Talk Tuesday with Kristi Trimmer

This is the ninth 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. It amazes me that the Talk Tuesday posts are my most viewed posts – 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.

24 hours ago my world went sideways. I’m still working on righting it again. My path is once again a bit uncertain, I could use some good vibes sent this way if you are so inclined. 

If you had to plan your dream vacation, where would it be and what would you do?

I have two different dream vacations the first one would be to go to Europe as I have yet to get across the pond. I would jump on a plane to Ireland right now and travel the backroads seeing the countryside drinking the classic stouts of the land. I want to go and spend at least a month there and live like a local. I’m curious to see Scotland and England too. I have dreamed what the Cliffs of Moher look like in Ireland my whole life. Ireland, that’s where I would go right now in this moment.

My other dream vacation is to find a beach house somewhere that allowed me to see whales and dolphins jumping in the air. I wouldn’t mind being served little umbrella drinks either, but I would be perfectly happy being there by myself or with just one other amazing person.

 

Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Where do you see your business in 5 years?

I used to plan every day, every year of my life. I had a plan. Graduate college at 22, go into the Air Force, get married at 25, and start a family at 27. Well, I started my first business at 20, graduated college at 23, second business at 27, third business at 31, married at 32, divorced at 36, fourth business (current) at 36, started traveling at 39. No where in that timeline did I ever think I would travel or be a writer. I would like to say in 5 years I’m living in my dream home with the ocean in front of me, a river behind me, writing away as I watch the sunrise with a dog at my heels and a man kissing me. But that’s my fantasy land.

Ideally, I would love to get married again and share my life with someone else. I don’t need to prove that I am strong alone and independent – we all know I am. But am I strong enough to fold into someone else’s life and maintain my own dreams? This I don’t know. I would like to say that I will still be traveling in 5 years, spreading goodness around the world. Or maybe I will be fishing in Alaska and hiking up glaciers on the weekends. Maybe I will have left this digital world to live a life off the grid. Maybe I will have a family of my own and live a more traditional life. I don’t know, I barely know what I am doing about this year, this moment.

In your opinion, what is the best piece of advice for someone aspiring to do what you do?

Start writing. If you are only writing for money or to be famous just go ahead and stop. If you are blogging because you think it is cool and easy – back away slowly. I work at least 50 hours per week. I work on my blog, for clients, and am constantly trying to be creative. I don’t make a lot of money. If you don’t have a burning passion to be a writer, pick a different job. A travel writer is the epitome of perfection I have been told. Yes, it is awesome to do some excursions and stay in hotels – but it isn’t free. You are expected to work while you are there and to fulfill your contract for services. I can easily spend 2-4 hours interviewing or taking photos and that is before I have even started writing or editing those photos. My best piece of advice – only do in life that which if you didn’t, you couldn’t breathe, you couldn’t go on. That is what writing has become for me.

Who besides your immediate family was your role model and why?

Oprah. Yep, you might hate me for that, but Oprah really inspired me growing up. Here was a woman, a black woman, who was told over and over that she couldn’t do what she wanted to do. She wasn’t pretty enough, she wasn’t skinny enough, she wasn’t white enough. And you know what – she did it anyways. I have taken that lesson I saw every day for years to heart. You are the master of your destiny. Only you get to choose how you will react to something. Only you get to choose how your life will turn out. You make the choice. Choose wisely.

Who was your favorite teacher, and did they have any favorite quotes/sayings that they hoped to instill in their students?

I didn’t really. I moved around a lot and didn’t go to one school for an entire school year until I was in 7th grade. I had a chemistry teacher in high school – Mr. Cannon I believe. I remember him telling me – Think. Stop Feeling and Think. He said you are too crazy smart and it is going to get you into trouble. He might have been right. I did have a professor in college I adored who finally made me realize that it was ok to love both biochemistry and writing. He honored both sides of my brain – the artsy creative and the math and science nerd.