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Traveling Jackie

Jackie Nourse – better known as Traveling Jackie – is a woman-of-all-trades in the budget travel arena. Through her website and podcast “The Budget-Minded Traveler,” she is on a mission to inspire Americans to travel sooner rather than later. She is a wealth of information when it comes to taking the leap to travel abroad, and as a global craft beer seeker, she has seen more than her fair share of great brews throughout her own journeys as well.

A new resident to Boulder, CO, Jackie took us to Upslope Brewing Company for this episode where we plowed through a flight as we discussed beer, travel, beer mixed with travel, and plenty of other best practices from booking accommodations to the only proper technique for shotgunning a beer…

Drinking Destination:

Upslope Brewing Company – Boulder, CO

This Boulder-based brewery has been serving craft brews to Colorado for nearly a decade, and has an obvious outdoor-vibe that pairs well with any Mile High adventure. Founded in 2008 by Matt Cutter, Henry Wood, and Dany Pages, these brews are best consumed after a long hike, a day on the slopes, around a campfire, or on a patio on a sunny day in central Colorado (patio drinking is outdoorsy too, right?)

Coaster Notes:

• We jump straight into the beer! Pale ales have been Jackie’s beer-of-choice in her international travels most recently, and she has been pleasantly surprised with the beer scenes abroad, especially South America. Shout-outs to Ecuador, Florianopolis, Rio, Bariloche, and the Chilean Lake District!
• Jackie moved to Boulder the day before this interview. She is excited to live in a state with over 285 craft breweries.
• Jackie created The Budget-Minded Traveler (BMT) to inspire Americans to travel overseas sooner rather than later. TravelingJackie.com is more focused on Jackie’s personal journey, with focuses on personal development, adventure, and craft beer. Long story short, BMT is a travel resource with a set niche, and Traveling Jackie is her space to be creative.
• Jackie started traveling in 2003 when she studied abroad in Costa Rica. She continued to leverage study abroad programs throughout college to move to Italy, backpack around Central America, and study in Brazil, just to name a few. She then wrote her book “The Aspiring Traveler’s Handbook,” and in 2013, started blogging professionally.
• What sets The Budget-Minded Traveler apart from other budget travel resources? Jackie’s differentiator is her podcast, providing her with a sharable platform that allows her audience to really get to know her.
• What’s the reason people are intimidated to adopt a more travel-centric lifestyle? Jackie offers her advice on taking the leap and living a more travel-centric lifestyle, from baby steps to #salta (“take the leap”)
• Jackie’s advice for stretching your dollar once you’re traveling: the 2 biggest expenses are the flight and the accommodations, don’t plan everything in advance, decide in advance on taxi cab rates, and don’t rule out hostels.
• Google Flights and Booking.com are Jackie’s go-to resources for flights and accommodations. Hostelworld is good for hostels, and AirBnB, and Couchsurfing are best for meeting locals. In fact, Jackie is still friends with her Couchsurfing host from Argentina.
  

  Diagrams are helpful…

• Jackie recently started writing about craft beer. She Snaps and Instagrams about it A LOT. She likes it better than Westminster Abby and the Tower of London. Also, make sure to visit The Black Friar Pub if you’re ever in London.
• Jackie knows how to shotgun beers using her thumb instead of keys to bust open the can (“pop the can with the thumb hole!”).
• Shout-out to New Belgium Brewery and their 1554 Black Lager! Also, Jackie tells us how she used her shotgunning skills to score a free 6-pack there.
• “The best kind of beer is free beer.” –Dr. Joseph Domblesky, Marquette University College of Engineering
• Jackie and I have differing opinions on light beer…
• Shout-out to breweries and beer scenes across the globe: Cerveza Antares in Argentina; Makarska, Croatia; Leche, Italy.
• Jackie and I do agree, however, that there’s nothing wrong with a solo-beer or a solo-meal.
• Jackie receives plenty of random questions, and I am proof of that since I own the Anker portable charger that she recommended.
• Jackie’s superpower is courage: “taking the torch into the darkness, and leading people.” We get pretty deep after that…or something like that.
• What’s next for Jackie Nourse? Having recently relocated to Colorado, Jackie is currently feeling out Boulder as her new home base. She’s working on a 2017 digital version of her book. The next trip she’s leading to the Patagonia Lake District in Fall 2017 is also on her focus list, and spots are still available.
• Parting words of wisdom from Jackie’s Grandma: “Do what you want as soon as you can.”…go listen to the full thing on episode 48 of her podcast.

Upslope’s Boulder Taproom

Drinks of the Show:

• Citra Pale Ale – An American Pale Ale brewed with Citra hops, and a conversation-starter about pale ales abroad…
• Ozo Coffee Brown – A coffee-flavored brown ale which is a spin on Upslope’s typical Brown Ale, utilizing coffee beans from Ozo Coffee, a roastery located right next door to Upslope.
• Pilot IPA – Their 6.0 version of this on-going, experimental IPA brewed. This one is brewed with Denali, Mosaic, and Loral hops, which we described as very floral and light in color.
• 2017 Experimental IPA – Jackie dove into this one, featuring Mosaic, Idaho 7, and Lemondrop hops.
• Upslope IPA – Another Jackie-only sampling, this is Upslope’s signature, year-round IPA featuring a “complex malty character that is more well-balanced, but still offers the bitterness that IPA lovers seek.”
• Belgian Blonde with Guava – Alright, time for a Chris-only sampling…I compared this to Champaign with some apple flavoring, which I suppose is close enough to the “tropical touch” this beer is supposed to have.
• Peanut Butter Porter – I am a sucker for peanut butter beers…

Drinks of the Show…quite the colorful variety

Jackie’s Favorite Bars & Breweries in Colorado:

• New Belgium Brewery – A staple in Fort Collins, CO, you probably know them for their Fat Tire Amber Ale or their 1554 Black Lager. According to Jackie, they have the best brewery tour.
• Wibby Brewing – Located in Longmont, CO, they specialize in German-style lagers with an American craft beer twist.” Also, I think their cans are sexy.

Resources for When You’re Sober:

• The Budget-Minded Traveler Blueprint – Wish you could take your next trip sooner with a bigger budget, spend less on plane tickets, and go absolutely anywhere on your bucket list? Jackie wrote “The Aspiring Traveler’s Handbook” in 2013, and is now re-launching her teachings in the form of a digital course! Follow this link to be one of the first to sign up when it launches in June 2017!
• The Budget-Minded Traveler – Jackie’s travel website and blog offering tips and tricks for smart international travel.
• Google Flights – Sort through the best flight options for getting to where you want to go, or where you think you might want to go while comparing prices, dates, and multiple destinations through an easy user-interface.
• Booking.com – A hotel booking site that oftentimes has better deals than the hotel itself.
• Hostelworld – A booking and reviews site specifically for hostels all around the world. If you have any doubts about staying in hostels, this site’s ratings and reviews will help you sort through the good from the bad, while helping you find the best hostels anywhere on the planet.
• AirBnB – If you don’t know what this is you’ve been living under a rock for the past 5 years…but if that’s the case, it’s a home-sharing website that allows you to book spare rooms or full houses from hosts around the world.
• Couchsurfing – A travel community/resource for finding free accommodations [on couches] and, more importantly, for connecting with travelers/locals around across the globe.
• Anker Portable Charger – The latest version of Jackie’s favorite portable USB phone charger.

Connect/Drink/Travel with Jackie:

To really connect [and also drink] with Jackie, you should join her on one of her trips! As of this posting, spots are still available for Chilean Lake District trip in November 2017. Head over to travelingjackie.com/trips for information and sign-ups for this and future trips.

Otherwise, Jackie’s blog TravelingJackie.com will get you to everything, and specifically on social media you can find her at @travelingjackie on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. Also make sure to join The Budget-Minded Traveler Community on Facebook, and listen to The Budget-Minded Traveler podcast.

Traveling Jackie and Chris…Double-Fisting!

Visit Upslope Brewing:

Upslope Brewing Company is located at 1898 S Flatiron Ct, Boulder, CO 80301. Taproom hours are 11am to 10pm 7-days-a-week.

Upslope’s Boulder Brewery

Music Credits:

“Let’s Got to the Pub” by Bowling for Soup. Check them out at BowlingForSoup.com.