Meet Victor And MJ

SPEAKER_02 0:00

I am Alexa and Dr.

SPEAKER_04 0:02

Cory. And together we are the Robbie to each other. Alright, we are a touring musical duo.

SPEAKER_02 0:11

And our music has taken us to all kinds of places all around the world and keeps us always on the go.

SPEAKER_05 0:16

So we hope you enjoy our stories and adventures while running around working through all your plates money.

SPEAKER_02 0:22

And we hope to facilitate your busy lifestyle and feed your inner travel bug. Alright, you ready? We're ready.

SPEAKER_05 0:34

So I'm ready. Let's roam with roomies. Let's roam with roamies.

SPEAKER_02 0:38

Alright. I love it. I love it. Y'all roaming with us today is Victor and MJ. Woo!

SPEAKER_04 0:49

That's right, man.

SPEAKER_02 0:50

Y'all, they're such a fun couple. Yeah. And they're so cute. And we just, okay, so we got to meet them in the Blues. Y'all hopefully listen to our episodes about Blue's and Star Social. If you did it, then now you can go look at all of that and be happy and profitable. Yeah. But that's when we met here at MJ. And so we got to like have a little bit of getaway time with Beth. We were in some of the same purgants and things like that. So that was really cool. But y'all, like, they're they're just a fun couple, but they are also traveling all the time. And so we just wanted to kind of introduce you to them, and like as we're learning more about them, you will too. And we are hoping that you will be following them and their adventures and roaming with them as well.

SPEAKER_05 1:38

And I'm gonna I'm gonna interrupt here and say before we officially like introduce them, which I guess you kind of already have, but uh yeah, they're the kind of kind of people that the first time I remember seeing them is when we were we were getting on the little plane to fly from uh Bailey City out to Placencia, and and uh and I was just like for some reason like you're drawn to them. I was like, who is this couple? And I was just really and then then we just found ourselves sort of like magnets being drawn or something like that. It was uh yeah, it was awesome. Those are the kind of people they are, though. You're drawn to them. Uh so anyway, we have them with us today.

SPEAKER_01 2:20

We're so excited.

SPEAKER_05 2:22

You guys are awesome, and MJ.

SPEAKER_01 2:25

Well, well, well, first of all, thank you for inviting us, and we're so happy that we got to meet you guys. We really had a great time in Belize. It's amazing already, but because you guys were there, it was much more amazing.

SPEAKER_05 2:37

Yeah, you guys were a travel couple for sure.

SPEAKER_01 2:39

Of course, yes.

SPEAKER_05 2:42

For sure.

SPEAKER_02 2:44

Have practical things for your travel, but also like have you be inspired and so.

SPEAKER_03 2:50

Travel live, maybe.

SPEAKER_02 2:51

Yes, and Victor and MJ are a big inspiration to us and to you. So we want to just like dive in. Um, I want to ask you guys first of all, where can people find you? Like on the web, you're all over the web. So where are they gonna find you on the online and which like platform

How They Met And Where They’re From

SPEAKER_02 3:12

do you spend the most time and effort on?

SPEAKER_00 3:14

Well, our main focus is YouTube. And our YouTube channel is Victor and MJ.

SPEAKER_01 3:20

Victor and MJ.

SPEAKER_00 3:21

Yeah. Of course we do have Instagram, Facebook, all that, but that's not much of the focus. That's kind of like secondary comes.

SPEAKER_01 3:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:28

Okay. So YouTube is your focus. Okay, so that's that gives us a quick little, and they're just gonna look search for Victor and MJ. And is written out. Okay. Yes. All right. Now, so y'all are married. Where did y'all meet? And how did how did y'all get to know each other? Because y'all have I'll just say, y'all have different accents from each other and from us. So where are you from? And how did you meet?

SPEAKER_00 3:54

About the meat, each of us has uh its own version. So how do you want it?

SPEAKER_05 4:06

See what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_01 4:08

Every year the story changes with him. The story with me will always be the same. Memory changes.

SPEAKER_05 4:14

Well, he finds ways to make it better, of course. You know what's the audience responding to?

SPEAKER_02 4:21

Who should we listen to, Rory? Who do you think we're gonna do?

SPEAKER_05 4:24

Well, obviously, Victor. Hello.

SPEAKER_02 4:28

Okay, so Victor, you have to go first. How did you meet?

SPEAKER_00 4:32

Um, yeah, originally I'm from Moldova, uh, but that's about it. And then uh we met in um the city we live, which is Las Vegas, Nevada. Yeah, yeah. And um we'll keep it short. So I used to work, that's before our travel adventures. I used to work in a repair shop uh as a mechanic, and um she happened to have a car that broke down the shop, and the rest is history.

SPEAKER_05 4:58

Wow, you're telling the truth this time. Yeah, he kept making sure it wasn't quite fixed all the way, so she had to come back.

SPEAKER_00 5:06

Well, we want to value the time of the viewers and go straight to the point.

SPEAKER_01 5:11

Yeah, well, I I don't have anything to say because he he said the story.

SPEAKER_05 5:17

Uh well, when we heard the story of Belise, we heard a few more details to it and were which were fun, but that's the general gist of it. He and uh was it a brother or a friend of yours who opened the shop? A friend of yours, okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 5:30

Now, this auto mechanic stuff that you did is gonna come handy in handy for the end of our conversation. So we're gonna be y'all just remember that that is significant and it's just the beginning of an adventure. So just saying that's why I'm that's why I married him. Yes, yes. And MJ, where where are your origins and your roots? Um, I'm originally from Philippines.

SPEAKER_01 6:01

Okay. So that's where I was born. Uh but I I moved here in the US. And yes, we we met here in Las Vegas. Okay. Yeah. I'm from here and he's from somewhere else, but this is the place. Yes. So Vegas is.

SPEAKER_05 6:17

Yeah, that's where the magic came together.

SPEAKER_02 6:19

Yeah. Love it, love it.

Inside Their YouTube: Travel Styles And Comparisons

SPEAKER_02 6:22

Okay. So let's dive into your YouTube channel. What are we gonna find there? And what's gonna like what do we what are we gonna see when we get to your YouTube channel?

SPEAKER_00 6:33

So we um mostly focus on the travel videos. Not mostly, I would say 100% of our videos in travel.

SPEAKER_05 6:39

That's that's mostly. That's definitely mostly.

SPEAKER_00 6:42

Yeah, but they kind of have different angles. Like we would have like trains, um cruise ships, river uh cruises, ocean cruises, luxury hotels, beyond the beaten path travel. So we kind of try different type of stuff because I mostly like maybe beyond the beaten path. He likes nature. Uh MJ likes luxury, so sometimes we have to do uh one and another to satisfy both.

SPEAKER_02 7:10

There's nothing wrong with that.

SPEAKER_00 7:12

No, come on.

SPEAKER_02 7:17

Thank you, thank you. Takes one to know what.

unknown 7:23

Wow.

SPEAKER_05 7:23

She well, she needs to get to know you better.

SPEAKER_02 7:25

I know.

SPEAKER_05 7:28

I mean, because you are classy, because you are classy.

SPEAKER_02 7:31

Yeah. Okay, anyway, back to you, Victor.

SPEAKER_00 7:33

Yes, Victor. Yeah, so mostly it's travel. Lately, we start incorporating more of the uh, I would say not travel guide, but more of like comparison videos, like we compare eight resorts in Jamaica uh under the same brand for the ride. So it's more gauged towards someone that is choosing to travel somewhere and we're solving the problem. That's great. Easier and better and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_01 8:00

Yeah, we did input time a couple of days uh just to be there alone and then editing it. Um but what our aim is, if you go to our channel um and you're looking for inspiration, you know, where to go, or you're trying to solve a problem, hey, which property in Jamaica would be best under this brand, then we would like to provide you some insight. It's a bit of an education, but it's pretty much us. Nothing is scripted. So our personalities are out there, you know. And yeah, we we share what our insight is without anyone's um uh uh what do you call it? Without like their influence or yeah, so not really the influence, it's really our opinion.

SPEAKER_05 8:52

Yeah, yeah. That's great. I mean, if I've never traveled anywhere, if there's somewhere we're looking to go and it's new, we always research where we're going. We're just doing this with Lapland. And we ask a friend, hey, where should we go in Lapland? Because he's he's from that area and he's been a bazillion times, and so he's giving us all the information that he thinks will be helpful. You guys do that for people. That is such a huge help. They don't have to search the entire internet to find out every little thing about Jamaica or wherever it is, but they can go to your YouTube channel and in a short amount of time learn probably what they need to know and be able to make an informed decision and be really happy about it.

SPEAKER_02 9:27

Yeah. Exactly. And be inspired and make their plans and all of that.

SPEAKER_05 9:31

Yeah, totally.

SPEAKER_02 9:32

So now with the videos, is it more are you both on camera or is it mostly MJ on camera? And because Victor, when we were with you, you were behind the camera a lot. So it sounds it seems like you're like the video expert.

SPEAKER_00 9:48

Would you so it depends on the topic? So uh when it comes to more like talking about the hotel rooms or something, if we describe uh that's MJ expertise. So I'm behind the camera, she's in front of it. When it comes to maybe some numbers, like how large is the ship, how many rooms, stuff like that. That's my list. Okay, yeah, man. When I go in front of the camera, so it depends on the situation. Like, you know, uh, we we try to put

On-Camera Roles, Food, And Nature

SPEAKER_00 10:15

ourselves wherever strength are in in front of me.

SPEAKER_01 10:17

Yeah, well, when it comes to nature, facts, that's him. When it comes to food, I will be the face.

SPEAKER_00 10:26

I try to describe food, and the only one way I can describe any type of food that says it's good.

SPEAKER_05 10:34

So Moldov doesn't exactly have the food culture. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Well, you get it honest, MJ. I mean, uh you growing up in the Philippines and then living in America, you've been it's quite a food culture in the Philippines to begin with.

SPEAKER_01 10:52

So part of our culture is we connect to people through food.

SPEAKER_03 10:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:59

So that's part of my culture. So you can't take that away.

unknown 11:04

Nope.

SPEAKER_03 11:04

That's right.

SPEAKER_02 11:09

Very cool, very cool. Okay, and so in the videos, and also I would just probably say you mentioned that when it comes to nature, it's gonna be more Victor. He might be one of the ones filming himself if he's like jumping off a boat and starting to scuba dive or do something random like that in Belize.

SPEAKER_03 11:28

He might be filming that. That's me.

SPEAKER_01 11:34

I really am not much of an adventurer, but because he is, and he usually drags me, yeah, and I'm like super nervous before I do things because I normally wouldn't do it. It's out of my comfort zone. But after I'm like, okay, I'm glad I did that. Ah, nice.

SPEAKER_02 11:53

I think you just define travel in a nutshell anyway, because whenever we're any of us are traveling, whether it's the four of us or just anyone listening, travel takes you out of your comfort zone. Yeah. But it there's always something good when that happens. There's usually, you know, we've just found when you step out of your comfort zone, it takes you to a new place. And especially when it comes to travel, that new place is you're gonna learn something about yourself. And you're gonna learn about something about the people you're with. You're gonna learn about another culture. Um you're go you're you learn so much that it does change you in a good way. And it exposes things about yourself that you may or may not like, but you learn, you learn so much about who you are and what you love, and it just makes you a stronger person when you kind of quote unquote go back to your daily life. So I just think I think you just touched on such an important piece of the importance of travel, and and we love to just kind of remind people that yeah, you might have to do some things that aren't so comfortable and you're gonna go to a place you've never been, but yeah, like you grew up in Moldova and you're gonna go spend weeks in the Philippines eating the food and all I mean So in in relation to that, how would you say um travel has uh been effective in your marriage?

SPEAKER_05 13:21

You know, both good and bad. Well, I mean, we travel all the time. We know there's challenges, but then it's also something wonderful about it and the way that getting out of your comfort zone oftentimes there's a little bit of conflict, but it also brings you together, right? I mean, how's this how has this affected and been an influence on your relationship?

SPEAKER_00 13:38

Well, when we start

Travel, Discomfort, And Growth As A Couple

SPEAKER_00 13:40

traveling, because it happened when MJ um got in the travel industry and we start traveling here and there, it it it did start happening that we decide to film because we were inspired by another channel on YouTube. And uh that was a problem to be honest at the beginning. I would say for the first six months to a year, there was a lot of arguments, it was a lot of difficulties because uh I have my imagining how the video should come. And yeah, MJ, yeah. She's got her opinion.

SPEAKER_03 14:13

I have my own opinion. Absolutely, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:16

Two visions struggle, but by now probably we kind of nail it. We we know everybody's role, and it's much smoother, easier.

SPEAKER_01 14:25

And yeah, we have cues.

SPEAKER_00 14:27

Yeah, yeah, they go over.

SPEAKER_05 14:30

Yeah, I mean, but yeah, right. But the interesting thing about that, those those cues and stuff, they they they're not only for that, they're they I mean they affect the rest of your relationship also, like they happen and you don't even realize it, right? You're you're learning each other better and uh how to resolve like six months of who's right, who's gonna get their vision and all this, and coming together on it, the compromise. Uh it's it's a cool thing.

SPEAKER_01 14:55

I agree. Um what you were saying earlier, Alexa, though, that um when you travel, you you do learn a lot about yourself and the people you're traveling with. So when it comes to relationship, um, I think it's really important for couples to to travel and see if they get along or not.

SPEAKER_05 15:16

That's a good point.

SPEAKER_01 15:18

Especially if one likes to travel and one doesn't. Or, you know, how does one react to certain situations? Because that's one thing that is constant, not just in life, but also in travel, is the change. Just never know what's gonna happen next.

SPEAKER_00 15:33

And I will add, if you film when you travel and then you watch the videos and you even learn more about yourself because you are surprised what bad things you may say and you don't even realize.

SPEAKER_05 15:47

Hey, I can attest to that.

SPEAKER_03 15:49

I'm always nice.

SPEAKER_05 15:51

I can totally attest to that, buddy. I'm with you, Victor. It's often she'll tell me, you can't say that, or you shouldn't say that. I was like, Well, why not? I was thinking it, I was feeling it.

SPEAKER_02 16:01

It's my job to keep him in line, yes, make him behave.

SPEAKER_05 16:04

Yeah, I feel you on that, Victor.

SPEAKER_02 16:05

Okay, well, so with you, Alexa. Yeah, yeah, we've got to make our men behave.

SPEAKER_05 16:09

Come on.

SPEAKER_02 16:10

But but I think too, like, Victor's been good to kind of like, like you said, stretch you out of your comfort zone and stuff. So, like, what would you say some are some what are some of like the crazy adventures you've done that you would never imagine that like you would have done that?

SPEAKER_01 16:26

Uh if for me personally, I think the craziest one would be when we went to Africa, Zimbabwe, yeah, and yeah, we spent a couple of weeks there.

SPEAKER_05 16:39

Gotta be big falls coming into this conversation.

SPEAKER_01 16:42

Waterfalls, you know, walking safari, chasing lions. Yes, yeah, yeah. That's that's uh adventurous, but the the most out of my comfort zone was he wanted to do mobile camping. So does that mean like camping in your car? Or what does that mean? Explain the mobile camping.

SPEAKER_05 17:07

It's in the African bush.

SPEAKER_00 17:09

Yeah, it's a tent in the African bush, and it's as simple as it can be. Inside you only have a bed with a mattress, and it has kind of an attached tent

Zimbabwe Stories: Mobile Camping And Walking Safaris

SPEAKER_00 17:21

next to it, just because if you need to go in a restroom outside, so you don't go outside your tent, but it goes into your little tent that is attached, and it has this how do they call it like Portaloo?

SPEAKER_02 17:36

Yeah, for me, that sounds fancy for camping.

SPEAKER_00 17:40

So imagine yourself a just a seat from the toilet, you know, the seat of the lid. So the lid is open, the seat is there, and the seat is mounted on a four little metal rods, yeah, and underneath it's a hole. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 17:55

Okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:56

What more do you need?

SPEAKER_02 17:58

I mean, that sounds fancy for camping.

SPEAKER_00 18:00

Oh, yeah, it's a nice air force. I I absolutely loved it. Uh, not the toilet, but the experience. Because you go to sleep and the hyena call is on your left and the lion call is on your right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:16

You're hearing rustling here and there. Like, what is that?

SPEAKER_00 18:19

You hear the blue elephants grazing. It's it's it's amazing.

SPEAKER_05 18:24

But whereas it's it's relaxing him, it's flipping you out, huh?

SPEAKER_02 18:28

So how do you think?

SPEAKER_00 18:30

So and the reason it's called mobile camping because every night they can take all the tent and go to a different place.

SPEAKER_01 18:37

With no foot footprints. So we actually went with this really good um uh company in Sila Safaris. And Adam was our guide, and he showed us what mobile camping is all about, you know, being in the middle of the bush, um, walking safaris, searching for lions, uh leopards, and then yeah, and then what's amazing about it is in the middle of the bush, you have a chef who will cook you the most amazing meals. I wanted to take him.

SPEAKER_02 19:16

I mean, you have a toilet and a chef. I mean, to me, come on, this is not the worst roughing it that people have experienced. So it's kind of like the step up.

SPEAKER_05 19:26

Although it's a it's a bit dang more dangerous than going to your state park and popping a tent up.

SPEAKER_02 19:30

And it's not quite glamping. We're not to that point.

SPEAKER_05 19:34

No, it's not glamping in the least bit.

SPEAKER_02 19:36

Highly recommend it. Well, yeah, having a chef, that's kind of cool.

SPEAKER_05 19:41

But I can see why you'd be out of your comfort zone. The whole, like walking safari, seriously.

SPEAKER_02 19:46

How do you know they're not gonna step on you while you're sleeping? You don't know. Okay. I mean, that's not nerve-wracking or anything. So it's it's the most restful night's sleep you could have.

SPEAKER_00 20:06

For vacuum anyway. He said, everywhere, anywhere.

SPEAKER_01 20:18

And then she asked, why promised me there was a toilet.

SPEAKER_00 20:22

And then she asked, but what if there are snake bites me? And his answer was, if it's your time, it's your time. So that's your answer.

SPEAKER_01 20:35

Because there's no hospital, and you have to ride a camel to go to a hospital.

SPEAKER_05 20:41

Oh man. Yeah, if it's your time, it's your time.

SPEAKER_01 20:45

These are deep thoughts.

SPEAKER_05 20:47

Oh man, not that you want to go out like that.

SPEAKER_01 20:52

Yeah, that's right.

SPEAKER_02 20:53

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 20:54

That's right. Wow. Adventure travel.

SPEAKER_02 20:58

Any other crazy adventures that you've done, Victor, that you didn't expect you would get to do?

SPEAKER_00 21:03

I know y'all have had a lot, but no, the the the that comes to the Zimbabwe walking safari probably comes number one in thinking because the thrill of it, you know, uh going with the guide and looking for the lion paw prints and trying to hunt that lion in terms of hunt for footage, not track a lion, and yeah, tracking and hearing the noises. I I think that thrilling experience I did not experience. That's the yeah, that's what I'm sharing right now. Okay.

SPEAKER_05 21:43

I love it. Go ahead, I'm listening. She totally did that to me earlier tonight.

SPEAKER_03 21:54

She totally did it to me.

SPEAKER_00 21:57

The pangolin?

SPEAKER_03 21:58

Yes.

SPEAKER_05 22:00

They are so much like us. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 22:02

That was also in Zimbabwe uh we were in a different camp that you it's a little bit more glamorous where you stay, but you they also offer the walking safaris. And walking safaris basically you drive, you find a spot or a trail, you get off your vehicle, and you go with your guide, and sometimes most of the time they would have two guides because of your safety. So one guide is gonna go in the front, one in the back. They both armed, uh, just in case they need to shoot an air or something like that. And yeah, uh that day we were looking for a lion specifically. We had found some fresh paw prints, and we were following.

SPEAKER_02 22:40

And they were roaring.

SPEAKER_01 22:41

They were roaring.

SPEAKER_05 22:43

Oh, so you knew they were near.

SPEAKER_02 22:44

I don't think y'all know, but

The Rare Pangolin Encounter

SPEAKER_02 22:46

lions are my very favorite animal in the whole world. And Rory will not let me have a pet lion, but I really want one.

SPEAKER_05 22:53

Yeah, Matt, I'm a terrible host.

SPEAKER_02 22:54

So just the fact that you are talking about lions is like my heart is just so big right now. Okay, so you have her heart, Victor. Keep going.

SPEAKER_00 23:03

Yeah, but the the way Zimbabwe is, it's very bushy. So it's not like a flat savannah. It's really hard to notice something far away. So you could hear it, you truck it. Um, and as we trucked, we lost the the um footprints in um tall grass. We still was kinda the sun was going up, so it was getting hotter, it was kind of time to go back, but we decided still to pursue and go in the direction we kinda thought he went. And um, we did not find a line, long story short. But we stumbled on the rarest animal in Africa, the most traffic animal in the world. Why? It's called a pangolin. It's so rare. Um, the way our guide told us that there are people who go for 20 for 30 years in a safari just to see that animal and they don't see it. And the last one. I have a quiz bumps right now.

SPEAKER_01 23:55

I saw it. I'm the one that's like, is that a pangolin chance?

SPEAKER_05 24:00

Come on. They're like, no way. What is it?

SPEAKER_02 24:07

You guys are gonna have to send us a picture that we can share on socials when we see it.

SPEAKER_00 24:11

Yeah, definitely. We made a whole video about that episode, but yeah, never mind. Okay, we'll we'll put it on an animal of a long tail that has scales all over its body.

SPEAKER_05 24:19

Looks like a dinosaur. Okay, like a is it like a glorified special armadilla kind of a yeah, it's an angiantish giant lizard looking thing.

SPEAKER_02 24:29

Yes, right?

SPEAKER_00 24:30

It's not a lizard, it's a mammal.

SPEAKER_02 24:31

It's a lizard, but it's a mammal.

SPEAKER_00 24:33

It looks like a honey badger. Imagine a honey badger with all scales instead of four.

SPEAKER_01 24:37

And then it eats ant. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 24:39

That'd be one bad animal. Man, how is it? They're really cute.

SPEAKER_01 24:43

They're so cute, I swear. I love it.

SPEAKER_05 24:46

So what why are they trafficked so highly?

SPEAKER_01 24:49

Because they're rare.

SPEAKER_00 24:50

Because in um Eastern medicine is believed that there's some beneficial from their scales. The same, the same reason the rhino horns are trafficked. Aphrodis.

SPEAKER_01 25:01

It's kind of sad. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:04

A pangolin that we saw, uh the guy told us if we would traffic that pangolin, that would have $300,000. What yeah, so that's yeah, it's all about for the average uh salary in Africa, which is very, very little, that provides the lifetime, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 25:22

Yeah, no, yeah, lifetime, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:24

Yeah, wow. Yeah, it's it's unfortunate. But anyway, that was a happy pangolin. It was wild. Wow, it wasn't tagged. Nobody played like so that was good.

SPEAKER_05 25:39

Super fun.

SPEAKER_02 25:41

That's so fun.

SPEAKER_05 25:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 25:44

So now you guys have been doing your YouTube channel, and that takes up a ton of your time because you're traveling, you're editing, you're sharing, all those things. What's next for y'all?

SPEAKER_05 25:57

Yeah, the coastal penguins. Penguins.

SPEAKER_01 26:00

So we're we're headed next to South Africa. We'll start in Cape Town. We'll we'll go around the winelands, getting to know the area, see some wine, wineries,

Next Up: South Africa, Wine, Penguins, Garden Route

SPEAKER_01 26:12

cheese tasting. We gotta learn it so that we know the product. And then after that, we go back to Cape Town. We'll we'll be seeing some penguins. Uh, penguins. We'll be seeing some penguins. Right, it's your fault. Gory, you ruined her. Messed her all up.

SPEAKER_05 26:32

Totally got it.

SPEAKER_01 26:34

We'll be seeing the penguins and then go the garden route. It's a route in South Africa that uh not many people go there, but it's a really beautiful area. That way we can promote uh that particular destination and show what else people can do once after they've seen the safaris, the big fives, and the Cape Town. There's more to it. So you don't go to Africa once, you you you go there in your lifetime, really. Yeah, that's cool.

SPEAKER_02 27:07

Yeah, penguins in South Africa. Like, to me, that seems a little incongruent with you know, Rory's been to South Africa. I've been there for like an evening because I had a layover there. So technically, I've been to South Africa, technically, but like that's it. So, like, but I wouldn't consider that a you know, an ice cream destination.

SPEAKER_05 27:29

Yeah, yeah, totally. I was shocked when I saw him. Are those penguins? What the heck?

SPEAKER_02 27:35

So you've seen them? Yeah, yeah, yeah. You already know about this? Yeah, whatever. Oh, come on, Rory.

SPEAKER_05 27:41

You know I'm better than you. Come on.

SPEAKER_02 27:44

Okay. So y'all are gonna see what so Rory could tell you all about that, what y'all are gonna see. Apparently, he's done that.

SPEAKER_05 27:51

It's theirs to discover. Oh, I do have to say Cape Town is one of the most beautiful, at least when I was there, I don't know what it's like now, one of the most beautiful cities in the world. It was absolutely spectacular, the setting and everything. But also, like she said, some incongruencies there. Uh Kyliech is a town of well over a million people. Uh, when apartheid happened, they moved all the the black folks off their land and put them in this community, and it is built to like I don't know, might be a couple million people now. And when you go up on top of Table Mountain, you can see all of the area, and there's a map with all of the cities and towns and stuff that you're looking at. But the one that's like over a couple million people, Kylicha, is not listed. It's not on the map because it's not something that, at least at that point when I was there, the government wanted people to uh know existed, if you will. You know what I mean? Kind of a uh we don't want tourists to go there. That's uh that's kind of a dirty little whatever thing. It was really sad. We we I was there with some missionaries and we spent a little time in Kylicha. And anyway, it's a very sad was a very sad situation. I'm assuming it probably has not changed much uh over the years. But Cape Town, gorgeous city, absolutely beautiful. Man.

SPEAKER_02 28:58

And isn't that where you said you like it you came home feeling wild that it made you feel wild?

SPEAKER_05 29:04

Africa, mostly Zimbabwe, but yeah, South Africa too made me feel wild.

SPEAKER_01 29:08

Yeah, see? Yeah, Zimbabwe's a hidden gem, I believe. Not many people know about it.

SPEAKER_05 29:14

Yeah, I mean people have heard of Victoria Falls, but probably the vast majority of them couldn't tell you it's in Zimbabwe, right? They just know it's this wonder, but it is absolutely ridiculous, isn't it? I mean, uh, gorgeous.

SPEAKER_02 29:27

So have y'all have y'all been to South Africa yet? Before ever, or will this be your first time going there?

SPEAKER_01 29:33

I I've been to Cape Town before, but shortly, just maybe like a day or two.

SPEAKER_00 29:39

But we also went to Johannesburg and uh Kruger. Yeah, yeah, Kruger Game Park. Yeah, Joe Burg and Kruger we had in Daba.

SPEAKER_01 29:48

We went to Pretoria. Uh let's say that's not Pretoria.

unknown 29:52

I forgot.

SPEAKER_00 29:53

We'll skip that part. We'll skip that part. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 30:01

Sounds good. Sounds good. So after you go there, then people will be able to find that on your YouTube channel and hear all about your adventures in South Africa. And they will like know what to go and see for their own adventures.

SPEAKER_05 30:14

And just an aside, when when when we took the wine route, not her, we, me and the people I were with I was with.

SPEAKER_02 30:19

Because you know he's better than me. He's got to go with that.

SPEAKER_05 30:22

I don't drink, so I didn't have any wine, but

Ocean Vs River Cruises: What Fits You

SPEAKER_05 30:25

they it's where I discovered Roy Boss tea. You couldn't find it in the US anywhere. I'd never heard of it. And but there on the wine route, this place had it. I guess they all have it. And it was absolutely amazing. So uh they're not not all Roy Boss teas are created equal, as you know, but I would encourage you to get some at one of these uh wineries that you stop at.

SPEAKER_02 30:46

Go for the tea.

SPEAKER_05 30:47

So good.

SPEAKER_02 30:47

Hey, I don't know. Did I didn't I did I tell y'all that I I have my own brand of tea? I have my own tea list. Yes, you did mention that, huh? Okay. So my red, my Roy Boss tea is called Cape Town Grey because it's a red Earl Grey. It's a Roy, um, it's a Roy Boss with the bergamot added. So it tastes like Earl Grey, but it's caffeine-free because Roy Boss is an herbal tea. But it's called Cape Town Grey because that's where Rory first learned about Royboss tea, was there in Cape Town. So my teas are kind of named after like maybe where we yeah, the travels took us or you know, inspired by that. So, anyway, so that's I just had to tie in that little story there. But that's why my tea is called Cape Town Grey because of Rory's story.

SPEAKER_01 31:36

Do you by any chance have green tea? Of course I have green tea. Okay. But I'll have to check out your website. Yes, be common teas.

SPEAKER_05 31:46

Hey, so so you guys had mentioned uh cruises and stuff. Tell me a little tell me a little bit about that. We've only been on a couple in our in our well, in our lives, and it was really fun, but we're no cruise experts. Tell us a little bit about that side of things.

SPEAKER_01 31:58

Can we elaborate? Yeah, sure.

SPEAKER_00 32:00

Um we've been on a couple of ocean cruises, um, as well, different categories, um, different companies. That way we can see the difference in between them and which brand what to offer. And we've been also on a couple of river cruises, which I personally prefer more river cruises. The reason behind there is at any given time you're looking at something, you're looking, you're passing by a village or some nature. It's beautiful. Where there is always something. Um, maybe there is not so much things to do on the ship itself because of the smaller size and the way they say it's more cuttered towards older folks. Maybe I'm at a little bit older one, but older soul. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:48

Some people might find it, might find it uh a little bit too relaxed because they they wanna be able to do things within the ship itself. Right, they're not stimulated by the ship itself. Yes, and it's a little bit slower. So, you know, if you if you want action and all that, you're you're you're not gonna find it that way. But the action is that every time you wake up, you're in a different city, you could be in a different country, and you're you're immersing yourself in a new type of culture, you type new type of foods. And you being in Europe right now, you know what it's like. How easy it is to like, oh a few steps and a few minutes, I'm I'm somewhere new. So we love that.

SPEAKER_00 33:32

Yeah, yeah. When I have a hand when you go on an ocean cruise, you spend a lot of time on a ship, which it's great for people who like to party, where to like dine in different restaurants and yeah, yeah, watch shows, that kind of thing.

SPEAKER_01 33:47

That's great for it. Yeah, yeah. And it's a good way for families to spend and experience things together because in River Cruises, it's mostly adults that go there, and some don't even allow uh young kids to children.

SPEAKER_05 34:03

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, there's nothing for them for them to do uh, you know if they're not nature enjoyers.

SPEAKER_02 34:10

Yeah, and it tends to be a more quiet crowd. Yes, okay. So it depends on your your pace and your what you're what you're needing in that season of your life. You might need all the stimulation from a fancy cruise ship, you might need the non-stimulation from just a chilled, relaxed experience and the peace that comes from the nature that you get to see in between. Perfect. So great, thank you. I just got that from you.

SPEAKER_05 34:36

So she just regurgitated what you said.

SPEAKER_02 34:38

She's not getting out what you basically said. So, but if people want to ask you more about that, like different cruises or different experiences or whatever, not only do you promote travel on YouTube, but you also are a travel agent.

SPEAKER_03 34:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 34:56

So, do you want to tell us is there a story on what got you to be a travel agent? Were you doing that

From Corporate And Mechanics To Travel And Filming

SPEAKER_02 35:02

before you started filming things?

SPEAKER_01 35:04

Or yeah, so I used to be incorporate. Um I used to be an operations manager for a call center. And I was I was always daydreaming about being somewhere else, traveling, working where I can have a pinha colada, eating something good, you know, that kind of thing. So I had a change of heart, and I asked him, hey, do you think I can kind of pursue what I'm looking for outside corporate? And he was 100%, not 150% very supportive and allowed me to discover this about myself. And uh, and then I have a friend that was in the industry, and I asked for some pointers and I was able to get in. And that's when the travel started. That's when the travel agency started and selling travel. And I traveled a lot, and he was working a lot, so it was creating kind of like a you know, string because we're not spending as much time, you know. I was at home working stress with work, and then I'm traveling somewhere. Hey, I you know, I'm excited, I did this, I hate this, blah blah. So there's uh disconnect, and we kind of talked it over, and I was like, Well, how do you feel? Like, what would you like to do? And he's like, How about let's see something if we can kind of you know merge our interests together? And I said, Yeah, sure, okay, what would you like to do? And um what did you discover? I discovered travel once you get bit in, right?

SPEAKER_00 36:59

Uh-huh. She invited me. Uh that was right COVID times when um she had an opportunity to go to Jamaica for one of the all-inclusive resorts with a butler and all that stuff that I didn't know exists back then. Yeah. So I got spoiled in the first day being there, and I'm like, oh, I want to.

SPEAKER_05 37:24

She knew the first place to take him. Oh, this is the first one.

SPEAKER_01 37:28

I know how I know how to create itineraries so that you can see. That's right, baby.

SPEAKER_05 37:32

Yeah, that's right. That's right.

SPEAKER_00 37:35

Yeah, on the same trip right after. She took me to a very less nice hotel. So she took me like up there and then up here.

SPEAKER_05 37:45

Just so you can understand.

SPEAKER_00 37:47

We don't say the name of the hotel.

SPEAKER_05 37:50

Yeah, no, that's right.

SPEAKER_00 37:50

See, she ruined it in the same trip, but I still got a travel bag.

SPEAKER_05 37:55

Yeah, that's right. Any other bugs that you had to get rid of when you came home from the modest, modest points.

SPEAKER_01 38:02

Well, he told me if you if you don't have a butler uh on your trip, please don't invite me again. But yeah, it's a joke.

SPEAKER_00 38:18

But with time I started joining more and more of the trips that she would have. And every time I would feel not comfortable because at the time I was already managing the shop, and I did not feel comfortable leaving for so long, so many times a year. And I had to make a decision that I every time I would come back to work, I would be excited a little bit but stressed at the same time. Every time I would go travel, you know, travel is it's unbeatable. So I had to make a decision to quit it altogether. And I had a little bit of skills in using the camera. Um, not from any previous experiences, just I always liked have a camera taking pictures and videos, stuff like that. So I start applying that, and that's how we became Victor and MJ, the brand. Yeah, that's awesome. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 39:08

Yeah, and you will see from our videos

Favorite Videos And How Their Style Evolved

SPEAKER_01 39:10

a transition of how the video started changing and evolving to what it is now.

SPEAKER_03 39:18

That's fun.

SPEAKER_02 39:19

So when you go visit their YouTube channel, you're gonna start from the beginning and watch all the time.

SPEAKER_01 39:31

I find it interesting.

SPEAKER_05 39:33

Huh? Come on. So, Victor, if you had to tell them, hey, I would prefer you start here, where would you say?

SPEAKER_02 39:41

What's one of your favorite videos? What's one of your favorite videos?

SPEAKER_01 39:44

You have to binge.

SPEAKER_05 39:46

Yeah, you have to binge. There you go. That's it, of course.

SPEAKER_00 39:49

I would say if if you click on a video and you watch 15 seconds and you bored, then skip on, keep going to newer ones.

SPEAKER_05 39:57

Yeah, yeah. Or just forward a little bit and it gets fun and interesting. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 40:02

But you don't have a favorite one yet. Do you have one of your favorites?

SPEAKER_00 40:06

I mean, they all have something special, in my opinion. And we try always, every time with a new video to improve something.

SPEAKER_01 40:14

I have a favorite.

SPEAKER_00 40:15

So every time I go back, maybe I even something that we posted two, three years ago, I may not even remember moments. So it's it's interesting. Yeah, I do not have any like favorite one. I know which one was harder to edit those moments I remember for sure. Which one was your favorite?

SPEAKER_01 40:36

Victoria Falls. Is it okay? Yeah, well, every time I watch it, I'm cracking up. Yeah, it's interesting, you know. You we travel, you you think you would remember things, and then we're editing and we're crying our eyes out, editing it. We're like, oh, I can't believe that happened. That's fine. And then we post it, and then we haven't seen it in maybe a couple of months, and then I rewatch it, and I'm like, that happened. It's like 51st days, so it's yeah, it's nice.

SPEAKER_03 41:14

That's so great.

SPEAKER_02 41:15

So it's very entertaining. Yeah, okay. Well, you know, Victor, you kind of had to leave the shop to to start traveling, but you still have your special sauce skills in the garage. So, what are you working on in your own garage? Tell us about that.

SPEAKER_00 41:36

So, coming back to the um uh travel YouTube channel that inspired us to start putting our videos out, um, they also did some van campervan travel, which uh I find it very, very appealing to be honest. As I mentioned before, I do like to be in the nature. Uh, so I found this a perfect way to build a campervan

Building A Campervan For US Travel

SPEAKER_00 42:00

and go travel here in US. As of the moment of this recording, we are 90% into the build. Um slept in it once. Yeah. We absolutely love it.

SPEAKER_01 42:14

Yeah, so it was really nice, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 42:17

Did he build a little toilet with just four legs and a seat for you?

SPEAKER_00 42:21

Uh no, this one is a little fancier than that one, actually. This one it seals everything into like a sealed package so you don't experience any uh smell or anything like that. Yeah, it's very convenient.

SPEAKER_01 42:33

It it has the convenience of a home, but it's kind of wild because you can, you know, pretty much wake up somewhere beautiful or in a parking lot if you want. But but going back to the toilet, the packs are usually uh environmentally friendly.

SPEAKER_00 42:51

Yeah, yeah, you can just dig a hole and put it in the oh, that's awesome. Wow, it decomposes the plastic aids.

SPEAKER_02 42:58

Nice. So when our cats go use the litter in the woods, we can just add it to the whole mozzie digs.

SPEAKER_05 43:04

Uh yeah.

SPEAKER_02 43:06

So, and can y'all can take your pets with you and this thing, right? For your road trips.

SPEAKER_00 43:16

Uh we even build a special drawer on the bottom in the bottom of the uh main cabinet for their uh bowls. Um, so little things like that. It's it's all uh, designed and executed, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 43:31

Now we can travel as a family.

SPEAKER_00 43:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 43:34

MJ Victor and MJ are like us, that no no uh kids but fur babies. So you have a dog and a cat, right?

SPEAKER_00 43:42

That's right. That's correct. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 43:44

So um you like to travel with them when you can, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 43:47

Yeah, and then we also uh have like a um what do you call this internet, the Starlink. That way I can work remotely for for our clients now, the travel agents.

SPEAKER_02 43:59

People are gonna be calling you after this episode.

SPEAKER_05 44:02

Yeah, I think I think my favorite travel agent is one who actually travels. I mean, you know, especially I think what you do with your videos is a reflection of who you guys are as travel agents. You want people to know, you want to know the best places to go so people can know the best places to go and have options and be be uh informed about them and educated about them instead of just saying, Well, yeah, I can book that for you. Where do you want to go? Yeah, I can do that. But you guys actually present to them options that you've experienced and you can actually have an opinion on and tell them what they're gonna expect. Um I think that's uh the kind of travel agent I would like to have.

SPEAKER_01 44:39

Thank you. It really is very important to pick a travel agent that does travel because we are able to give authentic feedback. You know, this area may be not good for you because this is crowded, things like that, or we share things that you wouldn't find on the internet. Right.

SPEAKER_00 45:00

Yeah, yeah. So it did happen to us that we actually booked

Why Travel Agents Should Travel

SPEAKER_00 45:05

some clients into a destination that we haven't been, and after we traveled there, Tatan, we said, like, we would book so much better for these customers if we'd be here before and uh we now we know it better. So yeah, it's very important what you said. A travel agent he has to he has to travel to see to have that experience in order to recommend and and put his clients.

SPEAKER_01 45:31

Because if our clients when when our clients allow us, we give them a glimpse of the destination, not as a tourist, but as a traveler. Like they would really be immersed in the culture and and all that, and the experiences altogether very different versus kind of like just being on a bus.

SPEAKER_05 45:54

Yeah, right, totally very different, and very personalized and all that.

SPEAKER_02 45:58

So when people want to find you, um, we are gonna put all of uh your contact information, your YouTube, all of those types of links will be in our show notes so you guys can go check out not only their content, but also you can run to them for your travel needs so that they can help you book your next adventure and you can do all of the things outside of your comfort zone, but with the opinion and the uh guidance of someone who is wise and who's been there done that.

SPEAKER_05 46:29

So your favorite travel agent couple.

SPEAKER_02 46:32

It's a safe way to get out of your comfort zone. Woohoo!

SPEAKER_05 46:36

Yeah, baby.

SPEAKER_02 46:37

And are y'all are y'all gonna be posting about your van at some point too? Because we we didn't dive in as much as I want to, because y'all have a bunch of fancy stuff in there.

SPEAKER_05 46:46

And and I before you answer, I have to say, we thought about you in Switzerland a few days ago because we were going over one of the passes, Furca Pass, and there was a van and the doors open, and I could tell that they'd built this wooden thing in there that was holding their hot plates that she was cooking on, and he and the guy was outside looking in, like, hey, what are you cooking? And then she's in there cooking, and she said, Hey, that's what Victor's doing. So we were thinking of you guys.

SPEAKER_01 47:14

Oh, thank you. That does sound like something we would do.

SPEAKER_05 47:18

Yeah, you would love it. Although they're gonna be cooking fancy stuff and like their well, their chef from Zimbabwe that they're flying out to everywhere everywhere they go. They have a few. And the butler from Jamaica, yeah. I mean, that's how they roll.

SPEAKER_02 47:31

They made built-ins for each of those guys in the van.

SPEAKER_03 47:34

That's right.

SPEAKER_02 47:35

There's a place for the cat food, and then there's a place for the butler, and there's a place for the chef, and they have let's just say we know people.

SPEAKER_01 47:44

So we know where to place people. There you go.

SPEAKER_05 47:50

That sounds almost threatening. We know it's a good way. Yes, in a good way, yeah, yeah. Promising, but it's promising. Yes, that's promising. That sounds promising. Very promising. That's right. So, you guys, it's your new favorite travel agent couple, Victor and MJ. You gotta check them out. If you're traveling, you need advice, you want to know where to go, and have them hook you up. It's so much easier when you have a travel agent do it for you. Saves so much headache. So, check out check out

Links, How To Connect, And Closing

SPEAKER_05 48:20

our show notes.

SPEAKER_03 48:21

Yes, check out show notes.

SPEAKER_05 48:23

Yeah, connect with Victor MJ for sure. Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 48:30

So on our next video.

SPEAKER_02 48:56

We hope we've inspired you this episode. Don't join us next time. Please subscribe to rate and share our podcast with your friends. And please like and follow us on Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook.

SPEAKER_04 49:07

We are also on at all social platforms. We are at the T A.

SPEAKER_02 49:14

R-O-A-M I-E-S. And our makeup is our website at www.therromies.com.

SPEAKER_04 49:21

Right, that's D A G.

SPEAKER_02 49:23

R-O-A-M I-E-S.com.

SPEAKER_04 49:26

We'll be there until next time. Yeah, thanks for listening. Bye.