Our epic Euro / India 2023 family/ working trip!

Episode 24 - Podcast (EDITED

Fri, Dec 22, 2023 11: 51AM • 56:19

Fri, Dec 22, 2023 11: SUMMARY KEYWORDS

Fri, Dec 22, 2023 11: drove, flew, bosnia, hotel, lovely, day, travel, podcast, india, beautiful, ended, people, visiting, albania, family, love, belgium, finn, stay, episode

00: 01

00: Do you want to live a life of freedom and adventure? Are you wanting more than the daily grind? Me too. Welcome to the Emma Lovell show, a place where we talk about living a life you love now, I'm your host, Emma Lovell, and my number one value is freedom. I've spent the last 14 years running a business and traveling the world. And now I take my husband and toddler along for the adventure to it's possible and I know you can create a life doing what you truly love as well. This podcast will inspire, motivate and encourage you to go after your dreams to create a life you love until you get now don't wait for a time and or someday in the future. I'll be sharing episodes weekly about how I harmonize business travel and self care. I'll also bring on incredible guests to share their journeys, wins the challenges and how they're creating a life they love. Let's jump in and get dreaming. This is a space for you to manifest a life you love.

01: 03

01: I would like to acknowledge and recognize Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the first peoples of this place now known as Australia. I am grateful for the continuing care of the land waterways and skies where I work live, listen, learn and play. From here on you can bear country and from wherever you are listening, I pay my respects to the elders past and present.

01: 27

01: Hello, and welcome to today's episode where I am going to recount our most incredible, amazing business and family trip that we just had in Europe and India. We visited nine countries in three and a half weeks. And I'm going to share with you what was working and wonderful and what didn't work and what I've learned along the way. So please indulge me as I share some of our fabulous anecdotes.

01: 59

01: So our trip went, we left on the 21st of October. And we went via Singapore to the UK. Now originally we were going to leave earlier in October but I ended up having a conference in New Zealand. So I flew back from New Zealand on the 19th. We were in Australia on the 20th. And then on the 21st. I was in Singapore. So I was in extra countries I was it was frustrating in a way we would have actually would have been in seven countries in seven days. But we decided to slow down in Bosnia and have an extra night there which was always our plan was to have a little buffer. So the plan was UK for a couple of days. Then Montenegro, Bosnia, Croatia Albania for five days, we only had a combination booked to the first and last nights that was actually originally originally meant to be 10 days. But then we found out my 100 year old cousin, my grandmother's cousin, first cousin twice removed, was going to be in the US in Belgium, on a veterans tour visiting sites in France and Belgium and Luxembourg from World War Two, his world war two Navy that trend so of course, we had to take that opportunity. So we flew then to the Belgium and Luxembourg drove into Luxembourg. Then we went back to the UK for my cousin's wedding, and then fly to India for a little bit for Matt and Finn flew home. And I stayed on to do the retreat. And so yeah, we flew through Singapore. I feel very blessed. And it's something I'm gonna share very soon about frequent flyer points. And I have worked pretty diligently at playing the system. So that I got platinum status with Virgin Australia. And then we've been flying partner airlines to ensure that we keep the status, but also to get the benefits. So it was so lovely flying out of Brisbane on Singapore, because we got to use the lounge. And it was you know, some people are like, Oh, whatever the lounge and I'm like, if you used to having it then maybe you get a bit complacent. And if you've never had it, then you kind of like well what's so good about it anyway. I can tell you with having a toddler, it is amazing to have the lounge to not have to go you know how many times have you with a child so I flew with my son is almost three. He was like, two years 10 months when we went away. He's travelled quite a bit but you know, in an airport, you trying to get snacks for them, you buy something and then they don't want it. There's also a limited variety of course, and you know if three of us are eating that can be like 80 to $100 and we also flew through a lot of airports so to have food and drink readily available to have lots of seating options and chairs or places to charge your devices. It's all supervised as well. So, you know, like, you can leave your bag kind of thing.

05: 00

05: And then you can go to the bathroom and leave your bag and not have to carry all your stuff around. That is such a huge benefit when you're traveling.

05: 07

05: And it was just really nice food really well catered. Really nice space. And to be honest, Brisbane Airport isn't my favorite of it's my local. It's not my favorite in terms of international airport and what's the sort of shops and food area while you're waiting. So it was such a treat to get to go in there.

05: 28

05: And I was really frustrated the week before when I'd flown to New Zealand because there wasn't a partner lounge

05: 34

05: when I was flying virgin, international. So that was a bit frustrating. So it was really nice. Added bonus. Singapore Airlines fantastic was so good with kids. It was really lovely. They just they serve the kids first they give them little gift packs. The seats are nice, the entertainments nice and

05: 54

05: pin had a bit of a sleep, so it was totally fine.

05: 59

05: Then we flew into Singapore. And again, we got to use the lounge. It's quite funny though we went to the lounge it was like there's the business is the first class lounge. We weren't going there. It was the business class lounge. We weren't going there. We were going into the plebs lounge of the lounges. But it was still very nice and still great to get to have some food and drink and have some space to chill out before we went for our next long leg to London. And we fortunately all got some sleep, which was great. We arrived very early in the morning in London. And you know, pay up before I went. I didn't know if it was like the best financial decision to go. I didn't you know, so we're going to cost a lot of money whenever you go.

06: 42

06: I didn't know like timings everything had been a bit hectic. We've had a lot going on in my family. And you know, it was the right thing. So Toronto, London and I liked the cold so it was bit fresh when going outside to get that rush of fresh air. And then we got an Uber to the city. Because honestly, the Paddington express the train or the the tube with the three of us was almost the same as an Uber and more hassle.

07: 09

07: We were going to Hyde Park. And so you know, sometimes you got to weigh those options up. And it's definitely decisions when I traveled when I was younger I didn't make

07: 18

07: and I just thought you know, think about your future self. Think about your energy. Think about the comfort of my son and my husband and all of us. And so we got an Uber and driving through London early hours is such so much easier. And the sun was rising and we've got to her charming little hotel couldn't check in but a nice little townhouse right near Hyde Park. And then we walked across the road into this beautiful stunning Park in one of my favorite months of the year. It was October not November, but the cold weather, crisp cold. And I just thought I am so happy I'm here and I'm so glad that I made this decision and we are exactly where we need to be. My son was on Matt shoulders, Finn was on met shoulders looking up at the squirrels in the tree. We just were all in awe and wonder. And that's what travel does is it opens like the simple things, the simple things of swans, a beautiful fountain. We had a coffee in the park just walked around, you know, and though I've my parents are English, and I've been to England, a lot of times I'm often with family, and so even lived there for a year but you just sort of you know, things are down the road and you don't go to actually get to be in central London and really embrace it all was beautiful. And you were so early. We went then got the the bus, we got the train and this episode's gonna be really long if I tell you everything, but it was really fun to get the bus around London, I thought Finn would really enjoy that.

08: 47

08: And then we caught up with a beautiful friend and client and she was actually a pet sitter in my old pet sitting business. That will definitely have to be an episode all about my pet sitting business. But her name is Sarah Harrison. I got to visit her in Brunei and so I had an international client in Brunei. And I helped her with her personal brand and doing some reconnecting to who she was who she is work. And she's also just a brilliant, brilliant person. So content creator and UX UX specialists. So we spent time with her and her husband got to see where they live and meet their lovely cat and went out for lunch had a lovely pub lunch. Just so nice to

09: 28

09: reconnect across the world. And just to soak it all in and then we went into London I wanted to go to Hamleys toy store was around Christmas time.

09: 39

09: Never been I've never been there. But I thought it'd be perfect for Finn. And then we turn up and out the front. They're doing this like dance. And I look across and I'm like that faces familiar says that face. It's my uncle and his partner and all of our kids. standing there watching these dances outside. One of the big

10: 00

10: his toy stores in the world in one of the busiest cities in the world. And I happen to bump into them, it was just wild and so totally unplanned. They didn't even know I was in England yet. So they were very shocked to see us. But it was just such a lovely into our day. And yeah, it was just nice to be right in the center of town and to enjoy that. So we had a second day in London, and then we headed off to the,

10: 23

10: to the train, and then to get to the airport that night. So flew then to Montenegro, got in quite late went to our hotel.

10: 35

10: And it was so nice. Sometimes when you wake up at your hotel, and in the morning, you get to see the view and sort of you know, you book these places and you don't know what it's going to be like, first time in that part of the world. I hadn't really been in the Balkans. So the Balkan region is you know, Montenegro, Croatia, Bosnia, Albania, Serbia, all that sort of bottom corner.

10: 57

10: And so we

10: 59

10: Yeah, got the got got in there and beautiful morning, had a lovely breakfast, picked a big room, good space, everything. And then we went and got our car. And so the nightmare the gun. I've told you all the rosy stuff so far. We spent three hours at the car rental place, it took five people to try and sort out our thing. Our booking they wanted to charge me $1,600 Hold $1,600 My card, they wouldn't take my Amex credit card, they would only take

11: 32

11: not me, so I couldn't use that.

11: 36

11: And you know, my husband has a smaller limit as that we literally can't do this. So

11: 43

11: we were like forced into buying the full cover, which was cheaper but still a pretty penny. And and yeah, it was just such a hassle. Anyway, finally got out of there, a Finn fell asleep on the way there but then thought, I guess he'll have a little nap in the car. And off we go. For now he was then wide awake for the next leg of the drive.

12: 05

12: So yeah, it wasn't an unfortunately, it wasn't the nicest experience there in Montenegro. And I don't blame the country at all. But it just, we didn't really have enough time or give it enough time to be honest. So we drove off to Bosnia, as you do. So we drove through the middle of the country.

12: 23

12: And then

12: 25

12: we crossed the border had to go through a border crossing, show passports, all of that stuff, which is just so bizarre and crazy that you just get to drive into another country. And then we got to,

12: 36

12: yeah, I got to, I missed another downfall. By the way, I had a major problem with my Amex card, they decided to decline my card the first day and I was on the phone to them jet lagged, like 1am crying, trying to sort it out and trying to get money transferred and all this stuff. So I could continue to use my car. We were planning to use for our entire trip. So that's fun that I'll share more of in the future too. But it was. Yeah, it had this really dive going. Oh my god, it's so amazing. We're here and good to be here. And then oh my god, what am I doing? Funny? Finance, money business. So that was kind of unpleasant. And then to have that sit within nine to use the card for the car hire and for the thought, Oh, great. We're gonna have a lot of trouble with this type of card throughout our travels. So that was not sort of the nicest welcome. And trying to do it all jet lagged is not fun, either. But we drove into Bosnia, and we were hungry. And we found a little restaurant and we just went okay, we'll go here. And just, I love.

13: 44

13: That's what I love about travel, you just

13: 46

13: end up where you end up. We had this delicious meal

13: 51

13: that cost next to nothing. And as I was paying, the woman said,

13: 57

13: Are you Russian? And I was like, No.

14: 01

14: And not a time that I would want to be declaring out loud and that I'm Russian? No, I am Australian. And then she rushed away and came back and showed me her license. And on the back the license. She said, Me Sydney, made from Sydney. And she was actually born in Sydney. And then came back to Bosnia with her parents when she was little and has lived here ever since. And our English was basically she's they have all the places and all the people. I'm an Australian, and I guess we were quite in the middle of nowhere. She just couldn't believe that we were Australian. And I just love those moments that was really, really sweet. and lovely. So we carried on to mostre, Bosnia. And it's funny because of all the places we were going on this trip. Bosnia was the one I was happy to leave out of that if we feel like it's too rushed and we don't have time. Let's just go from Montenegro to Croatia. Back again, and then we'll go to Albania. We flew into Montenegro. I had to fly out of when I didn't have to We flew out of Albania because it was a direct flight to Belgium and

15: 00

15: As you do, I did like three days of stressful logistics. You'll see in the shownotes, you can go back to one of my previous episodes where I talked all about the planning and the hoo ha, of what that looked like. So that was I'm going to find you that episode so I can tell you to go and listen. It was episode number

15: 21

15: seven. Yeah, got to have a listen to that. And so you can hear the prep better before and after. So anyway, we booked ended up booking a two bedroom little apartment. And it was just so beautiful and stunningly decorated, lovely host here and a bunch of buildings in a row will close to the river will close to the famous bridge walking distance, we had a laundry at it, it's just you just get there. And it was just, I don't know, just everything was meant to be. And we ended up falling in love with monster like we spent two nights we decided we liked it so much. We actually stayed extended our stay and stayed for two nights, just so that we can have some chill, enjoy that.

16: 05

16: But I hit a wall in Bosnia and

16: 08

16: I won, I didn't have internet. And so I sort of went, ah, you know,

16: 16

16: whatever, I don't have internet that'll have to do.

16: 20

16: You know, don't have much on Palladian put me out of office on wasn't helpful. But actually, I had a podcast recording. And I didn't get that wasn't able to get online, didn't check it. And then the next morning had an email got managed to get on the Wi Fi didn't have an had an email saying hi, I'm waiting for you online, I'll wait another five minutes and missed a podcast recording, which I hate doing. And hate putting people out and look

16: 47

16: probably could have looked ahead and realized. And So lesson number one, if you're don't book anything in for the first three days of your trip, and especially if you're still traveling, and we didn't even know where we're going to be. And so that's why I kind of left it open. But it still wasn't ever going to be a very good time in Europe to do that timezone thing

17: 07

17: would have been challenging either way had I turned up

17: 11

17: or not. And I was really wrecked those few days too. So. And then, of course, the country where we were,

17: 18

17: what arrived was the one country I didn't have roaming so I wasn't checking, able to check

17: 24

17: my details. The other thing was, I've got two silly things going on at the moment where I had two email addresses because I'm transferring from my old email address to my new website at Emma lovell.edu. So it's emirate Emma lovell.edu. And so, on my phone, it shows one calendar and on my email on my computer, it shows another so just all around stuffed up and mess it up. And so that's such a working away lesson. So I'm going to put a rule in place that I'm always going to have an out of office on just in case. You know, someone kind of understands if I'm not in contact, why I'm not in contact, and then to not having anything booked for the first three or four days of arrival because I just I was so exhausted

18: 09

18: that I couldn't even kind of deal with any challenges or or anything that came up anyway. And that's okay, like I had three and a half weeks, I was away for four and a half weeks actually. So what's three or four days to block out of your calendar. And also those days of travel. I've also said like transit days, in future, I'm going to stop doing anything on transit days. Because those days are just too hard. You think you have got all this time in airports sell in the car, but you know, add into the mix of toddler and husband. I barely had time in the car, I thought I would do a lot of stuff. And I didn't have roaming, but then I thought I could do things. But I just I just honestly loved looking out the window. I really loved just looking out the window. I didn't listen to podcasts, I didn't listen to audiobooks.

18: 57

18: You know, my son wanted snacks or something else or Matt needed directions or I don't know, we were talking about something or you know the time just kind of even though we were in the car, sometimes for four to six hours of the day. It just the time kind of whittled away and which is fine. But I have these things in house where I want to be productive every minute of the day.

19: 18

19: And that's not a travels about so kind of let go a little bit managed to get out my podcast that was already planned and get out of the newsletters and I had some support with my OBM. But we were down to ad hoc hours. So that was another lesson.

19: 35

19: Because we were on ad hoc.

19: 38

19: And I know she would have jumped in and do anything but it made me go oh, do I really need to put this newsletter out or do I really need to get help on it. I could just do it myself. And then I wouldn't and then the emails kind of piled up my inbox kind of piled up a little bit and then it feels daunting to go in there.

19: 55

19: And so moving forward, I also had my I only have one

20: 00

20: My podcast editor, as my VA is the only thing I had, whereas I used to have a VA to do social media and things like that. So I've just gone back to a retainer for my virtual assistant. So he'll be doing my podcast editing as well as any prep around the podcast. So that means releasing the social media prepping the newsletters.

20: 21

20: Yeah, just just a lot of more, I'm making some video promotions, things like that, just to sell a lot more pieces.

20: 27

20: Yeah, it gets a lot of support with that. And I just think I do need it. Otherwise, I fall behind. And I don't want to not be presenting episodes. And the other thing is, yeah, I've just hired as well. Very excited, I've hired an executive assistant. So she is an assistant to me, she will jump into my inbox, she will help me with customer inquiries, customer service.

20: 50

20: Keeping just myself keeping my calendar organized, keeping my data organized. Predominantly, when you talk to me my business, you talk to me. But if she can do all of the other prep, calendar management, just sorting the emails, letting you know what's important, what's on what I actually have to do on a day to day basis, then I can actually do the bigger work and I can have the conversations I need to have and do the podcast and think about the future. And so especially when I'm traveling, I just, you know, to have that support and to have somebody to keep things moving along. And I'm at a stage in my business where that is possible.

21: 29

21: And not having it for a few months and doing it all myself again, which I can totally do.

21: 36

21: You know, financially, yeah, it helps to have less outgoings, but it also limits my capacity of what I can do and what I can create. And so I want to stay in that place of abundance and opportunity. And yeah, and it's lovely to have some time again. So thank you to Dan, who's listening to Potter for editing the podcast and to lovely Amber who's going to help me do amazing things. And to my goddess cat, who was my OBM for the past eight months. Thank you for all of your support and everything you did for me. So they were just some shout outs. So anyway, let's skip forward.

22: 14

22: So yeah, just kind of kept things light did a few things actually that day in Bosnia, because we had the day. Fun thing. I think there's gonna be a long episode. I'm sorry, I should stop saying I'm gonna have a timeout at some episodes because it's not true.

22: 29

22: Let's have a drink.

22: 34

22: All right, my.

22: 36

22: Yeah, my darling son ended up getting a penis infection. That's right, a penis infection. So, of all the things I've never had one at home, happiness have been my husband felt horrible and blamed ourselves. And I said,

22: 51

22: it could happen at home. It could happen anywhere. So it sucks. It's terrible. But it can happen anywhere. So

22: 58

22: let's just get on with it. And we contacted our Airbnb host, he told us about a medical center. They were so lovely. They sent us to the hospital just to get a second opinion.

23: 08

23: Finn was totally chill and relaxed the whole time. In the hospital in the children's room. They had like four people. I think it's one people taking notes and assisting and I don't know, but they were playing toys with him. And he just was like looking around Senator retention. He was fine.

23: 26

23: And yeah, I guess, yeah, they didn't charge us. We just had to go to the chemist and get some things for him. And it cleared up within a few days. And he was probably a little unsettled because of that for a few days, but really not dramatic. And it just was so nice. Everyone was so kind the taxi drivers at Airbnb host our,

23: 49

23: the wonderful doctors and medical professionals and, you know, again, this is the place where we had no roaming. We had so no Wi Fi when we're out and about.

24: 00

24: And yeah, probably one of the more difficult places to communicate language wise, but people spoke English to us, and we made it work.

24: 09

24: And we will find so yeah, really high regard for Bosnia, and can't wait to get back and explore more. So then we drove to Croatia, and because you know, never a dull moment, we went through a pothole. And I said to Matt, that sounds like something's wrong. He was like, No, it really doesn't sound good. Can you check it and yep, that I had popped. So thankfully, we were not too far from a petrol station that we just been through. Again, no roaming, no internet, asked the man if I could use the phone to contact the car rental company and he actually had Wi Fi so I got on to them. They were not helpful. But we changed the tire. They told us we had to get the exact replacement tire. And so we drove to Dubrovnik and extermination a destination on that

25: 00

25: Tire. And yeah, we

25: 04

25: then yeah, the places we went to two places and they said we don't have that tire and it would take a week to get that certain tire. So lots of heated messages and conversations with the car service company.

25: 17

25: Very, very frustrating. Very stressful. Of course, we've been driving for hours that day. And it sucked because some of the drive was beautiful. And driving into Croatia was so scenic and so beautiful. But to then end your day, it was frustrating. No, it was really hard. So we went back to the car place, got the car rental company to talk to the mechanic and they were so sweet and kind Dubrovnik mechanics

25: 46

25: and ultimately ended up we had another birth tire, we've actually managed to birth two tires, so we wouldn't have had a spare, we had to get the tire change, we had to do something. So we ended up they agreed we could have a different tire. They fixed it all up for like, I think 40 euros or $80 or something like silly, you know, like, just not shouldn't have been such a big issue. Had they not been so strict about you know, the tire. So got to our Airbnb. At the end of your rope driving past the beautiful old town all these beautiful views but you're in a frustrated state. Got up to the apartment and another winner. We had the most epic view over Dubrovnik we had like the tiny little one bedroom apartment. But it was amazing. It had a close door to the lounge room and the bedroom. So essentially had two rooms so that we could sleep separately, have some space. And they had snacks out and they had wine and some beer, which was very welcome. And we went and sat on the balcony and looked over the old town as the sunset, the water glistening and just breathed and had some laughs together. And although although there have been some low points that day, we'd also been to a waterfall that morning. I was like let's look at the positives. And then we went for dinner in the old town in Dubrovnik. Just such a funny old day. And, you know, again, when I'm trying to work as I go, I was just like, that's a write off. It's not happening. And one of the commitments I made when I went away that I did keep up with and I'm really proud of there's a few that I need to catch up on but I was doing like a real day. I was very active in my stories. I was doing a real a day I would do some summary posts. I didn't do as much on LinkedIn as I would have liked but I said if I can do anything I can do make a reel which is something that I can look back on. And something that fell in love to watching while we went watching these videos and

27: 47

27: just sharing sharing what we were doing Dubrovnik we just there for overnight

27: 53

27: drove through Montenegro the next day and ended up in Albania. So that was a pretty big day we went to place called Skoda

28: 01

28: did didn't get to really see much of Montenegro. So we'll have to go back. Which is a shame. That's one of the places I was most looking forward to seeing. So it's probably not, you know, now it's not the highest of on my list. But I want to go back I want to go and see some of the places and spend more time there and give it its juice. We did stop at steady Stefan, which is like a little it's a church out on a little island. There's a little sort of waterway, a little bridge

28: 32

28: to get to it. So we went to the beach in Montenegro and that was really that was really fun to do that and that was a nice break up with the drive on the way so anyway, we're getting I can't believe I haven't even got through this might have to be three part series. I might just arrange. I'm giving you the whole itinerary. So I'll just abridge it now. Albania was amazing. We went to a castle there and the hotel again was amazing. $50 for a room with breakfast, beautiful little hospitality. And the view in the morning waking up seeing the sun or the lake this huge lake was spectacular. And so yeah, I really lucked out on quite a few of the accommodations. views were everything to me and in spaciousness, so it worked out really well.

29: 22

29: Then we drove again we changed the plan a little bit that day we went to go to the city to go to the big park famous park in Tirana Albania. But as we drove there, the the traffic was hectic and we just went

29: 37

29: now I'm not putting us through that. So I said let's find a restaurant near the airport. And we just lucked out we found this gorgeous little

29: 48

29: little restaurant had these trees are over this road path into like an archway going in. gorgeous little family ran restaurant delicious food

30: 00

30: I was pretty proud we had, I don't know, like, I don't know what the how the current I can't remember the currency goes but we basically had like $20 left, and we had to audit kind of precisely. And I think it got it down to like the scent of we had a beer, and some snacks and some sausages and some potato and salad. And it was like the perfect amount and we had the just the right amount of money. Because a lot of places didn't take card that we found out was also troublesome. And our beautiful hotel owner in Lake Shkoder actually had to run a he actually came into the town found me with like Emma, and handed me cash and added it to our bills. So we could pay card at the hotel because we couldn't actually there were no ATMs. And we had no cash it was. Yeah, top tip. Just carry always like $100 ish in cash, if you can, because yeah, we just kind of went down quite low in our cache expecting to get a pay card. And it wasn't possible. So that was a little bit of a faux pas there. So we flew from Albania to Belgium, I've never been to Belgium, which is surprises people. So I've been to some wild places in the world. But I haven't been to some of the kind of more popular or well known places in Europe. But we went to Belgium stayed in

31: 20

31: south of Belleville, Brussels. And then the next day we drove to Luxembourg and met up with my I went to the border of Belgium and Luxembourg, met up with my cousin, which is such a special moment went to a memorial for US soldiers and then had lunch with their group. And it was all just very wonderful to do. And then we stayed in a place called Clevo in Luxembourg. So another new country tick to new country than a day. This we were racking up to now seven countries on our trip

31: 52

31: in less just over a week. So that was pretty wild, I think was an hour day and eight or nine

31: 59

31: clever, we stayed at a well we I cannot accidentally but I booked a wellness hotel. But it's kind of like this kind of well known spa, that people will travel from other places to get to. So that's kind of said for future we need wherever we go, we need to have a pool in our hotel. And I said that's not always going to be possible. But having an indoor pool in late October with a toddler was so perfect. There were so saunas and spas, which we didn't really get to use, because we were spending quite a bit of time with my cousin in the group. So back and forth to Belgium, Luxembourg, going to monuments ended up in wilt Luxembourg at the

32: 43

32: monument to US soldiers. And the US Ambassador Luxembourg turned up

32: 48

32: and for US Marines, and like when would we ever get this experience. And the day before we had been at the

32: 56

32: the one of the largest cemeteries for US soldiers in Europe, in in Belgium and had a sort of special ceremony there. And yeah, it was just crazy. And then to hear my cousin Bill who was in the World War Two in the US Navy, but he was in the South Pacific hearing him tell stories and watching people listen to him. I've fortunately got a lot of that history written down and I've spoken to him over the years so heard a lot of it. And we'll have him come on the podcast as well. He's been on my lovely travels podcast and my live on love your brand podcast. I will have him come on and talk to you all at because he's an incredible human. And yeah, he's very, he's literally a magician. So he was performing magic for people at night.

33: 46

33: So we left Belgium fond farewells, and we flew back to UK. There was some family there, I did get back into a bit of work, I got to do some get on top of my emails a bit, get on top of some content.

34: 03

34: You know, get some things ready for my retreat. Just get my head in the game, even though most things were done, but just to communicate with my group, just to have some solid time to sit and do things. So had a few late nights I said to Matthew, you'll have to stay out within it's kind of the easiest way.

34: 22

34: I know it's not ideal for everyone but that's one of the sacrifices you make so put into bed say goodnight to my aunt and uncle who was staying with and work from like seven ish eight

34: 34

34: till midnight or one and then I just sleep into like a nine in the morning. And Matt would have been in the bed too because if it's in the bed he wakes up early and reports about so yeah, it just was good to just sit and get some solid, solid things done for those couple of nights and then it meant as well when I went to the wedding for three nights. And it was over a weekend I could really enjoy that as well. So then we drove out to go

35: 00

35: Ulster, which is in the south of England, and it's very near to Wales. And we went stayed at a beautiful farm where they had their gorgeous wedding and I'm so happy we can make it happen. Had the wedding not been on I probably would have canceled Europe

35: 17

35: then you know my cousin was going to be there too. So that was really special but when things felt stressful, intense and you know things were racking up expense wise I thought do we really have to go to Europe at this time? And I had already said yes to the wedding but just wasn't sure if it was possible it is a lot to take entire family three of us the flights alone honestly I'll tell you the flights alone were $10,000 That was for our into that was for international flights. And then we had some internal flights. Sorry, that was for a major flight and then we had to pay for I think another 1800 or so to fly within Europe. So it's a big thing. And then car hire on top accommodation on top. We spent I think I've got it written down I think it's $21,000 the three and a half weeks, which is about right $7,000 Each but that's my thing. You know, I used to plan for one person solo travel and now I'm paying for three people. So that's a big, that's a big thing to take into account. But travel is what I work for and what I live, what drives me what motivates me and to have that quality time with my husband and son was incredible and to be at my family wedding was really special. So I'm glad we did it

36: 36

36: was someone that will hound you until you do the things that you need to do and absolutely stand there and support you 100% It is no doubt in my mind that it is Miss Emma Lovell. Anyone that has him in the corner does better. She'll be your biggest cheerleader. Whatever she touches and creates is just magical things about em. She is extremely generous with her knowledge and expertise. And the second thing is that she will hold you accountable long after your impersonal experience which is great if you're not working with them. What the hell are you doing?

37: 11

37: The day after the wedding, we decided to pop to Wales, which everyone in my family thought we were just either mad or like just amazing. Guys, it was 45 minutes. From the venue in Gloucester it was 45 minute drive to cross into a whole new country visited this incredible Abbey Tintern Abbey, and then drive back. Like it takes me 45 minutes to me. I went and picked up my uncle from the airport the other day, it took me 45 minutes to get there. 15 minutes to get there in an hour to get back. I could have gone to a whole new country in Europe there and back popped over the border. Anyway, that was a lovely day and a long, long time coming that I had finally got to Wales. But I of course don't think that that's it for me in Wales. I promise to go back into see more of it. I look forward to exploring more.

38: 03

38: And then we had one more night so we went stay with my Uncle Simon who's currently visiting Australia in their house with his partner and her three children and her daughter in law and their baby because and they're an Indian family, which is makes my heart so happy. And it was like I said to Matt It's like a halfway house for us because we're on the way to India. So this is your taste taster even though he's been to India before, but it will be a little we had a lovely Indian meal for dinner. I know we didn't actually know we didn't have Indian No, but just lovely hospitality of my now aunt Susan. So that was fabulous. And we connect over that love of family and culture and community. I am honorary of the Indian culture. So yeah, then it was time to leave and we flew out of Heathrow to

38: 55

38: Mumbai we flew Air Canada Air Canada lounge at London again such a perk so beautiful to get to have that

39: 03

39: was wonderful. The Air Canada flight not so much wouldn't probably fly them again unless they really have to.

39: 12

39: They weren't great with the kids the food wasn't great. The hospitality wasn't great and it felt quite squishy in the seats so for had my time again, knew I won't fly Air Canada. But we got there safe and sound and that was good. late and you know, late night arrival we were our friends picked me up at 130 in the morning, which was beautiful to see them there. Got into bed by the time we got to sleep about 3am So we're actually kind of worse off jetlag in India than we were anywhere else.

39: 45

39: But it was okay we didn't really have anything on and it was the start and leading into Divali so

39: 52

39: there was a bunch of family visiting my friends so it was my my friend Susan differences and her daughter Sam you

40: 00

40: And then her mother in law times grandmother was there. And then her sister in law, and then her son visiting from the US, and then their nephews and niece visiting from Bahrain. And they had all come because they knew that I was coming to visit which just makes me so

40: 17

40: emotional to be honest and happy.

40: 21

40: I just, yeah, their family. I've known them for 10 years or 11 years now, I stayed in their home in Delhi and we had this crazy train adventure, which is the story for another day. And it just felt really special. So

40: 35

40: again, I did a bit of work that day, we just chilled out at the park man, I could just over to my computer in love playing with all the kids that with all the family, we ate delicious pulp. A little budgie got some second aloo potato curry, you have it with this big puffed up bread, which is cooked in oil and delicious. And I know I love eating that. So they got that for me in and yeah, then we just went that night out just for a rickshaw ride. And Finn loved it, which was maybe so happy he was just totally amazed. And then next thing I know he fell asleep and I just makes me so happy that he was so comfortable and confident in this place that can be truly overwhelming. But he wasn't even at the airport there were all these people and he just takes it all in his stride. He didn't wasn't didn't worry about all the family being there. He just adopted Sam and wanted her to play with him and just felt totally comfortable and had a little they had this cool thing in India. I like it there's like you have like a bucket with your shower. So instead of sometimes using the shower as is you put the water into the bucket and use a small scoop with the big scoop. Small scoop out of the big bucket to clean yourself. And that's actually really good because sometimes

41: 58

41: you can actually wash your hair better and overtly wash your body better and it's just kind of quite environmentally friendly to be honest. Anyway, so feel like sitting in the bucket here in the bucket shower.

42: 10

42: That night when the rickshaw we went to Bandra Bandra bandstand, which is a place we just look out of the water, look out over

42: 18

42: the city, and we were late. We were in Mumbai, in India, and we were got there quite late. So it's dark, wasn't like this is dark. And we just went for the walk, we ended up at this hotel. And I was like, this hotel looks familiar. And it turns out to be the Taj lands and hotel, which is a hotel I went to 13 years ago for a wedding. And I was like, Oh my God, I've just popped up to this venue. I said, Let's go in for a drink and snack. And then we'll we'll head back. And as we were walking in Matthew said to Matt Finn says we're going, where we going, where we're going, he says that all the time. And Matt said, we're going into a place that mommy and daddy can never afford. And I was like, hang on a minute. I love manifesting. And I love thinking abundantly. And I love thinking about the future. And I just said, Hang on a minute, like, one Don't say that, like we actually can most likely afford it. We can't afford this. I know we can.

43: 16

43: But also, I don't think this is as expensive as you think like it's quite grand. It's an incredible, huge hotel. It's a five star hotel. And we got there just at the right time. They were doing a beautiful, they do an evening sort of prayer ceremony. And then they also do a whiskey ceremony. And so all the staff come out and do this lovely ceremony. And so it's wonderful to watch. Anyway, we got inside and I went on booking Stockholm, and it was 211 Australian dollars for a night. Last minute like that day, we wanted to stay there that night. I said that that's cheaper than a hotel like down the road from us. I know there's a road hotel down the road, it's $750 for a night. So there's that.

43: 57

43: I just think we can afford that. And but we stay with friends. And that's lovely. That's what we chose to do. So I wrote to my travel partner, so I partnered with an Indian travel company called Indus bound. I've partnered with them for seven, six years now. I'm the only seven. I'm a Australian representative for them, and I help people plan their trips to India. So that's why I'm able to do so much over there. Why I chose to run my first international retreat there. But I wrote to Pankaj, and I said

44: 27

44: oh, you know, funny story with ended up at the Taj lands and, and Matthew said that we couldn't afford to stay here and I've looked it up and it's totally affordable. And he said, tell me how much and I said on booking.com. And I said 10,000 rupees, you know, $200 and he goes, Okay, what do you want to stay there? And I said, No, no, no, I'm just telling his story. I think it's funny. And he said, Well, you can stay there. He said, you know, Matt and Finn are only here for a few days. Maybe you should stay there. And I said, No, no, no, no, we're staying with friends. It's lovely. It's fine. And then he said, When are they leaving? Am I

45: 00

45: said the 11th of November. And he said, Okay. And I said, we might stay here. This time, we're staying with friends. But next time, I'd love to go and stay at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, which is in the sort of downtown Mumbai. It's in front of the gateway to India. And it's one of the most iconic hotels in India. Maybe the world. It's, it's phenomenal and the views phenomenal and just the magnificence of this hotel.

45: 31

45: So it's called the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, look it up. And so the next time I'd like to stay there, visited, I've had lunch there, I just, I've been around, but I just would really like to stay there. He said, Okay. So he said, All right, 10th night. It's Finn's first day in India and it's Matt and Finn's first night, they should have a nice pool to play. And so I'm booking you in.

45: 52

45: And I said to Matt, you know, 10 minutes ago, you said to me, we could never stay, we could never afford to stay here. And now we're going to stay here for free. So that was just such a lovely gift. And it's nice for me to experience the different hotels, as well, because I do promote them and tell people where to stay. So anyway, we went back to the White House, and then we saw some friends over the next few days. And then we moved to the hotel for the last night. And we went back to Bandra and went to the hotel and checked in and they were so sweet to fit in and they gave him a gift and they did this lovely welcome. And then the woman said I can't find you in the system. And I said, Oh, yeah, well, no, the mic my colleague booked me in, said, yeah, no, I can't find you. And I said, Okay, well, here's the confirmation. And I showed her the confirmation. And she said, Oh, madam, this is for the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel. You're at the Taj Land's End hotel. And I was just like, oh my god, I'm ended up at the wrong five star hotels like,

46: 52

46: whoop, see, it was just so I was like, you can forgive me for being confused. We were sitting in the Taj lands. And when he was asking about booking us in, you can forgive me for being confused. But it was one of two mistakes that I made was there wasn't I didn't read it properly. I, I just assumed so which is another reason why we've discussed that I might get a driver and next time I go, because so I don't make silly mistakes, my travel plans. So anyway, we got a cab downtown. So a lot of it was an hour extra in the car, which didn't need to be but it was it was still fine. And we ended up with this stunning Hotel. My gorgeous friend Elena Gabrielle is going to be on the podcast soon came to meet us. She's a comedian who travels internationally and she was in Mumbai, came to hang out with us at the pool. And it was just such a beautiful stay. And the morning after when we checked out I am

47: 44

47: struggling to keep it together. As we checked out.

47: 50

47: paying my bill

47: 52

47: they had been so kind and so the hospitality the service is exceptional. And it is a little bit more than the room scope around $500. There so with with reason, they are incredible. And the service is next to just nothing else I've seen. And they took a photo of us when we arrived and they took a photo of me and Finn by the pool and they got them printed up and delivered to our room, which is like the most beautiful little gift that we got to keep. And I just walked away and

48: 26

48: into the lobby and burst into tears and that's like, Oh no, what's wrong and I was feeling emotional like my retreat starting the next day, Matt and fina leaving they were flying out that giant I was going on for 10 days by myself. But really it was just that when I was 18 I came when I was 17 I first came to India. And when I was 18 I went back and I stayed across the road in the fabulous royal Bombay Yacht Club. I stayed there. We thanks to a lovely friend who is was a member you can only say that remember and I woke up my first morning in Mumbai with a view over the the gateway to India and the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel next door is sunrise that I can think of the photo somewhere but I can picture my head so perfectly. And I was so in love with this place and so inspired and hopeful. And then that day I went into the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel and walked around at this magnificence. And I thought one day I'll stay here. I'd love to come back here.

49: 30

49: And

49: 32

49: 18 years later, half my lifetime later, but really a short time. I'm back there. And I said we're in India because of me. Our first visit I was here because of my dad and my first few visits. You know, I came with context and I met through my dad but I'm here now because of me. I'm here running a retreat, bringing other people to India. I'm here with my husband, I'm here with my son. And not only are we here at this magnificent hotel that I've dreamt to

50: 00

50: stating that we were here is a gift of a colleague, who I've, I've built the relationship with and that I work with to bring other people to India. I just couldn't believe it. And I was like, this is our life. And this is going to be our life moving forward. I just felt so abundant and so grateful and so excited for the future that this is the life that we're creating.

50: 23

50: So, write things down, make dreams, make plans, they will come through and hold on to them, it might take 18 years, but it will happen. And I just couldn't have imagined how wonderful it could be.

50: 38

50: And so we went back to my friend's house, and I packed up and I left Matt and Finn, and I was distraught very much.

50: 45

50: I was distraught, leaving them but they knew.

50: 50

50: I mean, no, I just was more worried about them getting on a flight, more worried about my clients, visas and, and flights and everything getting into the country, then I was about my own. And again, I didn't, didn't pick the message from my colleague, my flight had

51: 08

51: terminal had changed. So I ended up at the wrong terminal went into the wrong terminal had to get checked out of the terminal, had to pay a cab driver to drive me to the other terminal, and made it to check in with 20 minutes to spare. So I just said, I can't be trusted with my own arrangements, and I just had so much on in my brain. But it was that whole, I put your oxygen mask on first. And I nearly stuffed up things I did step up in spacer in India, in England. And because I'd left it so late, and it only came the day before, because I made a mistake on it. And just again, I was thinking about everybody else's stuff and not what we needed to do. So good lesson there to remember.

51: 51

51: The other cool thing I did just before, the while staying at a friend's place in Mumbai was I woke up really early one morning, I woke up at 430 or five o'clock. And I did a presentation for an organization called Western Australia and presented to a group of women about how to build your profile online. And I was paid to do that. And it was so amazing to wake up, do a presentation I was very tired as a bit anxious to be honest about

52: 17

52: that was the only downside of the anxious about whether I would wake up on time. And if the internet would connection will work. And if there would be quiet in the house, or how I would do it. I haven't thought about going and stay in a hotel myself to so I could make sure the setting was okay. But it all worked out at the house. I did the presentation, it went really well. And it was just really cool to be like wow, this is the evolution of my business that I'm now making money by doing presentations for groups and organizations online and I can do that as a speaker. And I'm also making money while being in India because I'm running a retreat here. So yeah, it was a really incredible kind of moment. And I've already done an episode about the restaurant receive retreat, I did a reflections episode. And that's number 16. So I hope you'll go and listen to that. And my next big international retreat is going to be in Sri Lanka. So I also did an episode about that number 16.

53: 14

53: So you can have a listen there. I know this has been a long episode.

53: 19

53: I probably should summarize the pros and the cons. But I think the lessons were, yeah, don't don't plan anything on transit days. Or basically have an out of office on the whole time just in case.

53: 34

53: Even though there's transit like car, travel lanes, etc. Just be gentle with how much you can actually achieve.

53: 42

53: Set yourself a small goal. Like for me it was make sure the podcast around the whole time was away.

53: 48

53: newsletters, I got those prepped a bit but not as much as I would have liked. But that was okay, I got the podcast done. And you know, the goal for next time is to make sure the podcast the emails, they're sort of running so that I'm still communicating with everyone whilst I'm traveling.

54: 04

54: And then the you know, the other thing I'm really proud of that I did was Yeah, keeping up with the social media, sharing stories on Instagram, sharing some really important highlights as I went sharing really honestly in Belgium when I had a real meltdown in Brussels, really stressed about business really stressed about family about my nephew back home, who's terminally ill and just had a real nightmare. I just everything felt really hard and worrying. So yeah, really two different ends of the scale but

54: 35

54: um, pros and cons. The con I've talked about them as well but I would take the cons for the pros like to get to travel with my boys for three and a half weeks to get to share my favorite country in the world with them to get to still run a retreat.

54: 51

54: To have that dream come true. I just Yeah, and the cut the cost is some sacrifice a little bit of sleep or time at some points.

55: 00

55: It's a little bit sacrifice of

55: 03

55: money, a big sacrifice of money, but that's what I put my money towards. That's a choice I make. And this is the choice I make to live the life that I love. And so, I hope this inspires you to think about some work and travel, or travel while you work, or work while you travel. Please ask me questions. This is the topic I love talking about. So please do send me your questions. And I would love to hear from you. Have a wonderful day. And I hope you've enjoyed this long episode. I'll see you next time.

55: 34

55: Thank you for listening. Lovely one. I hope this has inspired you to dream big and start creating a life you love today. If you love what you're hearing, don't forget to follow and rate on Spotify and rate review and subscribe on iTunes. It helps other awesome people to find this podcast and get motivated and inspired as well. Want to stay connected. Come and join the live a life you love group on Facebook. But connect with me on Instagram. Emma lovell.au, the same as my website. But all the details are in the show notes lovely. I'll see you next episode for more inspiration, motivation and freedom seeking Now go out there and live a life you love