I Can't Drive 55

I turned 55 on the last day of February. In the 90’s, there was a commercial on Canadian Television from London Life that promised being retired at 55 and enjoying the good life. I am happy to report that I am living out those moments in various Spanish Tapas bars in Malaga for the next few weeks. That is not how the commercial went. Days are spent working until 11am before going in search of some sort of breakfast which is a cafe con leche and a pan con tomate. (I’d do the churros thing but chocolate before noon feels piggy) Lunch is at 2pm and then work fun begins after lunch around 4pm when the slew of North American emails arrive and my screen lights up.

The biggest challenge for me… is the morning silence. There are very few emails and generally it is just some clean up from the day before. Three years into doing this and I have not learned to love mornings in Europe yet… outside of my 11am breakfast.

There are some wonderful benefits to working in Europe at this time of year. No snow is one. However, this year the rains are aplenty and March shaping up to be one of the wettest. In 2023 when we stayed here for 30 days, it rained for 30 minutes… once. Still, happy to choose the rain in Spain over snow any day. I am getting 15 to 20,000 Steps a day, I’m not driving, and the food… please follow me on Instagram for those pics. 

My Instagram is Spain food pics for part of the year, and Buffalo Bills for the rest.

Speaking of which… I watched the Bills lose at the AFC Championship game in Kansas City. I found this guy Justin. He is from Buffalo and was in KC with Nate Burleson’s coat. He won it from CBS’ Nate Burleson after the Bills beat the Chiefs in November. I really thought it was all going to come together for the Bills this year. Sadly, it ended with the Chiefs’ red confetti falling all ovr my Buffalo blue shirt. Hopefully the NFL figures out how to do first downs in the future.

Now, you likely have too much crap kicking around your closets. You need to Declutter. Sign up for Declutter U. It is a weekly newsletter featuring handy Decluttering tips to alleviate the junk and little extras in your life. You can also get a deluxe version of the the newsletter WEEKLY for $8 per month. Well worth it.

Elsie Escobar: Podcast Hall of Famer

All the way back in 2006, she started one of the original yoga podcasts: Elsie's Yoga Class, which garnered 4 million downloads in its lifetime. She stuck with it until 2013, when she joined Libsyn, and she's been co-hosting their official podcast The Feed ever since. She also happens to be the first Latina ever inducted into the Academy of Podcasters' Hall of Fame.

As someone who's been around since the dawn of podcasting, and has seen just about every evolution the medium has gone through, Elsie brought an incredible (and very rare) perspective to the show. Between her thoughts on things like monetization, adapting to new platforms, adding a video component, the importance of promos, and the future of the industry, anyone looking to make a living in this business will no doubt find something incredibly valuable in this episode.

Elsie is also the co-founder and co-host of She Podcasts, the largest online community for women and non binary podcasters on Facebook with over 20,000 members. She continues to make the podcasting space safer and more connected every day, and even shares her future plans to create a better ecosystem for her audience.

Wellness Reality Check

I spoke with Jess and Ashley, two health practitioners and friends. They discussed their holistic health podcast, "Wellness Reality Check." They met in a nutritional therapy program and bonded over shared experiences and values. They emphasize the importance of addressing chronic illness beyond physical treatments, highlighting the need for lifestyle changes, emotional healing, and boundary-setting. Jess and Ashley advocate for a holistic approach, focusing on self-care, nourishment, and resilience. They note the challenges of maintaining health in a fast-paced, processed-food-dominated society. Their podcast aims to provide real, empowering stories and practical advice for listeners seeking to improve their well-being.

Make It Matter

I mentioned at the outset that I tuned 55. They say once you hit 25 you start removing things from your entertainment tree. First was Movies, then Baseball, then it was Wrestling, then shockingly - NHL hockey. I stopped watching in early in my 40’s once I figured out that the players were literally coasting for 82 games, fighting for 2 crappy points in January against Nashville or Columbus. Oh, and if you tie, a magical third point shows up. Total crap. I now limit my sports to NFL Football and whatever soccer is on TV. Generally, I follow Spain’s La Liga. But I’ll watch Mastedonia and Greece play in a qualifying match for the Crapco Cup.

If you think I am wrong about the NHL, I give you… the Four Nations Cup that the NHL put on. Everyone watched. And that’s what happens when you Make it Matter! Rich Eisen summed it up well and why we all watched.

mattcundill

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Best Thing I Listened to This Week

It’s old. At least 8 years old. It’s a dating podcast called…

… it features Andrea Silenzi in New York City meeting, dating and talking to people about dating. The show podfaded when she was given an opportunity to host another show. But I always loved this one because of its sound, storytelling and presentation. I said, if I ever have a podcast - I want to it sound like this. Weeks later I started a podcast and to this day, I still love the sound of this show.

One day… I hope to have Andrea on my podcast.

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