RV LIFE Podcast
The RV LIFE Podcast, created by one of the premier companies in the RV industry, is for the RV Community with a mission to Educate, Entertain and Explore the RV Lifestyle. The Podcast will explore all things RV Life: living, working, exploring, learning. With hosts Dan & Patti Hunt, full time RVers, content creators, educators and explorers.
RV LIFE Podcast
Overcoming Fear to Live Your Best Life
YOLO mantra - You Only Live Once one of the main reasons why people embark on the journey to go RVing. .
Having been trained by the legendary Tony Robbins, our guest Mark Chabus unravels his transformation from chef to life coach. Mark's wisdom resonates with the deeply held belief that our perspective on life can shape our reality. His journey emphasizes the power of a positive mindset, fear, and how the YOLO philosophy guided him through. Mark's conversation is a compelling testament of embracing change, overcoming fear, and using adversity as a stepping stone.
We also spotlight the significance of finding your tribe and nurturing your professional and personal growth. As full-time RVers, we share our personal tragedy that led to discovering new strengths and eventually sparked our journey. Along with sharing our experiences and wisdom, we provide practical tips on overcoming fear and living life fully. So gear up for an episode filled with life lessons and RV living insights!
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What is your most valuable asset Now? Our most valuable asset we have decided is time, and our guest today says he's going to tell you why YOLO is so important to that statement.
Speaker 2:And it really is what started our journey two and a half years ago, when we decided to sell it all. Just do it as Dan says, and go full time as RVers. And you know what? Rving full time, it's not all about the sunsets, but we are loving it.
Speaker 1:I apologize to Nike every single week because I keep saying, just do it. And that just flies right with what we're talking about. You know, live life to the fullest. You only live once. All of those things are really, really important. Now, part of our RV life and our journey is going to RV shows. We are going to the Hershey RV show in a couple of weeks and it is America's largest RV show.
Speaker 2:It is and we will be there. It's about six weeks away now. It is September 13th to the 17th. The show is not just for buying an RV. It's certainly a great place to buy an RV, but it's also a great place to learn about new products, to meet people, rvers. This is the place to develop your community and the place to get education. Dan and I will be speaking every day of the show on trip planning and RV safe GPS all the things that we get asked all the time.
Speaker 1:And we have a very unique perspective on trip planning and RV safe GPS. Our sponsor, rv Trip Wizard, is sponsoring us to be there, but our perspective is let's have fun doing it. We don't yell back and forth. You know what we do we get a couple of sodas, we get some popcorn, we get some candy, we sit back for the evening and we kind of decide where we're going to go and how we're going to go there. So it's really, really important to have a good attitude and a good mindset, because RV trip planning could be a source of conflict between a man and a wife. So we have a good time doing it.
Speaker 1:And we also have a special show, the RV Life Live Event that we will be hosting on Thursday night at the Englewood, which is just a couple miles outside of the show. What a beautiful venue. They took an old farm and converted this barn into a beautiful wedding space and event space. We were there last year. I walked in that back door and I just went oh my God, I can't wait to get up. I can't wait to get up on stage and talk to people in here. And when you're standing on stage and you're looking out at this beautiful room and all the incredible people that are in the room. It was just an incredible experience for me.
Speaker 2:Now let me give the details. It is going to be on Thursday, september 14th, from 6 to 10. It is $15 a person and that includes food, local wine, beers, and it includes a giveaway of thousands of dollars a Kraken, electric bike, $500 gas card so much a car generator. So many great giveaways. I'll put the information in the show notes. You could check out all the giveaways. So much fun and entertainment by the border hookups, which I cannot wait to hear them live at this event.
Speaker 1:Dave and Jacqueline. They were on the show a couple of weeks ago on the RV Life podcast and we really enjoyed having them with us. They wrote a song called Living the RV Life. What a great song, and it's just a pleasure to work with people. Now that sound means it's time for today's fun fact, Our fun fact, as always, brought to you by Open Road Resorts with four great locations. We are looking forward to stopping by one of those great locations after the Hershey RV show and then after the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, which we're going to next. Then we're going to go down to Dallas on our way over to Florida and we are going to stop at their Dallas Texas property. We're looking forward to it. Can't wait to have it happen.
Speaker 2:Yes, they have, as you said, four locations. Three of them are in Montana and Utah and that is a beautiful area that Dan and I are planning to go check out next summer. It didn't work out this summer, but we are so excited to go to their location. It's called Dallas, northeast NE, and all the information again will be in the show notes. We had Chase Becker on the show and he did offer us a discount to give to you, our listeners, so check it out in the show notes. Now let's get to that fun fact. What are some of some of the top reasons why people started RVing?
Speaker 1:So what are some of those top I know, I know, I know because I did the research, Exploring new areas, going out and exploring this incredible country. It is really something that we have done. We have seen things in the last two and a half years that we never thought we would have seen, Things that I call my bucket list items. There's probably seven or eight or nine of them that I have checked off that bucket list and we have really, really enjoyed exploring the United States of America and we have been from Seattle Washington all the way down to the tip of Florida back up into the Northeast, and we've been across the country three or four times now. We really, really enjoy it.
Speaker 2:Now the next reason says people wanted to save money on living expenses, and I'm just going to throw that out there. That is the reason why people decided to start RVing. It's kind of debatable. We could have a whole conversation on that, and what I usually say is it depends on where you were living before what you're going to be doing when you're RVing. So we'll leave that. But I think the most important and the thing that stood out for me most was YOLO. You only live once, so people decided it's time to get out there. I know Dan wants to push his button. Yolo, YOLO, YOLO. I love YOLO.
Speaker 1:Okay, so we are going to take a break right now and we will be back right after.
Speaker 2:We're back.
Speaker 4:We're back.
Speaker 1:Our guest today trains a life coach with a great Tony Robin.
Speaker 3:So he knows how to get that crowd up on their feet and keep them engaged. He earned his BS in psychology at the State University of New York.
Speaker 1:He has kind of a split personality going on and, yes, he earned the right to wear a very tall hat as he has graduated of the French Culinary Institute. He now spreads his word as the host of this is Source Podcast, of which my incredible wife Patty was a guest on a reprised episode. That link is available in the show notes below or on Apple, spotify, google or your favorite podcast platform.
Speaker 2:We're so excited to welcome Mark Chabas on the RV Life Podcast. Welcome, Mark.
Speaker 5:Hey, thank you for having me. I'm really excited to be here.
Speaker 2:We are excited to have you. Now let's jump right in Two decades in catering, and now you're a life coach. Why and how did you get there?
Speaker 5:Well, first of all, dan, that's the first time I've ever been accused of having a split personality, but I have to say I kind of like it. It makes sense to me. I think there was a time where I had, you know, when I was a chef, you know as a chef for a long time and it was easy to kind of work my way through any cocktail party Because, you know, first thing that people will say to you is what do you do for a living? One of the first things and I would say, I'm a chef. And I felt like almost everybody could respond to that, right, what's your specialty? I love food. What do you like to cook?
Speaker 5:And so when I transitioned into becoming a life coach, I felt like it was a little bit of a challenge in the beginning, especially when I started off in coaching, because it wasn't as mainstream as it is today.
Speaker 5:And I remember, you know, feeling like, oh, it's a lot easier to say that I'm a chef than a life coach, right? Because sometimes people aren't willing to go there and have that conversation as quickly as they're willing to have the conversation about food. So I used to feel like I have like a personality like I don't know which hat to put on when I get to this cocktail party. So I think your description makes sense. But I've come a long way and I'm very happy and proud to you know to announce myself at any party as a life coach, because I've learned a lot about healing myself and watching my life and watching a lot of my clients heal as well and kind of live the life that they've always wanted to live. So I feel like it's a conversation that, even if someone isn't willing to jump right into it, but I'm willing to stick around long enough until they are, because I love to see you know what results come from that.
Speaker 2:So Okay, so now you said life coach and, like you said, some people now know what it is, but some don't. So explain to our listeners what a life coach is.
Speaker 5:Okay, that's a really good question and I feel like if you asked 100 life coaches you might get a different answer. So I'm just going to tell you how I became a life coach and what it was to me. So I wrote a book called Remembering your Spirit. The book was about my personal journey of losing my girlfriend, the World Trade Center. So when the book was published, my publisher had me go on a speaking tour and as a result of sharing my story and connecting with people, there were a lot of people that asked me, you know, would you be willing to work with me, you know, more intimately, to help me kind of navigate through some of the challenges that you went through, if they wanted to go beyond the book? So my first thought was well, I don't really know much about that, even though I have the background in psychology because that was my original degree, I really was more a chef. You know that was who I was, that's how I showed up in the world. So my first thought was I need to get some type of training in that.
Speaker 5:And so I found Tony Robbins, who I considered to be the best you know, sort of like the Godfather of life coaching, if you will, and he had a coaching program that I enrolled into and it was an amazing program, and the reason why I connected to it was because I loved watching him communicate with people who felt stuck, like they had obstacles in their life that just couldn't seem to get past.
Speaker 5:And so, to me, life coaching was showing up in a way where you can help people to navigate through life and to see those obstacles, because it's one thing to have an obstacle in front of you like I want to quit my job, sell my house and argue full time right, and so there's a lot of obstacles that come in the way of that and most people can handle those obstacles. But when there's some type of an inner conflict that goes into, that's inside of us that we want to do it, but there's just too much fear that's getting in the way. A life coach will help you to shine a spotlight on those things that you're unaware of and to support you and to ask the right questions to help you to uncover what's blocking you.
Speaker 1:You know, mark Patti, and I believe in a positive mindset and being positive about almost everything that we do. Now, one of the things that's all through your website and in your literature, and probably in your book too, is YOLO, you only live once. What a great saying, what a great life mantra. Is this something that you push out all over the place?
Speaker 5:And I think you know so personally. That was born for me when I went through that tragedy of 9-11 and realized, you know, I was with my girlfriend and we had a plan we were gonna get married, we were gonna start a family and I was gonna start a restaurant. And you know, just like that, she was gone. And so, you know, I feel like that was the impetus for me making lots of big decisions in my life and some of which, or most of which, make absolutely no sense to the average person, like, for example you know, I know you guys are all about this and so are most of your listeners. If they haven't done it yet, they're hopefully about to start doing it.
Speaker 5:But you know, when we presented the idea to friends and family that we were gonna sell our house and sell everything we owned and homeschool our four kids and, you know, pack everything into an RV and start traveling around the country, people thought we were absolutely crazy and most people did, and. But the thing is, you know, whether I realized it or not at the time, it was really. I always had that in the back of my mind that you just don't know If you just like that, life is gonna change or we're gonna lose someone that we love, or Absolutely, and that's kind of why you know this whole thing of you only live once.
Speaker 2:You know it's the life is short and lived life to the fullest. You only live once. It's all those same things that Dan and I have talked about and why we said okay, let's go in an RV. So for those who don't know the story of how that happened, for Dan and I, it was during COVID, like so many other people, and Dan called me up to his office. You know everything was shut down, money was going out to pay bills, but nothing was coming in. And Dan called me up and said hey, let's sell everything and buy an RV.
Speaker 2:And I just laughed, historically, because I thought it was joking like this is crazy. And it took a couple of months, like going back and forth. What are you thinking, your nuts? Did you lose your mind, like all of those things. But it really was about life is short, you don't know when that last day is gonna be and you only live once and let's go out and do it. What you know, let's go out and do it. If we don't like it, well, we'll do the next thing. But you mentioned fear and I wanna come back to that, cause. We both know how much fear holds people back, and I'm sure that's something you talk to people about. What could you offer our listeners around that idea of fear?
Speaker 5:Absolutely so. Fear is the wall. You know the wall that we put up around us, you know, to protect ourselves. And most of us go through, you know, our entire life with that wall around. And, yes, it makes us feel a little bit more comfortable, right, when we have the protection of that wall, but it also provides like a communication breakdown between you and your spirit, right, your soul and your and that free spirit inside of you. That part of you that was, you know, came along for this journey of life and wanted to see it all and smell it all and hear it all and chase it all and has no interest in playing it safe, right, but we can't even hear that voice most of the time because we have this wall that we think is protecting us.
Speaker 5:And so for me, you know, when I went through that tragedy, that wall got knocked down. You know everything. My whole model of the world came crashing down, and so that's a difficult thing to deal with. But it also gave birth to this new idea that I could reinvent myself at any time and that without that wall I was still okay. I didn't actually need that wall to protect myself. So when we had our crazy idea, right of doing the same thing. You know where Kate and I were sitting at dinner and having this conversation. You know it was possible because that wall did not exist anymore, that wall that people put up and I had to to protect ourselves. And so we figured I've reinvented myself before and I've lost it all before, and so I'm willing to do that again for something that might be really, really awesome.
Speaker 1:Now, mark, one of the quotes that I saw on your website and I'm assuming it's in your book as well is really hit home for me, and it really talks about what you're talking about right now. A quote that you have in there is how to turn pain into opportunities for strength and growth. So let's talk about how fear holds people back. Now, patty and I have a whole speech when you know we're public speakers as well. We have a whole speech on fear, where we'll actually bring people from the audience up on stage and try to get them to go be over their fears. So you know the pain that you felt and had in your personal situation that you talk about in your book. You really took that pain and, instead of drowning in your tears, you turned it into opportunity and it actually made you stronger and you grew from that opportunity. Can we talk about that a little bit?
Speaker 5:That the more I felt better about who I was, why I was here, and sort of like transforming this horrible thing that happened to me into an opportunity to be a messenger, to share the story with other people and to share the things that worked for me, you know. So that could hopefully help other people that are going through a similar thing.
Speaker 2:And it really is what started our journey two and a half years ago, when we decided to sell it all. Just do it as Dan says, and go full time as RVers. And you know what? Rving full time, it's not all about the sunsets, but we are loving it.
Speaker 1:Now, part of our RV life and our journey is going to RV shows. We are going to the Hershey RV show in a couple of weeks and it is America's largest RV show.
Speaker 2:It is and we will be there. It's about six weeks away now. It is September 13th to the 17th. The show is not just for buying an RV. It's certainly a great place to buy an RV, but it's also a great place to learn about new products, to meet people, rvers. This is the place to develop your community and the place to get education. Dan and I will be speaking every day of the show on trip planning and RV safe GPS all the things that we get asked all the time.
Speaker 1:We have a very unique perspective on trip planning and RV safe GPS. Our sponsor, RV Trip Wizard, is sponsoring us to be there, but our perspective is let's have fun doing it. We don't yell back and forth.
Speaker 1:You know what we do we get a couple of sodas, we get some popcorn, we get some candy and we sit back for the evening and we kind of decide where we're gonna go and how we're gonna go there. So it's really, really important to have a good attitude and a good mindset, because RV trip planning could be a source of conflict between the man and the wife. So we have a good time doing it. Now we also have a special show, the RV Life.
Speaker 2:Live event. Yes, we will be hosting on Thursday night Thursday An Englewood which is a couple of miles outside of the show.
Speaker 1:What a beautiful thing. They took An old farm and converted this barn into a beautiful wedding space and a fence space. We were there last year. I walked in that back door and I just went oh my God, I just don't know what to get up on stage and talk to people in there, and when you're standing on stage and you're looking out at this beautiful room and all the incredible people that are in the room, it was just an incredible experience for me.
Speaker 2:Now let me give the details. It is gonna be on Thursday, september 14th, from six to 10. It is $15 a person and that includes food, local wine, beers, and it includes a giveaway of thousands of dollars a Kraken electric bike, $500 gas card so much a car generator. There are so many great giveaways. I'll put the information in the show notes. You could check out all the giveaways. So much fun and entertainment by the border hookups, which I cannot wait to hear them live at this event.
Speaker 1:Well, mark, I hope that being on the RV Live podcast today is not gonna turn into pain for you down the road, as we're taking maybe that first session that you go over all of these things with people and we're doing them right here, so I hope you don't lose any clients for it. I hope that that opportunity turns into strength and growth for you and some of our listeners actually become your clients. Now, something that you talked to Patty about in the pre-interview is you told her that you sold almost everything and you traveled in an RV with your children and you actually failed at being a teacher and a business person on the road. Patty talk to you about that, so can we talk a little bit about failing and learning from that?
Speaker 2:Thank you you.
Speaker 1:Okay, it is time to take all of Dan's fears away and go to break so we can pay all the bills. But after the break, we're going to continue talking about fear. We're going to talk about becoming a podcaster and learning leadership and speaker training at Harvard. Now, more presidents have graduated from Harvard than any other college, any other single college. Now we're going to really get into what was it like learning leadership at a college that trains presidents, basically and we're going to do all of that right after this.
Speaker 1:Thus, they wrote a song called Living the RV Life. What a great song, and it's just a pleasure to work with people like that. Now, that sound means it's time for today's fun fact, our fun fact, as always brought to you by open road resorts with four great locations, and we are looking forward to stopping by one of those great locations after the Hershey RV show and then after the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, which we're going to next. Then we're going to go down to Dallas on our way over to Florida, and we are going to stop at their Dallas Texas property. We're looking forward to it, can't wait to have it happen.
Speaker 2:Yes, they have, as you said, four locations. Three of them are in Montana and Utah and that is a beautiful area that Dan and I are planning to go check out next summer. It didn't work out this summer, but we are so excited to go to their location. It's called Dallas Northeast and E, and all the information again will be in the show notes. We had Chase Becker on the show and he did offer us a discount to give to you, our listeners, so check it out in the show notes. Now let's get to that fun fact. What are some of some of the top reasons why people started RVing? So what are some of those top reasons?
Speaker 1:I know, I know. I know because I did the research, exploring new areas, going out and exploring this incredible country. It is really something that we have done. We have seen things in the last two and a half years that we never thought we would have seen, Things that I call my bucket list items. There's probably seven or eight or nine of them that I have checked off that bucket list and we have really, really enjoyed exploring the United States of America.
Speaker 2:Absolutely and that. So there's so much here, I'm having a hard time forming my thoughts. There's people like you and I and we sound very similar in the fact that fear based look at everything that's wrong. I could walk out on a Sunday day and find the dark cloud. You know it. That was my life as well. That's how I grew up and you know, I think, for you too. We've changed because of people like life coaches and Tony Robbins and whatever it is books that we've read. Now, in addition, you've decided to start a podcast. This is source and I know. For me, I listen to podcasts all the time. It's usually positive. I'm not listening to the news and what's wrong in the world and all those things, because it is about what we fill our heads with. So tell people about your podcast, why you started it. Talk about your partner. Let's let's hear about this.
Speaker 1:Let's hear about futsal radio Seattle Washington all the way down to the tip of Florida back up into the Northeast, and we've been across the country three or four times now. We really really enjoy it. End of video. Yolo, yolo, yolo. I LOVE YOLO. Okay, so we are going to take a break right now and we will be back right after.
Speaker 2:So all of what you're talking about I call finding your tribe, finding the people that you see, that you want to be like, finding the people that have this positive mindset. You know, mark, you and Agris had me on your podcast and it was amazing. What an amazing conversation, because we are similar and so I hope that the podcast gets out there and others can say, huh, maybe there is something more to this life I'm living, and it really is finding your tribe, whether it's your podcast, youtube videos, the people you meet and hang out with. Motorhomestirescom takes care of the entire process for you. We come to you with your new tires, mount them at balanced speeds and we even dispose of your old tires. With MotorHomesTirescom, you'll also enjoy great prices and new tires with guaranteed fresh date codes, and enjoy sweet dreams instead of truck stop nightmares, with your friends at MotorHomesTirescom.
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Speaker 6:RV warranty quote.
Speaker 4:today Hit the road with peace of mind tomorrow.
Speaker 1:Our guest today trained as a life coach with the great Tony Robbins, so he knows how to get the crowd up on their feet and keep them engaged. He earned his BS in psychology at the State University of New York. He has kind of a split personality going on and, yes, he earned the right to wear a very tall hat, as he is a graduate of the French Culinary Institute. He now spreads his word as the host of this is Source podcast, of which my incredible wife, patty, was a guest on a repin episode. That link is available in the show notes below or on Apple, spotify, google or your favorite podcast platform.
Speaker 5:Yeah definitely so. You know, when we embarked on this journey, there was a lot to consider, right, we had to make sure that we took care of everything, set up all the financials correctly, make sure we had enough money hopefully to survive, you know, for a good amount of time before we had to turn back and we had to get all the necessary supplies and kind of lay it all out. But there was always this question of, you know, like we hadn't done it before, right? So there was really like we could only prepare to some extent, and our whole idea was I'm a life coach, you know, and I taught meditation and I did online workshops, and so I felt like I could bring my work anywhere and my wife, who was a nurse at the time but also had a skincare business which she could sell remotely these were two of our. You know.
Speaker 5:This is how we made our money, and what we didn't really take into consideration was that, you know, with four kids and living in an RV and traveling from place to place, it was like we really were not in one place long enough to set up any kind of momentum with our businesses. So luckily, we had enough saved up to keep us sustained for a good amount of time, but we were spending way more money than we were making. But we knew that this was just a you know, it might have been a once in a lifetime opportunity. So we're willing to just keep pushing ourselves and just keep exploring and keep going for as long as we can.
Speaker 2:I could feel it. I could hear it in your voice and really feel it. It sounds incredible and, like you know we've talked about before, a little scary in the beginning. Now, mark, we could probably sit and talk for the next three hours, but we do have to start wrapping up. So I do want you to share with our listeners. You have your podcast, this Is Source, and your book, remembering your Spirit. How else can people reach out to you? Okay, great, because I'm sure, yeah, okay Great. I'm sure our listeners are going to want to hear and learn more from you.
Speaker 1:Mark, I want to talk to you a little bit about speaker training. Patty and I are both public speakers. We've spoken to groups as little as five and as much as two or three thousand people. You know, from my point of view there is nothing more fulfilling or more frustrating than walking out on stage and looking at all of these hungry eyes out there wanting to hear what you want to say.
Speaker 1:But you know the story that you told about that first couple days in class. I love that story because it really tells me that when we are backstage, right before we go on getting into that mindset of I want to be here, I am a leader and these people have paid to come and hear me speak, you have to get into that attitude. You know, mark Patty, and I believe in a positive mindset and being positive about almost everything that we do. Now one of the things that's all through your website and in your literature, and probably in your book too, is YOLO, you only live once. What a great saying, what a great life mantra. Is this something that you push out all over the place? Speaker training at the Harvard University I mean, what a place. I can't even imagine how you got a word in edgewise with all of those students that are there. I was a professor at Villanova University for a while.
Speaker 6:Even as a professor.
Speaker 1:There it was hard to get a word in edgewise, because these students were so sharp, they really knew what they wanted and where they were going. All leaders. There's a school that teaches leadership Harvard is probably one of those schools that teach leadership as well. Okay, you're listening to the RV Life podcast. I'm Dan Hunt with my incredible wife, patty Hunt, and we'll be back right after this. Great.
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Speaker 1:Mark, thank you so much for being our guest today. Hopefully we've driven that point. You only live once home, again and again. Hopefully all of our listeners will become your listeners as well. Well, that sound means it's time for the RB Life Pro tip of the week.
Speaker 5:Right.
Speaker 2:Thank you. Thank you, patrick Buchanan, for another great pro tip, but I have to jump in and talk about the Hershey event because Dan and I have decided to, you know, get out on the road and one of the questions we get asked all the time is what about friends? You're not going to have friends if you're traveling all the time. It's going to be lonely All of those comments we get all the time, and I will tell you that the community and the people that we have met and community that we've helped create, I hope, has been incredible. It is probably a tighter, stronger relationship, friendships, than when we were living in our home and our neighbors that weren't that far away we never even talked to. Now, her events, like the Hershey event, are places to meet people, to get to know people, to be in a campground and walk up and say hi to people. The Hershey the RV life live event in Hershey.
Speaker 1:Now, mark, one of the quotes that I saw on your website and I'm assuming it's in your book as well is really hit home for me, and it really talks about what you're talking about right now. A quote that you have in there is how to turn pain into opportunities for strength and growth. So let's talk about how fear holds people back. Now, patty and I have a whole speech when you know we're public speakers as well. We have a whole speech on fear, where we'll actually bring people from the audience up on stage and try to get them to go over their fears.
Speaker 1:I hope they still will, so you know the pain that you felt and had in your personal situation that you talk about in your book you really took that pain and, instead of drowning in your tears, you turned it into opportunity and it actually made you stronger and you grew from that opportunity.
Speaker 2:Can we talk about that a little bit? One of the biggest things to being at a show.
Speaker 1:Well, like our guest Mark today says, you only live once. So would you rather sit home on your couch and watch a rerun of a football game or would you rather get in your car, drive for an hour or so, come up to Hershey and experience an RV show and a dinner and take an entertainment all of those things? You will not regret the decision to get in that car and come up to Hershey. Right.
Speaker 2:Now, yes, and if Thursday night you want to be at the event, there is the link in the show notes the event sold out last year. It will sell out and there's none of this. Please, we just add two more people. There's no, nope, nope, can't do it. So we are five and a half weeks away from that event. It is time for you to get your tickets.
Speaker 2:Now that horn needs, it's time for today's question of the week, and that question comes from social media this week, patty, I'm going to let you take it and the name is Sarah M and she is from Atlantic City, new Jersey, somebody that you know plays We've Been Too Often. And she asked are there fuel discount cards? That is a great question for those of us in big motor homes or even travel trailers or trucks. Your big pickup trucks, yeah, need a lot of fuel. So let's talk fuel discount cards. Let's talk fuel discount cards.
Speaker 1:Now one card that I just love. As a matter of fact, we get 90% of our diesel fuel.
Speaker 2:That's the same thing, yep Awesome.
Speaker 1:We love this card so much. I can't even tell you Okay, we have saved so much money. I mean, there's nothing like pulling into a gas station, and most of their gas stations are the truck stops. The most important part of your RV is the roof.
Speaker 4:If your roof leaks your trip and your RV get ruined you can take it to a dealership or service center to be maintained at their expensive rates, or you can maintain it yourself for a weekend for a fraction of the cost.
Speaker 1:Well, Mark, I hope that being on the RV live podcast today is not going to turn into pain for you down the road. As you know, we're taking maybe that first session that you go over all of these things with people and we're doing them right here, so I hope you don't lose any clients for it. I hope that that opportunity turns into strength and growth for you and some of our listeners actually become your clients. Now, something that you talked to Patty about in the pre-interview is you told her that you sold almost everything and you traveled in an RV with your children and you actually failed at being a teacher and a business person on the road. So, Patty, talk to you about that. So can we talk a little bit about failing and learning from that?
Speaker 2:Even if you're not, yes, yes, but with gas buddy and again, we just didn't get our signup done yet for, you know, regular gas premium, whichever kind of regular gas you get, we definitely can save money using that app.
Speaker 1:You know, this is the kind of show that I just love Mark. I'm sorry I can't say his name properly. Say his last name.
Speaker 2:Shabas.
Speaker 1:Shabas, you only live once. Have that attitude every single day when you get up in the morning, if you ask yourself the question this may be the last day that I'm on this earth. What should I do today? Well, you have a different attitude than oh it's hot, oh it's humid, oh it's cold, oh it's whatever. It's changing your mindset to accept all of the different things that happen around you every single day and, believe me, from first-hand experience, changing that attitude about who we are, what we are and where we're going has really changed our lives.
Speaker 2:Yes, oh, absolutely, and you know, dan said it clearly If and we get up on stage and we talk about this, if you're laying on your death bed, are you saying, hey, I was full of regrets, the things you didn't do, or are you happy about how your?
Speaker 6:life about you failed jokingly.
Speaker 2:Because, you know, a lot of people think about this RV lifestyle. I didn't know what I was getting into. I don't think Dan and I either of us knew what we were getting into when we started this whole let's sell everything and buy an RV. I'd look now, two and a half years later, and think we might have been a little nuts. I don't know, I don't think we were drinking at the time.
Speaker 2:You know, there a lot of our listeners are, you know, either contemplating our being or whether it's full-time or part-time, buying that RV, exploring. And you know we talk about fear. And what, if I quote unquote fail, and I've always and it's probably something Tony Robbins talks about, you know failing. You fall down, you get up, you learn from it. You're not a failure unless you stop getting up, right. So we talk a little more, because I do think that the fear is what holds most people back. Dan and I get told all the time wow, I wish I can, you know, go RV full-time. What's it like that you could hear the fear and their voice when they're talking about it. So can you? You know, I'd like to circle back to that. What are some things you can help our listeners with around that idea of fear.
Speaker 5:Well, I think the most important thing that sticks out is that you know, we as humans tend to gravitate towards things that feel familiar, and so sometimes that doesn't, even that doesn't necessarily serve us, and you know in our life path and what we came here to do and what we came here to experience, but it just keeps us safe and we're sort of wired as humans to be like that. So we have to be willing to cross that threshold of what's familiar and what's comfortable in order to experience something new and exciting, because there's a whole different experience and with that comes a wisdom, right and excitement, and so we have to be willing to explore and move past what's familiar and comfortable in order to experience something new.
Speaker 2:Absolutely.
Speaker 5:And there's a lot of. There's so many opportunities for that when we, you know, enter into the RV place Right right, I totally agree.
Speaker 2:I was somebody who was full of fears. Change was not something I was okay with, and it is through my life coaches and working with people and talking to people like you that helped me work through that. So that's a big thing.
Speaker 1:Okay, so it is time to take all of Dan's fears away and go to break so we can pay all the bills. But after the break, we're going to continue talking about fear. We're going to talk about becoming a podcaster and learning leadership and speaker training at Harvard. Now, more presidents have graduated from Harvard than any other college, any other single college. How you know? We're going to get really get into that. What was it like learning leadership at a college that trains presidents, basically? And we're going to do all of that right after this.
Speaker 2:How do you navigate? Do you use a paper map, a GPS, or do you use Google Maps? Our sponsor, rv Trip Wizard, has the solution and it just works.
Speaker 1:Just like positive mindset. It just works. If you have a positive attitude every day when you get up, that day is going to be a good day. If you have a negative attitude when you get up, if you're like, oh, I just stubbed my toe, oh my God, it's too hot, oh my God it's too cold, your day is going to be a little bit rocky. So, positive mindset, we keep it going as much as we possibly possibly can.
Speaker 1:Now, before the break, we were talking about fear and how it holds people back. You know, patty told a story of why so many people tell us they wish they could RV full time, just like us. Oh, I love what you're doing. You are so brave to go out and do it. It has nothing to do with being brave, it has to do with we decided, we made a decision as a couple that we wanted to live our life to the full, and that's exactly what we are doing, not only with our YouTube channel or this podcast or our life, but with all of those things combined and getting up with it's a good day every day and having that attitude that it is a good day every day, does that really tie into that? You only live once.
Speaker 5:Yes, definitely, yeah, 100%. I mean I come from the contrast of this entire mentality. So you know just from my childhood and just sort of learning that we should always be looking out for the bad parts so we know what to avoid and so we know what to call attention to so that maybe we don't have to go through that again. And so that sort of was my training. That was my opposite of what you're talking about. Like my training as a child, you know, segwayed all the way into college, where my nickname was miserable mark, because I used to.
Speaker 5:Literally that's what I was searching for in the world, where things that were not working out, because I thought that would make me have a better life. I didn't know about any of this until I went through my own personal transformation and realized that that's literally just a mindset and that we can shift from always looking at what's not working in life to start to look for what is working in life and how everything in the entire universe starts to shift and line up according to that new mindset and everything just comes. It comes completely different.
Speaker 2:So, yes, yeah, absolutely, and that. So there's so much here I'm having a hard time forming my thoughts. There's people like you and I and we sound very similar in the fact that fear-based look at everything that's wrong. I could walk out on a sunny day and find the dark clouds. You know that was my life as well. That's how I grew up and you know, I think, for you too. We've changed because of people like life coaches and Tony Robbins and whatever it is, books that we've read. Now, in addition, you've decided to start a podcast. This is source and I know. For me, I listen to podcasts all the time. It's usually positive. I'm not listening to the news and what's wrong in the world and all those things, because it is about what we fill our heads with. So tell people about your podcast, why you started it, talk about your partner. Let's hear about this.
Speaker 5:All right. So we started this is source podcast because I just and I had gotten together. We were put into the same group of the mentorship program that we both took because we both have that interest in empowering ourselves and spirituality and positive thinking, and we found a great mentorship program that we both enrolled in. I do not know address at the time, but we quickly became friends. Agres is from Latvia, but he resides in San Diego, in Southern California, and we just hit it off.
Speaker 5:We just loved having these conversations about life and consciousness and awareness, and we would get on the phone and be on the phone for a couple of hours. And one day we were like we just need to start a podcast or something so we can bring this conversation out to more people, to expand this conversation and to learn from other people and share our ideas and our experiences with other people. And so that was it. We just literally jumped right in. We did not know anything about podcast and what platforms to use. We're like we'll just figure it out, we'll watch some YouTube videos, we'll put this together, and that's what we did.
Speaker 5:And this kind of ties into the fear and the pain and the growth and because we were just willing to put ourselves out there and risk not doing it right, like not being perfect and not having it maybe the way we would want it, like two years from now, but and to stumble around a bit like to fumble around in our language and how we communicate and how we interview people and how we respond to people. But we knew that it wasn't about coming out of the gate looking like we knew exactly what we were doing, but literally like our message is more important than that part and then eventually, the more we do it, the better we're gonna get at it, which is where we are today, and so our podcast is about spirituality, personal growth and development and empowerment, and we're from two different ends of the earth and we live very different lives, but spiritually speaking, we really had very similar experiences in that regard, and so we love just coming together and having these conversations with everyday people that wanna talk about these types of topics.
Speaker 2:And I love your podcast. It's one that's on my list to listen to. It's so all of what you're talking about I call finding your tribe, finding the people that you see, that you wanna be like, finding the people that have this positive mindset. Mark, you and Agris had me on your podcast and it was amazing. What an amazing conversation, because we are similar and so I hope that that podcast gets out there and others can say, huh, maybe there is something more to this life I'm living. And it really is finding your tribe, whether it's your podcast, youtube videos, the people you meet and hang out with.
Speaker 1:Now, mark, finding your tribe. Part of our tribe is agents and managers.
Speaker 6:And now that our podcast is fairly successful.
Speaker 1:All of these people that are around us now our quote unquote support people have told us you need to write a book. Now you actually did write a book. We have started to write a book maybe two or three times. We never got to the end of it. But I have a personal question for you. I'm gonna put you on the spot here. Have you ever gone into a bookstore and bought your own book?
Speaker 5:No, actually I have not. That's a really good question. Now. I have not purchased my own book, but now that you say that, I think that might be something that I'm gonna put on the top of the bucket list.
Speaker 1:So thank you. That's great guys. When you're checking out, you just turn it over so it's on the backside of your pictures, like sitting there in front of the guy that's ringing it up and see if he recognized it. Yeah, I like that. Okay, I promised our audience that we were gonna talk about your time at Harvard. Why did you go there? What you know? An expensive place to go. What was your thought process in going to Harvard?
Speaker 5:So, you know, for me it ties into what we were talking about before, about, you know, growth and pain. And I, you know, when I started going through this process and learning as much as I could from these great mentors and people that have come here and do the work that I do before me, they've taught me that putting yourself in challenging situations is like the impetus for growth and there's tons and tons of value that comes from that growth, right, and it could be scary and it could be painful, but what we get from that is just so valuable. So my son came in, you know, last night in the middle of the night. Seven years old he's my youngest and he was in tears and I'm checking with him what's going on, what's up, and he's having pain in both of his feet and I was like, oh, you probably haven't growing pain. So this morning at breakfast we were talking a little bit about that and she's like, why does it hurt so much? Why was there so much pain? And we talked a little bit about growing pains. Well, yeah, it's uncomfortable, right, but there's something great, like you want to grow, right? That's obviously something he always talks about. Why don't I get taller when I, in that mind of yours, I'm a 3% tile for height and growth, you know, for growth on the growth chart. So that's a conversation that we have, you know, all the time. But basically this was a great opportunity for me to say you know. So, yes, it was painful, but you get something from that, right You're going to get. Your body is growing and expanding and that's something that's what you want.
Speaker 5:And so I was searching for opportunities when I started to become a coach and a speaker to stretch myself, to grow myself, and I was like, okay, well, where are the top people going? And they were going to places like Harvard. So I went to the website and I looked to see if there were any postgraduate opportunities to learn about leadership and public speaking. And they did have this course. So I enrolled in the course and it was fantastic. So I'll share two things that I remember from it. One was when the professor was amazing and Chris can see was I was feeling very intimidated going in there, right, and even though I had reached some level of success in my own life and personal and career, you're just feeling like you're entering in as like the small fish in the big pond, right, if you go from the big fish to the small fish. So it's definitely feeling intimidated, but he made us all feel very comfortable. He was relatable. But one thing that I remembered was we all walked in right, so he had us wait outside the classroom.
Speaker 5:This was the first day and we're all just chit chatting, everyone's getting to know each other, and then he calls us in okay, everybody pour in, and he's got all. The desks or tables are all lined up in like a circular fashion. So we all pour in and we sit in our seats and he just changes his whole tone and his demeanor and he's like you know what? There's not one leader in this class. There's literally not one leader in here. I watched all of you walk in with your head down, with your shoulders down, having small conversation, you know, trying not to make eye contact with me, you know, and that's not what leaders do. So everybody get out of the classroom right now and when you walk back in, I want you to walk in as a leader. If you are a top notch leader, walk in and own the place like you're that. And so we all left it. We all came back in, everyone had their shoulders back, their chin up. Everyone made contact, exuded some type of confidence, felt good about themselves and he was like do you see the big difference here? And so you know, we were there for a while and we learned a lot of things while I was there, but that's something that really stuck out to me a lot Is that how you walk into a room and how you present yourself makes all the difference in the world. And if you're stepping into a leadership role, you have to act as if you are that leader. Even when you're just starting out, even if it feels uncomfortable, even if it's scary, you know that you walk in as if you own the room. So that really stuck with me.
Speaker 5:The other part that I remember was that the lunch. Now I remember I'm a chef and a caterer at the time and I remember I've done tons and tons of high-end catered events, but this was like out of control, top notch. You know we went into a room all stainless steel chafing dishes with beautiful silverware, beautiful plates. The food looked incredible, all the chefs standing behind each station with these tall chef toks. I mean it was like you really felt like you were presidential and I remember like this is what they serve to launch like this is unbelievable.
Speaker 5:And so, yes, was I scared to do that? Was I? Was there fear involved with how much money I was going to have to be investing to put myself in that situation? You know there was tons of that. But when I got there, you know, when I crossed that threshold and I, you know, put myself through the training and got to experience the perks of it right, hanging out with these like high-level people and talking about life and eating this incredible food, it was like, wow, this is amazing. And so it was. It was a great, great experience.
Speaker 2:I could feel it. I could hear it in your voice and really feel it. It sounds incredible and, like you know we've talked about before, a little scary in the beginning. Now, mark, we could probably sit and talk for the next three hours, but we do have to start wrapping up. So I do want you to share with our listeners. You have your podcast, this Is Source, and your book Remembering your Spirit. How else can people reach out to you?
Speaker 5:So I'm on Instagram, I'm on LinkedIn and both my first and last name, mark Shabas, and also I have a website, markshabascom, and my book, as you said, remembering your Spirit, is available on Amazon and Barnes, noble and all the major booksellers and that's it. Yeah, that's where you can find me. Oh, and this Is Source podcast is you can find that on all the major you know players, but also, if you want to go to our website, thisissourcecom is where you can find a little bit more about us and, you know, there's the list of all of our shows as well.
Speaker 2:Okay, great, I'm sure our listeners are going to want to hear and learn more from you.
Speaker 1:Mark, I want to talk to you a little bit about speaker training. Patty and I are both public speakers. We've spoken to groups as little as five and as much as two or three thousand people. You know, from my point of view nothing more fulfilling or more frustrating than walking out on stage and looking at all of these hungry eyes out there wanting to hear what you want to say. But you know the story that you told about that first couple days in class.
Speaker 1:I love that story because it really tells me that when we are backstage, right before we go on getting into that mindset of I want to be here, I am a leader and these people have paid to come and hear me speak, you have to get into that attitude because if you don't, you're going to lose that audience very, very quickly, and there are times where we've been speaking about something that was more boring than life itself and you can see the audience out there starts to nod off a little bit, and so it's really inspiring to hear a story like that and to hear more of your type stories of speaker training at the Harvard University. I mean, what a place. I can't even imagine how you got a word in edgewise with all of those students that are there. I was a professor at Villanova University for a while.
Speaker 6:And even as a professor.
Speaker 1:There it's hard to get a word in edgewise, because these students were so sharp and they really knew what they wanted and where they were going and all of those types of things All leaders. There's a school that teaches leadership and Harvard is probably one of those schools that teach leadership as well. Okay, you're listening to the RV Life podcast. I'm Dan Hunt with my incredible wife, patty Hunt, and we'll be back right after this.
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Speaker 1:National Indoor RV Centers. With over 1000 motor homes available across multiple locations, national Indoor RV Centers continues to provide an outstanding, hassle free motor home ownership experience. National Indoor is the number one New Mar dealer in the nation and also features brands like Integra, winnebago and much more. Visit NIRVCcom and become a part of the National Indoor RV Centers family. Well, that sound means it's time for the RV Life Pro Tip of the Week.
Speaker 6:RV Life has added landscape mode during navigation for the RV Life mobile app, both for Apple and Android. Yes, you can finally turn your phone to landscape mode if you prefer. When using the RV Safe Routing provided by the RV Life app, landscape mode works for trips you plan with Trip Wizard and for routes you choose within the app, both in iPhone and Android. Tablet users can use landscape mode for navigation too, but remember tablets only work properly if they have their own cellular data plan For RV Life. I'm Pat Buchanan.
Speaker 2:Thank you, patrick Buchanan, for another great pro tip, but I have to jump in and talk about the Hershey event because Dan and I have decided to do a tour to get out on the road. One of the questions we get asked all the time is what about friends? You're not going to have friends if you're traveling all the time. It's going to be lonely All of those comments we get all the time.
Speaker 2:I will tell you that the community and the people that we have met and community that we've helped create, I hope, has been incredible. It is probably a tighter, stronger relationship, friendships, than when we were living in our home and our neighbors that weren't that far away we never even talked to. Now, events like the Hershey event are places to meet people, to get to know people, to be in a campground and walk up and say hi to people. The Hershey the RV Life live event in Hershey is going to be one of those events that, if you're looking to build community, have an incredible night, just get out and enjoy. This is the event to be at Now I'm going to say.
Speaker 1:We lived in Villanova, which is about 50, 60 miles from Hershey. A couple of our friends came from when we lived in Villanova came to the Hershey event last year. When they came to the Hershey event they hung out with us, had breakfast in our RV with us and then went over to the RV show, ended up buying an RV. I don't think any more of our friends are going to come.
Speaker 2:I hope they still will. We get a lot of people because this is our local area that said, hey, this sounds like a really cool event. Again, I'm going to say the Hershey RV show itself is not just for purchasing a new RV Great place to purchase one, if you're looking but it is not just for that community, community, community. That is for me the education. An education, yes, we'll say that too Are the two probably biggest things to being at a show.
Speaker 1:Like our guest Mark today, says you only live once. So would you rather sit home on your couch and watch a rerun of a football game or would you rather get in your car, drive for an hour or so, come up to Hershey and experience an RV show and a dinner and music and entertainment all of those things? You will not regret the decision to get in that car and come up to Hershey.
Speaker 2:Now, yes, and if, Thursday night, you want to be at the event, there is the link in the show notes the event sold out last year. It will sell out, and there's none of this. Please, can we just add two more people? There's no, no, nope, can't do it. So we are five and a half weeks away from that event. It is time for you to get your tickets.
Speaker 2:Now that horn means it's time for today's question of the week, and that question comes from social media this week, patty, I'm going to let you take it, and the name is Sarah M and she is from Atlantic City, new Jersey, somebody that you know plays Weep in Too Often. And she asked are there fuel discount cards? That is a great question for those of us in big motor homes or even travel trailers or trucks. Your big pickup trucks, yeah, need a lot of fuel. So let's talk fuel discount cards.
Speaker 1:Let's talk fuel discount cards. Now one card that I just love. As a matter of fact, we get 90% of our diesel fuel. It's through the Open Roads app and the TSE card.
Speaker 2:That's the same thing, yep, awesome.
Speaker 1:We love this card so much I can't even tell you Okay, we have saved so much money. I mean, there's nothing like pulling into a gas station, and most of their gas stations are the truck stops, so there's enough room for me to pull in and pull out. But you pull in and you see that the price on the sign outside is $4.59 a gallon for diesel. Well, guess what? Our diesel card gets us prices as low as $3.89.
Speaker 2:I think the highest we've ever saved on our, with our Open Roads and it's openroadscom, was like 70 cents. Oh, no, no, no. The total bill we saved $77. That's what it was $77 off one tank of gas.
Speaker 1:So that's the Open Roads, and that is for diesel only. Now, if you do not have diesel, do not have the upset, because there's also a card out there called the Gas Buddy card. Now, we personally do not use this card yet. We have signed up for it, but it has to catch up to us on the road sometimes. But we do get emails from them. They always have different promotions going on. They're a great, great company. We've met them at shows. So Gas Buddy is another card where you can truly save money, especially if you're driving as much as we do.
Speaker 2:Right, even if you're not. We've been across the country three times, yes, but with Gas Buddy, and again we just didn't get our sign up done yet for regular gas premium. Whichever kind of regular gas you get, you definitely can save money using that app.
Speaker 1:You know, this is the kind of show that I just love Mark. I'm sorry I can't say his name properly. Say his last name.
Speaker 2:Shabas.
Speaker 1:Shabas, you only live once. Have that attitude every single day when you get up in the morning, if you ask yourself the question this may be the last day that I'm on this earth. What should I do today? Well, you have a different attitude than oh it's hot, oh it's humid, oh it's cold, oh it's whatever. It's changing your mindset to accept all of the different things that happen around you every single day and, believe me, from first hand experience, changing that attitude about who we are, what we are and where we're going has really changed our lives.
Speaker 2:Yes, oh, absolutely, and Dan said it clearly. And we get up on stage and we talk about this. If you're laying on your death bed, are you saying, hey, I was full of regrets, the things you didn't do or are you happy about how your life went?
Speaker 1:Something to think about If you're having a little bit of a problem with doing those kind of things. You might want to check out their podcast, the Source, and it's available on.
Speaker 2:Apple it's. This Is Source. All of that will be yep and all of it will be in the show notes.
Speaker 1:There will be a link to it in the show notes Now. You, right now, are listening to the RV Life Podcast. I'm Dan Hunt, your host, with my incredible wife, patty Hunt, reminding you to have a great rest of the day.
Speaker 2:And an even better day tomorrow.