Just an Epic Life

Hosted by LINK Performing Arts Services, LLC

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Sep 2026

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About the show

We are just people who enjoy an epic life, doing epic things, with epic people. We share conversations with people who make intentional choices to design their life. We choose to not live by default. This podcast also provides a behind-the-scenes look into the lives of Nick & Keslie as they share their journey together. Join them as you ENJOY AN EPIC LIFE!The Just An Epic Life podcast is produced and presented by LINK Performing Arts Services, LLC. You may contact us at Info@LINKPerformingArts.com.

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60 recent

October 14, 2026Episode 41 hr 26 min

Returning To Faith: A 72 Hour Fast, A Seizure, And Day Zero | Ep 70

We fasted for 72 hours, and 48 hours in, Nick had a seizure. This is our honest story of the fog, the fear, and how it pulled us back toward our faith. If your faith feels low right now, you have our permission to press pause and come back when you are ready. In this episode, we talk about what brought us back toward faith after years of feeling far away, why we chose a 72 hour fast, and the clarity about dreaming bigger that came with it. We also share the ER visit, the weeks of fog afterward, the 90 day driving ban, and what we would do differently before any long fast. Along the way, we talk about gratitude, prayer walks, and why starting again from day zero is a great place to begin. Books we mention: The Circle Maker and In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day, both by Mark Batterson. Prefer to watch? This episode is on our YouTube channel, Just An Epic Life: https://youtu.be/phdVcTJDAIk We're Keslie and Nick Halonen. Come hang out with us at JustAnEpicLife.com/podcast. Email: Nick@JustAnEpicLife.com Enjoy an epic life.

September 22, 2026Episode 343 min

Grief, Empty Nest, and a Chicago Points Trip | Ep. 68

Life changes fast. In this episode, Nick and Keslie sit with grief after saying goodbye to a dear friend, adjust to an empty nest after dropping their child off at college, and reflect on how differently the last two "Chicagos" looked: a points-funded trip in person a year ago, versus presenting at this year's conference over Zoom. They also talk through what "welcome week" gets right for new college parents, tips for beating homesickness and parent FOMO, a surprising Airbnb win in Tacoma, and one hotel near Pike Place Market they wish they'd skipped. Topics covered: Grieving a friend and finding perspective after a celebration of life Sending a child off to college and adjusting to an empty nest A year-ago points trip to Chicago vs. presenting at this year's conference from home over Zoom Building a calendar for quick, easy points trips What move-in and welcome week get right (and how to prepare) Managing homesickness and parent FOMO A Tacoma Airbnb that saved money vs. a Pike Place hotel that missed the mark Dream destinations on the list: Denver and Quebec City We're Keslie and Nick Halonen. We teach realtors, business owners, and regular families how to turn the spending they already do into first class seats and luxury stays, funded by points instead of cash. Website: JustAnEpicLife.com Podcast: JustAnEpicLife.com/podcast Free live classes: classes.JustAnEpicLife.com Email: Nick@JustAnEpicLife.com #JustAnEpicLife #PointsAndMiles #TravelStrategy

September 15, 202634 min

Empty Nest: The Emotional Shift When Your Kid Leaves For College | Ep. 67

The quiet after your kid leaves can be louder than the goodbye. We’re recording from a little “datecation” in Sacramento, celebrating our anniversary and bracing ourselves for the biggest family shift we’ve felt in years: launching our first child to college at the University of Puget Sound. We expected emotions, but we didn’t expect how layered they’d be, pride sitting right next to heartbreak, and how fast it can change from one day to the next. We also keep it real about the messy, human details around a big transition. Travel stress is a thing, and yes, we have thoughts about overhead bins, carry-ons, and the strange entitlement that shows up in business class. Somehow those small moments become a mirror for what’s happening underneath: we’re raw, we’re adjusting, and we’re trying to stay kind while our nerves are already stretched. From there, we dig into what’s actually helping. Letting Isaiah take a solo road trip, camp alone, meet his roommate face-to-face, and handle the unexpected is more than a cool adventure. It’s college preparation, independence, and identity-building in real time. We talk about boundaries, support, and the mindset shift of parenting a young adult, plus the practical stuff like points, hotels, dorm setup, and why we want his first days on campus to feel successful. If you’re in the middle of sending a kid to college, preparing for empty nest life, or supporting a friend through it, we hope this conversation makes you feel less alone. Subscribe, share this with a parent who needs it, and leave a review. What feeling surprised you most when your kid left home?

September 11, 20261 hr 0 min

How To Use AI To Negotiate A Better Car Price | Ep. 66

Dealerships don’t just sell cars, they sell urgency, emotion, and time traps. We’re not playing that game. We’re buying two replacement vehicles and we share the exact strategy we use to stay unemotionally attached, lock in the out the door price, and avoid spending an entire day stuck in a showroom while someone “talks to their manager.” We walk through how we choose the right used car for a kid heading 1,300 miles away to college in the Seattle Tacoma area, where safety, AWD, and reliability matter more than a shiny upgrade. You’ll hear how we use AI to compare listings, paste in Carfax reports, rank options, spot deal killers like salvage titles, and estimate fair market value using pricing benchmarks. We also clear up what certified pre-owned really covers, why an independent third-party inspection can be worth it, and how we think about depreciation so we’re not eating the biggest drop ourselves. Then we get tactical: asking for the OTD number, negotiating everything before we show up, walking in with outside financing, and refusing the common finance office add-ons unless the math actually works. We even talk accessories as leverage, credit card down payments for points, and the moment an extended warranty goes from “no way” to “that’s smart” because the price and risk change. If you’re about to buy a vehicle or know someone who is, share this with them, then subscribe and leave a review so more people stop overpaying out of stress. What’s the one part of car buying you want to feel confident about before you sign anything?

September 8, 202622 min

Turkish Bath In Istanbul: Exfoliated, Bubbled, Slightly Traumatized | Ep. 65

A heated marble slab, a scrub glove that removes evidence of your entire past life, and a bubble massage that looks way fluffier on TikTok than it feels in real time. That’s how our Istanbul day goes from “spa plans” to “what just happened” in a matter of minutes. We’re at the Conrad Istanbul Bosphorus with Isaiah and Lilyana, recording immediately because there’s no way we’d remember the details later or do the story justice. We walk through what a Turkish hammam is actually like step by step: sauna, steam room, getting ushered around with fast instructions, and the surprise of staying together when we assumed we’d split up. We talk candidly about privacy, expectations, and that weird emotional whiplash where part of you is laughing and part of you is trying to recover. If you’ve ever searched “Turkish bath Istanbul” and wondered what really happens, we give you the unfiltered version, including the parts most videos can’t show. Then we pivot to the other iconic Istanbul grooming ritual: the Turkish barbershop experience. Think ear fire treatment, nose waxing, eyebrow and beard threading, straight razor work, and enough products to qualify as a facial. We compare two very different barbers, what hurts, what surprises you, and why this kind of travel story is equal parts culture, trust, and comedy. Subscribe for more travel debriefs, share this with a friend who thinks they’re fearless, and leave a review if you want more honest stories like this.

September 4, 20261 hr 6 min

Basilica Cistern Closed? We Found Two Cellos In Şerefiye Cistern | Ep. 64

Istanbul isn’t just a backdrop for this one. We’re sitting there with our special guest Isaiah, fresh off high school graduation, looking out at a city that used to be the center of the world and trying to take it all in. We talk about why he picked Istanbul for his senior trip, what it feels like to finally see Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque with your own eyes, and the kind of awe you can’t get from photos or reels. If you love Istanbul travel, historic landmarks, and family stories that feel real, you’ll be right at home with us. From hotels and food to culture shock moments, we share the details that make a trip click: how hospitality can change your whole mood, why Old Town and New Town Istanbul feel like two different worlds, and what we noticed most about cleanliness and the everyday rhythm of the city. Then everything goes sideways in the best way when a can’t miss attraction closes, we chase an alternative, and we accidentally end up at an underground cistern concert with two cellos. The acoustics, the set list, and the sheer randomness turn into one of those travel moments you talk about for years. The conversation eventually widens into the next chapter of Isaiah’s life: choosing the University of Puget Sound, what he wants from a small liberal arts college, and why leadership experiences like DECA can teach more than another day in class. We also talk parent to teen dynamics, freshman year anxiety, and how to push without forcing. If any part of you is navigating graduation, college decisions, or raising a high schooler, you’ll pull something useful from this. Subscribe, share this with a friend who loves travel or parenting conversations, and leave a review so more people can find the show. What’s the best unplanned moment you’ve ever had on a trip?

September 1, 202642 min

We Stopped Feeding One Business And Watched What Happened | Ep. 63

A business can look “fine” right up until you stop paying attention and then it quietly starts to die. We talk through the real story of what’s been built inside our “Big Dumb Stupid House” from a sound and lighting side business to a growing real estate team to mobile home investing and a travel brand that suddenly became a lot more serious. Along the way, we unpack a simple truth for entrepreneurs: momentum follows focus, and when we spread ourselves too thin, something always pays the price. The biggest shift came after we taught a travel points class and realized the #1 question wasn’t about fancy redemptions, it was “what do I do first?” A QR code worksheet sparked a product idea that turned into the Just An Epic Life travel playbook, built specifically for realtors, investors, and small business owners who have swipable expenses and want a clean credit card points strategy. We also get honest about working styles, analysis paralysis versus quick action, and how we’re trying to build systems that make the business run even when we’re traveling. We go deep on practical points and miles takeaways: choosing a niche, matching cards to real client behavior, understanding “wealth vs rich” thinking, and even a weird Capital One transfer nuance that almost blocked a booking until a tiny points adjustment fixed it. If you’re trying to earn travel rewards through business spend, build repeatable SOPs, and turn everyday expenses into real experiences for your family, this one is packed with lessons we learned the hard way. Subscribe, share this with a business owner who needs a better rewards system, and leave a review so more people can find us.

August 30, 202635 min

Olympics Tickets And The Big Dumb Stupid House | Ep. 62

Your kid’s childhood doesn’t end with a bang. It changes in a hundred small ways you don’t notice until you’re staring at graduation photos and realizing you’re closer to “see you later” than “see you after school.” We’re Nick and Keslie, and we talk through what it’s like to parent an 18-year-old graduate alongside a younger teen who still wants the freedom of the next stage. We also get real about the messy parts people don’t post. We moved into what we jokingly call our “big dumb stupid house” right as money got tighter and the market got weird, and that season forced better priorities. That same theme shows up in parenting: you can’t rescue your kid forever. From a flat tire on the side of the road to the curfew text that lands after you’re asleep, we share how we’re loosening the reins while still keeping safety, trust, and communication at the center. Then we zoom out to the glue that’s held our family together: travel and shared experiences. We talk graduation trips, using Seattle as a launch point for bigger adventures, and the surprisingly intense moment of buying Los Angeles Olympics tickets while trying to be inclusive of whoever our kids may bring along in a few years. Underneath all of it is the takeaway we keep coming back to for work-life balance: work will bounce back, but time with your people will not. If you’re parenting teens, prepping kids for college, or trying to build a family culture your adult kids actually want to come back to, press play. Subscribe, share this with another parent, and leave a review so more families can find the show.

August 27, 202629 min

Hilton Diamond Status: The Upgrade And Credit That Covered Our Trip | Ep. 61

We land in Santa Barbara and realize something: the best trips aren’t always the ones you plan for months, they’re the ones you’re ready for. We talk through how we turned a random day off school into a real weekend getaway by using a simple habit we swear by, putting “travel windows” on the calendar years in advance. That one move makes last-minute travel feel calm instead of chaotic, especially when you’re juggling teens, schedules, and budgets. Then we get practical about travel hacking and points travel. We break down how we booked flights for 9,200 points each way, why small airports are an underrated cheat code for short domestic trips, and how we used a Hilton free night certificate to stay at a beachfront resort we would never pay cash for. We also share what happened when we called Hilton to find standard award availability, how elite status upgrades played out on arrival, and why on-property credits can flip the whole “annual fee credit card” debate. We wrap with the money conversation people love to argue about: debit cards vs credit cards, strategic banking and how to use rewards without becoming a slave to debt. Plus, real travel details you only learn on the ground: airport lounge hits and misses, gluten-friendly struggles, Uber credits, and the Santa Barbara wine tasting detour that turned into a highlight thanks to a great guide and a tight local community. Subscribe for more real-world travel strategies, share this with a friend who loves a good points win, and leave a review if you want us to keep breaking down the exact math. What’s the next trip you want to take, and what’s stopping you right now?

May 30, 202628 min

Ritz-Carlton Dana Point: Our Travel Rewards Strategy | Ep. 60

Four million views. No trending audio. No script. Just a tripod aimed at an SRP irrigation valve in Glendale, Arizona and a perfectly timed moment when the neighbor shuts their valve and the water finally flows. Sitting oceanside at the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel, we try to make sense of why the most mundane clip we’ve posted turned into our biggest viral hit, and what that teaches us about content creation, hooks, and the strange psychology of the algorithm. We also pull back the curtain on the travel rewards strategy that got us here: using a Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant free night certificate, booking smart instead of last-minute wasting points, and squeezing extra value out of partner flights by attaching an American Airlines loyalty number to protect status and land upgrades. If you love points and miles, luxury hotels, or just practical “how did you do that?” travel talk, you’ll get a real-world playbook, not theory. From there, the conversation turns into business leadership and mindset. We talk about what we’d do if money were a non-issue, why teaching educators about wealth and opportunity matters, and how “strategy” becomes the lens for every decision we make. We get honest about pruning in a real estate business, the fear that comes with team changes, and why a great buyer’s agent doesn’t call clients “picky” but solves the problem with systems, vendors, and deeper understanding. If you like this kind of behind-the-scenes money mindset, real estate, entrepreneurship, and content marketing talk, subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find the show.