Who Are We?

We are so happy that you are here to find out who we are, what we are passionate about and how we can help you!

Meet your typical married couple. We have been married since 1996. We live in Barrie, Ontario and love it here!  We have a beautiful 13 year old son named Evan who is an inspiration to us on so many levels and of course our crazy, energetic 7 year old pug Max, they are inseparable!

Our family enjoys travelling together, playing board games, creating music, laughing and helping others.  We also value our time alone to replenish, practice mindfulness and pursue our own individual passions.

This website is organized by all the things that mean the most to us.  That is why we began and named our company Travel Live Give. Simply, we love to travel, love living authentically and giving by helping others.  Like most of you, we are a hardworking family who work traditional office and construction jobs.  We try to take each day as it comes.  Although I am a total dreamer, my family tries to keep me grounded, so together we make a great team.

What We Believe

We believe that there is more to life than the 9-5, than "coasting".  In other words, we feel that our lives don't need to be like everyone else's.  Therefore, we make our own decisions and decide what is right for us, rather than basing those decisions on how others choose to live their lives.  

What is right for one person is not necessarily right for another.  Nor is one way better than the other.  However, it is important that you design your life to suit your own needs and wants while at the same time helping others.  The secret is to decide for yourself even though you may choose the less popular route.  As a result, we are in control of our own lives and ultimately what we do with the time we have been given.

We owe it to ourselves to be present in our lives and in the lives of others.  Being aware of those around and helping others when they need a helping hand is very important to us.  Since we are not given much time on this earth, we should make the most of it.  Our time here is not replenish-able, we can't rewind and ask for a do over, we need to make our time here count.

Why did we start Travel Live Give?

When we began this new venture, we promised ourselves to hold nothing back, to be completely transparent and genuine. The good, the bad, the ugly, and of course the breakthroughs!

We started this blog because we realized that a lot of us are unhappy.  Many of us are just settling, gliding through life on autopilot, a lot of us are struggling and it can sometimes feel that we are alone.  We want you to know that you are not alone and that we need to lift each other up!

Above all, we want to help guide you and direct you to a better life, whatever that may be for you, not because we say so but because you do, and to make you believe you are worth it!

Travel

So we all love to travel right?  What's not too love, sandy beaches, hot sun, learning about new cultures and experiencing new adventures?

What I discovered is that we have been looking at travel all wrong.  I don't know about you, but I am not satisfied with taking a 1 week (or if your lucky a 2 week) vacation to then in a blink of an eye be back at work.  It only leaves me more depleted.  Sure it is great and fabulous while it lasts but it is like the fastest week ever!

Although we have been blessed to have visited many places, nothing changed me like our recent holiday.  It all started when we returned from a 2 week Mediterranean Cruise where we visited 6 different countries.  We did not want to come back!  

Please don't misunderstand me, we have a great life here in Canada, good jobs, great family and friends but honestly we did not want to return.  Even though it was a completely different world it felt like home. We loved Europe and being in the middle of the ocean felt so peaceful.

Coming back from the Mediterranean

Returning back to work, I found myself feeling angry and frustrated looking out my office window thinking "what am I doing".  I wasn't back two days and was already planning my next trip... somewhere... anywhere.  Thoughts of how I would pay for more travel entered my head and would keep me up at night.  Sounds silly but it was not just travel to me it was like breathing.  

I started to experience anxiety, and sadness and the feeling of dread and impossible dreams.  Back to work I went, trying to catch up to 2 weeks of missed work. Obviously, I needed to attend to my responsibilities and essentially act like an adult. My shoulders became tense. On one hand I felt as if I had never left because I still felt exhausted.  However on the other hand everything had changed.

In that moment I decided that I would spend the next year taking steps to figure out how I can work and travel at the same time. Vacationing is just way too expensive and unrealistic, I need to make travel a part of my life.  I need to come up with a plan!

The moment my family thought I lost my mind

I remember going home and speaking to Mark and my son Evan at like a mile a minute.  The conversation quickly went from how was your day to so... this it what we're doing.  Then I proceeded to go into this huge talk about how we were going to travel the world and how we were no longer going to live life as we knew it and why didn't we do this earlier and so on.  You guessed it, they both looked at me like I was insane and then burst out laughing!  The two of them united and left me standing there feeling abandoned and hopeless.

Although they were looking at me like I was from another planet, I waited for them to stop laughing and then they said OK!  Only thing is they made me promise not to tell anyone of these "unattainable" dreams for fear that I would look ridiculous.  From that day forward, I have been proving to them that I am serious.

Here we are one year later and I have definitely learned a lot, received tons of support and my Husband and my son no longer thinks I am nuts!

Travelling is Everything

Travel is everything!  It is the air that I breathe, the oxygen that fuels me.  I NEED to travel.  This planet is so beautiful, precious and sacred, and I want to see as much of it as I possibly can.  Seeing the world is all I think about, day and night.  

When my father passed away it changed me.  Life is too short to stay stuck any longer! I need to feel more, to engage in different cultures, to experience life in other countries. I need to free FREE and to prove to myself that I can!

Besides a healthy family, there is nothing I want more than to work hard at something I love everyday.  Please join us in our journey to making that happen.  Along the way we will share with you the tools that we have used to make this possible as well as what we have learned along the way.

We started this journey exactly one year ago and although we are still figuring things out we are definitely not in the same place we were then.  We would love for you to come along for the ride.

Live

I suffer from anxiety, depression and PTSD, and all that goes with that.  Phew!  Now it is out there for all to see.  It wasn't always easy to say it out loud and admit it.  I now know that I am not defined by these things.  However, they are definitely a part of who I am, how I live my life and the decisions I have made.  Something that used to make me feel ashamed now thrusts me forward.  I accept all the parts of myself and embrace them because they are a part of me.

I am not a Mental Health Professional, I am not a therapist in any way but I am a Real person.  I am a survivor of my own demons, and through my life experiences I want to really help you live a better life.  We want to help you discover who you are and to show you that you are Perfect in your own way.  Our family wants to show you that you are not alone.  I am not claiming to be an expert in Mental Health issues, but I am an expert when it comes to my life and life experiences.  I have learned a lot along the way and will continue to do so.  It is so important to me to be a part of your journey and you of mine.  

We Are Only Human

We are all human and therefore we all have our unique struggles.  Let face it, no one goes unscathed, no one is spared hardships, confusion, loneliness and despair.  You don't have to suffer from mental health issues to know that it is all part of being human and we all experience these feelings at one time or another.

Anxiety and depression have become such a common household term in the last 15 years, that it has almost lost its power, its meaning. People have become desensitized to what it actually means and to its effects on the way we live our lives, in the decisions that we make, in the challenges that we have.  

Those of us who struggle with anxiety and depression live our lives mostly in a hyper or hypo state, and rarely in the middle which most refer to as "the norm".  We want to show you that your "norm" is just as valid.

GIVE

I've discovered that the number one thing that helps me at the end of the day to stay grounded, is helping others.  Not hiding who we are and having the courage to move forward is empowering. Therefore, we are trying to be all that we can be at that moment, no matter how small. Our family wants to change the world... just not all at once.  

We most certainly believe in living life with integrity and honesty.  Furthermore, we believe that we can all make a difference, nothing is too small or insignificant.  Acts of kindness are contagious, they cause a ripple effect.  Think of the impact you could create if each one of us took one day a year and made a commitment to making a difference in someone's else' day.  Most certainly, it would be felt around your school, neighborhood and community and definitely within yourself!  

What does the Give stand for?

The Give in our company and reflected on our website stands for not only giving and helping others but also giving to yourself when you need to. Giving yourself permission to not be OK.  Giving yourself permission without judgement.  Everyone wants to feel that they have purpose and that they do matter.  We all want to feel that we are not invisible.  

It also means giving of yourself to others.  We believe that it only takes one kind gesture, one minute out of your day, one small pause from the world around you to start the process.  You don't have to have money, you just have to be willing to give the time, and then follow through and do it.  After all, giving love and showing kindness is free, we all have the means to be kind.  We all benefit from helping others.

Why is giving important?

Imagine changing one life, one person.   It doesn't seem like much in the eyes of the world.  But what if you thought about it this way. What if you were the person being helped and that one act of kindness someone showed you, saved your life?  It sure would be worth it then. The thing is that we will never know what our small act of kindness has meant to someone else, because we do not live in their shoes and we are not able to see the impact we have made.

Helping Others

Most people are good people and want to help others.  Humans are generally not selfish but something makes them stop and not take action.  We encourage you to follow through, take action and make things happen!

We believe in self discovery as our key to happiness, we believe in helping others just because we are human and we most definitely believe in you and in each other!

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