00:00:04
What do public school teachers think of homeschool kids? We're going to find out
00:00:07
on today's episode of the Ex Homeschoolers Club. I'm your host, Jacob Gooden, and uh if you're new here,
00:00:12
welcome in. This is the Exhome Schoolers Club, where we talk about the good, the
00:00:14
bad, and the ugly of growing up a homeschool kid. If you're a returning uh audience member, welcome back. So stoked
00:00:22
to have you. Today, I'm joined by my lovely friend Patty Hunt, and uh I'm so
00:00:27
stoked to talk to her. She was a school teacher for 20 years. Is that right, But
00:00:31
Patty? >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Okay. 20 years. And uh and then she ended up uh doing the RV life thing for
00:00:38
a couple of years and now she is a traveling she's just like kind of a little bit of a nomad um and travels
00:00:44
around the world and shares her experiences. We know each other because well I produce and edit for your podcast
00:00:51
and some of your other stuff. But with all that, Patty Hunt, welcome to the Ex Homeschoolers Club. Thank you so much,
00:00:58
Jacob, for having me. I'm excited to be here. >> I'm excited to have you. It It's really
00:01:05
cool. I getting to know you has been such a fun experience. We met in Orlando, Florida a couple years ago at a
00:01:12
podcasting conference and you said something to me like I it was one of the last days we were there. You were like,
00:01:17
"We are going to work together on something. I don't know what it is, but
00:01:21
it's going to happen." And not long after that, I became your editor, producer, and we just have stayed in
00:01:26
touch and done some really cool stuff together. So, if you want to check out anything Patty's got going on, Inspired
00:01:32
Travels with Patty on YouTube, Instagram, podcast, all that kind of stuff, go check it out. There'll be
00:01:37
links down in the show notes below. But Patty, let's talk about you being a public school teacher. So, you were a
00:01:44
school teacher for 20 years. First of all, how did you get into that? Did you know that that was the career path you
00:01:49
wanted to go down? No, no, not at all. I um I decided when I was young that I needed to go to college, have a career,
00:02:00
and then I'd be able to retire and be financially set. That was the goal. I grew up in a home where college wasn't
00:02:06
something any of my family did. Nobody had gone to college. But I just knew having grown up in a home where money
00:02:15
was always a struggle that um education, college was so important and that was the way to have success and be
00:02:25
financially set. And so I went to college. I actually a lot of people don't know this but wanted to be a
00:02:32
doctor. So I was sort of you know in that beginning stages and I started college at 17. I graduated high school a
00:02:42
year early and I took classes and one of my first classes was anatomy physiology
00:02:50
at 700 a.m. and I don't think I was ready for college. I wasn't ready for
00:02:57
getting up early in the discipline but I made it through. Um what anatomy physiology taught me was I might not be
00:03:06
cut out to be a doctor. So, at that point, I decided, like a lot of people, to just get my business degree. Um, and
00:03:15
that's what I did. I got my business degree and all my electives, every other
00:03:21
class that I could take that I had an option was in psychology. I love psychology. I love knowing about people,
00:03:28
how they thought. And so, I ended up with a degree in psychology as well as a business degree. So now fast forward,
00:03:36
got married, had kids, and decided that I wanted to spend more time with my kids. Um, I loved working with children.
00:03:46
And so I went back to school and got my master's degree in education. And it
00:03:52
started out in elementary education, which I quickly realized was not for me, and then I went into middle school and
00:03:59
finally high school. >> So you kind of did a little bit of the gamut, it sounds like. You said
00:04:03
elementary and then junior high and high school. So like in the younger years it's more of like you kind of teach
00:04:09
everything, right? >> So the elementary level you teach everything and that was where my init
00:04:15
education was was an elementary education and I didn't like teaching everything. English wasn't my thing.
00:04:23
Math wasn't my thing. So I wanted to really focus on biology. Let me tell you
00:04:29
some of the myths that I think homeschool kids believe about public schools. So, one, and maybe not just
00:04:35
homeschool kids, but I think homeschool families kind of have this little bit of
00:04:39
a negative view of the public school system. And I'm a little bit of an exception. I went to public school for
00:04:44
two years, and the reasons my parents pulled me out of school had more to do with the schools in the area not being
00:04:49
up to snuff with what they wanted for their kid. My mom was like, I think I can actually do better here. But they
00:04:55
weren't against public school. So I never had that indoctrinated into me. But I grew up with kids who were like
00:05:00
public school is for is like is evil. It's indoctrinating. It's you know it's
00:05:06
it's a inferior product to what my parents are doing. And so I wonder like can you crack that myth at all for us or
00:05:17
like lay out maybe maybe it's quite not quite as bad as people are making it out
00:05:21
to be in the public school system? This is a tough one because I think we could uh start a lot of kind of reactions from
00:05:31
people. Let me just say I grew up in Philadelphia. So, while I wasn't in the
00:05:37
city of Philadelphia, I was in the Northeast, a little bit different an area for those of who who aren't
00:05:43
familiar. And I was in public school in Philadelphia. And it it didn't do a great job for me. I it really didn't.
00:05:52
And it was a very negative experience for me. I'll be totally honest. I was actually sick all the time. So I missed
00:06:01
a lot of school. And while maybe there was the support, I didn't feel supported. I felt left out. I felt left
00:06:09
behind. I felt like I wasn't capable. So I don't I think the public school on the
00:06:16
other hand I think schools do the best that they can do and the bottom line is it often comes down to money. What are
00:06:25
the resources available? And and that's kind of sad. I let me just say this. If I had to do all
00:06:33
over again I would have homeschooled my kids but that would also be based on their personality.
00:06:42
what would work for them because each kid has an individual personality, individual needs. And I think when kids
00:06:50
are going to elementary school, it's not like you could ask a first grader, hey,
00:06:55
do you want to stay home and do school or go to school? That's not necessarily
00:07:00
something that you could do. But I think that knowing their options as a parent is a great thing to know. So going back
00:07:07
to your question about public schools, I I think that they are failing in a lot of ways. I was very frustrated with
00:07:17
public schools growing up seeing my kids in public schools. Some of that was very
00:07:24
frustrating as you know. So I do think there are and as a teacher definitely saw the downside of it. I worked in a
00:07:36
school district that was a very low income school district. So a lot of the students I were work I was working with
00:07:44
were at risk youth. I loved doing that but again lack of funding, lack of having coaches and counselors and the
00:07:53
things that those students needed was definitely missing. >> Yeah. No, I to I totally align with
00:08:00
that. I recently had a conversation with a cousin of mine who she's a current
00:08:03
second grade school teacher and that was she was mentioning very similar things of like when the funding's not there
00:08:11
things get worse and it becomes much harder. She also works in an integrated school. So there is no special education
00:08:18
programs. Those kids are in the classrooms as well. And so you have this mix that like you said like kids,
00:08:25
we can be very individualized with the way that we learn. And that I'm sure is
00:08:30
hard when you're teaching a classroom of 20 plus kids, sometimes up to 30 kids.
00:08:34
Like >> yeah, from that perspective, I definitely understand the argument for
00:08:39
like homeschooling. I think one of the other fears that comes from the homeschool world is also like what is
00:08:47
being taught in the school systems and this like I grew up in a religious homeschool environment. So there's a lot
00:08:54
of this talk of like indoctrination happening in schools which based on my experience and based on now
00:09:02
knowing a bunch of school teachers I'm like they're just there to teach a
00:09:06
textbook that the state has provided for them. Is that pretty accurate? Like I don't know that there's necessarily a
00:09:11
whole lot of indoctrination happening. >> Think about it. So we're human beings. I
00:09:16
taught in a school district where the students, the parents were religious, you know, Christian religion most
00:09:25
mostly. Um and and that's fine. That's okay. But here I was teaching science,
00:09:31
life science. So now you get into the question of evolution. And so while I tried to just teach by the textbook and
00:09:41
that is something I did because everybody's individual belief is their belief. I'm not there to change or talk
00:09:49
about religion or any of those things was not what I wanted to talk about. But you know teachers are human beings.
00:09:58
They're individuals. They're kind of belief system probably plays into things to some
00:10:05
degree. And then there are teachers who will fullon give their opinion, give their thoughts, give their belief
00:10:13
system, you know, whether it's an English teacher reading a book and giving her belief system about whatever
00:10:20
it is, that's going to happen. That is absolutely going to happen. You know,
00:10:25
even a a gym teacher comes into class and he's overweight. what that teacher
00:10:32
believes may pour out. So yes, you that you have that happen. >> So I am also curious at this point in
00:10:42
your career, how familiar were you with like the homeschool movement and like was that
00:10:48
something that you knew about? Was it just kind of a like, oh that's like on
00:10:52
the fringe kind of a thing? And you said that if you could go back and do it differently, you would homeschool your
00:10:58
kids. But like they it seems like either went to public or private school. So I don't know what what was what was your
00:11:05
thought on homeschooling at that point? >> So my kids were all public school. Uh we
00:11:12
lived in really good school districts. That said, you know, that means so much. It's not like they're quote unquote good
00:11:21
school districts and everything's perfect. At the time my kids were growing up had some conversations with
00:11:28
people that did homeschooling and I was very curious and one of the thoughts that came to mind was well I can't teach
00:11:37
them everything they need to know. So my belief system was if I'm going to homeschool I need to know it all. the
00:11:44
English, the math, the science, the social studies, all of it. And I knew I wasn't capable. But I had talked to
00:11:52
somebody who was homeschooling her kids and they had a whole community of people
00:11:59
that got together or they had, now this was back before computers and online courses and all of that. So they had one
00:12:07
parent that they go to a house and she would teach certain topics and that's
00:12:12
how they kind of taught their kids all of everything. But as my kids got older and seeing each of my kids struggle in a
00:12:22
different way. I have three kids. Each one of them struggled in a different way. And I think every kid has some
00:12:28
struggle. I don't think that, you know, you have a kid that just excels at everything and everything's perfect
00:12:35
because if that's the case when they get out in life, that could be a rude awakening. And so I just thought that
00:12:43
being able to give them the experiences, get them out of a classroom, not sitting
00:12:49
behind a desk for long periods of time, I really truly believe that that is, in my opinion, a better way for kids to
00:12:59
learn. It's just what I've come to believe. Now that said, should all parents homeschool their kids? Does all
00:13:07
are all parents able to be home with their kids? Cuz when they're young, it's
00:13:11
not like you could go out and do a job and leave your one, you know, your first grader home being homeschooled. So, it
00:13:18
isn't for everyone. I wouldn't want a parent to feel bad if they can homeschool their kids. I have three kids
00:13:25
and five grandkids, and none of my kids right now are thinking about homeschooling in any way, shape, or
00:13:33
form. And it is probably for the best that they and their kids are in public schools. You know, it's it's not for
00:13:42
everyone and nobody should feel bad about the choices they make. >> My philosophy on it has always been like
00:13:51
be parents being involved and included in their child's education of like what are they interested? What is your
00:14:00
kid interested in? what like and this was something when I was like I don't want kids but when I thought about okay
00:14:06
if I did have kids what kind of dad would I want to be those types of things I think about like the level of
00:14:12
involvement I want in my kids' life right and that becomes like this like okay hey like I would want to do this I
00:14:19
would want you know my dad really leaned in when I was interested in like learning about his the history of wars
00:14:25
you know and so it was like he leaned in with that with me and so we would go to
00:14:29
the museums and we would go. We watch the movies and we read the books and we whatever. I believe that even if I had
00:14:34
been in public school, he would have done the same thing. Like he just would have been like, "You're interested in
00:14:38
this. Let's like full-fledged let's go kind of a thing." And um and so to me,
00:14:43
I'm like I think even if you can't, like you were saying, even if you can't
00:14:47
homeschool your kids, there's a level of like be involved in your kids's
00:14:51
education to understand what is the things that make them tick. What do they like to learn about? It's like you you
00:14:57
cultivate a wanting to learn and just this like desire to always be learning things and that will take you I think
00:15:05
way further than any any education ever will because if you want to learn it, you'll figure it out eventually, right?
00:15:12
>> What you're saying is so true. So for parents whose kids are going to public
00:15:17
school, they're leaving the house every day, they're going to school. I think
00:15:22
absolutely what you said, take an interest in what they're doing, obviously. And then go find things. If
00:15:29
it's war museums, go do that. My one grandson loves to bake. Do that with them. It's education. You are teaching
00:15:39
them skills. So, you don't have to make it like, okay, we're we're cooking today
00:15:45
and I'm going to teach them fractions, but you can incorporate those things when, you know, my grandkids are
00:15:52
learning to read, showing them the ingredients, showing them the words, reading it to them, pointing out like
00:15:59
this is the cake mix. They're going to learn that word very quickly, >> right? It doesn't have to be we're gonna
00:16:06
sit down now and you're going to learn how to read or I'm gonna educate you. It
00:16:11
doesn't have to be that. Let them see different things to some degree. Let them make some choices. Let them try
00:16:18
different things. I think that is absolutely part of it and is an add-on to the education they're getting.
00:16:26
>> Absolutely. I want to pivot just a little bit and go into let's talk about
00:16:32
traveling a little bit. So you when I met you, you were living in an RV and traveling across the United
00:16:39
States of America. So can you tell that story? How did you get from like, okay, I'm a school teacher to now like, okay,
00:16:46
now I I've left everything. I've downsized my life and now I'm living in
00:16:49
an RV going across the the consecutive 48 United States. What was that like? >> And I'll I'll give a quick story to
00:16:57
that. Years before the RVing thing, I was teaching, as I said, in a school district with at risk youth, I had been
00:17:06
sent for training to mentor students, and I was mentoring my students. And that to me, I I enjoyed that more than
00:17:15
the actual education. You can't educate a kid. You can't help them learn
00:17:20
photosynthesis if they're worried about where they're going to sleep that night
00:17:23
or whether or not they're going to eat. And so for me, I wanted to support them
00:17:28
as best I could. And the school district would say, "Well, you can't take your
00:17:35
time, your own time to do that because it's not fair to the other teachers because they have to do door duty or
00:17:42
cafeteria duty." And it just became frustrating. So I ended up quitting after 20 years. I just quit. I said,
00:17:50
"Okay, one more year and I'm done." And then I got into other other things,
00:17:55
other businesses. I became self-employed. Um, and so after moving to Las Vegas and COVID hitting, that's
00:18:03
where the decision to go in an RV and travel came. My husband just said, "Hey,
00:18:08
let's just travel across the country. Let's go in an RV. Let's sell it all."
00:18:12
And I just got to a point where I said, "What the heck?" And just I am not that
00:18:16
spontaneous a person. Like I need a plan. I need to know what it looks like, what we're going to be doing, how this
00:18:24
is going to work. And with very little plan, we did. We decided to just hit the road and see things that just I never
00:18:33
saw as a kid. I never could have imagined. So that's how the whole travel got
00:18:39
started. >> Yeah. I think I think co gave a lot of people that courage I think to do
00:18:46
something that they had been putting off for a while or that they had talked about doing and it was just like well
00:18:52
we're just at home anyways might as well just like for you was sell everything
00:18:57
and move into to like what a 45 foot RV something like that and and drive across
00:19:03
the country that's that's wild that was like I mean meeting you and Dan I was
00:19:07
like I don't know how people could do this like I just I don't I don't know
00:19:12
that I have that bone. I love traveling, but I don't have that bone in me. Um
00:19:18
yet. We'll put put an asterisk on that. Um, but so one of the things that when when
00:19:26
uh you and I met and we were talking and and you found out I was homeschooled, you you brought up to me road schoolers
00:19:32
and meeting these people along the the way who they travel with their kids all throughout the year and they road school
00:19:37
their kids and uh and you have this funny story about one of the families you met. Would you mind sharing that? I
00:19:44
met a woman who lived with her four kids and they were ranging in age from like 10 up to teenager and they lived in a 45
00:19:56
foot fifth wheel. So those of your listeners who don't know what a fifth wheel looks like, Google it, look at it,
00:20:02
think about yourself, your husband and four kids first of all in that kind of space. And so she and I just connected
00:20:09
and we were talking and she was telling me how she road schools her kids and I was really interested in asking
00:20:16
questions and she said, "You know, sometimes my youngest just doesn't want
00:20:20
to read. He's not the best reader and I don't know what to do." And she was, you
00:20:26
know, feeling I could sense she was feeling bad about herself. And so I said to her, I said, "I get it. I was a
00:20:34
public school teacher for 20 years and she physically took a step back. She took the step back and I'm like, "No,
00:20:43
no, no. I'm not." Because I know she felt like I was judging her and I said,
00:20:48
"No, I'm not judging you. I think what you're doing is amazing." She was trying
00:20:54
to work with each of her kids individually, figuring out what they needed, how to give them what they
00:21:00
needed. And I then said to her, "Your kid," and again, I don't remember how
00:21:05
old he was. He was young, but a lot, and I'm putting this in air quotes, a lot of
00:21:10
kids at the age her kid was is starting to read, and he wasn't. And the problem
00:21:17
is, as parents, we're comparing. We're comparing, well, my kid's five and all
00:21:23
the other kids are reading and mine isn't. Well, that's not true. It's even
00:21:28
like within a household. My one grandson who's now nine was reading very quickly
00:21:34
at a rather early age and he just got it and started reading. The six-year-old now is not reading quite so fast, but
00:21:42
he's getting it and he will get it. And I said to her, listen, I think what you're doing is amazing. I wish I had
00:21:48
done this with my kids. And we had a whole conversation around it. And the I think the point here is I wouldn't want
00:21:56
anybody to feel bad. I think parents are always feeling bad. You put your kid in
00:22:01
public school, you hear about homeschooling, you feel bad, you feel guilty. Maybe that's what I should be
00:22:05
doing. You take your kid out of school, you homeschool them, and you think, "Wow, maybe they're missing out. Maybe
00:22:11
they should be in public school." It's you you have to do what you feel is
00:22:16
right for your kids. And as parents, we're not always going to get it right.
00:22:20
We're going to screw some things up. That's just part of the job. It's part
00:22:24
of the job description. But she and I had a great conversation and I think she felt a lot better after we spoke.
00:22:32
>> I I like what you had to say there because it was like my my mom had this
00:22:37
philosophy of like, okay, if I homeschool my kids and I choose to do all the way through cuz so for me it was
00:22:43
second grade through high school. My sister went all the way through homeschooling. Um and her goal was
00:22:50
always can they get into college at the end of it? if they're smart enough to
00:22:54
get into college, I've succeeded. Um, you know, they they can read, they can
00:22:59
write, they can do math, they can they understand science, kind of a thing. And um, and I had a different homeschool mom
00:23:05
on the show and she was sharing something similar of she's like to to your point of like my kid was struggling
00:23:11
to read, but eventually it clicked. Yeah, it was maybe two years past everybody else, but it was like it
00:23:17
eventually clicked with them, but it just took time to get them to that thing. I think for a long time I held
00:23:23
this like oh well we're all like at the same grade level very traditional public
00:23:26
school kind of mindset I think in my head of just kind of this like we're all
00:23:30
at the same level we can all do the same things kind of a deal and uh and the older I've gotten the more I've realized
00:23:34
I'm like no we're just like all at these different levels in our life >> and eventually they'll level out or
00:23:39
someone's going to surpass me and that's cool and then like I'll surpass them in
00:23:43
other ways and it's like it's not a competition it's just a that's part of
00:23:46
life we all are always learning um new things and and getting better with with our skills. So, I hope that homeschool
00:23:54
parents are encouraged by that that story for sure. What have you said? Like, so being on
00:24:01
the road and then now meeting all these families, what what how has that changed
00:24:05
your perception of homeschooling at all? Like what what what's changed there?
00:24:12
>> So much has changed there. And if I can, I'd like to go back and address the
00:24:16
whole idea of college. When I was growing up, I thought I have to go to college, have a career, I could retire.
00:24:22
Told that story. When my kids were young, my kids are older. When my kids were young, I used to say, when you go
00:24:29
to college, when you graduate high school and you go to college, because to me, that was the only option. Well, over
00:24:35
the years of me quitting the job, I mean, I had my have my masters and I went on to get 45 additional credits
00:24:44
because I was working toward my doctorate degree. And you know, that was the belief when you go to college. Well,
00:24:52
years later, probably 10, 15 years ago, I realized that college isn't necessarily for everyone. Look, if you
00:25:00
want to be a doctor, a brain surgeon, a lawyer, obviously there are a lot of things that you may choose to do that
00:25:08
college, absolutely you're going to need. But does every student need to go to college? I no longer believe they do.
00:25:15
I just had lunch with my three kids, five grandkids, their spouses, and my daughter said, you know, she finished
00:25:22
college. She feels like she barely made it through, but she did. graduated after four years
00:25:29
and she said I wish I hadn't gone to college. She said I don't know that that
00:25:33
was what I needed to do. Now life changes so you never know. Co hit she was a preschool teacher. She had her
00:25:42
education degree and you know during co she was like no I don't want to do this
00:25:46
anymore. So she ended up getting a great job that she loves that has doesn't
00:25:52
really have anything to do with her education. So, a lot for me has changed. Whether you choose to homeschool your
00:26:00
kid or send them to a traditional school, knowing that kids have options, I think more important or as important
00:26:10
as learning math and science and, you know, literature and and social studies and all those basic things that you're
00:26:18
taught. I think as important is letting your kid know that what they want to do,
00:26:24
what they would like doing because a job does not have to be, well, this is the 9
00:26:31
to5 place. I go 5 days a week, I get a couple weeks of uh vacation and gear and I just struggle through till I retire. I
00:26:39
totally don't believe that anymore. And I do see where homeschooling teaches that, especially people on the
00:26:47
road showing people. I I met a couple early on. They were in a um an SUV. It was the husband, the wife, and two kids.
00:26:57
They had driven from North Carolina out to Las Vegas. And they said their kid was on the, you know, on Zoom learning
00:27:07
about the Grand Canyon. It was during COVID, so they were home, you know, they were learning by Zoom, right?
00:27:14
>> She said, "I just told my husband, we're getting in the car and we're driving
00:27:17
across the country and showing it to him." And that's what they did. She
00:27:21
said, like the handson. And I see that all the time. I see that with all types of education, whether it's seeing the
00:27:30
country, learning about the world, learn, there's so much you've learned by
00:27:34
getting out and doing, as well as learning how to get along with other kids, make friends, deal with
00:27:42
situations. There's there's a lot there that I see just such a incredible,
00:27:50
you know, just incredible value in homeschooling kids, whether you're traveling full-time in an RV or you're
00:27:57
doing it at home. >> I always think about like I loved Revolutionary War history. Like I just I
00:28:05
love understanding the founding of this country and what we fought for. I think it's so fascinating to me. And so when I
00:28:12
was in high school, I got the opportunity to go to Boston and it was like a church trip. So I was just there
00:28:17
with friends and I was geeking out the entire time. Every every building is historical in Boston, Massachusetts.
00:28:23
Like everything has some piece of history tied to it. And so I'm geeking out the entire time and I'm telling
00:28:30
people all these like they're like it was like having a tour guide with us because there's Jacob in the front of
00:28:35
the group being like, "Oh, did you know that that chapel yada yada yada yada,
00:28:38
you know, and that's the one and you know all this kind of stuff." And um but
00:28:43
it was it was like seeing it in person like reading it in a book and seeing pictures of it in a book is like so
00:28:50
different than actually like yeah walking the streets of it. And so I wanted to ask you in your time in the RV
00:28:58
traveling across the United States, was there anything that you guys stopped at that you were like that you learned
00:29:05
maybe a piece of history that you were just like, "Oh my gosh, this is amazing." And I would have never known
00:29:09
this or maybe you did know it, but you got there, you're like, "Seeing this in
00:29:12
person, just totally different. I love this." I think for me and again I wasn't
00:29:17
a big history person at all and I didn't do well when I was young just learning
00:29:26
information. So when I had to learn about certain things in history and dates and people that was my worst.
00:29:33
There was nothing for me to tie it to. It was just this just bunch of information. And so being able to travel
00:29:43
across the country and see certain things that I can't remember if there's
00:29:47
something history-wise I do know I always called myself geographically challenged. So I live on the east coast
00:29:54
in Philadelphia. I know some of the states in and around the east coast. I know where California is, but I didn't
00:30:04
know like where certain states were anything about them. So traveling across the country and learning about states
00:30:11
and there were a lot of things that I learned along the way that was like, "Oh
00:30:16
yeah, that was what they were talking about in school." And I can't remember
00:30:20
an example, but I remember thinking, "Oh, that's what they talked about in
00:30:24
school." Duh. It was almost like simple, easy. And even just having lived right
00:30:30
outside Philadelphia in Philadelphia and then outside of Philadelphia for most of
00:30:34
my life, you take for granted all that Philadelphia has. You know, again, you learned about it in the book. As you
00:30:44
know, when I think I was in elementary school, they took us to see the Liberty Bell and I was young and I was like,
00:30:49
"Okay, who cares? I couldn't have told you anything about it." and then getting
00:30:54
in the RV and there not being that pressure and there not being that okay now this is what we have to learn today
00:31:02
like it almost being forced and I hate to say that about public school but here's the things you need to know and
00:31:08
remember and regurgitate and it's just not that way when you're homeschooling
00:31:14
and certainly not that way with most people traveling and learning. I was going to ask, so did you have you
00:31:22
done all 48? Have you done all 50 states? >> No. So, okay. Um, no, I definitely need
00:31:29
to get to Hawaii. >> How How close Okay, so we have Hawaii. So, we're missing Hawaii, but how close
00:31:33
are we? >> So, of the 48 states, I think the last time I counted was 28. >> Okay. Okay.
00:31:40
>> I have recount, but I will say, now this is an RV thing. There are maps. You
00:31:46
can't see it, but I have a map and I fill in the sticker of the states that I've been to. And the thing is RVers
00:31:54
biggest, one of the biggest um debates is when you get to put the sticker on the map. So, do you just pass through
00:32:02
the state? Did you stop? So, there's debate. So, I have to go back and recount and then think to myself, what
00:32:09
is it that counts as having been to a state? For me, it's a memory created. For some RVers, it's Oh, you have to
00:32:17
stay there overnight. So, different people have different things. So, it's probably over 28, probably 30 something.
00:32:25
>> Do you have a favorite? >> So, it depends on what I was looking for. One of my favorite states is
00:32:31
Oregon. Um, I love Tennessee. I went to a little town and we talked about it called Bonqua, Tennessee that I think
00:32:41
you didn't even know where it was. >> I had no idea that that even existed.
00:32:45
Yeah. It's like I think about an hour, 45 minutes, something like that outside
00:32:49
of Nashville. So, >> yes. Yes. And it's just there were different states in different areas that
00:32:55
I loved for different reasons. I love Florida because I love Disney, you know. Um each area has something to offer. So
00:33:05
now you're off the road, but you're still traveling. We I mentioned Inspired
00:33:09
Travels with Patty and one of the things aside from I mean so your show I mean you you talk with people who travel all
00:33:16
different ways. You had somebody on who was who lived in a boat for 6 months like you fly and people go by trains and
00:33:24
travel with their kids who are have autism and you had me on and we talked about Nashville and just like going
00:33:30
doing stuff in your backyard and things like that. But you interview these people who talk about trips and travel
00:33:35
and those types of things. What have you got coming up? Any fun trips on the books or maybe they're not maybe they're
00:33:42
not scheduled yet, but you're like, "Okay, I'm working on this thing. I want
00:33:45
to go do I want to go do this experience?" >> So, for me, what I have coming up and
00:33:51
again, my whole idea of encouraging people to travel is I just want to inspire people to live life fully. And I
00:33:59
think that you get so much whether you take a walk in a park near your house. So that's the whole idea behind what I
00:34:06
do. I have been asked over the last four years about going to the Keys in Florida. There were two years that Dan
00:34:14
and I had planned on going and we never got there because my mother got ill, then he got ill. And last year I said,
00:34:22
"Okay, I'm going to the Keys in Florida. I was invited to go. I just need to get
00:34:26
there." And so this year I am definitely going to the Keys. Not planned yet. I do
00:34:33
a lot of last minute plans, but definitely will be going to the Florida Keys. I'm excited about that. In
00:34:41
January, I'll be back in Tampa for the Tampa RV show. And then we met at Podfest in Tampa after after that show.
00:34:49
It actually is at the same time this year. Um but that is planned. And you know, I just want to keep myself open.
00:34:57
Travel to me is just the most amazing, you know, it's just just want to do lots
00:35:04
of it. So, I will be making more and more plans for travel. >> Yeah. I think one of the great things
00:35:10
like now living on the eastern side of the country is the closeness of states. Like if I want to go to a different
00:35:18
state, it's not that long for me to go up to Kentucky. It doesn't take that
00:35:22
long to go to Arkansas or Georgia or anything like that. And I know Pennsylvania is that way, too. Like, you
00:35:28
could get in a car and be in a different state in a couple of hours. Um, growing
00:35:32
up in California, I mean, granted, you go to Northern California, it is not the same as Southern California. However,
00:35:38
you're still in California. Um, and so I think that's something that now
00:35:44
as I've gotten older, I've started to appreciate a lot more of just like, oh
00:35:47
my gosh, I can go anywhere in just like a few hours and like not be in the same state, totally different vibes cuz
00:35:53
states do have this completely different vibe. It is >> I don't unless you've experienced it, I
00:36:01
don't like it is it is such an interesting thing to like just cross over the border of a state and stop at
00:36:06
the first town and it be like this is completely different than the than the previous state. Um yeah. So okay with
00:36:15
that traveling I know your big thing like you said is encouraging people to just get out and travel. What what has
00:36:23
helped you get in that that mindset to be like, "Okay, I'm just gonna do this.
00:36:28
I'm not I'm gonna" Because a lot of people, you and I talk about this all
00:36:31
the time on the phone of like, "We do this. We'll put it on my bucket list.
00:36:34
I'll It's It's down the line. It's down the line. It's down the line." And
00:36:37
eventually I'll get there. What has gotten you to the point where now you're
00:36:41
like, "Okay, enough with the waiting. Like, let's actually like just pull the
00:36:46
trigger. We're doing the thing." >> Because life is too short. People hear
00:36:50
it all the time. People hear that saying that I say all the time, live life fully
00:36:54
every day. You never know. And I don't say that for people to be afraid. I say
00:37:01
that for people to really stop and say, "Okay, what is something I could do?"
00:37:06
Because, you know, my husband a year and a half ago at 64 ended up in long-term nursing care.
00:37:14
um years before that you know I've lost people people that have suddenly passed
00:37:21
I I one of the big things is sitting with my mother now she was 87 she had three children three
00:37:29
grandchildren saw two of them married she has five great grandchildren and while we sat there basically on her
00:37:39
deathbed she talked about all the things she regretted not doing So, if any message that I could get out to anyone
00:37:47
is about not having regrets, and I think a lot of times people put things on their bucket list, going to Alaska,
00:37:55
going to Hawaii, I want to go to Italy. I want to travel. You put it on your bucket list and you
00:38:03
say, "Well, I don't have the money. I can't do that. I'm waiting for the
00:38:06
perfect time, the perfect person to go with." Start small. We all have the ability to go explore the little town. I
00:38:15
I visited a town 20 minutes from here. 20 minutes from my house. I felt like I stepped back in time. It was like
00:38:23
started in 19 whatever early and I felt like I stepped back in time and just spent hours there listening to
00:38:32
the waterfall. Just a beautiful that's travel to me. It just got me out of my
00:38:38
everyday. And everybody can do that. I don't care how much money you have. I
00:38:43
don't care how much time you have, the lack of planning. It doesn't matter.
00:38:47
Just go do those things and that'll lead to what's next and how do I get to that
00:38:53
next thing and that next trip. And so that's that's what it's all about for
00:38:57
me. >> I love that. I love that. You and I, I think, share much of that philosophy of
00:39:02
like it doesn't take Yeah. It doesn't take going far to find something fun to
00:39:07
do that you've never done before, literally in your own neighborhood. So, I love that. Patty, is there anything
00:39:14
we've missed in our chats about public school, homeschooling, road schooling,
00:39:20
travel? Is there anything else that we need to leave the people with? >> I I just want to leave people with
00:39:26
especially parents, go easy on yourself. And again, I'm going to reiterate. Nobody gets out of parenting without
00:39:36
screwing some of it up. We are doing the absolute best we can. I think to myself,
00:39:41
if I could go back and do it again, these are the things I do different. I'd
00:39:46
look at my grandkids and think, "Oh, this is what I would do." We are doing
00:39:51
the best we can. Cut yourself some slack. Every day is a new day. And do what feels right for you and your kids.
00:39:59
what other people think is none of your business because a lot of times we're
00:40:04
thinking about what someone else thinks of us and they're not even thinking about it. They have their own lives.
00:40:11
They're dealing with their own stuff. So, don't worry about it. And that's
00:40:16
easier said than done. It takes practice. But when it comes to your kids, look at what your individual kids
00:40:23
seem to want or need and try and do that the best that you can. I love that. All
00:40:30
right, with that guys, go check out Patty on Inspired Travels with Patty. I highly encourage checking out her
00:40:35
YouTube channel, mostly because I produce that. But, um, but go give her some love, some support. She's a brand
00:40:41
new show and, uh, we talk all about travel. So, if that's something you're
00:40:45
into, go subscribe to that. Hopefully, you have enjoyed the show. Do all of the internet things that you know how to do
00:40:51
on my show. Leave a like, leave a comment, leave a subscribe. All of the things you you know what to do, okay? I
00:40:56
don't have to tell you. Uh if you've got any questions or you want to reach out
00:41:00
to me, exhclubgmail.com. And uh with that, Patty, once again, thank you so much for coming on the show
00:41:07
and sharing your uh public school teacher knowledge uh and your travel knowledge with us. And uh yeah, until
00:41:14
next time, we'll see you.