Grief healing through travel isn’t just an idea—it became a lifeline for today’s guest, Laurie Giannola. In this powerful episode, Laurie shares how hitting the road in her RV helped her process back-to-back personal tragedies, including the loss of her sister, her beloved dog, and her best friend. With raw honesty and deep insight, Laurie opens up about choosing motion over stagnation and letting nature do its quiet work.
Laurie’s story is one of heartbreak, healing, and rediscovering purpose. Whether you’ve experienced loss or simply crave a deeper connection to your journey as a therapist and human, this conversation will stay with you.
In this Episode, We Explore…
Connect with Laurie:
Website - https://www.road-to-resilience-psychotherapy.com/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/23feetoffur
Connect with me:
Instagram: @thetravelingtherapist_kym
The Traveling Therapist Membership: www.kymtolson.kartra.com/page/travelingtherapistmembership
Revolutionize Your Private Practice with AI Course: www.kymtolson.kartra.com/page/ai
Signup to learn more about life as a Traveling Therapist: https://www.portablepracticemethod.com/free-training
The Traveling Therapist Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/onlineandtraveling/
Bill Like A Boss Insurance Billing Community: www.kymtolson.kartra.com/page/blab
Subscribe to the Podcast:
Apple iTunes | Spotify | Google Podcast | Stitcher | Amazon | Castbox
______________________________
Sponsored by Berries: Say goodbye to the burden of mental health notes with automated note and treatment plan creation! https://heyberries.com/therapists
Sponsored by Alma: Managing a private practice can be challenging. There are obstacles at every turn — from navigating the credentialing process, to managing finances, to finding new clients. That’s where Alma can help. Alma is on a mission to simplify access to mental health care by focusing first and foremost on supporting clinicians. https://helloalma.com/kym
______________________________
Transcript:
[00:01:16] Hi everybody. Welcome back to another episode of the Traveling Therapist podcast. Really excited to have our guest today. Super interesting story. Laurie Gla. Thanks for being here. I really appreciate you taking the time. I always start out and just say, you know, how did you go from being a traditional therapist to a traveling therapist?
[00:01:34] Laurie: you know, I worked for an outdoor wilderness program back when I first graduated in 2000, I was looking for something non-traditional. I was looking for something that I can incorporate. My love of nature and what I believed, could be so valuable to kids. And especially kids that really never had the chance.
[00:01:56] So it was a program for incarcerated kids. Um, yeah, it was developed by a native American Crow Indian, and a man by the name of Bob Burton, and they fused together and they had this program I'm not sure if it exists the way, it doesn't the way that it used to, but I was putting together horses.
[00:02:15] This is before Google. It was like ass jebs. And I'm like, how do I find this? You know, and I interviewed for the job in I'm from New York. I interviewed in Jersey. I went in for the interview. I came out with the job, but he had asked me, do you want to, we have a position here and in Arizona, and I had never been to Arizona, so I was like, I'll go to Arizona. Yeah. Yeah. Not knowing, yes, it was in the middle of the desert. Yeah. Yeah.
[00:02:44] Kym: I, I remember when I was a teenager, right? I was kind of a troubled teen. I remember a psychiatrist suggesting she should go on one of these wilderness camp adventure things that's
[00:02:53] Laurie: Mm-hmm.
[00:02:53] Kym: her with boundaries and, you know, all that stuff.
[00:02:55] and I know there's tons of programs out there like that that exists
[00:02:58] Therapists to get involved
[00:03:00] Laurie: yeah.
[00:03:00] Kym: you know, maybe you could tell us a little bit about what those are, but.
[00:03:03] Laurie: Yeah,
[00:03:03] Kym: they're, you know, therapeutic whitewater rafting or hiking or
[00:03:07] Laurie: yeah. All of it.
[00:03:08] Kym: learning skill sets from doing those type of and that sort of thing.
[00:03:11] Laurie: Yes, yes. They were typically inner city kids everywhere from California to Chicago. And this program specifically had what were called wagon trains. And they were. Old pioneer wagon trains and we would take the kids out for months at a time. They would build their own teepees. We would cut the trees, build their teepees.
[00:03:33] They would learn how to ride horses. I mean, these kids, some of them really thrived. They had never seen a horse. They learned how to connect with an animal. They got to be kids probably for the first time in their lives. And, you know, recidivism rate was 50% we were told.
[00:03:54] but putting them back into their environment was always tough. But we gave them that experience. They were adjudicated. So it was the courts that were saying, okay, it's a locked facility, or the middle of nowhere, no fences. You can't really run far if you tried to run, yeah. I spent eight years just traveling around the country because they had programs in several states.
[00:04:19] So I was everywhere from Florida to Arizona to where else was I? Maryland a couple of times in Montana. So everywhere.
[00:04:28] Kym: were you already licensed at that point, or was that before your licensure? Oh, okay.
[00:04:32] Laurie: Yeah, it was my first job out of grad school with my license. Yep. And in Arizona. And I was with them for only one year. At first, the program was having some difficulties. All the programs, those type of programs were having some struggles. Yeah. And
[00:04:50] Kym: thinking like funding,
[00:04:52] Laurie: yes.
[00:04:52] Kym: imagine that there would be complications with that for sure.
[00:04:55] Laurie: Yes. And there was a lot of those scared straight programs at the time. So they were trying to move out of military style and add the therapy component. So it was tough at first. There was really not a lot of clinical staff, so it was like, you know, they, they kind of threw us in. So I was there for a year and then I did resign to come back to New York and. Oddly enough, while I was here, nine 11 happened, so I, yeah, I got to be part of a crisis unit that went down and worked with survivors and victims of, yeah, the families of the victims.
[00:05:34] but then I called my former boss and I asked for my job back, and he was like, I knew you'd be back. I knew, I know you're kind. Yeah. Yeah.
[00:05:44] Kym: and I read your bio, that really is, you like being out in nature and just,
[00:05:47] Laurie: Yeah.
[00:05:48] Kym: adventurous, that type of personality, that type of spirit.
[00:05:51] That's amazing. So you did that for, how long did you say? Eight
[00:05:54] Laurie: I did that for eight years total. That includes the first time, and then I was promoted to clinical director, and yeah. From there, I. You know, wanted a change of pace and, came back to New York and started working for a DBT clinic. And loved it. Just loved DBT, loved that part of it, and still got to do, I was certified in equine assisted psychotherapy, so still got to do that up here.
[00:06:23] Connected up with some, some. Barnes and got to do that. So I was up here for a couple of years with a DBT clinic, and then from there I went to Kaiser Permanente.
[00:06:33] Kym: Interesting. Wow. What a, what
[00:06:35] Laurie: so real, real difference. Real difference.
[00:06:38] Kym: done all kinds of stuff.
[00:06:39] Laurie: Mm-hmm.
[00:06:40] Kym: equine assisted therapy, how do you get certified in that? that's so interesting. Yeah.
[00:06:45] Laurie: there's a couple of different agencies I wanna say who, do this. So I went with EG. Gala, which is Equine Assisted Growth and Learning. Yeah. Mm-hmm.
[00:06:53] Kym: Now what can you, do with that? 'cause people ask me that occasionally. They'll be like, I love horses. I, you know, how can I travel and work with horses and help people? Like, I actually hear that question
[00:07:02] Laurie: Yeah. Yeah. how you do it.
[00:07:04] Kym: that certification?
[00:07:05] Like how would you apply it like out in the real world if somebody wanted to do something like that? I'm just curious.
[00:07:09] Laurie: Meaning for a therapist who wanted to do it. Mm-hmm.
[00:07:13] Kym: Like a therapist that
[00:07:14] Laurie: Yeah.
[00:07:14] Kym: get into that
[00:07:15] Laurie: Yeah, I would connect with some barns, you know, get the certification and then if there's any local barns, just let them know what you do. And the way that Egal is designed is that there's a therapist and there's the horse person who's sort of navigating and watching from a distance, but the therapist is the one who's using, you know, these activities and the behaviors as that clinical process.
[00:07:40] It is neat. Even if you're not a horse lover, I highly recommend, you know, at least trying to participate in one of the activities. Yeah,
[00:07:49] Kym: Yeah. You know, 'cause you'll see like, I used to, I'm a certified substance abuse counselor, so
[00:07:53] Laurie: yeah,
[00:07:53] Kym: to refer people to residential treatment of places and there was always like an equine
[00:07:57] Laurie: yeah. Mm-hmm.
[00:07:58] Kym: a huge piece that they tried to incorporate in a lot of residential treatment facilities that's
[00:08:03] Laurie: Yeah, it's a good start. It's a good start, especially when there's trust issues. So to make a connection, develop that compassion and empathy and build on that you know, so I think it's really important, especially with, individuals who do have trust issues with humans.
[00:08:21] Mm-hmm.
[00:08:22] Kym: yes, so then you went to Kaiser Permanente. I can
[00:08:25] Laurie: Mm-hmm. Right. Took me a while. Yeah.
[00:08:29] Kym: so you went there and I guess, how was that just like working for insurance? Was it like
[00:08:33] Laurie: Yeah.
[00:08:34] Kym: you like in an office
[00:08:35] Laurie: We were in an office. We, we started to, move into remote. And, you know, we were just getting trained in it right around the time where, where I left. And, interestingly enough, we all got the training, so it wasn't that foreign when COVID hit um, but that was great. I loved my colleagues.
[00:08:55] the, the tough part was, not being able to take a breath between patients. Yeah. was a lot.
[00:09:02] Kym: were, you were in the role of actually still seeing patients that were employees of the, of Kaiser or,
[00:09:08] Laurie: Both federal government, anybody who had Kaiser insurance. Mm-hmm. Yeah. So it's Kaiser's really an it's all under one roof, and if you have Kaiser insurance, everything is at their facilities.
[00:09:22] Kym: Yeah.
[00:09:24] Laurie: Yeah.
[00:09:24] Kym: know, I, I'm on LinkedIn and I always get these notifications like, case manager for UnitedHealthcare or something like that for a licensed therapist. And I always
[00:09:31] Laurie: Yeah.
[00:09:31] Kym: like, people that do those jobs, those are sort of nonclinical, I think they're like
[00:09:35] Laurie: Right,
[00:09:35] Kym: and, you know, like
[00:09:37] Laurie: right.
[00:09:38] Kym: requests or that sort of thing.
[00:09:39] I, I'm always curious about that job.
[00:09:41] Laurie: Right, right. Yes. No, we had people doing that for us, which was great. we did our notes and all of that, but we got to really be clinicians. But things started to change after a while, and it was seven clients a day, to nine clients a day, to no lunch, to no breaks, you know? So it's a lot.
[00:09:57] It was, Yeah,
[00:09:58] Kym: much different, I guess, than just being out in Arizona in the middle
[00:10:01] Laurie: yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Do.
[00:10:02] Kym: rafting or whatever you guys did.
[00:10:03] Laurie: Doing therapy on the back of a horse. Yeah.
[00:10:06] Kym: let's talk about what you're doing now. 'cause I think you're just living a really cool life now, and I'd love for people to hear how you're
[00:10:12] Laurie: Yeah, this is where it gets interesting.
[00:10:16] So I left Kaiser because my sister, my older sister's, 17 months apart got very sick and ended up in a facility, a nursing home facility. She was very young. She's probably. 50 when she went in. And so I knew I had to get up here and however I was gonna do that, I had to turn my life upside down and just hope for the best and figure out where I was going to land, what I was going to do when I got back here.
[00:10:45] So I reconnected with the DBT clinic you know, stayed in touch with them for many years and was offered a position.
[00:10:53] While building my own practice. And so I had my office and I was going to their office. So I had two days and three days. so that was, 2019, and then comes 2020 and the nursing home shut down.
[00:11:09] was like six months before we could even get in and visit. So it was visits by window and it was tough. So when things started to open up and we got the vaccines and we put our masks on and we were allowed back in at that time, and I got to spend the last few months with her at her bedside.
[00:11:31] So it was. You know, I think as therapists, you know, we are human and valuable too. So, you know, we could have our vision and you know, what we have to do and get our, practices up and running. And then there's that other side of it where we have to figure out our own emotions and to be able to process some of this.
[00:11:53] So. When COVID happened and she was in the nursing home, that's when I bought the rv. That's when I got it. And, you know, I, I joke with my friends 'cause I say I, I'm the kind of person that puts the cart before the horse. Not always the best idea, but I did it this time. So I got the rv and then I was like.
[00:12:12] Okay, I gotta figure out how to do this. So started learning as I was going and taking small trips out, and at the same time started to gut the whole thing and lay new floor down upholster paint and trying to chip away and make it mine. And when my sister passed away, I just simply took the RV and I rented a house in upstate New York and I was there for about a year.
[00:12:43] And at that time I had a puppy. His name was River and he was two years old. I, I was fostering him initially and he was very sick and pretty much unadoptable, so I adopted him. and tried to figure out what his illness was, took him to doctors, took him, surgeons, specialists, anything.
[00:13:05] He had this big leg that nobody could figure out. And um, at that point You could see there was some neurological issues happening and to the point that he mauled me, and it was probably the most terrifying experience of my life. I. I, lost my sister. I was like, I owe it to this dog to find out what this is. I'm not gonna be able to lay my head down at night until I find out.
[00:13:32] So took him to a bunch of specialists and basically the prognosis was whatever is causing this is now gone to his brain. And, there was really not much more I could do, and then he went lame on his front leg. So it was the back leg now, the front leg and this neurological stuff simultaneously.
[00:13:53] One of my best friends, my closest friend had lost her only child. so this is January where I ultimately had put river down which I. I thought was the second hardest thing I've encountered. So there was, you know, this back to back within a year and then finding out that my friend's son passed away and she, I knew she was not gonna survive it and she, told me she was not planning on staying on this planet without her son.
[00:14:26] So, I said to her, she said, I don't want you to put on your therapist hat. I just need you to understand. And I said to her, I don't put my therapist hat on with friends, but I'm putting my friend hat on. And, you know, there's this interesting phenomena I guess that happened that I. I never imagined I would have this experience.
[00:14:48] There was one side of me that was saying, okay, my therapist had, maybe I work with high risk clients. Maybe she just needs to have this in her back pocket as an option.
[00:15:00] There was the other side that was saying, she's going to do this.
[00:15:04] So when that realization hit, I called her. This is, I wanna say River was January of 2022 and I packed up my house in February and I begged her to please come on the road with me.
[00:15:21] Just come on the road, let's do one last trip together. Let's just do this. Let's roam. She said, okay. And I'm thinking in.
[00:15:31] Kym: goosebumps all over my body.
[00:15:33] Laurie: Yeah, thinking there was part of me again that was saying, yeah, she's gonna get on the road. She's gonna love it. She's gonna be amazed by this. Wherever she wants to land, I'll stay there with her.
[00:15:43] We'll heal her. We'll, whatever I could do, I'm looking up equine programs for her grief programs, all of this. And then there's this part of me that's saying, just be with her.
[00:15:53] So we were on the road for about two weeks. And when I said goodbye to her and she was going back home, I knew it was going to be the last time that I saw her.
[00:16:03] So Mother's Day of 2023, get a text from her and she said, I, I wanna thank you for, you know, being a great friend and I love you, and I'm, I'm sorry. And, in a few hours I won't be here. Now switch to therapist. Is this a cry for help?
[00:16:20] So I go back to where I filed away a conversation and I remembered the name of the bridge and I knew what kind of car she drove.
[00:16:30] I called a friend who knew her well and I said, I got this text. This is what's happening. I don't know if I can call the police because it will save her and she will hate me. And he's like, I'll call them. So he called. He called me back with the police. I gave them the name of the bridge. I gave them the car, the bumper sticker, everything, and they found her.
[00:16:57] Kym: gosh.
[00:16:58] Laurie: And they brought her to a hospital and she texted me a scathing text and she said, you said you understood. And I wrote her back and I said, I did understand. I said, you texted me hours before you were going to do this. I don't know if it's you know, cry for help. I didn't know what it was. I said, but the other thing is I'm the only one that knew this.
[00:17:22] Nobody else your family didn't know. Your friends didn't know, so you are going to search for peace in what you're about to do, but I'm going to be left with the suffering and I will not be able to lay my head down. So she called me and she said, okay, I was angry at you for about 43 seconds.
[00:17:42] So she was in the hospital for a week.
[00:17:45] Her friends and family got to say goodbye.
[00:17:47] And we were all in, you know, communication. Everybody was coming up with ideas to try to save her, to try to help her programs, whatever it is. And I kept saying to them, I did that. I tried that I was gonna buy her a horse. I took her on our trip, I brought her to a farm.
[00:18:05] I said, I'm gonna buy because she's a horse person. I said, I'm gonna get you a horse. Let's go. And we drive all the way there and they're closed.
[00:18:13] Kym: Oh no.
[00:18:15] Laurie: Yeah. So she said, I appreciate it, but I don't think a horse is gonna do it. So I knew she was so intense on this, and you know, so now it was. It was, how do we all love her, allow her and say goodbye to her?
[00:18:32] And one week later, and I did say to her, please don't text me before, because it'll be like Groundhog Day and it will happen again.
[00:18:41] And she didn't. And, so we, we waited and we got the call from the police and they found her. And I have not come off the road since that day
[00:18:52] because I knew that I had to tap into the very thing that I believe so strongly in. And that is to allow myself to be immersed in nature
[00:19:05] and be in this RV and live the hardest days of my life so that I could lay my head down and go right to sleep, and you know, to live with the unexpected, to live with, the challenges to live with challenges I I heard a long time ago, Kim, I heard when I was probably about 17 years old, I heard an expression that says the cure for grief is motion, and it became literal and figuratively.
[00:19:32] So I said, I'm giving myself 365 days in this RV to heal. to help my brain and to wire it and not let it go in that other direction of hopelessness and excruciating pain from these consecutive losses.
[00:19:55] Kym: Yes.
[00:19:56] Laurie: there was a lot of flooding.
[00:19:57] Kym: work you did with, with nine 11 and, and you know, all of that. I mean, you,
[00:20:02] Laurie: Mm-hmm.
[00:20:02] Kym: many years of this stuff.
[00:20:04] Laurie: Yeah. Yeah. And so 365 days of, traveling, 365 days in my rv, 365 days of hiking, rain or shine, no matter what.
[00:20:18] Kym: Oh my goodness. And that's what you're doing right now? Are you in the 365 days now or have
[00:20:22] Laurie: I am in my second year. I just completed, I picked her up on March 26th of 23. So this March was two years. Two years, yeah. So every day was
[00:20:39] going out into the forest with my dogs. Some days I would just. let it shine and bring it down into my body and my soul and recharge. And then there were days I was on my knees screaming, but who's gonna hear me?
[00:20:54] Kym: Well, that's true
[00:20:55] Laurie: Yes. Yes. Mm-hmm.
[00:20:58] Kym: so what was the journey like for you? I mean, I hear what you're saying, like there were great
[00:21:02] Laurie: Yeah.
[00:21:03] Kym: immersed and very happy and then like, and
[00:21:05] Laurie: Yeah.
[00:21:06] Kym: of grief anyway, I guess is good days and not so good days and kind of working through it.
[00:21:10] So you just before we hit record, you were saying that you kind of just go where the wind takes you
[00:21:15] Laurie: yeah,
[00:21:16] Kym: hear about that process. It's like, if you're having a bad week or a bad day with the grief process,
[00:21:21] does it make you wanna get up and go to a certain place where you have memories or just how, like,
[00:21:24] Laurie: Hm mm-hmm.
[00:21:25] Kym: about the process for you, like
[00:21:27] Laurie: Yeah.
[00:21:28] Kym: worked for you?
[00:21:29] Laurie: Yeah. It was really interesting because. with that motion and you know, if things get tough I'll just change my scenery and I'll, but I also knew at the same time that it's not about running from it. The goal wasn't to run, From it. The goal was to keep moving because movement is what, feeds my soul.
[00:21:51] And I wanna add that it's not easy either because I, I have a chronic illness as well. I have fibromyalgia, so,
[00:21:58] Kym: Yes.
[00:21:59] Laurie: but I've always been an active person and I say, you know, it's not gonna, I'm not gonna injure myself. I'm not gonna, you know, I may end up in bed for three days, but a lot of it is moving through it and I think.
[00:22:11] Moving through the physical and moving through the emotional and not losing sight of the emotion because we've got to feel it, you know, if we are talking about the waves of grief, honoring the process, honoring whatever comes up the anger, honor it. 'cause you're allowed the bargaining.
[00:22:31] I got stuck in bargaining for a long time. That was where I think that stage of it was big for me. And, and then going back out into the forest and looking through the eyes of my animals because they are in the present moment. And so sometimes it would have to be, you know, sometimes it was a real challenge and then sometimes it was, you know, yeah, I can do this, I can do this.
[00:22:58] And I also had this, little voice that was saying, don't make any friends, don't do that because that's another person to lose. You've got friends, you've got great community, don't do it. And I ended up in Black Mountain, North Carolina,
[00:23:11] and.
[00:23:12] Kym: Wow.
[00:23:12] Laurie: my neighbor who was a full-timer there she had a little dog and I see her one day and she's got her little dog and I see her a couple of days later and I was like, where's your dog?
[00:23:23] And she said, she just passed away. And right there
[00:23:26] Kym: Oh,
[00:23:26] Laurie: hugs, and she was probably like, oh my gosh, you didn't even know my dog. But she had no idea of the, the history. So I stayed there through that winter and I said, okay, this was really my goal, to see if I can make it through a winter in a three season rv.
[00:23:43] so I did a lot of research and I did a lot of insulating and I stayed there through the winter. so my very good friend Terry, she was, we were hiking, she got another puppy. Our puppies were friends and, you know, we did it every day. And I was taking trips in between going to New Orleans, going back up north.
[00:24:04] I, I did have to go back up north and help clear out my friend's house and. Yeah. So, and that's where I got this because we made these with, with, it was a map and, you know, showed, showed where we lived apart and, you know, so
[00:24:20] it was a interesting experience. I left North Carolina and I went to Canada.
[00:24:25] I, from there I just was like, okay, I wanna see Canada, you know? So took that very slow route going up and it's just been amazing. Been back down in North Carolina since then. Reconnected with Terry, we hiked
[00:24:39] So now this is, you know, this is like, as I share the story, I think to myself, I truly believe in, you know, the power of nature and the healing power and animals, and a willingness To do it every day. I had to change my brain. so March 26th of this year was the two year mark since I picked up Denise
[00:25:04] and. That day it gets better. Kim, I found out that my beloved 5-year-old Mountain Kerr was diagnosed with lymphoma.
[00:25:14] Kym: Oh, no,
[00:25:15] Laurie: now the, the great news is that without a doubt it was you know, 'cause I have pet insurance too, was. Let me get back to New York. Let me be where my, my largest support group is and got her into chemotherapy. Five sessions later she's in remission. And yeah. So, I truly believe that, how this all unfolded, we cannot change the fate of anybody's life, but we can change how we look at it, and we can change how we feel about it. We can, honor whatever the experience is. We're allowed to fall to our knees and sob our eyes out and then get back up and do more healing.
[00:26:02] Kym: Yes. And the insight you had to just be like, I've just gotta go, I've just gotta do this. And then to just.
[00:26:08] Keep moving, you
[00:26:09] Laurie: Yeah,
[00:26:09] Kym: letting yourself heal. And just like paying attention to when, you know, the
[00:26:13] Laurie: yeah.
[00:26:14] Kym: felt right and
[00:26:15] Laurie: Mm-hmm.
[00:26:15] Kym: for a while and then, and then moving on to new connections and new adventures and that sort of thing. amazing. All while navigating, like healing from all this grief you had.
[00:26:25] Laurie: it was that, or, and I rem I said this out loud to somebody. I don't think I can be a therapist after that loss because, you know, if I think for a moment that I have any power over saving the life of anybody, I'm disillusioned it can't happen. I could do my best as a therapist with the people that I work with, but everything else is out of my control.
[00:26:54] So how do I live a life that is out of my control and in, you know, the parts that I can control? And even, living in an rv, I always say the plan is there is no plan. Expect the unexpected. You don't know if one day you've got be somewhere and you've got clients. I've got clients at one o'clock and it's 10:00 AM and I can't get my awning in.
[00:27:15] And now I'm in my manual and I'm on YouTube and I'm like, how do I do this? Yeah. So it's like rerouting and recalibrate. Yes,
[00:27:25] Kym: it, it has the internet for you. I know that's always such a
[00:27:28] Laurie: it's,
[00:27:29] Kym: RVers.
[00:27:30] Laurie: yeah.
[00:27:31] Kym: use like starlink or something like that, or,
[00:27:33] Laurie: I don't have starlink yet. I have a weebo that's mounted up top. And then I have it's another wifi extender for when I am at. Camps with wifi, so that'll boost it. Yeah. And you know, with the apps these days, you could put in your criteria. It's like, okay, who has wifi? I love Hipc Camp and Hipc Camps.
[00:27:56] has that also. So you know, my, criteria two must haves wifi and hiking trails.
[00:28:03] Kym: Yeah. I love it. That's
[00:28:04] Laurie: it. Everything else, I don't care.
[00:28:06] Kym: That's amazing.
[00:28:07] Laurie: Yeah.
[00:28:08] Kym: a journey.
[00:28:09] Laurie: Yeah.
[00:28:10] Kym: sharing with us. And it's like, seems like full circle to me. Like you started out in the adventure camps, being out in the na in nature and, helping these kids like
[00:28:17] Laurie: Yeah.
[00:28:18] Kym: in that environment. And then you kind of like did the same thing for yourself in a
[00:28:21] Laurie: Yes. Mm-hmm.
[00:28:24] Kym: any thoughts of like stopping or are you just gonna keep going?
[00:28:27] Laurie: I get asked that question all the time. Yes. Right. I don't have a reason yet to stop, maybe when there's a reason one day you know, the thing that happened with Tula, who's my dog? When that happened, I came to New York, you know, I'm at mom and dad's, thankfully. They've got, you know, the big yard, I have the RV on the side of it.
[00:28:47] It's all fenced in, and I keep the gate open so the dogs are in and out all day. So I'll be here till August. She'll be done with her treatment then. And then I, you know, She just loves being out. She loves it. She's a mountain car, you know, they're a very, very old breed. Came over with the pioneers and so I wanna take her back to Maine.
[00:29:08] That's our goal.
[00:29:09] Kym: that's amazing. How beautiful.
[00:29:10] Laurie: Yeah.
[00:29:11] Kym: Oh, what a great story.
[00:29:12] Laurie: Hmm.
[00:29:12] Kym: for sharing with us. I
[00:29:14] Laurie: Yeah. Thank you.
[00:29:16] Kym: and I don't know if anybody wants to reach out to you or talk to you. How would they find you?
[00:29:20] Laurie: Yeah, so I have let's see, my Facebook page, which is my name, and I also have an Instagram, it is called 23 Feet of Fur.
[00:29:30] because I've had, I have the two dogs and one of them is a Shepherd, Husky mix, both shedding breed, the most shedding breeds combined into one. So. 23 feet far is my Instagram.
[00:29:41] And it's really, I mean, I think if you saw the posts, they're typically just videos of our days out and added to music, and it's actually the images of the journey. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Oh, thank you. Yeah.
[00:29:58] Kym: Thank you. No. We live in Airbnbs.
[00:30:01] Laurie: Nice.
[00:30:02] Kym: Airbnb to Airbnb
[00:30:04] my boyfriend's like a big tall guy and he's like, I never wanna be in an rv.
[00:30:08] Laurie: Yes. Right.
[00:30:09] Kym: of space.
[00:30:10] Laurie: They need fifth wheels.
[00:30:11] Kym: Yeah, exactly.
[00:30:12] Well, thank you so much for taking the time today, and I just, I love hearing your journey and I hope it continues to be healing and wonderful for you and
[00:30:20] Laurie: Yeah, absolutely. And I know there's so many people out there. We all experience loss. We experience it in our very personal ways. There's nobody who could tell you how to do it, and there's no timeline. I. But if anybody wants to reach out and you know, I know a little bit of the neuroscience and rickson stuff and changing the brain and a whole lot of connecting with nature.
[00:30:47] Kym: I love that so much. Thank you
[00:30:48] Laurie: Yeah. Thank you for having me. Thank you, for allowing me to share their stories.