Carry On with Kelley

A little bit about my life in Antigua.

My first week in Antigua, Guatemala

On my last day in Mexico, join me as I wrap up my stay in the Yucatan.

An update on my time in Campeche Mexico, and my experience watching the Super Bowl in countries outside the US.

After 10 days in Campeche, I am a regular at two different cafes. That is a sign of a successful transition in this new town.

It's already the end of January and I'm still feeling untethered. But in the best possible way. As I continue to re-design the life I want to move forward with, and my living situation/residency up in the air, I made the decision to relocate to somewhere warmer....at least until the spring thaw. This season, I will be carrying on in Campeche.

Winding down 2021 and Season 4. 2022 did not get started as planned. Therefore we will pause on starting Season 5.

I graduated today. Seton Hill University. MBA. Life has a been a bit of a whirlwind since I returned from Peru in October. Today was a big step towards managing that whirlwind.

A week long exercise in Self-discovery and getting over my own issues. Hopefully the learning will continue.

My week in Ayacucho. And, perhaps I could live in Miraflores? More to follow on that.

After having been grounded 17 months, I finally had an opportunity to board a flight to an international destination. This starts my 5 week Peruvian adventure. This episode outlines how my travel went, overall, and a bit about my first few days in Ayacucho.

A quick episode 1 to kick off season 4. I recorded this episode on September 7th - almost midnight. My sister is picking me up at 7:30 tomorrow morning to take me to the airport. I'm not packed....but I am ready to Carry On.

August 12 2019 was the end of my quick jaunt to Tasmania. August 12, 2016 was the beginning of my trip around the world. Both worthy memories!

My love of Facebook memories continues. Two years ago today I was in Australia visiting BeeGee Way. Three years ago, taking a boat down the river in Cambodia to the floating village. I am so excited to see where I will be next year!

I took a little road trip to reconnect with an old friend. This little journey has made me more comfortable, and much more confident, to move forward with planning my Peruvian adventure.

July 14, 2019 I boarded a flight to Australia, 80 days post transplant. I didn't have the strength to walk through the airports, and I didn't think to reserve a wheelchair. But what I did have was the determination......

After an unexpected hiatus, I give you Episode 8 of Season 3. A general update on life - Pilates, Cancer / Health Update, MBA classes, and upcoming travel. I believe the languishing part of life is over. It is time to flourish!

I realized the past few weeks I've shared pictures of Sri Lanka, and have said in the podcast that it was a magical experience, but I never really talk about my trip. So...in today's episode of Carry on with Kelley, I share some of my Sri Lankan stories. These random pictures of Fort Galle show a little of that magic. As a note - at the beginning of Season 3 I clearly stated I had no idea what direction life was heading but here we are 7 episodes in, and a plan is starting to lay itself out in front of me. Stay tuned as I start to share a bit about these upcoming plans.

When I was physically unhealthy, I tried everything - cupping, acupuncture, myofacial release, healing, mixobustion before I was taken to the hospital. For my mental health, why not give my therapist new tools to help me. Enter a tarot card reader. Today, I talk about the messages me brought from four of the cards. Enjoy.

I am so close to figuring it all out. Last time I was "here" - Mid-2018. Living in Cambodia and just jumping on a plane on a whim. We'll get back there.....

The short answer - yes! Yes...all of this languishing needs to stop. I haven't recorded an episode in a few weeks - this episode serves as a little catch up. We'll probably need next week to catch up too. But, for now, I give you Episode 4!

Have you read Adam Grant's article from the NY Times about languishing? A quick read.... (https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/19/well/mind/covid-mental-health-languishing.html) It is clear to me that I am languishing. And that is where today's podcast starts.

Episode 2 picks up where Episode 1 ended, at my stem cell retrival. And we walk through my chemo and first few days post transplant. Fast-forward to today...and my first post-covid bit of travel.

Two years ago today, 7 million stem cell were transplanted into my body. A medical procedure meant to save my life. At this point, I believe we can safely say that it did. I expected to want to celebrate this day, but instead was quite introspective. I thought a lot about what I want to do with "new life", about how I want to carry on from here.

I flew home from Sydney on March 22, 2020 in the middle of a global pandemic. This day will go in my record books as the longest day of my life. That record was previously held by September 11, 2016 - the day I left Hong Kong to return to New York, which was the last leg of my epic 45th birthday trip around the world. This is the story of my homecoming, and the start of what happens next.

I flew to Sydney on March 11, 2020 for a visit with Sarah (whom I met in Cambodia.) My memories are murky with a Covid haze......

I am not sure where my obsession with Koalas came from. But when I went to Australia in the summer of 2019 - I had to hold a Koala. We visited the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. I did the whole Koala experience.

March 1, 2020 - I was in Legian, Bali. I started writing the stories of how I ended up in Legian in 2018. Those stories have become chapters in the book I am writing, and episodes of this podcast. And we have come full circle.....

February 26, 2020 - Singapore. The trip was full of self-discovery, and Covid. This would be the first time Covid actually interfered with my travel plans with canceled flights to Maylasia. But keep in mind.... Covid-19 was not yet a pandemic, so Singapore was "business as usual."

A quick stop in Vientiane. I had one goal - to visit the Buddha Park. Oddly....I have two goals, just from this recording alone, for my next visit. Covid is moving quickly now, and the story will continue to pick up steam over the next four or five episodes. One piece of self discovery - five and a half weeks into my journey, the time I spent traveling with others was standing out more than my independent travel. We may need to revisit that as (hopefully) travel plans start to take shape for 2021.

If you ever get a chance to travel to Southeast Asia, I highly recommend taking some time in Luang Prabang. My first journey there was stifled by my then unknown cancer, which made my visit there in 2020 all the more important. Covid related - this would be the first time I would have my temperature taken when entering a country. Health related - I had my visit dose of the Pfizer vaccine on Sunday. Oh...and a little walk down memory lane to my unexpected week visiting Vietnam with a (now) friend.

I arrived in Siem Reap January 20, 2020 and would stay until February 10th. During that time was the first time I had heard of Covid (obviously it wouldn't be the last.) I watched the Super Bowl while I was in Cambodia....so I spend part of this episode going down a football related memory lane through my life.

Recorded on February 4, 2021 - World Cancer Day, I look back on my 2020 trip to Chiang Mai. I started to regain my independence on this trip, and for the first time found hope that my life may continue to carry on.

2020: After I got over my jetlag, and had my sense of travel back, I flew 90 minutes north in Chiang Rai. 2021: I am learning Spanish in an attempt to carry on with life.

As we move into 2021 and season 2 of Carry On with Kelley, I am going to treat this season a little differently. I will spend part of each episode talking about where I was last year (2020) during this time period - where I was mentally, physically and globally. And I want to spend some time each week talking about what I am doing today (2021) to continue to carry on. Join me, as I carry on...

As 2020 winds down, I discuss my 2020 wins. And outline where I see 2021 going for my life. Join me as I carry on.

I love when Facebook Memories show up. They take me back to a time in life when the world was open. Or remind me of how far I've come. On this day in 2017, I was in Bangkok getting my passport renewed. And in 2018, Reggie was visiting from Australia. These are my memories....

I've been thinking a lot about Cambodia lately. The memories are so lively and colorful. I hold that year so close to my heart for it changed me. It changed my core, as few things do. Last week on The Amazing Race, the teams raced through Siem Reap and my heart exploded watching the episode. I hope you enjoy my love letter to some of the people I met while I was living in Cambodia.

November was a month of doctor's appointments. Not because anything was "off" but because all of my follow up schedules fell on the same month. My monthly Oncologist appointment. A 6 month check-up with my Hematologist. A surgical follow up with my neurosurgeon. X-rays. Scans. Regular bloodwork. And a round of immunizations. Just a normal month for a cancer patient.

Fall 2019 - as I recovered physically from my stem cell transplant, mentally I crashed. Enter "J", my therapist. As part of a research study through The University of Pittsburgh, we talk each week. She has helped me, mentally, maneuver through my grief as I maneuver through this world.

Throughout my 20's I talked about writing a book called Of All the Men. Each chapter would be a story about a man in my life and the lessons he taught me. As I wrote this book, Carry On: Packing Travel, Cancer, Recovery and Self-Discovery in One Small Bag, there are a few men that deserve mentioning. And this is the first.

Did you ever wonder how it came that I was living in Southeast Asia? This episode starts to talk about the events that led me to leave New York, and start over.

Carry on: Packing Travel, Cancer, Recovery and Self-Discovery in One Small Bag. An intro to why travel is important to me.

After returning to the country, I go through the process of finding out what kind of cancer I have, and what treatment I will follow going forward.

I'm writing a book. Carry On: Packing Travel, Cancer, Recovery and Self-Discovery in One Small Bag. The goal of this podcast is to unpack that small bag a little at a time, one story at a time. Episode one, really the first thing we need to unpack, is my cancer. In November 2018, I was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma, stage 3, terminal. The average life expectancy - 29 months. This is the story of my life leading up to that diagnosis, and the story of how I found out I had cancer. Join me as I carry on.

The journey I have taken the past four years has been epic, and I think there is a story here to tell. So after almost thirty years of talking about it, I am finally writing a book - Carry on: Packing Travel, Cancer, Recovery and Self-Discovery in One Small Bag. This podcast will be a companion to that book, helping me weave those stories together and carry them forward.