A lot of therapists believe they need their full license, years behind them, and a perfect plan before they can build a business around something like sailing wellness retreats. Cheryl Greathouse is proof that the timeline can look completely different.
In this episode of The Traveling Therapist Podcast, I sit down with Cheryl, a counselor and newly minted boat captain who put her practice on hold for four and a half years, sailed across the Pacific, and came home to start over as a pre-licensed intern while leading women's wellness retreats on a yacht in Greece. We get into how she built a life and a model that fits her instead of the other way around, and why being pre-licensed has not slowed her down one bit.
In This Episode, We Explore…
Connect with Cheryl Greathouse:
Website: https://www.wayfinderwisdom.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wayfinderwisdom/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cherylsailsaway/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cheryl.l.greathouse/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cheryl-greathouse-8795847/
Connect with me:
Instagram: @thetravelingtherapist_kym
The Traveling Therapist Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/onlineandtraveling/
Signup to learn more about life as a Traveling Therapist: https://www.portablepracticemethod.com/free-training
Revolutionize Your Private Practice with AI Course: www.kymtolson.kartra.com/page/ai
Bill Like A Boss Insurance Billing Community: www.kymtolson.kartra.com/page/blab
Subscribe to the Podcast:
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Transcript
[00:00:00] Kym: Hey, everybody. Welcome back to another episode of the Traveling Therapist podcast. We have a very cool guest today, you guys. I'm so excited. I just wanna geek out on your story, Cheryl. We have Cheryl Greathouse here with us.
[00:00:14] Cheryl, I always start out and I just say, like, how'd you go from being a typical therapist to a traveling therapist? If we could just dig into your amazing story. I'm so excited to share this
[00:00:22] Cheryl: Yeah, so it's interesting because in COVID I kind of put my therapy practice on hold and I went sailing. I basically left land and, you know, was just kind of peace out, you know? It was something I had some savings put away. My mom left me a gift of an inheritance which, for me to use that to honor her was to honor myself and my spirit.
[00:00:46] so I went sailing, but what I noticed is when I was in other places, just having deep conversations with people, stopping to connect with people, hearing their story providing empathy is just a human thing that we do. So in some regards, I had people asking me to walk with them, sit with them, and talk more and like hear them.
[00:01:11] So I was kind of like a rogue therapist, but not really charging, just kind of being me in the world and, and that was my kind of therapy, if you will. I remember I was in Bali with some friends who were kind of going through relational issues, and I'm kinda talking to them, and this guy at the end of the table goes, " Are you, are you taking other cl-clients?" And I'm like, "Here's my card."
[00:01:33] Kym: Exactly. It's like anywhere you go, right? The grocery store, all of a sudden my boyfriend will joke, he's like, " Who were you talking to?" And I'm like, "Well, that was Grace, and she was telling me about her kids." You know, like I know their whole story immediately. It's like the therapist, like gift or curse. I don't know which one.
[00:01:49] Cheryl: Right, right, right. Yeah
[00:01:51] Kym: amazing. So you went sailing. Okay. So people listening are probably like, were you already an experienced sailor? I mean, was this something you grew up doing or you learned to do? And then it was just like natural. It was like, "Okay, that's what I'm doing," kind of thing? Or how did you, how did you do that?
[00:02:08] Cheryl: Yeah. So, you know, I grew up on the water, but definitely on powerboats, and then I joined the Army and I was a deckhand on, ships in the Army, which most people don't know the Army has. But I loved being on the water. I loved I loved being a deckhand. I loved just having that, being out under the stars at night, you know, just everything about it.
[00:02:30] And I started sailing very casually and actually had a, a, a guy that I was seeing who planted the seed. He says, "How about we sell everything and go sail around the world?" And I was like give me six more months to get out of school, and we'll..." A- and I had a son at... I have a son and, and he was young at the time.
[00:02:47] I said, "We'll go." You know, didn't keep the boyfriend, but I kept the dream and then, yeah, I just started and I was living in Alabama. That's where I was raised, and um, on Mobile Bay, and just really got into some sailing there. And then I moved here to Oregon, and we had this amazing Oregon Women's Sailing Association that I dove into, and they, through that organization, I really got the confidence to skipper and then the confidence to buy my own boat.
[00:03:17] And then I, from there I sailed, took my boat on the river here. It's about a mile wide and it's got a really strong current, and that's great sailing and fun to race on. But it wasn't until I got out on the ocean when I was just in love. And, um, yeah
[00:03:33] Kym: Wow. I mean, I love just even the analogy of that, right? 'Cause a lot of traveling therapists, right, They're so overwhelmed with the idea 'cause they're like, "I've just gotta dive in and, like, move to Bali," right? And it's like, no, really, like the baby steps, right?
[00:03:46] Mobile Bay, and then the river, and then let me move to the sea and do it that way. You know, these little baby steps are so important to this process, I think. so you went sailing, but really it was like, what, four years of, like, could you tell us about, where you went, and did you go by yourself? 'Cause I'm like, I don't even know that, if you did this by yourself.
[00:04:05] Cheryl: I bought my boat I think in 2016. And I brought it down from Washington, so that requires going out the Strait of, you know, out into the ocean, coming down to Oregon over one of the most treacherous bars in the country, if not in the world. It's called the Graveyard of the Pacific.
[00:04:22] You just gotta... It's timing. It's all about timing and being in communication with the Coast Guard, and anyway. And um, kind of got familiar with this boat, 'cause it was, it was a steep, steep learning curve for me, 'cause it's not just about sailing, it's all the systems that run the boat and keep you going, right?
[00:04:38] And I was a massage therapist at the time, and just kind of breaking into my counseling. I'd just finished my master's degree when COVID hit. it was also my 50th birthday, and for my birthday gift to myself, I said, "I'm just going sailing." And so, I took off. I had crew. I've always... For the most part, I've had crew.
[00:04:55] I really like doing things in community. And I headed down to Mexico and lived on my boat in Mexico. Really started just really getting confident in myself again, still as a boat owner, as a skipper, as a crew leader, all of those things. And then I sold my boat and, and you know, I'm not a projects-oriented person, and boats are just a bunch of projects.
[00:05:22] Kym: Yeah. I remember that growing up on boats as a kid. Like, I mean, 5 times out of 10, the boat would die out on the water for some reason. It was like,
[00:05:30] Cheryl: mm-hmm. Yeah. A lot of, a lot of things to maintain. And interestingly enough I had a woman on my boat, 'cause I've o- I've often taken just women, and there's a female-male dynamic that happens that it's like the man, you know, not a- all the time. I've, I've sailed with some lovely men who are super supportive.
[00:05:52] But there is a, I think, outstanding dynamic that doesn't really work for me. so I've had a lot of women. But I had this woman say to me, " You've had a lot of responsibility in your life. I wonder what it would feel like with no responsibility at all." My son was grown and, you know, 'cause I think there's something about being being successful that equates to having a lot of responsibility, right?
[00:06:17] If you don't show with the responsibility that you have how well you can do it, you're really not successful. So she kind of lit that, and then somebody asked me to buy my boat, and I made that happen, and I jumped on someone else's boat. And from there, we sailed from the Puerto Vallarta area um, made our first landfall 21 days later in French Polynesia.
[00:06:39] Kym: Oh my, I just got goosebumps all over my body.
[00:06:44] Cheryl: it's the most incredible thing. I actually got to be on watch as the moon, full moon was setting behind this kind of cloud bank that I was like, "There's something over there. I think it's just clouds," but they were very low. Sun was rising, the moon was setting, and land came into, to view, and it was the Marquesas Islands, which are just amazing, dramatic, tall, lush, beautiful islands. Yeah, it was incredible.
[00:07:15] Kym: So you get to French Polynesia, and then what do you do? where does the adventure go from there?
[00:07:20] Cheryl: Oh, yeah. I mean, the great thing about cruising, being a cruiser, you know, you have to be mindful of what the prevailing weathers, weather is like, you know? So, um, you sit put for the bigger stuff, you set sail in the sailable wind, you know. But other than that, you just kind of enjoy, meet people experience the culture.
[00:07:43] I mean, the Marquesan people being our first stop, they're very used to this, what's called the Pacific Puddle Jump. So many people leave either the Galápagos, Panama, or Mexico and head straight there to the Marquesas. A lot of people get their first tattoos, which is, the Marquesas is where tattooing began.
[00:08:02] And so a lot of people get their, first tattoo there and you just get to experience a very laid back culture. and do hiking and sailing and snorkeling and swim with whatever, you know, we had manta rays and, like, all kinds of beautiful creatures
[00:08:19] Kym: That's amazing. And how long did you stay in that area?
[00:08:23] Cheryl: Let's see. We sailed the island group, I guess like, couple weeks maybe. And then we headed to the Tuamotus 'cause there's like many islands in the French Polynesian chain. And so you just basically highland, island or chain hop to, you know ... And we um, yeah, let's see. We went to the Tuamotus, which a lot of people haven't heard of, but they're this group of atolls that are
[00:08:47] It's like a, atoll is essentially a bunch of little islands that round this big ... it's like being on a lake in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, you know? And the water is so clear and so beautiful. And the people they're so generous. I'm sitting on the beach and I ask this woman, funny enough, I don't speak French, she doesn't speak English, but we both spoke a little bit of Spanish. So I ask her in Spanish, like, "Which is, which is your child?" And she says, and this is where I love experiencing new cultures because they teach you so much. She goes, "That one I gave birth to, but all of them are my children."
[00:09:28] Kym: Oh my goodness.
[00:09:29] Cheryl: And that, is what we, I think, miss in the US, like understanding that all of the children are our children, you know?
[00:09:38] So, yeah, so we stayed there for a, a few, I guess probably a couple weeks. I mean, there, there's really no time on a boat. Like I said, you just kind of You, you know, 'cause you're not flying out, you just say, "When's the wind good? Okay, we're gonna take off to the next now," you know? Then, you know, we were like Tahiti and then Bora Bora, M- Mai- like just s- islands in Tahiti, the Society Islands. And then yeah, we made our way to Samoa and one of the Cook Islands. Yeah, it was incredible.
[00:10:11] Kym: Unbelievable
[00:10:12] Cheryl: the first 21 days, that's the longest we were out at sea, was just that 21 days. Everything is like a day or two.
[00:10:18] Kym: Yeah, yeah. Oh my gosh, that's amazing. So these people you went with, did you know them or was that just a leap of faith? 'Cause I'm thinking like, oh my gosh, how long were you with these people, you know, in this boat? I'm just kinda like thinking of all the logistics of that stuff, you know?
[00:10:32] Cheryl: Yeah. So, you know, the guy who found me on social media reached out to me. We're- he's from Portland as well. And we started talking and he said, you know, "Would you crew?" Um, And I- so I was one female on a boat with three guys, which
[00:10:48] Kym: Well
[00:10:49] Cheryl: not every woman's gonna be comfortable, but you know, I'm a six-foot tall ex-army like person, so my personality's a little bit intense.
[00:10:58] I think I can kind of hang in that world comfortably or like safely, like I feel safe. so the guys were great. You know, the captain and I wasn't... It was one of those things that the dynamic I didn't love, but I was with the boat for five months and I'm really grateful. I think the biggest thing is he was very meticulous with his boat.
[00:11:17] All the systems were very, very meticulously cared for. His boat had been really r- a lot of people do that jump without preparing their boat to what I would say is my level, which I would not go on, you know? so that was the thing that I trusted the most is that his boat was super safe and I knew what I needed to do if I needed to help,
[00:11:40] Kym: Oh my gosh. Wow. I have a thousand questions. Okay, so five months on, on that, and you weren't working during that time, right? This was on the inheritance and you were just taking like a sabbatical kind of thing? Um, so after that, did you stay over that part of the world? Or, like, what, what happened after that? And when does your... When do you get back into your career in this trajectory, just out of curiosity?
[00:12:05] Cheryl: So I had, um... There was a boat in New Zealand and a US flagged boat that has uh, their goal is that they take on young people and teach them leadership on a boat. so I was going to N- I went to New Zealand to join that boat and to help with this return from New Zealand to Hawaii.
[00:12:26] we would've hit all the islands back and then made a big leap, like, kinda like we did on the way out. And I get there. I'm very excited to be in New Zealand. I've been there before. It was actually my first country I ever visited many, many, many moons ago. And so I'm really happy to be back in New Zealand, and the guy's like, "Okay, I'm not there yet."
[00:12:46] He was actually in Florida finishing up, like, a, a court proceeding with one of his troubled youth that he worked with, advocated for. And he's like, "Just go get yourself comfortable on the boat, you know, and I'll be there." And he had, like, a... This was, like, a 60-foot boat or, or big. Like, it was huge.
[00:13:02] and I get there, and it hasn't been opened for a while, so I start cleaning and doing all the things that you need to do and, taking care of the boat. And five months later, I've never met him.
[00:13:11] Kym: Oh my
[00:13:12] Cheryl: I've lived on, I lived on his boat for five months, and waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting. And then finally I was like, " All right I'm stalled out."
[00:13:21] And um, I think a thing about traveling is that for me, it's exhausting after a while because everything is new all the time, and you're constantly learning to navigate newness. And for me, I got to this place of, like, wanting to be back in the familiar, back in the known. And I missed working. I wasn't ready to retire at 50, you know, but I...
[00:13:44] And I missed working. so yeah, I moved back to Portland about a year and a half ago, picked up my internship. I'm not yet licensed. I had to go back to being an intern and I sit for my exam this fall. But in the meantime, I do coaching. Well, I work with a supervisor, and so I'm able to work with clients for mental health, but I also do coaching, and that's what I do on my Greece retreat, is
[00:14:08] Kym: my gosh. Let's talk about that. 'Cause everything, I mean, everything you've been through, everything you're talking about, the systems and, you know, like not keeping track of time, like it all seems so like, well, part of the wellness pillars that you, you teach about and that sort of thing.
[00:14:23] And you've taken this, your experience, your life experience and everything, and turned it in to these amazing retreats, right? Can we talk about what they are and how you created just all of that? I just think it's so exciting that you're doing this.
[00:14:35] Cheryl: Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. So first of all, I'm doing it in a foreign locale, not just for the amazingness of what it is to be in a foreign locale. I think about often the Mark Twain quote where he said "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness." And, you know, Being a minority in another country, not many people experience that, right?
[00:15:00] Not many of the laypeople, so we don't know the vulnerability that comes with cultures that move here to the US. And so I think that gives a whole new perspective. Also, when you pluck someone out of their routine and put them somewhere completely new, the glass ceiling that they didn't know was there gets burst.
[00:15:22] Right? Now it's like it's possible. The first time I went to New Zealand, I was, 31. And even though I was in the military, I'd never been out of the country. And I literally was feeling this whatever in my body to like I was a single mom, something's gotta give. I gotta go and experience something. So I signed up for Habitat for Humanity in New Zealand.
[00:15:46] Kym: Oh my gosh. Wow.
[00:15:49] Cheryl: Yeah. And people were like, "Why are you doing it in New Zealand?" I'm like, "If I'm gonna volunteer, I'm gonna go also do something for me at the same time." It doesn't have to be exclusively. Anyway, it just cracked me open. So that's why I do it in a foreign locale.
[00:16:03] So this, this retreat is on a 48-foot yacht where I am the captain. I just got my captain's license this year. Yay me.
[00:16:12] Kym: Oh my gosh, that's awesome
[00:16:14] Cheryl: And, I captain the boat, and I also lead a wellness. But it's all women, which, you know, it's a very intimate environment. We have a total of eight women on this 48-foot yacht.
[00:16:26] We have four cabins, you know, so you're sharing with someone. You're having to learn to accommodate someone and be in communication with someone. We gotta be in community, you know, 'cause we're all in a small space together. we sail. No experience is necessary. I have a first mate that sails with us.
[00:16:45] And every morning, we wake up in silence. We, um, have prompted journaling for a couple of hours. We come back at 9:00, and we do some meditation and breathwork. Each of our pillars of wellness have a day dedicated to itself. We also link that to the chakra system, the energetic system of like how we know when maybe that...
[00:17:08] What, what does that feel like when that wellness pillar is out of balance? how does it feel in our body? And we do a roundtable discussion where everyone gets to share their experience and their wisdom. This is mostly for women, I would say, like 35, 40, and over. And uh, yeah. So that's pretty much our days, and there is not a really strict timeline other than that.
[00:17:32] Then we leave the boat. We go have adventure. We have fun. We, um... It is a sober retreat, so everyone can feel safe in that. And that's a, that's another thing. Like, people also as- have associations of being an adult being on a cruise in Greece, and what does that include? And I'm like, "Well, it's not gonna include alcohol."
[00:17:52] Kym: Mm-hmm.
[00:17:53] Cheryl: You know, it's gonna include mindfulness about what's the discomfort with that relationship, because that's part of our wellness, you know, is our relationships to substance, to food, to Everything. So we take those wellness pillars and we put them into life
[00:18:08] Kym: Oh my gosh, how exciting. Is this the first one you've done or have you done these before? I can't remember.
[00:18:14] Cheryl: Yeah, so last year I did my first
[00:18:16] Kym: okay,
[00:18:16] Cheryl: And um, yeah, and I definitely learned a lot with what, what that dynamic... And, you know, for like some people experience cultures through the alcohol and food part of that culture. So I, definitely prompt people stay a little late, come a little early, definitely have that experience, but not on this retreat.
[00:18:37] uh, Community wellness is about considering how your behavior impacts everyone around you. So if you're out at the bar until 2:00, and you come home, and you're not as quiet as could be, and you're not present at our morning meditation, that affects the whole community. So community wellness is part of it
[00:18:58] Kym: Oh my gosh, that's amazing. So where, all do you go in Greece while you're sailing and doing the retreat?
[00:19:03] Cheryl: So we keep it really kind of, elementary where it comes to the sailing part. It's a wellness retreat first, a sailing retreat close second. So it's very weather dependent but right out of Athens is a small island called the Saronic Islands, which is what we did last year. Super cute um, not as busy as the Cyclades where Mykonos and Santorini are. The first week will be... I'm doing two weeks with a fun week for me in between.
[00:19:33] Kym: Nice. Smart.
[00:19:35] Cheryl: yeah. And so, um, the first week is in the Saronics. The second week is my friend week with more experienced sailors, and we're gonna take the boat I think about 100 miles to the east to the Cyclades and do the Northern Cyclades.
[00:19:49] That's where the second wellness retreat group will meet us, is in a little, uh, Lavrio, which is a little port on the peninsula that Athens is on. And then we will sail the Northern Cyclades, and then we'll go home
[00:20:04] Kym: Oh my gosh, that sounds amazing. Yeah. so I wanna point out, you're not licensed yet, which is so inspirational to me because in the Traveling Therapist Facebook group, probably once, twice a week, there's somebody saying, "I'm not licensed yet. Can I do coaching? Like, can I get started now in my career, like, doing things internationally," that sort of thing.
[00:20:24] So I think you're just an amazing inspiration as far as that goes. You don't have to have your license and, like, you know, years of experience to do things like this because it's not... I mean, I guess you could call it therapy, but you're international, so it's not even, you're not even having to worry about, like, licensing restrictions in the United States and that sort of thing with what you're doing, right?
[00:20:44] I mean, like, how do you, how do you shape that in your mind, just for people listening? ' I think it's really interesting where you are right now with this stuff.
[00:20:51] Cheryl: Well, you know, therapy and coaching is obviously very close cousins, right? First cousins. and understanding what I'm doing over there is not therapy in the sense that I'm not digging into someone's past. you know, we're not going on individual... You know, it's kind of like holding space for a group, and I just have a model of like what we're gonna do in the day.
[00:21:13] and I have agreements that they have to sign to keep us, everybody safe and understand that they are sovereign and autonomous and responsible for their wellness, you know, and I'm responsible for providing the m- both, the framework. So being very clear on what this is and what this isn't is so important.
[00:21:33] And even as a retreat leader, like, do... I don't even know. I haven't even looked into, like, what's required to be a retreat leader. Is there any requirement to be an, a retreat leader?
[00:21:43] Kym: That's, that's the thing, you know? I mean, anybody could do this, you know, with some experience. And obviously you've got life experience and then, like, experiential experience, like you've done all this. And then you've got, like, this amazing framework that you use, this wellness framework that you said most people have the seven pillars.
[00:21:59] You've got eight pillars. Like, you've really got this down, what you teach and how you teach it. And I mean, it's, it's life skills. It's like wisdom, you know? Chakras, you know, all of that. Like, I feel like anybody could do it with experience and time to learn it, you know, could do this, and not
[00:22:14] Cheryl: And integrity on what you're doing and how you're delivering it, right? Like, that's personal integrity is so important. When we think about, like, ethics, you know, it's not a course that you take that tell you what to do and not to do. It is understanding how your actions impact someone else and being in integrity.
[00:22:35] Are you a helper? Do that. There was a conversation, I think, on your Facebook page where people were getting shade about the co- like, all the, you know, being in the system and I'm sorry, like, the system needs, needs for some people to rebel, to shake things up, because the system doesn't necessarily work for everyone.
[00:22:55] It, it, it really keeps people limited, not only therapists, but clients as well. And just because the big system says, doesn't mean it's right ethically, you know, integrally. It just doesn't mean it's right. So shake it up a little
[00:23:13] Kym: Totally agree. And, and that's why I really wanted to highlight that, you know, for people, the pre-licensed people that are frustrated maybe. They're like, "I, you know, I've gotta get my supervision hours in the United States and my state of licensure, you know, physically in, in an office somewhere."
[00:23:25] Like, it's, it's so, like, daunting and frustrating for them So to hear somebody just, like, making it work differently, I just think it's super inspirational that you're like, "Yeah, well, I'm gonna have sailing retreats in Greece, so..." A wellness sailing retreat. So I mean, it, it's amazing. Yeah, I think it's really cool
[00:23:42] Cheryl: this is where we say I'm filling my cup, I'm getting my sailing itch scratched. You know, I, choose not to rely on my mom's inheritance anymore. Like, I wanted to keep some of that, right? You know?
[00:23:55] Kym: yeah
[00:23:55] Cheryl: so I, you know, coming back, like I said, coming back to the familiar.
[00:24:00] And, you know, I hadn't... Picking up in Oregon was so easy. None of my supervision from previous expired,
[00:24:07] so I was able to fall in t- with a group, fall in with a supervisor, and start seeing clients and even char- you know, billing insurances under my supervisor. But I put that on hold for four and a half years because life is about living.
[00:24:24] Life isn't about just checking boxes and doing what everybody tells you you're s- supposed to do, for me. that's my truth, right? Like
[00:24:31] Kym: I love it. Oh my gosh. so you're seeing clients right now. So for example, when you do this, and it's in August, right? your next one that's coming
[00:24:39] Cheryl: Yeah.
[00:24:40] Kym: So when you do this, what will you do with your clients that you have now? Like, what is the system for that? 'Cause that comes up a lot.
[00:24:47] It's like, well, how do I... Like, let's say I do wanna go do retreats for a month. I wanna have a, a week in between and do two retreats back to back in a beautiful country or something. Like, how are you working that out just out of curiosity for others that might be listening?
[00:25:00] Cheryl: I think the first thing is, is I don't work with high-risk people. You know, that is not my place. So that makes it a little bit easier for me. Also you know, I've already started the conversations even though it's like a coup- few months away. I've started the conversations on what, you know, would they be ready to take a month off?
[00:25:21] Like, by then I also will not take new clients from probably about a month ahead, and I will... Before I schedule that new client, I will let them know I'm going to be taking a month. You know, so how do we get you the support that you need? I work in a group. It's a little bit easier, I think, to refer within the group to keep the person, like, kind of in their familiar zone, to get that extra support.
[00:25:48] But definitely just being very transparent about what's gonna be happening soon and how we can set them up for success while I'm gone. Maybe it's a jour- maybe it is, like, homework that they do and a regular routine of what they do.
[00:26:05] Kym: Yeah, I love that advice. Um, Myself, I mean, when I, before I was even remote, I had, like, really intense trauma clients, you know. And once I went online, I was like, "I just don't wanna do this anymore," you know? And then once I really started moving around and cutting down my caseload, I was like, yeah, I just, I don't need this, like, intense level of caseload right now.
[00:26:26] I'd rather just have the people that are kind of adjustment disorder type stuff, you know. That was more my, you know, and i- I love that message for people to know that they don't have to, like, take the toughest cases, especially if you're gonna live this lifestyle where you might be a little bit, like, in and out with your caseload, that kinda thing.
[00:26:42] It's really
[00:26:42] Cheryl: Yeah. Well, yeah. Yeah. So that's ca- that is creating a win-win situation for me, you know? And I love empowering people to just not do the norm just because it's what they were born into, you know?
[00:26:59] Kym: Well, it reminds me of before we hit record too, what you were saying a little bit. So you've been home back in Portland I g- not home, but back in Portland, I guess, for a year and a half in an apartment. Can you talk about that adjustment a little bit and what that's been like for you? 'Cause you used a really strong analogy when you were talking about that, and then getting the cat on top of it. Can we just talk about that a little bit for people?
[00:27:21] Cheryl: Yeah. So, for me, you know, I'm 55, I'll be 56 here in a couple of months, and I think the newness all the time really started to weigh on me, 'cause I was in a new place all the time. I wasn't ready to settle in. I had my son... Actually, it was quite funny. I moved back, 'cause I really, I, my son was, like, 29, 30, and I really just missed him, and I wanted to spend time with him, and he's, he's used to me being out in the world.
[00:27:49] He used to go with me. And I came back, and about a month later he goes, "So Mom, I'm getting married and moving to Canada." I'm like, "Oh, dude, I just got back and you're leaving?" He goes, "Yeah, now you know how I feel." And so, touché. But um, so coming back into the familiar, I'd lived in Portland for 15 years or more years when I left.
[00:28:11] So this is what I consider home. Coming home to something that was just very normal and familiar was like a, a rest for my, nervous system in a lot of ways. But the analogy I used, but it was like putting on concrete boots, you know? I feel very... And then I fostered a cat, which I do not recommend unless you already have an animal, because that, I am a foster fail.
[00:28:37] It took me a whopping week for that boy to, like, win my heart, and he was nothing that I w- Like, I was like, "I need to get a young one, cat, so that we can learn adventure," and, but nope, nope, nope. He was four and a half years old. He laid and put his little paw on me and just like, "Uh," and I was like, "Oh, you're mine." So now I have this cat. Yeah, right. So now I have to navigate what it is to travel with a cat.
[00:29:01] Kym: Yes. Yeah, it's a whole different level.
[00:29:04] Cheryl: Yeah. So, so much so. That's um, I, I said I put it's like putting a chain on those cement boots, you know? So no matter how far I might be able to drag those cement boots, he's the chain that's like, "Er."
[00:29:17] Kym: Yeah, totally.
[00:29:19] Cheryl: Stops me in my tracks
[00:29:20] Kym: No, but I totally get it. Like, we slowed down a lot. Like, we, we just, like, did three months in Cocoa Beach 'cause we have a grandchild here, and then we're like, "Let's extend it six." And now we're like, "Maybe we'll stay till the end of the year," you know? So we're kinda like...
[00:29:32] 'Cause we were moving a lot too, and I, I really started to feel it also, just like, "Okay, we need just a little break." Like, it's exhausting. It can be, you know? Um,
[00:29:41] Cheryl: That nervous system for sure
[00:29:44] Kym: Exactly. Well, how do people find you to talk to you if they wanna just talk to you about this model you're doing, but also if they wanna go on your wellness retreats?
[00:29:53] How do they do that?
[00:29:54] Cheryl: Yeah. Yeah. Uh, Wayfinder Wisdom is my website. I had a coach and I had a wellness center for a minute, for a few years, and again, COVID blew all that up. But and when we were trying to rebrand myself as a coach and counselor she was like, "You always seem to find your way, no matter what you, you always...
[00:30:18] No matter what you wanna do, you always seem to find your way there." And um, and I was like, "Oh." And so that's how the name came to be, Wayfinder Wisdom. and so, that's where... And there's an events page where you can... There's a Q&A call that I'll be having at the end of May on the 29th at 4:00 PM Pacific Time, where people can dig into what the wellness retreat is.
[00:30:39] On that events page, I have both of the events listed both weeks, and so you can find out a little bit more by reading the bios on those events. Yeah
[00:30:49] Kym: Exciting. Oh my gosh. I'm like, "I wanna go." that's amazing. Yeah
[00:30:54] Cheryl: I think one of the things that again, people found helpful, what I heard they found helpful last time, is not having a rigid, like I said, the morning, and we even like don't...
[00:31:05] We have coffee, tea in the morning. We don't break our fast until around 10:00 to again explore that relationship with food. If someone's got blood sugar issues, of course, they can. You know, of course, there's... We take that into consideration. but yeah, like it's not, it's not this jammed pack, go, go, go see as much as you can see.
[00:31:25] It's more of a chill, relaxed discussion, a decision on what do we wanna do today? What's the weather looking like? let's go with the flow, you know?
[00:31:35] Kym: Yeah. I love that. Yes, in the moment. Mindfulness, just being where you are right then. Yep. love it. Oh my gosh. Thank you so much for coming today. It's been really awesome to talk to you. You're super inspirational
[00:31:48] Cheryl: Well, thank you for inviting me. I was like, "Oh." I felt like so privileged.
[00:31:53] Kym: Yeah. I saw you posted the group. I was like, "That is so cool. Please come on the podcast." Yeah,
[00:31:59] Cheryl: Yeah, next year I'm looking at Croatia. I wanna start just like looking at different places to, to go. And I think the other thing too on the boat is that with the women's wellness retreat on a boat, boats are normally a man's domain and women are making such strides. The youngest person to ever solo circumnavigate, go around the world by herself, was a 14-year-old girl named Laura Dekker.
[00:32:25] Yeah. and so many women are, are making... Jeanne Socrates, 83 years old. I met her in Mexico. I met her again in New Zealand after she had sailed herself there. She held the title, she's the oldest woman to solo circumnavigate. Um, So, so many women are taking into that boat thing, the mechanics of it, the just everything, the care of the boat.
[00:32:48] It's, it's actually pretty amazing. So having the boat is also empowering women to step into a side of themselves that maybe they haven't visited before.
[00:32:57] Kym: Yeah. Oh my gosh, that's so cool. I've always thought I wanted to, I would like to learn to sail, It's one of those kinda like bucket list things. Yeah, that's amazing. Super
[00:33:06] Cheryl: what better way to do that other than in Greece surrounded by other
[00:33:10] Kym: That's right. Yeah.
[00:33:11] Cheryl: show you?
[00:33:13] Kym: I love it. I love it. Thank you so much. It's been great getting to know you.
[00:33:19] Cheryl: Oh, Kim, thank you. I really appreciate it. Again, so inspired by, by all the information that you're putting out there. Thank you for compiling all that, making it a possibility for people who might feel overwhelmed with all those logistics. Thank you so much