Welcome to Broke is Boring. The podcast where we stop glorifying the struggle and start talking about what really matters. Freedom, living life on your own terms and the money you need to make that happen. We're your hosts, Tiffany and Jane, and we're two mamas who love making money and spending it on the things that truly matter to us.

So pull up a seat at our table and let's get into it because Broke is boring and we are here to prove that money does in fact buy happiness. 1, 2, 3.

 Welcome back to Broke is Boring. And today we're gonna talk about who needs couples therapy when you've got Iceland. Hello from Iceland, and we are here with our amazing friend Danielle, who also somehow crushed this romantic getaway that Tiffany and Mark planned. So let's back it all the way up. How the heck did we end up in this camper right here, huddled around our phone in Iceland to record this.

Okay, so every year my parents for Christmas give us a Christmas gift of a, it started out as a weekend away. Well the first time they did that, mark and I went to Belgium for the weekend, from Indianapolis for the weekend. Yeah, because. My mom thought I was gonna like spend a romantic evening at melting pot, like having fondue with Mark in downtown Indy.

No, no, no, no, no. We're going pub hopping in Brussels. Thanks so much. And so that's what we did. And somehow over the years, it has actually gotten to be one week. So this year she said, Merry Christmas, you get a week away. Where are you gonna go? Well, we went on a world cruise and I'm like, I don't know. I can't think past the world cruise.

Go on the world cruise. We come back and we're like, Hmm. Jane and Dan always talked about Iceland on the cruise. Well, no, you said, where should we go? And I said, go to Iceland, but do it in a way you can't do it with your kids, which should be in a camper van. And so we did. So we were like, okay, we're doing it.

We booked it. That's, hold on. That's one thing I actually really love about you guys. You always say what you're gonna do. You are like, that sounds great. And then two days later you're like, so we booked that. Like you don't think twice about anything and I really admire that about you. I think that's why Danielle and I have.

Definitely connected over the years. Like so we're cousins growing up, we were, how, how different do we have six years difference. Age difference. Yes. Six or five. Yeah. So, so we were close growing up and then Danielle and Ethan came to visit us when we lived in Italy, and I think that was really when we like hit it off and kind of got the travel bug in you guys also.

Is that like Yes, a right scenario? Yeah, it really was when we saw you guys in Italy and we saw it was our first experience going overseas and getting to like really hang out with you guys for an extended period of time and we realized we had so much in common. So yeah, ever since then we've loved, like following what you guys do and trying to make our own version of it too.

And they've done it so they are traveling all over with their kids too. And so, when you suggested that we do a camper van in Iceland, we're like, okay, yeah, we're gonna go do that. And then what happened ladies? And then we got jealous and we're like, well. I wanna come on that. We, we wanna come. Yeah.

That actually sounds amazing, weren't it? And then I was like, there's no way my mom would watch Luca for a whole week. And I don't know how she said it. I think I, I probably planted the seed. 'cause I'm really good at that. Yes, you are. And I'm like, oh mom, Tiffany and Mark are going to Iceland for a week.

How amazing is that? They're doing it without kids and, and then I think she eventually offered and we took her up on it immediately. Yeah, that's right. Because I think on the world cruise we had discussed that we have this week away. So Betsy was there also listening to my parents talk about all the shenanigans we've gotten into over the years, getting this week away.

And then when she offered to watch Luca for the week, then even Mark and I were like, you have to come. Like this is the opportunity of a lifetime. Let's go. Well then it was like that weekend, right? We went to one of my, I, my cousin's house we're playing, I think we were playing kickball. Kickball that weekend.

Kickball, yes. And we're talking about it. And then we ended up, yeah, we ended up crashing along to, I don't even remember our exact conversation, but we were like. We're in, like, that sounds amazing. You want to come And we actually have never done a kid free trip ever. My oldest son's nine years old and we've never been away for any kind of trip.

So we went to my mom and was like so what do you think about this? And she agreed. It was really funny because Ethan said that or maybe you said your mom. Asked like, why Iceland? And you're like, yeah, yeah. We were like, we've never been. It sounds awesome. It looks beautiful. And the only, the only rule was that we couldn't share Tiffany and Mark's camper.

Tiffany's like, which is the whole thing. I don't care if you come as you, but you're getting your own camper, which is actually freaking hilarious because. And he got the worst camper of the bunch. The cheapest we, we call it the red roof in. We, we have small, medium, and large campers. We're coming to you from Danielle's medium camper as we speak.

Had we podcasted mine, camper, the three of us would not have fit. Like it was absolutely so dumb and it is so stupid. And we decided to go for the Four Seasons because we sold a property this week and, and just found the extra money. And we've been really thankful for the setup because having this table in Danielle and Ethan's hamper van has been really fun to play cards and just hang out at night.

And then in the mornings you, your Embassy Suites has like. The full setup where we can make coffees and hang out in the morning. So I'm just completely useless. I'm the one who at least started the trip and got you guys here and that I've provided no additional value from a camera, van perspective, correct.

Or a, or an Iceland expertise perspective as well. Might I? Yeah. So then let's talk about how we planted the trip. So, so going back to our world cruise, Dan and I are very like thorough in our planning. We have it all mapped out, and then we allow for flexibility, you know, throughout the day. But we at least know which port we're going to, where at dinner, Tiffany and Mark will be like, so where are we headed tomorrow?

And we're like. Africa, like South Africa. So I, but I didn't wanna do that on this trip because it was like their trip and we were totally crashing. And we also have never done a kid free vacation either. Side note, have you guys like really missed your kids and thought about them? Because I kind of forgot I had one.

I don't know if I should say that on here. I haven't. He's in very good care. I'm getting lots of photo and video updates. It's just so nice to have like, only be. Worried about myself and my own wellbeing and not like, oh, don't play near the stairs, and don't eat that grape while you're running around. And like all the things I think about every day as a mom.

And it's been really nice for my brain to just turn off. And so obviously I miss him so much, but I've really enjoyed this like brain freedom that I've had, not worrying about my kids. Yeah. What about you? Yeah. It did. I feel like it, I mean, we would not have been able to focus nearly as much on like everything that we've seen here.

If we also were trying to. Like keep the kids from hitting each other. Yeah. Yeah. Like from wrestling, from the box. It's always chaos too. I have two boys a year apart and there's always chaos. So it's been, yeah, a good reset for sure. I guess this is the point where we talk about in downtown Quebec today there was two different children that were like screaming tantrums, crying, and I think Jane was like, these kids are killing my vibe, not my kids, not my problem.

And just like, oh, we all feel your pain, but if you could just like tone that down, we're trying to have a nice vacation here. You could just work on that. Yeah, so we didn't wanna hijack their whole trip and like, come in super plan. And so we didn't plan anything until we got here. And Tiffany's like, so what are we doing?

And there was absolutely no plan. Correct. So we came up with one and. We just kind of winged it the whole time in this camper convoy that we have. So Dan and I lead the pack in our, you know, nice embassy suites and then Danielle in the middle and Tiffany trying to keep up in the rear

we'll post and we'll post on Instagram, the three different vehicles so that you can assess yourself. But yeah, so we, do we go over our trip or do we just talk about how as kid free, I think really just discussing from a marital perspective, like I think it's so unique. I'm super thankful for.

Our support systems back home to be able to give us and our partners the opportunity to be away for a whole week. Like, I don't know many other couples that have had this opportunity, especially with their kids so young. Your son's five? Ashlyn Your youngest is four? Mm-hmm. My youngest is seven.

And so like having this opportunity with our spouses, having this, the support system has been so great and I'm just super thankful for the opportunity, especially to be with friends on, on this trip. But it's also been great for my marriage. Like you said. It's my tiny camper van has been just great.

It hasn't been great for us as well, so we, we've never done a trip without Luca, but when we had a nanny, we used to do Thursday date nights, no matter what, no matter where, what the plans were, how busy we were, anything. We always went out Thursday night and we had two rules we couldn't talk about.

Our child and we couldn't talk about business and it was really hard and we just kind of stared at each other for a long time in each of those first few dinners. But it, it forces you to like reconnect with that person again and never stop dating them. And I think that's really important and. In a marriage, especially when you're like 10 years deep, like each of us, right?

Mm-hmm. Like you, you always have to kind of keep dating that person. And we were laughing today we were talking about monetization, different things, and I looked at you, TIFF, and I was like. Yeah. The, the, yeah. Dan, Dan doesn't wanna monetize that, and that's why we're in therapy. And you started laughing.

I was like, just kidding. We're not in therapy. We're in Iceland. Like, we don't need therapy when we can go to Iceland instead. And, and it's just, it's so true, right? Like being in an unfamiliar place. With that person, you know, working through difficult situations of, you know, missing the turn and little things like that.

Or experiencing beauty of a new place together. Because these are the good old days. I love how you always say that, TIFF. You're like, the good old days are right now, and I love that the six of us, right, these three couples here on this trip are always gonna remember this trip and be able to reminisce on it in the future.

We were laughing so hard the other night you had an asthma attack. I mean like, like this has been just so much fun and you really do retire on your memories. So like you have to go and make these memories right now. I will never be younger than this moment today. And some of the stuff we did this week was pretty freaking hard and there were people significantly older than us that were trying it.

Perhaps they were thinking, man, probably would've. Been nice to do that when I was 34. You couldn't cram yourself into that camper at 70, could you? I don't wanna do it next year, so I'll be back to Iceland, but I'm gonna have to upgrade. I was dying laughing that our brand is broke, is boring. And you have the I'm broke.

I'm rolling around like I'm broke. So we also brought, this is dumb. On this trip, we also brought some masks. And so with that, I, how did that start? We're all back from Iceland, so it was a post about Iceland that some guy on Facebook posted. I had a great time in Iceland. Check out these pictures, and it was these epic pictures, but if you kept clicking, which no one does, he had this unicorn mask that he would just like pop out of a cave and it was hilarious.

So I send it to you and Dan, I text you guys. And I FaceTime you immediately. I'm like, check it out. And we're all giggling. I'm like, we have to get masks like this. They're like, less than $20 on Amazon. You buy yours immediately. Add to cart. We were still on the phone and I bought it. Mine will be here in two days and it's amazing.

And, and he was like, oh my gosh. Well then we all had to get them. Yeah, we've gotten our $20 out of these dumb masks. And. It's just been this extra level of funny that we've brought to this trip. You just can't take yourself too seriously. It has been so goofy. But when we bought those masks, we, mark and I went back and forth, what, what should we be?

Oh, these are all epic. Mark wanted to be the unicorn. Got it. There were these $3 hooves that came with his unicorn mask, and they got us, they got us on the upsell of the $3. Mm-hmm. And we have laughed multiple times. That they got us on that upsell of the $3 hooves, and we didn't pay an extra 200 bucks to get a better camper van here.

And their camper van almost caught on fire. You guys, the the cooler thing melted? Yeah, the cooler plug melted. But, but the hooves man, the hook. He saw the hook. He got the hook. We had strangers take photos of us. You know, earlier we talked about our favorite part of the trip. God, it had to be that moment That was so funny.

This guy offered to take our picture. We hadn't whipped out the mask yet, and we're like well okay, if you want to. And he was like, why? Why are they making a big deal out of this? And then we slowly put them on. He was such a trooper, but it, it is been the highlight of my trip and those masks are coming on Every future trip we ever have together, those masks are going to live forever for, yeah, definitely.

So , do you and Ethan do date nights or anything like that? We definitely try to make sure, just like you said, trying to have any time away for ourselves, which we probably should make that rule because probably 85% of our conversation at dinner is about the kids or something in our life.

Mm-hmm. So that's a good idea. I'm gonna try that next time. And it's shocking how you have nothing to talk about. That is our life right now. We're in it with the kids and that's like, that is our life. So, yeah, I'm gonna try that. Not talking about the kids and see. See how quiet we're for dinner. Yeah. So that risotto, huh?

The weather outside a hot one. Today we're gonna be asking chat, GPT what to talk about. Okay? So we wanna challenge you guys to do something without. Your kids, if you have kids or you know, with your significant other, that's just a hundred percent focused on you two and not all the other chaos going out in the world.

And if you have the means and the availability, then definitely do something a little further from home, even if it's a night away, a weekend away, or an epic week somewhere with friends. Make that time for yourself because you're not gonna regret it. And you know that the. The good old days are right now.

So go make those memories. dang it. Doesn't it just suck whenever you forget it? No. We're good. Alright. That's, bye.

God. Oh my God. I had such a good one. It's gonna soon. I know. I'll wake up in the middle of the night and sit up, hit. Thanks for listening to today's episode of Broke is Boring. Make sure to follow the show, leave a review and share it with a friend who is done being broke too. You can find us on Instagram at Broke is boring and we'll catch you in the next episode. Thanks for being here.