0:05

Welcome to Media

0:05

in Minutes. This is your host

0:08

Angela Tuell. This podcast

0:08

features in-depth interviews

0:11

with those reports on the world

0:11

around us. They share everything

0:14

from their favorite stories to

0:14

what happened behind the lens

0:17

and give us a glimpse into their

0:17

world. From our studio here at

0:21

Communications Redefined, this

0:21

is Media in Minutes. In today's

0:30

episode we are talking with

0:30

Chicago based expert Travel and

0:33

Adventure freelance writer and

0:33

author Wendy Altschuler. Wendy

0:37

is a seasoned and prolific

0:37

writer focusing on culture and

0:40

the great outdoors. With work

0:40

published in Tripsavvy, Forbes

0:44

Travel + Leisure, TripAdvisor,

0:44

Modern Luxury, Country magazine

0:48

and many more. She's been a

0:48

guest travel expert on WGN and

0:53

CBS news stations in Chicago as

0:53

well as WLS radio, a thought

0:57

leader, panelist and speaker on

0:57

travel and travel writings, and

1:02

a trusted resource for intrepid

1:02

travelers. Her acclaimed book,

1:05

Perfect Day Chicago, which

1:05

highlights fun things to do and

1:09

see and eat in the Windy City,

1:09

is new for 2023. Hi, Wendy, I am

1:14

extra excited to talk with you

1:14

today.

1:17

Oh, thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to be on the podcast and

1:19

talk about all things travel.

1:22

Yes. And you know,

1:22

in preparing for our

1:24

conversation, I learned that

1:24

you're a graduate of DePaul

1:28

University in Chicago, and began

1:28

in the travel industry right out

1:32

of college. I would love to hear

1:32

more on how you started and got

1:37

to where you are today.

1:37

Well, I feel like this has been such a long road to get right where I am in

1:38

this like super sweet spot of

1:46

getting to travel all the time

1:46

and write about it. But my story

1:50

began, I would say at DePaul,

1:50

really because I studied abroad

1:54

in India. And part of that short

1:54

term study abroad program was at

1:59

this organization called Karm

1:59

Marg. It's a nonprofit home for

2:03

children. And they provide like

2:03

a safe space with education and

2:07

things like that. And but

2:07

really, the experience of being

2:10

in India kind of just opened up

2:10

my mind to the possibilities of

2:14

learning about different

2:14

cultures and communities and

2:17

just how other people live. And,

2:17

a good portion of my degree was

2:23

writing about, you know, this

2:23

experience in India. So I got

2:26

that kind of opportunity to

2:26

write about what I was

2:28

experiencing. And so that kind

2:28

of set me off on a path of just

2:31

loving travel in general. And

2:31

then from there, I right out of

2:36

college got a job at a boutique

2:36

travel company as an itinerary

2:40

writer. And that gave me this

2:40

great opportunity to just learn

2:44

about all these different

2:44

destinations and be a part of

2:48

conversations when you know,

2:48

tour operators and hotels would

2:51

come in and kind of give

2:51

informational meetings about

2:54

their business. And there was a

2:54

lot of research involved. So I'm

2:56

researching different

2:56

destinations and putting it

2:59

together for these itineraries.

2:59

And so I loved that -

3:01

And the wander lust is growing.

3:03

Yeah - the

3:03

wander lust is growing. Yeah.

3:08

And then I feel like the kind of

3:08

left turn came when I decided I

3:12

wanted to have a family. And I

3:12

didn't want to have to commute.

3:17

You know, I had an hour commute

3:17

on either side of that job. So I

3:20

was like, this is just not going

3:20

to work. And so I knew I needed

3:24

to move into more of a freelance

3:24

role. And so that's what I did.

3:27

I started freelance writing, I

3:27

got a wonderful job at Sun Times

3:31

media and I wrote for like the

3:31

the there used to be in Chicago,

3:36

these hyperlocal newspapers for

3:36

each of the suburbs. There are

3:40

32, of 32 of them. And so I

3:40

wrote advertorials and things

3:44

and all of those magazine

3:44

inserts you see inside of

3:47

newspapers. That was me. I wrote

3:47

those and so yeah, so having

3:52

like kind of a the news

3:52

background, cutting my teeth on

3:56

news, writing, and advertorials

3:56

and stuff really gave me a

4:00

different perspective on

4:00

writing. Yeah, and then from

4:03

there, I moved to more like when

4:03

my kids got a little bit older,

4:06

I started moving into travel

4:06

writing, so then I just, you

4:10

know, took my clips and

4:10

experience and parlayed that

4:13

into travel magazines and

4:13

websites. And you know, one

4:18

thing leads to another have one

4:18

little clip leads to a bigger

4:20

clip leads to a bigger clip and

4:20

and then here we are.

4:23

So how long have

4:23

you been doing that where you're

4:25

a real travel writer?

4:28

I guess it's

4:28

probably - so I've been

4:30

freelancing for about 16 years,

4:30

and I think travel writing

4:35

probably for the last like

4:35

seven.

4:38

So what outlets

4:38

are you currently writing for

4:40

and what type of travel stories

4:40

are your favorite to write?

4:44

So I write for

4:44

so many different outlets but I

4:47

would say my biggest eggs in my

4:47

basket are I write for Forbes,

4:53

Tripsavvy, Travel + Leisure,

4:53

TripAdvisor, Country magazine. I

4:58

also do a bunch of special

4:58

projects. Next, like one of my

5:01

favorites is the resort at Paws

5:01

Up in Montana, I write stories

5:06

for their Adventure Journal. And

5:06

that's fun for me because I'm

5:09

from Montana originally, that's

5:09

where I grew up. And so getting

5:12

to write about my home state,

5:12

even though I live here in

5:15

Chicago, gives me great

5:15

pleasure. So I love that job.

5:20

And then I'm also the author of

5:20

three books this year. I wrote a

5:24

guide book, I have a book of

5:24

poems. And then, most recently,

5:29

I'm part of an anthology, which

5:29

is really special because it's

5:33

called Better Together. And 100%

5:33

of the proceeds from the sales

5:38

of this book will go to

5:38

publishing grants for

5:41

underrepresented women authors.

5:41

So super happy to be a part of

5:45

this, you know, female led

5:45

publishing house for this

5:49

project. So and then to answer

5:49

your question, my favorite type

5:52

of stories, I love magnifying

5:52

voices that aren't normally

5:55

heard, or businesses that people

5:55

might not have heard about. So

6:00

for example, I just have a whole

6:00

bunch of stories out in Forbes

6:03

recently that are on guides, so

6:03

guides that I traveled with

6:08

while hiking in Ireland, or, you

6:08

know, I went surfing with

6:12

someone in Costa Rica. And I

6:12

wrote about that guy that

6:15

backpacking in the Grand Canyon

6:15

wrote about that guide. So it's

6:18

been really fun to kind of

6:18

feature these people that are

6:22

leaders in their industry, but

6:22

but you don't really know too

6:25

much about their background and

6:25

how they became adventure

6:28

guides. So love featuring people

6:28

like that, that are doing really

6:32

cool things, because they're

6:32

driven by passion for the

6:35

outdoors or for wildlife. And,

6:35

you know, they make their their

6:39

whole lives out of it. So, yeah,

6:39

so really fun to amplify those

6:43

voices.

6:44

Yeah. And I bet those are ones that aren't from big companies that have their

6:45

own PR people or are able to

6:50

hear their stories as much.

6:52

Yeah, exactly.

6:52

You know, so it's, especially

6:55

Yeah, those smaller companies

6:55

that don't, you know, have an in

6:58

house PR firm to kind of, you

6:58

know, promote those things.

7:02

It's, it's fun to talk about

7:02

those businesses and those those

7:06

guides.

7:07

Yeah, we'll definitely link to all of this in our show notes, too. How can

7:08

PR pros get your attention,

7:14

since we brought them up on a

7:14

destination or an experience?

7:17

I think the

7:17

main thing is to establish a

7:21

relationship. So the best PR

7:21

companies that I work with are

7:25

ones that I've been working with

7:25

for years. And that happens

7:28

because there's a relationship

7:28

that's been built. You know, so

7:32

like, the press releases I get

7:32

from them are really targeted to

7:35

my swim lane, which is helpful.

7:35

Because I write about travel and

7:40

adventure and focus on the

7:40

outdoors. Those are mainly like,

7:44

kind of the press releases that

7:44

I want to receive. So if I'm

7:47

getting something on makeup, I'm

7:47

like, well, that PR company,

7:50

they don't know what I write

7:50

about. They're not, you know,

7:53

so. So yeah, targeting my swim

7:53

lane, building a relationship

7:57

with me using my name for God's

7:57

sakes. I've gotten a lot of Dear

8:03

Sir or Madams. So making, you

8:03

know, making communication

8:09

targeted, and personalized, I

8:09

think, is key.

8:12

Yes, that's what I

8:12

was going to ask next. Any pet

8:15

peeves that you just said? So

8:15

any others, you know, especially

8:18

when it comes to pitching or

8:18

even taking hosted trips?

8:21

Yeah, well, I

8:21

think, again, communication is

8:24

key respect of time is key. You

8:24

know, often journalists are

8:28

juggling so many balls in the

8:28

air. We have pitches in play

8:32

with all these different

8:32

outlets, we have deadlines,

8:34

upcoming travel, you know,

8:34

thread threads with other PR

8:38

companies. So I feel like one of

8:38

the things is, you know, if I

8:42

need an image or a quote, and

8:42

I've given a deadline, for when

8:46

I need this, I don't want to

8:46

have to reach back out for what

8:49

I need. So I think that's

8:49

probably one of the maybe the

8:53

biggest ones is just getting the

8:53

information I need at the time

8:57

that I've set. So that way I

8:57

can, you know, follow through on

9:00

my end with publishing stories.

9:00

And I think second, I love a

9:04

clean inbox. Angela, I love a

9:04

clean inbox. And it's difficult

9:08

because I get upwards of 50 to

9:08

100 emails a day.

9:12

From PR people?

9:14

From PR people, from, you know, just other communication. And so if

9:16

there are, you know, multiple

9:21

repeat pitches, especially after

9:21

I've communicated that it's not

9:25

a fit, or I don't have time for

9:25

it. I think that's a pet peeve

9:29

is not paying attention to my

9:29

responses on something. So cause

9:35

I like to limit that in my inbox.

9:37

Yes, completely

9:37

get it. So talking a little bit

9:40

about your travels, you have

9:40

been all over the world. Places

9:45

that focus on culture and

9:45

outdoors and adventure, as you

9:48

mentioned, such as traveling

9:48

solo to Hong Kong, surfing in

9:53

Valley, El Salvador and Costa

9:53

Rica, swimming with the whale

9:57

sharks and Mexico, nurse sharks

9:57

in Belize and manta rays in

10:01

Hawaii, hiking the Grand Canyon

10:01

rim to rim, riding a camel

10:06

through part of the Sahara

10:06

desert and rappelling in an

10:09

erosion crater in Israel, just

10:09

to name a few. What are some of

10:15

your most memorable adventures?

10:15

These all sound like it.

10:19

Yeah, those all were pretty memorable for sure. I always say that the best

10:21

adventure or the best

10:25

destination is the one I haven't

10:25

had yet. The one I haven't been

10:28

to yet. So I really love variety

10:28

and newness. So if there's an

10:33

experience I haven't had before,

10:33

that's the thing I'm sort of

10:36

seeking. And so one memory that

10:36

kind of stands out is kind of

10:41

unexpected, because it happened

10:41

in Nebraska. They have a

10:46

campaign that they had out that

10:46

was said that said, Honestly,

10:50

it's not for everyone. Like

10:50

Nebraska, honestly, it's not for

10:54

everyone. And the amazing thing

10:54

about -

10:57

That is great!

10:59

And the best

10:59

part about that is they're being

11:01

cheeky, they understand that

11:01

people aren't flocking to

11:04

Nebraska. And because of that,

11:04

it put Nebraska on the map. And

11:09

it sort of increased the amount

11:09

of visitors to their state. And

11:13

they went from, they went from

11:13

last or least likely state for

11:16

travelers to visit to the 45th.

11:16

So that pulled them up five

11:20

states, so but anyway, that's

11:20

pretty good. So I went to

11:26

Nebraska, because I was there

11:26

for the Sandhill Crane

11:29

migration. And cranes are the

11:29

oldest living birds on the

11:34

planet. They're large, they have

11:34

these massive wingspans, and

11:38

they travel -

11:39

They look sort of dinosaurish.

11:40

They're like

11:40

dinosaurs. And they, they have

11:42

been found as far north as like

11:42

Alaska and Eastern Siberia. And

11:47

in order to do it, they it's

11:47

kind of like a funnel, so they

11:50

make like this hourglass shape.

11:50

And in the middle, they stop

11:54

along the Platte River to kind

11:54

of fatten up and eat in the

11:57

fields. So the trip that I was

11:57

on was like, we would go and

12:01

hide in a, like a hunting blind

12:01

in the dark, you know, in the

12:05

middle, like right before

12:05

sunrise, when it's still dark,

12:09

and just wait for all of them to

12:09

wake up. And then all of a

12:12

sudden, they wake up and you

12:12

start hearing them, like, you

12:15

know, make their noises and

12:15

their sounds and just the

12:18

cacophony of sound when they're

12:18

all up and they fly and they

12:21

head out to the fields was just

12:21

the most amazing thing,

12:25

especially because we're like,

12:25

you know, freezing in this

12:27

hunting blind waiting for

12:27

something to happen. And then

12:29

you see the sunrise and these

12:29

cranes and like...So anyway,

12:33

unexpected to watch 500,000

12:33

cranes, you know, wake up and

12:38

fly out into these fields. And,

12:38

and again, with the campaign

12:42

that they I just all of that

12:42

made it really special and

12:46

unexpected. So I loved that.

12:49

Did you write an article about that?

12:51

I did. Yeah.

12:52

Okay. We'll have

12:52

to link to that as well, because

12:54

that definitely sounds like one

12:54

to read. And I love that, that,

12:59

yeah, the crane thing sounds

12:59

amazing, but definitely not for

13:02

everyone.

13:03

It's not for everyone.

13:07

What about your

13:07

funniest travel experience?

13:10

So with our

13:10

family a few years ago, we

13:14

traveled to Japan, and we went

13:14

to the Nara Prefecture and

13:19

that's where they have these

13:19

deers. They're wild deer. But

13:24

the deer have interacted with

13:24

tourists for so long that

13:27

they've learned to bow their

13:27

heads for like a cracker. And so

13:31

you have these crackers and you

13:31

give them to these deer and they

13:34

bow and you get to interact with

13:34

the deer like up close. But in

13:39

that area, like just outside of

13:39

Osaka. They have sumo wrestling

13:43

there's, it's called Katsuraji

13:43

City Sumo Museum, and they sort

13:50

of just educate people on the

13:50

art of Sumo wrestling and they

13:54

have sumo wrestlers come in and

13:54

do a demonstration and you just

13:57

watch like this intricate dance

13:57

that they do and just like power

14:01

and force and muscles and just

14:01

like how they come together and

14:05

push each other outside of the

14:05

ring. And my family were there

14:09

were watching this and then they

14:09

offered my kids to get up and

14:13

try to wrestle with the sumo

14:13

wrestler. And so, the memory,

14:17

the memory I have of watching

14:17

like my littlest kid not want to

14:21

touch a 400 pound man in a

14:21

loincloth.

14:25

Sweaty, you

14:25

know, basically naked and, and

14:25

Sweaty. this guy was so wonderful. He

14:31

had we was this large man, but

14:35

he had this like little like,

14:35

hehehe voice to him, that was so

14:39

disarming and he would pick up

14:39

my you know, pick up my boys and

14:43

kind of swing him around. He was

14:43

like fully playing with them and

14:46

they were just like, in awe at

14:46

the sheer size of him. So I

14:50

think seeing the whites of my

14:50

kids eyes when they picked him

14:55

up when the sumo wrestler picked

14:55

them up and swung them around I

14:58

think is something that's a core

14:58

memory that will watch on my

15:01

dead deathbed - it was so

15:01

glorious.

15:04

I hope you got video of that, right?

15:06

Yes. Yeah.

15:07

Okay. I'm sure

15:07

it's on social - we'll have to

15:09

look for it there. I don't know

15:09

how I missed that one. Oh,

15:12

that's great. Since we're

15:12

talking about animals a little

15:15

bit, I have to say you recently

15:15

traveled with a client of ours,

15:18

Dream Yacht Worldwide to Tahiti.

15:18

I heard you had a pretty epic

15:24

experience in the water with

15:24

humpback whales. We must hear

15:28

more.

15:28

Well, first of

15:28

all, I've seen humpback whales.

15:31

And so many times from big

15:31

ships, you know, they're often

15:34

the distance and you see a water

15:34

spout or the tail and, and

15:37

you're like, Oh, that's amazing.

15:37

Look at there's humpback whales.

15:40

And this experience was a chance

15:40

encounter. And I think the magic

15:46

of Dream Yacht is the staff that

15:46

they have on board are so

15:50

incredible. And they've,

15:50

they've, of course, built

15:53

relationships with the other

15:53

captains on other boats in the

15:57

sailing community. And so one

15:57

day, we were just kind of having

16:01

our breakfast and a little

16:01

dinghy rolled up. And there was

16:04

a captain from a different boat

16:04

that told our captain that he

16:07

saw a humpback whale. And then

16:07

our captain was like, Hey, you

16:11

guys want to go see it? Duh -

16:11

yes, we want to go see it. So

16:14

we all jump in the dinghy. And

16:14

we go out to like the great big

16:18

blue out in the open ocean. And

16:18

he drops us off because he is

16:23

very respectful of the animal

16:23

and doesn't want to disturb the

16:27

animal. So He lets us off in the

16:27

water with snorkel gear, and we

16:32

just start swimming. And at one

16:32

point, the whale, we saw one big

16:37

whale and it turned and kind of

16:37

starting to come towards us. So

16:40

we stopped and just let it come

16:40

towards us, which was a little

16:44

terrifying because of the sheer

16:44

size of these creatures. And we

16:48

just stayed there, let it come

16:48

as close as it wanted to, which

16:51

was I want to say about 50 feet.

16:51

And I know, I know, you're

16:55

supposed to be within 100 feet

16:55

of an animal. But they they came

16:59

to us and we stayed there in the

16:59

water. And there was just just

17:02

us out there. And it was a mama

17:02

and a baby and the mama kept

17:06

lifting up the baby to be able

17:06

to breathe and learn how to be a

17:09

whale and just seeing this like

17:09

primal act of a mother

17:14

supporting her baby and keeping

17:14

it alive. Even when it risks her

17:18

own health and well being was

17:18

just like this amazing

17:22

experience that I feel like will

17:22

never happen again. And but some

17:26

of us were crying. I mean, it

17:26

was just so beautiful. We're

17:28

just in the water crying at how

17:28

beautiful it was. So, yeah, it

17:33

was an amazing, unexpected

17:33

experience that could not have

17:37

happened if we weren't on this

17:37

kind of intimate experience, you

17:43

know, with Dream Yacht. And you

17:43

know, there were no other boats

17:46

around. It was not, you know,

17:46

one of those animal counters or

17:50

you feel a little controversial

17:50

about surrounding an animal.

17:53

This was just it was just us,

17:53

just our bodies in the water

17:56

with with these humpback whales.

17:56

And yeah, it was beautiful. It's

18:00

beautiful.

18:01

Did they finally

18:01

just swim away? Or did you get -

18:03

Yeah, they

18:03

they ended up swimming away

18:05

after about 20 minutes or so. So

18:05

yeah, they they swam away

18:09

slowly. And oh, yeah, it was

18:09

just and then we swam back to

18:13

the boat and wiped our tears.

18:16

That is so cool,

18:16

so cool. So I was going to ask

18:20

also about a time that when

18:20

things didn't go as planned,

18:24

because we all know, as we

18:24

travel, one of the biggest maybe

18:28

benefits for us is to be

18:28

flexible and to go with the flow

18:32

if things don't go as planned.

18:32

So what has been one of your

18:36

experiences with that?

18:37

Well, I feel

18:37

like you know, the more you

18:40

travel, the more you're going to

18:40

subject yourself to when things

18:43

don't go as planned. You know,

18:43

flights get canceled, plans get

18:47

derailed. But ultimately, I feel

18:47

like these are just grand

18:52

opportunities to see what you're

18:52

made of. See what your your grit

18:56

is because you're you know,

18:56

you're learning through these

18:59

struggles and disappointments

18:59

and you'll have deeper

19:02

conversations ultimately about

19:02

what's happening in the world

19:05

and, you know, realizing how our

19:05

actions affect others. And so

19:10

one I guess one thing that comes

19:10

to mind is also on that Japan

19:14

trip when we were there with our

19:14

family that there was an

19:17

earthquake in Osaka when we were

19:17

there. It was like a 6.6 or 6.7

19:23

on the Richter scale and it was

19:23

pretty big like enough to where

19:26

we were staying in like this

19:26

Airbnb and like, the kids were

19:29

all hiding in like a door jamb.

19:29

Like it was enough to be scared.

19:33

And, but nothing happened

19:33

ultimately as far as like damage

19:37

to the city, but it shut down

19:37

all the public transportation.

19:41

And so we just had this day of,

19:41

I think we walked 14 miles that

19:46

day to get to our next, you

19:46

know, destination and during

19:50

that time we were in this taxi

19:50

queue like just waiting to get a

19:55

taxi and there were just a whole

19:55

bunch of people in this queue.

19:58

And this woman collapsed, and

19:58

her daughter, like screamed, and

20:04

was, you know, just saying something that we couldn't understand. And nobody was

20:06

jumping to help her. And so we

20:11

were just really concerned about

20:11

our boys, our boys, well her

20:15

obviously, but then our boys

20:15

watching someone die, you know,

20:19

so yeah. So we kind of jumped

20:19

into action. We actually sent,

20:23

sent one of our kids to go alert

20:23

someone inside the building to

20:26

call an ambulance, which is

20:26

difficult when you can't say

20:29

that in Japanese, right. And

20:29

then my husband started giving

20:34

her chest compressions and mouth

20:34

to mouth and and then she she

20:39

came to so it was an amazing

20:39

kind of experience. And that

20:46

night, one of my kids was like,

20:46

this was the worst day ever.

20:49

Like, this is so terrible. It's

20:49

so bad. And my husband and I

20:52

were like, No, this was the best

20:52

day! What are you talking about?

20:55

We saved someone's life today.

20:55

Like, you know, we were able to,

20:59

like change the course of

20:59

someone's life and help them,

21:02

you know, survive. And we did

21:02

that by acting and doing

21:05

something so. So just kind of

21:05

that teaching moment of being

21:10

able to reframe something that

21:10

seems so awful and such a

21:13

struggle, but reframe it as, you

21:13

know, like, how did you respond?

21:16

What was your, you know, you

21:16

were tested, like, what did you

21:19

do? And how did you help? And

21:19

how did you be of service? Was a

21:23

good, good lesson for the kids.

21:23

But yeah, that's definitely a

21:26

time things weren't as planned.

21:29

No, I have

21:29

goosebumps telling that. That is

21:31

such great teaching moments for

21:31

for kids. Especially Yeah, I

21:35

know is you're talking about

21:35

with kids, I know you travel

21:38

with them often. And have taken

21:38

them on some amazing adventures

21:43

this recently, as you mentioned,

21:43

and India, Thailand, Singapore,

21:47

etc. We travel with our kids

21:47

too. And as you know, travel

21:52

with kids takes travel to a

21:52

whole other level. I would love

21:57

to hear more about your travels

21:57

with kids and any advice you

22:00

have for parents that you know

22:00

need to or want to do that.

22:03

So I have

22:03

three boys and my boys are,

22:07

they're close in age, I had

22:07

three boys in four years. I

22:10

know. And it was planned. And I

22:10

say that out loud that sounds

22:13

completely nuts, but that was planned.

22:16

So you could get to traveling.

22:18

Exactly. But

22:18

they are they're a tumbleweed of

22:22

puppies. They're constantly

22:22

romping around in like a playful

22:25

pile. And when you pull one of

22:25

those puppies out of the orbit

22:29

of the pack, I'm telling you

22:29

something magical happens, you

22:32

realize that your kid traveling

22:32

with you one on one, for

22:36

example. They have completely

22:36

different opinions and musings

22:41

and behavior than when they're

22:41

with their feral little cluster

22:44

of brothers. So I so just having

22:44

this opportunity, I think to

22:50

learn about my kids and travel

22:50

with them one on one is

22:53

something I'm super, super proud

22:53

of as parents. And just thinking

22:57

about how you know as the age to

22:57

get bigger, when they go through

23:00

all these different milestones.

23:00

It's kind of fodder for

23:04

understanding, getting a complex

23:04

understanding of who they are

23:08

and how they understand the

23:08

world. So probably one of one I

23:11

think, is something that I think

23:11

is really great. And one thing

23:14

that I do as a travel writer is

23:14

I pay them which sounds like a

23:19

bribe, but it kind of is to be a

23:19

journalist in training, I will

23:22

give my son's $1 per well

23:22

thought out question. And the

23:28

aim of this is for them to

23:28

interact with, you know, like

23:31

the museum docent, the

23:31

shopkeeper or the kids playing

23:34

by the fountain. If my kids want

23:34

to earn some pocket money to

23:37

spend on their trip, they're

23:37

gonna have to make eye contact

23:39

and muster up some courage to

23:39

interact with people and learn

23:42

about their -

23:42

I love that!

23:43

Yeah, learn about their cities, their professions, their perspectives.

23:44

So I think just having that

23:48

opportunity is really special.

23:48

And and then the other two of my

23:52

boys when they're at home, they

23:52

are bonding with each other in a

23:56

new way. They're spending time

23:56

with my husband, and he'll take

23:59

the opportunity to like, you

23:59

know, build skate ramps in the

24:02

garage or play on guitars or

24:02

video games. So yeah, so they

24:06

can connect in that way. So

24:06

yeah, so I think one on one solo

24:10

travel with your kids is, is

24:10

definitely worthwhile.

24:14

That's great

24:14

advice. Now that the most recent

24:16

trip you took them all,

24:17

yes, this last

24:17

summer was a whirlwind of a

24:20

trip. I don't know that I

24:20

recommend going to Southeast

24:24

Asia in the summer. It was so

24:24

hot. But yeah, my husband and I

24:30

both travel for work. And so we

24:30

just sort of a massive, massive

24:34

amounts of of points and miles.

24:34

And it makes it really feasible

24:38

to go anywhere in the world at

24:38

least once a year. So we

24:41

generally just like okay, where

24:41

should we go this year, and we

24:43

pick a place and we make it

24:43

happen and sometimes that

24:46

involves lots of different legs

24:46

of flights so we can use our

24:50

miles in a certain way and yeah,

24:50

yeah, this summer was we went to

24:55

Dubai, we went to Singapore,

24:55

India, Thailand, and um, yeah,

25:00

spend a few weeks just kind of

25:00

roaming around those different

25:02

countries and, you know, taking

25:02

in as much as we could take in.

25:07

That's amazing.

25:07

I'm curious to know how much you

25:10

personally typically travel in a

25:10

year and how you manage that

25:14

with life, with family and kids.

25:17

Yeah. Well, I

25:17

travel about once a month. If

25:21

it's a longer trip, or if it's

25:21

like a two or three day trip,

25:25

I'll do it two a month. So about

25:25

a week out of every month, is

25:28

how much I travel. Yeah. And my

25:28

husband also travels for work

25:32

for his job. And so yeah, it's a

25:32

lot to coordinate. It's not for

25:36

the weak, I'll be honest with

25:36

you, it's, it's a logistical

25:39

nightmare, often. But I think

25:39

ultimately, we support each

25:44

other. And I think picking a

25:44

good partner who wants you to go

25:49

after your, your dreams and your

25:49

drive and have passion is, you

25:54

know, the key and I love that my

25:54

kids get to see both my husband

25:59

and I going after what, what we

25:59

love and what our passions are,

26:04

and because I would want the

26:04

same for them. I want them to

26:06

pick a partner that supports

26:06

them in their career and, you

26:09

know, is conducive and

26:09

supportive to help them go after

26:13

those things as well.

26:14

That's wonderful.

26:14

We talked a little bit about

26:17

advice, you know, with traveling

26:17

with kids, but what about in

26:20

general, I'm sure you get asked that.

26:22

Yeah.

26:22

Do you have any general advice?

26:24

I do. I think,

26:24

again, this is coming from

26:27

someone who travels a lot so it

26:27

might not be great advice for

26:31

the regular travel. But I never

26:31

check a piece of luggage. And so

26:37

when we travel as a family, we

26:37

still don't check luggage. And

26:40

that's whether we're gone for a

26:40

week or a month, we don't check

26:43

any luggage. So in general, I

26:43

say, you know, one roller board

26:48

or backpack per person plus a

26:48

little backpack for their carry

26:52

on. And if your kids are older,

26:52

they should be responsible for

26:56

their own backpack, you know,

26:56

that they're carrying. But that

26:59

just keeps it simple. It makes

26:59

it easier to get from one place

27:02

to the other. From, you know,

27:02

one hotel to the other quickly.

27:06

And there's, you know, obviously

27:06

creative ways of washing stuff,

27:10

when you get to a hotel.

27:10

Dropping it off in the laundry

27:13

or washing stuff in the sink, to

27:13

be honest. But the less you

27:16

have, I feel like the simpler it

27:16

is to manage, especially when

27:19

you have a large family like we

27:19

have a family of five. So

27:22

dealing with tons of suitcases

27:22

and stuff, would just not work.

27:25

And then if you have a lot of

27:25

connections when you're flying,

27:27

it just makes it a lot easier.

27:27

If you had a delayed flight, for

27:31

example, to make that

27:31

connection. If you check

27:33

luggage, you might miss it, and

27:33

it could derail your trip. So

27:37

keeping it simple by packing

27:37

light is my number one and two,

27:41

I would say snacks. Seems like

27:41

such a simple thing. But bring

27:46

snacks. Often when my kids get,

27:46

you know, ornery -

27:48

Especially with kids.

27:49

Or yeah, you

27:49

just give them a granola bar or

27:51

something and suddenly their

27:51

mood changes a little bit. So

27:55

snacks are so important. Even as

27:55

an adult honestly, when I find

27:57

myself getting a little like

27:57

short tempered, I'll be like,

28:00

Oh, maybe I need a snack.

28:02

We've learned

28:02

we've learned that recently, if

28:04

we have more room, you know, in

28:04

luggage to or the in the carry

28:08

on. We pack it as full as we can

28:08

with snacks for them, because

28:11

there's so much happier and

28:11

better moods when we have that.

28:14

Yeah.

28:15

Another one I

28:15

think is letting kids be a part

28:18

of the planning and the decision

28:18

making. If they feel like they

28:21

have agency in how their day is

28:21

going to go often they'll be

28:26

more invested in it and care

28:26

more. And you know, be a less

28:29

whiny part in the decision

28:29

making process. So giving them

28:34

jobs or tasks with that, I think

28:34

is really helpful.

28:37

Yeah, that's

28:37

great. That's great. I know we

28:39

mentioned earlier about you

28:39

being an author. And one of your

28:43

books Perfect Day Chicago was

28:43

just published this year, we'd

28:46

love to hear how it came about

28:46

and a little bit more about it.

28:49

Oh, yeah,

28:49

thank you for mentioning that.

28:51

So Perfect Day Chicago is a

28:51

guidebook on 29 different

28:56

neighborhoods in the city. And

28:56

it's just been a really

29:00

wonderful experience as the

29:00

first time for me becoming an

29:03

author. So just the task of

29:03

doing what I do normally every

29:08

day in my job, but kind of on a

29:08

larger scale has been an

29:11

interesting project and getting

29:11

to promote the book on my city

29:16

that I love, you know, on news

29:16

stations and radio stations has

29:20

been really fun. And, you know,

29:20

having book signings and at

29:24

libraries and bookstores has

29:24

been really rewarding. So yeah,

29:27

it's almost like getting a lot

29:27

of feedback on your work when

29:31

normally I don't get a ton of

29:31

feedback on stories that I

29:35

published with different

29:35

outlets. That has been

29:37

different. So it's been really

29:37

fun to have, you know, my work

29:40

be kind of like fodder for for

29:40

conversations with people. So

29:46

yeah, I've really enjoyed it.

29:46

It's been a it's been really fun

29:49

to work on and I'm really proud

29:49

of it. So yeah.

29:53

Awesome. Well, we'll link to how you can purchase it as well. If you're

29:54

heading to Chicago or live

29:57

there. I'm sure you'll learn

29:57

things you didn't know so you

29:59

will definitely link that.

29:59

Before we go, I saw you are an

30:02

alumni of AmeriCorps. We'd love

30:02

to hear more about how you got

30:06

involved and your experience with it.

30:08

So AmeriCorps

30:08

is one of the best experiences

30:11

I've ever had. Because when I

30:11

graduated from high school, I

30:15

didn't know what I wanted to do,

30:15

like many young people I didn't

30:18

know. And so in many ways, it

30:18

was sort of like taking a gap

30:22

year just to kind of figure it

30:22

out. And AmeriCorps is the

30:26

domestic Peace Corps, and you

30:26

travel around the US and you do

30:30

different volunteer projects.

30:30

And you basically live with the

30:33

same group of people that are

30:33

all around your age. And you

30:37

give back. So you know, I've

30:37

worked in two different schools

30:42

underprivileged schools as like

30:42

a teacher's aide, I did tornado

30:45

relief and flood relief, I

30:45

worked in retirement

30:48

communities, I did trail

30:48

maintenance, and park cleanups.

30:51

And all of this kind of helped

30:51

frame my experience because I

30:55

was able to look at how other

30:55

people are living and surviving

30:59

and their needs, and how I could

30:59

give back and help and really

31:03

make a difference. And all of

31:03

these different communities that

31:06

were hard hit by natural

31:06

disasters or poverty or whatever

31:11

it is, knowing that I can be an

31:11

agent of change was really

31:14

helpful. And then at the end of

31:14

that, I got a little a little

31:18

dough for college. So that then

31:18

put me on the college track

31:21

after that. So yeah, great

31:21

experience. I would recommend it

31:24

to anyone who wants a gap year

31:24

or is young and not knowing what

31:28

to do and not totally ready for

31:28

college. It's a good kind of

31:32

thing to do right before.

31:33

Yeah, all the life

31:33

things you can learn. I can only

31:37

imagine. For our listeners who

31:37

don't know you are also an alum

31:42

of the Windy City derby. From my

31:42

rollerblading days, not derby

31:47

days. I've always thought that

31:47

would be so fun. What is

31:51

something most people don't know

31:51

about being a roller derbier? I

31:54

don't know if that's the right word.

31:56

Well, roller

31:56

derby is one of the fastest

31:59

growing female sports all over

31:59

the world. And there are teams

32:03

in almost every major city,

32:03

there's a team. So anyone who's

32:07

listening, I encourage you to

32:07

just go look up your city or

32:08

So cool. I saw photos, too.

32:08

We'll have to post that as well.

32:12

your team and go see about

32:12

because it's just this

32:15

collection of really strong,

32:15

empowering, inspiring women of

32:20

every career, every body type,

32:20

every you know, size, and all

32:24

coming together for the

32:24

collective goal of, you know,

32:28

creaming the other team and

32:28

winning. It was really fun to be

32:33

part of a team. I didn't do team

32:33

sports in high school. So this

32:37

was my first kind of

32:37

introduction to team sports and

32:41

I love it. So how can our

32:41

listeners get in touch with you online?

32:41

having like a physically

32:41

challenging thing, using your

32:45

body to like its full potential

32:45

is something that I really loved

32:50

doing and yeah, it was just a

32:50

really, really fun thing to be a

32:55

part of. And our games are at

32:55

UIC Pavilion in Chicago. Yeah,

32:59

the Windy City Rollers are are

32:59

such a cool, eclectic group of

33:04

people. And it's definitely

33:04

worth seeing a game.

33:16

So Instagram is a great way

33:16

@WendyAltschuler. And I also

33:20

have a website,

33:20

wendyaltschuler.org. Those are

33:24

the two best ways to get in

33:24

touch with me.

33:27

Wonderful. Thank

33:27

you so much, Wendy.

33:30

Oh, thank you, Angela. I loved being a part of this. Thank you so much.

33:36

That's all for

33:36

this episode of Media in

33:38

Minutes, a podcast by

33:38

Communications Redefined. Please

33:41

take a moment to rate, review

33:41

and subscribe to our show. We'd

33:45

love to hear what you think. You

33:45

can find more at

33:47

CommunicationsRedefined.com/podcast.

33:47

I'm your host, Angela Tuell.

33:52

Talk to you next time.