Talk Tuesday with Kristi Trimmer

This is the 11th installment of Talk Tuesday. Did you miss the other ones? Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7  | Week 8 | Week 9  | Week 10. It amazes me that the Talk Tuesday posts get so much engagement and I love it! I collect the questions people ask me and answer them every Tuesday. Have a question for me about anything? Ask away in the comments below before next Tuesday.

 

How many guest rooms do you have and how long do you plan on being in Alaska?

Right now I don’t have any guest rooms, but if you come up to visit I will make sure you have a place to crash! I was only supposed to be in Alaska a month. Then I said until BlogHer, then the end of summer. Now I am planning on staying the winter. Which, I will tell you, scares the shit out of me.

Do you still like it and are you calling it home and why Alaska?

I get awed and inspired by new things almost daily in Alaska. I mean, I have been going out in the evenings looking for Beluga Whales. Seriously!! Who does that? I have seen the back of one for a brief moment, but I still go out and hope one day I will see them for real. Two weeks ago I was calling Alaska home. I felt like I was in the perfect space and loved where I was at. I’m hoping to get back to that feeling. I have a hard time with the word Home. My parent’s home is in Phoenix, I felt at home on the beach in Rocky Point, Mexico, but right now, home is where my car is. I am ready to have a home again and travel out from there instead of driving everywhere. Why Alaska? I need to be where nature takes my breath away. Alaska does that. I have seen glaciers up close, eagles soaring above, and otters playing right in front of me. There is nothing quite like it. If I could combine Mexico and Alaska together somehow I think that would be perfection.

What made you start this whole Blog thing to begin with?

I started a business blog back in 2008 that no one read. I had an anonymous blog that I poured my heart out about my marriage, that no one read. I deleted that blog without saving any of it because those words were only meant to be typed out, not to be read. I then wrote a post called Now Weight A Minute on my business blog and realized that I loved pouring my heart out onto these little keys. What was the scariest part was hitting Publish and then sharing it on Facebook. The amount of comments and responses I received on that one blog post where I screamed at the top of my lungs that I was more than a number on a scale was intense! It was through blogging for two years about my struggle with weight loss and keeping a food diary that I was able to understand my anaphylactic soy allergy. I had it right in front of me – I would eat this, and then I would get sick – I had it written out and it was easier to digest and understand.

I started my life over again one blog at a time. I no longer had my flower shop or my marriage, but I had a laptop and a place for me to go and express myself. I had found a new kind of home.

Why do people tend to worry about you more than anyone else?

This has been interesting. Everyone, and I mean, everyone, has an opinion on what I am doing with my life. Quite a few people tell me that I am their inspiration to do more with their lives. Others think traveling full-time is weird and a couple have downright told me that I should go back and get a regular job. Two people this past week said this to me. They also had inferred many things from my updates and instead of asking me about any of it, they came to their own assumptions. It is hurtful to hear what people think about you and their perceptions, even if those perceptions are wrong. I am also dumbfounded by the amount of people that think it is ok to judge others. So many judgmental people in the world! Why don’t you live your life and be happy and I will live mine the way I want to be happy? And it is ok if what we consider to be happy, it is ok that we have different definitions for our lives.

What is your WHY? Meaning, why do you feel this is where you should be and what you should be doing, what keeps you going?

I don’t know anything as for as absolutes. I try to listen to my intuition and follow that path. My intuition told me to come to Alaska, so I came. It also told me that I would find great love here – I might have, but I can’t say for certain in this moment in time. My intuition has also led me here to write. I keep fighting that one though. I keep getting in my own way to put my story onto paper again. I have the feeling that when the darkness of Winter comes that I will write and write and write. I’m hoping I will write both of my books and get over my fear. Some days when I think I am done I get a message from a friend who says that I have motivated them to do whatever or that a post I wrote helped them through a difficult time. That keeps me going. The other thing is seeing wildlife – I have a list of what I want to see and I don’t want to leave Alaska until I do! #TrueStory. Now where is that Beluga whale…

How is running going?

I ran a mile last week in the rain and that felt good but then I was limping for a couple days. I have wanted to get back running and exercising regularly. My plan is to get back to running 2-3 times a week. I have been doing squats and pushups this week and ready to put my fitness on the priority list again. I don’t know if I will ever run long distances again, my goal is to run a 5k in 30 days. Hold me to it, ok?