WEBVTT - Bonus Episode! The Nomads 0:00:00.280 --> 0:00:06.160 Hi, This is Matt and this is Brad from park Landia. 0:00:06.720 --> 0:00:08.920 We were lucky enough to be featured on the show 0:00:09.000 --> 0:00:12.479 Committed by Joe Piazza. Here's a snippet of that show. 0:00:12.560 --> 0:00:29.280 Now Committed is a production of I Heart Radio. The 0:00:29.360 --> 0:00:34.080 plan was to be nomads. I mean, I wish it 0:00:34.120 --> 0:00:37.200 was more complicated or there was actually more strategic planning, 0:00:37.280 --> 0:00:40.239 but we wanted to just be able to explore this 0:00:40.400 --> 0:00:45.400 beautiful country in the national parks, especially trial by Error, 0:00:46.479 --> 0:00:48.960 and that Trial by Error was really rough. In the 0:00:49.000 --> 0:00:55.000 beginning last year, Brad and Matt Cairoat gave up there 0:00:55.120 --> 0:00:58.760 very comfortable and very secure lives to live as nomads 0:00:59.360 --> 0:01:05.479 and in RV no bigger than most people's bathrooms. It's 0:01:05.480 --> 0:01:08.480 been tough, like it's been really really hard, and we've 0:01:08.480 --> 0:01:10.720 had to dig deep and see if we really want 0:01:10.760 --> 0:01:16.000 to be together. There's no doubt about it that living 0:01:16.040 --> 0:01:20.720 this lifestyle will challenge you in every single direction of 0:01:20.720 --> 0:01:23.479 your life. And it's like kind of horrifying but also 0:01:23.600 --> 0:01:28.840 just like the most exciting, thrilling thing ever. I definitely 0:01:28.840 --> 0:01:31.640 feel that we've had in the RV like our highest 0:01:31.720 --> 0:01:35.199 highs for sure, best memories, and also like our lowest lows, 0:01:35.200 --> 0:01:42.959 so it's like all the extremes crammed to Like I'm 0:01:43.040 --> 0:02:17.840 Joe Piazza, this is committed. Matt and Brad have been 0:02:17.880 --> 0:02:20.480 together for four years now and they've spent the better 0:02:20.520 --> 0:02:22.840 part of the last year traversing the country in their RV. 0:02:24.160 --> 0:02:28.640 But before all that, they met on Tinder, and this 0:02:28.840 --> 0:02:32.040 was I think both of our first times actually like 0:02:32.440 --> 0:02:36.720 using Tinder felt like an actual possibility as opposed to 0:02:36.760 --> 0:02:39.919 like all these other Tinder matches or non matches are 0:02:39.960 --> 0:02:42.560 just like man. Probably went back and forth and talked 0:02:42.680 --> 0:02:47.200 for a couple of weeks, I would say before meeting, Yeah, 0:02:47.200 --> 0:02:50.400 because I was just busy wrapping up my activism for 0:02:50.520 --> 0:02:53.240 marriage equality in Illinois, which I said I would never 0:02:53.280 --> 0:02:57.000 get married, and well here we are today. But yeah, no, 0:02:57.200 --> 0:02:59.840 I think it's just one of those crazy instances where 0:03:00.040 --> 0:03:03.919 we both weren't expecting anything out of Tinder and we 0:03:04.040 --> 0:03:06.480 both just downloaded the app. You know, we really only 0:03:06.520 --> 0:03:10.440 talked to each other. Brad came to meet me at 0:03:10.480 --> 0:03:13.800 my loft I was currently renting in Chicago. He was 0:03:13.840 --> 0:03:16.120 living in the suburbs at the time, so probably like 0:03:16.240 --> 0:03:20.760 forty minutes away, and it's kind of miraculous that we 0:03:20.800 --> 0:03:25.480 even matched because I don't know, like what my geographic 0:03:25.560 --> 0:03:28.000 range was on dinner, but I don't think it a 0:03:28.040 --> 0:03:33.560 lot in for a suburb um. But we both expected Yeah, 0:03:33.560 --> 0:03:35.000 Brad must have been in the city or something of 0:03:35.040 --> 0:03:38.720 the time where he popped up on my app and 0:03:38.760 --> 0:03:42.000 I was like, so, I don't know, it was just 0:03:42.080 --> 0:03:47.120 it was a different feeling. They went to this cute 0:03:47.160 --> 0:03:49.440 little dessert shop in an area of Chicago known as 0:03:49.440 --> 0:03:54.160 the Ukrainian Village, Black Dog Gelato. They took a walk. 0:03:54.880 --> 0:03:58.840 Matt gave Brad an adorable nickname. Matt said, you know what, 0:03:58.880 --> 0:04:01.320 I'm going to call you, Basil because the first ice 0:04:01.320 --> 0:04:03.760 cream eight together was Basil, and so we kind of 0:04:03.800 --> 0:04:07.720 bonded over food really quick, and it also got serious 0:04:07.760 --> 0:04:12.240 really quick. I basically moved in right away. It felt right. 0:04:12.320 --> 0:04:14.840 It absolutely did. Although looking back in retrospect, I'm like, wow, 0:04:14.880 --> 0:04:18.560 that's a lot faster than the average. But for us, 0:04:18.600 --> 0:04:21.480 it really works. We got engaged, like I think literally 0:04:21.480 --> 0:04:26.200 three months after we Matt, and the funny part about 0:04:26.240 --> 0:04:30.279 that is one of my our friends, she said, you 0:04:30.279 --> 0:04:32.520 guys are just a bunch of lesbians. You got you 0:04:32.640 --> 0:04:35.679 moved in, you have two dogs. For lesbians, it's cats, 0:04:35.839 --> 0:04:37.880 but it was you know, those stereotypes. She was just 0:04:37.960 --> 0:04:42.960 making that funny joke and kind of resonated. We got married. 0:04:43.480 --> 0:04:46.600 I think it was nine months after the engagement, one 0:04:46.680 --> 0:04:49.880 year to the day. Yeah, right, pretty much exactly one 0:04:49.960 --> 0:04:51.880 year to the day, and it was Labor Day weekend. 0:04:52.560 --> 0:04:56.280 We got married at Prad's cousins house in the suburbs 0:04:56.279 --> 0:04:59.799 of Chicago, in this town called Warrenville. The whole wedding 0:04:59.880 --> 0:05:02.960 was like super personal and how all these little intimate touches, 0:05:03.000 --> 0:05:06.719 Like not only was the location special for us, but 0:05:07.240 --> 0:05:09.600 all the food was special. The people who made our cake, 0:05:10.000 --> 0:05:14.359 Dave and Megan Miller, owned this placed in Chicagohood Baker Miller. 0:05:14.640 --> 0:05:17.680 They made us a special kind of tiared bunt cake 0:05:17.800 --> 0:05:22.000 which was so delicious and it just wondering I think 0:05:22.000 --> 0:05:26.760 it had been was a banana banana plum banana plum, amazing. 0:05:27.040 --> 0:05:29.200 And then we also had of course black targ gelato 0:05:29.440 --> 0:05:32.200 location of our first date. They were there with this 0:05:32.279 --> 0:05:36.159 little vintage looking ice cream cart, thaying that they would 0:05:36.240 --> 0:05:39.560 push around the yard. We had sparklers instead of flowers 0:05:39.560 --> 0:05:42.280 in the middle of the table because everything was sparklers 0:05:42.320 --> 0:05:44.800 because I was all outside themed and it was just 0:05:44.960 --> 0:05:48.839 it was a really magical, fun, easy going night. It was. 0:05:49.040 --> 0:05:53.000 It was after their wedding. Matt was working as a 0:05:53.000 --> 0:05:56.200 freelance food and travel writer. Brad did marketing and events 0:05:56.200 --> 0:06:02.279 for Maple Syrup Farm. They bought their adorable loft in 0:06:02.279 --> 0:06:05.840 the Ukrainian Village neighborhood in Chicago together, and they were 0:06:05.920 --> 0:06:09.640 completely in love with it and each other. The neighborhood 0:06:09.680 --> 0:06:13.480 was homey, filled with wonderful people, coffee shops, and restaurants. 0:06:14.720 --> 0:06:16.560 It was Brad who made their apartment a real home. 0:06:17.920 --> 0:06:20.279 Before they got together, Matt was eating off paper plates 0:06:20.320 --> 0:06:23.440 with plastic forks. One of the first things Brad did 0:06:23.520 --> 0:06:28.400 was get them some proper plates, some silverware. They nested 0:06:28.400 --> 0:06:30.559 for a couple of years, and they loved their nest. 0:06:31.960 --> 0:06:33.839 The problem is both of them were on the road 0:06:34.040 --> 0:06:39.039 all the time. They hardly saw each other. We saw 0:06:39.080 --> 0:06:44.800 each other probably for two days every three weeks for 0:06:44.880 --> 0:06:49.160 their entire it was a lot. Yeah, because I was 0:06:49.200 --> 0:06:51.200 traveling a lot. I would have a lot of work trips, 0:06:51.320 --> 0:06:54.520 and then Brad would also be working and traveling for 0:06:54.560 --> 0:06:58.080 the on the Maple Trail. Yeah, pretty much. So it 0:06:58.240 --> 0:06:59.880 just got to the point where, like, we needed to 0:07:00.000 --> 0:07:03.760 make some adjustments, serious adjustments, so that we can see 0:07:03.760 --> 0:07:08.799 each other in a more regular basis. Everything started to change. 0:07:08.839 --> 0:07:11.360 When Matt visited the bad Lands in South Dakota for 0:07:11.400 --> 0:07:17.520 a story, he felt obsessed with national parks. I became 0:07:17.560 --> 0:07:20.960 obsessed with them kind of overnight. I just became infatuated, 0:07:21.160 --> 0:07:23.400 and it triggered this like curiosity where I wanted to 0:07:23.440 --> 0:07:27.840 learn more about national parks, visit more national parks. Not 0:07:27.920 --> 0:07:29.880 only was I personally obsessed with them and wanting to 0:07:29.960 --> 0:07:32.640 visit them, but as a travel writer, I was able 0:07:32.680 --> 0:07:36.960 to write more about national parks. And then since I've 0:07:37.080 --> 0:07:40.720 kind of pivoted more towards that, focusing on writing about 0:07:42.200 --> 0:07:47.480 nature and national parks. But writing about national parks would 0:07:47.480 --> 0:07:51.120 mean even more time apart. For the new couple, the answer, 0:07:51.680 --> 0:07:53.760 the only answer, as they saw it, was for them 0:07:53.800 --> 0:07:57.040 to travel together. And to travel together that meant they 0:07:57.040 --> 0:08:01.800 had to become nomads. I just said, Matt, let's look 0:08:01.840 --> 0:08:03.960 into get an r V, and he started thinking about it. 0:08:04.160 --> 0:08:06.880 We started talking about it. Since I work remotely and 0:08:06.920 --> 0:08:10.160 I can be anywhere, there was really no reason why 0:08:10.880 --> 0:08:14.240 the r V wouldn't work, and the RV thing, it's 0:08:14.280 --> 0:08:17.240 like kind of this Americana dream that a lot of 0:08:17.240 --> 0:08:19.680 people have, including me. Like I had been on an 0:08:19.760 --> 0:08:21.840 r V trip with my family when I was eleven 0:08:22.000 --> 0:08:24.280 or twelve or something and remember it. Probably it was 0:08:24.320 --> 0:08:27.400 one of my favorite vacations ever. About twenty days later, 0:08:27.440 --> 0:08:30.960 I'm looking at r vs. Thirty days later, I'm buying 0:08:31.000 --> 0:08:33.920 an RV and Matt's like freaking out because I'm like, oh, yeah, 0:08:33.920 --> 0:08:35.599 we need to each put down three grand because we 0:08:35.679 --> 0:08:38.640 keep our finances separate. Everything is so that way. It's 0:08:38.720 --> 0:08:42.360 very equal within our relationship and Matt's money's Matt's money 0:08:42.360 --> 0:08:46.560 and my money is mine, but we sharing the journey together. 0:08:47.200 --> 0:08:50.240 During that time, He's like like three grand, what because 0:08:50.280 --> 0:08:51.719 you told me it was gonna be zero down. I'm 0:08:51.760 --> 0:08:53.920 like yeah, but then this financing and blah blah blah 0:08:53.920 --> 0:08:56.120 blah blah, and it was just one of those fun 0:08:56.280 --> 0:09:01.360 parts where the dynamics kind of shifted. They had hoped 0:09:01.400 --> 0:09:03.600 they can airbnb their loft, but that was against the 0:09:03.720 --> 0:09:06.600 h o A rules, so they ended up having to 0:09:06.640 --> 0:09:12.320 sell it fast. That was in Chicago for two weeks, 0:09:12.320 --> 0:09:15.520 completely flipped the house. It was a crazy romant of 0:09:15.520 --> 0:09:17.600 a time to get that on the market so quick, 0:09:17.679 --> 0:09:19.760 but you know, we did it. We did it, and 0:09:20.600 --> 0:09:23.480 unfortunately when we put on the market it was November, 0:09:23.679 --> 0:09:27.120 so then you have Thanksgiving, you have Christmas, then Chicago 0:09:27.200 --> 0:09:29.600 was going through one of the worst winters ever. Then 0:09:29.640 --> 0:09:31.840 you have the government shutdown. It took us six months 0:09:31.880 --> 0:09:34.520 to sell it in a market that takes thirty days, 0:09:34.600 --> 0:09:38.800 and so that was really difficult and very strenuous, not 0:09:38.880 --> 0:09:43.320 only on financial but are in a personal relationship because 0:09:44.120 --> 0:09:46.560 of how we handle finances. So there was times where 0:09:46.559 --> 0:09:48.480 I actually had to borrow money from Matt because it 0:09:48.600 --> 0:09:52.000 just drained me. It created these little moments of panic, like, 0:09:52.240 --> 0:09:54.680 oh my gosh, did we make a huge mistake because 0:09:54.720 --> 0:09:56.559 we were that was like that loft was like our 0:09:56.640 --> 0:09:59.560 dream home and like the perfect neighborhood with the perfect 0:09:59.559 --> 0:10:02.160 neighbor It is surrounded by all our favorite restaurants and 0:10:02.240 --> 0:10:05.240 coffee shops and friends living close by. So that was 0:10:05.280 --> 0:10:08.000 stressful for sure. We end up getting it figured out. 0:10:08.080 --> 0:10:11.200 There was a team that all worked out time for 0:10:11.240 --> 0:10:14.880 a quick break. When we get back, Brada and Matt 0:10:14.920 --> 0:10:19.760 hit the road. So if you like that and want 0:10:19.800 --> 0:10:22.319 to hear the full episode check out committed well link 0:10:22.360 --> 0:10:25.240 to it in our show notes too. As always, thank 0:10:25.280 --> 0:10:25.960 you for listening.