Run of Show – T+E&P Episode 2 – Kacey LeachmanRodgers– The Traveling Teacher:
Sallee Jay: Hello and welcome to Travel + Explore & Play with Sallee Jay, I am your host. Thank you all so much for joining me for today’s live travel episode.
I have so many dreams for my business and salleejay.com, one of which is to have my own travel show, so what better way to start then with an Instagram travel series.
This series of interviews and blogs will be conversations with friends, family, and acquaintances, sharing amazing travel experiences here in the United States and abroad.
This afternoon, I have a very special guest Kacey Leachman Rodgers. We are friends, family, sisters, cousins and so much more! Kacey has been in my life, my entire life. I used to split my summers in the south staying with her family and my granny! We have so many stories of trail and triumphs. We have jokes, songs and memories to last a lifetime.
Kacey is a daughter, sister, wife, mother, teacher, friendand wise council to many. I mean we literally were just on the phone for 6 hours discussing everything from finances, politics, family and love. I love her parents, siblings and extended family equally. The love is very real!
If you would have told that me Kacey would be the one with a family first and I would be the one globetrotting when we were children, I would not have believed you. Yet, she and Danerio have given me two amazing little cousin full of life and curiosity, What I like about Kacey and Danerio is how they have managed to support one another’s dreams over the years. While, they have sacrificed for family, they also give each other the freedom to be individuals outside of their marriage, is so loving to see.
I feel like this is going to be a lot of fun and we are going to learn something new about each other tonight.
Before we get your travelling teacher chronciles, I have some questions so the “Jays” (subscribers and tribe) can get a sense of who you are and how we became connected!
Sallee Jay: How did we meet?
Kacey: Your mom and my mama are best friends. They have been down like four flat tires since the 1950s. Matter fact, I believe your grandmama was the first person to truly encourage my mom academically and to think bigger than Bernice.
Sallee Jay: Where is the furthest place that you have travelled?
Kacey: Hong Kong.
Sallee Jay: How many countries have you been to?
Kacey: 2 Canada and China.
Sallee Jay: Where is your dream travel destination that you have yet to visit?
Kacey: Australia or New Zealand. Because there’s something about those two places I feel like they are at the edge of the world.
Sallee Jay: Group Trip / Solo Travel /BaeCateion and why?
Kacey: this is an F, Marry, Mary kill kind of question. Always BaeCation. Group trips are difficult once my people meter runs out. Lol. However, I do love a group trip with my parents or one or more siblings or cousins. I have not been on many group trips with friends over the years. Especially not since college like undergrad. Solo is fine but not as much fun as sharing it with the right person. So if I want to share with somebody, I’m probably going to choose Danario first.
Sallee Jay: What is the greatest lesson that you have learned to date from travel?
Kacey: as long as the transportation goes well, the trip will be fine. If the transportation is wrong, half of what you do while on the trip will be a blur. Bad transportation throws off your mindfulness while on the trip.
Sallee Jay: Live in one place or move around a little?
Kacey: I’ve been doing the latter most of my adult life. We are about to attempt to live in one place for a while. Or At least until the boys graduate high school
The below 10 questions serve as a general outline of the conversation flow. Check out the episode of IG for the full conversation :
1. How did you even get into traveling as a teacher?
Like all good things in my life by accident. I was looking for a summer job because as a teacher, I was working on a nine-month contract. I shared on Facebook that I was looking for a side hustle for the summer. Then one of my many cousins hit me up on Facebook and told me about a program her friend worked for at some point. I applied and got hired.
2. What’s your favorite travel destination to date?
This is a hard question everywhere I go. I find something awesome that I’m like this only exists here. If I had to choose, it would be Santa Cruz California because everything about it says go outside like how the Mount Rushmore area makes you feel the enormity of the sky. When you see the night sky there, you realize why they call it big sky country. Santa Cruz has a little of everything.
3. What’s your least favorite destination?
My black card might get revoked but Dallas awful. It’s just copy and paste of every franchise imaginable in a Frankenstein live, work, play planned community over and over until you go broke from toll fess on roads that are always under construction or you get lucky and hit desert then El Paso.
4. How have your teaching traveling experiences impacted your family?
When I travel, it’s the longest period of time that I’m ever apart from my family. Also because of the way the summer camp schedule works out I’m not home for my birthday. It was real hard the first year Hong Kong was also hard
5. How has your traveling experiences as a teacher impacted your marriage?
Communication. When you are in different time zones, or on the other side of the world, you have tobe really honest about how much you need to talk versus how much you want to talk.
6. What lessons do you want your boys to draw from your teaching travel experiences?
Don’t skip an experience that can broaden your perspective about the world and about people. Don’t miss out on finding your tribe.
7. How did you enjoy the food? New food experiences??
The food was amazing even with my food allergies. I can always find something to eat that is delicious for example summer 2022 and Seattle tried to eat my way through the best dumplings list. I ate so manydumplings.
8. Tell us about your lodging accommodations.
Most of the time we were staying on the college campus which meant a dorm situation. As long asyou don’t have to share a communal bathroom it’s usually not that bad because there aren’t a lot of college students on campus during the summer when I took my little side trips, my spouse would be kind enough to find me appropriate lodging. You know what kind of wood real bad that I could fit in a sprawl out in.
9. What are some of the differences you’ve seen among students and systems while teaching various places?
The students that I came in contact with were pretty much the same in personality. whether they were domestic or international they may be because I was teaching a combination, math and economics course and everybody speaks math so that made it like a common denominator and once we apply the math to a subject that everybody could engage with, it was fine. I will say I have noticed international students make a real effort to learn multiple languages, at least two or three besides their native language. Some of the institutions did try to micromanage luckily, good administrators can insulate staff from feeling any pressure from that
10. Packing must have’s!
Go with the weather. Pack, practical shoes only. Always a light jacket with a hood that zips instead of pull over. Amazon literally delivers everywhere so don’t worry about filling your suitcase also for international trips do you want to leave room for souvenirs. The night markets in Hong Kong were amazing but I knew I had nowhere to put the things I wanted to buy because I overpacked.
Sallee Jay: So, there you have it folks, this episode under wraps! Thank you again Kacey! You have always been so incredibly supportive of me, THANKS famiiy. I am honored to have share your love and light on my web series and to have you involved in the evolution of salleejay.com.
Do you have any last thoughts for the people?
Kacey: start small and local if necessary. Then expand further out of your comfort zone slowly if that’s what you need to do, but don’t let the grass grow under your feet.
Sallee Jay: Thank you again for joining me. Let me know what you thought in the comments! Do you want more episodes or should I go back to my accounting job 😊
Be sure to stay tuned for our next guest in January. As always feel free to check out all content, I can be found @salleejay on most major platforms, you can ALWAYS find me on here on IG.
Check out the site and all the blogs, the write up from Rachel’s episode is up on the blog! If you enjoyed this content be sure to like, share and subscribe and until the next time, remember to Travel + Explore & Play with Sallee Jay.
Peace