[00:00:00] What if your next chapter wasn’t about slowing down, shrinking your world, or simply checking places off a travel bucket list,

[00:00:08] but about expanding your confidence,

[00:00:11] your community,

[00:00:12] your sense of adventure, and maybe even your idea of what retirement can look like?

[00:00:18] In today’s episode, I’m talking with Andrew Motowila, founder of The Good Life Abroad,

[00:00:25] a company that creates month-long community-based travel experiences across Europe for people over 55.

[00:00:33] And this isn’t a whirlwind tour where you get on and off a bus faster than you can say,

[00:00:37] “Where’s my passport?”

[00:00:39] This is about living more like a local with your own apartment, local support, built-in community,

[00:00:46] and plenty of opportunities to explore, connect, walk, eat, learn, and enjoy life in a deeper way.

[00:00:56] Andrew and I talk about travel,

[00:00:58] retirement,

[00:00:59] community [00:01:00] wellness,

[00:01:00] and what he calls increasing your joy span, which I absolutely love.

[00:01:06] So if you’ve ever dreamed of living in Paris,

[00:01:09] Lisbon,

[00:01:10] Florence,

[00:01:11] or another beautiful European spot without having to figure it out all on your own.

[00:01:17] Grab your imaginary passport and come on in.

[00:01:29] Did you know that our struggle with weight doesn’t start with the food on your plate or get fixed in the gym?

[00:01:35] 80% of our weight struggle is mental.

[00:01:39] That’s right.

[00:01:40] The key to unlocking long-term weight release and management begins in your mind.

[00:01:46] Hi there.

[00:01:47] I’m Rita Black.

[00:01:48] I’m a clinical hypnotherapist, weight loss expert, best-selling author,

[00:01:52] and the creator of the Shift Weight Mastery process.

[00:01:56] And not only have I helped thousands of people over the past 20 [00:02:00] years achieve long-term weight mastery,

[00:02:03] I am also a former weight struggler, carb addict, and binge eater.

[00:02:08] And after two decades of failed diets and fad weight loss programs,

[00:02:12] I lost 40 pounds with the help of hypnosis.

[00:02:16] Not only did I release all that weight,

[00:02:18] I have kept it off for 25 years.

[00:02:22] Enter the Thin Thinking podcast where you, too, will learn how to remove the mental roadblocks that keep you struggling.

[00:02:29] I’ll give you the thin thinking tools, skills, and insights to help you develop the mindset you need,

[00:02:35] not only to achieve your ideal weight,

[00:02:38] but to stay there long term and live your best life.

[00:02:43] Sound good?

[00:02:43] Let’s get started.

[00:02:44] I hope you are all well and enjoying these early days of summer.

[00:02:48] I wanted to share a big milestone with you that I had.

[00:02:52] Well, it’s a big milestone for me.

[00:02:55] My baby boy turned 21 this last [00:03:00] weekend.

[00:03:00] I cannot believe it that I am now the mother of all children over 20.

[00:03:06] For those of you who know what I’m talking about

[00:03:09] it’s a bizarre reality, and it’s, very, very bizarre.

[00:03:12] That he can go and pull up to a bar and drink.

[00:03:15] It’s a little scary.

[00:03:17] And maybe that, his permission to drink does that mean I have permission to drink more?

[00:03:24] I probably need it.

[00:03:25] I don’t know.

[00:03:26] But I feel like I’ve entered a new era where my children are officially becoming big-time adults,

[00:03:32] which makes my interview with Andrew Motiwalla feel very perfectly timed.

[00:03:39] I can’t wait for you to meet him because he really opened my mind to this new way of thinking about travel and adventure.

[00:03:47] As some of you know, I lived in London many, many years ago for a number of years,

[00:03:52] which I suppose does not count as living abroad, at least in my mind.

[00:03:57] I don’t know why.

[00:03:58] Even if my brain somehow [00:04:00] files it under sort of abroad.

[00:04:02] I think it’s because everybody spoke English there,

[00:04:05] I didn’t feel I was officially abroad.

[00:04:08] But my husband and I spent those years immersing ourselves in culture,

[00:04:12] British culture, but culture around Europe,

[00:04:15] traveling around and having the kind of adventure that still lives very, very happily in my memory bank.

[00:04:22] And I’ll confess,

[00:04:23] I still have secret fantasies of spending time with my hubby in beautiful foreign places,

[00:04:30] ’cause we enjoy it.

[00:04:31] Settling in and living like locals for a bit,

[00:04:35] but not necessarily moving forever,

[00:04:37] by just stepping into another culture long enough to feel a part of it.

[00:04:42] And then, surprisingly, just as I was thinking about this, along came Andrew, who has created a way for people to do exactly that in month-long snippets with support,

[00:04:55] community,

[00:04:56] and without having to figure out every last detail on your [00:05:00] own.

[00:05:00] It’s very much in the spirit of slow travel,

[00:05:03] but perhaps with a little more comfort and a little less,

[00:05:07] “Where exactly am I supposed to buy laundry detergent in this country?” sort of feel.

[00:05:14] Along those lines, my daughter spent last year in Valencia,

[00:05:17] and then traveled through Europe doing Workaway,

[00:05:19] where you work in exchange for food and lodging.

[00:05:23] And some of it sounded really adventurous and magical,

[00:05:26] like swimming in an icy Norwegian fjord,

[00:05:30] where she was caring for goats and making goat cheese,

[00:05:34] and building a fence on a farm in Wales.

[00:05:37] And some of it, I will say, sounded suspiciously close to unpaid farm labor with better scenery.

[00:05:46] So, Andrew’s version, thankfully, seems to offer a little less fence building and a little more joy, connection, culture, and play.

[00:05:56] So today we’re gonna explore this wonderful idea of living abroad in a

[00:06:00] more supported,

[00:06:01] community-based way,

[00:06:03] whether it becomes a real plan for you or simply a little fantasy for right now.

[00:06:08] Either way, I think you’re going to love hearing about it.

[00:06:12] And now let me introduce you to Andrew .

[00:06:15] Andrew Motiwalla is the founder of The Good Life Abroad,

[00:06:19] a company that offers immersive month-long community-based travel experiences across Europe for people over 55.

[00:06:26] Andrew has worked in the travel industry for more than 30 years,

[00:06:31] and his first experience living abroad was as a Peace Corps volunteer.

[00:06:36] He is also the founder of Discover Corps,

[00:06:39] a company specializing in meaningful vacations for families.

[00:06:44] Through The Good Life Abroad,

[00:06:46] Andrew helps retirees and semi-retirees experience Europe in a way that is slower,

[00:06:52] deeper,

[00:06:54] and more connected than the traditional type of travel.

[00:06:57] His programs combine private apartments, [00:07:00] local support, curated activities,

[00:07:02] and built-in community so travelers can live more like locals while still feeling supported and safe.

[00:07:09] So please welcome to The Thin Thinking Podcast, Andrew.

[00:07:13] I am really excited to have you on and learn about this really interesting thing you do.

[00:07:19] Thanks for having me, Rita.

[00:07:22] So what, if you had to define, what this You offer people, especially retirees, experiences abroad.

[00:07:34] I really wanna have you define what it is so that I’m… ‘Cause I don’t wanna get it wrong.

[00:07:41] So please, this is very interesting.

[00:07:44] The simple way to think about it is to live abroad in Europe for a month or two, like a local,

[00:07:51] but with a built-in community.

[00:07:52] And we can break that down, but at a high level people,

[00:07:56] many people have this dream of maybe during their [00:08:00] retirement or semi-retirement,

[00:08:01] and they haven’t been able to do it because there’s a lot of different things and obstacles and things to think about.

[00:08:07] And we try to make it really, really easy for you to make that dream a reality.

[00:08:13] I love it.

[00:08:15] And it’s not a cruise.

[00:08:16] It’s not a tour.

[00:08:18] It is living in a place like an apartment building or maybe tell us a little more about where- Yeah … where I would…

[00:08:26] if I was your customer,

[00:08:27] if I was somebody who was like,

[00:08:29] “Andrew, I wanna come to Paris,” you have a Paris place?

[00:08:32] We do.

[00:08:33] Okay.

[00:08:34] “I wanna come to Paris,”

[00:08:36] what is my experience gonna be?

[00:08:39] So you’re right.

[00:08:40] It’s not a tour or cruise,

[00:08:42] but it’s not just going off and renting an Airbnb by yourself.

[00:08:46] So in between a fully organized tour and it, doing it on your own,

[00:08:51] there’s this sort of kind of gray space, and that’s what we try to fill up.

[00:08:55] We provide your apartment,

[00:08:56] but much more than just apartment.

[00:08:58] In Paris [00:09:00] specifically,

[00:09:00] we have a building that we use that has something like 20 apartments.

[00:09:05] On average, our groups are about 15 people,

[00:09:07] so we don’t use up all the apartments.

[00:09:09] And so you’d have your own apartment.

[00:09:10] You have your own kitchen.

[00:09:12] You can cook there.

[00:09:13] But we also have a lounge area where you can come up together with other people

[00:09:18] who live in that same building in the evenings.

[00:09:20] If you wanted to crack open a bottle of wine,

[00:09:23] and there’s a little courtyard patio area.

[00:09:25] But fundamentally, over the course of a month,

[00:09:27] and the minimum stay is a month,

[00:09:29] you would have your apartment.

[00:09:31] You would be exploring Paris independently.

[00:09:34] However, over that month, we have a sprinkling-

[00:09:37] Perfect …

[00:09:37] a light sprinkling of activities and events to get you to learn the local culture more,

[00:09:43] and also to connect with your fellow travelers who are living in this building.

[00:09:47] And what you might discover through those activities and events

[00:09:50] is there’s other people in this program that you connect with,

[00:09:52] you click with, and you might wanna go off and do some things with.

[00:09:56] There’s maybe other people who love jazz

[00:09:59] if you’re a jazz [00:10:00] lover and wanna go check out jazz concerts,

[00:10:02] and other people might be history buffs, and you wanna go do the historical stuff.

[00:10:06] Everyone might have their own interest, but you might find your little group of people that have shared interests with you,

[00:10:12] and then you might end up doing things with them.

[00:10:15] Sounds like summer camp for adults.

[00:10:17] It sounds amazing.

[00:10:19] Yeah. I’ll take it…

[00:10:20] i’ll tweak that a little.

[00:10:21] I would go a step-

[00:10:22] Yeah.

[00:10:22] Oh, please do.

[00:10:23] I didn’t mean- …

[00:10:23] study abroad for adults Uh-huh College study abroad, but for 55 and older.

[00:10:27] How about that?

[00:10:28] I like that. Okay, I get it.

[00:10:30] I get it. Yeah.

[00:10:32] That we all wished we had taken.

[00:10:34] I did not go abroad during college for my term, so it sounds like, yeah, that time abroad.

[00:10:40] I actually did live in London for many years, but that was then.

[00:10:44] That, but that was that, I gotcha.

[00:10:46] That’s perfect, the perfect term.

[00:10:48] Now, how did you come up with this idea?

[00:10:51] This is your brainchild.

[00:10:52] Like, what did you see?

[00:10:53] What sparked this idea within you?

[00:10:58] Yeah, yeah.

[00:10:59] What’s the [00:11:00] thing?

[00:11:00] So I’ve worked in the travel industry for about 30 years,

[00:11:02] and I owned companies that did more traditional sort of specialty tours,

[00:11:08] educational tours, family tours, different types of tours, but they were always tours.

[00:11:13] And one of the things I heard from many of our travelers in those previous companies that were retired or semi-retired was,

[00:11:22] “Andrew, these are great, but… And we like taking tours,

[00:11:26] but, eventually as we get older, we don’t wanna get on the bus, off the bus, check into the hotel, check out of the hotel.

[00:11:33] We have time.

[00:11:34] Can’t we just slow it down and really get to know a place?

[00:11:38] You know a 10-day tour is great if you have two weeks of vacation a year.

[00:11:44] But when you’re retired, you have more time, and you understand there’s more to it than just scratching the surface.

[00:11:51] On a 10-day tour of Italy, I mean, you’re spending a day or two in places that you could spend a lifetime exploring.

[00:11:58] And so that kind of stuck with [00:12:00] me,

[00:12:01] and then I started doing some research and just polling.

[00:12:04] I had polled some friends on Facebook about people,

[00:12:08] have you wanted to ever live abroad, in Europe specifically, and if so,

[00:12:13] why haven’t you done it?

[00:12:15] And we did some market research, and I found a lot of pain points,

[00:12:18] and one of them, as you can imagine, is like…

[00:12:21] Well, some of them include,

[00:12:22] “Well, I get lonely, you know?

[00:12:23] I don’t speak the language.

[00:12:25] As I get older what if I need medical attention?

[00:12:27] The apartment isn’t really like it looks like in the Airbnb listing?”

[00:12:32] We’ve all had that.

[00:12:33] Yeah.

[00:12:33] And if you’re gonna go for a month or more, I mean, there’s some risk to it, so you’d wanna have a vetted apartment.

[00:12:39] You’d like to know there’s someone who’s got your back, just someone who cares about your wellbeing.

[00:12:44] Right …

[00:12:44] and then the big unlock was community.

[00:12:47] Mm …

[00:12:48] you can chat with people in a bar and maybe strike up a conversation, but really making friends when you’re just there for a couple of months is tricky.

[00:12:57] And I then [00:13:00] reflected on my own parents’ experience of moving into a 55-plus community,

[00:13:05] and they went from saying, “oh, we don’t see you enough.

[00:13:08] We don’t see the grandkids enough.”

[00:13:10] Because my kids have now gotten older and are off with, cars and boyfriends and college and all sorts of things.

[00:13:15] And then my parents moved into a 55-plus community, and now I try to reach them.

[00:13:21] Like, oh, we are, we have book club and we have wine tasting and we have water aerobics.

[00:13:25] Their life is full, and it’s full of new friendships and new activities, and they’re learning new things.

[00:13:29] And I thought, that model, there’s something very brilliant to it.

[00:13:34] You don’t have to schedule their lives.

[00:13:36] You just have to create a whole menu of opportunities that they can take advantage of, and through that, they’ll connect.

[00:13:42] And so that’s a big part of the good life abroad, is having on average about three activities a week, like a cooking class, maybe a historical walking tour, a happy hour.

[00:13:54] Just having a lunch together, but a really nice lunch where you’re learning about the local cuisine.

[00:13:59] Mm-hmm.

[00:13:59] [00:14:00] And you come together, you meet other people, you learn about their lives.

[00:14:04] Maybe you make some friends.

[00:14:05] And then what happens with that community over the course of the month, that community takes on a life of its own,

[00:14:11] and people start scheduling their own things together, and that’s really beautiful to see,

[00:14:16] because that, it just creates another level of happiness and joy, ’cause you’re sharing it with other people.

[00:14:23] Right.

[00:14:23] Well, yeah, that sounds amazing.

[00:14:25] I mean, you mentioned something to me I’d love for you to dig into with my audience,

[00:14:30] which was the term joyspan, which I had never heard.

[00:14:33] Maybe some of my listeners will have.

[00:14:35] But please tell us because that does seem like the amount of what my fear and probably my pain point would be, like, safety, knowing that,

[00:14:47] I think there’s somebody who kinda helps or curates the experience for everybody so it’s not like you dump a bunch of people in a place,

[00:14:53] but there is somebody there who’s managing everybody’s experience and curating to their particular [00:15:00] likes and needs,

[00:15:01] kind of like a cruise ship director, but not on a cruise.

[00:15:05] Yeah.

[00:15:05] Well, exactly.

[00:15:06] I think that’s a great metaphor.

[00:15:07] You can think of it as, yes, we have someone, we call them our community manager.

[00:15:11] Oh, okay.

[00:15:11] And so what they do is they organize these activities and events.

[00:15:15] They also are available Monday through Friday from 9:00 to 5:00 via text message.

[00:15:21] You’re in Paris,

[00:15:22] “Hey, I’d like to go to Normandy or I’d like to go to Bordeaux for the weekend.

[00:15:26] Can you help me out?”

[00:15:27] And we can,

[00:15:27] “Yeah.

[00:15:28] You know, do you need to rent a car?

[00:15:29] Should I take the train?

[00:15:30] Should I take a bus?

[00:15:31] Sure.”

[00:15:32] And they’ll meet with you and make a plan and kind of be a concierge.

[00:15:36] They’re also suggesting things to the group based on your own interests and hobbies.

[00:15:41] So that’s a safety, it’s a support person. You know-

[00:15:44] Right .

[00:15:45] Oh, God forbid you, what sometimes happens on these cobblestone streets in Europe, people twist an ankle.

[00:15:50] They need to go to the doctor, they need to get an X-ray.

[00:15:52] She can, he or she can facilitate that and get you English-speaking medical care.

[00:15:56] So they’re there to make your life easy.

[00:15:59] And like you [00:16:00] mentioned, safety and security.

[00:16:01] They also do have a whole risk management plan, so if something happens, we’re not caught off guard.

[00:16:06] We know exactly what to do.

[00:16:08] And what’s nice too is in Paris and most of our destinations, people live in the same apartment building.

[00:16:13] Yeah.

[00:16:14] So you might be going out to that jazz club again, but coming back late at night,

[00:16:18] but you’re walking together with your group of friends, other people who live in the building.

[00:16:21] So that sense of community really does provide a sense of safety as well, and our community manager provides that extra safety net.

[00:16:29] And we also do include travel medical insurance in our program, so you don’t even have to worry about insurance and will my insurance cover it while I’m traveling abroad.

[00:16:37] So there’s sort of layers of safety underneath it all.

[00:16:41] But let’s go back to what you were asking about Joyspan.

[00:16:43] Yeah .

[00:16:44] So Joyspan is a term coined by Dr. Kerry Burnett.

[00:16:47] She wrote a book with that name, and we’ve all heard of lifespan, how long we live,

[00:16:52] or healthspan, how long we’re healthy,

[00:16:54] but she came up with this idea around studying how many years we have of, full of joy,[00:17:00]

[00:17:00] and I thought that was really, really interesting.

[00:17:03] And what she comes out with, it doesn’t have to do with travel, it just has to do with how do we increase joy in our lives,

[00:17:11] and she came with four kind of categories of things we can do that help us increase joy,

[00:17:16] especially in the later stages of our life.

[00:17:19] And they roughly boil down to, growing, which is sort of like learning a new skill,

[00:17:25] a hobby, nurturing your curiosity.

[00:17:28] Connecting, which is like connecting with other people, having social relationships.

[00:17:34] Adapting, which is how do you face challenges, how do you frame them or reframe them,

[00:17:40] and giving back in some way.

[00:17:43] And she talks about these four practices that will increase your joyspan, and she has all sorts of scientific data,

[00:17:51] and funny enough, if you increase your joy, it looks like you can also increase your lifespan or your health span.

[00:17:56] These things are connected in some way, and there’s a lot of [00:18:00] scientific data I won’t bore you with.

[00:18:01] But what we realize is that in those four things map onto the Good Life Abroad program in a really meaningful way.

[00:18:10] And when you go abroad, and you have to now navigate the Paris Metro system or the Valencia Spain bus system,

[00:18:19] you’re learning new things,

[00:18:20] and you’re learning new customs, and you’re hearing new languages, and that is, can be challenging.

[00:18:27] We’re actually in a small way moving you out of your comfort zone.

[00:18:30] You have your own apartment.

[00:18:32] It’s different from an American apartment.

[00:18:34] Everything’s a little bit smaller.

[00:18:36] You’ve gotta go buy your groceries.

[00:18:38] So you’re adapting to these challenges, right?

[00:18:40] It’s testing you a little bit, not overwhelming,

[00:18:44] and of course, you’re connecting with people in your community and forming new social relationships with people

[00:18:50] who share a core value with you, which is this love of travel and love of other cultures and experience in other cultures.

[00:18:57] And then giving.

[00:18:58] Giving can come in many [00:19:00] ways.

[00:19:00] Some people wanna volunteer while they’re living abroad with us.

[00:19:02] Some people, it’s more about giving acts of kindness and helping out people in your community and just doing something nice for another person,

[00:19:09] which, and all of these things foster the sense of community and what…

[00:19:16] There’s another book that’s influenced me called The Good Life, funny enough,

[00:19:20] and it’s Harvard’s longest running longitudinal study on happiness, and it fundamentally boils down to that which gives you a great, good life comes down to relationships, right?

[00:19:30] Healthy relationships.

[00:19:31] Right.

[00:19:32] So all these things work together, and what you find when you have these healthy relationships, and you’re doing these things to increase joy span,

[00:19:39] joyspan is actually amplified because you’re sharing it with other people.

[00:19:43] You’re not experiencing it alone in a bubble.

[00:19:47] And that is a very powerful thing, and what we’ve found is people come out of our program and say,

[00:19:53] “I went in because I thought it’s a nice way to live abroad.

[00:19:56] I’ve always wanted to do that.”

[00:19:57] And they come out going,

[00:19:59] “Oh my gosh, [00:20:00] I’ve just discovered a different way of living,”

[00:20:02] which includes community

[00:20:04] Very nice.

[00:20:04] Plus many things that you learn

[00:20:06] – Yeah, for sure .

[00:20:06] From the European way of life, of sort of slowing down and enjoying

[00:20:09] Yeah

[00:20:10] your meals and, you know, spending, time together in cafes.

[00:20:14] And , it’s not just about the hanging out in the cafes, it’s about the fact that they’re slowing down and enjoying the conversations.

[00:20:20] Whereas some of us, myself included, guilty, very American, time is money, gotta go, go, go, gotta optimize everything.

[00:20:28] And in slowing down, even in your travel, will pay off dividends, for your wellbeing.

[00:20:34] Yeah.

[00:20:35] And I would imagine, correct me if I’m wrong, if you have a number of people living in a community,

[00:20:43] there’s sort of like through osmosis people who might not be as adventurous typically will see other people venturing out,

[00:20:52] and then that will help them move past their fear or their internal barriers to like [00:21:00] let me go out late at night or get on the metro

[00:21:03] or do something that they might if they were a tourist not normally do.

[00:21:06] But when they’re in this environment and they’re seeing,

[00:21:09] “Oh, well they’re doing that.”

[00:21:11] And I would imagine, especially if you were like there with your husband and your husband was like not the adventurous type,

[00:21:16] but you were using that as leverage to get him to go and do stuff with you and not be such a stickler.

[00:21:24] You are so right on.

[00:21:25] And what’s beautiful about that, right, this…

[00:21:28] I mean, and what you’re saying is this, the community almost creates this additional support that empowers you or makes you feel safe to do this.

[00:21:36] And what’s amazing is at the end of that month, what we see time and time again is an increased sense of confidence.

[00:21:44] Mm-hmm .

[00:21:44] I just mastered Paris for a month.

[00:21:48] What else can I do?

[00:21:49] And the beautiful thing is in retirement, instead of the world getting smaller and smaller and closing in, the world is opening up.

[00:21:56] You’re like, “I can do that. What else?

[00:21:58] Maybe I’ll try a month in [00:22:00] Lisbon or Vienna.

[00:22:01] And what else can I do?

[00:22:02] The world is my oyster.”

[00:22:03] So we, I love that we give people confidence to try new things and get pushed out of their comfort zone, master it, and then feel empowered.

[00:22:13] And the other thing that’s really interesting, about a third of our travelers are solo travelers.

[00:22:20] And I was gonna ask about that.

[00:22:21] Like, are, how many people are by themselves and how many people are in couples or groups?

[00:22:25] Yeah, it’s about two-thirds couples, but a third solo.

[00:22:28] Most of the solos are females.

[00:22:31] Mm-hmm.

[00:22:31] And what we found is a lot of people who are a lot of widows or people got divorced later in life.

[00:22:38] And what’s interesting about that, you kind of brought up this couple thing, is that maybe they traveled when they were married,

[00:22:44] and the travel was a thing that they loved to share.

[00:22:46] But you know, when you… I don’t know if you were married, but I was married at one point, and when you married, you travel, there’s often roles.

[00:22:52] Like, oh, he’s the navigator, she’s the planner, right?

[00:22:55] Mm-hmm.

[00:22:55] You know, they’re the book, booker of activities, and this one does… everyone has their role.[00:23:00]

[00:23:00] And so when they are, find themselves alone later in life, they are missing that other, like that other role.

[00:23:06] Like, who’s gonna do that stuff?

[00:23:07] Yeah.

[00:23:08] And they come to our program like, “Ah, it’s all just handled for us.”

[00:23:13] And then they meet these other solo travelers, and many who are going through similar periods of transition in their life, and it’s a really close-knit community.

[00:23:23] We even have some sessions that are specifically reserved for solo travelers because we find that to be a really powerful experience for them.

[00:23:32] Very, very cool.

[00:23:33] I was gonna ask, so yeah, about like relationships and how people, so people might, come out of it with new friends and travel buddies, things like that.

[00:23:45] And maybe new habits.

[00:23:47] So for example, we-

[00:23:49] Yes, we are a thin-thinking community here.

[00:23:49] We’re a thin-thinking community.

[00:23:51] How will this, how will being in Paris make me thinner, Andrew?

[00:23:54] Well, okay, I thought it was funny you picked Paris.

[00:23:58] Let me propose [00:24:00] Sardinia.

[00:24:01] Which is one of the blue zones.

[00:24:03] Right.

[00:24:04] I love that.

[00:24:04] So you have a place in Sardinia, what to- is Sardinia is a c- It’s an island …

[00:24:08] it’s an island in Italy ..

[00:24:10] Of Italy, and it, you’re talking about the main town?

[00:24:14] Yeah, the capital city of Sardinia.

[00:24:17] Mm.

[00:24:18] It, for Americans we would read it as Cagliari.

[00:24:21] The Italians would pronounce it Cagliari.

[00:24:23] Oh, okay.

[00:24:23] And it’s a beautiful historic town, that has really beautiful beach.

[00:24:30] It’s got its historic center.

[00:24:32] And it’s got everything a city would have.

[00:24:34] And then you can explore the island really easily ’cause there’s train links that go all over, so you can do day trips around it.

[00:24:40] But you have amazing cuisine.

[00:24:43] I mean, you know about the blue zones and it, these,

[00:24:45] Yeah …

[00:24:47] very tight community relations between people who are from there.

[00:24:50] The food, the weather is spectacular.

[00:24:53] So I was there in November of last year, and I could swim in the ocean.

[00:24:57] It was totally nice.

[00:24:58] Wow.

[00:24:59] [00:25:00] And it’s like, that, and it’s right off the city and , it’s a 15-minute bus ride or I just walked, took me about an hour, but it’s a nice walk, nice weather.

[00:25:08] And then along the, the beach there’s a long, long bike path as well, so people want to do that.

[00:25:13] So between the food and having my own community of our Good Life Abroad travelers,

[00:25:19] and having the physical environment to go out and do stuff, I could totally see why it’s a blue zone.

[00:25:25] Do you think, though, that like even with Paris, I believe you could be healthy in Paris.

[00:25:30] Like, because Paris, you’re walking everywhere, right?

[00:25:33] Yeah, yeah.

[00:25:33] And again, I think in Europe there’s smaller plates, smaller servings.

[00:25:39] I could imagine.

[00:25:39] I remember being in Paris once with my husband, many, many years ago, and, the farmers markets were amazing.

[00:25:46] Like, you could go to a farmers market, get stuff for dinner, and have a beautiful fresh dinner that wasn’t like a huge caloric,

[00:25:55] but it would just so much flavor ’cause the food is so fresh in Europe.

[00:25:59] And it’s [00:26:00] not … yeah, no processed foods.

[00:26:02] And one of the things I hear a lot from our travelers is,

[00:26:05] “Yeah, the refrigerator wasn’t as big as my monster refrigerator.”

[00:26:08] I’m not- No, they are not.

[00:26:10] I’m not doing Costco runs, but what we learned, Andrew, is like every two days we go to the fresh market and we buy things for the next couple of days.

[00:26:18] And it’s great because it’s not processed, it’s fresh, it’s healthier.

[00:26:22] And I think just in general for myself, I’ve seen slowing down and just enjoying the meal.

[00:26:29] I’m a little bit of an anxious person.

[00:26:31] My mind’s kind of always running, so I’m always eating but thinking about what’s next, right?

[00:26:35] And for some reason in Europe, I’m slowing, I’m enjoying the food, enjoying the flavors, enjoying the company, and just slowing down my eating is helpful.

[00:26:44] And I struggle with my weight all the time, but between that and walking a lot, it’s…

[00:26:50] you know, even though I take public transportation, you still have to walk to the metro stop or the bus stop.

[00:26:55] Yeah.

[00:26:55] You still have to walk to your final destination.

[00:26:57] And the quality of the food just being better and [00:27:00] less processed, I find that I do,

[00:27:02] I probably lose a very little bit because I also find I’m drinking a little bit more wine than I normally do.

[00:27:07] But, that’s just part of being in Europe.

[00:27:09] Yes.

[00:27:10] That’s, it’s just something you have to factor in, right?

[00:27:12] Well, tell us about the, you mentioned Sardinia, you mentioned Paris.

[00:27:15] Where are some other, destinations, that you have, available for people? It’s intriguing.

[00:27:21] Yeah.

[00:27:21] We’re in 25 cities across Europe, I won’t name them all.

[00:27:24] Everything from Lisbon, Portugal up to Porto, smaller towns.

[00:27:28] So we have bigger cities, smaller towns.

[00:27:30] Places like Vienna, Prague, Bordeaux in France, Nice in the French Riviera, Florence, Italy.

[00:27:38] Florence blows me away because now the average American goes there for 2.5 days.

[00:27:44] Florence is you could spend a month and not even scratch the surface if you’re into art or food or culture.

[00:27:50] I mean the history in Florence is spectacular.

[00:27:52] Rome, another place where it’s just an amazing city.

[00:27:56] Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Spain.

[00:27:59] So places [00:28:00] where even in the middle of winter, like Seville, Valencia, Sardinia, February, it’s so nice.

[00:28:06] Yeah .

[00:28:07] Great getaway.

[00:28:07] So we find a lot of people, especially from the northern states, they’ll come to us in February,

[00:28:12] and the people from Arizona and Florida, they wanna get out of dodge in the summer.

[00:28:17] And so they’ll go to maybe our northern des- European destinations like Vienna and Prague, or even Dublin, Ireland, or Edinburgh, where it’s, it’s pretty pleasant even in the summer.

[00:28:26] Oh, yeah.

[00:28:27] I was in Valencia.

[00:28:29] My daughter was, teaching there for a year and, in March, and it was beautiful for, it did rain a little, but it was beautiful and it was super fun.

[00:28:38] They had biking everywhere.

[00:28:39] It was just fantastic.

[00:28:41] What kind of people are like when you, when somebody is thinking about doing something like this, ’cause it is a big commitment of time,

[00:28:49] and like you said, a lot of people who are retired have time.

[00:28:54] But what are the biggest, objections and fears that people come up against when [00:29:00] they are considering, this is a big commitment of time and

[00:29:03] are they worried about their pet at home?

[00:29:05] Are they worried about-

[00:29:08] Yeah.

[00:29:08] That’s what I would be like.

[00:29:08] Well, you’ve nailed a big one.

[00:29:09] You’ve nailed a very big one, the pet.

[00:29:10] Mm-hmm.

[00:29:11] Some people do bring their pets. It’s-

[00:29:13] Really?

[00:29:13] There’s a whole process.

[00:29:15] It’s a little bit of a hassle.

[00:29:16] Some people do.

[00:29:17] I always encourage people, find a family member or a relative or friend who’d love to have your pet for that month.

[00:29:22] ‘Cause believe me, there’s a lot of people in the world who would love to have a pet, they just don’t wanna commit to, like 15 years of their life.

[00:29:27] But a month would be really fun.

[00:29:29] That’s what I do.

[00:29:30] I have a neighbor, they have little kids to bug their parents for a pet.

[00:29:34] Right.

[00:29:34] And I said, “Here, we can.”

[00:29:34] And then a win-win.

[00:29:36] They get a pet for a month.

[00:29:36] Where there’s a will, there’s a way with regards to the pet.

[00:29:38] Exactly.

[00:29:39] Yes.

[00:29:39] But the big concerns are really around the housing.

[00:29:42] Like, what is this apartment?

[00:29:44] Am I gonna… Is it really as nice as it looks on the photos?

[00:29:47] And we have video apartment tours of, you know, we have, there’s a private Facebook group where people who are on programs or have just finished programs can talk to people who are about to go or prospective clients so [00:30:00] they can talk like,

[00:30:00] “Hey, well, did they have a cheese grater in the apartment?”

[00:30:03] They’re like, “no, but we bought a cheese grater.”

[00:30:05] Whatever, you know.

[00:30:06] But they can get really in-depth details.

[00:30:09] ‘Cause that’s an, a, an point of anxiety.

[00:30:11] But if the apartment is good and the people are nice and they know they’re gonna have the support person that covers a lot of their anxiety.

[00:30:19] Now, there’s some people who have health concerns or mobility concerns, and that’s important to talk about because, again, we’re not a tour.

[00:30:28] There’s no bus that picks you up and drives you to the next event.

[00:30:31] We are sending you a Google Maps link and say, “All right, meet you tomorrow at the cooking class.

[00:30:36] You know, here’s the place.”

[00:30:37] Now, that said, we’ve… during orientation, we teach you, literally teach you how to ride public transportation.

[00:30:43] We give you your card, we take a ride together, we teach you how to navigate the metro system.

[00:30:47] We are empowering you to live like a local.

[00:30:49] But in the end, it’s not a tour.

[00:30:51] So some people, it’s good to have a conversation about what are some of the restrictions maybe on mobility or other things that they might have, and we can guide [00:31:00] them to the city that’s right for them.

[00:31:01] Lisbon is a city of seven hills.

[00:31:04] Not great if you have trouble walking up hills.

[00:31:07] There’s other places that are flatter, that have more elevators in the subway system.

[00:31:12] I would guide you in that direction.

[00:31:13] So that’s a big concern for a lot of folks as well.

[00:31:16] Mm-hmm.

[00:31:17] Yeah, no that is… It’s great that they…

[00:31:20] I can see how that would be a challenge, but that’s cool that you would have those other opportunities for them.

[00:31:26] Any other fun stories of people who, you know an adventure?

[00:31:31] ‘Cause it is, it’s an adventure, right?

[00:31:33] Like, this is, you’re committing to an adventure, and it seems like people come to this ready for one adventure and probably get a different adventure,

[00:31:42] that they didn’t expect, and they learn something about themselves in the transition, right?

[00:31:47] Well, what I tell people is, okay, the program is like a blank canvas, right?

[00:31:52] Mm-hmm.

[00:31:52] Because you can experience Paris in whatever way you’re interested in, and our community manager will help facilitate that.

[00:31:59] They meet [00:32:00] with each person and say, “Hey, what do you wanna do this month?”

[00:32:02] “Oh, I’m into history.

[00:32:03] I’m into art.

[00:32:03] I’m into food.”

[00:32:04] And they will help create that experience for you.

[00:32:06] So your painting on the canvas of what Paris was like for a month might be different from the person in the apartment next door.

[00:32:13] Mm-hmm.

[00:32:13] That said, I tell people it’s really good to come and be curious about something, right?

[00:32:20] And then we can use the program as a way to explore that curiosity, right?

[00:32:24] Oh, I’m really interested in World War II history, for example.

[00:32:27] Cool.

[00:32:27] You’re gonna go so down far down rabbit holes, it’ll be great.

[00:32:31] But one story I like- Is Barry.

[00:32:35] Barry is a retired accountant, right?

[00:32:38] He’s a numbers guy, but he’s always kind of had this love of art, and Barry comes to Florence

[00:32:45] and he is in love with the Renaissance art, and he’s, every day he’s out exploring something.

[00:32:51] And in Florence, you can see new artwork every single day without repeating.

[00:32:55] Right.

[00:32:56] And our community manager even helped him, “Oh, go to this [00:33:00] cathedral or this museum.”

[00:33:01] Like, he gave him a whole list, and every day he would go off and explore, and he’d come together.

[00:33:05] Every Tuesday we have a ritual called our Tuesday Lunch Club where we meet together, and we haven’t seen each other over the weekend,

[00:33:10] and, “Hey, what have you been up to?”

[00:33:12] And everyone’s sharing, and it’s really a nice time.

[00:33:14] And Barry’s like, “Oh, I did this.”

[00:33:15] And, “Oh, wow, that’s so cool.”

[00:33:17] And he started painting.

[00:33:19] Fast-forward, Barry’s back home.

[00:33:22] I reached out to him.

[00:33:23] I’m, “Hey, how did it go?”

[00:33:25] And he… We’re doing a Zoom and he shows me his studio.

[00:33:28] He goes, “I’m painting now.

[00:33:30] I’m painting a lot of these photographs I took.

[00:33:32] I was so inspired, and I’ve decided to pursue this artistic interest I’ve had and reinventing myself in retirement.”

[00:33:40] And I think that’s an important thing because retirement for many people is a time of a little bit of identity crisis, right?

[00:33:47] Mm-hmm.

[00:33:47] I’m no longer the ac- I was an accountant, I’m no longer an accountant.

[00:33:51] I was the neighbor who lived on the corner.

[00:33:53] I downsized.

[00:33:54] I live in a townhouse now.

[00:33:55] I’m not the parent-

[00:33:57] Yeah … at the PTA.

[00:33:57] I’m not all these things that my [00:34:00] identity was made up of before.

[00:34:02] So who am I now?

[00:34:03] And that’s the beauty of retirement-

[00:34:06] Right … or even semi-retirement.

[00:34:07] Sure. I can redefine who I am, and I can explore these things and, and really run free with these interests and Barry’s a great example.

[00:34:15] And I think the one thing that is the through line across all the people who travel with us-

[00:34:22] is they share this core value of deep cultural appreciation, right?

[00:34:29] Mm-hmm.

[00:34:30] And they understand that to get it, you have to do immersion.

[00:34:32] Because like you said, staying for a month, it’s a big commitment, but, and it’s not a normal thing.

[00:34:37] Let’s start out by saying staying for a month in one place is not normal. Therefore, the people who do it are very unique, and that is what people discover when they come on our program.

[00:34:48] They said, “I found my tribe.

[00:34:50] These are a bunch of weirdos who absolutely love staying in this place for a month

[00:34:56] and living like the local, living the European lifestyle.”[00:35:00]

[00:35:00] And because their identity is a little bit in flux, they realize, ah, finding people who share these core values is really important.

[00:35:08] And then they will come back home, they will go visit each other.

[00:35:11] Mm.

[00:35:11] They will then plan their next trip, right? And

[00:35:14] – Mm .

[00:35:14] It’s kind of what you were referring to, and then now what are we gonna do next?

[00:35:17] And I’ve heard from many of our past travelers that this is sort of redefined their retirement.

[00:35:22] This is actually how they wanna travel.

[00:35:24] Just like people would take a cruise and then take one later, now they’re like,

[00:35:27] “No, we take a month here in the spring with the Good Life Abroad, and then we do a month in the fall,

[00:35:32] and we go with the people we met at the last program.”

[00:35:37] Wow, that sounds, yeah, that sounds amazing.

[00:35:41] Any other stories like that?

[00:35:43] Yeah, I mean, I tell people you should…

[00:35:46] this experience isn’t just something you drive by and check off.

[00:35:51] I encourage you to think about what you can learn and take back with yours- with you, right?

[00:35:55] And it could be something as tangible as, now I have this love for Renaissance art, but it could be…

[00:35:59] I mean, [00:36:00] in my own case, every time I go on a visitor program, I usually try to time it where I go to the cooking class with the group, and then I learn that dish.

[00:36:09] Mm-hmm.

[00:36:10] I come back home.

[00:36:11] I don’t buy souvenirs anymore.

[00:36:12] I’ve got enough stuff in my house I’m trying to get rid of it.

[00:36:15] But I bring back this dish, and then I’ll throw a dinner party, and we’ll have Spain night at my house.

[00:36:21] And then we’ll invite some couples over and some friends, and I’ll cook the thing that I…

[00:36:26] and it- now it’s incorporated into my life.

[00:36:28] And because these are often, you know, pretty healthy dishes with fresh ingredients, I’m eating better, and as I get older, that becomes more and more important to me.

[00:36:37] And so yeah, I’m, like, actually changing my repertoire of recipes, but through what I’m learning.

[00:36:43] And so I encourage people, right?

[00:36:45] And also people who are maybe.

[00:36:47] A lot of people I hear, “I took Spanish, I took French in high school or college, but I kinda forgot it.

[00:36:53] Then I spent that month and it started to come back, and the neurons were firing in my brain, and I kinda got it, and now I [00:37:00] wanna keep up with it.

[00:37:00] And it’s so great I’m learning this language, now that I’m 55, 60 years old.”

[00:37:06] But it’s great because they have something that keeps working that aspect of their brain.

[00:37:09] So I think it’s different for everyone, but I encourage everyone to think about how could you use these types of experiences.

[00:37:16] Sort of like a study abroad program, right?

[00:37:18] But… ‘Cause going abroad I actually think the whole reason study abroad exists is a thing, because travel is like an accelerant to learning things.

[00:37:28] You could learn in the classroom, but you can learn it 10 times more intensely by going to that place.

[00:37:33] And so think about what it is you wanna learn or you want to explore, and then you can put it in that crucible of travel and really take it to the next level.

[00:37:43] Yeah. Fantastic.

[00:37:45] Well, tell us how we can find you, if we want to join Rita in Paris or Lisbon or for a month.

[00:37:55] No, tell us, Andrew, if somebody was interested in spending a month abroad, how they [00:38:00] can find you and the- find The Good Life.

[00:38:02] Yep, absolutely.

[00:38:03] Could find me and The Good Life Abroad very easily.

[00:38:06] Thegoodlifeabroad.com, or you could just go to Google and type in The Good Life Abroad, and we’ll be the first thing that appears.

[00:38:13] Really easy to find us, and we have a private Facebook group, as I mentioned, that you can learn more about and connect with people who are doing it right now,

[00:38:20] and hear firsthand, and see photos of groups that are happening right now.

[00:38:25] Oh, that sounds really great.

[00:38:27] Okay. Well, thank you so much for coming and sharing about The Good Life Abroad.

[00:38:32] And check, please check out the website.

[00:38:34] Sounds amazing. I know I will be.

[00:38:36] Thanks for having me, Rita.

[00:38:37] I appreciate it. It was fun.

[00:38:38] Thank you so much, Andrew, for taking the time and walking us through all of that.

[00:38:43] That sounds amazing, and you can reach Andrew at www.thegoodlifeabroad.com, and the links to his website are in the show notes.

[00:38:57] And I am gonna see you here next week, and [00:39:00] remember, the key and probably the only key to unlocking the door of the weight struggle is inside you,

[00:39:06] so keep listening and find it, and I will meet back with you here next week.

[00:39:13] Do you wanna dive deeper into the mindset of long-term weight release?

[00:39:17] Head on over to www.shiftweightmastery.com.

[00:39:24] That’s www.shiftweightmastery.com, where you will find numerous tools and resources to help you unlock your mind for permanent weight release, tips, strategies, and more.

[00:39:37] And be sure to check the show notes to learn more about my book,

[00:39:41] From Fat to Thin Thinking: Unlock Your Mind for Permanent Weight Loss.