Down To Wander

In this episode, I chat with Katie. She shares about her time growing up in Ukraine as a missionary, her experiences in Ukraine and her love for the country, and the impacts the recent war has had on her emotionally. Big thanks to Katie for her patience as this was recorded in early May and I just got around to editing it with how crazy things have been. If you're interested in donating to organizations devoted to helping Ukraine and their citizens, please consider the following organizations provided by Katie:   Come Back Alive (Military supplies)Website: savelife.in.ua/en/donatePatreon: patreon.com/savelife_in_uaArmy SOS (Military supplies)armysos.com.ua/en/help-the-armySupport Ukrainian Hospitals (Healthcare)uahospitals.org/donateKyiv independent (Independent journalism)Patreon: patreon.com/kyivindependentTabletochki (Helping children with cancer)tabletochki.org/en/donate_nowHappy Paws (Homeless cats and dogs)happypaw.ua/en/contributionHappy Old (Senior care)happyold.com.ua/helpWomen's Perspectives (Helping domestic abuse survivors and promoting gender equality)women.lviv.ua/en/pidtrymaty-2    

In this episode, I chat with comedian, musician, and actor Zach Dresch. In this episode, we talk about his comedy and music career, how his anxiety and depression has impacted him, his struggles with body image issues, and how the stage helps him to cope. Big thanks to Zach for his patience as this interview was recorded back in April! Also want to note that this guy has blown up in the last few months. It seems like every month I'm hearing about more and more accomplishments coming from his determination to entertain. Get to know more about Zach here: Facebook: Zach Dresch Instagram: @zadreschYouTube: The Dresch Code Twitter: @zachdresch 

I wouldn't necessarily call this an episode but this week I share a little update regarding the future of the podcast. As much as I want to keep producing weekly content, it just can't continue due to the current circumstances. Listen as I explain what's currently going on and what the future plans are for the podcast. 

In this episode, I chat with Matt. Matt shares about growing up with a mother who struggled with alcoholism, how 9/11 turned his life upside down in a unique way, and how many of his years have been spent caretaking for his parents. Matt openly shares his struggles with supporting his family but also desiring his independence and freedom from the stress that accompanies such a role.   

In this episode, I continue my conversation with Ali from last week. We continue to discuss her rocky road of recovery, her exposure to patient brokering and other predatory actions of some addiction providers, how her relapse after seven years of sobriety was triggered due to her desire to start a family and her bipolar disorder, and how she continues to fight daily using her “secret sauce” for recovery. 

In this episode, I have a deep conversation with Ali. Ali shares about her childhood and early years of drug addiction. We discuss the impacts our fathers' addictions had on our self esteem, her strong desire to escape from emotions with substances, and how her addiction led her into a world of even more trauma and despair. This episode ends with Ali beginning to share more about some of the horrible things that individuals with addiction experience when trying to get clean.      

In this episode, I talk with my friend and former colleague, Kristen. Kristen is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and a mom of two. Since experiencing some struggles herself with postpartum depression and anxiety, she has felt drawn to helping others in similar situations. We discuss some of the common emotions of parenthood, the concerns regarding the lack of maternal mental health assessment in postpartum care, and the importance of reaching out for support. I absolutely love Kristen's vulnerability throughout this episode. If you're interested in connecting with Kristen for therapy services for Virginia residents only, you can call or text her business line at 540-579-2318.    

In this episode, I chat with my former client and nomad friend, Sarah. We discuss how a difficult relationship helped her to get on the road and how losing her job during the pandemic combined with our work together helped her to go towards her goal of starting her own successful business while also having a better quality of life. Sarah is definitely one of those people who knows how to take advantage of life's challenges. If you'd like to learn more about Sarah's business, feel free to connect with her through www.flourishwriting.com.   

In this episode, I chat with Craig Wynne. Craig is a professor, coach, author, and happy bachelor. After a breakup in 2015, Craig stumbled across literature online regarding singlehood and the stigma surrounding it. After learning more about the topic, he became inspired to do his own research and writing on the topic. He has since created a blog at www.thehappybachelor.org, joined other professionals in the field to complete research, written a book called “How To Be a Happy Bachelor”, and started a coaching business specifically for helping others find happiness while being single. 

In this episode, it's just me, myself, and I reflecting back on my first full year of podcasting. I talk about the difficult behind the scene moments in the early days, my amazing guests along with begging for more amazing guests for the future, and share my goals for the future as well as my gratitude for you listeners. I honestly couldn't do it without you. If you want to connect with me to chat, be a guest, or offer feedback, please email me at karri@wanderingsoullifecoaching.com or reach out to me via social media!

In this episode, I chat with my client, Sarah. In honor of Endometriosis Awareness Month, Sarah shares very openly about her experience of dealing with this disorder for the majority of her life. In this episode, you will learn more about the history of the disorder, the symptoms, and the need for additional research. Just a warning that we do talk very openly about vaginas, menstruation, bowel movements, sex, and other things that may be uncomfortable for some; however, Sarah and I both believe that these are things that we should be talking and/or hearing about. Our bodies do both amazing and scary things and keeping quiet encourages unnecessary shame and possibly lack of care for serious concerns. Please join us in our fun yet serious conversation. 

In this episode, I chat with my cousin's wife, Ashley. While this episode is not necessarily connected to last week's episode, the two guests of the episodes are. Last week, I chatted with my cousin Adam regarding his adoption story and this week I'm chatting to his wonderful wife, Ashley. In this episode, Ashley shares about being grateful for Adam and how he helps to support her through tough times. Ashley's tough times started in childhood when she realized that she was struggling with depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation. Like many of us, she found ways to push through the struggles until just a couple of years ago when she decided to get professional help. Ashley shares about her experience of getting help, the important lessons that she's learned along the way, and how she passes those lessons along to her students. 

In this episode, I chat with my youngest cousin on my mom's side, Adam. Adam was adopted from Honduras and entered our family when he was just 8 months old. Adam shares about his adoption story, his struggles of not having information regarding his birth family, and what it was like growing up in our family. Adam expresses deep gratitude regarding his adoption and I can definitely say that I'm grateful for it too.    

In this episode, I chat with Seana. Although you wouldn't know it due to her upbeat personality and robust acting resume, for the past several years, Seana has been dealing with some very complicated health issues. We discuss her childhood diagnosis of Turner's Syndrome, her struggles with kidney issues and now kidney failure, her experience with dialysis, and her hopes of getting a kidney transplant in the near future to greatly improve the quality of her life. To get a glimpse of Seana's writings mentioned in this episode, feel free to check out her blog at https://seanarandomthoughts.water.blog/blog/ and if you're not yet an organ donor but interested in learning more about organ donation, please visit www.organdonor.gov.  

In this episode, my husband Anthony joins me again to officially share the news that WE ARE PREGNANT! We discuss our pregnancy journey thus far including how we found out and told our families, my physical symptoms, and the emotions we have both experienced thus far. As my friend Sarah would say, listen along as a box of crayons and a calculator have a conversation. This is the story of how we made our future Lite Brite.  

In this episode, I chat with Karen. Karen immigrated to the United States from Argentina with her mother when she was only nine years old. We chat about their motivation for the move, her experiences of transitioning to the US, her journey to receiving citizenship, and how she and her mother started a successful cleaning business from the bottom up. If you'd like to keep up to date with Karen's business endeavors, check them out on Instagram @piliscleaningservice.  

In this episode, I continue my chat with Chance from last week. We pick up right where we left off. In this episode, Chance shares about his move to LA, his struggles with substances, and how he was able to find sobriety and healing with encouragement from his always helpful mom.

Chance was such a fun storyteller that I had to break his story down into two episodes. In this episode, Chance shares about his upbringing in Appalachia, his childhood search for a positive male role model, and the struggles he experienced with bullying in school from both staff and peers. 

In this episode, I chat with my good friend, Sarah. We discuss our friendship, her childhood growing up on the road, her profession as an occupational therapist, and how our work together helped her to implement self-care, set boundaries, and find her strength. If you'd like to connect with Sarah, you can find her on Instagram at bond.voyage. 

If you didn't check out my last two episodes where I chatted with Stephanie, I highly recommend doing so because in today's episode we're chatting with her husband, Derrick. Derrick shares about his homeschooling experience, his upbringing in the church, his perspective on their love/hate love story, and how his questioning of the Mormon faith led to their final departure from the church. 

In this episode, I continue my chat from last week with Stephanie. We picked up right where we left off last week when Stephanie was sharing that she would never, ever marry Derrick.  In today's episode, Stephanie shares more about her love hate love story with Derrick as well as the unraveling of their connection with the Mormon church.

This chat with Stephanie was so powerful and engaging that I had to break it down into two episodes. In today's episode, Stephanie shares her story regarding her difficult upbringing. She shares what it was like to suffer abuse by the hands of her mother, her experience of sexual assault as a young adult, and her struggle with sense of self in regards to her Mormon faith. Buckle up for some powerful vulnerability.  

In this episode, I chat with Brian. Brian shares his story of recovery, understanding, and personal growth. Brian's vulnerability had me silent for most of this episode. He shares about how his days of living the high life in his dream house with his high figure salary were the worst times in his life while his two years spent in prison were the best times of his life. Listen along as Brian shares his rocky road to authenticity. Find him and his story on Facebook at The Rocky Road to Authenticity.  

In this episode, I chat with my friend, Lindsay. I finally get to hear the whole story behind what she calls her series of unfortunate events which span from January 2018 to earlier this year. Most of us agree that 2020 was rough, but one of Lindsay's easier moments was when she was fighting Covid. Listen along in awe as she shares her years of extreme challenges and how she managed to survive and now thrive.  

In this episode, I chat with my husband's cousin, Cody. We discuss his history of depression, his thoughts about his own identity, the importance of finding your tribe, and his recent exploration of his newly founded sexual identity. 

In this episode, I chat with Abby. This is actually a follow up episode. In episode 32, I chatted with Gwen about her gender transition and in this episode, I chat with Abby, Gwen's wife. Abby shares her experience of learning about her then husband's desire to transition, supporting Gwen through her transition, and all of the emotions encompassed during this beautiful yet very difficult time. If you haven't yet listened to episode 32, I strongly recommend doing so. These two women are extraordinary. 

In this episode, I chat with my friend Brittany. Brittany is the owner of The Triad Center in Williamsport, Pennsylvania where she practices as a life coach, reiki master and reiki master teacher. Brittany and I both experienced our first taste of reiki together in grad school and she became hooked. While I was in town visiting family, we got together so she could give me a full reiki experience and I could pick her brain on all things energy medicine. Listen along as I learn more. If you want to reach out to Brittany, you can contact her on Facebook at The Triad Center or via email at thetriadcenter@gmail.com.

In this episode, I chat with Ken, my mom's cousin so my first cousin, once removed if you want to get technical. Ken is one of a few family members who lives and farms on my grandfather's family's homestead which was settled in the 1800s. We talk a little about our family history, his experience as a dairy farmer, what impacts business as a farmer, and future plans for the farm. 

In this episode, I continue my conversation with my dad from last week's episode. I highly recommend that you listen to that one prior to this one if you haven't already. This episode starts right back up where we left off last week. We discuss what it was like for both of us during my upbringing, our estrangement, and our reunion.  This one is more emotional and admittedly, I even choked up several times while editing it. Again, I truly believe that vulnerability is the key to healing although it can be scary. My father and I's hope for sharing this conversation is that it helps someone else on their healing journey. 

This week's episode is a unique one. In this episode, I chat with my dad. For those of you who listened to my first episode all about my upbringing, you know that I grew up with a father who was addicted to drugs and alcohol and due to that, I struggled a lot in life. My father and I were estranged for over 12 years until just this summer. This episode was recorded in October and is our first emotional talk since reuniting. I'm breaking our talk down into two parts. This part is where you get to understand my father through hearing his own personal story of his traumatic childhood and his history of addiction. For a long time, I was stuck in only seeing my father as a father and not a person with his own life story. Initially, this made it difficult for me to process my emotions and allow myself to heal and forgive. Because of this, it was important to me that his story be heard. Next week's episode, part two, includes both of our perspectives on our lives together, our estrangement, and our reunion. 

In this episode, I chat with my BumbleBFF friend, Gwen. We discuss her history of depression and disordered eating, her gender transition from the beginning to now, and how she is currently balancing the emotions of excitement from her transition progress with the sadness from the loss of her marriage. 

In this episode, I chat with my cousin, Nicole. We discuss the term matrescence also known as the transition to motherhood. Nicole has three young children; one son who is diagnosed with Autism and thirsty for knowledge and two twin girls who are curious and filled with energy. We discuss Nicole's journey through matrescence including her dive into learning more about Autism, advocating for her son's supports, and the dark times she experienced while trying to balance care for her three children and herself as a stay at home mother.   

In this episode, I chat with my friend, Nikki. We discuss her history of alcohol abuse, how she struggled with identifying if she had an alcohol problem or not, and how she found her recovery program, Recovery Dharma. We also discuss parenting challenges and ADHD. The parenting book I reference and highly recommend in this episode is “Hunt, Gather, Parent: What Ancient Cultures Can Teach Us About the Lost Art of Raising Happy, Helpful, Little Humans” by Michaeleen Doucleff. For those interested in learning more about Recovery Dharma, you can check out www.recoverydharma.org. Should you want to reach out to Nikki, you can contact her on Instagram at barnsiosauras. 

In this episode, I chat with my cousin, Ben. If you didn't check out last week's episode, I highly recommend doing so before or after this episode. In last week's episode, I chatted with Faith about how her mental health impacts her life where Ben is mentioned several times as being an amazing and supportive partner. We continue the story of this dynamic duo as Ben shares about his journey of learning more about mental health, how he supports his wife in her struggles, and his acknowledgement of his own struggles with self-care and emotion expression all with a twist of humor. 

In this episode, I chat with my cousin's wife, Faith. We discuss how bipolar disorder impacts her life, her experience with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), how medical marijuana has changed her life, and how she has turned one of her many coping skills into a unique small business. If you're a pop culture fan, I highly recommend that you check out her creations at FeelinStabby on Etsy. She can also be found on Facebook at FeelinStabby or on Instagram at feelinstabbybyfaith.  

In this episode, I chat with my childhood friend, Tanialee. We discuss how she took a leap of faith and moved across the country, how she got into photography, how we are all our own worst critics, and how photography helps her to process difficult emotions. If you want to connect with Tanialee or check out her photography, you can reach out to her on Instagram at catchstars (personal) or tanialee.photo.

In this episode, I chat with my aunt-in-law, Dottie. We discuss my gram-in-law's history with dementia and Alzheimer's, Dottie's experience of caregiving for her mother, how a daycare program changed their lives, and the importance of living in the moment and creating lasting memories.    

In this episode, I talk with my coaching client, Rickie. We discuss her father's suicide, their relationship, her understanding of his mental health struggles, her struggles and breakthroughs regarding her own mental health, and how stigmatizing mental health can deter individuals from seeking help when needed.   

In this episode, I chat with my former client, Ryan. We discuss how people pleasing can keep us from knowing our true selves, how challenges help us to grow, how love found him when he was least expecting it, how his experience as a runner helps him to tackle other challenges in his life, and so much more. If you want to connect with Ryan, you can reach out to him on Instagram at ryan.vanvugt or via email at vanvugtr@gmail.com.

In this episode, I chat with my friend, Justin. We discuss his chaotic last three years, how he was impacted by childhood abuse and neglect, how as an adult he helped his mother to escape abuse, and how he went from being viewed as a “slow kid” in school to earning his PhD degree. This is a true story of overcoming. 

In this episode, I catch up with our friends from Denver, Izzy and Anthony, who recently started living and traveling full time in their school bus conversion. We discuss how Covid actually helped them to get on the road, challenges they've faced while living on the road including a major accident, how the skoolie community supports one another, and their future plans. If you want to connect with Izzy and Anthony, you can reach them on Instagram at roamingloaves or Facebook at Roaming Loaves. If you are obsessed with cute dogs, especially chihuahuas, like me, you can check out their pup, Chewy, on his own Instagram at chewythechichi.  

In this episode, my husband Anthony and I share some big life changes that we are planning on making in the near future. SPOILER ALERT: We talk about our desire to transition from full time travel to part time travel, the possibility of buying Anthony's childhood home, and maybe even growing our family. These things as well as the whys behind them are discussed. If you guys would like to follow along on our adventures, you can find us on Instagram at down.to.wander or on Facebook at Down To Wander. 

In this episode, I chat with my much much younger half-sister, Hayley. We discuss the loss of her father and our stepfather at a young age, our differences in how we handle our emotions and socialize, her life as a young mom, and how she initially struggled with her daughter's hearing loss concerns. 

In this episode, I chat with my coaching client, Drew. We discuss how Covid magnified negative patterns in his marriage, his initial difficulty with understanding his contribution to the concerns, what he learned about conflict and communication by working with professionals, and how he was able to help save his marriage through his openness. 

In this episode, I chat with my down to earth Aunt Pat. We discuss our mutual love of travel, how her constant quest of knowledge fuels her reading obsession, how gardening is her therapy, and how we can find more joy in life by following our own values and passions and not living to please others.    

In this episode, I chat with my amazing coaching client, Cassie. We discuss her academic journey, how pressurized learning and imposter syndrome are unfortunately common, how her beautiful “graduate school battle buddy” guided her to start her mental health journey, how productivity and joy can suffer from lack of balance, and how she has gone from barely surviving to thriving. If you want to connect with Cassie, she can be reached through her IG at uniquely_cassie. 

In this episode, I chat with my therapist friend, Christy. We talk about the importance of teaching children how to manage emotions, how intergenerational trauma and unresolved childhood experiences can impact our present, and how our experiences of growing up with fathers who struggled with addiction impacted us as adults. If you want to connect with Christy, she can be reached through her website at www.christysharer.com. 

In this episode, I chat with my friend and fellow life coach, Lesley. We talk about her struggles in early childhood, how a few powerful women helped her to find her way to her career, the pressure women face to couple up in young adulthood, and the importance of staying connected to yourself when in a relationship. If you want to connect with Lesley, she can be reached at www.lotusfirecoach.com or on Instagram @lotusfirecoach.

In this episode, I chat with my best friend since childhood, Claudia. We talk about our childhood, how we often grow away from our true selves and struggle with self-acceptance as we age, her struggles with infertility, and how we helped each other to get through our pre-teen years. As a bonus, her 3 year old daughter, Marley, helped with a special intro.

In this episode, I chat with my nomad friend, Becca. We discuss her starting road life during the pandemic, the benefits of connecting with others, our similar experiences visiting the infamous Slab City, and her love of art and outdoor adventures. If you want to connect with her, she can be reached on Instagram at becca_m_m. Her adorable dachshund is also a great follow on Instagram at gusthedachshund.  

In this episode, I get to know my Instagram friend, Rachael Van Riper. You get to listen in on some of our first conversation as we only previously chatted through Instagram and text occasionally. We discuss her experience of living on the road, the loss of her husband and getting diagnosed with RA, and how nature and travel help her to put things into perspective. If you want to connect with her, she can be reached on Instagram at rvadventuregal or on Facebook at Rv Adventure Gal.