Just an Epic Life

Life changes fast. In this episode, Nick and Keslie sit with grief after saying goodbye to a dear friend, adjust to an empty nest after dropping their child off at college, and reflect on how differently the last two "Chicagos" looked: a points-funded trip in person a year ago, versus presenting at this year's conference over Zoom. They also talk through what "welcome week" gets right for new college parents, tips for beating homesickness and parent FOMO, a surprising Airbnb win in Tacoma, an...

The quiet after your kid leaves can be louder than the goodbye. We’re recording from a little “datecation” in Sacramento, celebrating our anniversary and bracing ourselves for the biggest family shift we’ve felt in years: launching our first child to college at the University of Puget Sound. We expected emotions, but we didn’t expect how layered they’d be, pride sitting right next to heartbreak, and how fast it can change from one day to the next. We also keep it real about the messy, ...

Dealerships don’t just sell cars, they sell urgency, emotion, and time traps. We’re not playing that game. We’re buying two replacement vehicles and we share the exact strategy we use to stay unemotionally attached, lock in the out the door price, and avoid spending an entire day stuck in a showroom while someone “talks to their manager.” We walk through how we choose the right used car for a kid heading 1,300 miles away to college in the Seattle Tacoma area, where safety, AWD, and reliabili...

A heated marble slab, a scrub glove that removes evidence of your entire past life, and a bubble massage that looks way fluffier on TikTok than it feels in real time. That’s how our Istanbul day goes from “spa plans” to “what just happened” in a matter of minutes. We’re at the Conrad Istanbul Bosphorus with Isaiah and Lilyana, recording immediately because there’s no way we’d remember the details later or do the story justice. We walk through what a Turkish hammam is actually like step by st...

Istanbul isn’t just a backdrop for this one. We’re sitting there with our special guest Isaiah, fresh off high school graduation, looking out at a city that used to be the center of the world and trying to take it all in. We talk about why he picked Istanbul for his senior trip, what it feels like to finally see Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque with your own eyes, and the kind of awe you can’t get from photos or reels. If you love Istanbul travel, historic landmarks, and family stories that f...