Exploring Map2Moments: Deejay Laughbon’s Journey to Stress-Free Travel Planning

Deejay Laughbon

Howard Fox: [00:00:00] Hello, everyone. This is Howard Fox, and welcome back for another episode of the Outdoor Adventure Series podcast. Our guest today is DJ Lafbon. DJ is the founder of Map to Moments, a travel planning platform inspired by the belief that planning shouldn't be the most stressful part of a trip.

DJ, it's a pleasure to have you on the podcast. Welcome.

Deejay Laughbon: Thank you so much. I'm excited to be here. I really appreciate, uh, you giving me some time to come and talk with you.

Howard Fox: It is our pleasure. And first off, I just want to acknowledge our good friends at Podmatch, because this is how I, uh, met DJ. Uh, Podmatch is a great site if you are a podcast host or a want-to-be guest like DJ, and it's a great place to get both parties to meet up and schedule some episodes.

And first off, DJ, uh, uh, you're a voracious book reader. Uh, there's a lot of nice bookshelves behind [00:01:00] you. But where are you located?

Deejay Laughbon: Um, I'm currently in Millcreek, uh, Utah. Yeah.

Howard Fox: Okay. Now, I know where Salt Lake City is, and I know where the mountains are to go skiing, so are you nearby?

Deejay Laughbon: Oh, yeah, like a good... So I'm probably 10 minutes out of the city, city proper, uh, and probably 10 minutes away, like the mountains are, are there.

They're back

Howard Fox: there. Yes. So I, I, w- we did, did you grow up i- in the, uh, i- in this area of Utah, and are you a ski bum? I guess I should ask that.

Deejay Laughbon: I actually grew up in Oregon. Okay. Astoria, to be specific, if you have any Goonies or Kindergarten Cop fans in your listening pool. Okay. Yeah, so. Oh,

Howard Fox: very nice.

Deejay Laughbon: Thank you. and then, uh, when, uh, came here for, uh, high school and college, stayed

Howard Fox: here. Okay. Very nice. In Oregon, I, that should've been a giveaway for your- ... your t- your sweatshirt, "I'd rather be in my garden." Oh. my, my roommate is [00:02:00] from Oregon, and, uh, she and her, and her boyfriend are like, "Okay, we gotta get back up there," 'cause in Vegas, we, we've got a lot of, It's brown, Oh, yes. Beautiful, but brown. Yeah. All right. So first off, uh, so thank you again. And, a little bit about what is Map to Moments, and what was the, this aha moment of why, why this type of service is gonna be needed?

Deejay Laughbon: Oh, great question. to answer that, I'm gonna roll back just a tiny bit, give you a little bit of background on me.

Howard Fox: Go, go back as far as you need. All right.

Deejay Laughbon: Awesome. I, so my family, uh, grew up getting out camping as, as much as we could. If anyone's familiar with the West Coast area, we went to Fort Clatsop, Battery Russell, Cannon Beach, that kind of area, um, a lot. Mm-hmm. And I just have, memories and memories of very wet summers, um, in a tent, like, going out and just wandering around some big, massive [00:03:00] trees.

And it was-

Howard Fox: You, you were in Oregon, by the way ...

Deejay Laughbon: y- yes. Yep. So big trees and lots of rain and, and-

Howard Fox: And green ... lovely.

Deejay Laughbon: Yep. Didn't know anything different. and then when we moved to Utah, uh, we got out quite a bit then as, as a family as well, and, and my mom and dad really took it on. I n- did not think about how much coordination it took.

And often on these trips, it wasn't just our family. We... They often invited people to come in. Yeah. And again, I was just like, "Oh, this is just what we do." Okay ... and then fast-forward a while into adulthood, something named COVID happened. Don't know if you heard about it.

Howard Fox: I, I, yeah, I, I moved to Las Vegas d- during COVID.

What was I thinking? Yeah. But go ahead.

Deejay Laughbon: and, uh, several of our, my friends, I still had my work, but they got in that weird limbo, like, you're laid off, [00:04:00] but- Mm-hmm ... you're okay 'cause we're, getting checks. And, um, we just realized, we're like, 'cause those of us who were working, we were working remote, we were like, "Why are we staying in our houses?"

Right. Like, "Let's, let's go." Yeah. And that's where I really got to explore Utah. We went camping on so much BLM land, and really figured out how to actually get remote internet, thank you Starlink and-

Howard Fox: Yes ...

Deejay Laughbon: services like that. Yeah. and, uh, it was, it was wonderful. It was great to go out and e- explore it.

So that's, that's an important piece. And again, always with, with groups, and I'll come back to why that- Sure ... but we were, all of us, our friends included, had also been doing that since we were kids. So we knew how to just throw what you needed in the car and go. Mm-hmm. And then, Fast forward again, uh, I'm, uh, living with my, uh, with my husband and he- Mm-hmm

at the time we were working on his green card. And both- Okay ... of us, he's from Peru. Okay. A little bit of [00:05:00] backstory on him. And when he was growing up in Peru, backpacking was a huge part of his life.

Howard Fox: Sure, sure.

Deejay Laughbon: He's used to like, "Let me grab my bag and let me go." But when he came to the States and we got married and we were working on the green card, it was very much like, "Hey, you need to stay, stay where you are.

Don't go anywhere." And so both of us having this strong background of like, "Oh, we're gonna get out in the world and we're gonna go enjoy it," to all of a sudden be handcuffed Mm-hmm ... and in one spot, we were like, "Oh my gosh, this is, this is a bit painful." Okay. And I realized we were, we were talking and, um, I had...

I really... This is actually how Math Moments started. Sorry, I know, lots of little background bits, but-

Howard Fox: We'll

Deejay Laughbon: get there. Yeah. We'll get there. so he's... We had gotten to the point where the pressure was a bit too much, and we were like, "We need to go somewhere. We need to travel." We'd taken a few [00:06:00] car trips.

Howard Fox: Mm-hmm.

Deejay Laughbon: he was like, "DJ, you..." He's like, "You need to leave the US. You need to go have a, a trip-trip because you're dying." and at the time, Ed Sheeran was playing, who I, I really love all his mathematic albums. I started listening to them in 2011 when 18-

Howard Fox: By the way, you're just going fwoom. Oh, my. But I, I know who, I know...

I, I'm joking. I do know, I, at my age, I do know who he is. I know he's somewhat important. He had a bit role in Game of Thrones, but okay. Yeah. I digress.

Deejay Laughbon: Oh, yeah. Massive. He was a very important soldier.

Howard Fox: Right.

Deejay Laughbon: yeah, sorry. And so my husband really encouraged me, 'cause I enjoy him so much. He's like, "This is the last year of his tour.

This is 2025." He's like, "Why don't you plan a trip and you- Mm-hmm ... go see him?" Mm-hmm. And I was like, "By myself?" 'Cause again, I'm very used to traveling with everyone else, and he's like, "Yes." Mm. "Just go. Just go. Enjoy by yourself. Get out of here." Okay. so I went to go put the trip together, uh, and I even [00:07:00] requested AI's help because I, I first had to pick in which country I was going to see his concert.

Okay. 'Cause he wasn't performing in the US, he was performing- Okay ... all over Europe.

Howard Fox: Right.

Deejay Laughbon: and, uh, AI unfortunately was really off on, like, the prices, uh, for things. And so that was the first time I thought to myself, I'm like, we actually do have the technology, and I know AI's being a bit broad. I was like, I could come in and make this more specific and help people do these calls to be like, "Hey, I live in Salt Lake City.

I wanna go see Ed Sheeran. Here's all his tour dates." Okay. "Which of these is financially gonna be the best one for me to go?" And for it not to pull back an estimation, but to pull back, like, real things. I'm like, just no one's built it that detailed. Okay. So that was the first inkling. Okay,

Howard Fox: so I have to, I have to stop for one second.

Deejay Laughbon: Yeah, yeah.

Howard Fox: Are, are you a tech nerd? Are you a geek?

Deejay Laughbon: [00:08:00] Yes.

Howard Fox: Okay. Just, just- Yes ... checking. I'm a recovering IT business consultant. But you're starting to kind of speak my language. but, uh, okay. This is cool. All right ... okay, so please continue

Deejay Laughbon: Perfect.

Howard Fox: when I was- I interrupt a lot, by the way. I don- I didn't know if you

You got a sense of that. Yeah. Okay.

Deejay Laughbon: Oh, you're fine. You're fine. No, I, I appreciate that. also, when I start my IAT recovery journey, I will give you a call and get some tips. But I'm not quite ready yet.

Howard Fox: All right.

Deejay Laughbon: so that was my, my first inkling of like, "Oh, we could make something better for..." and I was thinking in concerts at that time.

Howard Fox: Okay.

Deejay Laughbon: And so I started taking notes of what could be improved, and I, and I did go on the trip. I saw him in Copenhagen. It was amazing.

Wow.

Howard Fox: Okay.

Deejay Laughbon: Thank you. Yeah. And Copenhagen, if anyone hasn't been, but it's been like one of their, "Oh, I could go," or it's been a bucket, uh, list-

Howard Fox: Yeah ...

Deejay Laughbon: it's definitely a bit more expensive on the food side, but- Right

I was able to find reasonable [00:09:00] accommodation, and like so easy to get around the city. The public transportation, it's all buses, trains, all that's kept in one app, and they make it- Right ... it's just tap on tap. They make it so easy, whereas other places- Okay ... you need all these different things. So just-

Howard Fox: this is gonna beg the, uh, the question, is Map to Moments, I know we're gonna see the site shortly.

Yeah. You're gonna share your screen. is it also, uh, a, a smartphone app?

Deejay Laughbon: it will be when- Okay ... we publicly release it. So-

Howard Fox: Okay ...

Deejay Laughbon: we're currently in, uh, a beta, Right ... which if people sign up for, they get, um, prioritized pricing, like much better pricing for it. But when we're finally done with the beta and we're ready to, just launch it out everywhere, we will launch the phone app at the same

Howard Fox: time.

Gotcha. Gotcha. Okay. Very good. Hey, do me a quick favor. Shift your s- your computer just a little bit 'cause I'm seeing the wall. A little more, a little more. Right there. Perfect.

Deejay Laughbon: Okay. There we

Howard Fox: go. Okay. So hang on one [00:10:00] second. Three... D- I wanna do three, two, one, and then just start again.

Deejay Laughbon: Okay.

Howard Fox: Okay. So we finish with, yes, it's beta.

It's gonna be on the ph- smartphone app. Three, two, one.

Deejay Laughbon: So after getting back from Copenhagen, I realized I was like, um, well, I love going to concerts and I'm sure there's plenty of other people, but what else do people need help with when traveling? I'm like, let's not pigeonhole me in, uh, this Mapped to Moments into one thing.

So I started calling and texting friends and asking if I could talk to them for 15 minutes. And-

Howard Fox: Mm-hmm ...

Deejay Laughbon: the big piece that came out is, And again, a piece that my parents and my friends handled so well and I grew up with, so I never would've thought this is a problem, is that coordination.

Howard Fox: Mm-hmm.

Deejay Laughbon: It's finding like, hey, putting in one spot, where are we going?

When are we leaving? Who's bringing what? if we're leaving from different spots, like if I'm coming in [00:11:00] from Salt Lake, let's say you're coming in from Denver, Colorado, um, how are we getting there? And I thought that was so interesting 'cause again, and this goes to my background story of my parents, like they just did that But now I have a number of people in my life who are like, "Oh, yeah, that really intimidates me.

Like, I'm not sure how to get it, and I try to put together all these group texts with different people, and then we lose the information."

Howard Fox: Right.

Deejay Laughbon: so we quickly figured out, we were like, "Oh, you know what? If we make it easy to coordinate a group going anywhere, whether it be a camping trip or a concert or, even a, a wedding," like, you just input, "Hey, here are the things," and then once you invite other people, they can input their information and it keeps it in one spot.

Howard Fox: Okay. Here we go. So it's li- i- it's almost like a, a, say like a group Slack type of application where everybody's coming. Combine it with Trello or something like that- Yeah ... [00:12:00] where, where everybody's, it's built for a group. The mo- I now get what the moments are. They could be a camping trip, they could be a wedding, they could be an Ed Sheeran concert.

I would do... for, doesn't m- You know, I don't, I don't go to concerts, let's just say that. So, get that out of the way. I barely even go to sporting events. Yeah. I go out to the desert. I do go out to the desert.

Deejay Laughbon: See?

Howard Fox: So okay, so those are the different kinds of moments. And, um, so the story continues.

Deejay Laughbon: Yeah. So that was... So now I've had my personal input and taste and input from my friends and family, and that was the, how Map to Moments was, was birthed and, and kind of came forward, the idea. So from there it... Finding people to help me build it and stuff like that, which I will say I have an absolutely amazing team, um, behind me here.

we're hodgepodged together but, uh, you'll [00:13:00] soon see they have done some really incredible work. I'm very proud of them.

Howard Fox: Okay. Very good. So I, I do have to ask, what is, i- is Map to Moments f- Uh, a growing side hustle? Is it your, is it your total pursuit or, or do you have a, l- like me, have a, a d- a week job, day job?

Deejay Laughbon: I, I do have a day job. Okay. and this is definitely my,5 to, 5 to 10 every day. I put a lot of time into this. I'm, ... I want it to become my, my full-time, but it's still my baby.

Howard Fox: you're... Believe me, you're speaking to the choir here, and I'm a, I'm a, an, executive coach, career coach, so I totally get that, 'cause my day job usually, when I'm not doing a podcast, is the coaching.

And then 5 to 10- Yeah ... or 9 for me. you're young. You can do 10 o'clock. I, I can't. but yeah, t- it takes effort, takes commitment, and it's good that you have friends that are also helping you along the way with [00:14:00] great insights and the, hence the, the beta testing. So I would love to see, uh, Map to Moments, and take us on a little tour of that.

Deejay Laughbon: All right. Let me-

Howard Fox: and while you're doing it, I do have a question. Your husband, how is he? Is he feeling satisfied that he's gonna be a part of these journeys with you now?

Deejay Laughbon: Oh, yes. so we have, since, uh, 2025, we have actually gotten a Green Card, and he is currently, uh, serving in the Navy. Okay.

That's what he wants to, to do. Okay. And so once, uh, we were just talking about this the other day actually. Once he has, uh, his first good amount of leave, he was like, "Where do you wanna go in the world?" So we've talked about Greece, we've talked about Uruguay, uh, we've talked about Italy, so we have a lot of- Yeah

ideas that we're thinking through.

Howard Fox: Gotcha. And he probably, since his day job is the Navy, uh, and it's not gonna be on a boat.

Deejay Laughbon: Yeah, no.

Howard Fox: No boats.

Deejay Laughbon: He's [00:15:00] like, "We don't need a cruise. I'm good."

Howard Fox: You're good. All right. I get enough of that. All right. Yeah. So we are on Map to Moments. By the way, I love the logo and the, the font of Map to Moments.

There's something about it that just, it's almost, um, an- I don't know if it would be antique-ish, but it just kind of pops out. S- and I love the, the color palette as well, so nice.

Deejay Laughbon: Thank you so much. so this is, uh, the landing page, uh, when you first come, just to kind of get everyone familiar with it.

Kind of explains a little bit of the assistance that we provide. Okay. you can hit subscribe or join the beta. to, the subscribe will bring you here, uh, and this is to get our newsletters. So if you're like, "Hey, I just wanna be in the loop," that'll show you that. If you hit join our beta... Oh, that's right here Oh, I thought it'd take us to a different one.

Never mind, it's the same thing. but if you've already signed in, there's a little sign in at the bottom, which I do already have an account, so I'm just gonna- I

Howard Fox: imagine that.

Deejay Laughbon: Yeah. [00:16:00] It'd be a bit weird if I didn't. Oh, I thought I grabbed my password. Hang on All right

Howard Fox: This is real time, folks. We're in the moment here.

Deejay Laughbon: Yeah. All right, and then-

Howard Fox: Wow ...

Deejay Laughbon: yeah, so this is the home page. we're by date, uh, suggesting upcoming larger concerts. You know- Okay ... that's my influence.

I

Howard Fox: can t- I was gonna say, your music influence- ... it's not lost on me. Okay.

Deejay Laughbon: I'm really glad. And again, these are by date, so if for your listeners, if you know an upcoming artist that you want to go see- Mm-hmm

and you know the date that they're going, um, you can either put them in here. So, I do believe Lady Gaga is still touring. I know she was last year. Let's look her up really quick. if

Howard Fox: not- If we had time, I do have a Lady Gaga story, but that's okay.

Deejay Laughbon: Okay.

Howard Fox: I would go, I would actually go see Lady Gaga.

I, I actually would s- want to see her. Oh, it's a tribute. Lady Gaga tribute ...

Deejay Laughbon: this is a [00:17:00] tribute, and it is actually past on April 9th. Oh, no, this is- Wow ... 2027. Wow, that's a really early

Howard Fox: time to- Wow. It, and it's in Ghent. Anybody, uh, wanna go to Belgium, Ghent is a cool place to be.

Deejay Laughbon: There we go. So you can l- look up, and again, in beta, this is why people get...

So it's a one-time $25, but then you don't pay anything else for a year. So we will be going live, and when the subscriptions start- Mm-hmm ... you won't pay anything for that first year that the subscriptions go. Okay. So it's not 25 from when you sign up from the beta. It's, um, the year starts when- Mm-hmm ... uh, the, when we actually go live, not during the beta phase if-

Howard Fox: Gotcha, gotcha.

So if I, like, I, I like to travel, international travel. I, one of the places I w- I'm, I'm very much a foodie, a photographer, like day hiking. I, say I wanna go to Morocco.

Deejay Laughbon: Yeah.

Howard Fox: Okay. Would I be able to do that now, or is that, or you're [00:18:00] just, you're just totally loaded with music right now?

Deejay Laughbon: so the, uh, we're very much suggesting music at, at the moment.

However- Okay ... let me show you. So we do have the-

Howard Fox: Well, wait a minute. So hang on.

Deejay Laughbon: Oh.

Howard Fox: Go ahead. So my g- good friends in Canada, they're, they're, uh, the wife, is, she's handing in her final grades and so she's gonna retire from academia, and they're like Pearl Jam, I don't know, l- to, they're, they're to Pearl Jam what you are to Ed Sheeran.

Okay? Yeah. They'll go all over the world to see Pearl Jam.

Deejay Laughbon: Perfect.

Howard Fox: Okay.

Deejay Laughbon: Let's see if we have, uh, 'cause we are pulling, um, specific

Yeah, Seattle's finest

Howard Fox: Okay

Deejay Laughbon: Hmm. I'm not sure if these are pearl jam

Howard Fox: I don't know. Who we got? Hull, Margate, Shrewsbury, Cardiff, so that's all the UK and, uh, Wales

Deejay Laughbon: Yeah

Howard Fox: Okay. Okay, [00:19:00] so let's, let's, let's- Yeah Take us wherever you wanna take us. Okay. I'm kind of being flippant here.

Deejay Laughbon: Oh, no, you're good. Um, so again, the, the key piece that we do really well right now is we help to get everyone on the same page.

So even let's just go ahead and start with, uh, whole here. Mm-hmm. so you select where you wanna g- this event- Mm-hmm ... and then you create trip, and now we're gonna talk you through getting all of those items around that trip created. Okay. So I'm not gonna take you through 'cause it takes quite a bit of time.

Okay. but like you can see, the first question is, do you wanna arrive a day or two before? Okay. Or you can say, "Oh, uh, I'm gonna arrive day of, day after." it's very flexible. Okay. Then it'll ask you, "Are you flying or are you driving in?" And you'll start to build your trip with the chatbot. Mm-hmm.

and then I'll come over here to saved trips to show [00:20:00] you some. Okay. I'm actually going... I'll show this one. I'm going to go see my husband here pretty soon. he's in Florida, as I'm in Utah. and so here's an example of a trip that I built out using- Okay ... the chatbot. So I can show you this here.

So here's, um, all the conversation that I had, uh, with it. Right. I'm actually going, when I go to Miami, I am going to a business conference-

Howard Fox: Mm-hmm ...

Deejay Laughbon: um, originally. So I've told it, like, "Hey, here's where my business conference is. Here's the location." and then I've told it, it's like, 'cause it was trying to get me to drive, I'm like, "Oh, no, I'm flying."

Yeah. And then I'm like, "And then I wanna go to Pensacola."

Howard Fox: Right.

Deejay Laughbon: And then from Pensacola to Utah, 'cause I'm gonna go over to Pensacola to see Frank, my husband. That's where he is.

Howard Fox: Right.

Deejay Laughbon: So-

Howard Fox: I've been to Pensacola. That's a cool place.

Deejay Laughbon: Oh, I'm excited to explore it. If you have suggestions, you should

Howard Fox: tell me.

Yeah. Go, uh, Gulf Shores and Orange Beach. Go to the Flora-Bama. It's [00:21:00] on the border of Florida and Alabama on, in the Panhandle. I went to, couple years ago, the Outdoor Writers Association of America. It's one of the groups I'm a member of. We had our annual conference down in Gulf Shores. But that whole beach area from Pensacola...

And Pensacola's gorgeous. Nice little small town. But, um, you gotta go, you gotta take a drive to the Flora-Bama.

Deejay Laughbon: All right. We will.

Howard Fox: And there's a great state park there right on the, in Gulf Shores. Really nice state park.

Deejay Laughbon: Oh, perfect. yeah, I just took a note of that, so... Okay. And we love state parks. Okay.

so as you can see, I put in including my, uh, flight information, my hotel information. I put that all in here. And then it keeps it for me. Mm-hmm. And now you can see, so it's showing me, "Hey, this is your journey. You're gonna leave your house." Yeah. we're, uh, here's the hotel that you're gonna stay at.

Mm-hmm. Here's your flight. Mm-hmm. here's the business conference that you're [00:22:00] going to. Here's your flight to Pensacola. Here's your Airbnb. Pensacola back to Salt Lake. Right. And here again. And then it- So- ... helps keep track of it. Yeah.

Howard Fox: So if, if others were involved in this journey, would they then be in this, this map that we're seeing right now?

Deejay Laughbon: They would see their own version of it. Okay. So I see mine, and then they see theirs. Okay. And then coming, uh, very, very soon, in fact, we were just... I saw the demo of this last night, so I think this is only a week or two away. up here there will be an option to s- that'll say, uh, like, "See group trip." Okay.

And when you click on it, that's where it will show everyone. But it took us a little while to figure out how to get each person's correct information, all on the same page without it being messy. So- Right ... I'm excited that we solved that, and that's coming out, again, next week or the week after.

Like,

Howard Fox: very- Very nice. Wh- [00:23:00] when is the beta test anticipated to kind of end and, like, you're live?

Deejay Laughbon: we, so our hard stop is, uh, by the end of September. but if we work out the kinks that we're focusing on before September- Mm ... then it might be cut early.

Howard Fox: Okay. And so right now to join, you could sign up the beta, $25.

The beta, once it's over, that's when the, the a- the year clock starts. Yeah. And then aft- after that, it's whatever the, the full price, full price is. Okay. Yes. Very cool. I mean, like, I, again, I'm not a music person. I, I do get the concert bit, and, but I think it, it's, it's fun. I think, the power of the internet, the power of AI, and the, all the various sites that are, that are out there to pull information together, and it's just, it's [00:24:00] totally amazing.

And, uh, it's... I- is your sense from having conversations with your friends and beta testers that you are solving a problem with this- application.

Deejay Laughbon: yes. The, um, on, uh, the coordination's a big one. The other piece that's, uh, really big is sometimes people want to th- just think through a trip- Mm-hmm ... and then save the options that they like.

Mm-hmm. And that's the other piece that they're, uh, really liking. Okay. So we're not trying, we're not trying to replace, like, Trivago or Kayak or even Delta, We do send you out. So if you're like, "Oh, I wanna fly Delta. Here's my flight," we'll make some suggestions, and then we'll send you to Delta to book that trip, We don't actually do that booking, but we'll keep the information, um, on Mapped to Moments so that we can say like, "Hey, here's all your [00:25:00] flight stuff." So it's really- Great ... great for the people who, um, ask you a lot. They're like, "Oh, yeah. When, when are we leaving? When are we meeting?" Right. "When was the reservation?"

Right. yeah.

Howard Fox: Okay. So I do have a question. It's not intended to be a gotcha question, so- Oh, yeah ... apologies in advance. So if, like, I'm going to the OWAAs annual conference in Madison in August, and last week American, who I'm flying with, said, "Hey, we've changed your flight."

Deejay Laughbon: Yeah.

Howard Fox: Will that, will I get a prompt on my itinerary that's, that's listed in Map to Moments that, "Hey, there's a, there's a change to your itinerary"?

Deejay Laughbon: Not yet. Okay ... 'cause we're working on the integrations-

Howard Fox: Okay ...

Deejay Laughbon: pieces with the, uh, airlines. and I, I'll be honest. That's probably s- it depends on the airline. Some of them are actually very, [00:26:00] uh, like, "Hey, here's the stuff online," and some of them have nothing for those integrations. So-

Howard Fox: Okay. All right. Fair enough

Deejay Laughbon: we haven't found them, but we, it's definitely something we've thought about, 'cause we want it to be as automated as possible.

Howard Fox: Gotcha. No, I love it. I love it. So what, given what you've shared today and the, your, your punch list of what you want to accomplish by the end, by early, uh, in, in the fall, where do you see, like, a year from now, where would you like to be?

What would be different, say, like, a year from now?

Deejay Laughbon: Definitely a lot more customization to, to the person. Mm-hmm. So, you have said, "Hey, I'm not a concert person." Like, I... But, but what w- what do you love to do? What are things you're like, oh, events you would like to travel for?

Howard Fox: Okay.

Deejay Laughbon: Oh.

Howard Fox: Yeah. That wasn't- I thought that was a rhetorical question. Oh, no.

Well, if, if I were going to [00:27:00] go to, let's say Morocco, 'cause I just did an episode, a gentleman, Azzedine, uh, from Morocco, he, he takes people on trips from the US mostly, and they spend a week, two weeks there. I would like to go on a camel ride in the Atlas Mountains. I mean, I'm, I'm sure that's far-fetched, but- for...

But, go on a, a trip to Buckingham Palace in, in London. That's an easier one.

Deejay Laughbon: Okay. So let's say, um, let's kind of loop that under, like, more historical tours, right? Like, we figure out, oh, hey, historical tours are more Howard's jam. and then Suzy loves anything to do with nature. and you two are going on a trip together.

We are now not suggesting concerts. we've gotten to know you guys better. We now, um, have found-

Howard Fox: By the way, is, is that your chief engagement officer?

Deejay Laughbon: Yes, yes. Chief engagement officer of Cuddlz. His name is

Howard Fox: Zuko. All

Deejay Laughbon: right. He's very important. [00:28:00]

Howard Fox: What, what, what, what is his name?

Deejay Laughbon: Zuko.

Howard Fox: Zuko. All right. Now, I made the mistake, um, on an episode I just published this week of int- assuming the dog was male, and it turned out to be female.

Is Zuko male or female?

Deejay Laughbon: Male, yep.

Howard Fox: Male. Thank you. I, I didn't want to make... I didn't want to be presumptuous. All

Deejay Laughbon: right. Yeah, you're... And then

Howard Fox: let- I love, I love to ha- that Zuko's there. Excellent. Yeah. It's okay. Don't... Zuko is a feature chief engagement officer, and that's totally fine.

Deejay Laughbon: Yeah. And then he, we have his assistant might pop up here too, a black lab, and his name is Apollo.

They're brothers and, yeah, they're good boys.

Howard Fox: Very nice. Very nice.

Deejay Laughbon: so we want to get to the point to understand our users, and whenever they are like, "Oh, this is what I want to do," we're now suggest... So you can go in here. Let me, um, just kind of show one other thing really quick. So you can come in here to design your own journey.[00:29:00]

Okay. All right. And then... And you can say, "Hey, um, I want to go to..." Morocco is M-A-C-

Howard Fox: M-O

Deejay Laughbon: Oh, thank you.

Howard Fox: let's just do UK. Let's just do, uh, B- uh, Buckingham Palace or London. Let's go to London. I want to go to London.

Deejay Laughbon: Okay. Okay? so y- it can go, this doesn't require, putting in, anything that's, concert related.

Right. I can just plan a trip from scratch here.

Howard Fox: Okay.

Deejay Laughbon: and it gives you... Sometimes it gives us these nice short prompts to kind of just, help with quick answers. Okay. And, this is just... Where I was saying, hey, you can, like, think through some trips, this is a great thing for, like, thinking it through- Okay

and being, "Oh, what would I wanna do," Okay. And it'll even... You're like, "Oh, yeah, show me events."

Howard Fox: Lady Gaga's probably at the Royal Albert Hall- ... so we're, we're g- we're gonna be good.

Deejay Laughbon: Oh, here we go. Yeah. So this area, [00:30:00] getting this to be like, "Oh, I know Howard. This is what he's interested. Let me first suggest these."

And then of course you could ke- tell us, like, "No, I wanna do something different this time. I want, I want a-

Howard Fox: Oh,

Deejay Laughbon: look at that ... exotic eating experience or something. We're like, "Oh, okay, change it up." So improving the events, making it, um, smoother for customers, um, that's my, my goal in, in about a year when it's-

Howard Fox: I love it.

Well, it'll be very cool to see how it progresses and see what the, the live looks like, and then, uh, what, uh, a year from now looks like. Oh, very nice. Look at that.

Deejay Laughbon: Oh.

Howard Fox: Excellent.

Deejay Laughbon: So we're excited. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you for... And thank you for letting me, uh, share, uh, where we are at the moment.

Howard Fox: Oh, it's my pleasure.

Very cool. And also just f- as a reminder for our listeners, uh, if folk, if they would like to learn more about Map to Moments and also to sign up for the beta, [00:31:00] the website, right?

Deejay Laughbon: Yes. we also have some, uh, presence on Instagram, um, and on Facebook, so please feel free to start following us over there as well to get some updates if you just wanna follow for now.

We'd love to see you.

Howard Fox: Okay. Excellent. Well, we'll provide all the back links to Map to Moments and to the social sites, Facebook and Instagram. Before we leave today, I've got one question for you, DJ. As you kind of look back on this journey, I mean, you're, you've, you've... Traveling is, is in your DNA, uh, whether it's, in the greenery of Oregon or, concerts in, in Copenhagen-

and some, some future, uh, destination. What you're doing today, how... W- what's been the biggest aha moment in this journey that you have been un- undertaking?

Deejay Laughbon: I, [00:32:00] honestly, that it's doable and useful to people. I, I know that kind of seems a bit cliche, but I have had, like, my whole career, I've kind of always had like, "Oh, wouldn't this be nice?" Or, "Wouldn't this be convenient?" And this has been the first time that I've been like, I'm gonna really, actually try.

I'm- Mm ... like, I'm gonna take this seriously. and I'm not gonna lie, at the very beginning of this, I thought it'd be like a three-month project that, like my knitting career, um, that I set aside and was like, "Oh, never gonna touch again." and then just the more I did it and the more I kept talking to people about it, they're like, "Oh yeah, like that, that will be useful."

And people have been, uh, very politely honest about, uh, just the variations I've taken it through. They're like, "I see where you're going, but I can't use it yet. I need this- Mm-hmm ... and I need this." And we're still in that phase, for sure, and feedback is super important, um, which [00:33:00] is, uh, why we're offering it.

once we're live for a year, you don't pay anything else 'cause that, the voices of others are really gonna help us shine th- this diamond, It's very much in the rough still. So excited for that, yeah.

Howard Fox: Excellent. Well, and I love it that you are curating a, uh, a positive experience, uh, for your users, and the voice of the user is, is very important.

And, uh, that, it's great that you're undertaking it. And ag- again, I can, I can tell there's a little bit of a geek in there. Yeah. ... as I'm very process-oriented myself. I don't just jump into things. but, uh, I, I love it. And so thank you, uh, for taking us on a tour of Map to Moments and sharing a little bit, uh, about your life and, uh, how you got here, and we wish you the very best.

Deejay Laughbon: Thank you so much, Howard. Have a great day. And thank you... Sorry, before I do go, I do wanna thank you for your podcast. In preparing, I had been [00:34:00] listening, uh, to several episodes, and just very eye-opening the different listeners that you have. So thank you for, your platform and, and what you're doing here.

It's, it's-

Howard Fox: Oh ... great. I appreciate that. Thank you so much. we'd love to, I'd love to hear... every once in a while I do need a pat on the back, so- ... thank you for that virtual pat on the back. Listen, uh, stay on the line. We're gonna do a quick close, and then you and I can have a final chat, okay?

Deejay Laughbon: All right, sounds good.

Howard Fox: All right, folks, we have just been chatting with DJ Lafond. She is the founder of Map to Moments, and she is embarking on this journey to create this wonderful, uh, platform for travel planning. And as she likes to share, it's inspired by the belief that planning shouldn't be the most stressful part of your trip.

really great, uh, little platform there. we appreciate she taking the time, uh, to... we appreciate that, uh, DJ, uh, took us on the tour of the [00:35:00] platform. It's still in beta. And if you wanna be a part of the beta, make sure you go out, uh, to their website, maptomoments.com, and just click on the, the registration, and you can become a, a part of this beta community.

And also, uh, we'll provide back links to, uh, the Map to Moments Facebook and Instagram pages. Those are still a work in progress, but if you, uh, find them, just follow them and as those pages begin to populate stories and experiences, you'll be able to, uh, be a part of that journey as well. As for us, this episode will be up on our website, outdooradventureseries.com.

We're also on LinkedIn and Facebook on our Outdoor Adventure Series pages. The YouTube of this episode will be up on our YouTube page for the Outdoor Adventure Series. And of course, you can listen to this episode wherever you're touring to, wherever you're going, wherever the journey takes you, wherever Ed [00:36:00] Sherin is gonna be-

you can listen to this episode or any other episodes on your favorite podcasting platform. All right, folks, wherever you are, whatever you're doing, go out there, have a fantastic day, and we look forward to having you join us on a future episode of the Outdoor Adventure Series podcast. Take care now.