The Tortoise with Brooke McAlary

http://www.slowyourhome.com/31 Everyone’s path to a simpler life unfolds differently, but as I’ve been interviewing guests for the podcast and talking to more and more people about their stories, it’s becoming clear that there are common points in most tellings. Common realisations as we strip away the excess, the clutter, the stress and the stuff. One of the most common is the desire to simplify the food we eat and the products we use, simply because of the impact they’re having on our well being. It’s so often that we come to un Today I chat with Alexx Stuart, low-tox living expert, about the changes we can make to our food and many of our everyday products, and the impact these changes can have on our well being. We look at the first steps anyone can take to make the shift towards a low-tox life, and also talk about guilt and how to move past the fear of being “too far gone” to make any significant changes. It’s an information-packed episode with loads of resources for you to check out after, so be sure to head over here to check out the show notes, including links to Alexx’s upcoming ecourse, as well as her recommended books and documentaries. Enjoy! ==== If you're enjoying the show and want to know how to best support us, leave us a rating or a review in iTunes or head over to our Patreon page to help support the show financially. And thanks so much for listening! xx ====Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

http://www.slowyourhome.com/30 Many people dream of making the shift from hectic city life to somewhere slower paced, and I can’t help but feel this has become the expected move for those adopting a simpler life. But it totally doesn’t need to be the case. Today I chat with Rachel Jonat who has just moved her family of five from The Isle of Man (a relatively small and remote island in the Irish Sea) back to inner-city Vancouver, and life is just as, if not more simple now. Cities have a whole lot going for them when it comes to slow living, and today we talk about the benefits of living in a city as opposed to a small community. Rachel and I also talk about minimalism-lite and how it plays out with three young boys, why she loves over-the-top birthday parties and what her world-champion rowing career taught her about living a non-conventional life. There was lots for me to think about after this conversation - particularly about things like fear, failure, experimenting and honesty - and I really hope you get as much from it as I did! Enjoy! ====If you're enjoying the show and want to know how to best support us, leave us a rating or a review in iTunes or head over to our Patreon page to help support the show financially. And thanks so much for listening! xx ====Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

http://www.slowyourhome.com/29 Travel has been a part of my life for a really long time, so chatting with this week's guest, Tsh Oxenreider, was such a joy. Tsh has just returned home after a year-long round the world trip with her husband and 3 kids and - not surprisingly - we spend a good chunk of today's episode talking about it. We chat about the different types of long-term travel - both slow travel and ‘hurry up and see all the sights’ travel - as well as how to make it work with a family. We look at packing, toys and the things that surprised her most about being on the road for such a long time, and we also talk about the different parenting styles they encountered along the way. Honestly, this episode gave Ben and I a big dose of itchy feet, so be warned that you may just find yourself perusing airline deals later today. (Not that we did anything of the sort, of course. Ahem.) Enjoy! ====If you're enjoying the show and want to know how to best support us, leave us a rating or a review in iTunes or head over to our Patreon page to help support the show financially. And thanks so much for listening! xx ====Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

http://www.slowyourhome.com/28 Time for another hostful episode and today Ben and I are answering two really excellent listener questions. The first is from a busy mum who is trying to find time to live a slow life - in spite of the constraints of family, work and life. The second question is about how best to establish a social network of like-minded people, while not alienating old friends whose lifestyle might be significantly different to our own. These are such cracking questions and we go back and forth a lot with both, as neither of them has an answer as such. Like so much of slow and simple living, it’s about what works for you rather than what works for ‘everyone’ (whoever ‘everyone’ is). I’m also loathe to give a one size fits all answer, because they’re so dissatisfying to me. I love that there’s more than one way to approach these issues and endlessly differing points of view. Enjoy our chat, and don't forget to head over to the Facebook page if you have a question you'd like answered on an upcoming hostful episode. Also, if you haven't yet subscribed to the show be sure to head over to the iTunes store and subscribe or leave us a rating/review. Doing so helps others discover the show and spread the idea of slow living even further! Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

http://www.slowyourhome.com/27 Is there such a thing as fast slow food? Today’s guest, Jules Clancy of The Stone Soup believes there is, and she’s made it her mission to create and share recipes that are healthy, tasty, fast, easy and have just 5 ingredients. In today’s episode we talk about how to create simple, easy meals, but we also look at the impact minimalism has had on Jules’ life, beyond the culinary simplicity she practices. We dig in to her love of experimentation and also look at how decluttering lead to quitting her job and leaving the corporate world. As the mum of a toddler, Jules has some excellent insight into dealing with the dreaded fussy eating stage and gives some tips on how to avoid the whole ‘make two dinners every night’ issue. She also talks about meal planning, getting the most out of your time in the kitchen and what staples she always has on hand - for those nights it’s really too hard to cook. I absolutely loved this conversation (despite the horrible delay we had to contend with - please excuse any crappy audio!) and came away re-energised to try new things in the kitchen and put in an extra 30 minutes prep time on a Sunday, to set ourselves up well for the week ahead. Enjoy!Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

http://www.slowyourhome.com/26 In today’s episode, I’m the annoying person talking about Christmas - in September.  While the holidays are still a few months away, I’ve been asked whether it’s possible to maintain a slower, simpler way of life in the face of the consumerism-driven Christmas of the modern day, and I think it’s a question many people will have over the coming weeks. So I thought now might be good time to start thinking about it. (Sorry!)  I have my own thoughts on this topic, naturally, and I dive right down into them in this episode, talking about my experiences as a kid, as well as our approach to gift giving now that we have our own kids to buy for.  But my ideas are just that - mine. There’s so many different ways to approach the holiday season, so I invited Bele Masterman back to chat about her views on giving and receiving, whether re-gifting is OK, how to buy second-hand and what to do if a gift is unwanted.  We also talk about how best to manage our kids expectations, how to deal with family and friends who love giving gifts and how to let go of the guilt that comes with a sentimental present.  Enjoy! PS: This episode is a bit longer than normal, and we’d love to know if the length is something you enjoy or if you prefer to keep them shorter - around the 50-minute mark.    Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

http://www.slowyourhome.com/25 Sometimes I have a conversation that is so honest and open it floors me. Today’s episode is one of those. Sam Lustgarten writes about frugal living, but he and I dive in to a whole lot more than that.  We talk about how he fell into debt in college, and how spending money on stuff became a much-desired distraction as he moved through a difficult personal time. We also look at the first crucial steps that Sam took to start getting out of debt and live a simpler, more frugal life. Debt can be such a shameful, emotional burden to carry around, but Sam shows how being honest, open and vulnerable can actually lessen the burden and free us up to pay it off (and keep it off).  What I loved about this chat was that Sam never shied away from answering the tricky questions, and as a result I felt myself opening up and talking about our own issues with money and debt.  Enjoy!  Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

http://www.slowyourhome.com/24 Is slow living really accessible to people who live in cities? This is a question I'm asked a lot and today’s guest, William Powers, is the perfect person to ask. Bill's most recent book, New Slow City, explores what it means to live slow in one of the world’s most hectic cities - New York.  He and his wife spent a year living in a micro-apartment in Manhattan, and Bill set about to cut back his work schedule to just 2 days a week. I loved hearing not only about the slow year Bill and his wife lived in New York, but also the changes they've made since and what took them to move to a Transition Town in Bolivia.  Such a great conversation, and I hope you enjoy it! Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

http://www.slowyourhome.com/23 Today's guest is my lovely husband Ben, and while hostful episodes are usually about us answering listener questions, today I interview him about our journey from stressed-out to slow living. We also look at the major benefits from his perspective, and how his idea of success and a life well-lived have changed.  As the one who was the driving force behind slowing down, it was actually really interesting for me to hear Ben’s perspective. And undoubtedly, the pressures he feels are different to the ones I’ve felt, so it was fascinating to hear him talk about what he fears, and the obstacles that still stand in his way.  We also give each other a fair amount of crap, so don’t go thinking our relationship is all deep conversations and time spent delving into each other’s innermost thoughts. Lots of fart jokes in this house.  Enjoy today’s episode, and rest assured that next week we’ll be back to guests outside the family and (fingers crossed) I will no longer sound like Tom Waits.   Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

http://www.slowyourhome.com/22 In today’s episode, I chat with Cait Flanders about her journey towards a debt-free life, and honestly, it’s a delightful kick in the pants for any of us who may not be on friendly terms with our money.  Over the past 3 years Cait has paid off over $30,000 in consumer debt, adopted minimalism (you’ll find that these two are very closely related!) travelled extensively through North America and recently quit her full-time job to work as a freelancer.  She’s also completely shifted her ideas on what ‘success’ looks and feels like, put herself on a two-year shopping ban and learnt to value experiences over things, slow over fast and long-term gain over short-term pleasure.  We look at why and how Cait started making changes, and she takes us through the rules of her shopping ban.  In short, this episode will inspire your socks off!  Enjoy. Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.