most
happy about saying yes to hmm that's a good question doing the open mic in erissaro was pretty awesome
(48:53):
that just gave me the back house you said yeah it was nerve-wracking empanadas were flowing
well they're latin bar um what have i said yes to go into burning man that was like a week before
i was in japan wasn't really even planning on coming home i think and my friends like
(49:17):
well that sounds pretty extreme i might have been planning to come home and my friend asked like
do you want to come to burning man and i'm like no like of course not it sounds like
i've heard amazing thing i would i would love to go i it changed my life for many reasons but i was like
(49:39):
no i can't it's like a week and a half away i'm so unprepared but of course i'm there i just think
it for a couple days my new mother buddy like i think we got to do it and i asked him like you know
it'll be easier not to do it and that's i think that's why we have to so we went
(50:00):
and met my girlfriend and the rest is history how you met her at burning man yeah oh wow i love that
oh so that's definitely worth the yes it was it was incredible it was truly
the experience of a lifetime i have many many many many friends who have done it so um
(50:22):
you know one day maybe one day um so i haven't gotten to the southern Italy part of the story yet
so what can you tease for what i have to look forward to when when i get there
yeah so i'd say the the first half of the book is Portugal and it's it's the city atmosphere
it's a lot of talking to people and having these funny experiences the second half have heard
(50:46):
people actually kind of enjoy that more i mean did they just are pleasantly surprised about how much
they enjoy that versus like the first part and it's much more of just me immersed in nature and just
thinking about how our relationship with nature how important that is to me and just how amazing
this just uh to work the land like how good that feels and how it does just feel like i'm getting
(51:10):
back to like the roots of who we are had you done that before work the land like anywhere
oil the land uh not not really now so did you learn a lot there yeah so i say a farm it was a
it was a woman's property in this like dilapidated village in southern Italy in clobria um called
(51:34):
iska de marina i think iska solo ionio that was the official name of the village and it was just like a
ghost town like just walls are crumbling and but so go through this village and she just has this
property at the top and it's like all of trees and chickens and it wasn't like pigs and cows
(51:57):
and stuff but it was like a big kind of big property not like her house is pretty small on it but she
had like several little cottages and i stayed in one and then there's some other world packers who
came and stayed there and worked as well but it was just me like cutting down cactuses and pruning
all the trees and cleaning chicken cubes and tending rabbits and just yeah learning from this
(52:24):
Dutch expat woman who is i call her sage in the book that wasn't her actual name but she was just
like this this sage figure and just given me this such beautiful wisdom about connecting with the
earth and was she from Holland who moved to Italy yep yeah but she she met her husband um who was
(52:44):
i forget exactly eastern european and they moved to italy and she's fell in love with it and
fully like she's like a queen in this little mountain village in colabria like the most interesting
person and she had her two sons there as well so it's like i just kind of fell into this little Dutch
Italian family in the mountains of colabria i mean truly spectacular spectacular it was spectacular
(53:12):
i wanted to read before i let you go to two quotes i sort of put together from the book because i
i think it really says so much about you and why i love you know that you share this because
you say as a writer as a human being i know i must get out and experience the world i feel the
(53:34):
urging of my heart that says go we can only learn so much from reading watching and vibing the
tails of others the other one is i started to see there was something to learn from everyone
even a fool like me um you know and you you said this somewhere else in the book too and it's
(53:55):
interesting because you know people have asked about like doing this show it's almost five years
that i've done this show and i didn't start it with any intent um but what i have learned over these
five years is that simple fact that we can all learn from each other 100% and that's
(54:17):
that's a reason to to talk to strangers you might think that you know the person on the street
if you don't give them the light of day at the time of day but you don't know the story or what they've
been through and there is something to learn from everybody even somebody who you don't relate to
whatsoever or you completely disagree with they might teach you who you don't want to be like
(54:42):
and that is a very valuable thing to learn and that's interesting because i was as we were just
talking about this i'm thinking about how difficult it can be at times to talk to those
who we do have a difference of opinion or political sides of the aisle and even though they might
(55:07):
be very close to you people still find it very difficult to yeah those conversations
yeah and like i said i'm by no means a master of this or like you know a great communicator
but i think if you just come from place of curiosity like this person actually
(55:28):
believes something and they got there somehow how do they get there why do they believe this thing
just as strongly as i believe this other thing so that's not who it is there is there's a lesson
from everybody is there where do you think your biggest lesson has come from
(55:54):
chronic pain is what first comes the mind for sure that just because i mean obviously
an amazing family and learn so much from them and but this was something that nobody could give me
an answer for and i couldn't find out i had to figure something out within myself to get through it
(56:21):
and for the first six and a half years that was just keep the faith and that is what
you know got me through it that this is happening for me not to me i have to believe this is
having for a reason i just can't see it right now and it taught me more about myself than anything
(56:44):
else and it made me better writer and just the i think a better human being having gone do something
challenging that i really you know couldn't find any answers for but it was it was inside it was
it was inside me all along truly i hear you laugh at that does that surprise you
(57:09):
it just sounds corny when i say it but it's like it's it's true like the healing is is within us there's
nothing out there that is gonna fix whatever you're going through you know it's us having to find
peace within ourselves and having to just devise our own meaning from whatever it is that we're experiencing
(57:32):
because like the the noise and the you know the things that we think think are going to solve our
problems i don't think yeah and tell me again the initials of it tms is the
you have the acronym the mind body syndrome yeah if you if this if you relate to this at all i would
(57:56):
just suggest looking up dr john sarno okay on sarno his book healing back pain it's pretty on youtube
to listen to actually and he has like a full lecture on youtube he died a few years ago
but there is many people doing kind of taking on his legacy and you know doing incredible work the guy
(58:18):
who i've learned the most from his name is Jim Prusac and he's called the pain pt he's on youtube
and you could do like sessions i've had sessions with him and i do like group sessions with him still
with other people going through it and uh it's completely changed my life because it's not just about
(58:39):
healing chronic pain it's about healing your nervous system and that just makes you a calmer
person and everything you do so it's well yeah thank you thank you for sharing that um you know
before i let you go where where is the next adventure Vincent you know yeah thinking about some
(59:06):
different ideas i think New Zealand oh wow i think New Zealand yeah getting back to nature
just having i mean yeah it sounds amazing are such have you ever been
no never been to New Zealand or Australia so same here i i am praying that in a year and a half when
(59:29):
i turn the big six zero that i can do that that would be my dream that would be my dream
there we go doing great good well if you get there before me uh you know send me the send me those
cliff notes yes it's always amazing to speak to you congratulations on the second book the second book
(59:54):
is available on amazon.com both books are available there right hours of youth and when the
sky opens in the answer shimmer yes sir thank you well my friend you too this was awesome
appreciate it absolutely always great to talk to you yes see you next time absolutely have a great night
(01:00:16):
thanks everybody thank you to Vincent Van Patten Vincent Russell Van Patten always love hearing
about his adventures you can pick up a copy of his new book when the sky opens in the answer shimmer
right now on amazon if you haven't yet subscribed to my youtube channel you can do so down below
turn on the notifications for reminders of all upcoming shows and if you like to stream audio
(01:00:37):
versions just search the locker room in your favorite podcast app please everybody stay safe
[Music]
[Music]
(00:06):
Hi everybody, thank you for joining me in the locker room this evening. I'm Alan Locker.
Tonight I'm thrilled to welcome back Vincent Russell Venpaton, a writer, traveler, and storyteller,
to discuss his new book when the sky opens and the answers shimmer. Vincent's journey has taken him
across the world from the vibrant streets of Lisbon, where he lived and worked at a youth hostel
(00:30):
to the serene countryside of southern Italy, where he embraced a simpler way of life.
We'll also talk about his time teaching English in Japan, the lessons he's learned along the way,
and his recent return home to California just last month. His story is one of adventure, self-discovery,
and the pursuit of meaning. And I can't wait to dive into it all. Please help me welcome back
(00:56):
Vincent Russell Venpaton to the locker room. Hey Vincent. Hey hey thank you that was beautiful.
Thank you for having me back. Well great to see you and welcome back. I'm loving the book
and was so excited to get to the part where you travel to Eraserra and your open mic night,
(01:18):
which we'll come back to. But I was in Eraserra in November of 2023 visiting friends who currently live there.
No, what? Beautiful, beautiful place. It is. Did you do any surfing? I'm not a surfer unfortunately,
and it was a little, we were there in November. So we had great weather, but it was still a little
(01:39):
cool. But I'm sure MJ would have gone out in a second. She, you know, she's a big surfer, Dal.
And funny enough, my sister and brother-in-law are in traveling through Portugal right as we speak right now.
Beautiful. Yeah. Well, you were in Lisbon before that, right? I remember you saying that.
(02:01):
Yeah, I mean that's where we were in Lisbon. We went to Cascay. We went to, we didn't get to Porto,
which I would have loved to. But I loved Lisbon. I loved being able to walk. I mean, it's sad because,
you know, reading your book, I wish I, you know, we were there for a short period. We maybe five days.
(02:29):
So I didn't learn as much as I would have liked. Like, you know, listening, you know, reading where you were
in parts of Lisbon, I know when you were talking about the bridge and at the water where you were,
but there were so much else and so much detail that you provide that, you know, I hope to get back.
So if my path to citizenship happens, I certainly will be back for sure. Next time you've got to
(02:56):
work at a youth hostel. It'll change your whole experience. We're going to get to that because of that.
Right. Yeah. I mean, not only a youth hostel, but you actually have always traveled through hostels,
whether you work there or not. Right. Yeah. For the mo, yes. Like, I'd say throughout my 20s,
(03:18):
I've been staying at hostels because it's like $20 or less. It's kind of changing actually in the last
like few months. I had a pretty bad hostel experience in Japan, funny enough. And I'm like,
this might be the end of my hostel days staying in like 12 person dorm rooms. It's, I'm willing to spend
(03:39):
the extra 50 bucks just to have like my own room and nice place to stay. But if you're trying to travel
for cheap and meet people, it's, it's, you can't beat it. That's so much fun. Well, and I was going to
say this later in our conversation. I wish I had done it at your age because I, I, you know,
I feel like I'm living vicariously through you by reading your stories. But I think the,
(04:05):
and that's why I love speaking to you and letting others hear our conversation because,
you know, there really is so much to learn by traveling the world. And seeing,
absolutely, seeing how others live. Well, like I said, you just returned from Japan. Welcome back
(04:26):
to the US of a how long had you been out of the country? Because I mean, you've been traveling
for a long time. Yeah. So I, so this book takes place in the summer of 2022. So I spent two months
working at this hostel and Lisbon Portugal and then went to Italy and worked on a farm in this
(04:47):
like old town in the hills in Calabria. I did that for three weeks. So it was like spending three
months total in Europe, kind of just backpacking around. And I knew I wanted to write a book about the
experience. I was like trying to get into these interesting situations to have more stuff to write
about. And at that time, I was, I was already planning to move to Japan to teach English. That was
(05:13):
kind of a dream of mine for, for years since, like, 2019 when I went to Japan for the first time. And
I kind of was just starting to realize that I wanted to be a writer. I wanted to just travel and have
interesting experiences and stories. And Japan just seemed like this other world. It was, as a kid,
(05:36):
I was pretty into just like anime and I didn't actually watch much anime, but I loved like Pokemon
and Dragon Ball Z. It's kind of American. I remember from our conversation that it was a dream
of yours to live there. Did it live up to that? Oh yeah. It was, it was unbelievable. So I knew at that time,
(06:01):
I was like, I just got to get to Japan and live here because living in a place is just such a
different experience than just traveling and just seeing what's like every, you know, day-to-day life.
And, but that was two months before COVID. And so the world shuts down and I'm just like, itching to
move to a foreign country because I just wanted to write about having stories and kind of just being
(06:26):
challenged out there in the world. And I'm just waiting. I moved to San Diego and started this podcast
with one of my best friends called The Dare to Dream podcast. And I was working at a restaurant and
just writing about my experiences. You know, I wasn't doing much at the time. I was just writing about
what's going on my head. And then I got a, the world opens back up. It's 2022 and most of the world
(06:53):
starts opening up. But Japan remains like the last democratic nation to open its borders. So the rest
of the world is open. And I'm like, I got to just go somewhere and just have, you know, just do something.
And I was like, I, that's just do a year up. And I found this website, World Packers, where you can
(07:15):
have, it's called a woofing where you could kind of strange name, but you could people open up
their homes and, you know, you could find hostels to work at. Pretty much like anything where you work
and live for free. So you don't get paid, but you get like housing and sometimes food. So room and board.
(07:37):
And anywhere in the world, it's pretty amazing world Packers. And I found, thank you.
You mentioned that before. You've got about that. I knew you were working at this hostel in
Lisbon for free. I didn't realize. So Wolf Packers.
Abhiage. So it's got a woofing is like the term. I forget what it stands for, but World Packers is the
(08:01):
World Packers at. Yeah. Wolf Packers. Well, Packables. Yeah, exactly. So yeah, I found the hostel to work
at in Lisbon. And then while I was there, I found the spot. Italy, just this woman who's like,
come work on my farm and you could just live here for free. And so during that, when I'm saying all
(08:25):
this is during that time, I was trying to get to Japan at at some point. I was kind of biting my time
and while I'm there, you kind of find out in the book, I'd start like I have my first interview
on the way to Europe to to teach English in Japan. So that was in Toronto. So like stopped on the way.
And then I don't want to spoil it, but you probably know, I get the job while I'm in Japan, while I'm in
(08:49):
Europe to teach English. So after that summer in Europe, I came home for a month and then I was off
to Japan and I was there for two and a half years. So I just got back incredible, incredible, but it lived
up to the dream. It did in so many ways. I just, back I was saying it is truly, have you been to Japan?
(09:12):
I have not. No, I've been to China. I have not been to Japan. Well, yeah, well, China too. It's just
another world. I could say it from from what we're used to. It's another way of life and everything is
much different. And yeah, like I got there and it was still close to tourists. Japan was. And so for
(09:38):
about so you had to have a working visa to be there or you had to be Japanese. And so I get there and
it's for like three months. Me and my friends who I met teach in English just being in Japan with
no tourists at all. And that was one of the most surreal experiences I think you can have. I don't
(10:00):
know. That something like that hasn't happened since like, and it won't happen ever again. Yeah, it's
a place with no foreigners in Japan, which is known to be very isolated in like its own culture. And
that's what makes it so interesting and unique is because of its history of like being so isolated
(10:21):
and creating this very distinct culture. So just being there just us kids who we're all just thrown
into this situation and we're just so excited to finally get to Japan and have like three months
to just kind of have fun and just you know get really close with this group of friends. These
(10:41):
this couple from England and then this girl from New Jersey and this other young bloke from
England. We were kind of like the five best friends and we're all teachers and we're kind of just
ripping it up in Osaka. Do you know where she's from in New Jersey? No, not exactly. I forget.
I that's where I live. That's where it's of course. Where you just returned in February. What was it like
(11:11):
coming home? Was it somewhat of a you know you came home after the fires? Was it sort of culture shock
returning to the United States? Yeah, so I was back in just for Thanksgiving in November. Um,
oh wait, no. November. No, it was not. I was back a year last Thanksgiving. So,
(11:34):
ah, sorry, I was back in September. I came home from Burning Man kind of randomly. Oh, nice. Yes,
that was very fun. So I was back for that and then went back to Japan in October. But you had the
fires in LA just seeing that all taking place from afar was just crazy and obviously I wasn't
(11:56):
even here and it was absolutely mind blowing. So coming back to that it's pretty strange. It was
almost like I didn't really want to come home and like see what had happened because it's like
the palisades and it's places I grew up and a bunch of friends lost their homes and stuff and my mom
was living in the palisades and she had had to move and so yeah, I part of me is like I don't really
(12:21):
want to go back to that right now, but I also did want to be a part of just this crazy change that
was happening in my hometown. So it was kind of this conflicting emotions around that but
came home and yeah, so good to be with my friends again and family. It is and it like
(12:42):
as I've traveled over the years and it was like Los Angeles will always be home because all my
families here and friends and everything. I don't know if I see myself here like in the future
permanently but it is always familiar and warm. I mean I don't know you that well but I really
(13:05):
could not imagine that anyone place is going to keep you. Yeah, I don't know, I think that's
that's the big question. Where am I ultimately gonna want to set down some roots and at this point
I really don't know. I think it will be America just because it's a great country and I'm from here and
(13:30):
it's like it's home. You know, it's even if you live in another country for a long time like
especially like Japan it's they say I was only a couple years but like it's it's not you'll never
quite be one of them and I feel like I want to have all these experiences I want to live in foreign
countries but this will always be my next to return to. It's very fortunate. Totally understand.
(13:57):
You just shared in your blog now pronounce your blog. Sitoyan, do mom. I don't speak French but
I like the name. I love the name and you do well. Thank you. You just shared you went and played
basketball for nearly all of your 20s you thought you'd never have the chance to play it again
(14:19):
and played again pain free but nine months ago you say things started to change. How I remember you
talking about being in pain in one of our conversations. Yeah so that is a long story that has been
kind of the greatest challenge and the greatest gift of my life is just going through chronic pain
(14:42):
throughout the entirety of my 20s. So I'm 29 now and when I was 21 I had just a random back flare-up
that I thought I don't even know what to think at the time. It's kind of hard even to actually
remember precisely what happened but the next seven years not a day went by where I wasn't in
(15:03):
some semblance of pain and yeah I just had back pain throughout my 20s didn't know what was going on.
Couldn't find any answers physically like I was a young healthy guy and just in a lot of pain and
like the rest of my life everything else was going pretty great so I was like maybe this is just
(15:24):
what I got to deal with and I can't find any answers physically so I'm just hoping and praying
that one day this will just go away and when I was in Japan I thought maybe moving to
foreign country like away from just everything I knew would maybe like shake things up and you know
it heal there that didn't happen. So yeah the years just went by and I was just just dealing with
(15:49):
this and feeling like I was alone in a way like obviously I had my family and my friends and stuff but
kind of really just explain and just like yeah just what I was actually going through because I was
kind of shameful about it like I'm just a kid in my 20s and a back pain and I can't understand what's
(16:11):
going on and I actually yeah so it is a long story but I was trying to fix you know fix it physically
just went to countless chiropractor physical therapy for just years and nothing nothing worked and then
like nine months ago I was moving from Osaka to Tokyo and my like a month straight I had like three
(16:38):
maybe four flare ups which is just like your back just feels like it just go like a like there's a
dam holding in energy and the dam just breaks is how I kind of describe it and just sheer pain
so if you've had that or if anyone listening has had that you know what's like you're just on the
floor can't really move so I can barely stand for like a month straight I'm like I just cannot live
(17:00):
like this anymore and I was in a group at the time to actually fix back pain with this guy he's awesome
I was named his low back ability on my Instagram and YouTube and stuff and I thought that was the answer
because it's it was a guy who was going through exactly it seemed like I was going through as well
just his young life was just thrilled with pain and just injuries that he just cannot find answers to
(17:26):
and he devised pretty much a way to get out of it and he actually did heal and it's like through
it's a program to strengthen your back and just kind of strengthen it in an unorthodox way I guess
but I thought that was the answer I'm like finally I found this community of people it was like a couple
(17:48):
hundred people in this group all just trying to fix their backs and I'm like finally I found the answer
doing it these people you know we're all going through the same thing there's three sessions a week
with the guy to like go through the exercises and there's like group meetings every week a year
goes by and I'm not any better and I'm like something's got to change and right like at the year
(18:14):
mark is when I had that month of just I was just out for a month and at that point I reached out to
the group and like somebody like I just need some help I'm really in a low spot right now going through
it with this I just cannot find any answers and one woman in the group I met who she messaged me
(18:34):
like hey Vinnie I know like I haven't been on the group very often lately and I remember here she
started at the same time as me and in the program and I did think I'm like oh yeah she hasn't really
like how she left she hasn't been around for a few weeks or like a month and I was wondering what
happened to her and she's like yeah I actually had this kind of breakthrough and I realized that's
(19:00):
not physical it's it is an emotional it's emotional pain pretty much it's called TMS and that name was
started by kind of the pioneer of mind body healing Dr. John Sarno and he called it tension my
arthritis syndrome but since then you could just call it TMS the mind body syndrome and she's like
(19:24):
yeah it's it's emotional and I'll these are the books you got to read you got to start doing kind
of this inner work to to confront the pain and she didn't give this all at once it was like a
long process of working with her but she said you got to like confront the pain and there is
nothing wrong with your body it is not broken there's nothing wrong with your back it is pretty much
(19:48):
energy stored inside of you that has been just perpetuating itself with fear and the worry and
once you start doing this inner work you will get better and she was like 80% better at the time
and since then she's like a personal trainer now and completely healed and I'm going to pass
(20:10):
it on to my husband he has he gets pain from time to time not I mean it's been
debilitating but it'll get better you know he thinks he's actually injured it but I don't I wonder
I'm gonna pass that on yeah yeah I'm not a doctor not a physical therapist a disclaimer but I have
(20:32):
never I haven't felt this good since I was 21 I'm still very much on the path of healing it's a daily
continual practice but it has changed my life and all it's crazy like the pain is real it's
physical pain but it's just created by the brain as a distraction from repressed emotions so once
you start doing this work to kind of unpack what's going on and why you may have pain it's very clear
(20:59):
like when you read these books I'm not doing the best job of explaining it because it is slightly
complex but it just became so obvious that this is what was going on with me like oh my god
well the most important thing is that you feel better it doesn't matter how you get there truthfully
I mean for sure you know the most important thing is you you you got out for the first time and
(21:23):
play basketball pain-free so yeah that's something to celebrate 100% I wrote a note of that this morning
played basketball with one of my best friends this morning and I'm like just driving home
I can't believe it this was when I was in that much pain like in my like 25 years old I would give
(21:43):
anything just to play basketball again like I was a kid without worrying about my back in my body
like if I could get to that point it I really don't care what else is going on like I will be happy
and then I've since you know I've realized that like the way you heal is by
relaxing and pretty much being like I I need to be happy now despite when I'm going through like
(22:08):
I need to relax now I need to make peace with with this and that is how
it eventually starts to fade away is to find joy again to find your life again without worrying about
the pain then it starts to realize like oh wow I don't have to create and initially you met her through
a social media group yes so I mean as a real as you know toxic as social media can be there are so
(22:41):
many great things too like that oh yeah 100% I mean like us talking this is yeah well and I believe you
know you know even you and in the stories and you being able to connect with people while you are
you know on the road and just printing them on Instagram and then you know meeting them up
somewhere I love that you know part of connection that you were able to do as we were talking about
(23:09):
Japan I meant to ask will there be another book yes that is the plan the plan is Japan yep good good
I assumed I absolutely assumed um you released your first book back in the summer of 2021
(23:32):
hours of youth where the beauty of California and the Pacific Northwest served as the backdrop
that took you on a solitary road trip in the raw open arms of nature I was a big fan of the book
and the stories that you will into that um you stayed at many hospitals along that journey as well right
(23:52):
I was doing more Airbnb on that because I was beginning of COVID so it was you couldn't really
see people and that's what made it very interesting because I was kind of that was like a much more
solitary trip just me thinking about starting this writing career and how nature is important to me
(24:13):
and just kind of being in your semity and organ and up in the Pacific Northwest so as I've me just
just a lot more thinking it seemed like and the book is a little more that sort of tone and then
the second book is more of me having these you know connection with people and staying at hostels and
(24:35):
it's a lot more about the people and the experiences and the just the the wacky characters that I meet
along the way for the first one's more absolutely but here we are four years later
talking about your second book how would you describe the writer Vincent was in 2021 to who he is
(24:55):
currently today great question at that time I think I was
I was in and a lot of it had to do with the chronic pain I was just in complete unknown with a lot of
things like I had this great seemingly insurmountable problem I couldn't figure out how to feel normal or fix
(25:22):
my body and it caused me to really try to draw wisdom from a bunch of different you know philosophy and
different people and writers and I was just like hungry for answers and that's what kind of spurred me
to go on this road trip and just be reading along the way and just really thinking deeply about
(25:44):
like the purpose of it all and why is this happening and where meaning comes from and stuff this one
I think I'm trying to just kind of tell a story more it doesn't have to be quite so
heavy it's more of just something this story I'd say more is trying to just get back to
(26:06):
like who we are as human beings and just show you how beautiful the world can be and really not
costing doesn't have to be an extravagant trip or anything it's just you can go work at a hostel
and have an amazing adventure or go backpacking and just do it on your own and it's more of just telling
a simpler story in a way like now I'm trying to instead of gathering so much information I'm kind
(26:32):
of trying to simplify and find my own voice and my own opinions and find my own way because that is
as it all comes full circle and why I believe the pain is for a reason is the answers are inside of us
and it's I'm kind of just sick in a way of all the information and just the endless noise
(26:57):
I just want to kind of find some some peace and tell my story and show people that
not all hope is lost and they're still amazing obviously amazing people out there and people
just like you and it is worth getting out there and meeting them I love that I was going to say
(27:20):
describe the book but you did that but I just got to the part of the book where the title is
mentioned in words how did the words and the title come to you so the title yeah when the sky
opens and the answers shimmer that sort of means that it doesn't matter who you are where you come from
(27:43):
the answers to the unexplainable questions of life are the things that you don't need to pay for
you don't need to you know look a certain way or have a certain thing the answers are the stars
the answers are the things that are available to all of us and that is just kind of opening
(28:06):
the door to not needing the answers so it's kind of like a play of like the answer to all the stars
because the stars are something unexplainable and it's like the world is beauty because of that
mystery and that uncertainty we don't need the answers to everything and that in a big way is what
(28:28):
connects us as human beings and what makes us human is not knowing what comes next you know in the
next life and what any of this really means it's just enough to to be here and to have the stars
above us and to be able to see the world and other you know cultures and everything so it's it's kind
(28:50):
of the the stars are the answers to the unexplainable questions of life I love that love that
was it always your intent to write about your European adventure no it was pretty much the second
book was just going to be wherever I went next and so that was going to be Japan and then I was thinking
(29:13):
about Buenos Aires but then Europe just seemed like the it just yeah kind of just happened and
as I was on that trip I was just writing notes about everything just got journaling about every day
and the experiences and I knew that I did want to write a book about it and that's what happened
(29:39):
when when you think about arrows of youth this book your blog what is your biggest hope that
anybody who's reading takes away from from the stories you share
that's kind of like I said before life is worth living life is worth striving and
(30:08):
it's getting lost and kind of just throwing caution in the wind and just having an adventure
it seems like I know I'm so glad you repeated it again it's perfect during your travels and writing
in Lisbon you came across an American girl at the hostel where you told her I just flow from park
(30:30):
to park or today I flowed from park to park I tell myself I'm in Europe to write and get things done
but I don't know why I put that pressure on myself and her reply to you was have you ever thought that
by sitting in the park and watching the world you're getting a lot done that struck a chord with me
as I'm curious about all of those parks cafes bridges waters edge where you've written
(30:56):
when you sit there are you like how much are you writing what are you writing what you see in front of
you the you know to me it's like you're you're you're taking in everything mm-hmm
yeah that I was like I say in the book my mind was blown just by her saying that yeah by sitting
(31:20):
in the park and watching the world go by you are getting a lot done wow you are so right that is why
I'm here I'm not here to write a book I'm here to experience life and to just be here and
I mean that's why that's what I love more than anything is to just have my journal and to just
go to a place and just watch people watch like I that's my favorite form of entertainment and that's
(31:44):
why I like to be in different cities and stuff I'd love to just sit on a street corner and just watch
and people walking by and and how much are you writing you know on one of those yeah sit in
a park yeah that is the like thing as a content creator that I've grappled with like I don't want to be
(32:09):
the person with you know vlogging about everything and it's like everything I'm doing is about
creating content about it I I enjoy writing because I can have the experience and then reflect on it
later but why like having my journal is it's not like you know technology it's just it's the
thing that people are doing for thousands of years so I am sitting there and I just if I have an idea
(32:34):
I just jot down a couple paragraphs or sometimes with my journal I keep it briefer because it takes
more effort but yeah usually just like an idea and then I put that into the computer computer
machine and it I expand on the idea from there when I can just kind of flow more easily well yeah I
(32:55):
mean it's easier of course when we're typing to yeah to you know to uh flesh it out make it longer
you know put all of the memories because I'm sure there's so much in your head from those experiences
and the people you meet but it is fascinating because you you know you you reading your stories you
(33:22):
can feel everything that you're taking in I mean you know just even when you talked about
a Vichy song and the impact that that song had on you when you heard it at the hostel you know you
take us in mm-hmm yeah yeah about that one that one is and it's it's hard to because you know it's a
(33:46):
song like an electronic song of Vichy when there's DJs of all time and he commit suicide and his
songs all about like I want to be remembered or live a live a life what is it well the the music video is
what kind of open me up I saw the music video at the hostel of this guy um I forgot his name exactly
(34:14):
but he makes music video kind of as a tribute to a Vichy the song is the Knights yeah uh
what are the lyrics but he says he says in the music video I want to be remembered for the life I lived
not the money I made and it's him doing all these just traveling the world and just like having fun and
(34:36):
not like doing these extravagant things but just he's with his dad and he's
jumping off the thing he's just being like a silly kid and it is an amazing video
mm-hmm that just hit me that this this DJ was one of the biggest DJs of all time and he had he's
at the top of the game yet he committed suicide and the song is it's all about um these are the
(35:04):
Knights you will never forget or if I want to just look at the lyrics and these are the Knights that
never die my father told me yeah father told me to remember yep exactly that that is what
hit so hard because it's like a very energetic song and I would listen to it all the time like
running on the treadmill or just exercising and trying to get through the chronic pain and like
(35:31):
you know just feeling it out and I would think like I don't know it's just
your life and think about the dad like my father told me like even your son
these are the Knights you remember that sort of thing so I know where I was going with that but
(35:51):
yeah but the impact I mean it you know it had an impact in the way you tell the story um
you know you talk a lot about in the book and I think in hours of youth if I'm not mistaken I mean
you've made it a priority to talk to strangers you know on the on these journeys thinking of this
(36:11):
particular book and some of the strangers you met along the way are there any that come to mind
I've had the the biggest impact on you that's a great question um the one that comes to my well a
couple but marino I think you you read about marino he's kind of just this imagine like an 1800s
(36:36):
like grifter with like fingerless gloves and just very yeah you know he's just this guy staying at
the hostel he was a friend with the owner he didn't really teach me anything but he was like a
violinist who was just traveling around and he would like pop into this hostel whenever he was staying
in the middle you were you were asking him how he how he started playing I think I mean
(36:57):
yeah playing at a very very young age or something like that yeah he said like it was between
like this and being a pirate and yeah yeah that's what it was right yeah violinist and he just he
enjoyed what he did and he was he was just a character like I can't make this stuff up just like
(37:18):
the pencil mustache and the goatee and the felt hat and the like I he knocks in the door that I've
one I am right I'm working at the hostel and I open the door and just this this guy straight out of
a movie marino and in Lisbon and yeah he was just kind of became this character that I would see
around town sometimes just in the alleyways and it was pretty funny but yeah you were seeing him playing right
(37:42):
never actually saw him playing I would just seem like stalking the alleyways walking around with the
other hand well and I also remember in the book that you know really late in the evening you were
strolling the streets and a couple was looking for a place to stay and you were debating whether
whether to pop our night yes you had the French couple um yeah taking out the trash one and just this
(38:09):
I got a tap on the shoulder and it's like the very party district of Lisbon that the hostel is in
and I'm like in my socks and shorts you're taking out the trash amongst all the
tom fullery and just get tap on my shoulder and yeah just this like back backing couple just looking at me
and like they saw me come out of the hostel like is there any room I barely speak english and
(38:34):
oh my god boy like can I I don't really know how to how to handle this um it was i think it was easter and
okay uh i'll check and like we did have we did have room and I was just you know a little unsure if
like I'm allowed to just let people in like again very late at night without really telling the owner but
(38:56):
they paid and they like left a nice note in the morning at like the owner saw and it's like thank you
you really helped us and so well like that oh yeah they left you that yeah beautiful beautiful note
yeah two French um do you know the alphama cafe um a pharma cafe oh no alphama seller no i think so
(39:21):
it was a tiny restaurant that we found that we just loved hmm what did you what did you love about
Lisbon how's your experience just loved being able to walk around hmm just a great city to walk i felt
very safe um we had a couple friends there and they they took a set we went to a great restaurant called
(39:43):
Roccos uh um went went to the big club i want to say it's Lux but is that in my i think so yeah that
like on the beach for walk like on the water yeah yeah yeah good times yeah yeah but it was just really
ease you know we had an Airbnb there uh right right near the big square on the water what is that
(40:08):
the commercial yeah commercial the big arch with yep the Jose I can say yeah i'm most horrible
I usually I usually know no much more about the places i i visit um you were in Portugal during the
(40:30):
anniversary of the 1974 revolution and you did some digging to learn more um where you
pieced together Portugal's most peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy you know
which i sort of found interesting at this time in our political world but it's one of those many things
you've researched for the book how important is that for you just not not only to tell the story
(40:59):
but for you yourself how how much digging do you like to do um let's even say you weren't um
writing the book is this something you would do for yourself when you've come across these things
whenever it's for a book or not that's a great question i usually do not do much research when
(41:24):
when traveling and then i was in Taiwan like a month and a half ago and i i'm i wish i just knew i
went to like this this mountain top uh village called Joe Fen and it's known as like the town that
inspired the movie spirited away the like Japanese uh ghibli film and beautiful just like mountain top
(41:52):
village and just like drinking tea there and stuff and then i wrote a story about it after about the
experience and that's when i did the research and i'm like i wish i knew this stuff when i was there to
to just be able to kind of understand its history and stuff more that's interesting question because
going there and writing about it makes me want to learn more about it but
(42:16):
so like that incident in 1974 war did you do that much later?
yes i did it after like when sitting down right in the book but it was like there was
like a talk about the exhibit i guess just in this random little like library of which kind of
(42:39):
started the whole um the whole thing for me of wanting to learn more about it where there was just beautiful
paintings and stuff all like carnation themes which is the flower it's called the carnation
revolution because it was like a peaceful revolution and when it was kind of one the um a woman in
(43:00):
Lisbon that gave away all these free carnations and gave them to the soldiers and everyone was just
kind of celebrating with these carnations and so there's all this art and it's around Lisbon everywhere
was just murals and things hung up on all the walls and the alleyways and stuff of carnations so what is
this all about and upon and then it just kind of stumbled into this exhibit where learn more about it
(43:26):
but then yeah writing the chapter about it is when i kind of did a deep dive and learn more
but do you enjoy it less than that i do yeah kind of aftermath of i've learned more about it i mean
yeah it makes it much more interesting like knowing about Portugal's history is fascinating like it's
yeah it's dictatorship and peaceful transition to democracy it's just the people overthrew it and
(43:53):
kind of just made this coup and pulled it off it's pretty amazing got him people have the power
people have the power people do have the power they they certainly they certainly do let's go back
to that moment in erasera and the open mic night you literally i think had just arrived in erasera
(44:17):
when you received a text from the hostel about this event and you without hesitation
signed up um when at what age because i know you know in reading your stories and you didn't always say yes
(44:38):
right but i said no very well when when did the when did the switch happen
and yeah share why that's so important because i i love really in this book where i'm at i mean you
you have said yes to many things you know and pushed yourself to do many things that i know
(45:04):
you weren't comfortable with and i think those led to some amazing experiences
100% so yeah me so this all like the writing the traveling it all kind of just erupted like when we
talk for the first time it was eras of youth and it was almost like this great awakening where i was like
(45:26):
this is the life i want to live i know it's not gonna be easy but i want to pursue this kind of
unorthodox path and there's still you know it's like seven years later and a lot of uncertainty
i'm still trying to figure out how to actually make money and you know but it's been an adventure and
me and one of my best friends who i did the podcast with um Greg
(45:50):
we pretty much we both quit our jobs and decided to go for our dreams and mine was to be a travel writer
and he quit his job in finance and is now at life coach and he's absolutely crushing it lives in
San Diego doing great and we started the podcast to document what it's like on the journey to
(46:13):
wherever you hope to go to following your dreams instead of kind of looking back at this is how
i did it this is how i got there from the successful people we want to show you what it's like
actually struggling and not knowing what exactly to do but we realized that to go anywhere
you're gonna have to put yourself in some uncomfortable situations and get out of your comfort zone and
(46:36):
say yes to new opportunities and um a lot of that is about talking to strangers and just working
that muscle and we got it tattooed on our arms live a story worth telling and that is pretty much
the point i got in japanese and him in english because we got them in nosaka when he visited and
(46:58):
it's pretty much asking yourself wait you you got a what did you say you just got
yeah we got yeah we got that tattooed live a story worth telling
wait so i was gonna ask about the tattoo so arrows did you get the arrow finally because i'm not
there in the book you that's the book you did and you got the one from the the gal at the hostel
(47:23):
right that was the first one yes amazing all can you what can you show you are about to show
yeah show you the uh strange angle but this is japanese here amazing say that says
(47:44):
little story worth telling in like old samurai language and pretty much when you are you know
you question do i actually want to do this i want to go talk to that girl don't want to raise my hand
or when i get on stage will it be an interesting story or are you gonna stay in your comfort zone
(48:06):
and it sounds like i'm just doing this all the time i'm just no obviously i'm human and i'm
terrified of looking like an idiot a lot of time but i have i'd say i tried to work that muscle as
often as i can and it as paid off for sure so um yeah kind of all happened at once so here's the question
(48:29):
out of all the things that you've said yes to what is the yes your most
happy about saying yes to hmm that's a good question doing the open mic in erissaro was pretty awesome
(48:53):
that just gave me the back house you said yeah it was nerve-wracking empanadas were flowing
well they're latin bar um what have i said yes to go into burning man that was like a week before
i was in japan wasn't really even planning on coming home i think and my friends like
(49:17):
well that sounds pretty extreme i might have been planning to come home and my friend asked like
do you want to come to burning man and i'm like no like of course not it sounds like
i've heard amazing thing i would i would love to go i it changed my life for many reasons but i was like
(49:39):
no i can't it's like a week and a half away i'm so unprepared but of course i'm there i just think
it for a couple days my new mother buddy like i think we got to do it and i asked him like you know
it'll be easier not to do it and that's i think that's why we have to so we went
(50:00):
and met my girlfriend and the rest is history how you met her at burning man yeah oh wow i love that
oh so that's definitely worth the yes it was it was incredible it was truly
the experience of a lifetime i have many many many many friends who have done it so um
(50:22):
you know one day maybe one day um so i haven't gotten to the southern Italy part of the story yet
so what can you tease for what i have to look forward to when when i get there
yeah so i'd say the the first half of the book is Portugal and it's it's the city atmosphere
it's a lot of talking to people and having these funny experiences the second half have heard
(50:46):
people actually kind of enjoy that more i mean did they just are pleasantly surprised about how much
they enjoy that versus like the first part and it's much more of just me immersed in nature and just
thinking about how our relationship with nature how important that is to me and just how amazing
this just uh to work the land like how good that feels and how it does just feel like i'm getting
(51:10):
back to like the roots of who we are had you done that before work the land like anywhere
oil the land uh not not really now so did you learn a lot there yeah so i say a farm it was a
it was a woman's property in this like dilapidated village in southern Italy in clobria um called
(51:34):
iska de marina i think iska solo ionio that was the official name of the village and it was just like a
ghost town like just walls are crumbling and but so go through this village and she just has this
property at the top and it's like all of trees and chickens and it wasn't like pigs and cows
(51:57):
and stuff but it was like a big kind of big property not like her house is pretty small on it but she
had like several little cottages and i stayed in one and then there's some other world packers who
came and stayed there and worked as well but it was just me like cutting down cactuses and pruning
all the trees and cleaning chicken cubes and tending rabbits and just yeah learning from this
(52:24):
Dutch expat woman who is i call her sage in the book that wasn't her actual name but she was just
like this this sage figure and just given me this such beautiful wisdom about connecting with the
earth and was she from Holland who moved to Italy yep yeah but she she met her husband um who was
(52:44):
i forget exactly eastern european and they moved to italy and she's fell in love with it and
fully like she's like a queen in this little mountain village in colabria like the most interesting
person and she had her two sons there as well so it's like i just kind of fell into this little Dutch
Italian family in the mountains of colabria i mean truly spectacular spectacular it was spectacular
(53:12):
i wanted to read before i let you go to two quotes i sort of put together from the book because i
i think it really says so much about you and why i love you know that you share this because
you say as a writer as a human being i know i must get out and experience the world i feel the
(53:34):
urging of my heart that says go we can only learn so much from reading watching and vibing the
tails of others the other one is i started to see there was something to learn from everyone
even a fool like me um you know and you you said this somewhere else in the book too and it's
(53:55):
interesting because you know people have asked about like doing this show it's almost five years
that i've done this show and i didn't start it with any intent um but what i have learned over these
five years is that simple fact that we can all learn from each other 100% and that's
(54:17):
that's a reason to to talk to strangers you might think that you know the person on the street
if you don't give them the light of day at the time of day but you don't know the story or what they've
been through and there is something to learn from everybody even somebody who you don't relate to
whatsoever or you completely disagree with they might teach you who you don't want to be like
(54:42):
and that is a very valuable thing to learn and that's interesting because i was as we were just
talking about this i'm thinking about how difficult it can be at times to talk to those
who we do have a difference of opinion or political sides of the aisle and even though they might
(55:07):
be very close to you people still find it very difficult to yeah those conversations
yeah and like i said i'm by no means a master of this or like you know a great communicator
but i think if you just come from place of curiosity like this person actually
(55:28):
believes something and they got there somehow how do they get there why do they believe this thing
just as strongly as i believe this other thing so that's not who it is there is there's a lesson
from everybody is there where do you think your biggest lesson has come from
(55:54):
chronic pain is what first comes the mind for sure that just because i mean obviously
an amazing family and learn so much from them and but this was something that nobody could give me
an answer for and i couldn't find out i had to figure something out within myself to get through it
(56:21):
and for the first six and a half years that was just keep the faith and that is what
you know got me through it that this is happening for me not to me i have to believe this is
having for a reason i just can't see it right now and it taught me more about myself than anything
(56:44):
else and it made me better writer and just the i think a better human being having gone do something
challenging that i really you know couldn't find any answers for but it was it was inside it was
it was inside me all along truly i hear you laugh at that does that surprise you
(57:09):
it just sounds corny when i say it but it's like it's it's true like the healing is is within us there's
nothing out there that is gonna fix whatever you're going through you know it's us having to find
peace within ourselves and having to just devise our own meaning from whatever it is that we're experiencing
(57:32):
because like the the noise and the you know the things that we think think are going to solve our
problems i don't think yeah and tell me again the initials of it tms is the
you have the acronym the mind body syndrome yeah if you if this if you relate to this at all i would
(57:56):
just suggest looking up dr john sarno okay on sarno his book healing back pain it's pretty on youtube
to listen to actually and he has like a full lecture on youtube he died a few years ago
but there is many people doing kind of taking on his legacy and you know doing incredible work the guy
(58:18):
who i've learned the most from his name is Jim Prusac and he's called the pain pt he's on youtube
and you could do like sessions i've had sessions with him and i do like group sessions with him still
with other people going through it and uh it's completely changed my life because it's not just about
(58:39):
healing chronic pain it's about healing your nervous system and that just makes you a calmer
person and everything you do so it's well yeah thank you thank you for sharing that um you know
before i let you go where where is the next adventure Vincent you know yeah thinking about some
(59:06):
different ideas i think New Zealand oh wow i think New Zealand yeah getting back to nature
just having i mean yeah it sounds amazing are such have you ever been
no never been to New Zealand or Australia so same here i i am praying that in a year and a half when
(59:29):
i turn the big six zero that i can do that that would be my dream that would be my dream
there we go doing great good well if you get there before me uh you know send me the send me those
cliff notes yes it's always amazing to speak to you congratulations on the second book the second book
(59:54):
is available on amazon.com both books are available there right hours of youth and when the
sky opens in the answer shimmer yes sir thank you well my friend you too this was awesome
appreciate it absolutely always great to talk to you yes see you next time absolutely have a great night
(01:00:16):
thanks everybody thank you to Vincent Van Patten Vincent Russell Van Patten always love hearing
about his adventures you can pick up a copy of his new book when the sky opens in the answer shimmer
right now on amazon if you haven't yet subscribed to my youtube channel you can do so down below
turn on the notifications for reminders of all upcoming shows and if you like to stream audio
(01:00:37):
versions just search the locker room in your favorite podcast app please everybody stay safe
[Music]
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