Five Friday Faves - 7.17

a milestone and a case for Marco Polo

Minor Milestone Moment - the podcast reached 100K downloads! Thank you to everyone who’s listened, recommended, shared, or reviewed the podcast! All of this really helps the podcast to continue to grow! I’m planning for Q4 and beyond at the moment, and would love to hear more about what you want to hear! If you have guest suggestions, question ideas, themes, ANYTHING, I’d love for you to send me a message here or Instagram DM!

One question I always ask on the podcast is “How do you make time for friends and relationships?” I think if I could search the audio from the past 112 podcast interviews I’ve done, I’d find that ~20 of them mention Marco Polo, an app that was new-to-me when Catherine mentioned it. It sounded to me like TikTok or something that I didn’t want to take time to figure out, but everyone who used it raved about it.

There’s plenty of evidence around about the Loneliness Epidemic, and feeling lonely isn’t uncommon among my friends and our listeners. Moving, marriage, babies, so many transitions contribute to feeling alone, and making new friends feels really hard in those phases.

I’ve been thinking of ways to connect more with the friends, so a few months ago, I bit the bullet and decided to sign up for Marco Polo and see what everyone was talking about. And honestly, it’s been such a fun addition to my weeks.

Let’s break what took me so long to get into it, what my initial hesitations were, and where we are now.

1. What if no one wants to be my friend on Marco Polo? - Have you ever thought about friending someone on Instagram or Facebook, and thought, will they think I’m weird. Same thing applies to Marco Polo. I didn’t want anyone to “reject” my Marco Polo friend-ness, and I didn’t have any close friends on Marco Polo. Well, turns out you don’t need to. When I’d chat with people and they’d mention it, I would say - we should be friends. I also just randomly send links to friends to get them onto Marco Polo. It’s been really cool to use the app to stay in touch and become closer friends with podcast guests, and to connect with other friends in more detail other than a quick text.

2. I don’t want to spend more time on my phone - Fair. I don’t. But I also consider Marco Polo more like calling a friend - it’s tough to pick up the phone and call a friend in the middle of the day when I’m on a 10-15 minute walk. How do I know that they’re free. If I call, will they think something catastrophic is wrong? It’s a lot easier to catch up on Marco Polos, and leave them a quick little message telling them about my day and that I’m thinking about them. It’s an app that actually makes me feel closer to people rather than farther away.

3. I don’t want to pay for this - You certainly don’t have to, though they push it hard. I will say paying makes it a lot easier. I have friends who are slow talkers, and turning the speed up is really helpful when we’re exchanging long polos. I pay for the individual account but I’m open to sharing and splitting a group one - hit me up if you’re interested!

4. OK, this is cool, I can use this to connect with my kids when I’m traveling! - On my last work trip, as I was chatting with a friend, I realized, I should use it to send polos with my husband and kids when traveling. Often a Facetime in the middle of the morning routine throws off the morning, so I’m going to test this out on my next trip.

I will say my usage is weekly, maybe sometimes a few times a week. I love to listen and respond to Polos while I’m walking the dog (yes, I am now that woman walking, in a weighted vest, swinging a poop bag, talking to her phone - please enjoy that visual) or cooking in the kitchen. Friends get to see me in my real element, get to see the houses for sale in the neighborhood, kids running through the kitchen, husband making goofy faces, and it’s so much more “real” and lower pressure than carving out time to make a phone call, or texting.”

So can an app bring happiness - maybe, maybe not. Can connecting in a more meaningful way than just texting and an easier way than calling bring you closer to friends across the world and country? Yes, it can.

ALSO - Pepper Books is LIVE! If you love romance, are interested in reading more romance, or just want to get into reading again, we’ve got a book box for you! Check out ShopPepperBooks.com!

What’s for Dinner?

Sunday - Shrimp and Chorizo Pasta - made up the recipe

Monday - Spicy Chicken with Peanuts and Celery

Tuesday - Brats

Wednesday - Fresh Tuna Nicoise Salad - a friend brought over fresh caught Tuna and it was AMAZING.

Thursday - Out

More A Day In Her Life:

• ICYMI - This week Lauren Chiriboga joined us to chat about her days as a pediatrician who’s getting ready for her second child! I loved chatting with her and hearing how she related her calendar to Ron Burgundy.

• One Year Ago - A Day In Her Life with Molly Urban

• Two Years Ago - A Day In Her Life with Julia S Powell

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