Craving Golden Kiwis, Living Life Abroad to the Fullest, and 'Writing' a Wrong in the World with Kelsey Powell

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What happens when you find yourself craving a new lifestyle? You design a life of adventure abroad and discover more of who you really are.

Our podcast guest this week is Kelsey Powell, a risk-taker, writer of wrongs in the world, creative soul, animal lover, and founder of cravingapeace.com / @cravingapeace. She expresses herself creatively through her vegan blog, inspires you to travel and explore — even if you’re going at it alone — and dishes out which food, travel destinations, and big life cravings are on her bucket lists. Kelsey is an incredible example of someone who knows that chasing your creative cravings can truly be a compass guiding the direction of your life, no matter how challenging or scary it may be. Make your way over to Instagram @creative.cravings to participate in this week’s creative challenge, inspired by Kelsey and her 3 ingredients for living life to the fullest.

How did Kelsey change the path of her life by starting a vegan blog, feeling lost in the US, and finding herself in New Zealand? Kelsey is such a role model for chasing your creative cravings, especially when your creativity allows you to stand up for what you believe in most.

Food for Thought mentioned in this podcast episode: 

• Is traveling one of your priorities for living life to the fullest? 

• What’s next on your travel bucket list? What are your best memories while traveling somewhere special?

• Co-hosts Sari and Lauren share what’s next on their travel bucket lists, which is also on creativecravingspodcast.com under “Our Story”

• Kelsey inspires all of us to think about how putting yourself outside of your comfort zone through traveling, actually sparks your creativity

• Where you start isn’t where you’ll end up, and you’re the one who gets to decide where you’re going

• Who is Kelsey, and what led her to chase her cravings for blogging and writing, travel, veganism, and “writing” a wrong in the world 

• Big differences in culture between living in the United States vs. New Zealand & Australia 

• Kelsey’s journey from New York to living on the opposite side of the world

• What to do when you feel like the place you grew up isn’t the right place for you or where you belong

• How studying, working, or volunteering abroad flips your world upside down and changes everything you thought you knew about the world

• What’s her favorite place in the world?

• Her journey from working in mental health to working for AJ Hackett bungee company — something she never thought she would do!  

• What it looks and feels like to live a life that you design for yourself

• Where does her wanderlust come from? Where does yours come from?

• Why the question on her mind is always “where can I go next?” Can you relate?

• How tough times back home led to chasing a craving for travel and a fresh start

• Lauren asks about different ways to be a risk-taker, from adventure to business to cooking

• Why people are innately scared to put themselves out there because change is scary and weird, but it’s rewarding if you do it — whatever it is — anyways

• How wearing your heart on your sleeve is a strength, not a weakness

• How traveling inspires you to live your life more intentionally and compassionately 

• How to turn your emotions into positive activism 

• Ways to channel emotions, through art, music, songwriting, activism and standing up for what you care about

• How to make a big leap with the security of someone else, and then go your own way when you feel a calling to do so

• How to dream bigger than you ever have before, and make it happen

• Why she felt more confident being alone than lonely being alone while traveling

• How to turn the experiences of your life into art, through whatever form of self-expression best fits you 

• How do you find a sense of community or belonging when you’re traveling by yourself?

• How brushing her teeth at a campsite with other girls she had never met before lead to a four day hiking trip with new best friends

• Transitioning to something new is not easy, from living new places to creating something from scratch like a blog

• What was she craving when she started her blog? What was the first step?

• What to do when you’re craving a platform to share a space to be creative, make it meaningful, and help a community of people

• Advice for anyone who’s creating: keep going, whether you’re at the very beginning or a year into your creative endeavor 

• Stay tuned for what recipe us co-hosts want to make, from Kelsey’s vegan blog, Craving A Peace (Buffalo Cauliflower) 

• Deep dive into Kelsey’s writing process for her Craving A Peace blog and Instagram:

What’s the end goal of the post? What am I encouraging people to think about or what problem am I trying to solve?

Think about the person you were previously — what would you have wanted to hear? Ask yourself “how can I create that?”

Once you have the idea, write it all out, then go back and edit

You use two parts of your brain — so first create, then edit/modify, don’t edit as you write or create

Pose a question to help people come to the solution on their own

• How to communicate your message without being too preachy “no one likes a preachy vegan”

• Sari and Lauren shed light on our imperfect podcasting journey as Kelsey shares the evolution of her blogging 

• The impact that losing someone close to you can have on you and changes your perspective on how you live you life to the fullest — be selfish in a good way

• How do you become a doer, even as a big dreamer? If you just do, create, write, read one thing every day, no matter how small — chip away at a small part of a bigger goal

• What is her life compass ? Has travel been the answer to finding her way? Has her body image struggle been the driving force for change? 

• Exchanging funny traveling stories: Kelsey — traveling through Tasmania that ended up featured on Buzzfeed with this photo, Sari — getting hit in the head with a surfboard

• What does Kelsey’s New Zealand accent sound like?

“Keep trying new things, screwing up, failing, learning, look for signs and how you’re feeling about it all”

 

Kelsey’s Ingredients for Living Life to the Fullest:

1. Be bold & brave — add zest to your life, go on adventures, “go out and set the world on fire”

• (cue music “she sets the city on fire” by Gavin DeGraw).

2. Be passionate & compassionate — kind towards yourself and kind towards others (humans and animals)

3. Share your raw authenticity — don’t hide who you are

 

Food mentioned in this podcast episode: 

• Matcha Milkshakes from Shuhari Matcha Cafe on Abbot Kinney in Venice Beach

• Smashed avocado with garlic salt, chili flakes, on toast

• Feijoa, sweet-sour fruit native to New Zealand

• Green kiwis and golden kiwis

• Hot Sauce

• Passionfruit

• Cashews

• Lord of the Fries in Queenstown, NZ 

   

Places mentioned in this episode for you to add to your travel bucket list:

• Thailand, Ghana (Western Africa), Central America (volunteering), Australia, New Zealand

• Melbourne, Queensland, Airlie Beach Great Barrier Reef, French Polynesia, Tahiti, Mo'orea (swimming with sharks and whales and sting rays)

• Samoa, Tuvalu, Vanuatu South Pacific Islands 

• Add Australia’s “The Big Things” to your bucket list

   

Creative Cravings Challenge, inspired by Kelsey:

What are 3 foods that represent your ingredients for living life to the fullest? Or, which 3 food emojis, and why? Share by tagging @creative.cravings and use #creativecravingspodcast or on Facebook at Creative Cravings Community

 

Connect with Kelsey on Instagram at @cravingapeace

 

Thanks so much for listening!

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