Season Two of the great things LLC podcast is back! In the inaugural episode, your host, Josh Meeder. shares how one decision in one year changed the course of his life Everyone dreams about changing their lifestyle. But how do you do that? This episode explores that question. Josh shares how he radically changed his life by making one simple and clear intention. That intention would take 12 months, travel over 52,000 miles, crossing 26 states and four provinces. One that ultimately leads to a new home a new life and finding a sacred partnership.
So why don't people change their lifestyle when they really, really desired to? The answer is usually blocked by excuses, unsupportive friends and family, self-doubt, fear, and sometimes trauma. However, a clarity of vision and a clear intention for what you want in your life can be the guiding north star of your journey. It takes time to develop sometimes they happen in a flash of inspiration, but more often, it's a slow and long build.
This podcast shares the story of his son graduating college, selling his house, and setting out on the road in search of travel, adventure, freedom, and a new start. This podcast shares the details of those journeys.
Part of that journey was living in Alaska for a large portion of the year and through the winter. Experience experiencing the vast magical areas of this country and Canada. A few simple lessons on letting go and accepting come in along the way.
Ultimately, this is a love story. Love that was called in, love, invited, and rooted with intentional communication. There's also the balance of working remotely and creating a lifestyle of freedom and opportunity. More lessons come in on how you share and compliment your partner when you're doing similar work. The place of independence and interdependence is a soft space where creativity is nurtured and trust grows.
From the road, camping in a hammock, music festivals, moving across the continent, finding a home in Kentucky and everything in between, this story is meant to inspire and challenge you to make the changes that you desire in your life.
Season Two of the great things LLC podcast is back! In the inaugural episode, your host, Josh Meeder. shares how one decision in one year changed the course of his life Everyone dreams about changing their lifestyle. But how do you do that? This episode explores that question. Josh shares how he radically changed his life by making one simple and clear intention. That intention would take 12 months, travel over 52,000 miles, crossing 26 states and four provinces. One that ultimately leads to a new home a new life and finding a sacred partnership.
So why don't people change their lifestyle when they really, really desired to? The answer is usually blocked by excuses, unsupportive friends and family, self-doubt, fear, and sometimes trauma. However, a clarity of vision and a clear intention for what you want in your life can be the guiding north star of your journey. It takes time to develop sometimes they happen in a flash of inspiration, but more often, it's a slow and long build.
This podcast shares the story of his son graduating college, selling his house, and setting out on the road in search of travel, adventure, freedom, and a new start. This podcast shares the details of those journeys.
Part of that journey was living in Alaska for a large portion of the year and through the winter. Experience experiencing the vast magical areas of this country and Canada. A few simple lessons on letting go and accepting come in along the way.
Ultimately, this is a love story. Love that was called in, love, invited, and rooted with intentional communication. There's also the balance of working remotely and creating a lifestyle of freedom and opportunity. More lessons come in on how you share and compliment your partner when you're doing similar work. The place of independence and interdependence is a soft space where creativity is nurtured and trust grows.
From the road, camping in a hammock, music festivals, moving across the continent, finding a home in Kentucky and everything in between, this story is meant to inspire and challenge you to make the changes that you desire in your life.
Welcome to the great things LLC podcast. I'm your host, Josh Meeder. Today's episode is the start of season two. And it shares the story of making a big decision changing life, travel exploration and finding sacred partnership. Hello, listeners. Great thing, LLC podcast is back. It's been a little while. I'm your host, Josh Meeder. And thank you for tuning in. One of the questions I get a lot in my consulting and just life and working with people is, you know, how can you change your life? How can you manifest or intentionally create a different lifestyle? Well, I wanted to take my theory and practice and put it to the test. So last year, was a pretty big year, I knew my son was graduating from college. And this was a dream that's been developing over the last 10 years, it would be the first time that I had the freedom to choose which direction I went. I've always lived in western Pennsylvania. And that was because of business, family and a lot of other other commitments. So I had an opportunity for freedom. Knowing that my son graduated, he got set up with a great job and got into a good apartment and he was safe and doing well. I decided in sold my house, I sold most of my belongings. And the concept of two cameras in one big idea was born. I'm always traveling, always have cameras love documenting. So I'm like, What can I do differently. And that big idea had three parts to it. The first was to travel, explore the country, share magic, meet people, and also to see if I can continue my business from the road to create a sense of freedom, in not only location, but time. The second part was to really kind of investigate where do I want to live? Where do I want to build the next part of my life? As I mentioned earlier, I've been in western Pennsylvania for the majority of my life. And while it's a beautiful area, I've traveled extensively, and no, there's a lot of other places out there. So where where was I going to find my joy? And where would my heart sing. And the final part was to actually be open and call in love in sacred partnership, and find it along the way. Well, the beautiful news is all three happened. And in the last year, starting last June, 1 to June, I set out in that time, I have traveled over 52,000 miles on cars. And well actually my truck and airplanes I have visited and driven through 26 states and four Canadian provinces. And it has been nothing short of life changing and magical. So buckle up. And here we're going to dive into the process what happened and some of the really magical experiences along the way. Probably the single biggest impact and influence on making this a success was the length of time and the amount of percolation that this dream took to create. It literally had been a decade, I'd always been fairly deeply rooted in the community I was in in western Pennsylvania, both for business, for family, for friends, and also for building and being a part of a very rich community. So I knew that there was going to be a time when I could have freedom. But that time really wasn't going to be there until my son graduates college and my commitments can start to be pared down. In anticipation of that I also decided to list my house and sell my belongings. And that all worked out pretty well. You just talk about trust and flow when you have a clear vision. And a clear intention stop seems to open up for you the universe does provide. Knowing this was the case I wanted to sell my house. And I made the decision in a day I made the decision. I spoke with a friend and he referred me to someone that he knew that was looking next day, I talked to him showed him the house. And we had an agreement. The agreement worked out really well both from a timing and a financial perspective. We didn't need to involve real estate agents, which I'm not bagging real estate agents. They are valuable. And they are a trusted advisor and I believe in them. But in this case, it just worked out really well. We we agreed on the closing date right before my trip gave me time to move out help Krishna get into the new apartment and get my stuff cleared out. Speaking of clearing out stuff, I also decided I'm like, Well, I have amassed a lot of stuff. We all have stuff. We have stuff in the garage and closets in the rooms and I'm like I don't need it. I've actually been on a minimization kick for last 10 years or so slowly paring down to really what is needed. So I'm just decided let's see what we can do. So use the wonderful power of Facebook marketplace and started selling my stuff and pretty quickly, the amount started adding up as to what I'd sold and I'm like, Wow, I wonder if I could make $4,000 just selling household junk that I no longer need. And I hit that number really quick. And then I said, Could I make 10,000? Could this pay for a large portion of the trip, and boom, it happened. I just kept selling. And I'll tell you what, there's a liberation and an excitement in that process. So if you ever considered purging, it's a great opportunity, you can throw some extra cash in your account. And you can do it with intention. So cleared out the house for my belongings, it was time to go. And this trip again, with the three clear intentions, I knew what I wanted to do, I wanted to have travel and exploration and spread and share in the magic of people in this country and locations. I did want to see what could be next for me. So that was part of the trip. The other part was, can I work along the way those were kind of hand in hand on that first two part. And then final one was the power of being open to the possibility of love and sacred partnership as I had been intentionally single for about three years. Now is the part where how you planned a trip like this, I gave myself 12 months, I said, What is going on? What What can I do in 12 months, I know I want to live differently, didn't hold myself that it had to be. But that was my intention. And I was hoping to find that next location within within one year and be open to what it had. So far in planning the trip. It was it was easy process. There were two dates that I had one involved air travel to Alaska and the other one involved a ticketed event up in New York, that were important to me. So between that I had freedom. When I started as like not planning it out, there's no itinerary. I have a list of people places and things that I want to share and experience. The first place first off was anticipated was North Carolina. Interestingly enough, the local local restaurant the who I'm just really supportive of the harmony and Bob McCafferty, is a friend he purchased the harmony in about the same time I purchased the center of harmony in our small town of harmony so we've come up together and Bob's been an amazing asset to the community and he asked me or he was I was asked through the manager there if I could be back in early June for for a surprise and I'm like and it's really kind of pushed my my schedule because I wanted to get on the road but absolutely love adore and appreciate Bob and all he doesn't like of course if he has I'll be there so shut up to New York's had some time up in the Fingerlakes which was great. And then drop back down into harmony for one day stop over to see what Bob had and it was at the annual mug club party of the North Country brewery which is harmony in and North Country brew house. So it was there a great day and Bob honored me with a lifetime membership to the mug club for what I've done. There's a short video on here check it out, but it was a really special, special time got to connect with people one more time before I left and then I hit the road. So hitting the road the first destination was the Kentucky area the Kentucky area holds a deep and rich place in my heart. It is a place that really helped me with some personal healing about six years ago after the loss, unexpected loss of my partner and so I wanted to go visit some of my friends in Kentucky and really enjoyed it stayed you know, Midway Frank for Louisville, love the area. It was great catching up there. From there I crossed the country went across and hit Arkansas and of all places. I was most surprised by Arkansas, a beautiful state. Little Rock was a gem there their Riverwalk with the sculpture gardens was amazing. The community of hot springs village not hot springs but hot springs village was fascinating. Oh and largest private gated communities in the country just massive and really a cool eclectic place. From there I hit the West crossed top of Texas which I can tell you is not all that exciting, but did end up in Santa Fe for a couple days and surprise you know some of the magic that opens up when you just allow yourself to is I ran into some of my friends who are also business owners and tenants in my built building back in harmony called the Center of harmony. So was able to spend the day with them moved on through El Albuquerque through the Petrified Forest to Sedona caught up with my friend Cara out there should my birthday was beautiful. Then on to Cortez, Mexico, the Baek Mae severity National Park Manitou Springs up through Colorado. And you know, the stops were absolutely amazing. And every day I got to wake up and decide where am I going? What, what do I want to do? Do I want to be safe Hill do I want to explore to one of them hike. At this point I had also set up my truck with to be a mobile life side wasn't able to get a camper or cap was looking to make a kind of bed set up back there. But that didn't work out. So I had one of my favorite outdoor products and you may have seen him in an earlier podcast here. But journeyman adventure hammocks, the camp hammock setup is unbelievable. And I just stayed in that wherever, wherever I pulled off, or if I stayed with friends, had a full camp cook up, cook on the tailgate, and it just made travel easy. It was one of the best parts of the trip is just that ultimate mobility and freedom. You know, you may not be a camper or an outdoorsman, but I am and it just fit really well. So, you know, that was a couple of weeks. And actually Shane, the founder of journeyman products, is an extremely experienced traveler and has been put on a lot of miles. And one of the things that he shared with me is he's like, you know, look and watch out for you know, week four or five, there's going to be a place where you're going to hit a dip, or you may hit a dip, wondering what you're doing. And I'm like, you know, to that point, it was big and magical. And it was good. But the there was around week, four and a half. I was in Colorado Springs, and I wasn't able to connect with a friend that I was looking to. And I started moving north and that highway, I think it's 24 for up through Fort Collins was nothing but construction. It was an awful drive. And I'm like, I'll push north and I'll push north. And it was a long day. And I got worn out. And as I pushed north and I got into Wyoming there was less and less. And now granted, I don't mind camping. But I was in the plains of Wyoming there weren't even two trees together to hang my hammock and I didn't want to sleep in a car. I was tired. It was really remote. And Wheatland Wyoming in the late June part that was where I hit the wall. I was just cranky. I think it was a 12 or 13 hour day. And I had a moment it will say had a little bourbon and was just after dinner, I was kind of cranky. And I looked I'm like what the hell am I doing? You know, where am I going? I didn't have a solid plan after that. And, you know, I sat with that, you know, let the emotions roll sore about a little bit for about five or 10 minutes. And then I started to laugh. And I remember chain saying it's gonna hit you. And you have a choice. You can push on you can go back and I was like, had the moment where I realized how blessed and fortunate I was and then I'm actually doing what I want. And then I chuckled about the experience. And from that point it was on and kept going. You know, I'm not gonna go through all of the different places. But you know, when cave, Crazy Horse Memorial, the Badlands we're all there. But I'll tell you one of the most magical experiences you talk about those places in time. TSLA I think coined the phrase, but one of the most magical experiences was camping at at the Black Hills near Mount Rushmore. There's a small camping area that was designated for rock rock climbers, and they had a few they weren't even primitive sites, you were just allowed to camp there. And I put up my hammock. I had a quiet, quiet dinner, cooked, cooked myself out there. And I watched the sunset. And I woke up on Sunrise. And it was an absolute beautiful, beautiful moment. One of the other pieces that made it kind of hysterically magical and really funny was two days before I was staying in Cortez, Colorado, and I had lost one of my favorite shirts. It's a concert t shirt by clutch one of my favorite bands. And I knew at that time like I could keep looking I can delay my leaving and I'm you know like really liked that shirt. But I knew that sometimes you know you lose things or it's time to let go so I could hold on to that misery and that lack or I could just let set it free so I'd like to say did a graceful hopefully but it wasn't I'd be grudgingly let it go. And mind you not only was my favorite t shirt but I was traveling so late it was literally 18% of my shirt wardrobe. So it was a big deal. And then that next morning or two days later when I woke up on the you know the mountains near say, Mount Rushmore. I was packing up my key hammock and I found that shirt it came back to me and there's such a sense of laughter and joy because I didn't hold tight to it and I let it go. It actually came back to me so small aside there but that was pretty magical thing. Did go We'll circle back up, I went through Wisconsin visited my uncle. So I do a full loop. And I check back into my hometown for a few days, just a couple things I needed to do with the building and check in on things. So made that first 30 Day loop around the country and back, and then headed back south, did another loop went down through Virginia through North Carolina spent some time there because I did want to get to North Carolina was on the top of my list, the Pisco national forest area is beautiful, and I was looking for homes down there. From there, again, just kept going, I spent a lot of time down there. And I knew that I could stay close, because I had to be in Alaska, at the end of July. And this is where the third part of the trip comes in the part about finding love and sacred partnership. So let me set the stage on the trip to Alaska, because this was the big shift in in my life as well as the trip. I had met Katie Joe, spirit Berg, in a workshop that we shared in Ohio, about eight months prior. We had a good connection, but it was just friendly. It was cordial. And we both were doing our own work. But the connection we did have was nice. She had lived out of a bus for years. And she when she mentioned she was living in Alaska, I got really excited. Alaska was the only state that I had not visited in the country to this point. And I said, Oh, you know, this is what I'm doing. I'm taking a big trip. And I'm like, maybe I'll get up there. And she's like, Yeah, come on up. We'll go hiking, you know, you can check it out love to host Yes. So we kept in contact. But there was really nothing more than that. I was like, great, I got a friend, I got a place to stay, I get someone to show me around Alaska. And I was, you know, really excited for that. So I did have a flight booked. And I had to get back to Pennsylvania to fly out of Pittsburgh. However, one of the things I did before I left was I was standing behind the center of harmony, and I am ready to have that building sold. It's actually on the market. And there's definitely some interest in it. But it was wrapping up. That's the last piece of real estate I had in western Pennsylvania. And I took may sound a little woowoo. But I took some crystals that were given to me and I planted them in the ground and I set my intention and I said to intentions. I said one of the intentions was that the center calling its new owner, someone that would love and care for it and really grow it with the identity and consciousness and thoughtfulness that it had in all supportive of the tenants that were there. And the second piece is I said I am no longer chasing love. I'm going to wait for it to show up and invite me in and stay open to it. And I put those in and you know, next day jumped on a plane and flew to Anchorage, Alaska. hadn't really no expectations other than it was super excited to see Alaska. And it was going to be good to connect with spirit bird again. So got up there got in very late the first night, you know, crashed. She picked me up from the airport. And the next day we went out and we hiked around Girdwood and just saw some of this amazing beauty. And the the story is as it goes. Later that night, she approached me and said, Hey, I just want to make sure that we're clear and with, you know, a great intention. She said, Hey, I'm curious about you. And if you're open to it, I would be open to exploring that as well. And I was shocked. I had no expectation of that. I was certainly excited. And I was kind of fumbled and flustering for words. But I said yes, I'm in let's see where this goes and see what it's about and get to know each other. And that week was nothing, nothing short of magical. From the first day hiking through Girdwood and waterfalls to the next day ending up hiking to the top of this beautiful mountain with a glacial lake. And as I'm following her, I'm watching this amazing woman beautiful in a dress hiking through bear country with bear spray and, and bear horns. I was like, There's something about this. We finished up that week with a fly fishing trip on the Kenai River where we stayed in a teepee sleeping on the earth with a buyer to keep us warm. And it was absolutely amazing. And it was just mind blowing. The other part of it was the connection that we had we both been calling in that spiritual partnership and in that intentional relationship, and we both been doing a lot of work to get there. So it was an absolute unequivocal yes. And I said great. You know, I will be back and later the end of that week I flew back because I had tickets up to the great rhythm revival in upstate New York at the Heron farm and Event Center. So a little bit of background on that, definitely check them out the hairnet farm and Event Center is an amazing place. Julie and Steve Rockcastle are friends and clients. But they run a beautiful farm and Campground and have an amazing music series. So you may have heard of the Great Blue Heron music festival that's up there. Well, the great rhythm revival is by Jim Donovan, former drummer of rusted root, but Jim Donovan and the Sun King warriors are a phenomenal band and actually learn to call all of them friends. But this small retreat happens once a year up at the heron. And it is three days of music, of drumming, of meditation of yoga, and all the good, lovely stuff that we all need in our lives. So went up there had just another magical experience, and came back with such a full heart, open mind and open road in front of me. This is the next part of the trip, which again, is where the life changes. So at this point, it's mid August, and I've found the woman I've been looking for we've connected and she is 4000 miles away. So what's the next steps? What are the next steps that we could take. And interestingly enough, she had traveled back plan to the Ohio area where I was going to be the next town over for a wedding that day. So we were able to connect again in took two and a half weeks in my new camper. And we traveled from Ohio up to Michigan to see your folks and go to Lake Michigan. And then we swung down through the Kentucky area to visit my my friends and community and also to give spirit bird a little exposure to the area. And this is kind of where the roots of our next stop laid in. It kind of set the tone for opening up Kentucky as a possibility of where we'd be when we land. And it was time to get up to Alaska. So I packed up what I could flew up and got up there on let me see what date that was that would have been early October. And just enjoy it. I think it was a little over a month getting to know Katie Jo exploring anchorage in the surrounding communities this this last year and they had a really early winter. So there was snow and everything around it. It was just a beautiful, beautiful time. After about a month up there. I'm like, Alright, it's time I'm flying home, I'm getting my stuff and I'm coming up. So flew back had Halloween back in town packed up what I could fit in the truck. And I made the first journey across the outcome and across Canada. And that was an amazing experience. Seven and a half days over 4000 miles. And just too much to list here. But if you ever get that chance to go across Canada to hit the outcome, I highly suggested now granted I did that in November. And I would probably suggest the springtime because there were certainly some treacherous places. Nothing that was unpassable but a lot of four wheel drive and a lot of go and slow. Got up and when did I arrived let me just check my notes here. Well, like I said, I got up in about eight days and settled in for the winter and the the scenery in Alaska it is wholly different. As I've mentioned, I've visited every state, but not Alaska. And I'll tell you what, there's nothing like it the grandeur the scenery, the vastness is it's almost indescribable. So if you ever get the chance, I highly recommend it. And over that over the winter, you know, we did some amazing just magical stuff and mundane stuff and everything in between. We both ran our businesses we both work remotely and I'll share a little bit more about her work because ours actually really paralleled each other. And I got to see the I did arrive I Ferrante which is the dog race and for trading event the week before I even stepped in on helped on a runaway dog sled. We went cross country skiing, we went to Chino hotsprings, where we went, we're taken to the top of a mountain to see the northern lights. I was able to photograph the Northern Lights, which was on my bucket list for years. And there's just so much amazing stuff that happened there. And one of the things that ultimately we had an agreement that we would be there for a while that was where spirit bird felt called and I was free so it worked out. But there was a place where both of us have connections back in the lower 48 and I We like to travel we like to explore and traveling from Alaska is a little bit of an effort. So we opened up that discussion and started talking about different places that we would really like to explore. And then in March, we made a two week trip came back, flew in, saw my son for his 21st Birthday went slightly after, and went through Kentucky, in North Carolina, and in that big loop, and just really, really felt called to Kentucky. And long story short, we were able to, surprisingly, find the perfect place, which is a farmhouse that needs some renovation and got that working. And that's actually where I'm sitting right now, actually, this isn't the farmhouse. It is an apartment that I fixed up above the garage while I renovate the farmhouse because I needed some more projects to do. But we are now here. So this is one year later, I've traveled the country, I've experienced incredible magic, I have found a place I want to live and sacred partnership was called in. And that all came from a very, very clear vision. So what is next? Many times when we're planning our dreams, we get really specific and that is the trap that I avoided. What showed up in my life was far beyond what I could have imagined. Nor could I plan for it. So as you're dreaming, dream big, but don't dream specific, allow space for the universe to show up and provide things in a different way than you may be expecting. And as far as Katie Jo spirit burdened I, beyond what I could have imagined, she has a business called Holton healing arts. And interestingly enough, we do some similar things. She does amazing work and has a shaman school that helps healers in spiritual entrepreneurs find their offer, remove their blocks in really blossom into their full offering and healing capabilities. And it is an amazing thing to watch. I've worked with a lot of different businesses, and I've seen things that are done well. And I can honestly say I am impressed beyond belief. What she has done for her clients and for her customers is is truly inspiring, we were actually able to collaborate and put her new website together. So that was a fantastic project. To tell it was dear to my heart. And while we don't know what lies ahead, there is some connection on what we both offer. We do a different perspectives, but the conscious business consulting that are offered great things LLC in my team on that focus on the the writing in the intentional side and understand the importance of integrity and intention within business really, really support and complement what she's doing. So where that goes, what we have, where overlaps is yet to be seen. But we do have something in it is clear intentions and clear shared values. So incredible partnership that I am just blessed to have. And right now, starting in Kentucky, we get to do it how we choose it is something that we're building daily, something we check in on, and our community will grow and flourish. And we will plug into that. So that is my story of one year, 52,000 miles, two countries, 26 states and four provinces, and an incredible shift in light. Now if you've ever been considering, and who hasn't considered a big change of life, it is possible you may not need to do it in the radical fashion that I had. But it does start with one decision or one big idea. And all it takes is refining that having the clarity, and if it is aligned, it is an unstoppable force. If you want to explore those ideas, then find a coach you know, check out great things LLC we offer those services. But find someone who's done it find someone who you trust and make sure you resonate with them that they have the same vibe, the energetic and they get your bigger picture, because anyone can do a business plan. A lot of people can do spiritual in the Whoo. But finding the balance and bringing both into Gration because we're not all living in a monastery or we're not all isolated in an office building. We have a best or we have a vast network. And we're a lot of things so find the coach get the help you need. And, you know in trust, just trust and pull the trigger. So thank you for listening. Stay tuned. We're going to continue more podcasts and we're going to be bringing in some really great guests as we have in the past. People that are doing amazing Using things in business, creating success in life, finding their passion, and really, really living an authentic life. Stay tuned and we'll see you again thank you for watching. 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