What's it really like to travel with Emma Lovell?

Mathew & Emma podcast (EDITED)

Mon, Aug 12, 2024 8:06AM • 31:21

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

emma, travel, lovell, trip, matthew, paid, night, work, hotel, wedding, retreat, eagles, mexico, days, roster, toil, mongolia, wanted, hours, cruise

00:00

Emma, 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 too. 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 and to live it now, not 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, the 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

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, Emma country and from wherever you are listening, I pay my respects to the elders past and present.

01:26

Welcome to today's episode. It's an interesting one. I have with me a very special guest, and he's in the here in the room. It is my husband, Matthew quick. Welcome to the podcast. Matthew. Hi.

01:41

He has been on the put on one of my podcasts before, and he interrupted an episode one time. Well actually, I called out because I was doing an episode about traveling with kids, and I said, you'll get a very different story from me to him. But cheers, my love. We are drinking out of toilet, the bathroom, the bathroom glasses. We got a free bottle of champagne

02:06

on our cruise. It's the first night of our Royal Caribbean cruise in the Mediterranean. Are we going from north of Rome and to Greece, Turkey and back to Napoli so but I wanted Matthew to come on, because I talk a lot about traveling, and I talk about it from my perspective, and I talk to guests, but I wanted to know, what is it? Well, maybe you want to know, what is it really like to travel with Emma Lovell, and I am relentlessly honest, but Matthew is brutally honest, and I have told him that this is you can be honest, but we still have to be married after it, so be kind and

02:53

but you can be honest, but don't be rude. So we'll see how it goes. There might be a lot of editing for this episode, all right, Matthew, these are some questions that some people have given to me. So what's the best thing about traveling with Emma and why she organizes everything? Mm, hmm, means I have, don't have to organize everything.

03:18

Yeah. Okay. Next question,

03:21

how does Emma's passion for adventure influence your travel plans and destination?

03:27

Sorry,

03:29

how does Emma's passion for adventure influence your travel plans and destinations? I travel way more than I would personally like to,

03:39

and I know you get to go to different places that I usually wouldn't pick, or place I also just don't even know about, like Cinque Terre, you know, Emma talked about before, and I'd never heard about it, and we've finally been there. Unfortunately, Emma didn't really enjoy it, but I liked it. Was very nice.

03:58

I did enjoy it. I just thought it was overly crowded and

04:04

very small towns that are very popular, yeah, just maybe would prefer not to go in August, very hot. Yeah, the heat's been an issue this trip. And then also, yeah, I just It's popular places, so going to a popular pace, that's what you have to expect. So, but that's okay, but we have different experiences. What have you loved on this trip?

04:25

The cruise, we've only been on it for six hours, and fins in Child Services, care. He's in the kids club. That's what it's called.

04:38

But where else did you enjoy on this trip? Your favorite positar was nice, a bit as the second time of being had been and I do it is very nice. What was the other one I liked? I like Tuscany. Tuscany is very nice.

04:52

San Marino is very nice. I do like the whole, you know, medieval castle on top of a hill. Vibe for.

05:01

I'm very much like multiple chiana, which is very similar. So San Marino was good,

05:07

and then, yeah, I was about it like coma was okay, chinkatera was okay, just

05:13

at all places. But I did not like

05:18

civid No Civita TV. It's very hard to but it's vecchia anyway, very hard to say. They call it city,

05:28

where we got the Rome we got the cruise from. But what did you say before we left? About Italy? I didn't want, it's not a place. I'd have a bit this is a, this will be my this is my fourth trip to Italy, or to a part of Italy, and I'm I said, I am personally done with Italy. I don't need to come back. And then what did you say? Yes, I said, I wouldn't mind coming back again, but if push comes to shove, I'd probably would not come back. Okay, so girls, trip to Italy is what I'm hearing. What advice would you give to couples who want to combine travel and business? Don't do it

06:10

unless you're both working and you and you don't have kids. Don't bring don't try and couple of business and kids.

06:17

If you both can, sort of like, take your time apart and do your work together, but when there's only one person working and that person is more stressed, we aren't the other person's trying to be on holiday.

06:31

So yeah, I

06:33

don't think it works. If there's only one person businessing two people, it might work because you're both on the same level of stress, but yeah, and don't try and do with the kid. Doesn't work, so don't be married to me.

06:49

I will ignore that one, um, most memorable experience while traveling with you,

06:59

apparently.

07:02

Um, I know most member while traveling, I know organizing Mongolia for me was pretty amazing. And I sort of decided that was a country I wanted to go to on a whim from watching the TV show Marco Polo, and just mentioned Emma that I'd like to go. And the next, you know, within within the year, I think we were going, and all the things I wanted to do, she'd organized, and that was pretty amazing. I really loved Mongolia. We'll take Finny back. Okay, can you describe a time when traveling with me brought out a side of you that surprised even yourself?

07:39

I don't know.

07:43

Don't

07:46

think so. Do you? Can you think of something? I can't think of anything. Now, marriage, maybe,

07:53

what? Getting married? What? Yeah, you like cried at our wedding. Oh, that was always gonna

08:01

happen. Now, any,

08:07

yeah, I can't, I can't think of anything.

08:11

Brought something out of me that surprised me traveling with you.

08:18

Yeah, maybe, maybe, like I did. Definitely cried way more than I thought at our wedding. We got married in Mexico. So yes, that's traveling.

08:29

I guess I'd, yeah, never thought I'd elope

08:35

now, so that was I did something different.

08:41

What

08:42

has traveling for business and leisure taught you about

08:47

us as a couple?

08:50

It's stressful.

08:54

So what was the question? Yeah, what is traveling for business and leisure? So for pleasure, yeah, taught you about us as a couple, I definitely do not have as much patience for taking photos as I think I do.

09:09

No, I know that you mean patience anyway,

09:13

stop zero patience.

09:19

Yeah, that's about it, I guess, yeah, it is definitely something

09:25

I am not designed to do. I don't think like, Yeah, well, I definitely thoroughly enjoy working for a company than when I'm on holiday. I'm on holiday, but Emma is definitely the one that does both holiday and work at the same time. But it is, yes, it i It is a bit difficult for me, but what did you think of India? Oh, yeah, well, yeah, okay, in that term of in that term, in that

09:51

aspect of it, where we're getting to experience new things, because through your work, like when we were we had.

10:00

Amazing hotel experiences because we were test road testing hotels. That's awesome, because we do get a little bit better treated. Emma got a upgrade at our hotel in Tuscany this trip because of her social media presence.

10:20

So yes, that. And then in terms of that, it's pretty amazing. We do get a little bit better value for money for things. So yes, definitely recommend

10:31

that part of pleasure. But yes,

10:35

that's it, yeah. I mean, like when in India on our last trip, I think it was, yeah, I had to do some work because I was doing the book. But I think, you know, like the Safari, yeah, they get the getting, getting stuff for discounts. I thought, like, we in, I don't know, I felt like we enjoyed

10:56

and switched off more, yeah, India was a bit, I think you weren't sort of

11:03

moments, but yeah, this trip has been a bit more hectic because we are closer to a book deadline and everything, so you're a bit a bit more stressful for that.

11:14

But yeah,

11:16

And have there been any surprising moments where you thought this is So Emma, can you share one what

11:27

memory of a goldfish? I can't remember. I kind of forgot that the upgrade. That's not the first time we've done that, though it wasn't. Where's the last time we got an upgrade for something? Oh no, that was Mexico. But that was just because we were Wrong place, wrong time. No, that was right place, wrong time. Yeah, yes, we got upgraded in Mexico. Was that for? Was that our wedding trip? No, it was the first time to Cancun. Oh, yeah, that time, yeah, I thought you meant when I Oh, well, I'll tell you. This the story I'm thinking of this was the first night of our we had, like, a pre wedding honeymoon, which I highly recommend if you're especially if you're eloping, but anytime so you go away for a couple nights before the wedding to relax. And so we were hotel. We were just staying this. We wanted to stay this amazing eco hotel, very, very expensive on the beach in Tulum, and

12:20

wanted to stay there for ages. And it was like, Oh, we could stay there as our honeymoon after the wedding, but our friends had flown all across the world to be with us. It'd be weird to then just go and be alone for two nights. So we were alone for two nights before and then we had the wedding, and then we were in the villa all together. But we got there, we were jet lagged, and then it was like, you know, it's this eco, beautiful nature, jungle Hotel on a beach connected to a, like, a Duff, Duff nightclub. And our room was right next to the light nightclub. And I was so out of it from jet lag. I was the duff. It just wouldn't stop. And it was giving me anxiety attacks.

13:04

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14:02

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14:16

And so, yeah, we'll basically and then Matthew says, I get really angry, but I get, like, I say that my alter ego is Alejandra. It's like my Latino lady, Latina lady, um, she's my, like, Carmen Sandiego type, you know, it's like a Sasha Fierce Beyonce. You need to embrace this character. And so that's what I think of, is my Alejandra. Like, if I need a bit of confidence boost, Alejandra comes out Anywho. So I stormed down, and I speak Spanish, and I was furious.

14:48

My angry in Spanish is extra angry, and we got moved because of it. And so Matthew sometimes doesn't Well, I don't know. Do you like my complaining or not like it? No, you.

15:00

Planning gets extra stuff and like, yeah, I always warn people not to piss you off,

15:06

which is funny, because my nickname is lovely. People think I'm very like, I am lovely, but I like, don't also don't take my kindness and my loveliness as weakness. And if you if it's something I'm yeah, if you'd like crossed a value or boundary line, then the ferocious, the lioness, comes out. And, you know, Matthew was very distressed. I was very distressed. So it was just so I said, you this is not what you put in the brochure like. So anyway, that was we got moved. And that was very good. We also got, and then, remember, we got $1,900

15:41

dinner, yeah, for free, for free, because they're like, so sorry. So they gave us a free dinner, and then we snuck in your My friend, yeah. They're like, oh yeah. They were like, Oh. I was like, my friends, here we can't leave her alone. And they were like, okay, she can have dinner too. $900 dinner. So it's not, I wasn't. I was forceful. I'm not. I try not to be rude, but,

16:04

yeah, I think it's complaint is a gift. Sorry, you can make a complaint and not be,

16:12

yeah, I'm not afraid of confrontation. If I'm

16:15

I don't know,

16:17

pushed, pushed, but

16:22

the other one you were talking about the Mexico. Oh, so yeah, the first time Emma took me to Mexico, which is, you know,

16:30

yeah, when I first I took her first ever dive outside of Australia, was in Mexico. It's when we sort of decided this is where we're probably gonna get married.

16:41

And yes, we turn up to this all inclusive. So Emma, like, we'll take, we'll do one night of all inclusive. So we turned up, and it was chaos. It was the beginning of, what's it called, Spring Spring Break.

16:54

It was the they were so rude, like we had our car. We were like, where do we park? And they were just, like, they've like, looked at me, like I was from like, you know, had a second head, and

17:04

then they just, sort of like, waved me off to the park somewhere. We finally got in,

17:10

and then we sat down. And the late this lady was, like, we didn't stand sit down. We just, Oh, that's right, we were standing in the counter surrounded by like, 21 year olds. Me, like, yeah.

17:21

Like, 19, yeah, because they're allowed to drink here, not up there.

17:27

And the lady was just like,

17:32

what's your Are you here for spring break? That? Are you just a couple? Yeah. And then yeah, and Emma something, they asked us if we, oh, that's they asked if we were American. And then Emma,

17:44

I'm not, I'm not a gringo.

17:47

And then, yeah, not here for spring break. And they were like, oh, okay, would you like an upgrade? No, she said, We want to offer you. We want to offer you. And I was like, yeah, yeah, yeah. Like an upgrade? Daddy, daddy. Da, how much? And she said, No, no, we're inviting you. And so what had happened is, basically, the hotel was overbooked. It's like quite a popular one. Apparently it comes up quite high on the listings. It's quite popular travel agents. And so they were overbooked. So they invited us to move to their diamond partner, because we were a couple and not spring break. And I looked it up after we paid $250

18:22

US each, which is kind of what you pay, all inclusive, and the upgrade was $1,500

18:31

a night, so $750 per person. And so we got $1,000

18:37

1000 US, dollar upgrade. You know the hotel. You know, the hotel is good when they ask, what type of pillow you want to sleep on, what scent would you like? Yeah, what? And what's the scent for? Oh, the bath, soap. No, no, the room. Oh, yeah, like, romantic or energized, or kind of soap you wanted as well. And then, and they were like, Would you like to sit down to check in? Would you like a glass of champagne to check in? Yeah. And we had a Jacuzzi in our room. So anyway, that was yes, that was, I don't think it was any that was just Yeah, right time, right place, right time, right No, yeah, wrong time, right place. I don't know. We lucked out. Anyway, that was good, good story. Um, if you could relive one trip with me, which one would it be? And why? Probably Mongolia, because it was, yeah, that was pretty amazing. Or maybe our, um, our wedding trip was pretty amazing, which we're planning to release of Mexico and Belize with Finn. We're Finn

19:37

that's not as excited. And and then what destinations are on your bucket list for us to explore together in the future?

19:49

Antarctica is on, I know is on Emma's list, and would definitely be on my list as well your list, yeah, but I don't know, yeah, no, I'd like, I don't have a travel list.

20:00

Just like Mongolia just came up because I was watching a show. I don't, you know, so I might add, I don't have anything on my list as at the moment. But, you know, maybe a TV

20:11

Not really, no, it's not a bucket list, though. It's not like, somewhere, like, I'm like, I must go. I don't, I wouldn't say I have a travel bucket list, except for maybe Antarctica. What about diving? Diving, yeah, yeah, there's probably some places I'd like to go dive. I'd love to go do ankle light in Mexico again, where shits might happen. Angel light, yeah, which

20:37

would be pretty amazing. And then there's play there, yeah. You know,

20:41

diving in Philip, the place I'd like to dive in the Philippines, and I'd like to good this, because the questions were actually provided by my lovely vas,

20:50

and they're in the Philippines, and so tick, I already told them, I promise them, we're going next year. So just to announce that we're definitely going to the Philippines, because it's a work trip. I've got to meet my staff. Well,

21:04

we can go pressure shark diving in the Philippines. Okay, done. So, yeah, Matt's travel is generally planned around animal experiences. So if I now I know him, I can manipulate the situation. If I include nature and animals, he will come. And so the eagle hunters, of the eagle hunting, which is not hunting of eagles, it's using eagles to hunt in Mongolia was the real thing. It was pretty amazing. Being able to hold the golden eagles that they have there was pretty spectacular. And I'd love to go back to the competition they have, like, October, yeah, it's like a world, like a Mongol. It's like the Olympics of the month of Mongolian sports. And it's one of them is

21:51

hunting with the Eagles. And, you know, you watch them use the eagles to hunt, and that'd be pretty amazing, because we were there during the off season when they don't hunt with eagles. So they still go to their Olympics, though. Oh yes, that's right, we did it at the dam festival. But, yeah, they they have the Eagles, but they don't hunt with them. They just sort of, they have the little hat on so they don't fly away and they go out and feed them, but they don't. They're not using them at the time, because all the small game that the Eagles hunt aren't out at the moment when we were there last time. So any other things you'd like to add about what it's like to travel with me?

22:26

Stressful, but, you know, I'd do it again

22:30

for writing out of 10, writing out of 10 or two out of 10?

22:37

Yeah, I'd say, you know, six on a good day

22:43

out.

22:45

Okay, what's the worst thing about traveling with me? It's my question. Oh,

22:51

your work stress. If something bad happens at work, which it eventually does, it bleeds into the trip or bleeds into that day. Not you get over it eventually, but you know the next hour or couple of hours will be not, not very, not pleasant, because something bad happened to work.

23:13

Yes, I think this is the downside of running your own business. It doesn't switch off. It's 24/7

23:20

even though I'm not working 24/7 working 24/7 you you don't switch off as an entrepreneur, from thinking about or caring about the business, especially when your name's on the front

23:32

door. But I

23:33

don't know. I feel like every Job's stressful at some time,

23:38

my recommendation is work for someone else.

23:44

And why are we able to travel so much because of your work,

23:47

because I have lots of time off. How do you get lots of time off? Because my work is very flexible. Okay, what do you do for work? I'm a aquarist at sea, world, Gold Coast. What does that mean? Means I look after fish and sharks, and I dive and scrub windows and vacuum the floor and

24:08

help the rehab of animals and stuff and so why for somebody who isn't a full time job and wants to,

24:19

you know, has a partner who makes them travel. How have you made managed to I think we've had twice. One time we took seven weeks off. Another time we took like, four and a half. Yeah, so So see, go, village, road travel, sea worlds. How they operate, how they used to operate. They used to have a rotating roster, which was very handy for our lifestyle. We used to get a free, one free week off every year, just because of how the roster rolled,

24:52

but because of I pre fin I and I still do it a little bit now, but not as much i.

25:00

Uh, working extra when I can't, you know, make make hay while the sun shines. So, you know, I taught the toiling and banking hours, instead of getting paid the extra at the time, meant I had weeks upon weeks of extra days off, which, you know, so what is? What is banking toiling for people who don't, um, toiling is called ties time in lieu. Most companies do have some sort of toil scheme, regardless of what company you work for,

25:29

that's like,

25:33

time you've Yeah, you're over time. Instead of being paid over time, you get paid time and you get paid time and lose so you get your, you get your whatever hours you work. I work 8.5

25:46

if I work 10 hours that that day, the extra hours, instead of getting paid, just goes into my leave setup as toil. If I can claim that as when I have a full day, I can claim it as a day off and with banking. So banking is a system that not all companies use, but if you work on public holidays, and if your company works is open on public holidays, instead of getting paid

26:17

the full double time and a half, or whatever time and a half. You're, you're, you're getting on that day.

26:25

You bank. I bank, well, I you can bank, usually as many hours as you would like, but I tend to Bank A whole day. So I will get paid a day and a half on my public holidays at work, and then get a whole day of leave just call. It's called banked hours. But I, yeah, I use all my toil and bank for holiday purposes. Some people use them as rainy day funds, because you can just claim them whenever.

26:54

But yeah, back before Finn and little bit. So now I would work. I would have a I would work extra. I would work. We were fortunate enough to have three day weekends. I would usually work one to two days of those weekends prior. Well, especially when I traveled, whenever I travel myself as well, we travel as a couple, we travel as a family, but I would travel a lot. Yes, when I was away, you would work more. Yes, exactly. So when Emma was away, Sam, yeah, Emma was away, I'd try and pick up shifts to work to earn that time off. And yeah, and it did. The company does allow me to take huge chunks of time off. I've taken off. Took seven weeks this year. Oh, this year, I don't know, no, well, this year. Well, how many trips we've done? We did 10 days in India,

27:40

three and a half weeks here, a week in Melbourne, a week in Melbourne,

27:46

five days in Sydney, five days in Sydney. Yeah, I've had heaps of time off,

27:52

and all of it paid. I have fortunate and it will eventually run out. My stocks are running low. But

27:59

you did also get long service? Oh yes, I was fortunate enough to get long service leave last this year. But you've, well, you've been smart about it, but I also help you to milk it. Because I think people sometimes, you know, sometimes there's those amazing like Anzac Day and Easter fall, and people milk those. But you, and a lot of one of your colleagues said to you, as soon as you started seven years ago, and I, unfortunately for you, heard it, she said in front of us, was like, when it was those

28:31

the rolling roster, she was like, if you get that four days, you know, you got the weekend, that's, you know, you're only taking one day off, and you're away for Nine days. And if we did a the cruise with Royal Caribbean, they're nine days, and you're only taking one paid day off. Yeah, exactly. I think people don't take into account. We try to schedule as well that you would leave on ugly, yeah, I'd leave the night, like my Friday night, and then I'd get back my Sunday night, which, you know,

29:01

depending on that, I have really utilized the weekend. So when you did that, we did 49 days away,

29:09

which is, you know, seven weeks you I mean, seven of those weeks are weekends, so 14 days already accounted for. And then, oh, no,

29:19

don't I have five days off a fortnight too. Yes, I do a two, two, yeah. So I run, yes, I think we only had to take 20 days off to get 49 days off, something crazy like and then he had time in lieu. And so the whole 49 days we were away, you were paid as if you were working normally, plus holiday loading, yes, plus, yeah, I get paid more. So actually earn more for traveling. So what air go? We should travel more. This podcast has been excellent. Thank you for tuning in. I win.

29:53

All right, we'll wrap it up there. Thank you Matthew for being honest without being i.

30:00

Mean, mean,

30:02

anything else you would like to tell the listeners?

30:08

No,

30:11

oh yeah, that's right, yeah, by Emma's book The Art of pleasure, it may help you.

30:22

For

30:30

up.

30:33

Okay, goodbye.

30:35

Bye, bye, thank you. Bye,

30:37

thank you for listening. Lovell 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 or 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. You.