Peek into our HGTV Tiny House Hunters Experience as Backpackers Go Tiny

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HGTV's Tiny House Hunters filmed us as we searched for our our tiny house on wheels. It was quite a series of #nuventures finding something cozy enough for me and practical for Adam. You can watch our show on Amazon here:

what was it like being on HGTV's TINY HOUSE HUNTERS?

We’ve been getting heaps of questions about our experience on HGTV’s Tiny House Hunters and some friendly harassment of Adam’s “truck stop” shower solution and “Choose yo battles, Shuga!” And folks have told us, “Ya’ll are crazy! I would’ve picked the other one!”

We wanted to share the experience with you. It was one full of surprises and not what we expected at all. We signed up for a brand spankin’ #nuventure without having a clue what we were really getting ourselves into.

Take a peek into our Tiny House Hunters experience. Here goes!

What was your most embarrassing moment while filming you were hoping wouldn’t make the final cut?

That’s easy! The very first scene. 

The first morning of filming, we met the crew at a campsite. We’ve never been on TV before and had no idea how things go.

For the first scene, our producer placed us in front of the lake. Then she handed us a cast iron skillet, eggs, bacon, and a metal grate. The grate was intended to put the skillet on over the fire.  Then, she said, “Now, build a fire, make breakfast, and talk about New Zealand.”

“Okay! Lights, camera, ACTION.” Then, the crew fell silent, the camera was rolling, and all eyes were on us.

Cricket. Cricket. Blink, blink. We stood there like two deer in headlights. 

What she didn’t realize is asking the Nuberns to make a fire is a tall order, without the breakfast or talking requests.

To understand the complexity of this, you have to first understand how we function as a couple.  First, Adam and I are pretty outdoorsy and camp all the time. We even lived out of a tent for five months together when road tripping the US. However, we each have streaks of competiveness. Over the years, we’ve learned to build campfires in silence.

We approach building fires differently. I start with the teepee. Adam starts with the box. So if the fire being built isn’t successful, the other person always has critiques to give. Did I mention we were competitive? So after years of the fire causing arguments and snapping at each other with “I got it! No- I got it!” silence and giving each other space has become our golden ticket to enjoying the campfire.

So, we were already being tested with the first request.

Second, how were we going to build this fire? There wasn’t a fire pit. We were standing on flat, pine-needle covered ground. Thoughts started racing in our heads. "Where’s the kindling? We don't want to catch the whole forest on fire! How are we logistically going to lay this metal grate over the fire to cook the bacon?” Adam's mom was with the crew motioning to us, "Rocks! Rocks! Make a fire ring!" Well, we didn’t have time to talk it out. The camera was rolling and New Zealand was our topic.  

Oh, New Zealand. Where do we start talking about New Zealand? We were there for five months with so much to say. Where do we begin?

My coping mechanism with the overload of requests was finding the path of least resistance. So I stood there and just started talking. Adam followed suit and started sniffing for some fat lighter to get this fire going.  

What a bomb! The scene failed with patchy conversation of me talking and talking and then asking Adam questions without a reply. He wasn’t hearing me.  He was focused on not looking like an idiot in front of our Colorado friends and getting this fire built right.

Sounds like thrilling entertainment, eh?

First scene: FAIL.

I guess the editors knew how bad it was, so they tossed it! Whew! Thankfully that never saw the light of day! You can only see snippits of the campsite in the very first 20 seconds of the show.

So thankful the camp fire scene is over!

How was it? What was it like?

Exciting! And totally exhausting. 

We had no idea how hard it would be. We were on set filming for five 14-hour days totaling 70 hours of filming. All these hours of filming resulted in an episode of only 21 minutes! That’s mind blowing!

We totally have a new respect for folks working in the television industry. They have to wear so many hats at once. The creativity was constantly flowing on set. They have to think on their feet, constantly communicate their ideas, and collaborate with each other to problem solve and capture each scene just right. Lastly, they had to work with us. Three rookies who smile and shrug, “Uh. We donno what we’re doin’.”

Our producer, Tiff, said, “My friend describes my job as a circus director babysitting kittens while spinning plates on my head.” I see the parallels!

We couldn’t keep up with the crew’s endurance, but their high energy was contagious and kept us going.

What were you most surprised about?

1.     How hard our crew worked.

On the show, everyone always seems so relaxed while looking at the houses. Behind the scenes, the crew is working hard, long hours to get the right angles, making sure the story flows, and is constantly listening for barking dogs and planes overhead. We were amazed by all the hard work that goes into a 21 minute episode. 

2. The waiting game to get perfect audio. 

We had never thought about background noise when watching TV.  We bet a quarter of our time filming was—“Wait, wait. A dog’s barking. Hold on- the motorcycle. Oh, here comes a plane. Oh, wait. Another plane.” For the clips to work smoothly in the editing process, the background noise has to be consistent. This means you have to stop filming to wait for the random fits of barking to stop. We didn’t know this! We’re always a-learnin’.

3.     We didn’t realize how long it takes to film a tiny house.

For example, we spent 4.5 hours filming the outside of this cute shaker-shingle cottage. In reality, it only takes 20 seconds to walk around the whole thing.

However, if you think about watching the show, you're constantly seeing different angles of a scene: A wide angle of all three of us walking up to the house, then a view of our faces as we talk in front of the house, to a close up of Adam’s hand hitting the shingles, then back to a shot of all of us together, then onto one of me listening to my mom. One camera man has to get all of those angles. It’s amazing! 

We got to know Josh the builder! You can find his tiny house designs at urbancottagebuilders.com

4. How many outfits we needed.

This was the most stressful part for us. We came from living out of our backpacks while traveling. Adam only had two t-shirts in his backpack (you can see our packing lists here).  So, we had to be creative to have new outfits for each new scene of the show. I had to re-use my shirts and made a new "outfit" by changing my scarves. We had to get creative, because when living tiny, your wardrobes are tiny!

How did we get on the show?

We applied. We were sitting in our apartment in Thailand dreaming about finding a little camper to live in when we got back to the US. We were ready to return home to the states, but we wanted to keep traveling. Adam dreamed big and thought, “Hey! Maybe Tiny House Hunters can help us research what’s out there.” So, we filled out an application and pitched ourselves as going from “teeny backpacks to a tiny house.” We sent in our application on a Sunday night in Thailand and by Monday morning LA time, we were contacted and started an interview process. Our expectations of getting help with the research didn’t pan out, but we were pumped for a new adventure!

What were the coolest parts of the experience?

1. Working with the production crew.

Everyone from start to finish was so friendly and relaxed, but super on-the-ball and worked their tails off on the details. Their professional experience blew my mind. Our producer, Tiff, had worked on the Amazing Race, the Bachelor and on different Travel Channel series. The camera man, Shawn, had worked on COPS and National Geographic. I was star struck feeling like I was amongst television legends. So cool!

2. My mom’s decorating skills being showcased on HGTV!

My mom's an amazing interior designer and a HGTV fanatic. The first part of the show was in my parent’s house. It was pretty awesome to see her decorating work on HGTV!

3. Sharing the #nuventure with our families.

My mom was our real-estate agent and my dad jumped in with his “Oh, you are planning to have kids?” Baha! Dad, you're still embarrasing me!

Adam’s mom traveled to be on set for the first day with us, too. She was there watching us fail at building a campfire. And, Adam’s extended family threw a party to watch the show together.

After traveling for two years, it's been so special to spend time with our families. 

Wooo! Wooo!

How do we feel after the show aired?

So thankful!

In the moment of crawling into the loft with my butt towards the camera, all I could do was hope for the best. I had no idea what the final product would be like. Yikes!

The editors did an amazing job. We feel like the production team really captured us as us- our imperfect selves.

We hope you have a good laugh at our expense and have fun watching the show! You can get it anytime on Amazon. 

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You can watch it on Amazon here:

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We'll continue sharing our adventures of life living out of a 100 sq. foot camper. Stay updated below. 

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We're curious what you think! Were you surprised which tiny house we chose? Which one would you have chosen? Tell us by leaving a comment below!

Faces of the AT: Meet Marty. When He Went to Quit His Job, His Boss Said No.

Adam and I set out on Saturday to hike the piece of the Appalachian Trail (AT) running through Grayson Highlands State Park in Virginia. Grazing along the trail are famous feral ponies. We were keen to summit Mount Rogers, but when we ran across a herd of ponies- “Squirrel!” I got distracted and we never made it to the summit. 

Follow the white blaze. 

While we were racing around the ponies and ooing and ahing over the babies, Marty joined in. 

Aw!

We were all amazed how comfortable the ponies were with us. They were working the camera giving me full-on nostril shots. Work it ladies! They were so comfortable, they were even biting at my sleeves!

In a broken conversation between the ponies' fits of shocking behavior - “Ah, the pony just farted on me!”; “Oh, geez! What’s going on there? Ah! It’s not round— it’s flat!”; “He’s biting his butt!” to this thru-hiker jumping in for a quick selfie, we heard a tiny bit of Marty’s story with the AT. His story surprised me and I’ve been itching to share it. 

Fart + burp face? Furp face!

Looks like Adam's never seen one before! Ha!

The new stanky leg!

This was just funny! 

Marty’s from Virginia. He’s always known the AT was out there. It wasn’t until meeting a couple in their 70’s who had hiked the 2,000+ mile trail twice did Marty really get inspired. He started considering doing the AT himself. His considerations turned to “I’m going to do it."

Meet Marty!

He started taking steps to make it happen. To cut down living costs and save more, he moved in with friends. 

He was so serious about hiking the Appalachian Trail, he went in to work one day to quit his job. When he sat down with his boss to give the news, his boss said, “No.” 

"What? Wait. Huh?" I was confused. Marty was the one telling them he was quitting. How could they say no?

Turns out, they saw another option. His boss said they’d give him a leave of absence to hike, but they wanted him back when he was done.

What an awesome surprise! 

I was amazed by this piece of his story. Quitting your job to go out and have a big experience isn’t the only option. Marty’s company proved that when we work hard and our work is valued, companies are willing to value our personal goals. Well, the ones who care about their people will do this. 

You know it’s crazy, because some folks take six months to complete the AT. That doesn’t matter. His company supports his 2,190 mile quest from Georgia to Maine. They just wanted to make sure they got him back whenever he was done. Pretty awesome, eh?

His company’s response shocked me and I forgot all about the farting ponies. He continued to share how amazed he’s been of everyone’s encouragement for him to pursue this big adventure. Great friends are even watching his dog while he hikes. 

We are inspired by Marty’s guts to drop everything for his big dream of hiking the Appalachian Trail. Sometimes we don’t pursue big dreams because we’re afraid of what people will think. He had a big dream and went for it, and everyone’s encouraging response surprised all of us. 

A storm was a-brewin’. We were all reluctant to split from the ponies' free entertainment. 

Marty found a spot to set up camp and hunkered down before the storm hit. Adam and I got caught in the rain running back to the car. 

I imagine Marty’s moments on the trail- when he’s alone laying in his tent listening to the rain patter or during his eighth hour of walking by himself for the day- being filled with so much more comfort than expected because he knows everyone back home- family, friends and his co-workers- are cheering him on but also eagerly awaiting his return.

Adam and I can relate. When you’re so far from home and on a grand adventure, it’s the support from your loved ones you cling to during the hard moments. Their words of encouragement play through your mind over and over and continue to push you forward.

So awesome to meet you Marty! Thanks for sharing your story. You are an inspiration. Keep going! We're back in Virginia cheering you on!

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Marty's story totally inspired me. When I dream big, I always come up with a list of challenges of why it won't happen. But maybe I'm just making them up. He thought he had to quit his job to go, but he didn't.  

I hope Marty's story inspired you. Leave a comment below to share what you think and share the inspiration with your friends on Facebook and Twitter!

Never Did I Ever Expect I Would Ever Do This

But, I did.

There we sat in a grimy bus station on navy blue plastic chairs. The chairs were all connected in rows like ones you would expect to see in any government office’s waiting room. We sat in the second row staring at a blank white wall well worn with scuffmarks from countless travelers coming through. The only fixture on the wall was a tiny clock up to the left.

With my mind on the clock, I realized it was noon. We were sitting there waiting to start a six hour-long episode of transport, and we hadn’t had lunch yet. We would be hopping from a bus to a boat to another bus to reach Cat Ba Island, Vietnam. From much experience, we have learned in South East Asia the ticket counter folks always tell you the journey will be a certain amount of time, but you should always take the estimated time with a grain of salt. You just never know how long it will actually take you to get to your destination. You can definitely bet you won’t be early!

Well, I knew we were guaranteed at least six hours of transport and we had no idea about our access to any food in the coming hours. I have learned being without snacks is not a good idea. Our hangry monsters are sure to sprout their awful heads!

We had twenty minutes before the bus was to depart, so I set off on a mission: food.

The bus station

I squeezed between several men lounging on both sides of the front door to the waiting room. The door opened out into the bus station’s chaotic entry off the main road. Huge tourist buses rolled in one after another. Taxis came swooping in dropping people off, motorbikes were everywhere and at least 30 taxi drivers in light blue shirts were sprinting around lining up for every bus yelling, “TAXI! TAXI! TAXI! TAXI!”

To stay on the outskirts of the chaos, I followed the building to the left and found a tiny convenience store. The shelves were packed solid from the ceiling to the floor with plastic packages of manufactured food; chips, instant noodles, candy, etc. Essentially, just junk. Wincing, I grabbed the best option of chips: Hot Chilli Squid Flavor. "Oh, yum." Then, I noticed cups of popcorn hanging in the madness to my right. “Huh. Well, popcorn sounds more appealing and is healthier,” I thought. My brain didn’t listen to my hesitation when I felt the dust on the container cup. I even stopped and took a second to try to feel if the popcorn was hard through the plastic. I knew I was making the wrong decision, but I was trying to think positive. As I was paying, I thought, “I will probably regret this.”

I squeezed back through the lounging men at the front door to the waiting room feeling like I failed in my mission. I glanced up and saw Adam laughing at me. This further affirmed my failure. He already knew while I was still 20 feet away I had made a terrible decision with the popcorn. “Want some?” I asked. He declined with a shake of his head still chuckling.

I rolled back the plastic and the stale air escaped from the cup. Seeing, feeling and smelling all these warning signs, I still moved forward and popped a piece of popcorn into my mouth. Just as expected: Styrofoam taste and texture. Glancing around the cup, I couldn’t find an expiration date. Most likely, the popcorn was a year overdue. Great.

So this is where packing popcorn comes from!

Without seeing a trashcan, I set the cup down under the seat in front of me. Not wanting to see anything go to waste, Adam grabbed the cup and began offering the Styrofoam to the travelers behind us on the third row of seats. They weren’t dumb. He even asked the locals behind the ticket counter. No takers. I was the sucker. Dang it.

I put my hands on the arms of the plastic seat as if to make a statement to myself. I stood up again, pulled up my big girl pants and thought, “Okay, I gotta find something.” I was determined this time. I squeezed through the same lounging men in the doorway for the third time and stepped out into the chaotic world of buses, motorbikes, taxis, and taxi drivers. Honk! Honk! “Taxi! Taxi! Taxi!”

My mission became finding a tiny Vietnamese lady. “Where is she? I know she has to be here.” Tiny, powerhouse, beautiful, little ladies in Vietnam walk the streets carrying their own restaurant on their shoulders.

And fruit markets!

So impressive!

When these ladies find a customer, they set up shop right on the sidewalk and prepare an egg sandwich or other snacks. You can find these women with five or six people circling her on tiny plastic chairs. These ladies are brilliant and have figured it out. Don’t wait for them to come to you. Find the customers where they are.

We loved these little ladies. Many days we had our eyes peeled for them for lunch or dinner!

Her sidewalk kitchen!

Knowing a little lady was my only hope for a substantial meal here, I scanned the edges of the bus station. “Where is she? No. I don’t see her.” I found a break in the buses, taxis and taxi drivers and ran across the bus station toward the entrance to scan the other nooks and crannies.

While I was scanning and looking, men started yelling at me, “Motorbike! Motorbike!” After months in South East Asia, you get yelled at all the time, so the yelling becomes background noise like the television becomes the comfortable background at home. It didn’t register they were yelling at me, until two men grabbed my arms. “MOTORBIKE! MOTORBIKE!” they yelled in my face.

“Oh, no you didn’t!” A new side of me was immediately unleashed. “Don’t you dare touch me!” I yanked my arms back from them and stared them straight in the eyes. I gave them a forceful, “NO!” like I would yell at a dog I’m reprimanding to show who’s the alpha here. “NO! NO MOTORBIKE!” I saw them back down, so I added, “I want FOOD!” As I said this, I motioned shoving food into my mouth. They got the point. Since I wasn’t going to be a customer, their attention turned to the next person. “Motorbike! Motorbike!”

I returned to my mission. “Where is she? Where is the little lady?” I decided to turn left to head out onto the main street’s sidewalk with no hope in sight. As I started walking, I saw tiny, blue plastic chairs to my left. In America, you would expect to see these chairs in the four-year-old room at the local day care center. Not in Vietnam. These are the seats adults sit on everywhere.

One of our favorite ladies!

She was our favorite breakfast spot and we had to wait in line, because she was everyone's favorite!

“Ah ha! Bingo! I found it!”

I locked my sight onto these teeny plastic chairs and made my way back into the bus station to the seats. Under a tarped roof, I started analyzing my surroundings. “Okay, what am I working with here?” I saw a clear plastic bag of bread rolls hanging from the front of the counter. Then, I saw a stove behind the counter. “An egg sandwich looks like potential here! Alright!”

I walked up to the counter. As I approached, the man behind the counter stared at me blankly. I pointed to the bread rolls to explain, “I would like a sandwich.” Suddenly another man stood to my right and handed me the entire plastic bag of 12 bread rolls. “Oh, no thank you,” I said. “Just one,” putting up my index finger to indicate one. Understanding me, the helpful man to the right grabbed one bread roll from the bag and handed it to me. I looked down at his bare hand wrapped around the bread and was aghast! Just like a mechanic’s covered in black grease. Well, the helpful man’s action created reaction in me. So, of course, I took the bread in my hand and then handed it on to the man behind the counter like the three of us were working on a bread roll assembly line.

The man behind the counter reacted the same as I did. He took the bread in his bare hand. I looked down at his hands and they weren’t much different than the man to my right. “What am I doing?” I was thinking. The man behind the counter looked at me like, “So, what do you want me to do with this?” My Vietnamese went as far as hello and thank you, so I started explaining a sandwich with my hands. I’m sure he interpreted my charades as I was trying to open a book or the Bible. His confused expression didn’t change. Needless to say there was a lot of confusion going on. I started channeling my mom in this interaction, “Just keep smiling Lindsey.”

Suddenly, I was shoved from behind and had to take a step forward to catch myself. A little lady pushed past me in between the two counters to get to the stove. The little lady! She had arrived! Victory!

The man behind the counter stood there holding my piece of bread in his hands as the lady started to prepare the stove. Then, it was like time turned to slowmo. In one motion the man released his index finger from my bread roll like a British man would release his pinky from a cup of tea. Slowly, the man’s greasy hand moved up to his nose. “No! No!” I screamed in my head. His finger continued on and his first knuckle vanished into the depths of his nostril! "NO!" Then with a flick of his finger I was back in real time, and he simply passed my bread roll to the little lady.

“No WAY! I just saw that.” I said to myself. “I cannot believe I am still standing here.” My bread roll had passed between four sets of bare hands and through a nose picker. To my amazement, instead of walking away and forfeiting my order, I grabbed a second roll and handed it to the nose picker to make a second sandwich for Adam! “What am I doing?”

I hadn’t realized it, but I had obviously caused some drama in this little nook of the bus station. I glanced behind and saw everyone staring at me from their little plastic chairs. One of the girls got up and approached me. “I speak English. Can I help you?” She tilted her head down with her ear toward me as if she was trying to hear me in a loud bar. As I was trying to explain myself to her, I noticed her gold earrings. “Oh, those are cute. Wait, what? Do those say…?” I was in disbelief. I was in Vietnam and this helpful, beautiful, sweet girl had gold earrings spelling f*$@. “Wait, that can’t be right.” I blinked and took a double look. Yep, they said f*$@. Well, this girl who spoke English with explicit English earrings only understood the word “two” out of my, “I would like two sandwiches.” She just looked at me in confusion with a, “Sorry, but I don’t understand,” expression. Still channeling my mom, we both politely giggled, bowed to each other and parted ways in a failed attempt.

My attention turned back toward the counter and the sandwiches. The lady at the stove had cut open the rolls like you would a sandwich. She turned to me holding up an egg with a questioning look. I nodded with a, “Yes, please!”

Woohoo! If I had a cowboy hat in Vietnam, it would have been flying. The little lady understood my charades! We were moving along and heading toward an egg sandwich, folks!

As I waited for the sandwich, I stood there standing in disbelief at my reality. I so wanted to take a picture to capture the moment and remember this ridiculous situation. My internal battle became, “Should I stick out even more and take a picture?” “No,” I told myself. I had stood out too much already. So, I waited. Finally, both egg sandwiches were steaming hot and placed in a plastic bag. My mission finding a tiny lady was a success! I was on my way.

In my before South East Asia life, I would never, ever, ever, have eaten anything from this grimy, nasty, greasy bus station. I would have said, “Oh, never mind. No, really, no thank you,” and would have politely bowed out. But when in South East Asia, your standards drop on food preparation and you fight for two egg sandwiches made with greasy bare hands from nose pickers. I was fierce to make the next six hours more comfortable no matter what! I didn't want to add hangriness to the experience of lugging our backpacks from bus, to boat to bus in the unbearable Vietnam humidity.

I couldn’t take it any longer. I would never be in the bus station again (hopefully) and I just had to record this moment for my memory. As I was walking back for the fourth time to the lounging men at the waiting room door, I turned around and snapped a picture.

This lady had been watching me during the entire sandwich fiasco. She says hello!

Full bellied, happy campers on the bus! Onward ho to Cat Ba Island!

Your turn now! What are the lengths you have gone to get some food in your belly?

"Let's Process Some Quintessence!"

We've been watching too much Walter Mitty lately. Embarrasingly, too many times to count. In our defense, it is the only movie we have. Consequently, the Quintessence of Life has become a theme. You remember from the movie, “The quintessence of life... what is that? “Sir, it means so rich and full…” “All right... Let’s process some Quintessence!”

Watching Walter all the way back in Canada. 

On our journey, we have defined our own Quintessence of #Nuventures. Our quintessences aren't the places we go, but the people we meet.

An encounter with someone doesn’t have to be a deep, meaningful relationship by any means. For me, I found quintessence as I was simply waiting for coffee in Bali. All of a sudden this fireball, red head from Texas sent me on a whirlwind. In a matter of minutes, she smacked me in the face with wisdom, experience and straightened out my entire vision of life. Then, with a pat on the back, she was gone. Who would have guessed a red head from Texas in Indonesia would be my voice of clarity? Ha! Gotta love Texans!

The man that defined our quintessence on Koh Mook Island, Thailand was Chest, the owner of Coco Lodge. Upon our arrival, the island seemed similar to any other. We saw white sandy beaches, clear water lapping the sand, romantic bungalows lining the beach, jungly mountains as the backdrop, and smiling locals. At the other extreme, the Thai dogs were scavenging, motorbikes were roaring and plastic trash served as the grass.

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Our adorable neighbors!

However, once we met Chest, Koh Mook came alive! One night booked at the Lodge turned into a week stay!

Our bungalow was one of the cleanest, most comfortable and coolest places we've stayed in SE Asia. Add Chest to the experience and we got the icing on the cake!

Even at first glance you know this man has character and a great story to tell!

Chest had quite the reputation preceding him on Trip Advisor and Travelfish, but we didn’t expect to fall for him like everyone had promised. As we got to know Chest, we learned he has formed such close friendships with his guests he has officiated several of their weddings! Words cannot describe his warm hospitality balanced by an aura of absolute chillness. His life motto: "Relaaaaax. Take it eeeeeasy."

How can you argue with that when you sit on his front porch with a Chang in hand, chatting about life and watching the sunset?

Size has nothing to do with how big of an impact you can make. We compete for who's taller!

Adam and my curiosities were raging from all of the new things we were seeing on the island. With Chest's genuine pride and excitement to share Koh Mook with us, our curiosities were transformed to awesome experiences as he opened doors and threw us into everything.

On a morning walk, we heard pounding and went to investigate. We found ladies gathered together all pounding away. "Chest, what are they doing?" "Ah! Making chili paste." The next morning, I jumped in on the action.

You simply pound/grind fresh chilis from the garden with the pestle. Occasionally, clear the edges of the mortar so you don't lose any of the goodness. It's more about hanging with your girls and catching up on the local gossip:)

During our time on Koh Mook, the monsoon season was just starting. With the stronger winds and waves, the blue crabs were pulled out of hiding. Perfect for fishing! Chest got us front row seats to watch the action (we were too lame to wake up at 3 am to go out on the boat.) The fishermen dragged their nets off the boats around 8 am, cleared out the crabs and finished the chore of untangling the nets for hours with a team of family members. Our appreciation for the seafood on our plates has grown exponentially!

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This man had to use a hammer against his butcher knife to cut through this monster fish!

The blue crab. 

Being surrounded by locals living on chili and crabs made us eager to hop in the kitchen and learn how to make Thai food. "Mai bpen rai (no problem)!" Chest opened his kitchen up to us every night to learn how to cook from his staff.

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A little fish here, a little pork there, throw in some herbs from the garden and stuff them in banana leaves for steaming. Then, onto grinding more chili paste, prepping the crabs and sipping on Chang. Voila! A delicious homegrown meal from the garden and the sea.

Everyone was invited around the big family table to dig in on the delicious feast each night. 

Chest’s most treasured adventure to share with his guests was a full day on his boat exploring around the island. First stop: Emerald Cave. With the waves getting bigger, we had to jump ship fast and start swimming toward this tiny hole in the cliff. The waves pushed us through the hole taking us deeper into the pitch black cave. The name "Emerald" comes from the last color you feel like you will ever see as you go deeper into this unknown, scary, black abyss. Terrifying bellows of a distant monster in the cave (actually, the waves hitting deep, unseen corners) kept me praying during the entire swim. Fear factor for sure! Finally, there was a light at the end with more emerald green! The waves washed us all ashore onto a hidden paradise inside the mountain!

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Every fear was worth overcoming for the moment of floating in the waves onto the tiny beach. 

The adventure of Emerald Cave was followed by snorkeling all around the island. Chest lives here and snorkels everyday, but his passion for the sea and finding Nemo  is unwavering.  We were the ones dragging him out of the water!

Smiling after hours in the water. 

We have learned we can’t seek out these people that define our quintessence of #nuventures. How can we? They are the people God surprises us with that make our most memorable moments. The spontaneity of the encounter and their unique character makes it all so exciting,  adventurous, and so rich and so full.

We love getting to laugh when we hear others' stories! Share yours with us! What kind of characters have you met recently?

Want to meet Chest yourself on your next adventure to Thailand? Visit him at Coco Lodge: http://www.kohmook-cocolodge.com. He'd love to show you 'round!