Speaker 1: Everyone has that journey that they go through and anything's
Speaker 1: everything's possible, But sometimes like pushing yourself to experience something
Speaker 1: new or learn a new skill is all you need
Speaker 1: to push past the fact that you don't just have
Speaker 1: to be you know what your job title is. And
Speaker 1: I remember, like so early in my career, I really
Speaker 1: wanted to succeed so quickly, and I just wasn't ready.
Speaker 1: You know, even when I was twenty one, I wanted
Speaker 1: to be the best, but I just wasn't ready.
Speaker 2: And I am.
Speaker 3: Welcome to the sees the Yay Podcast. Busy and happy
Speaker 3: are not the same thing. We too rarely question what
Speaker 3: makes the heart seeing. We work, then we rest, but
Speaker 3: rarely we play and often don't realize there's more than
Speaker 3: one way. So this is the platform to hear and
Speaker 3: explore the stories of those who found lives. They adore,
Speaker 3: the good, bad and ugly. The best and worst days
Speaker 3: will bear all the facets of seizing your yay. I'm
Speaker 3: Sarah Davidson or a spoonful of Sarah, a lawyer turned
Speaker 3: funentrepreneur who's wapped the suits and heels to co found
Speaker 3: matcha Maiden and matcha Milk Bar CZA is a series
Speaker 3: of conversations on finding a life you love and exploring
Speaker 3: the self doubt, challenge, joy and fulfillment along the way.
Speaker 3: Welcome to September, Lovely yighborhood. You made it through winter.
Speaker 3: I hope you're excited to come out of highberation and
Speaker 3: I can't think of a better story to help you
Speaker 3: spring into spring than this one today's guest epitomizes the
Speaker 3: idea of seizing your yea, having walked away from a
Speaker 3: booming career in journalism, not only to take a new direction,
Speaker 3: but to literally quit her job altogether. Buy a boat,
Speaker 3: learn to sail that boat, and then travel around the
Speaker 3: world on it.
Speaker 2: Yep.
Speaker 3: Christina Castylis and her pilot partner John Tilley packed up
Speaker 3: their lives in twenty twenty one after Melbourne's third lockdown,
Speaker 3: used their savings to buy a yacht, learned to sail
Speaker 3: it with no prior sailing experience, and took the actual
Speaker 3: plunge to take it around the world world. You might
Speaker 3: recognize Christina from her extensive career as a news reporter
Speaker 3: covering some incredible stories across states, across the nation, and
Speaker 3: across networks, but may not have realized the extent of
Speaker 3: her seed change since then. You know, I'm a huge
Speaker 3: fan of people trying out new things that they've never
Speaker 3: tried before and making big, scary leaps in their life,
Speaker 3: so I adored picking her brains about this epic journey.
Speaker 3: Perhaps your new season might not bring about a change
Speaker 3: quite this big, but hopefully it sparked something within you
Speaker 3: to go after that thing you've been dreaming about.
Speaker 2: I hope you enjoyed this one as much as I did.
Speaker 3: Christina, Welcome to CZA.
Speaker 2: Hey, Sarah, thanks so much for having me. Oh, it
Speaker 2: is such a pleasure.
Speaker 3: And you were just saying offline how you listen to
Speaker 3: the show and you listen to the jingle, and it's
Speaker 3: always so special having someone on the show who actually listens.
Speaker 2: One hundred percent.
Speaker 1: I love listening to your podcast and it's an absolute pleasure.
Speaker 2: To be on here with you. And I love your jingle.
Speaker 2: It brings so true to me.
Speaker 1: Every time I hear it, it's like, I don't know,
Speaker 1: I just feel a sense of joy. So I think
Speaker 1: it's so creative of you, and I hope that it
Speaker 1: resonates with everyone who listens like it does with me.
Speaker 3: Oh, you're so lovely, and I feel like your story
Speaker 3: is going to do the same. This is just such
Speaker 3: a beautiful full circle because you have such an epitome
Speaker 3: of cz Ale. Your story is just it embodies everything
Speaker 3: that the CZA philosophy is about. So I can't wait
Speaker 3: to get into it. But as you will know, we
Speaker 3: start every episode with a little icebreaker, which is just
Speaker 3: to ask everyone what the most down toward thing is
Speaker 3: about them, which I'm sure will come out in the
Speaker 3: story also. But I mean, if anyone does know you
Speaker 3: from your previous chapter in the news, it can be
Speaker 3: very glossy on the outside, and they often see a
Speaker 3: very polished version of you. So what's something that's just
Speaker 3: really normal and relatable.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, well, they're seeing a very polished version of me
Speaker 1: now if they're watching it, because I'm wearing makeup and
Speaker 1: that's something that I really don't do much of these days.
Speaker 1: I was saying to you earlier, this is like the
Speaker 1: second time this month that I've actually put on proper makeup.
Speaker 2: Because it's very very honored and it's funny, you know.
Speaker 1: I asked my boyfriend John because I found it really
Speaker 1: difficult to think about, you know, what is it that's
Speaker 1: down to earth about me, and I have to say
Speaker 1: his answer was the fact that I op shop and
Speaker 1: I have op shopped four years. Yeah, so it's really funny.
Speaker 1: I went through my wardrobe after he said that to me,
Speaker 1: and literally, I think fifty percent, maybe more, of my
Speaker 1: wardrobe is from an op shop and the other fifty
Speaker 1: percent was probably paid for by my wardrobe allowance at
Speaker 1: my previous network my stations that I worked at. Because yeah,
Speaker 1: I just I'm I think I'm a bit of a minimalist,
Speaker 1: and I also love a good find, and sometimes I
Speaker 1: just can't justify I spending so much money on an outfit.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I just love so much that I think one
Speaker 3: of the funnest things is when people ask their partners
Speaker 3: or their close friends or their loved ones that question,
Speaker 3: like when they can't answer it themselves, it's always interesting
Speaker 3: to see what other people think.
Speaker 2: It's the most relatable thing about you.
Speaker 3: But I also think, particularly given that you did have
Speaker 3: a career in the news, which you know, you're always
Speaker 3: in such beautiful outfits.
Speaker 2: They're always so polished.
Speaker 3: And just glaborous, like glorious, that it's so cool that
Speaker 3: it's like fifty percent of your wardrobe. I think like
Speaker 3: fast fashion is becoming less and less something that people
Speaker 3: buy into. People are looking for more sustainable fashion, I think,
Speaker 3: and it's yeah, it's outfit repeating is so trendy now,
Speaker 3: Like I think it's amazing.
Speaker 1: I would wear like a scalon theater or jacket with
Speaker 1: like an opshop skirt.
Speaker 2: That's creative, that's amazing. Yeah, it's great fun. I love it.
Speaker 3: I love op shopping. Like seriously, the jumper that I wear,
Speaker 3: I have more comments on this one. It's like a big, oversized,
Speaker 3: big cow neck kind of. It's the only thing I
Speaker 3: wear when the weather's cold. It's from Seed and it
Speaker 3: was twenty dollars out a mile and I have worn it.
Speaker 3: I would say like costper wear would be like in that,
Speaker 3: like I've made money off that jumper.
Speaker 2: I love that. It's so good.
Speaker 1: It's funny noo though, because there are so many people
Speaker 1: out there who just aren't into it. Like I've purchased
Speaker 1: items and bought them home for John and he's just like,
Speaker 1: no way, John is anti op shopping. He just doesn't
Speaker 1: just feels like, oh, you know, but that's cool, yeah
Speaker 1: their own like you know.
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, I love that you're totally into it. And
Speaker 3: I feel like once you get into op shopping and
Speaker 3: you realize like the good ones, the ones that have
Speaker 3: really cool fines, and then the challenge of like hunting
Speaker 3: down a diamond in the rat it's really exciting.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, it's so much fun. So if you haven't done
Speaker 1: it before, we should definitely get amongst it. Yeah.
Speaker 3: I mean we could do a whole episode on that.
Speaker 3: That's fascinating in itself.
Speaker 2: The best finds from op shops around Australia.
Speaker 3: Literally, that's a whole different segment that you You could
Speaker 3: add that to Christina's travels, Christina's like shopping pigs.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's funny that you say that because one of
Speaker 1: our upcoming episodes, I actually go up shopping with my
Speaker 1: mum in Cans.
Speaker 2: I wasn't going to include it, but maybe I should.
Speaker 2: We filmed it, so oh, you totally should. Okay.
Speaker 3: So to give everyone else some context, I feel like
Speaker 3: we need to lead up to why you were filming
Speaker 3: and what you were filming and how it all came together. So,
Speaker 3: as you also know, having listened to the show a
Speaker 3: couple of times, I always love to start at the
Speaker 3: very beginning. I think everyone's path yay starts many chapters
Speaker 3: and many years before the chapter that we often walk
Speaker 3: in on when we meet you, And I think there's
Speaker 3: so much that's instructive about what you were like as
Speaker 3: a child and what things you did before you were
Speaker 3: influenced by the shoulds or expectations the success. So what
Speaker 3: were you like as a kid? Sure, Queensland gal, like,
Speaker 3: what was your childhood like?
Speaker 4: Oh?
Speaker 2: Well, actually I was from Adelaide really yeah, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 2: so I'm an.
Speaker 1: Adelaide girl and I had no idea what I wanted
Speaker 1: to do growing up at all zero. I did a
Speaker 1: lot of performing arts and then actually I always told
Speaker 1: my mum though from the age of like thirteen, that
Speaker 1: I was going to leave home as soon as possible.
Speaker 2: As soon as I had finished school, I was out.
Speaker 1: And it was funny because I met John, my boyfriend,
Speaker 1: when I was sixteen, and I always knew that I
Speaker 1: wanted to go to the Gold Coast. It was just
Speaker 1: something that I had dreamt a balance since I was
Speaker 1: a little girl. And so in year twelve we went
Speaker 1: over to the Gold Coast and he said, you know
Speaker 1: what I'll movie with you.
Speaker 2: Let's do it. Wow.
Speaker 1: Seventeen and he was, you know, eighteen or something like
Speaker 1: that when we moved to the Gold Coast and I
Speaker 1: actually went into business, believe it or not. And I
Speaker 1: did six months of business at Griffith University. Oh I know,
Speaker 1: so I'm throwing somebody spanners and the works here. I know.
Speaker 2: I had no idea what I wanted to do, Sarah.
Speaker 2: I literally I was a.
Speaker 1: Fifteen year old going to those free business seminars and
Speaker 1: adelaide surrounded by fifty year old men in suits, thinking
Speaker 1: that I wanted to trade and you know, invest in
Speaker 1: real estate. And then I got to the Gold Coast
Speaker 1: and I studied business with John. We moved into a
Speaker 1: little apartment together and wow, it was tough, but it
Speaker 1: was really inspiring looking back at what we did at
Speaker 1: such a young age with zero help really from our parents.
Speaker 1: And I absolutely hated every minute of statistics and I
Speaker 1: actually failed one of the subjects. I failed statistics. This
Speaker 1: is for me, I just I just wasn't. I went
Speaker 1: back to my roots of acting and dancing and singing,
Speaker 1: and that's what I was really passionate about. And so
Speaker 1: I took six months off and John and I, you know,
Speaker 1: were pretty young, and we had like a little couple
Speaker 1: of week break there for a minute and trying to
Speaker 1: find ourselves. And I did a little radio school actually
Speaker 1: on the Gold Coast, and I was like, yeah, this
Speaker 1: is what I want to do. I want to I
Speaker 1: want to present, I want to report, I want to
Speaker 1: be part.
Speaker 2: Of this creative world.
Speaker 1: And so I did this little radio school at a
Speaker 1: place called Radio Metro on the Gold Coast.
Speaker 2: It was a community radio station.
Speaker 1: And that's when I enrolled into Bond University. That's when
Speaker 1: I career sort of fell into place.
Speaker 2: Actually, oh my gosh, already this is so fascinating.
Speaker 3: Usually my research is pretty good, but I missed the
Speaker 3: whole Adelaide thing. But I think that it's it's really
Speaker 3: interesting that even when you had no idea where you
Speaker 3: wanted to go or what you wanted to do, you
Speaker 3: and John obviously have this like thirst for adventure and the.
Speaker 2: Ability to start afresh.
Speaker 3: Like I feel like a lot of people shy away
Speaker 3: from any kind of like a new beginning or throwing
Speaker 3: yourself in that level of like just being so out
Speaker 3: of your depth a totally new state at such a
Speaker 3: young age, but without a plan, like and then to
Speaker 3: even take six months off like, already you're sort of
Speaker 3: showing your ability to tolerate and to be resilient through
Speaker 3: like totally having no clue what you're doing.
Speaker 2: And I love that that's how you figure it out
Speaker 2: what you want to do. Yeah, it was crazy. We
Speaker 2: moved over there with nowhere to live.
Speaker 1: We literally had you know, a ton of resumes in
Speaker 1: our hands. On our first day, we walked down Cavell
Speaker 1: Avenue just handing up resumeates. It was our first couple
Speaker 1: of days together. Yeah, it was crazy looking back. We
Speaker 1: were in like a little studio together. I mean there
Speaker 1: wasn't even a separate dining room or or Our bedroom
Speaker 1: was part of the lounge and the lounge had a
Speaker 1: fold out couch, and our two desks for university was
Speaker 1: in the same little square you know what. Our apartment
Speaker 1: was probably the size of this room.
Speaker 2: Wow.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean so probably why we needed the two
Speaker 1: week breaks.
Speaker 2: From each other.
Speaker 3: But I mean, that's just so cool that already, before
Speaker 3: you started your first career, you had just this year
Speaker 3: appetite for trying different things and for trying them from scratch.
Speaker 3: And I think often when you see, particularly people who
Speaker 3: are in the news or you know, in the media
Speaker 3: at that kind of high level. You often assume that
Speaker 3: they started at five wanting to be a journal and
Speaker 3: they studied journalism. And I love that even in a
Speaker 3: career you've since made another jump from you know, you
Speaker 3: didn't do it the conventional way.
Speaker 2: I think that's really interesting.
Speaker 4: No.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I honestly, even while I was at UNI, I
Speaker 1: still was like, Oh, should do film and TV or
Speaker 1: should I do reporting or I just literally all just
Speaker 1: fell into place. I had no idea what kind of
Speaker 1: reporter I wanted to be. I was doing work experience
Speaker 1: at the newspaper, the Gold Coast pollution, and the radio
Speaker 1: stations and yeah, wow, there.
Speaker 3: You go, so BCom at Bond and then looking at
Speaker 3: the timeline, it looks like you were at Radio Metro
Speaker 3: and Channel nine before you graduated. So was that all
Speaker 3: just experimental, like feeling out the industry and also doing
Speaker 3: commerce on the side. Like at that point, what did
Speaker 3: you kind of think it was going to translate into
Speaker 3: as a career. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, Look, if there are any young people out there
Speaker 1: who at UNI, I cannot recommend work experience enough. I
Speaker 1: did every work experience possible under the stunt at university.
Speaker 1: I did as I said the Gold Coast bulletin Channel nine.
Speaker 1: I worked there for six months straight, one day a week,
Speaker 1: wore in university and working as well for like pretty
Speaker 1: much part time casual and full time UNI. I also
Speaker 1: did three months at Channel seven at the same sort
Speaker 1: of time as well while I was at UNI. And
Speaker 1: that was incredible experience because I think that's what scored
Speaker 1: me my first job. And that was a Channel nine
Speaker 1: in Darwin, of all places. So John was becoming a pilot,
Speaker 1: he was learning how to fly while I was at Universe,
Speaker 1: and so he had gone, sorry, babe, I have to
Speaker 1: go out and get my first job. So he went
Speaker 1: over to a remote location in the Northern Territory. So
Speaker 1: we did long distance for a year while I was
Speaker 1: still at university by myself on the Gold Coast.
Speaker 2: And I know it was wild.
Speaker 1: I know, we had that one year and yeah, and
Speaker 1: so I was doing with that work experience, keeping myself
Speaker 1: busy while he was over there in this remote Aboriginal community.
Speaker 1: And because I did that work experience that, honestly, I
Speaker 1: think that's what got me my first job. I was
Speaker 1: twenty and I got a call from Channel nine up
Speaker 1: in Darwin and they said, look, would love to hire you.
Speaker 1: And I said, look, my last exam is actually in
Speaker 1: two weeks. I haven't graduated. Yeah, and they're like, okay,
Speaker 1: well when you graduate, just drive up and you've got
Speaker 1: a job.
Speaker 2: Wow.
Speaker 1: So yeah, so John flew down and he helped me drive.
Speaker 1: Like I finished my exam, I ran out of the
Speaker 1: exam and like we got into the car, it was
Speaker 1: packed and we drove for three straight to Darwin and
Speaker 1: I started on the Monday. So I think my advice
Speaker 1: to like anyone listening if you're at UNI that work experience.
Speaker 1: I think that's definitely what got me that job because
Speaker 1: I was able to show them a show real. So
Speaker 1: when I was at Channel seven and nine on the
Speaker 1: Gold Coast, they allowed me to have like a little
Speaker 1: sample of my work, and I think, yeah, that was priceless.
Speaker 3: Oh my goodness. And so you were saying like it
Speaker 3: started to fall together. A career you hadn't even realized
Speaker 3: you wanted then started to fall together. And also without
Speaker 3: necessarily the sort of conventional journalist or journalism studies path
Speaker 3: a lot of people take. So that first role in Darwin,
Speaker 3: how did things take off from there? Because then you
Speaker 3: went on to have this like illustrious, like seven year career.
Speaker 3: How did it fall into place? I'm sure it like
Speaker 3: fell into place, but also you kind of made it
Speaker 3: fall into place with a lot of artwork and strategy.
Speaker 2: Yeah, one hundred percent.
Speaker 1: It was like, to be honest, at the start, it
Speaker 1: was really tough. I was really badly bully, so it
Speaker 1: was extremely difficult for me, like plenty of tears. I
Speaker 1: remember my first two three days, I was so nervous
Speaker 1: that I like puked before going to work. I had
Speaker 1: so much anxiety, Like I remember at the front of
Speaker 1: our house like opening the door and just being sick.
Speaker 2: You know, that's how much anxiety I had.
Speaker 1: And you'd never ever really know how much that impacted me,
Speaker 1: but it really did to the point where I, you know,
Speaker 1: like some days I.
Speaker 2: Was on the phone to my mom and tears, going
Speaker 2: like what have I done?
Speaker 1: But on the contrary, like I had the most incredible
Speaker 1: experience reporting on some insane stories, meeting some incredible people,
Speaker 1: and I think it definitely all those experiences, you know,
Speaker 1: were meant to happen and meant to play out with
Speaker 1: the way that they were. I mean I was twenty,
Speaker 1: I was so young. I hadn't even found myself as
Speaker 1: a person. And you know, even to this day, we're
Speaker 1: always you know, growing and searching for who we really
Speaker 1: are and what we should give to this world. But
Speaker 1: definitely as twenty I was so young and had never
Speaker 1: experienced bullying quite like that before. So it was tough
Speaker 1: in the early days.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's tough anytime you go into not just a
Speaker 3: new job, but like your first job, and then your
Speaker 3: first job with the self doubt and anxiety and all
Speaker 3: those kinds of you know, imposter syndrome, all of that.
Speaker 3: But then on top of that to have an actual
Speaker 3: workplace that is throwing other difficult hurdles at you. I
Speaker 3: can't even imagine how hard that time must have been
Speaker 3: for like twenty year old little h.
Speaker 2: I know, I was the youngest in the room. I
Speaker 2: was a baby, you know, straight fresh out of Unie.
Speaker 2: But you know, it was great.
Speaker 1: I had couple of years there in Darwin and then
Speaker 1: I was able to move to the Gold Coast, so
Speaker 1: I was able to spend two years there in Darwin
Speaker 1: with John.
Speaker 2: So that was fantastic.
Speaker 1: So he was out bush flying like crocodile eggs from
Speaker 1: remote locations. Whoa and like male runs like here has
Speaker 1: some insane stories himself. But yeah, we then I was
Speaker 1: able to move to the Gold Coast and then that's when,
Speaker 1: you know, some really exciting things happened over there, and
Speaker 1: then I was able to move up to Brisbane again.
Speaker 1: That was really tough. In Brisbane, I was sort of
Speaker 1: bullied again. But then when I moved down to Melbourne
Speaker 1: later in my career, Wow, best experience I had ever had.
Speaker 1: It was phenomenal. I was able to regain my faith
Speaker 1: in the industry. I was appreciated and I will never
Speaker 1: ever forget that incredible experience in Melbourne. It was brilliant,
Speaker 1: It was incredible, and I got to meet some really
Speaker 1: cool people. Everything happens in Melbourne as opposed to Brisbane,
Speaker 1: you know, like Arnold Schwarzenegger just visited town and Robbie
Speaker 1: Williams and Tommy Hill figure and you know, next minute
Speaker 1: you're meeting.
Speaker 2: The royals, and wow, it was phenomenal.
Speaker 3: I mean, I definitely want to pick your brains more
Speaker 3: about the highlights of some of the cooler things and
Speaker 3: some of the hardest things you've done, like in the
Speaker 3: you know, in the later years in your career. Yeah,
Speaker 3: but for anyone listening who might be earlier on in
Speaker 3: their journey in a smaller industry, a smaller market, a
Speaker 3: smaller state, or whatever it may be, or facing like
Speaker 3: a toxic work environment or bullying, or you know, any
Speaker 3: kind of big barrier to really fulfill it, Like what
Speaker 3: felt amazing later on in your career. You had to
Speaker 3: get through a lot of hurdles to get there. How
Speaker 3: did you stay excited? How did you stay driven to
Speaker 3: keep going with that career? Because I think some people
Speaker 3: would have taken that as a sign to do something else,
Speaker 3: or you know, been thrown completely away from that career
Speaker 3: path because because they were bullied, Like how do you
Speaker 3: kind of show up to work every day?
Speaker 2: That's great question.
Speaker 1: I had a fantastic group of friends that supported me,
Speaker 1: and then I knew that I wasn't crazy, It wasn't me, Yeah,
Speaker 1: And that was really great because they had my back.
Speaker 1: My mom was phenomenal. Whenever I needed to vent, I
Speaker 1: would call Mum and she was my biggest supporter. So
Speaker 1: having someone in your corner was great. The emotional support
Speaker 1: from John was really really wonderful too. He was just
Speaker 1: always there and he always told me that everything was
Speaker 1: going to be Okay, I knew that I could get
Speaker 1: past it for some reason. I mean to be honest.
Speaker 1: When I was in Brisbane, just before I moved from
Speaker 1: Brisbane to Melbourne, I was about to end.
Speaker 2: That was it.
Speaker 1: I was about to end my career as a reporter.
Speaker 1: I was done, and now I was over the headaches.
Speaker 1: So I was over the hassle because I really felt
Speaker 1: like in my heart I was destined to do the
Speaker 1: job that I was doing, but everything around me just
Speaker 1: wasn't working out, and I was just sort of sick
Speaker 1: of hitting my head against a brick wall. So I
Speaker 1: did almost get to that point, Sarah, But you know,
Speaker 1: that wasn't my time. It wasn't meant to end just there,
Speaker 1: and I'm so grateful that that wasn't that was the case,
Speaker 1: because I honestly had such an incredible experience meeting people
Speaker 1: and telling their stories that because my journey ended in
Speaker 1: Melbourne on such a high, That's what I remember from
Speaker 1: my reporting days and I will always be so grateful
Speaker 1: for that. And how I was treated down there was
Speaker 1: just absolutely amazing. Like I would have you know, text
Speaker 1: messages from some of my work colleagues at the end
Speaker 1: of life Cross is going. You smashed that out of
Speaker 1: the park, like a really sense of friendship and community
Speaker 1: and like we were together working as a team.
Speaker 2: But yeah, you're right, like in those tough.
Speaker 1: Times, I think it was my family and my friends
Speaker 1: that definitely got me through for sure.
Speaker 2: Yeah, amazing.
Speaker 3: I think one of the quotes I shared recently on
Speaker 3: the CZA page was just that idea that life often
Speaker 3: rewards you on your fifth, sixth, eighth, ninth, and tenth tries.
Speaker 3: It's very rarely the first or second or third go
Speaker 3: you might have it something, and you know there are
Speaker 3: so many people who might give up just before the
Speaker 3: time that was going to be there one Like if
Speaker 3: you had left before Melbourne, you would never have known
Speaker 3: that that was going to be what it turned out
Speaker 3: to be. So I think you know, the message there
Speaker 3: for anyone is if you're going through a shittier chapter
Speaker 3: like hang in there, you know you might have to
Speaker 3: try a couple of different workplaces or a couple of
Speaker 3: different chapters to get to the one that you can
Speaker 3: really flourish in. And I'm so glad you got to
Speaker 3: do that because obviously how many years did you do
Speaker 3: it in Melbourne? Was that the seven years.
Speaker 1: Oh no, that was Actually I was done in Melbourne
Speaker 1: for around three years, so I think I was reporting
Speaker 1: for about eleven years altogether, from twenty to thirty thirty one.
Speaker 2: Wow. Yeah, okay.
Speaker 3: Well another barrier that I know, because we spoke about
Speaker 3: this before we started recording, is even when you love
Speaker 3: your job, and even when you've done it for you know,
Speaker 3: by the time you got to Melbourne, what like seven years,
Speaker 3: By then you get really nervous, right, Like, there's lots
Speaker 3: of things that make going to work hard, But when
Speaker 3: you're doing live crosses, like the self doubt is high,
Speaker 3: I can imagine that the nerves are probably not going
Speaker 3: to ever fade. And we often speak on ZZ eight
Speaker 3: about self doubt, imposter syndrome, nerves and how you deal
Speaker 3: with the butterflies and how often we think we're failing
Speaker 3: if those butterflies never go away. But I really think
Speaker 3: that they're kind of a good sign as long as
Speaker 3: it doesn't go too far. So what was your journey
Speaker 3: Some people hate public speaking and presenting and reporting. How
Speaker 3: did you get like, what was your relationship with nerves
Speaker 3: during your time?
Speaker 1: Look, I'm so glad that when I first started reporting
Speaker 1: in Darwin that no one has the outtakes of me
Speaker 1: doing my first live cross because.
Speaker 2: I'm pretty wish I had it.
Speaker 1: Like, I'm pretty sure I just looked blankly into the
Speaker 1: screen and was like a deer in the headlights. I
Speaker 1: just freaked out. But I got you know, I got
Speaker 1: through it. Even you know, talking to you now, I
Speaker 1: still get climbing hands and I still get nervous. It's crazy, really,
Speaker 1: But I was telling you at the start when we're recording,
Speaker 1: is about this thing called a Beata blocker. And it
Speaker 1: was very funny because you know, before I started, I
Speaker 1: just threw myself into it, obviously, and I was down
Speaker 1: in Adelaide with my mom, and my mom had to
Speaker 1: go to the doctors and the doctor Mom's like this,
Speaker 1: mom wants to tell everyone that I was a reporter, right,
Speaker 1: which would annoy me.
Speaker 2: Like I'm like, mom, you don't have to die.
Speaker 1: She's like, you know, she's only the biggest fan, bless
Speaker 1: her consus. But these doctors like, don't you ever get nervous?
Speaker 1: And I was like, yeah, actually, like I always get nervous.
Speaker 1: I am such a nervous wreck. And he goes, have
Speaker 1: you heard of a beta blocker? It's called the Hilary drug.
Speaker 1: I was like, no, like, this is mind blowing.
Speaker 2: What is this?
Speaker 1: And he said yeah, every time I was actually not
Speaker 1: Hillary's Clinton. Every time Bill Clinton would give a speech
Speaker 1: as a president of the United States, he.
Speaker 2: Would have a beta blocker.
Speaker 1: And he said it's also very common for pianists when
Speaker 1: they're going into you know, like a really important exam,
Speaker 1: that they have this beta blocker and it stops them
Speaker 1: from shaking.
Speaker 2: It just like slows your heart rate. I was like, oh,
Speaker 2: did you want me to prescribe you? So I was like, yes,
Speaker 2: thank you, doctor, that would be amazing. And so he
Speaker 2: gave me this little little bottle and it had a
Speaker 2: few little.
Speaker 1: Red pills in it, and you know, just having it
Speaker 1: in my pocket really helped. I took half appial the
Speaker 1: first time just in case I like was knocked out
Speaker 1: unconscious for this person world cross.
Speaker 2: And then you know, I think I had them there.
Speaker 1: I took them about like five crosses at the very
Speaker 1: start of my career, but they were always just there
Speaker 1: in a little plastic white bottle, and just mentally it
Speaker 1: really got me through and helped me get over those nerves.
Speaker 2: Very early in my career.
Speaker 3: It was so wild Like that blew my mind that people,
Speaker 3: because that's not what beater blogers are for, right, Like
Speaker 3: that is just crazy?
Speaker 2: Wow.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it really it really helped me, even like mentally
Speaker 1: it might have you know, I don't know if it
Speaker 1: did anything, but psychologically it was the security.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was, It really was.
Speaker 3: And then once you did kind of, you know, get
Speaker 3: a little bit further into your career, were there any
Speaker 3: strategies or things that you did to help you manage
Speaker 3: the nerves before something that was going to be really
Speaker 3: like a particularly current thing happening that you knew were
Speaker 3: going to have a million eyes on you life. What
Speaker 3: were your strategies for thinking like why me? Why am
Speaker 3: I here?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 1: I used to just say in my head, you got this. Okay,
Speaker 1: you got this, you got this, You're fine, You've totally
Speaker 1: got it. And I would just stop for a second
Speaker 1: and just imagine me knocking it out of the park,
Speaker 1: and that would always really help. Yeah, I just go,
Speaker 1: you've got this, It's like and I'd still have butterflies.
Speaker 2: But I just tried to back myself. I tried to
Speaker 2: make my job.
Speaker 1: As easy as possible, so I would keep dot points
Speaker 1: in my head as opposed to like memorizing the whole script.
Speaker 1: That would really help as well. And it's always funny,
Speaker 1: you know, because you think if you do stumble, that
Speaker 1: it's so much worse than what it actually is, and
Speaker 1: when you go back and watch your work, you're like, huh,
Speaker 1: it wasn't so bad. So it might seem like if
Speaker 1: you pause, it might seem like forever in a day,
Speaker 1: but it really is just a split second, and no
Speaker 1: one even notices. And so I just had to sort
Speaker 1: of convince myself, Look, if you stuff up, it's all good.
Speaker 2: Just keep on going. Yeah, you're your own worst critic,
Speaker 2: and no one else notices.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, absolutely absolutely, And you know I have to say
Speaker 1: as well, it's funny. We used to have a lot
Speaker 1: of interns come into the office and they'd always say
Speaker 1: to me, oh my gosh. You know, I'd bring them
Speaker 1: into the voice booth with me, and I'm like, come in,
Speaker 1: come in, you know, like, let's try and work on
Speaker 1: your voice together, and they would look at me and go, Christina,
Speaker 1: I'm never going to have a voice like yours. And
Speaker 1: I would bring up my old YouTube videos of me
Speaker 1: when I was literally like eighteen at UNI.
Speaker 2: At behind the BNN or whatever.
Speaker 1: And when I was at Channel nine and I would
Speaker 1: play my voice to them and I sounded like a
Speaker 1: little chip, sounded worse than what they sounded like. I
Speaker 1: kid you, not like I was so bad. My voice
Speaker 1: was terrible. And they'll look at me and they'd go, oh,
Speaker 1: let's hope.
Speaker 2: Wow, I know, Oh it's terrible. You know what.
Speaker 1: I'm going to give you a little clip and then
Speaker 1: you can play it and people will be like, no way.
Speaker 4: Next time you head off on holiday, you can expect
Speaker 4: to see a colorful and spacious new terminal. The airport
Speaker 4: is set to be Australia's largest purpose built facility specifically
Speaker 4: designed to cater to low cost airlines. When building is
Speaker 4: completed next year, the terminal will be more than double
Speaker 4: its original size and will cater to the Gold Coast
Speaker 4: forecast visitor growth. Terminal operations manager Maurice Gerry said there
Speaker 4: has been an increase in traffic flow at the airport.
Speaker 5: We had an eighty percent increase in international traffic in
Speaker 5: a short period of time, like over a couple of months.
Speaker 5: Most airports would never have been able to cope.
Speaker 4: Passengers can now fly through thirty five checking desks and
Speaker 4: enjoy a wide variety of restaurants, cafes, and retail outlets.
Speaker 4: Communications coordinator Melissa Pears explained the intentions for the new look.
Speaker 4: We wanted it to just have that laid back beach
Speaker 4: lifestyle feel, which we feel we've achieved. Visitors are encouraged
Speaker 4: to sit back, relax and enjoy the scenic view of
Speaker 4: the spectacular Hindland.
Speaker 6: The Gold Coast Airports one hundred million dollar redevelopment includes
Speaker 6: splashes of color to keep the look timeless. Things have
Speaker 6: really taken off here and I said to be complete
Speaker 6: in March twenty ten. Christina Casalis for BNN.
Speaker 1: It's great because it just reminds, and it reminded me
Speaker 1: like where we've all come from. You know, everyone has
Speaker 1: that journey that they go through and anything's everything's possible.
Speaker 3: Oh absolutely, So before we do move to the thing
Speaker 3: that you did make possible, after this whole chapter, which
Speaker 3: is so amazing, I know, can you leave us with
Speaker 3: any firstly highlights, like your most proud achievements from that
Speaker 3: part of your career, but also any other sort of
Speaker 3: behind the scenes things that the average person wouldn't know
Speaker 3: about reporting for example, that people aren't born with a
Speaker 3: reporting voice, that you can train your voice, or that
Speaker 3: you know you I don't think people know that you
Speaker 3: don't just turn up like you actually have to write
Speaker 3: your story. You don't just turn up get a script
Speaker 3: and you're the mouthpiece like reporters write story. So, yeah,
Speaker 3: some of the highlights and then some of the least
Speaker 3: expected things.
Speaker 1: Okay, some of the highlights were definitely at the start
Speaker 1: of my career was really amazing when I got to
Speaker 1: go on a like a helicopter and we landed in
Speaker 1: the middle of the sea on a ship and we're
Speaker 1: firing off like live rounds and like there were f
Speaker 1: eighteen hornets flying around us, and that was pretty spectacular.
Speaker 2: I was like wide eyed and what, this is the
Speaker 2: coolest job in the world.
Speaker 1: But I remember again, like we were on this ship
Speaker 1: for such a short period of time that I had
Speaker 1: this pressure to actually work.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you're like, I can't soak in the experience.
Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly. That was really cool. I got to go
Speaker 1: up with the rulettes. That was an amazing experience. With
Speaker 1: those who don't know the roulettes. That was with the
Speaker 1: Air Force. When they do the aerobatic maneuvers, usually see
Speaker 1: them at the Formula one.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so wow. I was in the back of the
Speaker 2: aircraft trying not to throw up.
Speaker 3: I was gonna say, were you like petrifibing upside down?
Speaker 1: And like it was Yeah, it was like one of
Speaker 1: the most insane experiences.
Speaker 2: You know, You've got the oxygen mask on and like
Speaker 2: if you're feeling on, well, just put it to one
Speaker 2: hundred percent oxygen. I'm like all right, I was.
Speaker 1: Like pushing it forward and the g suit is you know,
Speaker 1: gripping onto your.
Speaker 2: Body Like that's insane. That was crazy.
Speaker 1: And again, you know, like I came off that plane,
Speaker 1: I'm like, oh gosh, I have to write a script
Speaker 1: and get it filed by four pm today to make
Speaker 1: it on the news at five, and you know, I'm
Speaker 1: dealing with motion sickness.
Speaker 2: But that was wild.
Speaker 1: And the Royals when Harry and Meghan were in Melbourne,
Speaker 1: that was a beautiful experience.
Speaker 2: And out on Swartzenegger come on the Ultimate. It was cool. Yeah,
Speaker 2: he was the ultimate. He was fun.
Speaker 3: Wow, And what about like the unexpected things that we
Speaker 3: wouldn't know, Like are there any kind of tricks for
Speaker 3: like when you forget a word or like things that
Speaker 3: like I think also when you guys are on location,
Speaker 3: often like it's just you and a producer or just
Speaker 3: you and a cameraman, and people think there's like a
Speaker 3: million people, but.
Speaker 2: It's just you. Yeah, no, that's right.
Speaker 1: And you know, budgets just getting slimmer and slimmer, so
Speaker 1: there's less people even in the office to help you,
Speaker 1: so you're literally left to your own devices.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: I think one tip that I had for any there's
Speaker 1: any journalism students who are listening was to write like
Speaker 1: dot points throughout the day on my phone. So then
Speaker 1: when it got to the point of writing my script
Speaker 1: and writing what was happening, it just made it a
Speaker 1: whole lot easier rather than going back and going all
Speaker 1: over the.
Speaker 2: Footage that was really tough.
Speaker 1: But you know, yeah, I guess you're right. We would
Speaker 1: have to get to work really early. We would be
Speaker 1: allocated a story. If there were no stories to be
Speaker 1: allocated to us, we'd have to pitch some stories and
Speaker 1: then would go out on our merry way, would do
Speaker 1: our own makeup, would obviously dress ourselves. We'd have to
Speaker 1: work on the story ourselves, whether that be on a
Speaker 1: court case that would run all day, or if it
Speaker 1: would be at a house fire or a groundbreaking cancer treatment,
Speaker 1: or a Rulette experience that was wow. Yeah, you know
Speaker 1: what was really I have to divert. What's funny about
Speaker 1: the Rulette experience is you had to weigh a certain
Speaker 1: amount and I'm really sure, like I'm actually little bit
Speaker 1: of a short ass, and for me to weigh I
Speaker 1: think it was fifty five kilos at the time, was
Speaker 1: a little bit over than what I was And so
Speaker 1: I literally had to eat baked beans and toast and
Speaker 1: like ice cream for about three weeks straight to get
Speaker 1: to fifty five kilos to be on.
Speaker 2: That planeuse So you know, sometimes you have to.
Speaker 1: Put your body literally on the line to reform on
Speaker 1: a story. I just put on two kilos in two weeks,
Speaker 1: and yeah.
Speaker 2: I love that. That was for work.
Speaker 3: It's like I've just got to eat lots of ice
Speaker 3: cream right now for my job.
Speaker 2: It's called research. Look it up exactly.
Speaker 1: You know, put my chicken filets into my bra just
Speaker 1: to get an extra two hundred grams.
Speaker 2: Ma'am, ma'am. Why are there dumb bells in your bra?
Speaker 1: So it's funny, but yeah, like you know, we had
Speaker 1: to do absolutely everything.
Speaker 2: It was wild.
Speaker 1: You know, and then when you see a Polish story
Speaker 1: that runs for a minute and a half of the news.
Speaker 2: We had worked all.
Speaker 1: Day, you know, going out, getting those interviews, coming back,
Speaker 1: writing it up, getting the producer to cast their eyes
Speaker 1: over it, making sure it was okay. Then you'd go
Speaker 1: into the voice booth, voice your voice, and then you'd
Speaker 1: sit with an editor. If there was an editor available,
Speaker 1: they would then edit the story. If there wasn't, then
Speaker 1: I'd have to edit it myself. And then five pm
Speaker 1: around you've got to pull your supers in, so all
Speaker 1: the graphics that come up on the screen.
Speaker 2: But there you go.
Speaker 1: That's the five pm news, whole day in a minute
Speaker 1: and a half of a life of a journalist.
Speaker 3: I just really was blown away the first time I
Speaker 3: ever spoke to a journal and was like, yeah, so
Speaker 3: you turn up, they give you the story, they give
Speaker 3: you this scrip, use down there, read it and then
Speaker 3: you go home and they're like, no, we do everything.
Speaker 2: I'm like, oh my god. The responsibility, Like what do
Speaker 2: you mean.
Speaker 1: Yeah, one hundred percent. There's a huge amount of responsibility,
Speaker 1: and you know, transitioning into that boat life. When we
Speaker 1: purchased Takana, the anxiety that I had for like three
Speaker 1: months after quitting was insane. I didn't even realize what
Speaker 1: I'd put my body through for so long.
Speaker 3: Wow, Okay, okay, so amazing segue. You obviously had hit
Speaker 3: this pinnacle and there's a career that was, like we
Speaker 3: were mentioning just before we started recording that often you
Speaker 3: get to your dream and you know, it feels like
Speaker 3: you've achieved your dreams for a time, and then they
Speaker 3: hit this point where it just you know, your comfort
Speaker 3: zone catches up with you and maybe you want to
Speaker 3: try something else. You're not meant to sort of find
Speaker 3: this one destination of Yay, It's meant to be a
Speaker 3: journey that evolves. So what did lead to you deciding,
Speaker 3: you know what, this is amazing, I'm living my dream life,
Speaker 3: but I'm going to quit all together and live on
Speaker 3: a boat, Like, what do you mean is the ultimate
Speaker 3: of the ya let's just like quit our jobs and sail.
Speaker 3: But also context for everybody listening, they are not sailors.
Speaker 3: They did not own a boat before this. It's not
Speaker 3: like we had a boat and we just went on it.
Speaker 3: It's like we bought a boat and we learned how
Speaker 3: to sail it.
Speaker 1: What Yeah, it's so wild when you say it, because
Speaker 1: it's so stupid.
Speaker 2: Why did we do that? So stupid?
Speaker 3: An amazing stupid though, So like what happened, dude, Like,
Speaker 3: what do you mean, Oh, well, there was this thing
Speaker 3: called COVID.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, I mean I've heard of it.
Speaker 1: Yeah. No, well, you know it was so tough. So,
Speaker 1: you know, we skipped a massive chapter in John's life.
Speaker 1: He's a massive part of my life, being my partner.
Speaker 1: He's a pilot and he was stood down from work
Speaker 1: and so that was pretty devastating. He was literally at home,
Speaker 1: like the majority of us. He was on job keeper,
Speaker 1: while I was still out reporting on We're in Melbourne.
Speaker 1: You and I and for everyone who lived in Melbourn
Speaker 1: knew how difficult it was for everyone outside of Melbourne.
Speaker 1: I can assume you you know, you can understand how
Speaker 1: hard it was for us as well. You know that
Speaker 1: five kilometer radius, we're in the Ring of Steel. Every day.
Speaker 1: I got PTSD, PTSD.
Speaker 2: Everyone knows. Everyone knows.
Speaker 1: I'm to go back into it, but essentially, you know,
Speaker 1: we just we had always dreamed of sailing in Greece.
Speaker 1: That was always something that we had in the back
Speaker 1: of our mind. We didn't know when we're going to
Speaker 1: do it. We just thought maybe it would be a
Speaker 1: retirement plan. But the opportunity came up because we were
Speaker 1: obviously stuck and we're trying to work out a way
Speaker 1: to flee the country. But then we realized that in
Speaker 1: Greece things weren't great either. Things overseas were pretty tough.
Speaker 1: People were still getting stuck in countries and weren't able
Speaker 1: to leave Marinas. So we decided to buy in Australia.
Speaker 2: Again. Yes we had I had five days experience on
Speaker 2: a s that's amazing, and.
Speaker 1: John had also had five days on a sailboat. But
Speaker 1: the good thing about like lockdown was John was able
Speaker 1: to do some like captain training, like just handwritten stuff
Speaker 1: from Max and what have you, not physical experience because
Speaker 1: we're in lockdown.
Speaker 2: So by the time we're.
Speaker 1: Able to get a boat, we were like, okay, I'm
Speaker 1: just going to quit. I was like John, I've gotten
Speaker 1: to the point in my career where if I have
Speaker 1: a break, if I have a career break, that's completely fine,
Speaker 1: Like I'll be able to come back in the industry
Speaker 1: nout because I have enough experience previously that wasn't the case.
Speaker 1: For John, he was stood down from his job so
Speaker 1: he was able to take one year leave without pay.
Speaker 1: So we were like, yeah, let's buy a boat.
Speaker 2: So that's what we did.
Speaker 1: We went out. We had no idea what we were
Speaker 1: looking for. Never owned a boat.
Speaker 2: We were after.
Speaker 1: A forty foot boat, which is quite a large boat,
Speaker 1: but there was nothing available at all.
Speaker 2: No one was selling.
Speaker 1: The market was hot, as in, prices were really expensive,
Speaker 1: so we ended up having would you believe it or not,
Speaker 1: buying something that most people probably wouldn't buy, and that
Speaker 1: was to get a bigger boat. So we ended up
Speaker 1: buying a fifty foot boat, which is.
Speaker 3: I'm like, how do we even know what foot boat
Speaker 3: you even need?
Speaker 2: Like, how do you even know that? Yeah? Exactly, well
Speaker 2: we didn't. We didn't.
Speaker 1: We ended up buying this fifty foot boat. And I'll
Speaker 1: never forget the first time. We were sitting in the
Speaker 1: front of the bow area where the main cabin was
Speaker 1: like our bedroom, and John and I looked back towards
Speaker 1: the saloon galley way into the back of the boat
Speaker 1: and we just looked at each other and we were like,
Speaker 1: how are we going to get this boat out of
Speaker 1: the marina.
Speaker 2: We didn't know how it was going to be possible.
Speaker 1: We'd never done it before, so im we just were
Speaker 1: absolutely shitting ourselves.
Speaker 2: To be honest, it was fair and it pret enough.
Speaker 3: I mean what like most people haven't been on a
Speaker 3: fifty foot boat, let alone like bought one and then gone, yeah,
Speaker 3: cool man, I'm going to learn how to sail it
Speaker 3: on the go.
Speaker 1: Well, the dream was to go to the Great Barrier Reef,
Speaker 1: so we had that in our minds and we had
Speaker 1: to get the boat up to scratch. There are a
Speaker 1: few things that we had had to do on it,
Speaker 1: so we ended up spending a couple of months in
Speaker 1: the marina working on her, and then yeah, as soon
Speaker 1: as we could, as soon as we got this small
Speaker 1: little window of opportunity to leave.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: And there was literally this tiny little moment of opportunity
Speaker 1: where Victoria just got out of lockdown right and then
Speaker 1: was placed back into lockdown. And then there was a
Speaker 1: two massive low so really big weather events, and we
Speaker 1: managed to scrape out in between these two weather events
Speaker 1: and a little two week opening of Melbourne It's lockdown.
Speaker 2: It was so.
Speaker 1: Lucky and we made our way all the way up
Speaker 1: through you know, the baths, Stray and up to Sydney
Speaker 1: and that was a ford. That was our very first
Speaker 1: experience of John and I sailing Takana was out the
Speaker 1: back straight up to Sydney and that was a four
Speaker 1: day experience. We're completely out of our depth, completely out
Speaker 1: of our depth. We had problems on the boat with
Speaker 1: autopilot malfunctions.
Speaker 2: Is when John had to sit at the helm for
Speaker 2: seventeen hours? Yes what yeah?
Speaker 1: Okay?
Speaker 2: Also what is the helm? Like break it down for
Speaker 2: of course?
Speaker 3: Of course, oh my god, I didn't know that.
Speaker 1: So there are two steering wheels because you know, sometimes
Speaker 1: your sail boat heels to the left and sometimes it
Speaker 1: heels to the right. So whichever way it's healing, you
Speaker 1: can use either steering.
Speaker 3: I see, Like okay, boating one oh one. Like, so
Speaker 3: you buy this boat, assuming that you both used savings,
Speaker 3: like you had saving set aside to go on this adventure.
Speaker 3: You've ripped the band aid. You're like life's too short,
Speaker 3: let's go do this thing. And like one of you
Speaker 3: has to get a boat license, right and then like yeah,
Speaker 3: they just let you on. Like how do you, like
Speaker 3: do you get a manual? Like how do you figure
Speaker 3: out like what's the galley and what's it? Like?
Speaker 2: I'm so blown away by all this. Do you know what, Sarah?
Speaker 1: In Australia, you only need a boat license, that is it.
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 3: And then you just got on this fifty foot sailboat
Speaker 3: and just left.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we just left. We just went for it. And
Speaker 2: how do you learn how to drive it? Like I
Speaker 2: get through hard weather? Like, how do you do that?
Speaker 2: I don't know.
Speaker 1: We just did it, Like I mean, John, We're lucky
Speaker 1: that John had his navigational experience from flying, which was
Speaker 1: like phenomenal. And I just made sure his belly was
Speaker 1: full for the first few days. Yeah, And you know
Speaker 1: I stayed away because well, I mean like he was
Speaker 1: a great teacher. He really did help me. He has
Speaker 1: a mechanical mind. And I don't mind getting my hands dirty.
Speaker 1: I really enjoy the entire experience.
Speaker 2: I don't want to.
Speaker 1: Say all women, but I never spoke about boating with
Speaker 1: my girlfriends. I never spoke about batteries with my girl friends.
Speaker 1: I never spoke about solar panels with my girlfriends. I
Speaker 1: never spoke about what tools you need to I don't know,
Speaker 1: like pull a staunchin out of the base of the
Speaker 1: hull of the boat. I just I didn't talk about
Speaker 1: these things. So this was a whole new vocabulary for
Speaker 1: me and for John and it was an incredible experience.
Speaker 1: But it's not out of reach for people. And I
Speaker 1: have to say, that's the thing. Like my dad said
Speaker 1: to me, Christina, you're crazy. People who go on sail
Speaker 1: boats have been sailing their whole lives, Like what are
Speaker 1: you doing? This is this is wild And I was like,
Speaker 1: I know, but we've got to do it, like it's
Speaker 1: just something different and crazy. And you know, when we
Speaker 1: got out there, we learned the ropes pretty quickly, and
Speaker 1: every experience seemed so real at the time, like when
Speaker 1: you know, the autopilot failed, or when we got a
Speaker 1: line wrapped around the full stay in wild weather in
Speaker 1: the bastraight, like all those things. When we were trying
Speaker 1: to dodge whales on our way to Sydney and I
Speaker 1: was freaking out, like literally, like there are some wild,
Speaker 1: wild things that we experienced, But you know, there's you
Speaker 1: experience first with everything that you do, whether it be
Speaker 1: if you get behind the wheel of a car, you know,
Speaker 1: or you are learning how to train your voice. It
Speaker 1: doesn't happen straight away. It takes years of experience, and
Speaker 1: that's the same with boating, and like, if we let
Speaker 1: fear get in the way, we'll miss out on so
Speaker 1: many incredible experiences. And had we not taken that risk,
Speaker 1: had we not purchased that boat and not ventured out
Speaker 1: into the back Straight with literally five days sailing experience,
Speaker 1: we would have missed out on, as I said to you,
Speaker 1: like unlocking the keys to the world, because that's what
Speaker 1: it feels like right now. If you remember what it
Speaker 1: feels like for the first time getting your driver's license
Speaker 1: and the fact that you were able to go out
Speaker 1: and venture out and go to the suburb over and
Speaker 1: go out with your girlfriends, and you know, experience the
Speaker 1: freedom that came with a driver's license. And then I
Speaker 1: think about that and I go, well, what is it
Speaker 1: like without having the ability to sail the world or
Speaker 1: experience locations without being on a boat.
Speaker 2: It's like a whole.
Speaker 1: Nother form of transport that I didn't know existed. It's
Speaker 1: mind blowing, right, so cool, you can just like sail wherever. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's a whole new mode of transport. It's like, Okay,
Speaker 1: you go up in an aeroplane and you can you know,
Speaker 1: fly to another country, get in your car and you
Speaker 1: can drive to the supermarket. But being able to be
Speaker 1: on a boat and sail somewhere is so rewarding, so beautiful,
Speaker 1: and it really allows you to be in the moment,
Speaker 1: which is I had a lot of time to evaluate myself,
Speaker 1: my career, the anxiety I still had in the first
Speaker 1: three months of sailing, Like I would wake up and
Speaker 1: I would still feel a sense of urgency. And I
Speaker 1: think that was because I was so conditioned for so
Speaker 1: many years being a reporter.
Speaker 3: I mean, that was my biggest question for you that
Speaker 3: is so relevant to this show, and that's the fact
Speaker 3: that you don't relax immediately, that you do have to unwind,
Speaker 3: and that then that only then do you start to
Speaker 3: realize that the metrics that you care about in measuring
Speaker 3: your life are different. You know, like, how did your
Speaker 3: relationship with success and productivity change when suddenly you weren't
Speaker 3: producing or doing stuff like all David like, you were
Speaker 3: doing stuff, but it was different. I feel like leaving
Speaker 3: the prestige of the world that you were in to
Speaker 3: then jump wholeheartedly into a totally different world. It's difficult
Speaker 3: at the beginning because You're used to like delivering and
Speaker 3: getting promotions and climbing this ladder, and then you go
Speaker 3: into this totally different world when none of that matters.
Speaker 3: How did that shift from like literally seizing the day
Speaker 3: to like seizing the ya kind of go for you?
Speaker 3: And it does take months right, Like it doesn't. It's
Speaker 3: not straight away you wake up and you're like, this
Speaker 3: is very amazing, like live in my dream.
Speaker 1: Yeah, no, one hundred percent, Like because that was my identity.
Speaker 1: I didn't realize that I had made reporting my identity.
Speaker 1: I had no idea. I just lived and breathed it
Speaker 1: every single day.
Speaker 2: And it was until.
Speaker 1: We got on that boat and I would wake up
Speaker 1: early and watch your sunrise that I realized I hadn't
Speaker 1: seen a sunrise in so long. Like I had seen
Speaker 1: a sunrise if I'd had to get up for an
Speaker 1: early shift, but I hadn't seen a sunrise quite like
Speaker 1: the way that I experienced it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, feeling the freedom that I did on a boat, wow,
Speaker 2: oh gosh.
Speaker 1: Yeah. And I remember actually listening to a podcast and
Speaker 1: it's said to rate your stress levels at the time,
Speaker 1: and I remember I was laying in bed and I
Speaker 1: was like, oh my gosh, I feel like an eight.
Speaker 1: And I'm like, why do I feel like an eight?
Speaker 1: I literally didn't have an alarm to wake up to
Speaker 1: this morning. I've got nowhere to be. I am on
Speaker 1: a boat floating in the middle of you know, ocean.
Speaker 1: Why do I feel such stress? And like that was
Speaker 1: a massive turning point in my mind, going wow.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's fascinating. Yeah, it really was.
Speaker 1: And I wish if I could go back, and or
Speaker 1: if I could share with people who feel like they're
Speaker 1: in that grind of work, just go out in nature
Speaker 1: and maybe if you know, we don't all have access
Speaker 1: to a body.
Speaker 3: You know, we don't all have to buy when I
Speaker 3: learned to say from scratch, but we don't.
Speaker 2: And you know that.
Speaker 1: And that's the thing, Like you can do it in
Speaker 1: your own way, but sometimes like pushing yourself to experience
Speaker 1: something new or learn a new skill is all you
Speaker 1: need to push past the fact that you don't just
Speaker 1: have to be you know what your job title is totally.
Speaker 3: And I love that you've phrased it as like you'll
Speaker 3: have lots of different firsts in your life. I like
Speaker 3: that it's you know, this was your version of a first,
Speaker 3: which is you guys have a risk appetite that's you know,
Speaker 3: probably more robust than some people, but it's relative. Like
Speaker 3: we all have first no matter what they look like.
Speaker 3: It's important to feel that feeling. It doesn't have to
Speaker 3: be perhaps as big or dramatic, but that in your
Speaker 3: life you can push yourself to do anything for the
Speaker 3: first time, just to get that sense of.
Speaker 1: One hundred percent. And I remember, like so early in
Speaker 1: my career, I really wanted to succeed so quickly and
Speaker 1: I just wasn't ready. You know, even when I was
Speaker 1: twenty one. I wanted to be the best, but I
Speaker 1: just wasn't ready. And I remember, you know, my producer
Speaker 1: telling me Christina, everything will happen in time, but I.
Speaker 2: Just wanted I wanted it all just then and now.
Speaker 1: But you know, I think a quote that really resonated
Speaker 1: with me recently as well. It said you can have
Speaker 1: everything in life, but it doesn't have to be all
Speaker 1: at once.
Speaker 2: Yes. I love that one. Yeah, And that really make
Speaker 2: you know.
Speaker 1: If I'm ever having a down day, I just go,
Speaker 1: you know what, it's all good, Like we're part of
Speaker 1: this massive journey. While I was reporting, I wasn't able
Speaker 1: to have the experience of being on the boat.
Speaker 2: But I'm experiencing it.
Speaker 1: Now and I don't know what tomorrow will bring, and
Speaker 1: I don't know what, you know, my life will look
Speaker 1: like in five years, but maybe it will be an
Speaker 1: experience that I wasn't able to do in my twenties
Speaker 1: that I can do in my mid thirties.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know what I mean. Absolutely. So from the
Speaker 2: time you first got on the boat, what month and
Speaker 2: a year was that? April last year?
Speaker 3: Okay, oh my gosh. So then how long did you sail?
Speaker 3: Like what were the sailing adventures from there? Where did
Speaker 3: you finish?
Speaker 1: Like?
Speaker 3: How long did you think you were going for?
Speaker 2: Do you know what I mean? Did you have a plan? Yeah? So,
Speaker 2: well we our plan was to get out of Victoria.
Speaker 2: What was the main full stop? Yeah, great plan. Yeah.
Speaker 1: And then when we got to New South Wales, the
Speaker 1: plan was to get out of New South Wales because
Speaker 1: they too were about to go into like this epic lockdown.
Speaker 1: We almost got stuck in New South Wales like it
Speaker 1: was a matter of days. Yeah, and then that's it.
Speaker 1: We would have been stuck in New South Wales. So
Speaker 1: we got out of New South Wales, which is brilliant.
Speaker 1: And then we made it to Queensland and so we
Speaker 1: went all the way up to beautiful islands like Lady Musgrave,
Speaker 1: all like just absolutely stunning experience through the whit Sundays,
Speaker 1: white Haven.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, heaven. Yeah, up to Ken's. We went
Speaker 2: all the way out to a place called Lizard Island.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I know, so that actually so on YouTube, our
Speaker 1: current time timeline is cans so we haven't got to
Speaker 1: Lizard Island yet, so we're definitely saving the best for
Speaker 1: your audience. Yeah, but yeah, it's absolutely out of this.
Speaker 2: World, like we were.
Speaker 1: We got to Snorklin, the most incredible reef you can imagine,
Speaker 1: off a place called cod Hole which is off of
Speaker 1: like Ribbon Reef ten, the Great Bearer Reef, and it
Speaker 1: was absolutely spectacular.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was beautiful.
Speaker 1: And then obviously that opportunity opened up so many doors
Speaker 1: that we were given that opportunity just recently to go
Speaker 1: sailing Greece and that was absolutely mind blowing with Naviga
Speaker 1: over there. So we literally just came back from sailing
Speaker 1: in Greece, which, in full circle, that was what you'd
Speaker 1: always want to do, That's what we always wanted to do,
Speaker 1: so I actually have garse.
Speaker 3: Oh my gosh, just what an adventure?
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh. Yeah.
Speaker 3: So I think one of the big questions that will
Speaker 3: be on a lot of people's minds now is like
Speaker 3: how did you financially make it work? Like how did
Speaker 3: you not knowing how long you'd be going for as well?
Speaker 3: Like I think often people save up for, you know,
Speaker 3: a sabbatical, but they know it's six months or they
Speaker 3: know it's three months, and they know when they're going
Speaker 3: back to work, Like how did you manage the financial
Speaker 3: side of that? Because that's something I often talk about
Speaker 3: ces the A, but then I forget to cover like
Speaker 3: nuts and bolts of how you do it?
Speaker 2: One hundred percent.
Speaker 1: I'm so glad you asked this question because John and
Speaker 1: I saved from a really young age.
Speaker 2: And I have to be honest.
Speaker 1: With you, Like, obviously I op shop, so I don't
Speaker 1: waste my money on those sorts of things like clothes.
Speaker 1: I'm all about not buying things, yep, but buying experiences.
Speaker 2: That has always been like really true to us.
Speaker 1: And I remember being in Darwin and I wanted a
Speaker 1: boost juice from the shopping center and John's like Christina,
Speaker 1: it's seven dollars and I'm like, I know, but I
Speaker 1: want to. He's like no, no, no, no, no, Like seven
Speaker 1: dollars now is like thirty dollars in like ten years time.
Speaker 2: You don't need it. Wow, my god. So true.
Speaker 1: So from that age, like from twenty John and I
Speaker 1: would like save hard because we knew how important that was.
Speaker 2: Compounding interest was.
Speaker 1: So even though I didn't do my business degree, I
Speaker 1: learned one thing, and so we would you know, like
Speaker 1: we would still go out and enjoy ourselves, what we prioritize,
Speaker 1: what we spent our money on. We still traveled really
Speaker 1: hard through twenty twenty one twenty two. We traveled all
Speaker 1: through Asia on a budget. We would stay in backpackers
Speaker 1: and you know and like rough it a bit, but
Speaker 1: still have that experience. So we saved really hard, and
Speaker 1: then that's what allowed us to essentially be able to
Speaker 1: buy Ta Kanna because of the savings that we had.
Speaker 1: And also John also was able to invest in a
Speaker 1: few properties as well when we're up here in Brisbane.
Speaker 1: And I think that's another thing that goes back to
Speaker 1: your question as well about sum jumping around a bit here.
Speaker 1: But you know, you mentioned what pushed you through through
Speaker 1: those dark times, and you know, we were in a
Speaker 1: financial position where we were in investing in property, so
Speaker 1: I had to have a salary to be able to
Speaker 1: pay for our investments. So I was sort of in
Speaker 1: that position where I had to just suck it up
Speaker 1: because I knew that in the long run it was
Speaker 1: for the best.
Speaker 3: And I think it's a really good reminder as well
Speaker 3: that like everyone, like as we say, everyone's yay, it
Speaker 3: looks different in terms of their career or their passion,
Speaker 3: but it also looks different in terms of your life priorities,
Speaker 3: Like some people really value experiences, some people really value things,
Speaker 3: and the way you save and allocate your funds, like
Speaker 3: it's different for everyone. So you are able to do
Speaker 3: this because you do value that more than you value
Speaker 3: something else, and you've prioritized it for decades, you know.
Speaker 3: I think it's really interesting how sometimes people are like, well,
Speaker 3: how do you do that? And it's like, cause I
Speaker 3: don't do all those other things. Like it's all a
Speaker 3: give and take of what you care about.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, And it got to the point where you know,
Speaker 1: if I saw a handbag that was worth four grand,
Speaker 1: I would go, well, well, after tax, that's like me
Speaker 1: working almost for a whole month. Is the handbag work? Yeah,
Speaker 1: And I'm like, you know what it kind of isn't
Speaker 1: It's not worth it. I'd rather spend that money on
Speaker 1: something else or retire earlier.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Whereas some people want the handbag and that brings
Speaker 3: them ya. It's like it's whatever is your ya, exactly exactly.
Speaker 1: And you know what the thing is is like handbags
Speaker 1: can be investments these days, open value.
Speaker 3: You can also find some in an opshop. Like some
Speaker 3: people try things out that they don't know the value of,
Speaker 3: So keep look exactly exactly exactly a little side note
Speaker 3: to this question. Christina later emailed me to clarify that
Speaker 3: they afforded their boat through their savings, which you just explained.
Speaker 2: But didn't realize that.
Speaker 3: I was actually asking about how they funded the rest
Speaker 3: of the trip while they were living on board, so
Speaker 3: if you were also wondering about that. Christina later explained
Speaker 3: that they had monetized their adventure through their ad Sense
Speaker 3: YouTube revenue the sponsorships on their YouTube episodes that they
Speaker 3: made while they were on board, and I found this fascinating.
Speaker 3: One ad pays almost the same amount as she was
Speaker 3: earning as a full time journalist for a month, and
Speaker 3: of course the freelance voiceover work that Christina was doing
Speaker 3: on board. As you can tell, she has an incredible
Speaker 3: voice for voiceovers, and yes, she would convert her room
Speaker 3: on the boat into a voice studio, which I have
Speaker 3: actually done, not on a boat but on our travels.
Speaker 3: In fact, the introduction to the last episode that you
Speaker 3: guys heard was recorded in a cupboard in the middle
Speaker 3: of an Italian hotel, which was wonderful. It echoed as
Speaker 3: well because it didn't have carpets, so I was covered
Speaker 3: in atuna. It's very very glamorous. Anyway, I just thought
Speaker 3: i'd add that little side note in. So then you
Speaker 3: have turned the Journey into a YouTube channel. You're really
Speaker 3: big on TikTok, You've got Instagram like you've been storytelling
Speaker 3: and I love that your skill and talent from reporting,
Speaker 3: in telling stories and conveying an experience to other people
Speaker 3: has shined through in your YouTube in Christina's travels. So
Speaker 3: was that something that you wanted to turn into now
Speaker 3: what you do like or are you still not really
Speaker 3: putting that pressure on yourself, like what is kind of
Speaker 3: the long term plan now?
Speaker 2: Or are you not long term planning.
Speaker 1: No, no, I did. I really wanted it to work
Speaker 1: for us.
Speaker 2: I did.
Speaker 1: I filmed the journey well, one because we were locked
Speaker 1: away from our family, so I wanted to share that
Speaker 1: experience with them as well. Two, if something came from
Speaker 1: a fantastic it would give John and I the opportunity
Speaker 1: to have that you know, ability to do this and
Speaker 1: experience the world.
Speaker 2: And that's the plan. Yeah, for sure. I just I
Speaker 2: don't know.
Speaker 1: I don't know if it's just because of the storytelling
Speaker 1: aspect of my job that I just wanted to do it.
Speaker 1: I think even if I wasn't getting paid to do it,
Speaker 1: I'd still want to do it. I love documenting things,
Speaker 1: even silly things that John doesn't home.
Speaker 2: I film him. Yeah, it's like part of your way
Speaker 2: of capturing life. Yeah, you know for sure.
Speaker 1: And like even on his birthdays and stuff like I
Speaker 1: would capture him and I doing silly things for the
Speaker 1: year and then make a little video to show him
Speaker 1: on his birthday, just to rekindle that spirit and you know,
Speaker 1: remind ourselves of all the fun things that we had
Speaker 1: done throughout the year. I just have always enjoyed capturing
Speaker 1: our life experiences. And last night actually I went back
Speaker 1: and I haven't done this before, but I went back
Speaker 1: and started watching our videos.
Speaker 2: From the stuff because you were going to chat about this.
Speaker 1: Today, and I had a few like really teary moments
Speaker 1: because I was, yeah, I just felt so proud about
Speaker 1: what we did, and I feel like we've come such
Speaker 1: a long way now. But you know, when you look
Speaker 1: back and you think, wow, all those feels that I
Speaker 1: had leaving Melbourne for the very first time on the boat,
Speaker 1: and the excitement and the adrenaline, it's just wild. But
Speaker 1: looking back and feeling that again for the first time
Speaker 1: was pretty special, and I'm glad, you know.
Speaker 2: I hope like I would always have that.
Speaker 1: Even I sometimes think about when I'm old and gray
Speaker 1: like a nursing home, like maybe I can't go back
Speaker 1: and watch them.
Speaker 2: I feel it's a bit morbid. It's a bit morbid, it.
Speaker 3: Is, but it's not like I often think that the
Speaker 3: way to really impress upon people how important it is
Speaker 3: to find your ya now is that no one on
Speaker 3: their deathbed has ever wished they had less fun, Like
Speaker 3: no one has gotten to the end of their life
Speaker 3: and look back and going, oh, man, I wish I
Speaker 3: worked more. I wish I spent all less time with
Speaker 3: the people lived, And like I think everyone's wish at
Speaker 3: that stage in their life looking back is that they
Speaker 3: could impress upon young people to enjoy it all they
Speaker 3: have it. So it's kind of morbid, but it also
Speaker 3: helps you reflect on now in a way.
Speaker 1: One hundred percent. One hundred percent, And that's the thing
Speaker 1: like I had, Yeah, when I was like full on
Speaker 1: in my career, and that was the only thing I
Speaker 1: saw myself doing forever.
Speaker 2: It's just wild to look back at that and think
Speaker 2: that I'm the same person.
Speaker 1: Yes, yeah, unbelievable. You just don't know what door you
Speaker 1: know you can open up for you. You don't know
Speaker 1: what's waiting on the other side if you just take
Speaker 1: that leap. Because I honestly I thought, oh, well, worst
Speaker 1: case scenario will have a year off and I'll just.
Speaker 2: Go back to reporting.
Speaker 1: But you know, this door has opened, and I don't
Speaker 1: know how long it will last. For a look, I'll
Speaker 1: take it for as long as it runs, until it
Speaker 1: runs its course. But at the moment we're just, yeah,
Speaker 1: really embracing it and are excited for the future.
Speaker 3: Oh well, I'm going to include links to the channel
Speaker 3: in the show notes because I have so many other
Speaker 3: questions to ask you about the sailing experience, but I
Speaker 3: know you've covered all of them in the actual and
Speaker 3: probably told them in a way more beautiful way with
Speaker 3: all the visuals of like where you actually are, what
Speaker 3: the boat looks like. So I'll make sure to include
Speaker 3: those for everyone. Please go and watch them. It will
Speaker 3: be such an escape. If you can't buy a boat,
Speaker 3: just live VI carelessly through Christina and John.
Speaker 1: And you know what, It's awesome being a female and
Speaker 1: being able to do it because there are so many
Speaker 1: of our viewers that are like, oh, I'm trying to
Speaker 1: get my wife over the line and trying to get
Speaker 1: my girlfriend. Everyone tell you what it is an experience
Speaker 1: you will never forget as long as you don't get seasick.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I would not recommend to problem, but you know,
Speaker 3: put yourself out there, you might enjoy it amazing. Well, yeah,
Speaker 3: thank you so much for sharing. I like literally feel
Speaker 3: like I could pick your brain for another hour just
Speaker 3: on like maritime terms, because I want to know more
Speaker 3: of I did not know that like the hull was
Speaker 3: what it was and the helm is what it was.
Speaker 3: But I've learned like three new words today, so I
Speaker 3: feel really accomplished. But just to finish up, I always
Speaker 3: end by asking what your favorite quote is, and you've
Speaker 3: already shared one, so that can be it if you want.
Speaker 2: But do you have any.
Speaker 3: Quotes for the ya or that just capture your journey
Speaker 3: and what you'd love to impress upon other people? Okay,
Speaker 3: I have to you don't know what you don't know?
Speaker 3: Absolutely love that, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1: And I think this is one I don't know. It
Speaker 1: always like sticks in my mind, but it's, you know, cliche,
Speaker 1: shoot for the moon, but if you don't, you'll still
Speaker 1: being amongst the stars.
Speaker 2: But it's so true. I love it.
Speaker 1: I love it like you have to go for gold
Speaker 1: because if you don't, you will have regrets. And that
Speaker 1: is one thing that I didn't want to have. I
Speaker 1: didn't want to have any regrets. And that's the thing,
Speaker 1: you know. As I was I remember celebrating thirty in
Speaker 1: Lockdown and my mum said to me.
Speaker 2: Oh, I was your age when I had you, and.
Speaker 1: I was like, oh, dear, I need to start thinking
Speaker 1: about children. And I just wasn't there yet. I wasn't mentally.
Speaker 2: Prepared for that, yeah, at all.
Speaker 1: And I didn't want to go into that next phase
Speaker 1: of potentially wanting a family, and yeah, just not being
Speaker 1: mentally prepared for that child in parenthood and that journey
Speaker 1: its entirety.
Speaker 2: So I was like, John, we have to do this
Speaker 2: for us.
Speaker 1: We have to go wild otherwise I'm going to have
Speaker 1: serious regrets.
Speaker 2: And so yeah, I'm so glad.
Speaker 1: We did and we yeah, we definitely. We aimed for
Speaker 1: the moon there.
Speaker 2: And you landed on the moon. So amazing work.
Speaker 1: Out somewhere out in the galaxy. We are just floating away.
Speaker 2: Oh well, I can't wait to see what you do next.
Speaker 2: And thank you so much for joining. Thank you so
Speaker 2: much for having me, sarah Ah.
Speaker 3: The visuals of this adventure are even more fascinating than
Speaker 3: the audio, so make sure you go and watch Christina's
Speaker 3: epic videos on YouTube and TikTok. What a fascinating journey.
Speaker 3: As always, if you enjoyed this episode, please share it
Speaker 3: and tag at k Kastalis, k cost A l Os
Speaker 3: and US so we can repost and keep growing the
Speaker 3: neighborhood as far and wide as possible. We're back on
Speaker 3: the ground now and working through the jet lags. We'll
Speaker 3: be back with some Yea's of our lives with and
Speaker 3: as well very soon. I hope you're having an amazing
Speaker 3: week and is seizing your YA