021. How to Build a Career Around Your Passion for Travel with Canden Schwantes

Kelly: [: 00:00:00

Kelly: I'm your host, Kelly Tolliday, and it's my mission to inspire you to live life to its fullest, travel with an open mind and heart, and let the world show you a new perspective. I'm so grateful you're here with us today, so let's dive right in. Happy exploring!

historian and tour guide in [: 00:01:00

Kelly: She has written for HuffPost travel and has been featured in Washington Post. And numerous other DC papers, she's been interviewed by the BBC NPR travel channel and discovery family channel. So cool. And Canon is the producer of the podcast tour guide tell all with an MA in history from University College, London.

Kelly: And a BA in history from Elon University, which I got to visit you when I was young. And when you were at Elon University, that was so cool. You've led tours in DC for over 10 years. And you currently reside in D. C., but you've lived in London and South Korea. You've traveled to 28 countries and every U. S.

Kelly: state except Hawaii.

Canden: She now has two adorable,

Kelly: adorable children that you homeschool now, and exploring the plethora of museums in D. C. So a lot of really amazing things that we can touch on today, and I'm so, so excited. I'd love to give you an opportunity just to share, where this passion for history and travel have, like, where do you think that stemmed from for you?

Canden: [: 00:02:00

Canden: Like I don't, I don't, I can't do a before and after I traveled, I had been to most States before I could like remember or acknowledge that traveling to different States was a cool thing. I spent the summer between 8th and 9th grade in Japan. Like we just, this is how we grew up and that's how I'm raising my kids.

Canden: So I think it's a Schwantus thing.

Kelly: I definitely think it's in our blood for sure. Absolutely

Canden: is. And except for my sister, also your cousin, but she did not get this travel gene. I was reading, so we're going to Basque country in Spain in a couple of weeks. So I was reading a book about it on our family vacation at the lake house.

they're going to travel to. [: 00:03:00

Canden: And I distinctly remember a paper paper and quotation marks cause it was third grade, but it was one of, you know, what do you want to be when you grow up? And I want to be a historian. I have never not wanted to be a historian. Because I love going to new places, learning about the local culture and what life is like now.

Canden: But I really like to learn about what life used to be there. And just being in the place where it happened is something that just always speaks to me. And it's just, it's been my whole life. And I'm very grateful that I was able to find a career that continues that passion. And it's not something I just have to do on the side for fun.

Kelly: [: 00:04:00

Kelly: He's passing on the torch. So many boxes. And I love how you said that you found a job that merges. That passion for history and travel, but you didn't just stumble into that. Can you talk about that journey of merging, you know, those two passions together? Yeah.

Canden: So I, I keep bringing up Kelsey who love her to death.

Canden: She's not going to ever, she doesn't listen to podcasts. So yeah, you're safe

Kelly: here. This is going to be the one she listens to though.

Canden: You know, no, I have to credit her. We, so I was living in London. I went to graduate school at UCL. And the family came to visit reluctantly. Dad did not want to come.

travel. Does not like cities.[: 00:05:00

Canden: I research everything. I love to look at fun facts and then I love to make sure everyone else knows about them. And our visas. Oh, so I'm, I met my husband in London. He was not my husband in London, nor is he British. He's American. But our visas expired, so we had to come back to America, and we chose to live in Washington, D.

e. So I started looking into [: 00:06:00

Canden: And not just because my experience with tour guides is backpackers in Europe who stay for a summer in Prague and lead tours occasionally. And I was like, Oh, Oh, it looks like this is a thing people do in DC. There's tourism year round. It's something you can make a living with. So I started as a tour guide.

Canden: With a company. I was part time. I enjoyed it. The company was run by lovely people but men in their thirties. And I was like, y'all. Y'all are doing some of this wrong. So I just started to like take over emails and then take over phones and then take over marketing. And then I became part owner. And then we expanded.

cities. And I was [: 00:07:00

Canden: So I actually wrote the first three New Orleans tours before we ever went there, just because I was like, well, I'm going to New Orleans for a wedding. Why don't we set up tours in New Orleans? So I was able to kind of combine my love of researching random places and. Just start spreading the word on the internet, and yeah, but he was

Kelly: formed how cool And so you get to travel for work like when you go to a new place you get to Bit really bridge that gap and say okay.

Kelly: I'm doing this research. Anyways. I might as well create the tour and so when you When you're expanding in new cities, like all over the world, how, how does that work in terms of getting new tour guides? Is it just recruiting people in or do you have people that you send over there? How does that work?

Canden: It is [: 00:08:00

Canden: So... Los Angeles opened because one of our DC, no, San Francisco opened because one of our DC tour guides was like, I'm moving back home to San Francisco. Do you have San Francisco tours? I was like, we don't, would you like to do it? So he set up San Francisco by foot. LA happened because the Chicago tour guide moved to LA.

Canden: So sometimes we have an already established relationship with someone we know is capable and knowledgeable and good. Moving to a new city and they're able to kind of create things from scratch. Sometimes we find a company that already exists. So a lot of our European cities are partnerships with other companies that exist for giving the tours and.

pends on kind of what exists [: 00:09:00

Canden: So. Not that kind of local, but people who've at least lived there for a year or two and have been able to really experience the city before they start leading tours. Yeah,

Kelly: absolutely. Almost like being like a stakeholder of the city, like having a passion for it and truly and truly wanting to share the education and the history and all that.

Kelly: I I am always so excited to see people doing amazing things and it just shows with a little bit of creativity, you really can merge your passions together and you really can find your footing in an industry that not many people might even know is possible as a job. And so I think that's really cool.

what's it been like for you [: 00:10:00

Kelly: What's it been like for you over the last. You know, three or four years, I know we don't need to say the dreaded pandemic, the dreaded, the dreaded C word, you know, all that, but, but what's that been like for you and how have you seen the evolution of like the travel industry really evolve over the last few years?

Canden: So much has changed. I am a look on the bright side kind of person. So a lot of what has changed to the travel industry entirely benefited. Our company, just because the way we existed before I've always focused on local travel. So I want D. C. locals to take our tours. So we have tours of the National Mall.

hit, I was like, all right, [: 00:11:00

Canden: We already social distance just because that is the nature of a small group walking tour, let's get local residents of DC to book our tours. We already have the knowledge because we've already done this and we did this in every city. So when people stopped traveling, we were like tour your own city.

Canden: Yeah. So that really helped us and we didn't have to pivot. Everyone talks about pivoting. Yeah. We didn't really have to pivot because it was just, this is what we already did. And then I've always been someone who plans ahead. I mean, I have color coded itineraries and map. This is a Jay Schwantz thing.

Canden: Yes, for

Kelly: sure.

the company. You can book a [: 00:12:00

Canden: There was all last minute people were like, all right, I, I don't know if I'm going to be able to travel in three months. So I'm not going to book a tour now I'll see what's available when I show up, but because Manny has taught me that people travel like this, sometimes our company always allowed people to book last minute and that has continued.

Canden: People are still last minute bookers. crazy from a personal standpoint, because I don't understand how you could travel like that but it's not something we really had to change because we we've already done it. I would say the biggest shift I've seen is the, is the kind of the, the need for flexibility from a provider's standpoint, flexible cancellation policies, rescheduling, just understanding.

escheduling and cancellation [: 00:13:00

Canden: Cause we've done it for a decade.

Kelly: Yeah, super cool. I, I really, I never really thought about how much it's changed in terms of the flexibility aspect. So obviously during the pandemic, we expected brands to understand flexibility. And now we're just continuing to demand that like now it's just part of the travel culture.

we're seeing in that travel [: 00:14:00

Kelly: And if you're not willing to adapt to that, then you're going to start losing, losing that foothold. Really. I think that's a really interesting observation. So you mentioned that you lived in London and you met Manny, your husband there. Can you talk a little bit about what brought you to London in the first place and what that journey was like?

Kelly: Really, that was your first foray living overseas? Correct.

Canden: We'll start at the beginning. Start

Kelly: at the top.

Canden: I, yeah. So Elon has a really great study abroad program and they also have a really good teaching. Program, and I was an education major. I never finished it because they required me to student teach. And I was like, I've already decided that I don't want to be a teacher.

Canden: Right. I'm not going to do this. But my best friend, my college roommate was part of a program that requires you to study abroad in London. The spring semester of your sophomore year. Wow. Because I was an education major, like all of my friends were going to go to London. I was like, well, I'll go too.

ant to study abroad. I don't [: 00:15:00

Canden: It was my first time in London and I stepped off the plane and London has this smell. And I know it sounds, it sounds weird, but there's this particular smell to London that not everyone will probably enjoy, but I smelled it and I was like, this feels like home.

Canden: London does not smell like my parents house. I don't know why. That was my first thought. London

Kelly: and North Carolina aren't necessarily on the same. But

Canden: it had like, it just something about, and I can like, I haven't, it's been a couple Maybe a year or two, since I've been back to London, I can still, I still like, remember what it smells, right?

London. Who wrote all these [: 00:16:00

Canden: I was like, well, I'm going to study with him and me being me, I just emailed him. And I was like, I would like to study with you. How do I make this happen? He's like, you have to go to UCL. I was like, okay, I'll do that. Not knowing that UCL is a very hard school to get into. So I applied, I argued with them for many times to make sure that they let me in.

Canden: I'm just very, very persistent. Tenacious. Yeah. Tenacious is a much better word. So I got in I was like, all right, well, I, I want to go to London. To live before, before graduate school starts, make some money. So I got a BUNAC visa, which doesn't exist anymore. I've discovered, which is such a shame. So I got to live for six months.

now, I am a big believer in [: 00:17:00

Canden: So I left London and moved to South Korea to get a teaching English job, which I highly recommend. I loved it.

Canden: It was Where were you? So I lived It was called Bundang. It's a suburb of Seoul. Okay. Very, very wealthy suburb. So I had a I was I was set. I had a very nice life. I just I loved everything about South Korea.

Canden: And so I taught there for a year. I made, I paid off all my debts. I made some money. I deferred grad school. And then when a year went up in South Korea, I was like, all right, I'm gonna go back to North Carolina and get my life together. And then I'll go back to move to London for grad school a couple of weeks before the semester starts.

international student hall. [: 00:18:00

Kelly: We do Gumtree in Australia too. Oh, I love it.

Canden: And I did not get the RA job.

Canden: So I was like, all right, I'm going to go stay in this whatever flat. I was about. So this was at a time where we were still kind of changing, high speed, constant internet access, not a thing yet. So I was going to fax the lease over to the flat in London. And in order to do that, I was going to have to turn off the internet so I could fax the lease.

Canden: And I was like, well, I'm gonna check my email real quick. And I did that. And I had an email from the RA job saying, wait, the other person can't do it. Would you like this job? Oh, wow. Is it, they gave you a travel card, a free place to stay in Chelsea, no less. A very nice neighborhood. Wow. Hugh Grant was my next door neighbor.

like, did not fax the lease [: 00:19:00

Canden: But

Kelly: yeah, it's just so crazy how like the, like the revolving door, like how just you have moments in your life where you're like, that's like, and you can look back and be like, that was the deciding moment. Like when I decided to just check one more time or just, just say yes to this one opportunity.

Kelly: It's so cool. So then you live in London, you do your grad program. You and Manny start dating in London? No. Cause that's a whole other story. That's a whole

Canden: other story. He had a girlfriend of nine years when we met. Oh lord. I did not steal him. We were just, we were best friends and then finally we realized that we were in love and we told everybody and they're all like, yeah, duh.

Canden: Like we didn't see it. A little, a little London

Kelly: fairytale. [: 00:20:00

Canden: love it. So we did not start dating until we moved

Kelly: back to the States. Gotcha. Okay. Awesome. And so you, you've talked about moving back and forth, London, South Korea, home, like you're kind of all over the place. What was it like for you kind of really understanding your own process of processing culture shock or processing how different countries did it differently?

Canden: It was interesting. I didn't get, I never felt much of a culture shock in the UK. And I. Mm hmm. I like to believe in past lives, I don't know, it just sounds something that I would like to be true. So, in that vein, I like to think that at some point I had lived in London, so that's why I was like, oh, you're home.

Canden: There is quite a bit different between the UK and the States. There really

things are really different [: 00:21:00

Kelly: It

Canden: was interesting. I, I lost my Southern accent very quickly. Yes. Though I still say y'all as a good word.

Kelly: I'm just staple in your, in your vocabulary.

Canden: It's just, it's, and it's gender inclusive. So I feel like more people should use it. Yeah, as soon as people, first of all, Everyone heard my Southern accent and assumed I was from Texas.

Canden: Which is very offensive. It's the

Kelly: only option. It's

Canden: the only option. George W. Bush was president at the time, so they were like, Oh, Bush! And I was like, No. Not even. But I realized when I went to school in the UK later, I think Obama was president at this point. When My southern accent, everyone thought I was not intelligent, and that drove me crazy.

ica. Right. And I did when I [: 00:22:00

Canden: Most people speak English. Their grammar is better than mine. So they're, they're really other than having to learn at the the Korean alphabet, I didn't have to change much of my life over there, but when I came back to the States, So much had changed. Mm. The whole social media. Everyone has smartphone.

Canden: I did not get a smartphone until I moved abroad, so there were not smartphones, yet when I lived in the States. But when I came back, everyone had smartphones, everyone had social media. There were so much culturally that I had missed out. I remember a conversation I got, ugh. A Snuggie and Snooki, the person from Jersey shore, which I've still never seen, but I know who she is now.

I wasn't gone that long, but [: 00:23:00

Canden: What is happening? So it just, and there are still things that I much prefer about the UK that I wish would happen in America. Okay. There's a lot of things. Yeah. That I wish would happen here. But like little things like the, the quarter and the grocery cart. I like that. I think, I mean, the Aldi here does it now.

Canden: But I wish more places did that waiting in line properly.

Kelly: Yep. Drive thru. Queuing, queuing up. I don't

Canden: understand why, why we cannot do it here. But it, and I think having access to the internet when I, because social media was starting to happen while I was abroad just in a kind of a different way it helped.

every day which I still do. [: 00:24:00

Kelly: it.

Kelly: Yeah, I, I actually really agree with that. It's, I talked to, obviously I talked to a lot of travelers and it's almost the coming home is sometimes the hardest part. And especially when you've opened your eyes up to new ways of being new ways of living, you're like, Oh, that, that works really well over there.

Kelly: Why don't we do that here? And, and yeah, the, the coming home aspect of it can sometimes be harder because this is home and you can't just. Like escape that and, and not realize that things, things take slower time to change. So one thing I wanted to point out when you mentioned about London was the smell.

cigarettes and, and sewage, [: 00:25:00

Kelly: And I'm like, Oh wow, that smells like Bali, you know, but it's, you're like, I'm nowhere near Bali, but in a good way, I know that sounds really awfully weird, but anybody that's been to Bali or Thailand, you'll kind of get the sense of that. So I, I, the. The sense of smell is just so nostalgic and so deeply rooted in our memories.

Kelly: So I think that was really interesting that you pointed that out. The second thing was you spoke about your mom and then you talked to her every day and you guys traveled a lot as kids. I remember we went on RV trips together in North Carolina. I used to visit you guys every summer. Your dad used to put me on the back of his motorcycle and do laps around the neighborhood.

Kelly: I thought that was the coolest thing ever. So you guys obviously grew up. When I say you guys, I mean you and your sister, Kelsey, you guys grew up with such a sense of adventure and your parents travel so much together. They've done some really awesome stuff.

, okay, I'm going to go live [: 00:26:00

Canden: So Manny and I had this conversation recently, because his parents are going to meet us in Spain.

Canden: We're going to the town of Arseniega. Oh, wow. My last name. I married into this, but he is descended from a Basque family. So, we're going to go do this. And I was asking... Well, what do your parents want to do while, while we're in Spain? And he was like, they'll probably just kind of follow us. They don't have an opinion.

Canden: And I was like, that's so weird to me because my family. So my mom wanted to see we really like Klimt the artists and the woman in gold is up in the new gallery in New York. So mom and I were like, let's go to New York for the weekend. And maybe it's like, that's just not. What we did growing up. So when he had his conversation with his parents about moving abroad, it was a huge thing.

Canden: I don't remember my [: 00:27:00

Canden: And they're like, I don't know if that's a good choice. Most people who defer probably don't go back. Right. I'm gonna do it. It'll be fine. And they didn't have A lot of knowledge about South Korea. I didn't either. I was, I was very surprised when I arrived. I was like, this is not what I imagined South Korea to be at all.

Canden: But that's the only conversation I remember. So it must not have been traumatic or a big deal. A big deal. Yeah. Yeah. Because yeah, we just, we did this. I, the only thing growing up travel related, what my parents rule for my travel was I was not allowed to go to Greece or New Zealand before my mom did.

nd that was just something I [: 00:28:00

Kelly: know. And you know what?

Kelly: When you have like. Such little boundaries around traveling with your parents that you want to respect it. Right. Cause I remember we were in Europe and me and my girlfriend really wanted to go to Turkey, but there was a, at the time that was when ISIS was kind of really occupying that area. And my dad was like, look, I never want to say no when it comes to exploring, but you can go anywhere, anywhere in Europe, please don't go there.

Kelly: And I was like, you know what? He doesn't ask a lot of me when I go around the world. I'm going to respect that. And so I think that's like kind of such a cool thing to remember as a parent is when you have, you have like the boundary, but then a lot of flexibility within the boundary.

Canden: So that's funny that you say that when I went to Turkey, I didn't tell my mom until I came home.

breaking a rule. I think she [: 00:29:00

Canden: She's going to be so mad at me. Cause I went by myself. And I was like, I'll, I'll come back. I've been gone for a week. I was in Turkey, but I'm alive. So I made it thrown off a train while it was moving, but in a very helpful kind of, I had missed my station. They were like, just go. Yeah.

Kelly: I mean, it worked out in your favor.

Kelly: You made it. That was like, I went, I went zip. I'm not zip lining. I went bungee jumping in New Zealand and I didn't specifically did not tell my mom until

Canden: I remember that because your mom had posted about

Kelly: it. I know. So we talk a lot about our family on this, on this. In this in this conversation right now, and I think you mentioned before it stems back to our grandma.

t now that we're having this [: 00:30:00

Kelly: So when we'd go to her house, there was just like a hundred of these Madonnas all over her house. But they would always say on the bottom, like, I have a Madonna from her from Bethlehem from the eighties or, you know, and, and I think each of us kind of got to take some of those, but I just think I remember at seven or eight years old, I asked her if I could interview her with a tape recorder, like a full blown tape recorder.

Kelly: And I wanted to ask her about all the places she traveled to. And I'm so upset that I don't know where that tape recorder is. I asked my dad about it. Like it's. It's maybe in a box somewhere in my parents house, but I asked her about her trip to the Amazon. Like she's going by herself with her sister, like no men at the time, which is a little crazy to be traveling that way.

ike, it's in our blood. Like [: 00:31:00

Kelly: They're not going to remember This type of value, this type of sense of being of who you are really gets passed down from generation to generation. So I'd love for you to share a little bit about what that's been like for you to travel with your kids. Cause it's very different. So just deciding to move from London to South Korea, back to London, it's very, you know, a little more organized.

Kelly: A lot more baggage. So yeah, I'd love

with our oldest mauler when [: 00:32:00

Canden: I'm just going to bring him with me. By far the easiest trip I've ever taken. He napped almost the entire time, right? Right. Just like, this is fine. They don't, neither of my children nap anymore. They are more awake. They both remember far more than I expect them to, which I really, I enjoy,

Canden: but a lot of what.

Canden: I have found that I like the most about traveling with the kids. Is it necessarily the specific memories, but new family traditions, I guess. So when Mahler, I hope he listens to this when he's like 20, he's like, why did you tell the general public this? So he was a baby, he was three months old, and we were on a tour of an opera house in Dresden, I think.

Canden: I [: 00:33:00

Canden: And these, all these old opera ladies were like, what is this woman doing? And I had brought a change of shirts for Manny and for me. In case, like, our shirt got dirty and I forgot to bring a change of clothes for Mauler. Oh my gosh. So I was like, put a new diaper on and I put him in Manny's shirt. So it was like this massive t shirt on this little three month old and we called it Big T Shirt Day.

d just hang out at home. And [: 00:34:00

Canden: And he had a, an incident. Again, he was a baby. This happens. AnD when we were in Paris, he was 18 months old and. Stopped at every stoop to sit on everything it took us. Oh my gosh Because he like he's so cute. He is. I mean i'm biased, but this child is adorable and he stopped at every and that's still like we make this joke whenever we see a cool doorway We're like mauler stay on the stoop.

Canden: This is something that you Like doing. He's like, okay, whatever. I'll do it. He's getting, he's getting too old for our shenanigans too. Cool for the soup. Now he's too cool for the stoop,

Canden: but yeah, we just, we like taking them places to experience new things and mostly for them to understand. Just the greater world.

I feel like travel makes you [: 00:35:00

Canden: And it's just, it's fun to hear him talk about like how different. The way different things are for their family, he's always amazed. He wakes up to play Minecraft with Henry in Dubai and Henry is getting home from school. He's like, what? So it really gives them just a, just a better understanding of, of life in general.

Canden: We, he missed his first day of kindergarten because we were in Scotland. He missed his last day of kindergarten cause we were in Texas. And that is what made us realize that public school is obviously not, it's not fair to the teacher and the other class. We just kept not going because we're like, well, I just, we're going to go do this instead.

, we'll, we'll just teach at [: 00:36:00

Kelly: Yeah, I, I read a quote, and I'm gonna talk a lot about this, I think, coming up, but I was saying, just because something's hard doesn't mean it's bad.

Kelly: And I really was like, Oh, mind blown. My literally my whole brain just exploded. Cause I think we always shy away from something that's hard because we automatically assume that it's bad. And we talk about this a lot on the podcast as well as parenting's hard, no matter where you are. It's hard when you're home.

Kelly: It's hard when you're in Spain. It's hard when you're in Jamaica, maybe it's a little more convenient when you're at home, cause you've got all your stuff, but it's hard wherever you are. And so like, let's just try to make this fun. And like you said, you're not going anywhere. You didn't want to stop to, you know, you weren't going to stop exploring because you wanted to.

eren't gonna stop because he [: 00:37:00

Kelly: Is there anything that you guys do? Like in the airport or when you first land somewhere, is there anything like tradition wise that you do while you travel as a family?

Canden: So Mahler and I started geocaching in our neighborhood, which is something dad and I used to do when I was a kid. And I totally forgot that.

Canden: Not a kid. I think I was in high school. But, I forgot it existed and then I started doing it with Molly in our neighborhood and then we're like, we should do this while we travel and it's, it is fun. Not just for children. Yeah, as a,

Kelly: as a, what is, what is geocaching, geocaching, caching, geocaching,

Canden: geocaching.

y sure of the difference. So [: 00:38:00

Canden: How cool. Sometimes you leave something small and then take some things like we, when we travel, we leave an American penny. And then we can take something. And so it's just like a neat, but it leads you to really random places. And sometimes they put them at touristy sites. So like it, it helps you get to a touristy location.

Canden: But they're often just like in neighborhoods. There are, I think, 12 in our neighborhood. No way, I've never even heard of this. Oh, it's so much fun. I'm so

Kelly: excited. It's like a scavenger

You have to have a good GPS [: 00:39:00

Canden: And then there's little clues. Some of them are way too hard for Mahler and I, we, we have not been able to figure out some of them. You can go through the the comments and like, sometimes people leave extra clues, but it's just, it's a fun thing that we started doing. Because I re I just assumed it was an American thing, but it's everywhere.

Canden: And it's a really, it's a neat thing. Emin, my daughter is not super into it. I don't, I don't know if Emmons got the travel exploring gene. I hope this changes. But the other day she's like, I don't want to do anything. I did something yesterday. You know

Kelly: what? I feel like Layla, my oldest kind of has a little bit of the same.

Kelly: She's like, I don't want to go to dance. I just want to be at home. And I'm like, what do you mean? Let's go to dance. Let's go be new friends. She's like, no, I just, I think I want to be at home. And I'm like, oh no.

I am a, I love to do things [: 00:40:00

Canden: she does like going, she likes to go to new places.

Canden: So she likes to learn about the dances at new places right now. So we did Kylie dancing in Scotland. We're going to a flamenco show in Spain. So that's a cool way

Kelly: to say, okay, maybe I have a more of a home body child, or I have a kid that maybe is overwhelmed by new experiences. It's like, okay, they're interested in this one specific thing.

Kelly: Cause kids are always interested in just one specific thing. And it changes every three months, but say, Hey, you're really into dance. Let's shoot. You get to choose what kind of dance we go look at and like trying to get them involved that way. Cause a lot of people assume families. Who travel a lot, just their kids just like to travel and that's not always the case.

Kelly: So it's, that's a really cool, creative way. To get your kid involved and on board and feel like they have power in that kind of situation.

y parents love to travel. My [: 00:41:00

Canden: None of these things does Kelsey enjoy. Right. So, we hiked the bottom of the Grand Canyon. And then we spent four days in Las Vegas. Where Kelsey got to go shopping and lay at the pool. We like, we'd go to New York city and I was like, all right, but I want to do this, this and this. But we also got to go shopping into a Broadway, there's always shopping and go to a Broadway play.

Canden: So I feel like that's how I was raised too. We kind of always incorporated something that we knew Kelsey would enjoy just in a different place. And Eamon is surprisingly a lot like Kelsey. Yeah. So it's probably karma. For those of y'all who are not related to Kelly and I, Kelsey and I did not. Get along growing up Kelsey and I were not very good friends.

Canden: We are now I feel like that's

Kelly: a Sisters who are close in age though that tends to happen. So yeah, just very

Canden: different person Yeah, now that we're adults we can handle it, but it might be karma that Emin is It's like my sister,

Kelly: a little, [: 00:42:00

Kelly: And then I just would love for you to share afterwards how people can connect with you and especially be able to go on tour with you around the world. Cause I think that's so cool. So the first question is. If you could only go back to one country, place, or town. Where would it be and why? I

Canden: feel like everyone should already know this, but it would be London.

Canden: Yeah. Because it smells good.

Kelly: The London smell, a bottle it up and

Canden: they should, I just, I love, I love everything about London, even the dreary gray sky. I love the museums. I love the culture. I love the food. I just

Kelly: like being in London. Amazing. Okay. Number two is what's number one on your bucket list right now.

going to close it. Oh, yeah. [: 00:43:00

Canden: So I want to get in there before that changes. Yeah. I

Kelly: think that's a really valid thing to consider for people that are like, Oh, I'll do Machu Picchu when I'm, when I'm have more time from work, when I have more money, when I have this, and that's to say anywhere around the world, I'll do this, I'll do X, when Y happens.

Kelly: And like you just said. We don't have control over when things close down. We don't have control over when the weather changes everything. So do it, you know, do it while you can talk to my parents. They just came back from Peru last year. So they'll number three is what's the biggest life lesson you've learned while traveling

ce and flexibility, probably [: 00:44:00

Kelly: good at.

Kelly: It's a continual life

Canden: lesson always, but it's, I mean, It's, it's something I feel like I'm actually good at while traveling, but not good at home. And I need to, I need to take that and remember like, I'm just, I'm traveling my home and still remember that flexibility is needed.

Kelly: Integrate your travel self with your home self and it would become the best of both worlds.

Kelly: And then number four is what would be your one piece of advice for a traveler who's just starting out or someone who really wants to get out there in the world, but just doesn't have quite nowhere to go.

Canden: Oh, this is my advice for everything. Getting married, having kids, starting a company, literally in life.

ed me with OCD and HD. But I [: 00:45:00

Canden: Because you're never, you're not, you're going to find a reason not to, if you're looking for one. Exactly. Just do it. You'll

Kelly: figure it out. And, and if you need, if you don't know, don't know where to go, when you go to your new place, look up a tour and, and tour with Candon tours all over the world.

Canden: I love that segue.

Kelly: So for people who want to connect with you and be able to find you online, find your business online, where's the best place for them to be able to connect.

Canden: So there are a thousand ways, so free tours by foot. com is the overarching website. You can find all of our cities, all of our travel advice, all of our guided tours for DC.

ide tell all is our podcast. [: 00:46:00

Canden: My house has been quiet the entire time that we've been chatting, but this is not a common occurrence. I have a barky dog, two kids, and my husband's a percussionist, so we're not podcast friendly

Kelly: in this house. Not a soundproofed

Canden: house. Not even remotely. But tour guide tell all talks about, really just historic figures and people and events around the world.

Canden: And I love it. So you can support me kind of just by just by listening to it. And then my books are, they're on Amazon. I'm saying this with an eye roll. If that is where you buy books, I prefer bookshop. org, but you do you, I'm the only Candon on Amazon and I publish under my maiden name, Candon Schwantus, all my books about DC specifically though, so it's a thing everyone should learn about.

Canden: I love

se books because it's such a [: 00:47:00

Kelly: Sneaky history. Sneaky history. Yeah. Everyone go rush, rush to bookshop. org and go grab, go grab Candon's books, but thank you so much. I was just laughing this entire podcast. I can't wait to see you next year for my sister's wedding. And maybe if we can sneak our way up to DC a little earlier, we can come see you.

Canden: Please do. Though we're not bringing the kids to the wedding. So my entire, I mean,

Kelly: don't even come, don't even come if you're not going to bring the cute kids. The

Canden: kids spend June in Texas. I get a whole month without my children. And they get to spend time with Manny's family. Yeah, a good, it's good on both sides.

Canden: Amazing. So we'll, we'll, we'll be kid free that weekend. Very looking forward to, but we'll. We'll, we'll come to, we'll come to Florida. We're going to Disney World at some point next

Kelly: year. Yeah, well, between the two of us, we're traveling, we're orbiting around each other at some stage, so we'll, we'll meet up, but thank you.

Kelly: [: 00:48:00

Canden: and proper would it be if our children met somewhere like, oh, the first time they met, we're all in Thailand.

Kelly: Exactly, exactly. Speaking of, come to Thailand with us next year. So, with that, I will say thank you so much for taking the time. I'm so excited for... Our listeners to hear, you know, from my family and get a little bit more.

Kelly: I'm sure people now understand me a little bit more after hearing from you. And I'm just really excited for people to be able to listen and share and connect with you. Yay.

Canden: Thank you. It was so much fun. Thanks

Kelly: for tuning in to another episode of the Transform With Travel Podcast. Don't forget to hit subscribe so you never miss an episode of inspiration, adventure, and exploration.

think will benefit from this [: 00:49:00

Kelly: Thanks so much for listening. This is your reminder to get out there and keep on exploring.