 Everybody wants to know, we were gonna smash out the side wall Generating toilets I want kids like right now I never wanted children But what really happened was There is another side of me that's super scary Times where we didn't have a roof over our head So you want to know what we bought in Baja Hi Crystal, we're doing a Q&A today Good morning everyone Good morning We've decided to do a Q&A Coming to you from our bed We've just opened our eyes, bed head and all They can see that Last time we did a Q&A, so many of you loved it It was one year ago It feels really good to address your questions And speak to you directly Especially when you've been so confusing lately for so many people I've never read these questions, so Explain your timeline away Train Bahamas, Columbia Okay, this is a good one We left a cabin around December Early December Six or something And the goal was to spend time with family It's the holidays So we hit up the holidays at the fam jam And then after that Bella, Izzy, Jasmine and I And Jasmine's mom All went south to Florida For a whole month, it was really nice Jasmine's brother and his partner came down And he had lots of great family time And that was like our home base Bella and Izzy were loving their retired life on the beach We were actually in Pensacola the first time Yeah, the Gulf Breeze, it's very beautiful While we were making trips Outside of the United States to the Bahamas To Columbia, the train Baja, like all of these trips that we were making We were leaving from Pensacola It might look like we were away from the girls for The entire however long, but we weren't What happened in South America? Oh wow, we're gonna do the big questions before coffee Yeah We set out on and we had A mission A mission Determined y'all But what really happened was Is that our mission failed We failed hard We didn't find a vehicle And we should have probably called it sooner We were actually there for two weeks Although it may not have seemed like that And A lot of days waiting like palm trees We could have kept that part out of the video Of us looking for a car But then we just wanted to kind of Tell the story as it was We still do want to travel South America It was never We said this in the video It was never intended to be full time I'm still actively looking We learned a lot on where to look for vehicles How to buy them Tired? Am I boring you? And a lot of you were like Why don't you just ship your van down there? To be honest, to ship a vehicle down to Columbia, Argentina is like It's starting at sixth grand American So that's like 10 Canadian That also doesn't account For anything happening That's like if the plan goes perfect Which it never does when you're shipping a vehicle There's always holds at What are they called? Ports Ports and all of that We were really just looking for an adventure We love to travel And we would love to do the Pan-American route I was even considering a motorcycle at one point I'm happy that we put out a video In the beginning of the year as well Saying expect the unexpected What happened to the podcast? We love the podcast We answered this in the other video too Did we really actually answer it? Yeah, this is at the end of the video Link it right here Watch it So it can look different Maybe it won't be weekly Maybe it'll be a different schedule Why did you choose Nova Scotia And not be closer to family? Thank you to BetterHelp For sponsoring this week's video Therapy has helped me see a silver lining Through some really challenging times It's helped me find the tools To navigate personal things Like complicated family issues And it really feels so good To talk to someone openly About what I'm going through Outside of my inner circle A professional I've noticed every year Therapies become more normalized And more relevant in all of our lives And I love to talk to people about it All of my friends that I've spoken to Who have experienced therapy Have had such good and transformative experiences It's done such good for everyone I know If you want 2024 to be a better year We cannot recommend therapy enough And BetterHelp is the perfect place to get started If you go to our link BetterHelp.com forward slash van wives You can fill out a questionnaire And BetterHelp will use your answers To match you with a therapist Who understands what you're going through For your therapy sessions They offer video, phone calls And you can even text your therapist Whatever is the most comfortable for you If you're experiencing low mood Anxiety, stress or anything like that Therapy can help Over 4 million people have used BetterHelp To start living happier and healthier lives And we want you to too Click the link in the description Or go to betterhelp.com forward slash van wives For 10% off your first month of therapy Ultimately money I'm gonna be 100% honest Our budget was really really small And when you're looking for property in Canada Certain areas like anywhere are hotspots We couldn't afford close to family We just went to where our budget allowed us to go Which was the more affordable provinces Now as we're older And we've obviously changed and grown up And kind of want some other things in life I'm always like, oh that'd be easier if I were home For sure Home, meaning back in Barrie Not in Barrie, I would never live in a city Anyways, but back in Ontario Closer to family Closer But in Ontario to get this type of land And this remoteness and privateness Privacy Privacy is privacy But in order to get how private our land is You have to be like 8 hours north or 6 And it just doesn't exist anymore You put the good ones first, eh? These are the good ones? I like it There's even better ones How do you divide your time in the week Building, filming, editing? I don't know Still trying to figure it out Definitely something that we're still working on Actively trying to have more balance in life Our blinders are slowly coming off From each season of the cabin And we can see life a little bit more clearly now Probably should get more balance But I'm happy And I think everyone's balance looks different But if you want to know the time frame Because it was like building, filming, and editing Right? Yeah Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday Are for Build Friday is I just disagree with that Because it never works Yeah, I don't know what you're... I don't even think we could ever say that Every single week is so different That's why it's hard for us to say What every single day looks like And what works I think the key is flexibility When are you finishing the spare bedroom in the cabin? We actually just ordered everything for it So you're in luck I'm happy we took our time Because our new plan is better And it's way different Honestly, part of the reason we don't do things Is because we just don't know Yeah There's so many different ways One time we were gonna smash out the side wall And do an extension Next one I was building a hallway Next one I was building a small little entrance Yeah And it's gonna be actually more than a spare room We're excited for that project Yeah, I can't wait Coffee This is how we get going Cheers Little Q&A over coffee How do you keep your battery bank heated while away? And I want to group this in with How do we leave the homestead for extended periods of time? We were just gone for two months How do we do that? I would first want to pat myself And crystal in the back And villainize you Because it took us a long time to get here Three whole years Right? Yup Yeah But we are finally at the stage Where we can leave our homestead Which is a great feeling Because it is a sense of freedom Leaving the cabin for any period of time was really hard Yes So we have three sources of heat However, when we're not here We rely on our propane heaters We use the Martin Heater 20,000 BTU Without the glass thing These heaters are so efficient We set them the lowest they can go And It just keeps it at like a very minimal temperature in here Obviously above freezing Just to keep everything Seven to ten Dry and not frozen Yeah And for the workshop That will always be the case We will always run that propane heater when we are away Because of the batteries in there So It is super ideal for off-grid living Yeah We have our neighbors walking in and checking on the property Having those fresh prints and activity here Super important We have cameras that we can monitor the cabin from our phone To keep an eye on everything We also have the Servo The Victron Servo Which allows you to monitor your battery percentages While you're not here From anywhere in the world Yes And temperature sensors that you can monitor from your phone What happened to your indoor incinerating toilet? Like it's actually bizarre what happened to everyone Like it's Us from the future I didn't want to talk about the toilet in this video Because we do have a video coming up Where we talk about our situation in depth And we install our new toilet in the cabin However what we will share is that Not long after installing our toilet It did stop working and it would work very sporadically We had trouble contacting the brand And we actually had a very terrible customer service experience And for the last 10 months we've gone back to using the outhouse How did you get started securing the cabin tools etc Over the last three or four years out here We've then just Then like okay we need a clearing saw In order to literally get to our cabin To get rid of more of the ticks and yada yada yada We would make money with working on YouTube And then we'd put x amount towards tools to help us with the job Without hesitation we would just get what we needed for the next job To make the next video Like it was never like I was never like oh let's just put this away and save it No it's like let's go get that tool so we can do that job So by living in a van we obviously didn't have a mortgage We didn't have rent We didn't have any really overhead bills Other than diesel insurance and we shared phone So I don't remind us of that the other day I forgot until I like blacked it out Until someone reminded me Yeah That was a major compromise I mean it's like you save $100 a month and we lived in a box So you might as well share a plan right Not really though looking back like It's really nice to have your own phone Would you ever do a meet and greet 100% Yes I would love to I think what we need to figure out is where California And would we have to do many like who lives where In what big city I think it's just you look at where your demographic's mostly from It's mostly from California So I'd probably do in California so the majority of people could come What would you say to 18 year old crystal and jazz You're gonna do nothing with your degree save all your money You are doing the right thing by ignoring what everyone else wants for you And just keep doing what you're doing I think you need to elaborate on that I wasn't ready to go to school I wasn't ready to settle down into a career I wasn't ready for the traditional steps I wanted to just do what I wanted to do I wanted to travel explore and see things with my own eyes And do things with my hands I would say Hell yeah girl you're doing the right thing That's what I would say Just keep doing you You're world schooling yourself It works out Or maybe like go hang out with your mom and your grandma or your 18 year old Jasmine Because you live at home Like that might be my answer That's cute Bring us the Baja Here we are Bella this even came Cheers Cheers Everybody wants to know This is turmeric water I'm definitely not drinking it Is the Baja Mexico property just for the winter months? Yes Although to be honest I really do like winter So I can see myself like flying back in like February or something Just to come hang for a week or something For sure I think like for some reason Nova Scotia winters seem to hit like February March So I mean we don't want to miss it As you all know we love winter But I think we also love Baja So if we can do both Ideal and how that would happen Like the logistics behind it would be My mom already said she's moving in So Such a thing and bop an entire winter At least three months she said So the idea is Don't blame her The idea would be that she would look after the dogs We would come flood back to our cabin The homestead Enjoy the winter a little bit Or we just drive back a little early Winter is fun in periods of time What prompted the idea of Mexico I'm probably gonna give you a funny answer But it honestly is just a feeling I have in my heart when I'm there We've spent a lot of time in Baja Some of our new viewers may not know That when we were living in our van We went down to Baja twice With Bella and Izzy and all four of us Loved exploring the peninsula It is super beautiful It's still very wild It's fun and there is community there There's a lot of reasons that drew us to Baja Since the very first time we experienced Baja We really did have this feeling where it was like This feels like a home away from home You know And so that kind of prompted the idea of Maybe we buy a land or a small casita down there And do what we've done here there Anyway My hand is cold Can I have a glass of water? Yeah, you don't need to drink And we didn't know when we went down this winter If it was gonna work out If we were gonna find a property But we did And it's real And I couldn't be happier about it Yeah What's the future plan for the cabin with your plans in Mexico? I think a lot of people Initially thought that we were leaving the cabin in the homestead behind That we were either gonna sell it or forget about it And everyone was like a little bit emotional about it Because this is a big change And everyone is very attached to the cabin We are too We love the cabin This is our home It really is our favorite place We built it with our own two hands We've created so many beautiful memories here We could never just leave it behind or ban in the cabin And Baja will be our winter plan And we will upkeep the cabin for the majority of the year And through the winter we have a solid plan now New build in Mexico or fixer upper? Well, we don't like to make things easy Do we? New build, baby! It's a new build Complete custom We are going to be picking up a lot of bricks Will Bella and Izzy be overwintering with us in Baja? A hundred percent This is another reason why we were drawn to Baja And we love Baja Because the border crossing is easy The drive is easy You can get there by land You don't need to fly We love a good road trip The four of us will pack up and head down for many months Bella's joints are gonna love it My mom's joints are gonna love it Sorry I didn't expect you to be back at the cabin so quickly Why are you back at the cabin? Buying property doesn't just happen overnight Obviously, we went in the beginning of January to property hunt It just takes months By the time we take ownership it's going to be May And we will be showing you How to do it, what went into it Everything And the place as soon as everything is finalized Yeah We are very close to the finish line But we always like to take our time So once we get there, we will share it all All right, bye Baja Construction plans Now all about us Last year we did a Q&A And we got very personal Opened up a lot So we're going to try to not answer the same questions Over and over again But this one we want to answer new questions But we know there's new people here So yeah Click that one and watch this one But click it after How long have we been together? Seven years Kids in the future, do you want to get pregnant or adopt? Damn I want kids like right now Like if I could push one out of my womb right now I would be doing it on this bench Oh my god I never wanted children But I do now want to have a family with Jasmine And that changed probably a year ago maybe I used to not want to have kids because like A lot of reasons One being like the state of the world Two being it's obviously much harder for us to have kids I just think we've built such a beautiful life And I would be amazing Yeah You would be amazing moms Like I would love that I'm not like two in their own horn But like I just see us being like such good parents Mom and mama And I don't know like the way you parent Bella and Izzy is like one of the best qualities in you And I just would love to see you do that to A baby that we kind of create together One thing that does stand out to me is like I can't wait to give our children A life that I didn't have And I didn't get growing up Also I want to keep it really real Does it scare me a lot? Yes I am not certain in my decision But I don't think you ever are And like I'm not going to just sit here and be excited Because there is another side of me that's super scared In actuality though As much as I want kids like right now That my logical brain comes in and I'm like No Not exactly right now But in the next couple of years for sure For sure For sure really soon And we don't know what that's going to look like Like of course we're saying like we hope we can have kids But that's if like we actually can I don't know if I can yeah I would be down to adopt though too Like anything to be honest Like It'll be fun Yeah Are we monogamous? Yeah Yes Do you ever fear telling someone your partner is a woman? Yes Yes Many times Had unfortunate experiences When we're traveling I feel like I refrain from showing And telling people verbally that we are together Only because I don't know where I am Or how it's going to be perceived Especially when I'm in another country I think that could happen anywhere though Like even in Canada and the United States You just don't know how people are going to react And so for the most part I usually conceal our relationship I love For safety For safety of course And I love being able to say it so confidently And share it with people But that's just not always There's not always an opportunity for that I used to like not even want to hold crystal hand in public Like I was probably the more scared one And now more than ever I feel like I've come Like so far That's why I don't want to say like never Because I actually feel like it's something I've been working on Yeah It's true actually when people assume that we're sisters or friends I get really fired up And I will straight up look them in the eye Dead eye contact and say Jasmine's my partner Right Like I'm not gonna Like if someone's gonna make an assumption at me I'm not gonna sit uncomfortably in it Like obviously unless it was an unsafe situation But I do get like I do love to share it whenever I can Of course Yeah How did you know you loved each other? Who said it first? One night when we were finished chasing waterfalls We came back to our home city Berry And I think we slept a little bit before that And I just remember my heart like actually beating out of my chest And I never felt that before Like I thought I was having a heart attack We were like living heartbeats It was like so beautiful I had never experienced anything in my life so strong And emotional and passionate I feel like we knew we loved each other Because we could be doing absolutely anything We could be absolutely anywhere And like her and I were always on the same wavelength We enjoyed each other's company so much And we had a lot of the same Wants in life A lot of the same passions and interests Values, morals It's like we just like they just met And they were like everything that you know I was she kind of was and everything she was I kind of was And we were just like But then we were also so different too As much as we were stuck We also have so many differences But like those differences like make us keep climbing like the same mountain I honestly just knew that I loved you Because I knew that I didn't want to spend a single day away from you And I knew That's why you're a U-Haul Way to make a cute moment and do a joke I can't sit here anymore Like I can't breathe horsey How did your relationship change over the years? We can start with like all those feelings that we had And those probably lasted the honeymoon stage Over a year to a year I would say I don't know if that's normal I don't know if it's meant to last like 10 days or a few months But it felt like it lasted like an entire it was an entire year Yeah, and we actually just talked about this the other day Which is kind of funny Because Christo was like Yeah, and then they just like disappeared And I was like Disappeared girl And they're just like oh no no no I mean dissipate And that's something that I think happens in a relationship Because obviously that's not normal feelings to have Like for that long or just your whole life And it's not realistic And I think a lot of people get a little scared when those things disappear Or when you only get to experience them once every few months But that's the reality of You're doing life now right? When we met we were just like so wild and young and in love And we are that now still But it's just we've gone through so many different eras I think change is super super important Because it wouldn't allow us to move through life If our relationship didn't change over the years So I'm very proud to say that we have moved forward together through the changes And one thing that's remained the same and hasn't changed Is our love for each other I love you I love you too, B What annoys you about each other? You can go first No you go first No You got one? You don't think I have one for you because you're perfect Do you have fun? Do you have fun? Do you have fun? Tell me You're a perfect life partner literally And then you don't like that because then I put you on a pedestal And you act certain way but like There ain't much Okay I'll tell you I don't want to annoys me When you eat with your mouth open it annoys me to no end Yeah I like enjoying my food more And I've tried Okay I gotta be honest Your organization skills are really annoying me There you go I left this Q&A in her hands to deal with it To write all the questions out because I don't want to see them And honestly her entire note deleted Even though I pay for a program That you can literally color coordinate everything And nothing will delete I just don't get it And then if you look at her notepad She doesn't even put titles She just it's okay Moving on Your answer is a little long Organization is awful Okay how much do you fight in real life? Often we have arguments It's real life Yeah But our videos are also real life So like There's a lot of things in our relationship That are deeply personal That we won't share online For respect out of each other And our relationship And so that's the reason why we wouldn't include that in a video And yes it does happen So that is a good question Because you're probably wondering Because you don't see it I think to sum that up I would just say like In your head We're like avidly working on fighting better Yeah Communicating better Which is no fighting better You can't eliminate fights for the rest of your life The reality is like you need to learn to fight better Like how to eliminate it Oh my gosh I don't have a bucket How to eliminate The intensity of these things Or like Reacting on emotion It's like one thing I am working on It's a short walk here in the summer And the winter is a big one So much snow Welcome to the other cabin We're down here at the abandoned cabin That is connected to our land That we have shared in two videos so far And we're here because we have a few questions to answer about it Do you have any plans for the second cabin by the lake? It is such a big beautiful lot And it's so close to home That we know we definitely have some exciting projects here That will allow family and friends More friendly and friends to sleep close to the cabin There's a lot of wind right now There's a lot of wind down here Because we haven't narrowed it down to like What we want to do first or where we're starting We're not going to say yet Yeah I don't want to be flaky Yeah But coming very soon and this summer We are going to begin down here And we're super excited to start Because these projects of this size and this excitement Really fire us up and we're pumped They're really cool Like they're really cool Yeah How will you avoid burnout with both properties? Burnout? I think we're in the best place ever Compared to what we were before Like we actually have a whole functioning homestead Yes it's not finished But like we have all the modern day amenities To live really comfortable We're no longer living in a construction zone If any we haven't been burnt out But if we ever would have been 100% it would have been renovating the cabin last winter For sure I also know that this question is not just about this property I know it's also about combination of the cabin This abandoned lot and then Mexico Being able to go down to Mexico for a few months Will actually help us avoid burnout I feel like Yeah It's just such a nice place to relax in the winter And although we plan on working and building Every time we come back We come back more motivated More energized More ready to give it another go Alright you ready for the random? Are you going to Australia? The problem with Australia is it's a 24 hour flight Yeah It's far It's really far And not saying that like we can't do it But if I had to come back home for a personal reason It'd be a long journey And I couldn't get there really quick As quick as I would want to Sorry I don't really feel like talking about it But that's all I can give you How do you deal with long distance missing family And missing home? I cry I cry Yeah it's true It's really sad Especially during the months where like We don't really have a lot of visitors But we were just with them So like I also I'm trying to look at it as a positive I feel like I've seen my family and friends More than I have in a long time this year I think we just make the what we do to deal Is like keep in contact We voice note a lot We love voice notes Send videos Videos, photos Just like really letting the people in your life Know that you're thinking of them Even in the most simple way Like a text And just like making plans in advance You know even if it's a year away Being like okay I'm gonna go home And just like make that happen Yeah Like Yeah You just gotta make it happen My cousins have babies And I really need to go meet them She hasn't even met them yet I know When are you going home? Make a plan As much communication as you can As much planning as you possibly can To see them I think is super important And helps deal with it Yeah But I don't think I'll ever get over it Yeah it's not It doesn't go away Do you have any regrets in life? No You? Not that I can think of There's nothing so severe in my life That I regret because I've learned from everything That's That I want to say I would regret The best and hardest thing about building Something from scratch Figuring out how to build it The first portion of building something I always look at it like You're figuring it out Then you're like figuring out what materials to get How to put those materials together And then the other thing would be like the middle of it I just think that part is the hardest Something I did struggle with a lot in the beginning That I'm kind of I think better at now Is like being okay with maybe failing Or not looking like 100% perfect Yeah that's the hardest thing Oh yeah our beams That's 100% the hardest thing Crystal is going off I was like Crystal We can only do things as good as we are qualified to do it Our skill set Our skill set Like in anything in life Like you're only able to like chug a water bottle As fast as you can chug a water bottle Like it can be that simple Yeah so I do struggle with perfectionism a little bit When we were doing the beam She was going at it and I was like Crystal like we're gonna have these gaps Like but we're just gonna have to fix them With wood glue or do something So I just think being okay with If you're gonna do something DIY yourself It's not gonna look as good as the carpenter Who's been doing it for 50 years The best part is looking at it and knowing That it was built from scratch With your own two hands With your noggin and your skill set I just think it's like such a special feeling That actually you cannot put a price tag on I would say the best part is obviously that as well But being able to do that job for someone else At no cost Just do it for them Anyone having floor? A lot of people ask this Crystal's family Question mark I know I don't show my family in our videos And I don't really talk about them I grew up in a single mother household Jasmine did as well So I really only have my mom And I have a relationship with my brother I've never lived with my brother He was much older than me by like 10 years Growing up my childhood wasn't always easy There was some really hard times Like times where we didn't have a roof over our head There was some challenges That's like goes back on the regret question Do you regret like if you could have changed your childhood You know what I mean? But like it made you you Totally Like you were the strongest human being I like I know Like you will just make anything work And you'll take if you're given something You'll just take it and you'll run So I know I'm crying too Honestly, should I be single parents? I don't know how you do it But just tell your parents or your guardian or whoever That you love them As I'm watching this back I feel like there's more context I need to give My mom separated from my father at a very early age My mom also didn't have very much family at all of her own As she spent some of her childhood in an orphanage At the age of 40 she met her brother That she didn't know that she had and I want an uncle We loved him and sadly he is no longer with us My mom and I have a pretty private relationship Which is why you haven't seen her on our channel She's really gone through so much And come out the most wonderful person She's the sweetest soul And this kind of leads into the next question Someone asked why I was in the Big Brothers And Big Sisters program That program was so huge for me It was a huge part of my life for so many years And it's something that one day When we settle down near a town or a city I definitely want to do I was in that program because my mom put me in the program So I could have more support in my life And experience things that maybe she couldn't bring to the table It allowed me to go new places Try new things Put myself out of my comfort zone And have a relationship with someone else Other than my mom, my main caregiver And so Meredith, who is like my best friend And my big sister from when I was five Is still a huge part of my life today We have, she's like, yeah, she's my best friend She's like everything to me You were in her wedding party I was in her wedding party this past summer Like it's such a special relationship we have So I could not speak higher of that program It is so special for children First I learned how to dance, catch it first Such a cute photo, I love it, are you? How did you take the leap of breaking away from normal Living to living alternatively Okay, I'm going to have to thank my mom for this Because I wouldn't say she did anything normal By the time she was 16, let's be real She's always been like an independent fighter I watched her create three businesses on her own As a single mother and work three jobs So I never felt the need that I had to Like she never made me go to school Talk to me, like she said, yeah, if you want to And I just would say I thank my mom For like showing me that there's other things you can do in life Other than working like the nine to five You were given the ability to allow yourself To explore different avenues And you didn't feel like you were breaking away necessarily It just felt like you were doing what you were doing Yeah, you always brought that up Like how did you just like not go and teach Like how did you just like move into a van And I obviously have been reflecting on that You just wanted it more than anything else And you didn't allow influences to influence you I didn't really have a traditional life to begin with And I feel like I was always kind of chasing the opposite of traditional So it kind of just fell together, to be honest Yeah, what do you have to lose? School's still there if I want to be a teacher If you are okay with failing that whole thing If you're okay with failing That leap is a lot less daunting Five and 10 year goals Oh man I know in five years we're going to have a family I hope and we're going to be married, I hope And I never liked this question And I for once actually kind of like it I think it's because it's something that you actually have to think about Long term Yeah, because I'm going to be 35 And I got to get making babies or freezing my eggs And I hope in 10 years that those five year olds are real nice people They will be with you as a mom No, in all honesty we usually don't think into the future very much at all I just hope I'm still healthy and happy And I see my friends and family a lot