Welcome To The Roamies

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Hi, I'm Alexa.

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And I'm Rory. And together we are the Rowies. You're a husband, wife, duo, and longtime travelers. You believe travel isn't just about where you go. It's about how it shapes the way you live when you get home.

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On the Rowies podcast, we explore where to travel, how to travel, and why to travel.

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We're calling it this home. As we travel next far, we're going to wait to bring inspiration off. And the renovation of our export picture upwards.

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It's all about making travel tangible, livable, and meaningful long after this.

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So whether you're planning your next adventure or reimagining the life you're building at home, you're in the right place.

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Now, let's get into today's episode.

Why Finland Keeps Calling Us Back

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Hi everyone, welcome to O It's For Outdoors. We are so excited today because one of our favorite countries to visit every year is Finland.

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Storming.

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Yes. And even though Finland can be very, very cold, it is still a great place to enjoy the outdoors. And we uh want to thank Essential Oxygen for sponsoring this episode. And we are going to be telling you about them and how they tie into the outdoors and how they bring the outdoors inside. And we are also going to dive in and talk about a really fun town called Rory.

SPEAKER_00 1:34

Ulu.

SPEAKER_05 1:35

All right.

SPEAKER_00 1:36

Yes.

SPEAKER_05 1:36

Oulu. And it's it's it sounds funny to us as Americans, but it's O-U-L-U, is how it's spelled.

SPEAKER_02 1:44

And in Finnish, you pronounce every letter. No two letters make a sound. Every letter gets its own sound.

SPEAKER_05 1:51

Yes. So you the O and the U are separated.

SPEAKER_02 1:54

Yes, not Ulu.

SPEAKER_05 1:56

Very good. Rory is such a pro at the Finnish language. And so we yester yesterday, last year, Rory and I, so Rory and I teach at an arts camp for teens in a town called Rutula, Finland, every year. And last year after camp, we then spent two months in total exploring Finland. And we had done some different concerts around different cities in Finland, but never got to spend time.

SPEAKER_02 2:21

Yeah, you drive in, do sound check, concert, go to bed, wake up, and leave. So we've never really done Finland on a larger scale. Lots of times in Helsinki, but outside of that, very little. Well, and Ruteland and Rihimaki. But yeah, that's not a whole lot of Finland.

SPEAKER_05 2:36

Right. And not a lot. And like never been to Lapland. And so we did like this whole journey and we'll get this. We've talked about it in a part of that trip in a previous episode. I'll put that link to that in the show notes. But uh as we were exploring and going north and circling around Finland, we ended up also getting to visit this very pop. We it's a popular town. We hear about it a lot when we come to Finland. We had never been Olu, and it's super, super, super cute. We loved it. We didn't have a whole lot of time there. We totally loved it though.

SPEAKER_02 3:11

My immediate impression, and I don't mean to offend anyone from Olu if this is offensive. My immediate impression was like a miniature Helsinki. It had history, it had the ocean, it had bridges going over canals, it had an amazing old town.

SPEAKER_05 3:28

Just it sort of struck me with this a similar vibe, but calm and chill and quiet and we love Helsinki, but it's like it's like a big city, kind of. You know, it's not like a big city like New York where it's like hectic, but it's just it has it's a big city. And Olu felt like it has all the things that you need in a city, but at a cosier, more relaxed, yet if you want a little bit of fast pace, you could find it there. And if you want to go to the like the chill side, you could find that there too. Like it just felt like it had everything.

SPEAKER_02 4:03

It's a cool charm.

SPEAKER_05 4:05

Yes, very cool charm. And we loved the outdoor aspect that we experienced. They have this really cool lake with all of these like little fountains shooting out of the lake, and that was so pretty and like around a park, and we enjoyed walking around.

SPEAKER_02 4:19

And we went to the old town where there's the uh Holly, I think is how they say it. Yes, like the market hall. Yeah, the market hall where all the shops are in there. And around that area, this is an old town, and around that area, I was looking for some coffee.

SPEAKER_05 4:33

I was looking for tea, of course.

SPEAKER_02 4:34

Yeah, I don't know what they are anymore, but for years, Finland was known as per capita, the country that drinks the most coffee in the world. Now, if you okay, so I get it. It's cold and dark there a lot of the a lot of the year. So the little pick me up. So I was looking for uh like a specialty coffee shop, and just behind the what hall did it be? Just behind the market hall. I think there's a there's a a statue, first of all, of a short, like rotund, he looks like maybe a a sailor or a or uh or a uh military guy.

SPEAKER_05 5:06

Military guy.

SPEAKER_02 5:06

And if you keep going behind it, there was uh there's a row of shops, and one of them was a specialty coffee and tea shop. You could get coffees from all over the world, single origin. They sold the beans and stuff. So I was able to get some really awesome coffee there. So I was very impressed with Olu from the start.

SPEAKER_05 5:24

And he keeps talking about that. Well, I I missed out on the tea in that shop because uh, if y'all have been listening, maybe you know I have a tea company now based out of our travels, inspired by our travels. I stayed in the market hall because there was a tea shop there, and it like a lot of my pictures of Olu are like tea flavors from this shop. And so one of the things that I brought home, you know, in this series, we're talking about Rome to home. One of the things that I brought home from Olu is actual like tea and uh just some really interesting flavors. And when I got home and tried it, it was so good. And I hope to kind of make my own version of this tea that I tried in Olu. So that's one way that we can tell you right off the bat that we brought Olu home and Roy brought his coffee home. Yeah, I brought my coffee.

SPEAKER_02 6:09

Yeah, well, I drank it the rest of the time we were in Finland.

SPEAKER_05 6:11

And y'all, that's not even what Olu is about. That was just like one little fun thing we found.

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I've never done this, but I've got but I'm gonna see if I can show you. This is the little guy behind the market hall. Check that out. Is that not so cool? It's not actually. If you're watching on video, then you'll see this.

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So that's our quick impression of our quick half day visit fly through Olu.

First Impressions Of Oulu

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But y'all, today we have these really cool ladies with us. We have Mina and Marika, Marika with us. And uh, I'm gonna have them introduce themselves where they are correctly pronouncing their first and last names for you. And uh they are with the Olun Seudun Opat. Rory, you say it because you're probably better.

SPEAKER_02 6:53

Maybe uh Ul Seudun Opat.

SPEAKER_05 6:56

Yeah, and so listen to Rory. Y'all know he's he's the better language guy. So just a full to Rory. Uh, but we're I got a thumbs up.

SPEAKER_02 7:02

So that was that was good.

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You're always good, babe. So we're gonna put a link to their tour offerings in the show notes. So make sure you check that out because y'all, when you go to Olu, you don't have to rush through like Rory and I did. You can connect with these folks and get a real tour from real locals that love the area and want to tell us all about it. So we want to welcome to our episode Mina and Marika. Welcome, welcome, welcome.

SPEAKER_00 7:32

Thank you. Kitos.

SPEAKER_04 7:36

That's thank you in Finnish.

SPEAKER_05 7:38

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 7:38

Yeah, all of you.

SPEAKER_03 7:45

So my name is Marika Harbakovsky. I know I'm an authorized Olu Rich and tourist guide, like my colleague Minna Is. I've been guiding for eight years and I love it. Even though it's a side job, but still I love it, and I get energized by introducing Olu to foreigners and tourists.

unknown 8:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 8:05

So good.

SPEAKER_03 8:06

And uh when you give your tours, are they all in English or do you speak several languages and Finnish or Swedish or English or well I do guidings in English and Finnish, and there are many guides that speak different languages. Okay. We can offer or our colleagues can offer different languages. Minna has uh offering in many other languages as well. So maybe Minna, you can introduce your offering. There you go.

SPEAKER_04 8:34

Yeah. So my name is Minna Hukkonen, and actually Marika and I we have very typical Finnish last names. Since about 80% of Finnish last names they come from nature. Like in Disney, there's the little wolf and the big wolf. So it's called in Finnish hucka. And nen is a uh diminutive, it makes something smaller, so it means little wolf. And Marika, can you translate your last name?

SPEAKER_03 9:06

Well, I think it's if I translate it into English, it's maybe Aspen Rapids. So Aspen is a tree, and Koski means little waterfalls or rapids. So I'm Aspen Rapids.

SPEAKER_04 9:18

Yeah. So about 80% of last names they come from nature. Compared to, for example, I also I've uh I'm a language teacher, so I teach English and German at a community college. Now I've also studied Swedish and Finnish. So I guide I do guidings in English, mainly in English and German, but like in German culture, the uh last names, most of them come from occupations.

SPEAKER_00 9:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 9:44

Like shoemaker, shoomacher, and so on. Right. But in Finnish they come from nature, so that's so cool.

SPEAKER_05 9:50

I didn't know. And that that is a great tie-in with our focus on the outdoors and how is for outdoors.

SPEAKER_04 9:58

Yeah, and also the the name of Oulu comes from Sami language, and it means high water or flooding water. The river Oluyoki has flooded every spring and autumn, so so that's where we got the name. And actually, there's Oulu, a town. We are actually a city because Oulu is the fifth large city in Finland. And compared to cities in the United States, we are very small town. I mean, we have only 5.6 million people in Finland. Oulu being the fifth largest city, we have 216,000 inhabitants in Oulu. And it's the only city up in the north, which is so big. The other four that are bigger, they are in the southern part of Finland. There's Olu in actually in North America, in the United States. Yes. Where is it? Yeah, it's the it was founded by Finnish people who came from this region, hence the name, the same name. It was founded in 1889. I checked the day, and it has only about 530 inhabitants, so it's a town.

SPEAKER_02 11:09

As I recall.

SPEAKER_04 11:09

It's in Bayfield County in Wisconsin.

SPEAKER_02 11:13

Yeah, Wisconsin. Okay. I looked that that's so funny because the week before we left for Finland, I discovered Olu because I I on a map I looked up Olu and Wisconsin came up and I told her, I specifically told her, Finnish people founded that town. Yeah. Has to be, because no American would come up with the name Olu.

SPEAKER_05 11:31

Yeah. Yeah. Okay, well now we're gonna have to feature them on some future episode.

SPEAKER_04 11:36

Yeah, yeah. And actually from this reach and many who were in lock floating and so on, so and they they had the skill to build lock houses. So those uh actually went to many of them went to Minnesota and Wisconsin and so on. And they actually taught the North Americans how to build lockhouses. Come on. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:00

How cool is that!

SPEAKER_04 12:02

Amazing.

SPEAKER_02 12:02

So we have Finnish architectural influence in early America showing up. I mean, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 12:08

For real. There's one more I I want to mention that also maybe a little bit later, but above the statue you saw in front of the market hall is actually a policeman.

SPEAKER_02 12:19

Okay. The uniform is police.

SPEAKER_04 12:22

Yeah, we had the first female police officer of the whole Finland in working in Olu. But that's a nan. Olu has been famous for its policeman and police woman and then its schools. This um there was also always there at the marketplace a policeman who was guarding in the marketplace. There were he was not really needed. People were not stealing food, but he was going from one stand to another and tasting all the foods. That's why he's had he has so big belly.

SPEAKER_00 12:53

He had a good job.

SPEAKER_04 12:55

Yeah. It's been there since 1987. There's a saying like, Are you from Oulu? Are you afraid of policemen? Do you eat tar? Because tar was the former technology that we had, like pine wood tar, and we were the biggest tar exporting exporting city in the world. 1800s. That's some good stuff. That's outdoor activity and outdoor of, I mean, tar you make outdoors the whole process, and you they brought it with the boats to all and so on, and even to North America, but mostly to the UK, since it had the biggest navy in the world, and those other countries that had colonies, Portugal, the Netherlands, Spain, things like that. But anyway, so people wanted to have the statue to honor all the policemen who worked there at the marketplace and in all. And uh the recession came to Europe, but there was not enough extra money. The city didn't have any extra money to pay for a statue. So two local bakeries started selling making gingerbread cookies shaped like a policeman. The artist who was going to do the statue, he had made a miniature statue of a policeman. And so from this model, they made a gingerbread cookie, is it like a form? And they made these gingerbread cookies and people bought them. So people, citizens actually paid for the statue by buying these gingerbread cookies.

SPEAKER_00 14:21

That's great.

SPEAKER_05 14:22

Good history. Never heard a story like that. Take home lesson is if you want to build a statue, sell cookies. Yeah, give that money to make the statue.

SPEAKER_04 14:31

Yeah, you have Girl Scouts selling cookies in America.

SPEAKER_02 14:34

Yes, that's right.

SPEAKER_05 14:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 14:36

It works.

SPEAKER_05 14:37

There you go. There you go.

SPEAKER_02 14:38

And my favorite soap is pine tar soap.

SPEAKER_05 14:41

There you go. Yeah. We want to kind of dive into the outdoors, but before we do, now there are a few months in Finland that are super cold. And if you don't have the right clothing, Marika, you're gonna talk about that a little bit. But what would we want to do inside? Like maybe visit that market hall Rory and I visited. Anything on the inside that you'd want to uh that you want to touch on before we dive into the whole outdoors piece?

Meet The Oulu Local Guides

SPEAKER_03 15:09

Well, if I talk for a while, so of course we have music hall, Maretoia Music Hall, we have a city theater, lots of stand-up clubs in the city, a cultural thing. Then we have Garapat, our local ice hockey team. Many of them, by the way, who play in NHL. They come from Olu. Come on. We love ice hockey, and Olu has the northernmost ice hockey team in Finland. So we we watch ice hockey like you do in the States. We go to concerts, opera, theatre, as an example.

SPEAKER_00 15:43

Yes.

SPEAKER_04 15:43

You can have an opera house, but there's an opera in the city theatre every second or third year, depends on the year. Oh sorry. This year we have the first Sami. The only indigenous people in the EU that are still living are Sami people. And there are Sami people in the Nordic countries, Sweden, Finland, and Norway, and a little bit in Russia. And uh, we have the first Sami opera in the city theatre this um January and February. And and before Marika continues, I wanted to tell that in Europe, 41 years we've had uh European cultural city, and it's usually two cities um in different places in Europe. We've had Finland, Finland is European cultural city in 2000 it was Helsinki, then 2011 it was Turku, and all is now 2026, and um our it's a cultural climate change, and also this theatre thing was part of that, so that we had um first Sami opera, and it was actually Norwegian, Swedish, and Finnish Sami people, and also non-sami people who who did that.

SPEAKER_00 17:00

So Marika, continue.

SPEAKER_03 17:05

Of course, then from the Sami Opera comes to my mind our wonderful art museum that had a Sami exhibition as well. Plus, this year we are reopening our museum, Aul Museum, and our science center. So welcome to Oulu to experience museums, science centers, concerts, and ice hockey game. Oh no, I want to go back.

SPEAKER_05 17:28

Yeah, yeah. We got to go to a Sami museum when we were on our tour of Finland last year, and we were not really familiar with the Sami people prior to that, and so it was really, really fun and uh interesting and inspiring to learn about them and their culture and their influence, and so the opera would have been amazing to experience.

SPEAKER_03 17:50

Maybe a little little thing to add on the Sami subject. So Oulu is officially the largest Sami city in the world. We have 1,000 people having Sami origin living in Oulu, and that's actually the biggest city. Finland. Is it in Finland? Yeah, biggest in Finland, right? Because in Norway.

SPEAKER_04 18:08

Yes. But in Finland, Sami people live in Norway.

unknown 18:13

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 18:13

And then Finland and Sweden have about the same same amount. But in Finland, most of them live in in Oulu because there's one university in each of these countries, so Finland, Sweden, and Norway, where you can study Sami languages major. And in Finland it's Olu. That's why we have a lot of Sami people and always kind of gateway to Lapland.

SPEAKER_02 18:36

So that's what I was always told that Olu was kind of the gateway to Lapland.

SPEAKER_05 18:42

To get you up north into the northern Finland.

SPEAKER_04 18:45

Yeah. Since we are the biggest also the city up in these three countries, in these levels, so Olu got maybe around I don't know, Marika, can you remember? Maybe over ten years ago, Olu gave itself a name, the capital of Northern Scandi. Yes, that was maybe a marketing slogan, but yes. Yeah, marketing slogan, the capital of Northern Scandinavia.

SPEAKER_02 19:10

Yeah. And having some experience, once you leave Olu and head north, there's nothing even remotely like Olu once you get north of Olu.

SPEAKER_04 19:19

Yeah, like you said, like it's like a miniature Helsinki. So we do have it's and we have some direct flights also, so you don't have to fly through Helsinki to get to other countries. But it's kind of like we have everything except national ballet and national opera. So mainly we have everything else in Olu. And we had also the first girls' school in founded in Finland in Olu 1819. The boys' school was already 1610. And think about when did Mayflower sail to North America?

SPEAKER_02 19:55

Some students from your schools were on the boat.

SPEAKER_05 19:58

Yeah, maybe. So are there also some children's theaters and things like that as well going on?

SPEAKER_04 20:05

Yes, yes. We've had the children's international theatre festival, the international movie festival for children. So it's also about children's culture, it's very important. And especially now it's the outdoor play thing. So we have a lot of playgrounds in Finland in different city parts, and now the kids have had a chance because of this European Capital of Culture. Kids had a chance to design their own playground. So there will be two playground playgrounds built in Oulu. They starting now in the fall, building the first one, and according to the plans that the kids have made.

SPEAKER_05 20:47

And Marika, you had things you wanted to add.

SPEAKER_03 20:50

Yeah, so just to mention that we have this kids' cultural center called Valve, right? In the city centre that is in our former city hall.

SPEAKER_00 21:02

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_03 21:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:04

Nice.

SPEAKER_04 21:04

So it's it's And now it's now yeah, and part of Valve. Part of the like it's now part of the kids' culture has now gotten a new space in the city library now when it was renovated.

SPEAKER_03 21:17

The top floor is just for kids.

SPEAKER_04 21:20

Yeah, and the library is actually built next to the theater, and they are partly on an island, partly on the like on the sea or river delta, that's where the sea and river meet each other. So the idea when they were built in 1972 and 1981, so the idea was that from every window you c you can see some water. Nice. Water is very important via by the by the sea in the river delta, and um outdoor activities anyway, they are very important for people in Oulu.

(Note: Removed due to duplicate timestamp)

SPEAKER_04 21:57

Did you bike when you were in Oru?

SPEAKER_02 22:00

We did not.

SPEAKER_04 22:01

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 22:02

Because we have so many Marita, you can tell how many kilometers I can tell how many how much is that in miles, but Olu has been telling himself itself that we are the winter capital of biking and BBC has been doing some reportage from Olu about our biking and actually we do have about 1000 kilometers of maintained biking routes throughout the year. So kids and Olu engineers and Olu people they bike to work even if it's minus twenty. So that's the way of life. We dress well, we take our bikes. I don't maybe, but many people do bike to work. And they have even winter tires on their bikes. But every morning, the city they open the pavements for bike riders, and it's called Snowhow, what we do for our biking routes.

SPEAKER_00 22:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 22:58

Welcome to the first in winter. Yeah, they are cleared first from snow and then first, then after that, then that's how we'll see.

SPEAKER_00 23:06

Then the cars. First the bicycles, then the cars.

SPEAKER_04 23:10

Yeah. I checked in miles, that's 620 miles. 600 miles. I was thinking 600. That's uh bike ride. There's some German TV channel made one and a half years ago, made a program about the winter biking and the biking roads and so on. So it was told there that city urban planner uh who plans biking routes, he told that you can actually ride in the city center for nine kilometers, six miles, uh, without crossing a street. So there are bike lanes in the city center. So you don't uh and that's especially for kids' safety. When they go to school, they usually ride the bike because Finnish kids go to the local school. We every school has highly educated teachers, and we have we don't have like okay, that's a better school, and that's a not so good school. So every kid goes to the nearby school.

Culture, Museums, Hockey, And Sami Roots

SPEAKER_04 24:09

Everybody gets the same education. So in elementary school, so the kids usually take the bike. So in the city center, those kids that um go to and live in the city center, they have very uh safe bike rides also, not having to cross the road.

SPEAKER_02 24:26

And very warm clothes. So Monica was saying earlier that even when it's 30 below Celsius, which it's almost the same when you get around there with Fahrenheit, they start getting even somewhere below zero. Uh, that people are outdoors doing activities all the time, children are riding bikes, and we had years ago a Finnish friend, when we first started going to Finland, I s I was saying how you can't possibly go out when the weather is that way. And they said, Well, we think there's no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing.

SPEAKER_03 25:01

I agree. We have four seasons, so we have a lot of clothes for different seasons, and in winter we do we go walking, we go nudic walking. Maybe cross country skiing is a bit tough with minus thirty, but walking, then of course it snows. We do snow shoveling, you have to do that. Yeah, kids play in the snow, and we have a lot of like they look like downhill skiing clothes a bit, what we wear when we go outdoors. Yeah, I can imagine.

SPEAKER_02 25:30

Well, but I can only imagine.

SPEAKER_03 25:33

Okay, you have to come to Finland and all in winter. Excellent.

SPEAKER_02 25:38

See, then the the the thing also which is hard difficult for us to imagine. I'm from the deep south in the US, like on the ocean, the Gulf of America, very far south in Louisiana.

SPEAKER_00 25:48

And warm.

SPEAKER_02 25:48

Our winters uh are maybe Celsius 20, maybe 15. It's it's really unusual if it gets below freezing for any length of time, you know. So we have that as our cold winter. Not only that, but we have sunshine. So what's it like when it's 30 below and you can't go into the sun to warm up?

SPEAKER_04 26:12

The darkest period is around Christmas, so it's a when we have uh less than four hours of sunlight. But then we do have it, usually it's when it's very cold, the sky is clear, and we have the stars and the moon. So they can give you lights. You can go into the forest and you can walk there without any flashlight or anything.

SPEAKER_02 26:35

It sounds like a fantasy land.

SPEAKER_04 26:37

Yeah, yeah. It looks like that actually. That's why the Santa Claus lives in Finland.

SPEAKER_02 26:41

Yeah. Yes. And he must be Sami from his clothing. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 26:46

But yeah, one thing how we warm up is of course the Finnish sauna. We have 2.5 million saunas and 5.6 million people. Every house, almost every modern apartment, has a private sauna. Maybe not all the Finns are sauna lovers, but I go to sauna every day, sometimes two times a day, in the morning, in the evening. So that's a lifesaver for at least for me during the winter to warm up.

SPEAKER_00 27:13

Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_02 27:14

I was speaking with someone this past week in Finland, we were in Rutelak for the week, as we were saying, and I said, if I had to think of singular words uh that immediately come to my mind with Finland, the first was sauna. Very first.

SPEAKER_04 27:28

You pronounce it nicely, correctly.

SPEAKER_02 27:31

Yeah, yeah. Sauna, makkara, and the lakes. Yes. Is that how you say? But everywhere, beautiful and beautiful. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 27:43

Exactly. Yeah. And um this like when it's very cold, usually when it's like uh a little bit warmer, then it's there's usually wind, at least in all, because we are by the sea. So, but usually when it's very cold, minus 30 Celsius, so then it's not that windy. So that also makes it very nice, and you just have to dress up properly and enough clothing in layers, that's the key. Not just have one big uh down jacket, but um layers and met in a wool and so on. But at school the kids have to, when they have recession, they have to go outdoors during the school break. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, even in winter. But then it's if it's more than and I checked it, it's uh five Fahrenheit. So if it's more than that, for example, they don't have to go in PE, they don't have to go skating or cross country skiing. Depends also on the weather. If it's if it's very windy, then it's the fi wind factor is very harsh. So and if I check like minus twenty, it's minus four Fahrenheit. So that's usually too cold for skating and for cross-country skiing. But then they still go outdoors when they have breaks.

SPEAKER_00 29:02

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 29:03

Yeah. Usually when it's rain in autumn, when it's raining in in the fall, when it's raining very heavily, that's when you have an excuse to stay indoors during school breaks. I mean, yeah. But otherwise, even the coldness doesn't prevent or the kids have to go outdoors. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 29:22

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 29:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 29:23

It builds up that that uh cold resistance that you move.

SPEAKER_04 29:28

Yeah, and it also they get to use their energy, you know. If the kid has always to stay and sit at the desk and so on, so they get to run and do the slides and so on, so and the body has to keep warm on top of that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_03 29:44

Yeah, yeah. The blood starts to circulate and they get the oxygen, right? Yeah, yeah, totally.

SPEAKER_05 29:49

Yes, Marie, they get that oxygen.

SPEAKER_03 29:52

It's the way of life. They don't know about anything better.

SPEAKER_02 29:55

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it maybe think do children have to take their shoes off in school?

SPEAKER_00 29:59

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 30:01

We take them off.

SPEAKER_00 30:03

There you go.

SPEAKER_04 30:04

Yeah. Most of the schools are nowadays shoeless schools.

SPEAKER_00 30:08

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 30:09

Not every every school, but most of them, especially like the lower grades of elementary school.

SPEAKER_00 30:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 30:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 30:16

You take off your shoes when you walk in the room. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 30:20

But one thing that would never do that in the state.

SPEAKER_02 30:22

Yeah, I I think there would probably probably be a law saying that they that we couldn't do that.

SPEAKER_04 30:27

Yeah. But you know, it saves them floors. Cleaners can focus on something else besides the floor. Like when we take the shoes off. And we have wool socks usually. Or then some Yeah. But um one thing that we Marika and I we wanted to mention that Finnish government has it's in the law of educational law that every school has to teach the kids one skill. Can you guess what it is? It has something to do with outdoors. One skill.

SPEAKER_02 30:59

How to start a fire.

SPEAKER_04 31:01

No. My husband teaches that. He's a teacher of biology and geography. He teaches that for his kids. It's the skill of swimming. So it's in the law that all the kids at school they need to learn how to swim by the age uh by the grade of six. And if they don't manage, they get extra lessons in the seventh, eighth, and ninth grade. And the school has to they the school actually the kindergarten already they bring the kids to a swimming hall, and they usually have a swimming week. And um, so they bring it to the local swimming hall, and the swimming teachers are there to teach. And earlier it was done outdoors, of course, then there were no swimming halls, and um yeah. So and we are called the land of thousand lakes. Do you know how many thousand lakes we have?

SPEAKER_02 31:58

Oh, it's ridiculous. I want to say 150,000, but I Well, you are quite close, so 188,000 lakes.

SPEAKER_04 32:09

Yeah, almost 200,000 lakes and the same amount of islands. That's correct. I mean, you it's a survival skill. Survival skill, you have to learn how to swim, right? And the school has has to teach that. I think it's very good.

SPEAKER_03 32:26

Yeah. And what uh Finnish school kids also learn at the school is skating and cross-country skiing. That is taught in the school as well. Maybe not in the law, but I think they teach that as well. But uh at least here in the north. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 32:42

Of course. So the children are well equipped for all of these outdoor explorations. So let's say we come and we get a tour with you. What are we going to experience and see and as we more of the more of what we would do on a tour with you?

SPEAKER_00 32:58

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 32:59

Well, we we can give you uh a city guiding, but through our guide agency called Go Arctic, we can take you to Northern Lights, Aurora Borealis dinner, uh in the woods by the river, in the quietness, in the darkness, and watch northern lights and eat salmon and blueberry pie cooked by the open fire, for example. Or we can go snowshoeing in the woods. We can kick sledsies, we can go tobogganing, skiing, skating, ice fishing on the Baltic Sea. We can drill a hole in the ice and we can fish together. Oh, just in Old City. Yeah, yeah. Just a few examples.

SPEAKER_04 33:41

Mina, please add if you have we also have the most important bird bay of the uh EU, actually for of Europe, in Liming Alhapi Bay, which is in a municipality next to Oulu, uh a little bit south, um about 40 minutes drive there, Liming Alhabi Bay. So we have also excursions uh range by go Arctic there, and um, it's a very nice bird.

SPEAKER_02 34:11

So birdwatchers.

SPEAKER_04 34:12

Yeah, yeah. It's uh along the migration route, so yeah, wow. And um in in the city of Olu, I want to show the Alexei, you mentioned the fountains that you saw.

SPEAKER_00 34:25

Yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 34:26

They are actually designed by Alvar Alta, the most famous Finnish architect, to also the area, the stadium, sports stadium that is there, and also the nearby island, the streets and so on. And I wanted to ask you, do you know what California's I I spent one year in Southern California as an exchange student. What um and I I didn't know this then, but what do Southern California swimming pools have in common with Alvar Alto and all? He did the campus in one of the universities in MIT with the campus area as well. Really? Yeah, yeah. And so on, and he was the like an honor professor there and so on. So but in southern Finland, and there's 13 that got on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

SPEAKER_00 35:17

Wow.

SPEAKER_04 35:18

Now, those fountains that you saw in Oulu, Alvar Alto actually designed as many as there are openings from Oluoki River Delta to the sea. So he put as many fountains as there are between the islands. We have about 30 bigger or small islands in the city centre. Then there was an American architect Thomas Church. He visited Villa Mayria in 1943. And in Villa Maya, there's an outdoor swimming pool that is shape Alto means by the way, wave, their last name. Okay. So there's this swimming pool that is a very soft and curvy and wavy form. And uh this Thomas Church he got inspired by this swimming pool. Then he went back to USA and then he designed Donell Garden in 1948, and they started the same kind of swimming pool, the same shape. Yeah, it became a California status symbol, and then in the 1970s, it was very dry, so they started the swimming pool stayed empty because they wanted to save water, right? So then uh skaters, skateboarders started using these swimming pools. Nowadays you can see skateboard arenas that look like these bigger versions of these swimming pools that were made by this Thomas Church, who was inspired by Alvar Aalto. Then we have this, he's studied and he works in Oulu. He's a designer, designs clothes and sewing. Janne Johan Hüvenen and Nike has now shoes that are alto shoes that have the alto alto line and then the sew. Yeah, so that's a short, yeah, long story, but yeah, there's a lot of tie-ins. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 37:12

Well, speaking of skating and the river with all of the fountains, I assume that does that freeze over at winter and then does it become like a skating rink for folks? What does it mean?

SPEAKER_04 37:23

Yeah, we have we have a few parts that um, for example, the also the because the sea also freezes, so we have those skating, like you can from another part of the bay, you can actually skate or walk to the other side. So the city does these um skating routes on the ice, sea ice, and then we have on the river ice, we have usually like snowmobile riders have have their own route, and then we have for cross-country skiers. I I went to um upper grades of elementary school and then uh like high school that was by the river, and every PE lesson, when we had um cross-country skiing, we had to ski on the river ice to a certain point and come back with the blood taste in my mouth to hurry up to uh to get to the next class. So yeah, I didn't like cross-country skiing for many years, for many decades after that. Now I like it again.

SPEAKER_03 38:21

Yeah, I I I love it. And by the way, regarding the question of skating, so we get 50 to 70 centimeters of snow in all region during our seven months of winter. So actually the sea ice is covered with snow. So that's why you cannot just go skating. It has so much snow. But like Mil Mina mentioned, the city opens at least one route for skaters. But otherwise, there is a lot of snow. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 38:48

So that's why they're clearing the route. They have to snow out the way, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 38:54

Like it's not icy, it's snowy. There is ice on the bottom, then there is snow on top. So you can better snow mobile or then ski.

SPEAKER_02 39:03

So they have to prepare everything for the skates to work.

SPEAKER_05 39:06

First the bike routes on the street, and then the skiing routes on the streets. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 39:12

And then maybe the cars. But all the schools they have a football field, and those football fields are iced in wintertime. So there's a truck that comes when it gets below zero and puts water there and kind of even that then it freezes, so the football fields become skating rinks. Okay.

SPEAKER_05 39:35

Is that something that like us as tourists could come and enjoy and partake of? Or is that like just for those?

SPEAKER_04 39:42

No, you can every school uh ice skating rink can be used by anybody outside the school hours.

SPEAKER_02 39:50

Yes. For those of us who use the Imperial measuring system, that's like 27 inches, up to 27 inches of snow per year. So that's quite a bit. It's I think if we would water ski on the rivers where I grew up, so it's it's never gonna freeze. So we water ski, and you ski on your rivers also, but it it's on us.

SPEAKER_04 40:15

Yeah, that is so bizarre. And uh our tourist information office is in the market hall that you visited. Yes. And there has been now for a few years a small ice skating rink at the marketplace, too. And the tourist information office rents out skates for a few years.

SPEAKER_05 40:37

Okay, good. Yeah. So that's where we can get skates. Exactly. We get skates there, and then we can maybe maybe the office would then direct us to like which pla places that are options.

SPEAKER_04 40:49

Yeah, yeah. On the on the at the marketplace, there's also the ice skating rink, a small one. But there's a school nearby also. Okay. And also the tourist information office, they also rent out bikes, and with the bike comes the helmet also. So you should wear a helmet. So they they rent those. It's for 10 euros for one hour, and uh, you can go biking. And there's also city bikes that work with an app, but this you don't need an app, you can just go and pay for the bike.

SPEAKER_05 41:19

And it's very are those e-bikes or quote unquote normal bikes?

SPEAKER_04 41:25

Those are man-powered bikes.

SPEAKER_05 41:27

Okay, okay. Okay. Um, so okay, so Marika, I want to ask you when you are giving tours or just when you think about Olu w and and the outdoors in Olu, what are some of your favorite things that you like to talk about or share about in your tours?

SPEAKER_03 41:48

Well, if we speak a little bit about our summer, because we have a beautiful summer, nightless night, 22 hours of daylight in June. So you can go kayaking, stand-up paddling. Yeah, yeah, that's my favorite. Okay. So Olu is by the river and by the sea. So we can do a lot of water sports, and manpower is needed when you kayak or canoe or stand-up paddle. Or then we have one kilometer long sand beach in Nalikari. I wonder if you met were there. So Olu is also called the Riviera of the North because of the one kilometer long sand beach. So you can go swimming there in summertime. And of course, in winter, I am an Aurora Borealis fan, Northern Lights. So I re recommend maybe to go to the beach and watch the northern lights. They are best visible before midnight, after midnight, sometimes starting at 8 p.m. in winter time. So really then we have a really beautiful park in the city centre. It's especially nice in summertime. There are little rapids, fish also come to the rapids, and it's a beautiful place for relaxation, picnics, there is a cafe, and it's also by Old River. So those are the things that come to my mind first.

SPEAKER_05 43:10

Mm-hmm. Great.

SPEAKER_03 43:11

As recommendations.

SPEAKER_05 43:13

Now, can we rent like paddle boards and kayaks at the tourist desk also in the market?

SPEAKER_03 43:20

Actually, just in the city center, there is a castle island where the ruins of Oulu Castle are. There is a company that rents out kayaks and stand-up pedals just a few hundred meters from the marketplace.

SPEAKER_00 43:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 43:34

Or by the sea, by the one kilometer sea, there is another safari house that rents out this old.

SPEAKER_02 43:42

So what would you say, for those who are like me in cold water is very painful to my body? What would you say the average temperature is in the water? And do they rent also like a wetsuit kind of thing to help us not freeze our little tails off while we're in cold water?

SPEAKER_05 44:00

You don't fall off your paddleboard or whatever.

SPEAKER_03 44:03

I have never fallen. Oh, I did fall off once. I did. But it was summer and it was plus twenty three or twenty-five degrees. I'm not sure if they rent out the suits. Maybe. But um you can have a tour guide for the canoe as well from the company that rents out. But normally those activities they are available in June, July, and August. And then that's when we often have temperatures between 15 to 25 Celsius. Now, Mina, you know what's that in Fahrenheit's. Yeah. So it's not too cold. And again, you are using your own energy and you are getting warm with that activity. But our summer months really are June, July, August. And then it's not too cold even from you.

SPEAKER_05 44:47

Right. Right. Okay. And then is that how would you need to do like the stand-up paddleboards and the kayaking in order to visit? Like you mentioned all of the little islands. Is there a way to is that the best way to kind of island hop?

SPEAKER_04 45:03

Yeah, I mean the the biking routes, that's the easiest. But then they are companies that make these guided kayaking, so it's safe for you to go with them. And they do have like for paddle and so on, they do have um bedsuits also. At least this company by the theater on the Castle Island. They have wetsuits. Maybe you could also explore on your own. Yeah, we can send you the links.

SPEAKER_05 45:34

We can uh we can put links to those uh resources in the show notes.

SPEAKER_03 45:39

Yeah, but we are a little bit brayer than the Southern California.

SPEAKER_02 45:43

Very much so. I I told someone this last week. I think the the Finnish people and compared to Americans, the Finnish people seem very subdued, you know? They're quiet. Even uh we were speaking earlier about the the the fewer words in your language, even. And so words can have uh like boy koff or boy, also is son. You don't have a word for sun, you don't have a word for please. And I think what's really interesting is it matches the generally subdued nature of the Finnish people. However, my point in all of that when I was speaking to them was don't mistake that for weakness. And for the Finnish people are very strong. I think in World War II, the world learned a lesson that they're quiet people, but they're incredibly strong. And I think part of it is the environment you live in, and and you don't just live in it, you thrive in the environment. And to me, it's just it's remarkable, really remarkable.

SPEAKER_04 46:38

And it's also about cooperation, you know. We are so few here, we need to help each other that each other out. So we need to do things together, you know. I I have this skill, you have that skill, maybe we can collaborate. I do this, you do that, let's exchange the the things or the you know, it's it's all about you cannot survive on your own.

SPEAKER_00 47:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 47:04

Yeah. I checked the Fahrenheit. So about sixty-five Fahrenheit is the water or the sea temperature in Oulu in July.

SPEAKER_02 47:17

Where I come from it's thirty-seven Celsius, so yeah or twenty-seven Celsius.

SPEAKER_03 47:23

Well maybe uh maybe I would need a wet C but maybe a little bit about winter swimming and ice hole swimming. Have you heard about that? No, tell me. Uh yes, have you heard? That's a very fashionable sports, even in Olu. So in the winter, the Finns, Olu people, we drill a bigger hole on the river, and we go swimming when the seawater is plus four. That's very typical. You can see it all the time happening in the city centre of Oulu. I used to do it when I was younger. And by the way, it's good for uh again for your blood circulation, for relaxation. Yeah, and if you have aromatism, it's like a cold treatment. So many uh elderly ladies and men hold your ice hole for health reasons. But once you are dipping into the uh cold water for 30 seconds, one minute, when you get out, it's a shock and you are suddenly most energized and you don't have stress at all. That's such a shock.

SPEAKER_02 48:30

Because you lived through it. Nothing else matters.

SPEAKER_03 48:34

Yeah. So that's very popular actually in Oland. Actually, there are now two or three places throughout the winter. There is sauna and ice hole available on the river, only a few kilometers from the city centre or even in the city centre. Wow.

SPEAKER_04 48:53

Yeah, and we have because of the European cultural capital city. We had now this March we had the world championships in winter swimming. The last year it was about 20 years. Yeah, 20 years ago. Yeah, world championship. We had teams from Australia also from different European countries. But I saw the Australian team.

SPEAKER_02 49:17

And winter swimming.

SPEAKER_03 49:20

Yeah. So there is so much for you to explore outdoors in our dear old.

SPEAKER_05 49:27

Yes, okay.

SPEAKER_03 49:28

Summer and winter.

SPEAKER_05 49:30

We just gotta bring all of our lairs.

SPEAKER_03 49:32

Yes.

SPEAKER_05 49:33

Okay, well we have uh been chatting for a while, so we probably should wrap this up. But do you have any start with each of you? We'll start with Mina and then Marika, final thoughts, final inspiration, and and how people can connect with you.

SPEAKER_04 49:51

Yes. Speaking of oxygen, yes, the climate in Europe it's the cleanest when you think about the cities. Um and this is from Marica and me. The cities was it 50,000 inhabitants. And um they um they have researched um different European Union cities, and the climate in Olu, it's the cleanest. We have good oxygen for you to breathe any time of the day, any time of the year. So welcome to Olu. See the four different seasons of Olu.

SPEAKER_05 50:27

So good. So the way that you bring Olu home is to get essential oxygen, which we're gonna talk about next, into your home, and you can experience Olu anywhere. I love it.

SPEAKER_03 50:38

Yes. And Milna and myself are here for you.

SPEAKER_05 50:44

We appreciate that so much.

SPEAKER_03 50:46

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_05 50:47

Yeah. Any other f additional words, Marika?

SPEAKER_03 50:51

Well, if I may state something about Olu still.

SPEAKER_00 50:56

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 50:56

I would like to say that in my opinion, and we all think that Olu is a little bit crazy city with a lot of innovation. And as our world is a little bit in a chaotic situation, if you agree with me, I wonder if you have heard about air guitar world championships in Oulu. Have you heard about this?

SPEAKER_05 51:16

No, we haven't!

SPEAKER_03 51:17

Oh, if you allow me for a few Oh yeah, we're gonna talk about oxygen and bring in the air, so come on. Air guitar. Right. So in nineteen ninety-six, it was a local musician called Yuka Takalo who thought during the music festival of Oulu that hey, let's play air guitar for world peace. And he got the idea that if all the people in the world would play air guitar, you could not hold a gun in your hand. And since 1996, for thirty years, every August in Oulu, people around the world have come to Oulu to play air guitar for world peace. Wow. I just checked that nine times the winner has come from the United States. The past years, it's a three-time world air guitar world championships who uh always keeps uh running the the show.

SPEAKER_00 52:14

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_03 52:15

It's gonna happen this year, the last weekend of August.

SPEAKER_00 52:18

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 52:20

Players around the world come to Oulu to play air guitar for world peace. And this year, as it's the European Capital Culture Year, and as the air guitar will turn 30 years, the stage will be instead of our Walking Street Rottuari, it will be on Olu River Delta, a 40 meter long stage, will be on the sea, and air guitarists for sure from the United States will come to play air guitar for world peace. That's how Olu is a little bit innovative and crazy. By the way, you can also follow this show online. We will send you a link on this. So we say in Olu, make air not war for 30 years.

SPEAKER_04 53:03

So good. And they've they've played air guitar always outdoors because outdoors.

SPEAKER_03 53:16

So outdoors activity. And you can start practicing for the next year's contest. Yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 53:23

I come to our new Science and Olu Museum, History, Science and Art and Culture Museum. They will have air guitar on display there.

SPEAKER_00 53:36

So good.

SPEAKER_02 53:38

It's a case, it looks like it's empty, but it has an air guitar.

SPEAKER_04 53:43

Exactly.

SPEAKER_03 53:44

Yeah, you play it. Air guitar, an invisible guitar. But that's the way we are here in Oulu. Innovative and we love peace and outdoors.

SPEAKER_00 53:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 53:54

Love it. Love it. Well, that is a great tie-in into our next segment segment about essential oxygen. But Mina and Marika, thank you so much. This has been really fun. Learning like what we can do now and also how the history of the area influences what we can enjoy and experience, just how nature has influenced your course.

SPEAKER_00 54:16

All year long.

SPEAKER_05 54:17

And then how we can come visit and soak all of that in. And it's just amazing. So again, we will put a link in the show notes to their tourism office. And uh you guys can check that out and connect with them, and they can help guide you to what you can see and do. And I'm sure they can you can share your personal interests with them, and they can help guide you to the right activity for you, your personality, and what you want to experience in Olu. There is something for everyone.

SPEAKER_00 54:49

Indeed. Yes, thank you.

SPEAKER_05 54:54

Hey, hey, bye-bye. Thank you again, Minna and Marika. It was so fun to talk with you, and I so appreciate what you were saying about oxygen and clean air, and that you win the cleanest air award. I mean, that's that's super, super great. You know, we don't live in Olu, and so far from it.

unknown 55:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 55:15

So a really great way that we can apply that travel inspiration and bring it home is uh through a very fun brand called Essential Oxygen.

SPEAKER_02 55:26

And they see oxygen air guitar, oxygen cleanest air, oxygen degrees.

SPEAKER_05 55:35

So good, so good. I go to a natural products expo every year, learned about this brand, and took home a bottle of their mouthwash and brushing rinse, and I fell in love with it. I would love to like mouthwash in general, but over the years, like for a long time, I just stopped buying mouthwash altogether.

SPEAKER_00 55:55

Yeah, sure. It's been years for me.

SPEAKER_05 55:57

It just wasn't like anything that I'd enjoyed using, if that makes sense. Like I love having a fresh mouth, but I just Well, I like your mouth being hersh as well. Thank you. So I want a fresh mouth, but like I don't want to have to go through torture to get it. And I have a really small mouth too. And so, like, I I don't know why that never occurred to me before, but I just started using it in smaller doses, and I just loved how it felt in my mouth. I loved how clean my mouth felt after using it. And the the previous time that I went to the dentist, I had potential cavities and I started using my mouthwash. And when I returned to the dentist, she said, You don't have any new issues, any spots that I care about. And so I feel like that this mouthwash was like the difference, and just really keeping my mouth clean and fresh. The taste is really nice. I had the cinnamon, and right now I'm using the peppermint flavor. So they have different options. And also, so my mom had gone to this holistic doctor, and the holistic doctor gave my mom this intense mouthwash for for issues my mom was having, and my mom just like couldn't use it. Like it, she just couldn't connect with it. It was too yeah, tolerate. That's a great word. And so I went online, bought her a bottle, sent it to her, and she loved using it. And it did all of the same things that this holistic one did, but without the intense, like the painful, icky display. Discomfort instead of using whatever it was they gave her. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 57:37

And just like the So what I find interesting here is you've done this big preamble and set up. We've uh we have no idea what you're talking about yet. What's the product? Okay, here's the reveal.

SPEAKER_05 57:49

Well, I just want to like we love it. Essential oxygen.

SPEAKER_02 57:53

I guess you said that maybe early on. Yeah. Somehow I felt like she hadn't said it, but there it is. Yeah, I think you did. Okay. Essential oxygen. Organic mouthwash and brushing rinse. Excellent.

SPEAKER_05 58:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 58:03

So they have that whole line expression's breath kills bad breath germs. Well, I'm glad you're using it. One issue when we first started dating was, you know, a little melatosis. But uh, it's been a year, it's been it's been a while, so that's good. I'm I'm glad you're using this. Uh one thing that we've learned after, you know, years of traveling is that every single bit of packing space we have matters. And when we're flying overseas, like right now we're actually overseas.

SPEAKER_05 58:30

When we're flying overseas and living out on or living out of an RV, yes, when you have your road surfer RV and that becomes your home on wheels, awesome.

SPEAKER_02 58:40

Or for staying in Airbnbs, which we quite quite frequently do, and you can come stay in RVs. Uh, anytime we find something that's simple, effective, and and can replace several other products, yes, and it's like an all-in-one amazing product, well, obviously it tends to get out at that's what we love about essential oxygen.

SPEAKER_05 59:08

They are a family-owned company that's been around for more than like 20 years, and everything they make is built around a really simple philosophy that clean should actually mean clean.

SPEAKER_02 59:17

And so instead of loading products means fair maid, clean should mean clean.

SPEAKER_05 59:22

That's an inside joke with Variana from France. But anyway, instead of loading products within synthetic ingredients or like complicated chemical names you can't pronounce, they focus on really simple ingredients that do the job well. So it's like why we really connect to what connect with it. And their products are USDA organic certified. Again, that's another reason we love their products. And they make both household cleaning products and an oral care line.

SPEAKER_02 59:46

We are label readers. Yes. And so I love to pick up a label and read it and go, oh, I know everything that's in there. That's just really nice. Really nice and mentioned, essential oxygen's products. They offer three main categories. Number one, their multi-purpose food grade hydrogen peroxide. Number two, a separate line of household cleaners. And three, an oral care line that is built around food grade hydrogen peroxide. Yeah, and if you're someone who travels like us, all the things I mentioned, or you're going to be at a tiny home or a cabin, or you want less clutter under the sink. Which we talked about in clutter under the sink.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:27

In uh M is for minimalism.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:29

It is a très appealing idea.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:32

Yes, yes. You know, baking soda can do 600 things, 600 million things, or like we love coconut oil that can do like a bunch of things. So this uh food grade hydrogen peroxide is also one of those things. And the way that you can utilize food grade hydrogen peroxide, you can use it to wash fresh produce. You can treat laundry stains before they set. So, y'all, this is how we're bringing travel home. Come on. These are things you take care of on the road, but also at home. You treat laundry stains, you can sanitize cutting boards, either in an Airbnb or your own home. Uh, it cleans humidifiers. You can give your dishwasher a little boost.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:09

Yeah, they get that dishwashers get pretty nasty. Have you ever noticed that?

SPEAKER_05 1:01:14

You can treat small mold or mildew spots. You can even soak tired feet after a long day of exploring. And so that's a lot of jobs for one bottle.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:24

Yeah, when we're traveling internationally, we're always picking up fresh fruit at markets and grocery stores.

SPEAKER_05 1:01:28

And I did today. We're in Switzerland. I got my favorite lettuce that I can't get in the States.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:33

Yeah, having some simple products that we can like put that all in the sink and put it in there, let them soak before we eat it. And rinse the produce. Rinse the produof. That's produof. The produce, it's really uh, really incredibly practical for us, and we like to have stuff like that. So maybe you spill your coffee on your shirt in the morning.

SPEAKER_05 1:01:53

Maybe, maybe. Sometimes that has happened.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:56

Perhaps it has happened before you're catching a flight. Having a bottle that can take the stain off before it sets, well, that's kind of travel hack we like.

SPEAKER_05 1:02:05

Yeah. Or maybe you're staying in an Airbnb for a week and you want to freshen up a reusable water bottle or clean your travel humidifier, things like that. If you don't want to buy five different cleaners, especially when you're only there a few days, this is a great do more with less approach.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:22

Yep.

SPEAKER_05 1:02:22

And we love that it fits into this whole from room to home mindset that we've been talking about this season, because a lot of the smartest things we discover while traveling become the habits we bring home, or the things we love when we're traveling, like oxygen and fresh air and Olu, you know, become um products and habits that we can bring home. And so having fewer products, again, like that Amazon for minimalism episode we recently did, just being able to do less with more, this does that.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:52

So this might be your home to roam product. Yeah. We roam to home and you might home to roam with this.

SPEAKER_05 1:03:00

Travel with it, especially having fewer products that can do more is great. Like food-grade hydrogen peroxide. When Rory was diagnosed with cancer, someone said, You need to read this book. And they handed us this book called The One Minute Cure. And it has a whole regimen that utilizes food-grade hydrogen peroxide in a very extremely diluted form. And you have a specific protocol that you do, but uh, that was a very interesting way to also utilize this. So this is one of our natural treatments. Yes, and Rory is now cancer-free. Just saying we're not making any medical claims here at all. No. But we just want to point out that it does like again have so many different uses. And we'll put a link to that book in the show notes because it was just very interesting. Now, essential oxygen, Rory.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:49

They also have a full household cleaner line. They're separate products from the food-grade hydrogen peroxide from the one standalone multi-purpose product. Instead of that one multi-purpose bottle, these are designed specifically for everyday cleaning around the home.

SPEAKER_05 1:04:04

And what we appreciate is that they carry that same philosophy throughout their entire line. Simple ingredients, no synthetic residue, just effective cleaning products that keep your home fresh without overcomplicating things. And so whether you're cleaning your kitchen, your bathroom, or just tackling everyday messes, it's all built around that same clean and simple mindset. And, you know, us being Airbnb hosts, we really appreciate that and love being able to utilize healthy, clean products within our home and for our guests.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:35

And keeping it as simple as possible. There's enough complicated about all of that in life and running an Airbnb. So really great to simplify things.

SPEAKER_05 1:04:44

Yes. And then number three is their oral care line. I touched on this at the top of the episode. The uh essential oxygen. I have the travel bottle, and it is exactly three ounces. And we just flew with it from country to country, and it's been in my carry-on, and it does just fine.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:07

They stopped me and made me pour my water out, but they didn't make her do anything with this because it's with the mouthwash.

SPEAKER_05 1:05:14

That's right. So this is again a great travel tool, and we we love that. The oral care products are built around food grade hydrogen peroxide as their active base.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:26

Check it out. Their oral care line includes toothpaste, tooth polish powder, and mouthwash, all formulated around the food-grade hydrogen peroxide. So if you already appreciate the simple ingredient philosophy behind their food grade hydrogen peroxide, you recognize the same approach in their or in all of their oral care products.

SPEAKER_05 1:05:46

And as we mentioned, it is TSA friendly. And we are currently recording this episode. We are in Switzerland, and I just want to say that after a very long international flight, if you've ever Stepped off an airplane after eight or ten hours. Something like having a refreshing mouthwash, brushing rinse with you is much easier than like trying to brush your teeth in an in an airplane bathroom or something like that. This just gives you that fresh, happy feeling that helps you.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:20

That airplane bathrooms don't necessarily give you that fresh feeling. Well, and also they're alcohol-free. So instead of that like harsh burning feeling that some mouthwashes have like I was talking about. That's one of the reasons I quit using mouthwashes.

SPEAKER_05 1:06:37

Yeah. So whether it's long flight, dry cabin air, or just days when you've out been outside hiking or exploring. And even just at home in your daily routine at home, this is such a great line to utilize. And just like everything else they make, the ingredient list stays refreshingly simple, no artificial dyes.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:57

No synthetic additives. How about that?

SPEAKER_05 1:06:59

Just thoughtfully chosen ingredients doing exactly what they're supposed to do.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:03

This season we've been talking a lot about bringing home the best ideas from our travels. Sometimes that's the design idea. Sometimes it's a destination. Sometimes it's a recipe. If you've been listening to our podcast in one of the seasons, we talked about rushti, one of the Swiss national dishes that we now make at home.

SPEAKER_05 1:07:22

Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:23

And sometimes it's simply discovering products that make our everyday life easier.

SPEAKER_05 1:07:29

For that. For that, for us, that's what essential oxygen represents. A travel-sized mouthwash is something that's easy to take with us wherever we go. The food grade hydrogen peroxide is one of those practical products that earns its place because it can do so many jobs. And then when we get home, the rest of our household cleaning and oral care products just help carry that same simple philosophy into our everyday life at home.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:53

Less clutter.

SPEAKER_05 1:07:54

Simple ingredients.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:55

Products that work hard without making our lives more complicated.

SPEAKER_05 1:08:00

And that's exactly the kind of inspiration we love bringing home from our travels, and that we are we hope we are inspiring you with. And so we will have a link in the show notes where you can find essential oxygen and explore all of their products. Yes, and bring that Olu fresh air oxygen home. Thanks for joining us. We'll see you on the next one.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:23

See you later.

SPEAKER_05 1:08:28

We hope we've inspired you this episode.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:30

So join us next time.

SPEAKER_05 1:08:31

Please subscribe to, rate, and share our podcast with your friends.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:34

Or, you know, whomever.

SPEAKER_05 1:08:36

And please like and follow us on Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:39

We are also on X and on all social platforms. We are at The Romies. That's T H E. R O A M. I E E S. And our main hub is our website.

SPEAKER_05 1:08:50

At www.theromies.com.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:53

That's right, that's T H E.

SPEAKER_05 1:08:55

R O A M. We'll be there until next time. Yeah, thanks for listening. Bye.