Scott Barronton (00:00)
What if your morning run wasn't just exercise, but your gateway to discovering the heart of a city? Today we're talking with Kyle from thetravelrunner.com a traveler who explores the world one run at a time. Whether it's quiet trails in the Alps or weaving through the streets of Bangkok, Kyle's story might just inspire you to pack your running shoes on your next adventure.
Speaker 2 (00:28)
We're Scott and Melissa, The Sunshine Travelers.
Speaker 1 (00:31)
We're all about exploring the world and sharing the journey with you. Whether you're a seasoned traveler, dreaming of your next adventure, or just here for the stories.
Speaker 2 (00:38)
No matter where you are on your travel journey, we've got first-hand experiences, tips, and plenty of inspiration from some of the most amazing places on Earth.
Speaker 1 (00:48)
So buckle up and get ready to travel with us.
Scott Barronton (00:58)
So Melissa, I think about that time that we decided without really much any training at all, decided we would run the half marathon in Waco at.
The silos It was like Chip and Joanna. It was their, yeah, their half marathon to yeah. In the city of Waco. I don't know that you're remembering this correctly though, because we had actually, that was a period of time where we had actually done a number of runs. I had probably done a few more half marathons than you, but we had done 10 mile hours and
and stuff like that. So it wasn't like we were just running. I'm with you, but it had been like six months since we had done one of those and we just decided we would up and do a half marathon. anyhow, talking to Kyle and Kaitlyn today, we're going to hear about, you know, a different style of travel from ours. And we're going to talk about how, they go to different places and part of how they
experience these destinations is through their running. Yeah, and not just like going for a race, although that is part of it, which I think is a great reason to travel, to go to a place. But a lot of this is on their own to experience some of these different trails, but from a running perspective. And I think it's just a really, I mean, it's a neat way to travel. It's kind of like what we did the walking in Italy, but yet from a running perspective.
And actually there's a lot more people I think that do this than we have thought. Yeah. Well, let's go and talk to Kyle and Kaitlyn about that. Our guest today is a couple that we had the pleasure of meeting during one of our favorite kinds of days. It was a beach hopping tour in Puerto Rico, and that's where we first connected with Kyle and Kaitlyn. Kyle's the creator of thetravelrunner.com.
Kyle quickly discovered that his passion for travel runs deep, literally. So Kyle and Kaitlyn explore the world one stride at a time, using running as a unique and immersive way to experience new destinations. Through their blog, they share stories, tips, and trail discoveries that inspire others to see the world with fresh eyes, and maybe even a pair of running shoes. From quiet early morning jogs through unfamiliar streets,
to off the grid trail adventures, Kyle shows us that running isn't just about fitness. It's a window into culture, connection, and curiosity. So whether you're an avid runner or simply someone who loves to move through new places at your own pace, we think you're going to love hearing from Kyle and Kaitlyn today. Kyle and Kaitlyn, welcome to the Sunshine Travelers podcast.
We're so glad to have you on.
Kyle Cash (03:38)
Thank you. Thank you so much for having us.
Scott Barronton (03:39)
Yeah, we're super excited to chat with you guys today. So tell us a little bit about your backstory. So how did Travel Runner get started?
[email protected] (03:40)
Thanks.
Kyle Cash (03:49)
so it's, it kind of started in two different time periods. Cause to be honest with you, I hated running most of my life, up until I was about 27, when Kaitlyn and a friend of ours in Thailand. Convinced me to run a 10 K and then kind of after that I fell in love with it. then slowly over time, Kaitlyn and I started traveling a lot with travel running in mind, like specifically going there for a race or.
Maybe traveling to a specific trail or national park or something like that. And then in 2021, I was actually teaching English online and I was kind of looking to transition out of it to hopefully to something maybe marketing related, writing related. And I knew I needed to develop a portfolio. So I was just sitting in our house one day, just trying to think of a blog name to combine travel and running, which were two.
seemingly unrelated topics. And then over time, I just kept saying names and eventually I said the travel runner and then just kind of stuck with it from there. So that was in 2021 when that originally started. then Kaitlyn was luckily my sounding board for a lot of those names and helped me pick a good one.
Scott Barronton (04:51)
So Kaitlyn, you go out, I assume since you were an influence there, you're really the one that got him started running, is that correct?
[email protected] (04:59)
Yeah, to some extent I guess you could say. A friend that we made in Phuket, Thailand, her name is Carrie, so shout out to her. She was really the one that got us into just kind of like a general fitness routine together and she was into running at the time and she was like, oh, let's do a half marathon. And I hadn't really done any like major distances like that before.
Scott Barronton (05:18)
That sounds like Melissa.
Kyle Cash (05:20)
you
[email protected] (05:22)
always did short distance, but, I was like, okay, let's do it. we got Kyle to do it and he said he would do the 10 K and yeah, he's been a pretty consistent runner ever since then. would say.
Scott Barronton (05:33)
Yeah, Melissa is one of those people that if she's going to run like why stop at a half? Just go ahead and do the whole marathon, whether you've trained for it or not.
[email protected] (05:40)
What?
Kyle Cash (05:42)
Yeah,
absolutely. support it. Kaitlyn also is being a bit humble. She ran track in high school and then up until your sophomore year of college. Was it?
[email protected] (05:51)
Yeah, but even then it was always just like I had never really done much more than a 5k and definitely didn't stay as probably consistent with it after college as much maybe just like to basically stay in shape but after that yeah yeah we talked him into it and think he's loved it since.
Kyle Cash (06:08)
hehe
Scott Barronton (06:09)
Well, since you've started the travel runner, has it really changed the way that you travel now and the way that you do your sightseeing and stuff like that? Or is it just you go to a destination, you go for make sure you get the run in and prioritize that and then enjoy the for the rest.
Kyle Cash (06:26)
it can be a bit of both to be honest with you, but like now for the most part, we travel specifically with running in mind. when Kaitlyn and I prior to the podcast were talking, like I said, I can't really imagine much of another way of traveling now, cause we just enjoy this way so much. but there definitely are those moments where maybe we're visiting a place and it's not necessarily run friendly, I guess, or maybe the sites are super far away. So maybe we can't connect them or something like that.
where it's realistically we're waking up and we're still maybe training for a race. Like we both are now we have marathons in, in the future. and we just need to get the run in because we need to stay consistent and train for our marathon. But for the most part, we try to do a lot of traveling specifically for running.
[email protected] (07:07)
I would, just to add a little bit onto that, I would say that it's also, especially if it's just Kyle and I traveling and going on trips together, we're definitely planning it around running or at least some sort of like major outdoor activity. If it's not running, probably hiking of some sort. So we do also travel with friends and family a lot too. Usually those are the ones that are more, I guess,
your standard sightseeing as opposed to constantly being on the run and getting our sightseeing in that way as well, which we also do like to. That's a great way to spend time with family. But when it's just the two of us, we're usually running to travel.
Scott Barronton (07:47)
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Scott Barronton (08:48)
Yeah. And when we first met you guys in Puerto Rico, in San Juan, I just remember, talking to you guys and that's such a great way to, not necessarily that you're going to see like a ton of sites, but you just see a city in such a different way, right? You can notice a lot more things. that like only locals might notice So I just thought that was really cool.
you as y'all talked about running, know, getting up and doing your run and that kind of thing in addition to what we were there for in Puerto Rico.
Kyle Cash (09:16)
Yeah, it's, it's kind of interesting because once we, especially now that we run long distance, once we realize a lot of these sites aren't that far away. So one of the best examples I gave is in Rome. it's also kind of where we first got the idea of like, we could continue to do this and just shape our travels around this. but so many of the sites actually aren't that far if you are a distance runner. So you can just connect a bunch of them in a little fun route. And like you said, you get to see.
maybe streets that you would have taken an Uber pass or maybe a taxi pass or something like that where you're actually getting the experience it. and you typically stand out because most people aren't running from attraction to attraction in the city. So sometimes the locals will holler stuff out or just cheer you on or something, which is always fun, especially in the middle of a run.
Scott Barronton (10:01)
Yeah,
for sure, for sure. And we haven't done, that's why we were so interested to talk to you guys, because we haven't done a ton of that. We did do the half marathon in Waco, Texas back, been several years ago now. And that was a great way for us to like go see, Magnolia, as it was, really big and they've developed that. So it might give you a chance to.
go and see places and then of course, know, running through on the day of the half marathon, like running, through the city or we are from Atlanta. And when we did the half marathons and 10 mile and stuff like that, you just, you just see that city that maybe you grew up with or you are visiting in such a different way. So what would you say like trail running and then compared to like that Puerto Rico, Rome that you're talking about?
Which one do you do more of?
Kyle Cash (10:49)
You can take this one, She's the main planner,
[email protected] (10:53)
I would probably say we do more trail running. It's what both of us really enjoy the most. We, when we're traveling, we aren't typically going to big cities. So if we are staying in a smaller area, sometimes it is maybe harder to run right outside of our door because maybe it is a little out of the way and there aren't sidewalks. Whereas opposed to running in a big city, you do have that kind of stuff, but we do typically stick to like.
closer to national parks or national forests or state parks, especially with our US travels. So we do plan most of our destinations around, I would say, trail running more so than road.
Scott Barronton (11:26)
and more races or more just doing it kind of on your own or a mix of both.
[email protected] (11:31)
Over the past few years, I would say it's been more doing it on our own, but the past maybe year and a half we've ramped it up to making it more like race destination based.
Scott Barronton (11:42)
Okay, okay. But I mean, it's such a great, I mean, either way is such a cool way to see a place and, do some of these trails that you guys have done. Yeah.
Kyle Cash (11:51)
Kaitlyn and I just, so I ran my first marathon in Pittsburgh back in May and Kaitlyn ran the half marathon. And so we grew up, she actually lives about 20 to 30 minutes is where she grew up from Pittsburgh, me a bit further, about 45 to an hour. But I'd been going up there my whole life and it was a completely new way that I had never seen the city and kind of made me appreciate it a lot more because.
The whole time growing up, because I was going there so much, was like, Oh, I don't want to go to Pittsburgh. But now it's like so much more exciting having run through these areas and learn the city a lot more. I'm like, wow, actually Pittsburgh has a lot to it that I overlooked the majority of my life.
Scott Barronton (12:27)
You know, we actually love Pittsburgh. We think that it's an amazing town and we have friends that live there and they're like, my gosh, you guys have done so much. We've lived here a whole lives and have never done half of these things. And so we've fallen in love. We were just there a couple of months ago for the U S open at Oakmont. So.
Kyle Cash (12:30)
Heh.
[email protected] (12:46)
Okay, and open
mind.
Scott Barronton (12:48)
Yeah. Well, and I imagine you probably run across a lot of the bridges and just through a lot of cool areas. And there really seemed to be revitalizing the city too, and restoring a lot of things. And there's a lot of beautiful buildings. So I'm sure that was just a superb way to see Pittsburgh as well. ⁓
Kyle Cash (13:05)
Yeah, for sure. And the people get out
for it. It's awesome. Sorry.
[email protected] (13:08)
I mean, yeah,
there were, I think, thousands of people lining the streets supporting the runners. It was awesome.
Scott Barronton (13:14)
I love the signs that say this is the worst parade ever.
[email protected] (13:17)
They're good ones.
Kyle Cash (13:17)
Yeah, people come out with some good ones.
Scott Barronton (13:21)
They do.
So talking about some of the cities that you've run in, do you guys have a favorite city that you've or trail as you got out and kind of laced up your shoes in the morning and got out running and all of a sudden you decided, wow, this is like one of the best places I think we've ever run in.
Kyle Cash (14:46)
So this was actually tough because while we were discussing, we were like thinking of some of the ideas, like we both had different answers and for different reasons. So for example, mine actually was Quebec, which we just went for TBEX And I think it's largely because I didn't expect it. I knew it was going to be cool, but I woke up the first morning and went on a run through the old town. Now it's just like, wow, this is incredibly beautiful.
Scott Barronton (15:06)
Yes. ⁓
Kyle Cash (15:08)
And there was no one out because it was so early. So I really got to appreciate it just by myself in silence. And so that was really cool. And the first one that stands out in my mind, especially because it's recent.
[email protected] (15:18)
And so me, I would say Theth National Park. It's in Northern Albania, a lot of the mountains that you'll see there part of the Albanian Alps. There weren't a whole lot of people. We were there, I believe it was like July of 2022. And it was just unbelievably beautiful. The mountains, it felt like you were in all of those places like Switzerland or the Dolomites that you hear about, but...
Scott Barronton (15:19)
What about you,
[email protected] (15:43)
Albania is not one that you hear about. So that one was definitely special and just there were endless amounts of trails that we could have covered. Obviously we were there for a limited time and only hit like two of the major ones, but even those ones, like we were speechless the whole time.
Scott Barronton (15:56)
So a little more off the beaten path, almost like a hidden gem, would you say? Yeah.
[email protected] (15:59)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Yeah, absolutely.
Kyle Cash (16:01)
Especially for runners,
it's become more popular among travelers I'm hearing, but I know for runners especially, I'd say it's not, nobody's thinking like, I'm going to go run in Albania. At least that I know.
Scott Barronton (16:10)
Very cool. Yeah.
So real quick while we're on that. So now that we've heard your favorites, maybe to give people an idea, listeners an idea, what are some of the other places that would be the runner up, some of the other places that you have done some of these runs?
[email protected] (16:25)
So I know Kyle's mentioned it and we just got back from there, but New Hampshire White Mountain National Forest, it is absolutely beautiful. The trails there are a little bit more technical. honestly, we did spend a lot of even time on our trail runs hiking, but it's just unbelievable. I think you hear so much about, there are so many trails in the West and the mountains in the West, which is true. We love Colorado, Arizona, Wyoming, all of those places.
But I don't think you hear as much about New Hampshire. And it was beautiful.
Kyle Cash (16:55)
⁓
Scott Barronton (16:55)
No, you really,
yeah, you really don't. You're right. Yeah. Think about it for the fall foliage or, white Christmas or something like that.
Kyle Cash (17:01)
Exactly.
Absolutely. In my opinion, I it's well known among travelers, but I don't think as much for running. And it's probably because we lived there longest and that was Phuket and Thailand. so obviously it's world famous for like beaches and things like that, but there's actually a lot of trails there. And we were there during COVID when everything kind of closed down and we couldn't do a whole lot. So I spent the majority of my time just running on the trails and the Hills above like Patong and
the different areas of it, and we actually connected like an entire route from almost the Northern part to the Southern part of the Island, almost exclusively on trails. So I don't think it's made people think, I'm going to go to Phuket and run. It's more, I'm going to go to Phuket party and lay on the beach.
Scott Barronton (17:43)
I had never heard of anybody doing that. And you actually have a good bit of information about that in your blog post and on your website. So if somebody is thinking, I want to go do some of that, right? See Thailand, go to the beaches, but I'm also a runner or would like to investigate some of these hikes, that is a really great resource as well, because I never would have even have thought to do that.
Kyle Cash (17:46)
Mm-mm.
Thanks.
I didn't either
the first time I went there, so it's understandable.
Scott Barronton (18:08)
I guess that kind of leads us to our next question. And I think Kaitlyn is probably directed towards you is like, you have, you know, some favorite tools or resources that you use when planning a trip so that you can plan out, where, where can we go and visit a great location, but also, get our run in and, I'm imagine just like us, you're, you're thinking about content as well. for
thetravelrunner.com.
[email protected] (18:34)
Absolutely. So I guess the main place where I start would be kind of pulling up both Airbnb and also using all trails, looking at the maps to determine what types of places are in what locations, what trails they're closest to, whether that's just a local park or a national park, state park, whatever that would be. And then I kind of pass a lot of the actual route planning when it comes to the running off to Kyle.
We do use Strava for that and I'll let him kind of explain a little bit more from there.
Kyle Cash (19:05)
Yeah. she'll do the majority of the planning, like as far as finding where we're staying, typically where we're going. I, we, we have mostly same interests. So when she comes up and suggests a place, I'm typically just like, yeah, sounds cool. Let's go. so she'll do all of like the location research, where to eat, where to stay. And then I'll do most of the route planning. Cause I'm typically the one doing the navigating as well. and I use Strava, which has.
If you don't know what it is, it's kind of like, always say like Facebook and Garmin had a baby, aimed at cyclists and runners. Cause it has a social aspect to it, but it's largely based around running or cycling different athletic, events basically. And it's a way for you to track your training too. So they have a really cool feature that's called maps and it shows a heat map of where other Strava runners have run.
Scott Barronton (19:33)
Okay.
Kyle Cash (19:51)
And now this is a super popular app, so almost any city you go to, you can easily find where everybody's running. So I typically will plan our routes based off of that. And you end up seeing a lot of locals in that area too, because that's typically who's running there. I do have a full YouTube video on that as well, how I do that. So that might be something to check out as well.
Scott Barronton (20:09)
Okay, awesome. Yeah. And we can link that in the show notes as well for, ⁓ to check out because I mean, that's really, a great point because right when you start going somewhere and walking or in your case running, it's different from being in a car, right? Where you can just turn around and okay, I'm not in a good location or you really kind of do need to know, okay, this is a safe location. You know, I can get from point A to point B, et cetera. So I think that's a great, yeah, great tip.
Kyle Cash (20:12)
Sure. Yeah.
Exactly.
It's also because like all trails is only technically not official trails, but like user submitted trails as well. And there's a lot of those that somebody's not just going to add their local morning loop to all trails, but they did run it. So it's on Strava. I use this in Costa Rica to find exactly where most people are going. I ended up finding a park right in the middle of San Jose that I didn't know existed at the time strictly because I could just see these heavy blue lines just in the area.
So I knew to zoom in and find, and then I just pulled up Airbnb and found my Airbnb right next to it.
Scott Barronton (21:06)
That's a really good idea. That is really cool. Yes, very cool.
Kyle Cash (21:07)
⁓ Thanks.
[email protected] (21:09)
And
honestly, Google is even getting a lot better at marking those more public trails too, where if you're just like within your map and you search running trails near me, it will typically pull up like any that would be like a state park or local park that are popularly visited.
Scott Barronton (21:25)
have you guys ever had a memorable interaction with locals when you're running in a destination that you've been to?
[email protected] (21:32)
Yeah. So honestly, our very first actual like destination run that made us think, wow, like why haven't we ever done this before? Was with a, I think it was an Airbnb experience that we signed up for. And it was with a guy named Fabrizio in Rome and we met him and we had like a meeting location at a cafe and we met in the morning and then we like set out and we ran all throughout Rome.
Kyle Cash (21:46)
Yeah, yeah it was.
[email protected] (21:59)
I think it was about a 10K run. We ran past the Colosseum by the Roman Forum and we would stop at each spot and he would explain a bit of the history and everything behind it. So that was the first one that really sticks out to me as like, this was such a positive and amazing experience with a local, but also something that made us realize, why haven't we been doing this? The past few years we've been traveling.
Scott Barronton (22:22)
that's really cool. Have you seen other ones in like other cities? Because like you're saying, like I would have never have heard of that, you know.
Kyle Cash (22:30)
So I ended up finding it. I actually didn't know it existed. I just happened to stumble upon it. And then I was like, oh, that's actually a really good idea. I've seen it in a handful of other cities, but it's not super common. But I think it's something that a lot more people should be doing personally, because I think there's enough runners who travel that I'd signed up for a little history lesson around the city and almost every place I go.
Scott Barronton (22:52)
Right, because you know, you hear about the walking tours, but then that's a great way for you, like you said, to get your training in and, you know, see some of these sites, see if you might want to go back, and explore them more, but then just have some history. That's a really cool, yeah, that's a super cool experience.
Kyle Cash (22:55)
Exactly.
[email protected] (22:55)
Yeah.
Kyle Cash (23:08)
Well, it was even cooler because Fabrizio actually told us at the end, he asked us where our trip was and we were going to other parts of Italy and then coming back to Rome. And he is like, well, when you come back, if you want to do another run, get ahold of me, no charge. We can just go do it. And we ended up meeting up with them. And I say this all the time to people. It's one of my coolest memories of traveling. We're just standing at an intersection waiting for the light to change so we can go across. And he just casually points over and goes over there is where Julius Caesar was killed. And I'm just like,
You're just saying that so casually and that's like such a huge moment in history, but it's like, it's kind of what I love about those running tours is you do get to see so much and learn things like that while doing something that obviously I enjoy doing. So that's fun.
Scott Barronton (23:49)
But that
makes me think of another question is like when you're doing these runs, because you're a content creator, do you take the time to stop and actually capture content along the way and more or less document your run?
Kyle Cash (24:06)
This is something I'm trying to get better at. I'm constantly trying to get better at this because it is tough. because it is also, you don't want to interrupt your run and you do want to enjoy it and also enjoy the area. But at the same time, I mean, yeah, as you mentioned, that is what I do. So I'm slowly starting to find a balance of how to do that without disrupting the run or not getting enough content.
Scott Barronton (24:14)
That's right.
Kyle Cash (24:27)
But it is tough because obviously it's that classic thing where I'm setting down the camera, running off and then turning around and having to run back and fetch the camera. Which is always get to laugh out of the people surrounding. So it makes it a little bit fun and a laugh at myself moment.
[email protected] (24:34)
Riches always get the laugh out of the teachers around them. They think they're the ones do the hard work and they laugh at myself.
Scott Barronton (24:41)
We did some of that. recently did a walking tour in Italy and you'd set up the camera on the trail and walk to it and past it and stuff like that.
What would you say has been your most adventurous and even maybe your most disastrous run that you've ever done?
[email protected] (25:01)
So for me, in Disastrous, I would definitely say, so Kyle and I were on a trip in Flagstaff and he was running, I can't remember the name of the trail right now, but he was running down and he slipped on one rock and he hit his head and he had a decent gash on his head. So I, of course, kind of went into panic mode and was just like, oh no, what do we do? We have to get down the trail.
And I was once again panicking, like running as fast as I can. And he's just like nonchalantly holding his, t-shirt on his head, like pretty much at a walking pace. And I'm just trying to run to keep up with him. So that one, that one sticks out in my memory. It's pretty disastrous. And it wasn't even me that it happened to.
Kyle Cash (25:33)
No.
Scott Barronton (25:46)
Okay, have you ever had a situation where you are running and you wondered, okay, is this safe? Is something, know, that kind of thing.
Kyle Cash (25:55)
Definitely a lot of situations. So normally what we'll do if I am in an area where I'm kind of unsure how safe it is, I'll typically go by myself and have Kaitlyn stay so I can kind of, we say recce in running, so just recon, of like get a lay of the land essentially. Because I feel a lot safer if I need to get out of a situation when I'm by myself than if Kaitlyn's with me, because then I'm obviously going to try to protect her first, whereas like.
I'm confident that most people are not going to be able to catch me if I need to run away from them. I'm not the fastest person in the world, but I can get away if I need to. but so I'll typically get it. But so I'll typically look that over, but one time in particular, what actually, when we were in Albania, we were in Saranda and I had gone out for this longer run by myself.
Scott Barronton (26:26)
Remember, Kaitlyn, all you got to do is kick him in the leg and then you'll be the fastest person.
[email protected] (26:30)
Right.
Kyle Cash (26:40)
And so the biggest fear I have, honestly, when we're running, especially abroad is typically stray dogs. they're never fun to come across. And I had come upon an area where I had a feeling somewhere. just seems like an area after running this much, you kind of get a sense. And normally what I'll do is I'll just start walking cause they're not going to chase me. Well, they might, but like I have more time to react and sure enough, one came bolting out from under a car at me.
Unfortunately, after this, pick up rocks that are nearby. So if they do come near, can at least throw it at the ground and try and scare it off. I don't try to intentionally hit the dog, but in that situation, you're just trying to get out of the situation as fast as possible. So that's normally the situation that I'm in is dogs coming running up.
Scott Barronton (27:19)
Okay, well, so that's interesting. So it's not really anything where that app is gonna help, but that's a great tip, because that does happen ⁓ probably more common in countries abroad, right? Where the dogs are just, yeah, everywhere.
Kyle Cash (27:27)
Yeah.
for sure. Yeah,
I've had it. I've had it a few times in the US, but it's not typical, but definitely stray dogs abroad is where I've had more of an issue with that. And I mean, I have enough street sense that if I sense an area is kind of sketchy as far as maybe danger or crime, I'll just turn around and retrace my steps and make it an out and back run instead of a loop like I was planning or something like that. Like there's no reason to risk it when I don't have much of a reward out of risking it.
You
[email protected] (28:04)
I also usually carry, like I have a small thing of pepper spray too that I carry with me on runs. And then if we're like in the mountains or on trails, trail running, we typically carry bear spray as well.
Scott Barronton (28:15)
Okay, yeah, good point. Very good.
One of things that our listeners always want to hear about is kind of packing tips and things like that. So do you have gear that you always bring with you while you're running, or is there just the same thing that you would have at home and you're in a different location?
Kyle Cash (28:35)
For me, the hardest part is actually the, sounds simple, but the shoe situation, especially cause we run both road and trail. So what I'll most often do for running on the road, I'll have a pair of running shoes that'll double as my casual shoes. So ideally they're not like crazy looking to where I can't wear them with just an outfit. If I'm going out to eat or I need to maybe go somewhere that's not necessarily nice, but.
I still want to look presentable. So typically that's one of my hardest decisions is trying to find that because I also have big feet. I wear a size 12. So it takes up a considerable amount of my packing room. So I have to be very selective with what shoes I bring. So I try to limit that because I pack light as well.
[email protected] (29:12)
Luckily to the last two years that we've been traveling, a lot of it has been within the US and a lot of it has been road trips and driving. So we haven't had to worry as much about limiting that kind of stuff because we've had so much room to kind of just be like, if we might need this, we can just take it in the car. So I think we'll definitely, at least I definitely will face more of a challenge on that on international travel, especially if
we're planning like an international running destination in a cold place. If it's a warm place, I can usually bring my standard stuff in like a backpack or a carry-on and a personal item. But I would definitely be tested with that if we were going somewhere cold for trail running.
Kyle Cash (29:52)
BAM!
Scott Barronton (29:53)
Yeah, yeah, that's a, that's a good point. Yeah, yeah. I was recently with a colleague and she was traveling here from the UK and she was going, you know, in all fairness, she was here for two weeks. But
Kyle Cash (29:54)
We try not to do that though. We like warmth. ⁓
[email protected] (29:56)
Yeah.
Scott Barronton (30:07)
The day that she was leaving, she had brought her suitcase into the office and I was just dying laughing. I was like, we make reels about Americans taking these big, huge suitcases to Europe and look at you like this. think you've got a body stuffed in there or something. But you know, her point was, think about it. was like, I was here for several weekends. So I just needed stuff that I could wear on the weekend. She was like, I needed stuff for our business meetings when we were all together.
Kyle Cash (30:21)
BANG!
Hahaha.
Scott Barronton (30:36)
And then she was like, and I needed stuff for my workout and my run. And so she was like, it takes up a lot of space. So, uh, yeah, it's always a challenge to try to keep that. I admire you guys for trying to do a carry on and like a backpack when you travel, because that's definitely how we recommend.
Yeah, but
like you had, I it's a really good point to say, let me have some running shoes and we'll do the same thing. We'll have some tennis shoes that are, you know, a little bit nicer that you can wear, you can work out in that kind of thing too. So that's, yeah, that's a really great tip as well. so on your website, I love how you have like the homepage laid out. If people want to kind of get started, you have,
start here, start here, start here. So maybe talk about that a little bit and then maybe if somebody is just getting into this or thinking, hey, this would be an interesting way to get off of the beaten path, see things a little differently, maybe where should they start?
Kyle Cash (31:35)
So honestly, yeah, I laid that out specifically like that because when I did first start this, even after I started the blog, I, the first thing I thought was like, are there actually people who do this? Like I kind of started it on a whim. So I didn't know where to go myself. So that's one reason I laid that out that way. Cause here's the basics. Here's how you can get started. So generally speaking, there's the best one thing I'm doing now more this year is focusing more on YouTube.
so that's an area to look for more tips coming out and more like of the run, runcation, how I plan it, different stuff like that. But it is tough because a lot of people don't really cover this. always say there's travelers who dabble in some running and then there's runners who dabble in some travel, but there's nothing really in the middle that does it. And that's what I'm trying to do. But there are other resources who I do think.
do good jobs. It's mostly like people on YouTube who are like, Kofuzy is a guy that I recommend. He talks a lot about running trips and stuff like, and what he does. But honestly, it sounds really self-promotional, but I have had a lot of trouble finding resources that actually discuss what I cover. for not trying to sound like a broken horn, my website honestly, I think is one of the few ones.
Scott Barronton (32:42)
Yeah, no, I loved it. definitely, I mean, if this is something that interests you, definitely go check that out because I just, like I said, I love the way you had, know, start here or start here or start here, kind of dependent on what information you need to know. And you've got a lot of great locations out there. And then of course, some of the gear and stuff that you've talked about too, cause you definitely want to, have the right equipment, you know, just not, go out in a pair of kids or whatever, start running.
Kyle Cash (33:07)
definitely.
For sure.
Scott Barronton (33:08)
I knew a guy when I worked in Columbus and he ran barefoot every day.
Kyle Cash (33:13)
So there is an entire movement of that. I honestly, like, if people can't continually do that, I give them credit. But in my first 10 K that I mentioned in Thailand, one of my most memorable moments was I heard someone coming behind me and I'm like dying at this point. This is in the middle of the race. I'm like, I don't know if I can finish this. And I looked to my right as they passed me and it is a woman who's probably about five years younger than me in her bare feet, just blowing past me.
And I was like, that might be the most demoralizing thing that could have just happened at that moment.
Scott Barronton (33:44)
But you're like, I'm finishing.
Kyle Cash (33:46)
Yeah, I was like, I'm finishing it. Honestly, it was inspirational to an extent too. Cause when you're like, if people are out here running in their bare feet and like crushing it, what else can you do really? So.
Scott Barronton (33:54)
Well,
I just admire you for the trail running because I would trip on a route probably a mile in. So I've done some of the other ones, trail running, not so much.
Kyle Cash (34:00)
You
for sure.
Yeah, it's understandable.
[email protected] (34:04)
No.
Scott Barronton (34:06)
Yeah,
I am too prone to injury these days to do more than to walk on a flat surface. ⁓ we've got a lot of friends that love to run, you know, and even when they go places, they try to make sure to keep that exercise in. And so I think really your website and your content is perfect because
Kyle Cash (34:09)
Hahaha
Hey, movement, that's good.
Scott Barronton (34:29)
While they don't have to choose a location based on going for a run, while they are in a place, they can come and check out your site, check out the resources that you mentioned, and see if they can find just somewhere more interesting than Treadmill in the hotel to go out and get their exercise in.
Kyle Cash (34:48)
For sure.
Yeah, I'm not a big fan of treadmills personally. So I know that one very, very well, because I always try to avoid it. And yeah, there's tons of destinations that I plan on adding because we visited more places than I've written about. It's just finding the time on top of, as you guys know, doing the million things, all the plates that you're spinning and everything, trying to find the time to hit all of the places that you visited, because we've run in a lot of places at this point. And I kind of have a backlog.
Scott Barronton (35:15)
Right. We've talked a lot about the running part, but how do you balance it with also just the kind of taking some time to relax and, do the sightseeing and stuff like that.
[email protected] (35:27)
So we do typically try to stay in a place when we're there for at least a week. If we could stay for a month or two, we would love it. But the reason, honestly, we end up staying for a week and not just one or two days is because within those two or three days, you're probably us just doing nothing and hanging out at our Airbnb, whether that's catching up on work or...
figuring out what we're gonna do next or just like hanging out and watching Netflix or something. I think we space it out ultimately by staying in places longer than maybe just like a weekend or a one or two nights stay. And being like remote is definitely something that helps us be able to do that.
Kyle Cash (36:06)
We're also kind of low key when it comes to things outside of that. Like we don't really party. We don't do a whole lot. Like we'll go to a bar in a local area and like maybe have some drinks or have some good food or if there's an event going on. But for the most part, we're relatively relaxed outside of running. Like we enjoy going and seeing places obviously and stuff like that. But since we're now like basing a lot of it around running the other time, just recovery, which.
consists of us stuffing our faces and lying around.
Scott Barronton (36:34)
Well, that
sounds good. And you said you're not like big city people either, right? So a lot of times there's not that I've got to go to this museum and that museum and see this landmark as well. So yeah, so I think that's a good, just a different kind of travel style that rejuvenates you and then allows you to, you know, see the things that you want to see.
Kyle Cash (36:44)
Exactly.
Yeah, I'm from a very small town. I grew up in a town of 1200 people, maybe 1600 on a good day, but it's very small. So when I go to cities, I'm just like, oh my goodness, there's so much happening right now. So I try to avoid them generally speaking.
Scott Barronton (37:08)
Well, so you write and share a lot of content through your, through your blog, the travel runner.com. What do you hope readers take away from this blog? And, you know, how do you, how would you recommend that they get the most out of it?
Kyle Cash (37:23)
So kind of piggybacking off the answer I gave a little while ago, it's ultimately help because as I mentioned, there weren't a lot of resources. I even have trouble with thinking of a lot of people that do it. So number one, primarily would be help at whether it's finding a destination or it's like you guys mentioned packing gear, planning, logistics, anything like that around that. If I can give you help, I'm, I'm satisfied at the end of the day. second would be inspiration. There's nothing, honestly, that
Like as I get older, notice I get more emotional around things that I never used to get emotional around. But like when people message me and tell me, Hey, I'm running because of you, or you inspired me. Like, honestly, it makes me choke up and tear up a bit, which is something I never would have done in the past. But it's, that's a really heartwarming thing. Cause you know, people are making a good life change for one. And also I truthfully think that more people would enjoy running if they could.
[email protected] (37:57)
Okay, time's
Kyle Cash (38:15)
approach it because I think we have a wrong interpretation of running, is you need to sprint your brains out and hate it, which I think you can actually make it fun and explore as well as we've done.
Scott Barronton (38:25)
Yeah, I think it's a phenomenal way. It's like Scott referenced the walking trip in Italy, right? So we aren't probably going to be as much runners as we used to, but that's a way that we can kind of see, but it really does let you see places in such a different light. But then of course, it's like you mentioned before, it does take, I it takes time to do that, Walking probably even more so, To cover that ground. But
it allows you to slow down and just experience that travel in a whole, a whole different way as well.
[email protected] (38:57)
Just to add onto that, the running community is honestly so awesome too as a whole. Just whether it's actual people running or the people who come out the volunteers for races, it's really cool to see how many people who just come to scream their heads off and cheer for strangers at the Pittsburgh Marathon. It's really cool. That's also one of the best.
Kyle Cash (39:17)
Yeah.
Scott Barronton (39:18)
Yeah, I think that's one of the things we always enjoyed because for years we did the peach tree road race and the Atlanta half and stuff like that. And you'd have all the running clubs, like the high school teams that would come out and they weren't running in the race, but they would cheer you on. And, you know, sometimes they'd run alongside you for a little while, just kind of like, kind of encouraging you. And so I think, a lot of people.
really enjoy being out there and being supportive. And so that's a good part of it as well. We talked about thetravelrunner.com. What other places can people find any of your content?
Kyle Cash (39:49)
Great.
Um, so typically you, as I mentioned, YouTube, I'm starting to put a lot more effort into. noticed a lot of runners go to YouTube, especially for like destinations or race coverage. That's really big. so that's one reason we're also shifting to races as well. Cause I've been, there's tons that I want to run and I've kind of just slacked on it. but also Instagram is where I post most of like my daily content, whether it's stories or reels. and then Kaitlyn also has her own little thing that she's working on.
[email protected] (40:22)
I do have a blog called Trail Eats. It's up and coming. It still definitely needs some work, but that is coming. just wanted to clarify that on, I believe it's Instagram and YouTube, Kyle is the travel runner official. So just in case you... okay, I'm sorry.
Kyle Cash (40:35)
YouTube it does not have official, but Instagram somebody
took the travel runner and it was already gone by the time I went for it, unfortunately.
Scott Barronton (40:42)
Okay, so
the blog is thetravelrunner.com. Your Instagram is the travelrunnerofficial and then just the travelrunner on YouTube. Okay, and then Kaitlyn, tell us again where we can find yours and look for what you've got coming.
Kyle Cash (40:53)
On YouTube. Yeah, exactly.
[email protected] (41:00)
Right now it's just traileats.com
Scott Barronton (41:02)
trail eats.com. Okay. And are you going to focus more on like food type stuff and finding places to eat?
[email protected] (41:08)
Yes, so primarily the
stuff that we're eating on the trail, primarily. Right now, focused on recipes, but I have also been thinking about, we do a lot of eating out while we're on these trails, so thinking about maybe doing some restaurant features and stuff like that in there too, seeing how I can work that in.
Scott Barronton (41:15)
⁓ okay.
And that's awesome because I mean, that is such a huge part of traveling, right? So like, you're like, okay, let's go, let's run this trail. for other people, let's, let's go to this museum or go see this site, but then what are we going to eat? Right? We got to eat three times a day or have our snack or whatever. Right. So, and then of course you've got to, like you said, have stuff for, on the trail. And then it's a little bit more probably nutrition focused than just people who are on vacation. So that's awesome.
[email protected] (41:38)
Exactly.
Kyle Cash (41:48)
Yeah. Yeah.
Well, I tell a lot of people like that's like, yeah, we travel to run, but with running, you're burning so many calories and everything that we also travel to eat. hit a local spot everywhere we go and we try to generally find like different types of food as well. Or based on reviews, what's the most popular in the town? So we, we generally try to pig out when we're in a place to if we can.
Scott Barronton (42:12)
Yeah.
Love that. So Kaitlyn, the place that I go to here on the Island called the stretch zone. my stretch therapist is a trail runner and she talks about that her favorite, go to thing to eat on the trail or nerd clusters. I thought, my God, surely that's not the right thing.
[email protected] (42:34)
think that's a whole movement. Kyle
loves nerds, gummy clusters.
Kyle Cash (42:36)
If you go to
my Instagram, I just posted a reel about this, like last week, a week and a half ago. The exact thing. They're perfect. I'm
Scott Barronton (42:44)
Well, if Isabel's listening, there's your validation right there.
[email protected] (42:48)
Yep.
Scott Barronton (42:50)
there are three questions that we ask all of our guests before we wrap up. And so the first one is, what is your favorite destination you've ever visited? And so you can both have your own favorite.
[email protected] (43:04)
my favorite?
I would say Peru. More specifically, the Salcantay trek that we did to Machu Picchu. Those mountains were just unbelievable. It's the most fun I think I've ever had on a trip.
Scott Barronton (43:17)
Now is that the long trail or the shorter trail?
[email protected] (43:20)
I don't honestly I think it is a little bit longer than the Inca Trail.
Kyle Cash (43:21)
I believe we did the longer one.
to go.
Scott Barronton (43:25)
There's one that's
like a couple of days and then there's one that's like four miles or something like that.
Kyle Cash (43:30)
no, yep, yeah, yeah.
Scott Barronton (43:32)
you
[email protected] (43:32)
we did, yeah, we did like the four day one.
Kyle Cash (43:35)
I'm not going to say, I loved the Salcantay trek, but the first day of that, I was actually sick with altitude sickness. So that was a miserable day for me. But I will say Albania probably because we expected a lot, but what we ended up getting, especially as Kaitlyn mentioned in that national park, we didn't expect it blew us away. We loved how.
warm the people were and honestly the trails that we ran there I didn't expect to be as beautiful as they were and it was kind of just like the entire trip was just one big happy time essentially I guess is the best way to put it and we did a lot of running there so Albania was definitely stands out.
Scott Barronton (44:11)
Sounds like we've got a new place to add to our bucket list.
Kyle Cash (44:14)
Highly
recommend.
Scott Barronton (44:15)
One of our guests had recommended the Stans doing the reverse Silk Road. so, and one of the locations that we actually researched early on this year was Kersigstone. And it looked like it was one of those places where you probably have some great trails that you could go and run. Or, you know, if you're not into running, you can.
get in a four-wheel drive and they take you through those trails as well. And then TBEX next year is going to be in one of them. I don't remember right off the top of my head.
Kyle Cash (44:39)
Yeah.
[email protected] (44:45)
I think Kazakhstan?
Kyle Cash (44:47)
I you're right.
[email protected] (44:48)
I Kazakhstan. I'm about 98 % positive it's Kazakhstan.
Scott Barronton (44:48)
Sorry, Kaitlyn.
Okay, yeah, yeah, I think I think you're right. So we may have to we'll maybe hopefully meet y'all there and check that one of the one of those. Yes.
Kyle Cash (45:00)
We want to go.
[email protected] (45:04)
You just move all the way there for her.
Kyle Cash (45:04)
You flew all the way here for this.
Scott Barronton (45:06)
Yeah, there
you go. I'll have to remember that.
Kyle Cash (45:08)
You
[email protected] (45:09)
Hey.
Scott Barronton (45:09)
And then tell us what list. For travel. Yeah, travel. Yeah, running or no, just places to go or if there's somewhere in particular or a trail that you want to do.
[email protected] (45:21)
For me, it is Patagonia. Chile's been somewhere I've been really wanting to go for a long time. I know like the outdoor hiking scene is big, so I would like to see if we would be able to do some trail runs and get some running in, kind of make it a runcation while we were there. That is the number one place I want to go, for sure.
Kyle Cash (45:38)
And then for me would be the Dolomites. want to do, do you guys know what fast packing is? Or I don't know if your audience, I don't think most people are familiar with. So you know what backpacking is in terms of hiking. It's just that, except you'll have a lighter pack and you run instead of hiking. So it's basically like same style. You'll camp out or go hut to hut, but it's ideal to be a multi-day adventure. So I would like to do something like that in the Dolomites and maybe go hut to hut. Or if I could camp, have gear to camp as well. So.
I'm looking to get more into that because you can cover longer distances and make it a multi-day trek basically. And we also enjoy camping, so it kind of plays right into that as well.
Scott Barronton (46:16)
very cool. Yeah, very cool. Well, both of those places are on our bucket list as well. But yeah, just that. Yeah, both of those for like you said, for the trail running and stuff like that sounds amazing. And so finally, where are you guys going next?
Kyle Cash (46:29)
So I will actually be headed back to the Quebec region here in about a month and a half. one of the tourism boards that was actually at TBEX invited me to come run one of their ultras, their ultra marathons, is called ultra trail. I will probably say this incorrectly. Four Yon. I don't speak French, so I'm very bad at it, but they invited me to come run it, cover it. And so I responded to them and I plan on driving up there. Kaitlyn unfortunately can't come because she, her mom is
hitting her big 60th birthday. So she'll be celebrating with her mom when we do that. But then we will actually both meet up in Maine after that for a trip with my mom and then some of my family members where we'll go to Acadia National Park, which we've been to, but we're excited to go back to. then after that, we'll see. We kind of fly by the seat of our pants on a lot of our travels. Trips pop up last moment a lot of the time.
[email protected] (47:13)
Yeah.
Scott Barronton (47:18)
And it's
great to be flexible. typically kind of do that too. So as well, think when we talked, I was like, yeah, we're not going to end up going to Ireland, but we're going to Ireland. So we were made to happen. we are going. yeah. Anywhere else for you, Kaitlyn, or is that pretty much what you're going to talk about?
Kyle Cash (47:29)
nice! That's awesome, nice!
[email protected] (47:30)
Nice.
No, that's pretty much
it. Maybe a stop in New Hampshire on the way back from Maine, but we'll see. You never know.
Scott Barronton (47:42)
Yeah,
awesome. And so I'm assuming you'll be doing some trails in the National Park as well.
[email protected] (47:46)
Yeah, for sure.
Kyle Cash (47:47)
Yeah, for sure.
Scott Barronton (47:49)
Well,
in February of next year, we'll send you pictures from Patagonia. We're going to actually go into the very southern part of Patagonia right before we leave for Antarctica. So we get one day of going into the park down there on the very southern tip near Ushuaia. On the Argentina part of it. But yeah. Yeah.
Kyle Cash (47:55)
Make Kaitlyn jealous.
I was gonna ask when you said okay.
[email protected] (48:02)
wow.
Okay.
Okay. ⁓
be amazing.
Kyle Cash (48:12)
That's gonna be really, I'm looking forward to the pictures from that one.
Scott Barronton (48:15)
Yes,
we're super excited. Well, Kyle and Kaitlyn, thank you for joining us on the podcast today and we look forward to the next time we get to see you guys.
[email protected] (48:24)
Thanks. Can't wait.
Kyle Cash (48:24)
Thanks. Yeah, us too. We're looking forward to seeing you guys
hopefully in maybe one of the stands or somewhere.
Scott Barronton (48:30)
Yeah, that
[email protected] (48:30)
you
Scott Barronton (48:30)
would be awesome.
Kyle Cash (48:31)
Sure. Thanks,
Scott Barronton (48:33)
So running might not be for everyone, but Kyle reminds us that how we choose to explore a place can shape how we remember it. Whether it's through food or walking or yes, even running, we all have a way to connect more deeply with the world. So maybe next trip, toss in those sneakers. where they'll take you? And as always, the world is full of sunshine and surprises.
Make 2025 the year that you explore beyond the familiar.
Speaker 1 (49:00)
That's a wrap on this episode. We hope it gave you some inspiration for your next adventure.
Speaker 2 (49:06)
If you enjoyed the show, we'd love for you to leave us a five star review on your favorite podcast platform. It helps others find us and keeps the travel conversations going.
Speaker 1 (49:14)
Don't forget to follow or subscribe so you never miss a new episode.
Speaker 2 (49:18)
and come hang out with us on Instagram or Facebook at Sunshine Travelers Podcast, that's Travelers with 1L.
Speaker 1 (49:24)
Most importantly, share this episode with a friend. You never know, they just might become your next great travel companion.
