#271: Adventures in Mongolia & Beyond: Building Relationships, Learning from Travel, and Some Current Events

Greg & Rachel (00:01.074)
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Extraordinary Family Life podcast for your host Greg and Rachel Denning. We just got back from another iconic. It's cliche now at this point. But typical for us, adventure. Bucket list adventure. So where, you know, it sounds, it sounds like totally cliche.

We just had another bucket list adventure. Another and another trip of a lifetime. Another trip of a lifetime. two to three a year. But when you think about all the things we did and experienced, I'm like, yeah, it was. It was amazing. It was amazing. So our little family trip getaway. And this one was interesting for us because we've been working so hard, sun up to sun down.

before the sun comes up and after the sun goes down, we've been working on getting our new resort up and ready. The World School Family Resort And it is up and ready. So, little side note, you should all come stay here. You should come visit. Well, okay, so side note, I'm actually gonna send out an email soon inviting people to, I guess I'm gonna say apply, even though it sounds a little... Well, no, it's application process. Yeah, to apply to come stay for...

month or two here at the resort. We're gonna do a sort of community type experience. We're gonna have homeschooling together. We're gonna do some shared activities, field trips. I want to go see the three ships. They have replicas of the Nina Pinton Santa Marina where because sorry Santa Maria where columb because Columbus left

for his journey to the Americas. Just really close to us. Two hours from here. we want to go see that. Anyways,

Greg & Rachel (01:54.716)
Lots of fun ideas I have in the works and I'm going to be sending an email inviting people to apply. Basically it's going to be like, you know, we've all heard for years about these study abroad experiences or student exchange, but basically it's a chance to bring your family. Family study abroad. a little family study abroad. So I'm excited about that. Totally different experience. yeah, just kind of experience the awesomeness of southern Portugal. Love it.

So come stay here. Anyways, we were working so hard on that for about three and half months. It was just go, go, go, go, go hard. And we knew it'd be temporary. We were getting ready for the summer rush and it is chuck full. The resort is booked out every day. Super crazy full. So full in fact.

that we are living in the basement. Well, we're in the basement. And it was part of our catalysts like, let's just go. Let's go out and have our family adventure. So it was like a reward at the It had already been planned. It was on the calendar for almost a year. So we had to do it, quote unquote, had to go. Poor us. Also because we were leading a trip there. So we already had people signed up to go on it. But it was.

with that context of having worked so hard on the resort, it was nice to take that break. And it was nice because we had to test out our systems. Like to see, because you know us, we love to travel and we want a home base. This is a home base, it's also a business, another business. And we didn't want it to tie us down. Like we still wanted to be able to travel. So this was a test. Like can we leave it with our employees and...

have it function while we're gone, while we're literally off grid, because there's times in Mongolia where And Kazakhstan and China where There was almost two weeks when we really didn't have very much internet access at all. then, yeah, in Beijing it was limited because they have all sorts of restrictions. And it worked.

Greg & Rachel (03:56.862)
I'm so happy about that because it literally worked. We have systems in place that made it possible for them to completely run it while we were gone with little to no interaction from us. And we had over 30 animals that had to stay they are taking care of. All of our new plants. stay alive. All kinds of plants that had to be watered. Trees and bushes. I mean, I was like, yes, success. So amazing. well, that's just for those of you who are business owners and entrepreneurs, man.

there are a few things as valuable as good workers, good team members, and good systems, and good systems. Yep. Support both that. And we have four, five. Well, we have one virtual five that just, they are amazing. Yes. And make so many things possible. So anyways, we went out, we spent a full day and we, think we've mentioned the, how we created the flight plan. was just randomly pieced together by Rachel's.

shall we say expertise just like the awesomeness of like where are their flights where could we go so we ended up with a day in London so a that was supposed to be to Mongolian back ended up taking us to five countries because honestly because it was a lot cheaper to do that including all the added days then direct flights from Lisbon to Ulaanbaatar

Mongolia it was so you know it's like bonus you know bonus layovers bonus trips because we get to see cool new things so we got to experience London we went to London for several hours like stood out was fun yeah the kids loved it. I loved yeah well the kids is crazy love they're in the trees and there's all these big I don't know if they're willows sweeping willows but there was these big trees with branches hang down to the ground and create these little playground caves and the kids loved it and so I loved it it was awesome Hyde Park

was very special. four days in our first time there, mountains, the people, the food. Gorgeous country. Loved Kazakhstan. At least where we were, we flew into Almaty. And that's where the mountains are, that's where the lakes are. I mean it gave me a lot of like Colorado, Rocky Mountain vibes. Gorgeous. Very beautiful. And very few foreigners. I mean we saw some Russians

Greg & Rachel (06:19.046)
other white people. yeah, very, nobody spoke English. Actually there were a few people that would say, hi, how are you? Welcome to Kazakhstan. Like that was about it. But yeah, great experience. They had pretty good food. We tried horse for the first time, which I was hesitant to eat, but it was actually pretty good. All the kids tried it too, which I was amazed. And they all said, yeah, it's good actually. It tastes like a steak.

So we did that and then also tried Georgian food for the first time which was really good. Authentic Georgian restaurant there that was amazing. Makes me want to go to Georgia now. It's higher on the list. Yeah so Kazakhstan was great. I totally recommend it. And then of course Mongolia. 10 days

Pure wonder and bliss. I don't know if it was all wonder and bliss, but it was definitely 10 days of adventure, that's for sure. It was a little beyond your... I'm not gonna lie, it was in a lot of ways a challenging trip for me, which is a good thing. It's good to have challenging trips, but it was lots of rough roads in a Russian van.

No AC, heat, dirt, dust, bumping around. The food was not amazing. You know, it was okay, but not amazing. And... The best, think, is when they brought a live goat with us. yeah. They let us watch the entire process. wait, wait, let's get there, because yeah, I want to talk about that. I guess that's part of the reason why

And we've talked about this many times before. The most memorable places and sometimes our favorite places are actually the places that are the most difficult or challenging or foreign. And Mongolia is one of those places, you know? And so everything's different and everything's unique. But the reason why it was so valuable is because of the sheer beauty. Like you are, you're riding in these Russian vans on dirt roads for days.

Greg & Rachel (08:34.534)
And it just goes on and on and on. And I kept talking to people. like, it's like Scotland and Ireland and Iceland and the Rocky Mountains all combined into one vast country. And we only saw a very small part of it. Like tiny fraction of this country. It's huge. And you'd get up on these hillsides and you literally could see forever. Yeah. But then there's also mountains and there's forested places. there's, mean, it has like everything.

And it really did remind me of all of those countries. And it's just incredible. And there's more animals than people. It's just, I think, the least densely populated country on the earth, right? It's just incredible. So that's what made it worth it for me was just the beauty. And then, of course, the highlight, I would think, for everybody, including myself, was the horseback riding. So we did two days of horses, which

Originally, I thought we were going to do more and I wanted to do more, but two days was more than enough because we were all extremely sore. Well, I think it's interesting that we're all sore in different places, depending perhaps on, I don't know, our weakness. I was, I was sore in my knees. You were very sore in your butt. Aliyah, our 17 year old had a huge bruise on her calf.

That was definitely a highlight. I just loved riding in nature, like almost untouched nature except for the nomads. I they had their yurts out there and some horses and cows and stuff, or yaks. It was just gorgeous. But. had first yak cream that morning in the middle of nowhere. And we tried the fermented mare's milk and we tried the fermented cheeses which I hate but you like. I them. I brought home a bag. A big bag. Exactly.

but you're so on that, that overnighters, cause we camped near the, it's called the eight lakes region, which is gorgeous. Absolutely gorgeous. They, for our dinner, they brought a goat. Now it was live when it first joined our party and they just threw it in the van live. And we're like, they're like, this is dinner tonight. And we're like, okay. And then at the place where we got on the horses, that's where they slaughtered it.

Greg & Rachel (10:59.288)
and we watched, it's just this random Mongolian family right there and they took out all the intestines. she did. It was awesome, this little community process. Yeah, was like the men did one part and then she did another part. The killed it and then she cleaned and processed.

Well, and the men pulled out all the intestines and also I think they scooped out the blood because they did in a way where none of nothing was like wasted or on the ground. I've seen a lot of animals slaughtered and processed around the world. I've never seen a process like this. Yeah. They preserved everything. they eat everything. Any blood. Like all of it. They eat the blood. They eat the intestines. Every bit of it. All of it. None of it is wasted. So I think part of the whole thing was

I'm assuming this is the deal they made, of course, because we don't understand. We took the carcass, and she got to keep all the organs and everything. So that was the benefit them, that family. Yeah. Got all these organs, and they love the organs. It's like the delicacy favorite part.

They take all the organs and they stuff it inside the intestines and then make it this delicate. But we gotta watch this whole process. And you know, there's all levels of people in this group and there's vegetarians and you know, but they're all kind of interested. In a way, some of them were hiding their face and didn't want to watch fully, but were still kind of fascinated. And it was very interesting to me because Jordan Peterson talks about this fascination that humans have like with fire specifically. It's like this.

Like we're drawn to it and we watch it and observe it because it's one thing it's ever changing and it's new and it's different. And in some ways I felt like that. It's like we're sitting around watching a fire because all of us were so drawn and fascinated by this process we'd never seen before. And we're trying to tell them like none of us, well, few of us had ever seen this happen before, right? And to them they're just like, you know, we're telling the lady, thanks for letting us watch. she's like, what in the world? She's been doing this. Yeah. Confidence since she was a child.

Greg & Rachel (12:58.216)
tiny child and was watching it and then helping early on. In fact, they told us that kids there, the nomadic kids start at three. Three They have a whole ceremony that where they, okay, let's tangent for a second because that was fascinating too. She talked about how, and I think especially in the older culture, that...

before the age of three and the wording she used, I mean, I think it's lost in translation, but it's giving the idea. It's almost like they weren't considered human yet because they could die, right? When death, the mortality rate was high. And so it was at the age of three where they're like, okay, now they shaved their head, whether they're male or female. And then they had this whole special ceremony of like, now you are a human is what the word she used. And now you can participate in.

the family life. Like you help with chores and you help with this and you help with that and like you know. You start participating in life and you start I mean obviously there are three they don't do much but they you the idea is you start teaching them right away from a young age hey you're gonna carry your weight you're gonna be part of the family economy. Yeah which also interestingly she's mentioned that the UN

has intervened and considered that child slavery. Which, okay, I get it. I mean, I get where that viewpoint could come from. But at the same time, when you live in a culture like that where your survival depends on the whole family working together, and okay, even more than that, your survival depends on you knowing these skills. So the sooner you learn these skills,

the better off you're going to be. I can imagine, know, cause I also listened, re -listened to Jengis Khan and the Making of the Modern World. Great book, love that book. And you know, if you live in a culture where, and traditionally, I mean, one of the reasons Jengis Khan became a leader, a figure was because the tribes would steal from each other, wives. They would steal specifically wives. So if your mother or,

Greg & Rachel (15:10.462)
ended up getting kidnapped and your father was killed and you didn't know these skills? I mean he was 11 when he when his father died and his mother had been kidnapped before that you know and they got her back but you had to know these skills to survive so I think and from my perspective that's one of the reasons you would do this like at three years old you're gonna start teaching these skills because that's survival you will not make it if you don't know these things. It's so naive and silly and foolish of us.

from our world of all the luxury comforts and luxuries, you know, gigantic grocery stores and where none of us have ever even seen an animal killed and processed. The only meat we've ever seen comes in a package. Yeah. And, for us, well, they shouldn't be doing that. They shouldn't be children do that. when you go out and you actually stay the night in their yurt in the middle of nowhere, I mean, we drove

days to get out these places. That's their world. Yeah. That's they know. That's how they live. And we were there when it was pleasant and wonderful and it's still tough. But the winters that far north, mean, it is a harsh, unforgiving environment. Like you die. You mess up, you die. Right. Right. Right. The stakes are high. And I think it's often inappropriate for us to

judgments, moral judgments especially on societies like that. they should do things like we do things. Right, or do things differently. I don't think that that's our place, you know. That's not to say, and I'm not, you know, idealizing it, assuming that all Mongol people are kind and generous and like nice to their children per se. I don't know. I don't know what it's like. But what we do know is they're more family oriented than any other nation I've ever been in.

Which, though, I do believe they are losing that. from what I heard from your first trip five years ago, until now, I feel like they're losing their diet, because they're embracing more of the sad diet, the standard American diet. And I think they're losing some of their family culture. It's all because of social media. They even said that. said with the prevalence of social media, it's transforming the... They're losing

Greg & Rachel (17:38.654)
good part of their culture. Well, because one of the things our guide mentioned was that now more young people are seeing social media and they're like, wait a second, there are people who live their entire lives without getting married or having children? Like they didn't know that was a thing. And now they see that as a quote unquote option. And so they're thinking, I'm not going to get married or have kids. I it's worth talking about for a second because it's easy on social media to portray. Yeah.

the highlight reels of a single life. Yeah. The single carefree life, no responsibilities. I do what I want when I want. This is the life and that's being portrayed in many, many ways in, not just our society, but many societies. And you can see the allure on the surface of a low responsibility life. Right. Like, wow. You know, every

It's like there's this, there's this. What's like Peter Pan? Yeah. Neverland, you never grow up. Like why would I grow up? There's an alert to could just play all the time, have whatever I want. Right. Be lazy. Like why would I work when I could just play? Why would I have responsibilities when I could just live this carefully existence? And I have legit seen reels on Instagram and there's a term they have for, I can't remember what it's called, but something like a double income, no children couple.

and reels of their life. They're like, we're, maybe that's what it is. We're a dink, double income, no children. I don't know, maybe it's something like that. We're this, and look how amazing it is. And it literally, to me, I'm like, it's not sad. I'm like, you're children still. You are literally children because they're showing all these things they get to do. They're playing and they're staying out late and drinking and they're like, no nap times, no bedtimes, no. And like they're highlighting all of their.

Lack of responsibility. And I'm like, you're still children. And like Jordan Peterson says, you can't fully become an adult unless you have children. Because when you have a child, someone else, someone else's life depends on you. That's when you finally grow up. And it's real work. Anybody with kids knows it's real work, but it's also real reward. Yes. Right.

Greg & Rachel (20:02.706)
more lasting reward than you could ever find in all of the frivolity of fun. One of the greatest things we do in life is to take on more responsibility because it forces us to become more capable. In fact, I would encourage people, because I do it myself, I encourage my clients, take on more responsibility than you can currently handle. Just a little bit more, not a ton more, because crush yourself.

but take on a little bit more responsibility than you can currently handle. And then your option is either, you know, sink or swim. And because you want to survive and thrive, you end up learning how to swim and you literally increase your capacity. And so at the other side of that, you're now more capable and more competent and life is better. It's more rewarding. You have more, you can do more. You are more, you've become an asset. But this, this,

frivolous vapid frothy existence there's very little substance lots of fun and entertainment and no responsibility from the outside you're like that looks amazing I want to try that but it's well right so back to the single people in in Mongolia that's what they're saying and this applies to all people on the internet they're seeing this highlight reel and they think that looks more attractive

That's what I want to do. But you're missing behind the scenes and the end of life where you reach this point where you're alone. You have nobody. Especially if you also have no relationships, which is more more common. You've got nobody and you've got nothing. Which kind of, and

It reminded me of, because there was this part towards the end of our trip in Mongolia where this German lady joined partially for a day because she was beginning a month long 35 day adventure, exploring through Mongolia with two guides that had been with us that then joined her. But that was it. She has no one else. And this isn't.

Greg & Rachel (22:17.566)
You know, Greg and I don't try to be judgmental for the sake of being judgmental, but we do make judgments based on our understanding of human psychology and relationships and stuff. If you're doing a trip like that, it's most likely because, alone, it's most likely because you really don't have anyone in your life that you could do something like that with. And the contrast couldn't have been more palpable. Yeah, it was actually huge. You and I are there. With all of

Not all of children. Five of our children. Experiencing this wonder together. Five of our children with us experiencing all together. And all of this group of youth that were like lively and fun and playing. amazing human beings. It was one of my favorite trips. was just great. Solid, solid people. So we're there with our friends. Yeah. Another family came. It's just a great group of human beings all together just embracing the joy and

wonder of adventure and travel and suffering and fun all together and then to see her just alone and I talked to her a little bit and she just wanders the earth alone and wow well and of all the things of all the things I suffered when I was out on my own the hunger and the fear and the desperation and the discouragement

and all the pain and suffering and the doubt and the hopelessness and the helplessness. The worst thing I experienced was loneliness. Loneliness is horrible. It is, I think in some ways we could argue it's it's supreme suffering. That's why solitary confinement is a thing for the worst people on the planet. What do they do to them? They lock them alone.

Right. Like it's horrible. And yet some of us inadvertently have locked ourselves up. Yeah, we lock ourselves up. We choose our own solitary confinement. Most often in my observation, because we don't figure out how to have good relationships. Yeah, we haven't. make the changes to stay in relationships. Exactly. earn the companionship of another quality human being. Exactly. And that's so true

Greg & Rachel (24:38.664)
for too many people, just view the problem being with, for example, the opposite sex, like men are the problem, or we've heard people say, women are the problem, being married is too hard, that's why I just got a dog instead. We've literally had people tell us those things. It's true. It is true. is way easier than a wife. Exactly, right. Yeah. If I'm trying to avoid responsibility and pain and frustration and difficulty of living with a woman. Right. Yeah.

I'm picking a dog. All day long. That's why it's called man's best friend. It's like, yeah, the dog's always happy to see you even though you're lame. Right. Exactly. Even though you're angry, you can beat the dog. But a woman is not. She expects you to be more. She expects you to be your best self. So that is the challenge of relationships. You're dealing with another person. And the problem is people want someone who will just love me the way I am. That is not what relationships are.

relationships will challenge you to become a better version of yourself. interesting. That's really good because that is another form of this avoiding responsibility. We don't think about it that way. We couldn't articulate it that way. But desiring, if I want you to just love me just as I am, to accept me as I am and not have any requirements of me, that's another form of avoiding responsibility. Avoiding facing the challenges, difficulties, facing my own weaknesses, doing the hard work. I'm like...

woman, just stop, just let me be what I am. You should just love me as I am. for the record, before we even got married, long before we were engaged, think. Were we engaged when you talked about it? I was like, babe, I will never, ever ask you to love me as I am. Because that's just a cop out. It's just a weak way to face It is another way that people lock themselves in solitary confinement, because I think.

You know, if I could make up a little story about this German lady, because I really have no idea about her in particular, but you know, I can imagine that she's had relationships with men and expected them to just accept her for how she is and who she is with all of her whatever her little things are. We'll call them idiot synchroses. Right. And again, this is a fictional story that is too often played out. 20 years as we travel all over the world.

Greg & Rachel (27:01.71)
And the reality is, if you continue to live like that and to insist that others love you for the way you are, flaws and warts and all, that you never better yourself so that you can actually stay in a relationship with another person because that's ultimately what is required. You have to make changes and you have to become a better version of yourself. And that's a good thing.

It's not a bad thing. It's a very good thing. Now the other part of it is you have to also gain the skills of relationships and that's where another reason where people fail. They haven't gained relationship skills. you have to but that's the requirement. Because if you get into a relationship you either have to gain skills or you're gonna suffer and it'll end. Right. Those really are the options. Exactly. two paths. If you want a relationship, you get into relationships, you either better figure out how to do it well so it's tolerable and even enjoyable.

Like if you want a phenomenal relationship, you have to just keep leveling up. And then you're like, okay, this is great. You can gain a small skillset and be like, we tolerate each other. Or you're just like, no, you will end up fighting, miserable and separated. Like whether it's a friendship or a marriage or whatever, or even with your own kids. You don't figure this out. The end result is separation. I have to tell a story of that. had this phenomenal, phenomenal human being reach out for me for some coaching.

genuinely a great, a great man. Like, just love this guy. And we are we have, I told Rachel a few weeks ago, like, we have, it's very rare that you meet somebody that you have so much alignment with in so many ways, like, fundamentally from marriage and parenting and business and life view. I mean, it's really rare. And we have so much alignment with this guy. And he reached out, we were just we're talking and doing some coaching

And ultimately it was because his wife is just a go getter and just, well, I was telling him that she's like you and, just high standards, self -respecting, competent, capable. And with all of that comes high standards and demands. you're not going to allow me to just slack off. I can't go to you and be like, babe, let's

Greg & Rachel (29:23.56)
Let's just take it easy. I can never see you ever doing that. Life's just meant to be enjoyed. Just let me have a few of my little lazy... like it never gonna happen. And even when I'm putting forth the effort like he was, he was sharing, he's like, look, I'm putting in the work, man. And she comes over and she's like, yeah, it's a little bit shoddy. You know what? That's your best. I don't think you're trying your best. it's like, it's just for a man because

A man who loves a woman, that woman's words carry weight. And the slightest thing you say gets in my head and stays there. And so if I'm busting my tail, I feel like, yeah, I'm crushing it. And you walk over and you're like, eww. Have you started working on this yet? And you're like, I've been working on this for weeks, woman. Like, this was my best effort. And you're like, eww. It looks like a child did that. You haven't even started working on it.

the biggest kick in the nuts, right? And he had experience like that. He's like, I thought I was doing so great. My wife said one little thing. He just shattered my confidence. I'm like, yeah, I get it, right? Because it has that weight. But that's the right thing. Now, I know men who purposely seek out women who have no self -respect because it's easier. Because there's no high standards. She won't make demands of him. If she tries, he'll just kind of pressure her, cower, make her cower in

no, you don't woman. Okay, okay. And she's so desperate and clingy and needy and lacks self -respect. And so she's willing to tolerate his idiot synchroses, right? Or his is just pathetic behavior. Right. But a strong one won't tolerate that at all. And many women, many men cannot or will not.

Greg & Rachel (31:15.568)
handle, rise up to the demands of a self -respecting woman. Now we're not talking about a tyrant or a dictator or a crazy Sometimes it's fine line. There's a fine line. And no, it's true. There's this fine line between a woman holding high standards and becoming just an absolute tyrant. We're not talking about that. But I think this is fitting in this whole idea of like, no, if you want a good relationship, buckle up. Right.

going to have to do the work. Yeah, on both sides. Absolutely. It's exhausting and demanding. And we'd rather not. You get in the druthers. You'd rather not do it. But what's the alternative? Right. Well, it's a form of solitary confinement, really, is the alternative. And that, to me, is what I see when people are alone. And it's

to judge them as being a bad person because it has nothing to do with being a good or bad person. You can be a great person, but if you don't have the skills and you're not willing to make changes, and sometimes that's why people don't. They're like, I am a good person. Why should I change? And that's not the point. Being a good person has nothing to do with whether or not you can improve. Exactly. Or having a specific skill set. Right. Or having a another coaching client, same thing. He's like, super, super good guy.

and struggling with specific aspects of parenting, it's like, yeah, dude, this has nothing to do with you and you being a great guy. It is a very specific set of skills. Exactly. And you have to develop. If you want certain outcomes with your kids as a parent, you have to get a very specific set of skills and tools that makes that work. But you're right. think we often connect that with like, why am I a good person? Or if I'm feeling that I'm a bad person, it's like, no,

It's not connected. It just has to do with the skills you have not developed, really. Okay, so that was kind of a tangent. I don't know if there was something else you wanted to say about the goat. It was just delicious. It was actually the most delicious goat I've They took the entire goat, they built this bonfire up and then you guys, I wish, well, look at our Instagram and see the pictures. It was this.

Greg & Rachel (33:29.628)
We were sitting on this little kind of plateau area with a view below us of the lake and the mountains and the sun setting and they made a big bonfire. They put rocks in the fire. Then they had this giant, I don't know what else to call it, but like a giant milk can. It was like a metal Before that though, they threw the entire goat in the fire. Well, they threw the goat in the fire to burn off the skin. Burn off all the skin. They scraped it out and washed it. Then they scraped it all off. Then they cut it up into pieces, like just random chunks of pieces.

And then they layered it alternatively with the hot rocks from the fire, some potatoes and carrots, which they throw in for the tourists, and then the chunks of goat. And then they put like a whole bag of salt in there practically. I mean, it was a big can. It was like three feet tall or something. So it's like the old school metal milk jelly you're was ultimately like a pressure cooker. They made an Instapot that they cooked on the fire. fire. Yeah.

So then they put it on there and they cooked it for, I don't know, an hour maybe. And then they pulled it out and they handed it out goat pieces to us. First they hand you one of the hot rocks from they hand you a hot rock that's supposed to like sanitize your hands with a hot rock. And it's scalding hot, black covered with ashes and covered with goat grease. Goat grease. So your hands are a mess right before to eat the goat.

And they just hand you chunks of meat and bone and And it was really good. The only part I did not like was the goat skin. Not a fan of that. And it was funny because actually then the next day for lunch they cut up pieces of the, they cut up the goat skin into tiny little pieces and threw it into our soup. We fed like 30 people that night. Everyone was stuffed. Then there was a little bit more for breakfast some of us had. And then again for lunch fed the group.

One goat. With one goat. It was amazing. Yeah. To see that happen in real time. Like this is how they do life. It was really cool and delicious. It was so good. But they did try to hide the goat skin as like mushrooms. It of looked like mushrooms in the soup. And I don't like mushrooms anyway so I just gave them to you but it was actually goat skin. It was funny. We had a couple of little incidences where people came off horses.

Greg & Rachel (35:47.622)
These are not your little trained trail ponies. This not a trail ride in the United States. This was a full out, they're almost wild horses because we didn't get started on the trail ride for a couple hours because they were rounding up the horses. I mean they were, just out in the wild. And yeah, they were wild. It was amazing. It was a real adventure and

A real horse ride. I'm grateful that we are all safe. in our group came off, including me, twice. Yeah, you came off twice, your horse. Once was one of those Hollywood scenes where our daughter, the horses took off running, were racing across this valley. She should not have been caught up in because those who were not going to Gallup had pulled off. Somehow she was still in the group that was going to Gallup. I didn't know she was there.

I didn't know either. didn't know. So we all running and her horse running and she in fear leaned forward to try to hold on to the horse's neck. And so she kicked her feet back up. She just didn't know what to do. And so she's holding on for dear life and just bouncing, you know, horizontal to the horse's back. And I glance back and I'm like, man, she's not staying on that horse. So then her horse.

ran past me at a full sprint and so I guided my horse, kicked my horse and guided it over right next to her and I got right next to her right as she bounced off the horse. So she bounces midair, I just reach out with my left hand and grab her out of the air, grab her jacket. Well then I can't, you know, she's 10 years old and heavy. I couldn't just, I've lost the ability to hold her in the air like that. So I bail off my horse and he's at a full run.

full sprint. So I jump off my horse and we both go down together under the ground. And we, you know, we got, we rolled and I drug her through the dirt and fields and luckily. But amazingly she had no bumps or bruises or scrapes. I scratched her face along the. But there was nothing I could see. know. I mean, she complained a little bit of like a dirt rash, but I couldn't see anything. So I scooter up, I just covered her. She was just terrified out of her mind. Right.

Greg & Rachel (38:10.78)
And just, and I'm like, you're good, you're good, you're safe. Everything's good. And then of course she got back on the horse. Well, we had to, we're like, Hey, we're getting right back up. We're getting on the horse and rode back to camp. and she's like, I'm okay. And I'm like, you're not afraid to get back on. She's like, no, it wasn't the horse's fault. It was awesome. Psychology. She's like, it wasn't the horse's fault. Why would I, why would I not get back on the horse? The horse has nothing to do with what just happened. was like, yes, girl.

So we got ride back on and it. And when we got back to camp, I did spend some time with her in the tent processing. And she cried through it. And it was good because she was able to articulate the fears that she had. And one of them was like, I don't want to gallop again. And I'm like, yeah, great. You need to gain the skills of being able to gallop before you do that again. And that's OK. You could spend many years, if you wanted, riding a horse at a trot or a walk, no problem.

And that was her biggest concern. Like, don't want to have to gallop again. We're like, you don't have to. That's not a skill you have yet. You don't have get her back on the horse, because it was one game. Speaking of skill sets, it was one specific skill. Had she leaned back instead of leaned forward, she would have been just laughing and giddy and smiling and all on that sprint across the valley. Right. And it was simply because she didn't have that skill. Because honestly, I mean, she rode horses and turkey on the trail ride. But otherwise, this is her first time.

It was awesome. It was amazing. So then after that we spent three days in China. China is something else. I I like it. I like Beijing. It's beautiful and great infrastructure. We went out to a less touristy, less popular part of the wall of China. By a lake. There weren't any tourists out there. was just locals and no English. Chinese tourists. Yeah and it was awesome.

But man, it was so was a unique experience. I also think China was challenging. I think it's probably one of those more challenging places to visit as a foreigner because it is completely opposite from the Western world. And this is something we were talking about with our kids. It's almost like the whole operating system of China is completely opposite from what we know. So we use Google Maps, and we use Uber, and we use all these different things. And we use credit cards. None of that exists.

Greg & Rachel (40:33.594)
In China. So we had a hard time paying for things because they didn't accept, some places did, but few places accepted our credit cards. So we had to learn how to download their apps. They use Alipay and WeChat. Which was awesome. It was a fun experience. It was. It was. There's billions of people here operating on completely different system. Let's just figure out how their system works and see if we can use it.

And so that was a cool experience for the was. It was still frustrating because it didn't always work for us because for some reason over a certain amount it didn't like our cards. wanted a Chinese credit card. but yeah, And then restaurants. Restaurants were hard. There was restaurants everywhere and we're like, yeah, let's just get some they were all Chinese restaurants. it was not the Chinese food we were used to. We didn't eat at one fancy place that we accidentally found.

And it was fantastic. Like it was, the meals were done so well. So, so well on the little sea right near the forbidden city. Yeah. That was nice. And we, we did, we happened upon it by accident. But great experience. And then a day in Qatar on the way home. Yes. Which it was like 45 degrees there. 40. Okay. 45 degrees Celsius, is about a hundred, 110.

I think it's 120ish. think 50 degrees Celsius is like 122 or something. Yeah. So it was, anyways, was hot. great. Beautiful. And humid. So Not humid there. It was humid in So wealthy. So well developed. So, I mean, it reminds me of Dubai. Yeah. Just beautiful. Beautiful buildings and structures. And our hotel was off the charts. Yeah, our hotel was amazing. And I booked it because it was one of the cheaper places for our group size in...

Doha, the capital. But man, the breakfast that came included with it was one of the best breakfasts I've ever seen. Yeah, it was incredible. And we had some great breakfast in Norway. This was a really good breakfast. was great. And it's right on the water. Doha is right on the water. And the water color, the turquoise, the beaches, the buildings, it was awesome. It was just really great experience. Yeah, it was. And I don't know why, if this is just my nature, but when I go to places like that, I do sometimes wonder if

Greg & Rachel (42:54.19)
one of those little scenarios like The Giver or Panem in Hunger Games. Like is it one of those places where it's really dystopian but on the surface everything looks amazing? I don't know. This is just a... Yeah, we know nothing. We know nothing about it. But sometimes I'm like it's so perfect. It's almost too perfect. In that place particularly massive amounts of immigrants.

well there was also lot of immigrants in dubai as well i noticed so a lot of pakistanis and stuff you know they're indians but there were a lot of african taxi taxi man what you guys we were in the storm there was a thunderstorm in beijing we sat

in the airplane at the airport for five hours. gate. At the gate. We didn't even move. For five hours we sat on the plane and then had to take a nine hour flight. So we were on that plane for 13 hours. It was miserable. It was rough. And then we got to our hotel like 4 a in Doha. But our driver that morning was from Tanzania. Yeah. And we'd just been in Tanzania in February so we talked to him. was fun. And then the next morning the guy was from Uganda.

One of the neighbors was from, well, neighbors, I say neighbors in the hotel. He was from, I forgot already, some awesome place around the world. And he was there working in the banking industry, Lebanon. And then another lady was from Ukraine. She had left when the war started and she'd been in Doha.

since. And it was interesting. It was fun to talk to her about the war that's still going on in Ukraine. And she said, it's just absolutely horrendous. It's still happening. yet, more news about it. Nobody talks about it. And the suffering, the terrible things keep happening. you know, the news cycle moves on to what's next, like the Paris Olympics. Or, yeah, like the weird things happening in the Olympics. Or the attempted assassination of Donald Trump. who knows?

Greg & Rachel (45:07.942)
what that was all about. Like, who knows? Yeah, so we got, you got some sort of little message. We were in the middle of Mongolia when that happened, when you got a notification from someone that it had occurred. We didn't know any details, of course, but. Still, even all the details we quote, do know, are being fed to us through media outlets and you guys, okay, this sounds so crazy, it has to be said.

Like, we live in a place where it's propaganda. Okay, well the fact is... If you think, hold I want to just try this home. If you think because you're in the United States of America or you're in Europe or whatever, like propaganda doesn't happen in these countries, it only happens in communist countries or whatever. No, man. We, I hope, and I hope you don't think, it's all conspiracy theory, whatever. I'm being absolutely sincere.

We're we're sitting right now this year in this world of propaganda it is Weird and dystopian and real well, we all need to be aware that it's happening Yeah, well, I recently heard someone say and I think that's true like propaganda exists everywhere all the time and it's not necessarily a Negative thing like you it has a negative connotation the word itself

but anyone who's telling you anything, in essence, that is propaganda, you know? It's essentially someone trying to convince you of their viewpoint. So it exists already, it's already there. It's not like it doesn't happen, it does happen, but

Greg & Rachel (46:55.506)
The kind of that's happening now, think people are trying to, it is, they're trying to put the, what's the saying? Put the wool over, where do they Pull the wool over your eyes? where do these sayings come from? We've been saying this since as a kid, I wonder what it means. Anyways, there's deception, massive amounts of deception going on right now. And we need to be aware of that. Yeah. And.

Just be heads up, like, okay. And both sides. And we're not, this is not us saying that the attempted assassination of Trump was, what was the word you just used? I don't know. Not that it's fake, per se, or it's being acted out as some sort of propaganda. We're just saying, we don't really know what's going on in America. That's how I feel, ultimately. I have no clue.

It's hard to tell what's happening, but what I can tell is happening is weird stuff. Like things are not normal. That's all I can say. Things are not normal. Like there is crazy things going on where you're just like, what? What the heck? What is going on here? That's mostly what I have to say about it is. I That's, think, I think, I hope that all of you listening, I think we can all just agree like, okay, strange things

Yeah, strange things are happening. These are weird times. Interesting times. And let the strange things be a warning to us all that they're symptoms of underlying problems. Exactly. be aware there's underlying problems. I know, let me throw out a little warning here. Because I know some of you, okay, in our listening audience, right? Some of you are going to be like, I know exactly what's going on. Evil tried to stop Trump, but God protected

Right. And then other sides are like, no, it's Trump's the devil. That's why God sent a messenger to kill him. the other side believe in the devil? maybe not. He's the epitome of, I don't know. Like you, you, take, we take these sides and then we get so convicted that we know what's happening. And there's always so much going on behind the scenes that you just, gotta say, nah, I don't know. Like I have already read several different accounts behind.

Greg & Rachel (49:14.174)
Just the shooting an example, it's like, whoa, there's 100 % there's some conspiracy stuff going on. I don't know. I don't know which side it's on or for what motives or what. And this isn't conspiracy theory. This is conspiracy. There's conspiracy going on. And I don't know to what end. I don't know the details. I don't know if we ever will. I think the same. Well, we will in like 20 or 30 years when it comes out and they make a movie or something.

But I think the same on Biden's side like here President Biden we all see him declining in capability and His physical mental abilities were shot Months ago if not more. Yeah, and everyone's wondering like how is this guy still in the race, right? And then suddenly here he is in the debate. He does a horrible job and Yeah, now the left acknowledges it and let's just put

Kamala in her his place and like how and why does that happen if someone's running for president why should he just be replaced by someone else like if he's not if he can't run anymore he should just drop out and somebody else makes no sense to me and hold on this is starting to sound like we're getting political or we have we're in favor of one of those guys over the other I am by default of what if I had to vote

I would vote for Trump only because Biden's not capable. Right. Okay, but he's not. But not that Trump is, you know, he wouldn't be my first choice if I had to pick among everyone in the world. I wouldn't pick Trump, that's for sure. That's for very sure. And I would, I have a hard time voting for someone who's not one of the major candidates because I just really feel like they don't have a chance, unfortunately, because I think that our system is

It's so... It doesn't work as it should work. And so people who are lesser known or less popular, they just really don't have a chance.

Greg & Rachel (54:44.446)
So anyways, This isn't political. I know some of you are gonna be feeling some frustration, anger at us that we're not in favor of your party line or your candidate, whatever. I think if I had to pick somebody right now in the running, I'd probably pick Kennedy. He seems like no, and I agree. I could vote for Kennedy for sure. think he's a good option. There's that other guy, Vish, the Indian guy. can't remember his name. Cool. Anyways, but...

This isn't political. isn't taking sides. Everything's political. That's true. It's all political. But we're not, I'm not sitting here and saying one's better than the other. I'm just saying we live in weird times. Like strange things are happening. Dystopian times. I think legit, it's dystopian. And I think it's important for all of us to be aware that when strange things are happening, that really strange and consequential results are coming. They're on the horizon. So it doesn't matter what happens, which one of these

gets in like there's there's big stuff in play right now that will

Becoming in the next in the next few years where there's gonna be some massive consequences You guys have heard us talk about the fourth turning if you have not read that yet. The fourth turning is here or is now Read that book. So you have an understanding of the historical which is the updated version of the book They read back in or wrote back in the 80s So it's it's a real deal it's a historical pattern it's just interesting time. So that's where we're at in the world

And the best thing we can do is to prepare ourselves and prepare our families. OK, which actually reminds me, because we were talking about this before. mean, as part of building relationships, it's essentially making yourself into an asset. And that is something that I think is a core philosophy to our approach to parenting, to marriage, to life in general. It's about becoming an asset.

Greg & Rachel (56:42.886)
You have to make yourself into an asset, meaning you bring more value into this world than you take from it. And too many people today are liabilities. They really are. They just exist as a liability to society, to their families, to themselves. So you have to be intentional about gaining the skills and the training and the education.

to be an asset to yourself, to your family, to your community. And that right there is what ultimately makes a difference. That's gonna make the difference in your marriage, it's gonna make the difference in your parenting, it's gonna make a difference when hard times come because they're coming. And Even in your own lifestyle, and you're enjoying your life. Absolutely, it totally does. so, it reminded me also that we're having

Calling it an asset training for lack of a better phrase. So excited. Yes We're having an asset training here at the World School Family Resort in November It's meant to be for anyone really men women teens over the age of 16 probably because we're gonna do some like simulations where we have this awesome Friend that we have that's coming who has tons of medical skills and training and so we're gonna do like emergency medical training so, know how to stop bleeding and respiration and accidents

just how to if you're if basically it's it's first aid and so you don't have to have any experience but like kind of a wilderness first aid or a austere environment like you're the first one on scene and you need it you need to help and you to improvise a little bit it's not like you have this amazing first aid kit which you he's gonna teach you about a kit you can put together but it's not you're not a trained professional per se right you don't have an ambulance yeah exactly in your backpack so you gotta figure out how to do it and then we're gonna do combatives and self -defense

yourself or protect others like teaching about more more crime is happening all the time all over the world yeah like it is it's getting weird again and that was the history of the world like we we have lived through a relatively peaceful period of time where you're not afraid for your life every single day and it's not a matter of survival but that has been extremely rare in the history of the world yeah rarity so it's important for us to understand things we're gonna be discussing ideas like

Greg & Rachel (59:00.802)
Now I can't I'm talking about from when violence is the answer and he talks about the different types of violence What are the names? I totally blanked me. I don't know. It's there's two different types of violence. One of them is No, it's a social and social violence So social violence is essentially this idea that if you're gonna get in a fight with someone there's rules There's rules. Yeah, even if nobody talks about them, there's certain rules. You're not gonna do something that is

damaging to this person unless you are a psychopath or a crazy person and then that's a social violence because you are willing to do things that will permanently hurt or damage or kill someone right and and if unless I'm bringing that up because to me that's a very important distinction that I really didn't understand before I read this book that we have to understand

And so we're going to talk through some of that because it's important, especially for women, I think it's important for us to understand some of these things so that we can protect ourselves first by preventing things from going wrong, preventing potential violence, and then when necessary, if necessary, using violence to our benefit so that we can be safe.

And not end up we can help somebody else who's being threatened. Exactly. So we'll learn how to use everyday weapons. Improvised weapons. Especially in the context of travel. How to travel safely. What you can take with you and how to handle travel situations. If you're in a situation where there's some chaos, some riots, or even just a natural disaster. We're going to walk through these things. Which? How to be an asset.

Which happens. I mean, it has happened to us and it's happened to us more lately in the last couple of few years than it has all the previous years of traveling we did. Like we traveled for a decade or more with very little encounter with violence. But in the last three years, I can think of multiple situations where we were actually in a dangerous situation or close to one like, you know, last year or even this year. It was this year we drove to France

Greg & Rachel (01:01:16.782)
and we happened to drive through the area where there had been a lot of rioting because of all kinds of other crazy things going on with the farmers and the food chain and all of this stuff happening. But they were rioting and we drove through, like we had to get off the main freeway because it was closed down because of the writing. And we pulled up right where there was

riot happening there was fires on the sides of the road and all kinds of piles of trash and stuff burning like it was you know those are potentially dangerous situations simply because humans who are rioting can be unstable and don't always follow the same rules that we're used to in normal social interactions so we need to be aware that that's potential danger and how to protect ourselves. a great example of rioters and mobocracy is what's been called.

They become asocial in the moment. They don't think clearly. They get caught up in the mentality of the mob and they... And all the writing that's happening in the United States with, you know, pro -Palestine and all of that going on. that is, in a way, it's a level, it's a form of mobocracy for sure. And there's potential danger there. So we need to be, we need be capable. So we're going to teach you guys how to break out of zip ties and duct tape, which are the most common restraints now. Teach you how

What happens when you try to break a glass bottle and use it as a weapon and we teach all kinds of funding descend out of a two -story room with bedsheets and we're this is gonna be awesome it is going to all by trained professionals please please mark your calendars it's the week before week before Thanksgiving in southern Portugal so you fly into Lisbon or into Fado

kind of an application process again. So reach out, let us know if you're interested. It's going to fill up fast. and you get, you get to stay here, get the training, have an awesome, I think it's four or five days, five days, and it's just going to be fantastic. The goal is you will leave here a much more capable person than when you arrived in several different ways. It's going be awesome. So yeah, gotta be an asset. Yeah, absolutely. You have to be an asset. And I love what you're saying there. I'm going to go.

Greg & Rachel (01:03:37.96)
Just that idea of being a liability where you just consume and take and you desperately need other people and you're you're dependent on them. So it means you're a, which means you become a burden to other people because you lack self -reliance. I think socially that's a big problem, but even in relationships and families, it's a big

Every single person should be adding value. And if you're at a point right now where you're not adding that much value, don't beat yourself up about it. Just get to work and make yourself more self -reliant first and then so capable that not only can you easily take care of yourself, you can actually start taking care of others. Right. Well, and I think there's a lot of factors for why this is the case, but an extreme example of what it has led to is these things I'll see on social media.

of these women who are pretty much, say clueless, touting boldly how they don't need men in their lives. And yet they don't realize that the entire reason they can even make that statement is because of all the men and people in their lives who have built a society that's safe enough that they can function on their own. Women can function on their own. They can have a job, they can earn money, they can...

go out and go shopping and get food, like they can survive because society is safe now. But behind the scenes, there are men who are fixing the sewer lines, installing the power lines, fixing the internet when it goes down, fixing the power lines when they break and there's a storm. Behind the scenes, there are men, usually it's men doing these jobs, harvesting all the food, transporting it across the country in semis.

There are so many that are being attacked by pirates. Exactly. How many women are you going to find on a cargo ship? Right. The dirtiest, hardest, most uncomfortable jobs in society are done by men. So that women can comfortably say, don't need a man in my life, because your entire life is supported by the men behind the scenes. So that's an extreme version of where this type of thinking has gone. But there's many levels of it. Yeah, we need.

Greg & Rachel (01:06:01.308)
We need people who are us assets and who are doing the work that makes our lives possible. And so if we can't find some way to contribute back, we are just a liability and it's not good for society as a whole. I saw a video recently, a very disturbing video, but I want to share it because I think it's relevant. A pedophile predator who preyed on children.

was caught and he was being interrogated and interviewed. And when asked how he would approach, why he would approach some children and not others, his answer was that if the father seemed threatening, he would avoid that child. And that hit home. absolutely. These absolute sickos who are seeking out children to molest and abuse. They're watching.

His reasoning which makes perfect sense these guys are cowards and bullies and they're looking for prey They're looking for easy and they're afraid of men like real men real men men laymen men who are threatening manly men Yep, and and he that was his head. He's like, well if if the father seemed threatening I wouldn't approach that child and That's huge. It's massive

That's huge because how many manly men are missing in society today? Yeah. Too many. Not only are fathers missing from the home in more in general, but too many men have become effeminate. Yep. And they're not manly. And they're not tough. And they're not threatening in any way, shape, or form. Yeah. And so they look. And I don't know why. I have some thoughts and ideas.

But I think we can all agree there's just been a massive push for the last couple of decades to make men weak. I don't know who's doing it or why or what's happening. This is conspiracy right here. Men have become weak. And they're not threatening. And now predators are becoming more prevalent and more aggressive and not stopping because there's a man there.

Greg & Rachel (01:08:17.832)
they're only stopping if the man is actually threatening. And they look like, well, that guy couldn't do anything or wouldn't do anything. so that's just one example, but there's many, many examples, I think, being tough, being assets, and this goes for men and women, because women can be very threatening and very violent and very tough and very capable. But we have to be assets and we have to

competent and confident and capable to keep evil at bay. Yeah. Because if we don't, if we cower, then evil spreads. That's just the story of humanity and every movie and every book and every great classic. The history of the world. It's just the story of life that when good doesn't stand up and fight back, evil just spreads without restraint. So we got to be

have to be stronger. Gotta be assets. Love it. Okay, you guys, thanks. Thanks for listening. Thanks for being awesome. Thanks for caring about being the best version of yourself and being an asset for your family and leaning into your relationships and your family legacy, which is without a doubt, I think, the most rewarding and wonderful thing we can do in An important thing. so important. Love you guys. Reach upward.