Talk Tuesday with Kristi Trimmer

This is the eighth installment of Talk Tuesday. Did you miss the other ones? Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 . It amazes me that the Talk Tuesday posts are my most viewed posts! I collect the questions people ask me and answer them weekly (ok, sometimes I miss a week – but not lately!). Have a question for me about anything? Ask away in the comments below.

How do you keep up with personal hygiene?

I put this question into two categories. One, when I am traveling and road tripping I try to stay at campgrounds that have showers. I try to shower daily. Sometimes, however, there have not been showers readily available and I had to do the ‘ol campsite shower with wipes. I always have water so brushing my teeth was mandatory – or stopping into Starbucks along the road to clean up has worked on more than one occasion. I also put into this category getting my roots done and my eyebrows waxed. Because you know, a girl has needs. My hair has been an issue. My grey hair comes in every three weeks and I just can’t afford to always go to a salon. The price for a partial color in Alaska is the same as for a full color in Phoenix!! So expensive. Sigh. Maybe I am too vain. I used to only go to salons for my brows but now I go to nail salons to get it done for a third of the price. It is hard and expensive to look this awesome. Lolz. :)-

If you could travel anywhere in the world, where and why?

I jump on a plane to Ireland right now and travel the backroads. I am Mexican Irish and I have been to Mexico almost every year of my life, I have yet to go to Ireland. I was supposed to run in Dublin last year but had to cancel as I was rehabbing from my torn Achilles. I want to go and spend a month there and live like a local. I’m curious to see Scotland and England too as I have other ancestors that came from there. I’ve always wondered what the Cliffs of Moher look like and are they as majestic in person as in my imagination? Ireland, that’s where I would go right now in this moment.

What was your home life like as a child that made you enjoy traveling so much?

I had a very eclectic childhood. You can read about some of it here about moving around with my mom and how that affected me. The other part of my childhood which showed me a world of travel was through my dad. My grandfather and my dad were both race care drivers. When my dad stopped driving he became the crew chief for my grandfather. We would drive in my grandparent’s motor home all over the Southwest from California to El Paso going to races. Most weekends of my childhood were spent out on the race track watching my grandfather, Carl Trimmer, winning a race.

 Why yes, my grandfather, Carl Trimmer, was on the cover of Nascar magazine.

My dad and stepmom also took all five of us kids on yearly family vacations. It is with them that I fell in love with Yellowstone National Park and San Francisco as a little girl. It was by spending spring days out at our beach house in Mexico that I fell in love with the slower way of life. Lately, I have found myself on that beach and in National Parks searching for those memories from my childhood.

 

If you had to live somewhere permanently in the United States, where would you live and why?

This is the million dollar question. Right now there are a few places that are in the lead for this including Seward, Alaska, Petaluma, California, and Astoria, Oregon. I really like Anchorage as well and as long as I had a cabin out in the woods somewhere, I could live here. I want to live somewhere that I can be in the middle of nature in under 10 minutes, has great WiFi, and that I can have a huge vegetable garden. Family and friends nearby is a plus as well. As I have been traveling I have been interviewing places along the way.

What’s your favorite landmark, while traveling cross country?

My favorite landmark has been the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. It is where the thought for this trip came from and it is where I go to center myself every time I pass through one of my favorite cities. Devil’s Tower in South Dakota brought me a level of peace I wasn’t expecting and I look forward to going back there again.

 

What’s the BEST and WORST foods you’ve ate while traveling? Where did you eat them?

The best fish I’ve had (I’m addicted to fish tacos) has been in Seward, Alaska, but they need help in making them into stellar tacos. I’m up for the task. I have had one of the most amazing meals of my life in San Francisco back in April for my birthday. New York City also has a way of filling up my belly. I have a hard time with food, it isn’t fun for me to go out and eat as I am constantly worried about it having soy in it. The worst food is in the Midwest – so many preservatives and bland tasting food. Sad, really.

Of all the places you have been over the years, which place is the most memorable? And why? Not including your most current location.

I have loved and lost in San Francisco, twice. I have seen more beauty in one drive through Glacier National Park than should be allowed. I found a family’s love can heal you in Indiana. Getting lost in upstate New York and eastern Pennsylvania can soothe your soul. Hugs from my Canadian friends in Vancouver and Ottawa can make me feel whole again. Seeing sailboats in Charleston, South Carolina makes me wish for a different way of life. Drinking mojitos in Miami with a childhood friend made me feel sexy and alive again. Seeing saguaros and feeling the sand beneath my toes in Mexico makes me remember my roots. Seeing the lights of Vegas reminds me that I am not only from Arizona but from this other city in the desert. I have memories now in 49 states and four countries… so many more memories to go.