Penn (00:00.844)
Hello everybody and welcome back to the blind chick. That's Moses Street.
Moses (00:07.798)
And that's Penn Street. The... BLIIII
Penn (00:15.438)
Is that ever gonna get old? Probably not, huh?
Moses (00:25.966)
Well, there was an interesting thing when Ben and I drive around, I really dislike the modern world visually. so I'm constantly complaining about ugly buildings, ugly streets, ugly parks, ugly everything. Because you're such an idiot. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And one day, I'm doing that and Penn goes, you know, it's a really positive thing about being blind. And I go, what? Positive about being blind? And she goes, I can't see any of that. So every place I go is breathtakingly beautiful.
Penn (01:10.766)
That's right. And speaking of breathtaking beautiful, just, you know, a little while ago, Moses and I spent about two and a half weeks down in the Yucatan and I'm bringing that up because today's guest is a world traveler and we love the Yucatan. We've spent, as we've shared on here before, we've spent a ton of time down there. No, we did not go to the nude beach, which...
Moses (01:37.486)
I know, it ruined the trip.
Penn (01:40.654)
Because it does me no good and I don't think it's fair. I don't think it's fair to go to a new beach.
Moses (01:47.31)
I kept telling her, use the blind part and tell people that the way you see is touching.
Penn (01:53.602)
accommodations, accommodations. Alright, we're not gonna go there. Or maybe we are. Maybe we are.
Moses (02:00.304)
Yeah, because Orly could hear us talking.
Penn (02:03.042)
That's right. That's right. So we're going to bring on today's Orly. I'm going to, I'm going to blow your last name. Corcos depending on your corcos. I always feel like I need to do it and wave my hands. Corcos. Orly, welcome to back. I should say back to the blind chick.
Orly (02:23.69)
Wow. Thank you. Thank you for having me. Yes. It's good.
Penn (02:35.47)
So you're not Greek, so what are you?
Orly (02:39.784)
my parents were both born in Morocco and my siblings were all born in Israel. And I'm the only Canadian born in the entire family. My parents immigrated to Canada for a better life in the sixties. And my siblings were already all there, youngsters. And then I came along. So I'm the only Canadian born in the entire family.
Penn (03:07.598)
Is that where you're coming to us from today?
Orly (03:12.346)
No, no, I lived in Canada till six years ago. And six years ago, I moved to South Florida. Okay, so that's where I am right now. I'm in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Penn (03:25.166)
Wow. Yes, we do too.
Moses (03:25.806)
Are you there for spring break?
Orly (03:32.66)
all the time now I live here full time and I have dual citizenship and yeah it's been
Moses (03:39.692)
in six years. Wow. In my sailing days, I think it was 17th street or is that the 17th street bridge?
Orly (03:49.134)
Yeah, that's where the boats are.
Moses (03:51.578)
Yeah, so just upriver a little bit from that bridge, I had bought a sailboat when I had money.
Penn (03:58.894)
That was BP. That was before Penn.
Moses (04:02.892)
Yeah. When I met Penn, I was standing on street corners with a handwritten sign.
Penn (04:10.626)
Then I couldn't see.
Orly (04:15.694)
Honestly, I am shocked you guys did not go on this nude beach
Penn (04:24.654)
like how you brought that back up.
Moses (04:27.01)
know, Penn and I've got a really solid relationship and we almost broke up over that new beat.
Orly (04:36.162)
Well, technically you can, know, since we're all about accessibility, making the world more accessible. I would have used the blind card saying, hello, I need to touch. That's how.
Penn (04:46.232)
I see. That's accommodations, right?
Orly (04:50.414)
This world should be universal, you know, we should have the ability to see our way. But on the other hand, you know what? There's probably many things I would not want to see or touch.
Penn (04:57.782)
Right.
Penn (05:03.662)
You
Penn (05:07.55)
Yeah, maybe we would want audio description before we made that choice. I do have to say we were in Hawaii many, many, probably decades ago and we were on a nude beach and I did take my top off. Yeah. But that was more for my own freedom. Let the girls loose. that's...
Orly (05:12.014)
I'm
Orly (05:33.006)
I experienced that once and that was in Saint-Martin on the French side they have the Orient beach
Penn (05:40.107)
I've been there. I've actually been there.
Orly (05:42.326)
Sitting there, I was having, I had a cocktail, I'm sitting there, people are going in the water and I had to build up my courage to do it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's like the courage, it helped. So I took off my clothes, but I ran into the water.
Penn (05:52.408)
The cocktail, right?
Penn (06:01.262)
Yeah, I love St. Myron. I spent time on both sides. I think that's a great idea for an island to have two different countries share. I think that was really fun.
Orly (06:21.278)
awesome. absolutely. Yeah. appreciate that you've called me back on since we, you since we got together and I was on your little segment at the travel, blind travel summit. now here we are together again.
Penn (06:38.508)
So thank you. Absolutely. Yes. It was. Yeah. Yeah. was wonderful.
Moses (06:41.454)
Justin Tripp with Epic.
Orly (06:44.234)
Epic. my goodness.
So thrilled like a child and I have some recordings of it when I went into the autonomous car. I was like a little kid. I was laughing and joking. put the camera. said, there's no driver. my God.
Penn (06:54.863)
yeah.
Penn (07:05.934)
Thank you!
Orly (07:07.71)
It just felt so freeing. I wasn't scared. Some people say, I would never do that because it's frightening. mean, I can't see what's out traveling or where we're going or what it's doing. But like,
Penn (07:21.486)
Come to our world, right?
Moses (07:23.874)
Yeah.
Orly (07:24.332)
Yeah, and I had no fear and it was the best feeling ever.
Penn (07:28.876)
Yeah, I think that whole trip really opened literally my eyes up to stuff like that. Like I wasn't afraid either. Moses actually was for that same reason.
Moses (07:40.31)
only did it because she called me chicken. I thought I'm going to wear out my knuckles and cramp my arms hanging on for dear life. And I was in shock within minutes. It was like no big deal.
Penn (07:43.15)
Yeah, I
Penn (07:57.559)
Y'all.
Orly (07:58.062)
You don't need to hang on for dear life because that technology drove better than any human. Safer. felt they followed all the, well, they, it followed all. And you know what I did appreciate? It followed all the rules. It was fun and freeing for me. And I had no talk back. didn't have a driver talking back. No body odors.
Penn (08:12.494)
Ha ha!
Penn (08:25.388)
No
Orly (08:29.706)
Nothing! I was in my element!
Penn (08:31.822)
See, it's not just me, Moe's. How many times have I gotten out of an Uber or Lyft car? Whoa.
Moses (08:33.422)
Well that's why Ed, Ed Penn and
Orly (08:45.289)
yeah,
Moses (08:47.72)
And Penn and I have bragging rights that we got 86 from the first Uber that we got in. The way Mo and the reason was there was a family of three and we jumped and they said, go with us. And we all jumped in and the car started and then it stopped and it goes, it's illegal. You can only have three people.
Penn (09:16.192)
In the
Moses (09:18.733)
there was five. Yeah. Yeah. And so
Penn (09:20.878)
So we to get out and we thought yeah so we got got we got jacked out right away and it was absolutely yeah that is true that is
Moses (09:26.568)
We did get another Waymo right or-
Orly (09:29.804)
They have to follow the rules.
Moses (09:33.517)
right?
How exciting. Waymo is experimenting in Denver this winter for snow and cold, which is ironic since we're not having any snow and cold.
Penn (09:47.79)
Colorado is, I actually think Fort Lauderdale this last winter was colder than Colorado was.
Orly (09:55.79)
It's never been, I mean, we've had cold spells short, you know, a few weeks. This winter has been beyond cold and it's so, like an extended period of time.
Penn (10:11.554)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I know.
Moses (10:13.187)
Yeah.
Orly (10:14.67)
Some days it got down as low as 35 degrees, around eight, nine in the morning. Wow.
Moses (10:23.646)
And yesterday, well today actually, but yesterday I was sitting out on the porch just in shirt sleeves and it was really comfortable. I And I thought, I wonder what it's like down in Mexico. And Cancun was only seven degrees warmer than here.
Orly (10:48.078)
Yeah, the winter months
Moses (10:50.552)
Yeah, and we're right in the foothills. Colorado traditionally gets eight snowstorms a year. Big ones. Big ones. And most of that's in the mountains, but it's been getting less and less.
Penn (11:10.188)
Yeah. Speaking of traveling and all these different places.
Moses (11:16.295)
Which is the only reason we let Orly on.
Penn (11:19.79)
So, yeah, and if all of you out there did not hear our little mini, we called them little mini episodes that we did when we were in Austin, that was like last November in 2025, go back and listen to it and you'll see why we wanted to have all of our guests on to do full episodes. You know, we had Krista on not too long ago, Krista Webb.
And that was lovely, catching up with her and getting to know her better. And Orly, we definitely wanted to capture. We just felt like we touched the tip of the iceberg with you. And I loved when I met you even virtually before the conference, you talked about how you use travel for healing and to find health, not just physical, but mental health. And I know...
I definitely do that. And I've never really ran into somebody else that really feels that way about travel. And so it was really wonderful getting to spend time with you. But even then, I was like, we have to know more. We have to know more about this Orly. And can you share a little bit where that came from? I'm sure you didn't just wake up one morning go,
I think that I could find health and healing someplace else. Like where did that seed sort of come from and how did it grow?
Orly (12:54.924)
Well, I've always loved travel. since I was young, I traveled to many destinations a lot with family, friends, spouses. And that was more for relaxation, which is healing for for going to different countries to experience the culture and the food and
And and the people that something that i love to do so i've always had the travel bug or the travel. Desire yeah. And i find that no matter what kind of travel people embark on that it just expands your capacity it expands everything that you how you see the world of the experiences.
You're not just limited in what you know from home and your own environment. It really brings a lot of inner vision to your world of knowing how others live, how other people experience things. And in 2011 is really the first time I went on a healing journey.
And I went to a retreat. actually went away from home. And that was because I struggled for many, years after having three kids. Um, I was dealing with a lot of chronic pain, a lot of different stressors and things that happened in life from childhood, from adult years. And in 1999, I was one of
millions, if not billions around the world, especially women that were prescribed narcotics for chronic pain. yeah, yeah. And I wasn't given the feedback at that time that, you know, you could take these medications, but if at any point it's if it's long term, it's really hard to stop. Yes. It's psychologically hard physically.
Penn (14:52.748)
Thanks.
Orly (15:13.172)
It's super hard. Yeah.
Moses (15:15.528)
We had friends lives ruined by it. Yeah
Orly (15:18.638)
yeah, I ended up in ICU twice. I almost passed away because my breathing slowed down and I didn't know it. And I tried several times to stop and stay stopped. These were prescribed to me by physicians who thought they knew better. And then they gave me the analogy that, you know, got to get this under control. Just think of how
people that struggle, this was the example, this world, well definitely world, but Canadian renowned specialists said, know, imagine you have diabetes and you need insulin to have a good quality of life, to treat the problem. And this is the same thing. And this was 1999 and I didn't do research then. wasn't as big of a...
Team player, I listened and trusted the doctors and it became 11 years of a huge battle. And then I had kids, had small kids and in 2000, and then I also reached out for support in the world, in our Western world, you know, medical system, such as support from the doctors, rehab,
detoxing and it wasn't sustainable. couldn't stay stopped and it was, it was very scary for me. So, you know, more, I did more research about the healing that I wanted to embark on. I realized that I can't just go to a doctor, a clinic, a hospital to get the support, support with getting over this.
I needed to tackle it on all angles, like mind, body, how I ate, what I ate, the treatments that I needed to do for my body. Because when you take any kind of medication, and even food, whatever it may be, it's in your body. It's in your body. It affects the mind, your stomach. Your digestive system is your second brain. I think it's the first brain. I think it really is.
Penn (17:44.524)
Yeah, I agree.
Orly (17:46.158)
Yeah. And I decided then that I needed some support and the proper kind of support. I might in 2011 was the beginning and I went to a retreat center that was holistic that tackled, you know, all four pillars kind of thing, all four angles. And was in Canada. Yeah. And I went on October 11th.
Penn (18:07.214)
that in Canada? Okay.
Orly (18:16.398)
2011 11 is always been a big thing for me and I wasn't planned. It just it all fit in and I never look back since ever. Yeah, yeah, never.
Moses (18:29.43)
Is Canada good? I mean, because you've got the socialized medicine. Does that cover more the holistic stuff like acupuncture?
Orly (18:40.526)
No, not at all. No, unless you work, unless you work and you have a good extended insurance plan, which I did, but that did not cover the holistic what they covered was all the weather Western medicine protocols, anything, medications, you know, back then they were maybe they still are they give you a medication to substitute for another medication to help you stop.
Penn (19:08.078)
Right. That's similar to the US, right?
Moses (19:12.648)
We're going through that a little bit.
Orly (19:14.922)
Yeah, yeah. And and and even the the therapy or the centers that can help you. It just it will it can't work because if you embark on a healing, healing with Western medicine, you're just tackling it. Yeah. One way like through the mind like what you're to go for therapy. But then your body's weak. Yeah, so
Penn (19:43.18)
Well, and it's real, right? They're just working on one symptom at a time. And it's just it's not that whole body approach. So I so Orly, were you with your vision loss? Were you going through this with vision loss? Okay, yeah.
Orly (20:02.222)
Oh, yeah. I was born with very, very limited vision, but whatever little that I used as a young child, it deteriorated to no vision in my late 20s and 30s and 40s.
Penn (20:17.422)
because do you, do you feel that doctors approached you differently because of your vision loss? Because with me, they, I, I, and I've shared this on the podcast before, but when I was nine, which is when I got Stevens Johnson syndrome, they put me on narcotics because I was in a lot of pain. I was in a lot of pain for a long, long time. But then when I made the decision as a young adult,
that I didn't want to live the rest of my life on narcotics. It was kind of that similar. They didn't just, I love that way they described that to you because it shows the insanity of it. I felt like I was treated differently because of my vision loss than if somebody who had 20-20 vision because I was blind.
Therefore, I needed to be more reliant on medication than somebody who wasn't. And maybe that was just how I felt, but I was not going to be capable of living a life off of narcotics. I I, of course, showed them I could, which so did you. But so then what happened once you got out of this holistic treatment,
because you've done some pretty amazing travels. And I mean, even for somebody who was sighted, the things you've done were pretty phenomenal. But you've done some really firsts for a female and a female who's blind doing these things. So could you share some of those? And how did you even discover them? Like it was something that you wanted to do.
Orly (22:16.846)
Well, first of all, just to answer one question before is in regards to how I was treated or regarded, it depended on the doctor. Some doctors really were very coddling or thought I wasn't as capable. You know what? They didn't push me as much. They, they didn't understand how much I'm truly capable of as a woman.
And unfortunately, there's many people in our community that struggle with mental health and addiction for sure. And it's easy when you face something that's so difficult and challenging physically or mentally, a lot of people tend to run to numb. And that's what got me into trouble. And it all started off innocently with a doctor.
What I noticed when I started traveling, when I went to this retreat, I went back a few more times and I wanted to incorporate different healing, even adventure was healing. Very healing that I use every day in my life, the courage it took.
Moses (23:33.036)
Definitely.
Orly (23:38.37)
the patience and the process of walking through something difficult that you have fear of. Like, you know, for me, was as one example, as I jumped out of a And it's something that I've wanted to do since I was young, but it never, it never materialized. However,
Penn (23:50.604)
do think we could
Orly (24:03.458)
When I went up in that plane, don't think I was all jumping for joy and excited. I went into fear and panic as we were circling up and up and up where it overtook my body. started hyperventilating. You know, when you feel something and you think it's so physical, you have no control over it. Through all the things that I've picked up along the way.
Moses (24:18.702)
now.
Orly (24:31.202)
You know, I traveled to Costa Rica and I went to retreat there. All these tools, I put them in practice in that moment, which was real when we were climbing up so I could jump. I started talking to myself. I did not put a story. said, no, you're fine. You've wanted this. You're okay. And my body, as soon as I started talking to myself and changing my thinking, everything eased.
Oh, that hyperventilating, you know, put your head down and oh my God. it's, we have control in changing. We have control and changing and getting out of that fear panic state. And I've learned a lot of that and picked up a lot of that through all my travel. Yeah. So, um, yeah, jumping out of a plane.
Penn (25:20.524)
So did you, I'm guessing, how was that accessible? Like, because I have always wanted to do that, but Moses basically said he would divorce me if I were to.
Moses (25:30.65)
Don't tell her, don't tell her, say it's confidential.
Orly (25:34.702)
He could be your cheering committee on the ground. where I went to, which is one of the famous places to skydive is Key West, Florida. It's gorgeous. you tandem instructor. So they had me bolted onto the instructor. He's behind me. And we went together in tandem. you know, the harnesses.
Penn (25:49.838)
Okay
Orly (26:01.952)
our big massive loops and bolts of metal and we went together and the first part of it is you free fall, which is incredible. And then he opens up the shoot and then you just glide slowly and beautifully down.
Penn (26:18.872)
See that feeling, know, because people are like, why would you want to do that? You can't see. And I'm like, it's the same reason I love hiking to the top of a mountain, right? It's the feeling and the, cause I'm sure like all of your other senses must kick in on overdrive.
Moses (26:40.781)
Right.
Orly (26:41.422)
I feel a lot of people say, because you're blind, your other senses are more acute and more heightened. No, it's not true. I actually put it into practice and tune into them. Yes. And many people can if they close their eyes and just tune into anything taste, right? Much mem, you know, we have a lot of different senses. I believe there's way more than five senses, six senses.
Penn (26:54.638)
Mr.
Orly (27:11.008)
So the guide that the instructor that was bolted to me or I was bolted to him, he described when we were gliding with the parachute and he was showing me how to pull the rope so we can turn and twist. He described the water like diamonds and in Key West there's water all over. And he was describing things and you don't need to see visually to experience beauty.
No, it was incredible.
Moses (27:42.286)
I'm thinking more and more that it's the other senses that make the visual what the excitement of the visual. So like if you're at a football game and you hear the crowd going, then what's on the field is really exciting. But if you're aware that this guy's running a 90 yard touchdown, but
the stadium was totally silent. It would not be very exciting. know, I think it's people. Well, I'm definitely one of them because with Eric Weinemeyer, we did a taste, a taste thing. Smell. Yeah. And I could smell something, but I couldn't tell you what it was. I could taste something, but I couldn't tell you what it was. Holy cow.
Penn (28:27.029)
and a smell.
Penn (28:36.046)
was really fun.
Moses (28:38.774)
You know, I'm missing out on so much.
Orly (28:42.764)
And that's what I've noticed as I've traveled, as I've grown through travel, and also through my years of experience that I truly have experienced that sight through the eyes is very limiting. And it's in limiting in the information that I always thought people that could see could see, they could see everything. They can't.
Penn (29:09.294)
No.
Orly (29:10.454)
They cannot, they don't see, they don't see what I see that's more detailed. And it's amazing. there could be something right in front of you, Moses. you you have to go find it and you're like looking everywhere and it's right in front of you. You know, I would send my kids, you know, go get the salt shaker at the table. And I didn't get up cause I just cooked a meal.
Moses (29:31.403)
and
Orly (29:39.31)
I know I can't see it. No, it's not here, mom. And I would get up and boom. And they said, oh my God, didn't see it. It was right in front of me. I never saw it. But I remember where everything is.
Penn (29:53.912)
Because it's not just a visual, right? It's a feeling, it's a smell. like, yeah, it's everything about it. I definitely agree with that. But you, you started using travel as healing, you know, and kind of searching ways to sort of connect with your body and mind. And you decided to go on this retreat to Costa Rica. And
Orly (30:04.735)
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
Penn (30:23.694)
It blew my mind because last year in 2025 in the spring, I actually started researching and I listened to some audio books and about exactly what you did.
Orly (30:39.566)
talking about ayahuasca
Penn (30:42.51)
But when I was researching it, and this is really, and I'll be the one that says it, shame on me, is I was like, oh, I don't think I could do that because I'm blind. Like this like bigger terror, this layer of deeper terror came over me because I wouldn't be able to see. can you?
Tell me and then so when I met you it blew my mind. It's like, okay this woman came into my life for reason at this time because I've been putting a lot of thought into this and all of a sudden here you are. yeah, can you tell me kind of share like why you even maybe did the research to even go? Why did you go? Yeah.
Orly (31:25.71)
I'm
Orly (31:34.03)
Because well, first of all, I did research over a 10 year period. Oh, he often on throughout other things happening in life. And I will tell you what's interesting is you feared that because you're blind, that it's something you cannot do. However, that not the blindness isn't the limitation. It's your mind. It's your fear. And that's what
going in and doing plant medicine taught me is to get over the control and the fear and to surrender to anything that I want to accomplish in life. It will come, it'll happen and manifest itself. So it's not the fact that you're blind or visually impaired that you shouldn't go because I experienced it and I went through 13 ceremonies
It wasn't always easy, but it's not the visual impairment that didn't make it easy. It was a lot of other things that I needed to overcome and learn and grow and, build tools, like tools to help me walk through life. And I gained a lot through ayahuasca. and I've also done psilocybin. yes. And I went to Jamaica for that. So I've.
picked up and I've done a lot of healing modalities because they were important to me and they helped a lot of things that I've had to walk through life. Just like we all have some things we have to deal with and I am not one to sit back and I'm not a victim of my past at all. I want to create the best quality of life for me and that incorporates all the travel, all the healing modalities.
And honestly, I did my own research. When it came to Ayahuasca, there's a couple of places that did not accept me because they wanted, because of the type of atmosphere and ceremonial spaces and the sensitivity, they did not want, they needed me to bring somebody with me. And I didn't know anybody that wanted to go through those kinds of things at that time.
Moses (33:57.678)
you do. Here we are.
Penn (34:01.582)
Yeah.
Orly (34:02.27)
the places that accepted me. No problem. So I never gave up and said, that's the way it's going to be. Right. Or this is dangerous for me as a woman. And as a woman who with a visual impairment, I wanted to find reputable places. And I wanted to make sure I was safe. And I did find it I was not required to bring somebody with me at all. Wow. So yeah, so honestly, you're
that's probably something you need to work on is here or limiting beliefs of what's possible because it is possible.
Penn (34:38.862)
And I think part of it is the vulnerability of doing that with people you don't know, right? And the blindness creates to me even more vulnerability. And so I think that's partially where it comes from.
Orly (35:06.232)
The vulnerability aspect of it for me was not because I was blind and I couldn't see around me. I felt very safe. I had help whenever I needed it. The two places I went to, they're very supportive. If I needed to say during ceremony, you're lying on, you're caught.
And you know, you need to go to the bathroom or you want to go outside and walk on the grass or, you know, sit by the fire outside because you're in a space and they call it a loka. As soon as I raised my hand, someone boom, they came to me and helped me. okay. Yeah. So you're not alone stranded because I'll tell you, there were people there. So-called fully sighted, no visible issues that needed.
way more support than i did so we're all individuals we're all different and it's not. Our blindness are so called visible limitation that would be the limitation.
Penn (36:04.632)
Okay.
Penn (36:14.178)
So did you get out of it what you were seeking or did you get out?
Orly (36:18.668)
I did, did, I did. So I learned a lot. I can describe it as going to life university and learning so much in such a condensed period of time. And it's not, it's not an easy process. There's things, especially if there's fear in the body or fear in the mind or things
that you need to work through, which we all have. It walks you through those challenging moments to teach you how to let go and how to trust. Trust yourself, trust the environment, trust the world. having all those other people go through their own stuff and their own experiences around me taught me that, because I was there and I was sitting up.
once and everybody, everybody was different. You know, some woman was laughing, laughing her head off. Another person crying, crying, another person being angry and violent, but you know, you're still protected because they're taken care of. Right. But guess what? That's day to day life. We live in a world where there's, there can be chaos, there's happiness.
There's a trauma, there's people that struggle. It's all over. And what I learned through that was to not get drawn in, because I'm very sensitive. hear, feel so much. But I learned to just be there for myself and to do what I needed to do for myself without being drawn in to other people's stuff.
Penn (38:06.006)
And it's a quite a like, it's not like a 30 minute experience. It's it goes on for hours.
Orly (38:13.742)
hours, it's maybe around from 8 p.m. and it can go till 4, 5, 6 a.m. in the morning.
Penn (38:20.93)
And were you aware of that time or you were you so you were or were you so involved in your journey that you
Orly (38:31.746)
I was involved in my journey and especially the first several ceremonies, the beginning of my journey for me was very scary. afterwards, it was beautiful. really was. And people talk about talking to Mother Ayahuasca as an example. I didn't feel I was talking.
To anybody other than me and I'm the one that responded. I talked to myself. I became where way more aware and I was almost nurturing myself. Making sure I was safe and also learning so much from within.
Penn (39:13.078)
to your own mother ayahuasca.
Orly (39:16.384)
Yeah, yeah, I think we have it in within ourselves and those medicines help you reach that state to that consciousness.
Penn (39:26.424)
So what would you say is the number one thing you walked away from with?
Orly (39:31.214)
Wow, a lot. had for many years, I was married. You I worked in the corporate world. I lived life a lot for others. And what I walked away from and it's still happening now is I made some very difficult decisions in my life and changed my life entirely.
and followed what is real truth for me instead of living a lie, in a sense, a lie of who I was married to. There's so many things. I left the corporate world. I had the courage to walk through some huge transformational decisions, and that took years, and it just took me 13 ceremonies in a month's period.
to finally start putting that into place.
Penn (40:34.316)
So you
Orly (40:36.726)
I found me and I started living or making decisions to find the life and live the life I wanted to live for myself. And now, you know, my kids were older, I had the ability to look at all that and to make decisions that were really hard. Yeah. So yeah, since then, it's been five years, I'm now living on my own, I'm not married.
and I'm following a very different direction. almost like, and even it's just not just relationships, everything, career, every difficult thing, because I had security in my marriage. I had security working in the corporate world. I was treated as a blind person very well and accommodated really well and recognized as a good employee because I did, I was, but I
made difficult decisions to get to where I am now and not just stay because it's easy. I did the difficult things and I think that's the big piece.
Penn (41:46.292)
And so what are you doing now?
Orly (41:49.31)
Well, I live in my own place for the first time in 35 years. I made it my own. Of course, I'll continue to travel, but I'm writing my memoir to help other women. I'm also taking a certification program to become a travel coach. And because I did all that for myself and did all my research and did all my
I'm going out there and finding the places and the tools for myself becoming a travel coach isn't, know, it's not a travel agent. It's basically using the tool of travel and it could be adventure travel. could be, it's basically walking people through making travel more meaningful to them. More like
really not just saying, I'm going to go on a cruise and sit and drink margaritas all day long. And that's good. That's phenomenal. That helps. But now, especially since COVID, people, the travel industry is changing. It's shifted to more mindful, more healing, more adventure to all kinds of different travels. There's all kinds of articles out there, how it's really shifted.
Yeah. And I want to help other women build the confidence. There's so much, so, so much I gained through travel that I use in my life. The confidence in myself, the love and the slowing down that I've allowed myself to experience and not fight, slowing down things in life. Yeah. Making those hard decisions, even though I didn't want to, but I had to.
because I wanted a better quality of life and that was important to me.
Penn (43:53.806)
So what about, I know you and our podcast producer, Jonathan, we're talking about bread and food. it seems like that has become a real part of your healing process too. Can you share a little bit about that?
Orly (44:12.014)
100 % well food is always just like travel. Food is another love of mine. And when I started going in 2011 and incorporating different strategies and tools to help my body heal, to help my, my confidence, to help some of the fears that I picked up in my past. All of that. I started,
Penn (44:38.176)
Orly (44:41.76)
juicing and making smoothies. And I don't stick to one particular diet. I'm not extreme with anything. I still eat everything, but I notice the difference when I don't eat properly or, as they call it, all the fried foods, the boxed foods. They really, a lot of red meat, which I still eat, but I notice the difference the next day.
Or even after eating a meat heavy meal, I feel sluggish. I'm tired and dragging. My mind is a little more foggy. And when I do incorporate better eating and incorporating more vegetables and I eat everything from fish, everything, I feel so, so much better. I really, really do.
Penn (45:35.917)
Yeah.
Moses (45:36.738)
I'd go along with that because I used to eat everything and I went vegetarian and the trick to becoming vegetarian is you got to learn to cook because vegetarian is delicious if you learn how to cook. if you think about it, all the different countries have a lot of delicious
you know, like Himalayan, delicious vegetarian, so on and so forth. So, and I did it not so much to be healthy, but I'm fanatic about not gaining weight and it was easier to stay thin. But then it was, I started noticing that, cause I work out a lot, ran a lot, bike long distances, that kind of stuff that I would heal faster.
And I looked that up and that is a thing with vegetarian and if you go that route you do have to, like I will have a little fish, maybe something each week because fish has something in it you can't get anyplace else. Correct. And I don't like taking the pills because who knows what's in them.
Penn (46:51.041)
Yeah.
Orly (46:56.024)
Yeah.
Penn (46:56.674)
Yeah. So what would be in your favorite smoothie?
Orly (47:01.484)
So just to tell you the whole food thing, I went to plant-based culinary school just for fun to learn. And of course I love to cook and I love, that's my art. I love making people happy through food and being of Moroccan and Israeli descent. My goodness. I use a lot of flavor and herbs and fresh spices. And yeah, so that's my joy. my God, smoothies.
First of all, you can put anything. I change it up all the time according to what I have. But I literally pack it with superfood powders like greens, different greens and berries. I use frozen strawberries a lot and frozen banana that I put in the freezer. So I don't have to put ice in my smoothie.
Penn (47:56.429)
Right.
Orly (47:56.654)
I use the fruit as the ice. Oh my God, do you know I've put the most strangest things that people eat? Oh my God, Orly, you're so lucky you can't see this. It looks so green. I said, oh, but taste it. And it was, you wouldn't taste it. So I put vegetables, I've put celery, cucumber, of course, spinach and kale. And you would never know it because of the fruits that are in there.
And you're and you feel I love drinking a smoothie at the beginning of the day. It really sets me up with more energy, with more focus. And yeah, you can mix it up with alcohol. I even put fresh ginger in there. fresh ginger, a piece. There's so much there's no limits to what you could put in there, like seeds and flax to hemp seeds to
Penn (48:42.785)
I did too.
Moses (48:43.928)
Yes.
Orly (48:56.256)
She has seeds. I just throw it all in there like a witch mixing her brew. But it feels so good.
Moses (49:05.516)
Ha ha!
Penn (49:06.67)
Go.
Yeah, I can see a product coming at Orley's Brew coming out.
Orly (49:14.655)
That's right have one of these and you'll see the light
Moses (49:19.278)
That's right. That's right.
Orly (49:21.364)
I love it.
Penn (49:23.529)
I love it.
Moses (49:24.834)
But before we totally run out of time, what are some of the other countries trips you've done?
Orly (49:31.118)
Well, since I was divorced and that was what four years ago, I've and also I didn't have my guide dog. She retired and the wait list since COVID was really low. It didn't stop me. It did change certain things because I prefer walking around with a guide dog and being navigated. But I still got up and I traveled by myself to Bali.
Penn (50:00.846)
Uh-huh.
Orly (50:01.782)
That was a passion, well, passion, a love that I wanted because it's a very spiritual place. It, it, there's so many areas in Bali that are very spiritual. The food is fantastic. It's, it's Americanized some and commercialized some, but Bali is a different world. Even when I got off the plane, the air smelled different.
Penn (50:27.982)
It's on my bucket list for sure.
Orly (50:30.412)
Yes. So I did go as far as Bali. And since I was on that end of the world, I from there, I went to Thailand and I went to a center there in in Thailand on an island called Koh Samui. And I will tell you, I never met anybody that was not so open and gracious and helpful.
And people there were so excited to hear about the things I do. How do I do them? If I asked for help anywhere, they were so kind. They never treated me like I wasn't capable. They were really, really open and really wonderful that not once that I have fear or difficulty getting from to and from places.
Moses (51:28.374)
Yeah, we've seen that outside of the USA. Well, people are treated way better. It's like there's nothing wrong with you if you are in another country. Yeah.
Penn (51:36.449)
Yeah.
Penn (51:41.838)
And even if they ask you if you need assistance, it's very different.
Orly (51:50.734)
They do not grab your arm and think you want to cross the street. don't shove you, push you, touch you, but they're very respectful. And when you say yes, my God, it was so beautiful. And what I realized also last May, I went and hiked to the Camino with my new guide dog, which I've had. Thank God. The accessibility.
Penn (52:14.19)
Yeah.
Orly (52:20.64)
the hotels they already had on their websites, guide dogs are welcome. they were so different than we are, unfortunately, more open there than here in North America. And more accessible in many, many ways. Yeah.
Moses (52:39.084)
Yes. Yes. Yeah. That's,
Penn (52:44.288)
So what's next, Orly? What's next?
Orly (52:47.63)
my God, what's next? Well, I've taken some time now to be at home since I had surgery. So now I'm recovered. What's next? Now that's
Penn (53:03.416)
Good question.
Orly (53:05.932)
my God. we forgot because I booked this so, long ago. I am first, I'm, this is the first experience with a company called travelize, which is about me. Yes. They're out of the UK and they curate different travel experiences all over the world. have all kinds. my God. Anywhere around the world, but
I have never gone because I travel a lot alone. Yes. And but I'm going with them because we're going so far away. And it's it's not a place that I would want to go alone as a blind person. What's the islands that are there? It's still not inhabited and
Moses (54:00.29)
Galapagos.
Penn (54:01.902)
There you go. Yeah. Oh, you're going to the Galapagos Islands. That's awesome. Most most. Yes. Yes. Has been there. Most of this has been there.
Orly (54:04.46)
Orly! my god!
Moses (54:15.138)
going to love love love it
Penn (54:17.656)
Yeah.
Orly (54:18.05)
Well, because of the terrain and where it is, I didn't want to just go with a sighted group and, you know, have to fight my battles when I'm there. That's why I chose, this is the first time Travelize is going there and I get my own guide as a traveler. the Galapagos will be an incredible experience, especially because this trip is designed for the blind and visually impaired.
Penn (54:46.072)
That is so cool.
Orly (54:48.59)
The Galapagos.
Penn (54:50.606)
That's gonna be so cool.
Moses (54:52.622)
It is breathtakingly beautiful. I had gone down there on my one and only scuba diving adventure, which was amazing. But for people that don't want to spend that kind of money, what I realized with the scuba diving was there was nothing in the Galapagos that you couldn't see snorkeling.
Everything we saw outside of it was deeper. You could easily see snorkeling because there's so much wildlife in it.
Penn (55:31.246)
water.
Orly (55:31.982)
Yeah, and I did snorkeling and I scuba dived once in my life. I was very lucky in Jamaica. So I didn't have to go that far for that part.
Moses (55:43.456)
Yeah. boy, I'm envy. I'd love to go back to the Galapagos.
Penn (55:44.631)
Okay.
Penn (55:49.314)
Well, Orly, as you know, the blind chick goes out all over the world. We have fans everywhere. And what would you like to tell them if it's somebody who would like to do something adventurous but it's a little hesitant?
Orly (56:09.678)
Yeah, and that's okay to be hesitant. The biggest thing is the fear of the unknown and that it is possible. It is, it might take some planning, it might take some research, some guidance. Call me, call me. To help and guide because I've had the experience for myself and I'll say is that
no matter what we perceive as our limitation or others perceive as our limitation, it really isn't that that's the limitation. It's our fear. It's our limiting beliefs. And then also we hear it a lot from family and society. don't do that. It's not safe. Yeah. you'll never, you know, there's so many things that we hear from others and
Then it becomes our internal battle. And it's not if it's something that you really want to do in your life. It is possible that it's truly possible. I'm a prime example that anything is possible and you just have to find a way. Never give up. Never give up. Even when you have a bad day or a difficult time or a challenge. Challenges are, you know, you just.
Penn (57:25.535)
that's beautiful.
Orly (57:36.302)
Keep overcoming and keep rising.
Moses (57:39.614)
Boy, that's the truth.
Penn (57:41.32)
That is so early. How do people follow you? Because I want people to be able to reach out to you I want people to keep up with you for when your book comes out and then also when your travel coaching Business starts off. So how do they how do they find you?
Orly (57:57.826)
Well, for now, I don't have a website. I'm under Orly Corcos on Facebook or the blind or Lee the blind chef on Facebook and Instagram. But hopefully soon enough, I'll get something going when it comes to social media and and website.
Penn (58:20.201)
Awesome
Moses (58:21.198)
I get photo jobs through Facebook and Instagram and I like it because it's simple and you can text back and forth and you can get the phone number and then you can talk on the phone. It's a really simple, easy way to get in touch with somebody through Facebook.
Penn (58:45.858)
promise to have you back once your book is published and then when your business is up and going and because we want to hear more from Morley. That's for sure.
Moses (58:58.302)
And once you get the whole travel thing going, we'll go to a nude beach.
Orly (59:03.182)
Alright!
Penn (59:04.994)
and ask for accommodations.
Moses (59:08.44)
That's right.
Orly (59:09.454)
I saw a hoodie that says, identify as blind.
Penn (59:16.174)
I- I- didn't laugh! Love it, love it, love it!
Orly (59:22.518)
Go around with some cool bling thing that says we're
Penn (59:27.262)
Yes, I love it. I love it. Orly has always been such a pleasure. You always enrich our day and and
Orly (59:37.934)
Thank you so from one blind chick to another
Penn (59:41.952)
You are welcome. And everybody else there, thank you so much for continuing to grow this community and make it stronger every week. Think after site because without them this absolutely would not be possible. Jonathan, a special shout out to you because you put your, you know, your blood, your sweat, your tears in on this and so much of your life.
And all of you, we want to hear from you. If you have a question for Orly and you can't figure out how, you if you're not on social media and you want to ask her question, reach out to us, you know, feedback at aftersite.org. Or if you have a question, you want to be on the show, whatever it is, reach out to us. We'd love, love hearing from you. I did as promised on our one of our topics a few weeks ago about
politics as we did get a response from Scott in Guatemala about when there are people out there that it's hard to talk to them when they sit on the opposite side of the aisle is he had a suggestion, especially because he is from a different country. He said when you are talking about immigration and it doesn't matter what country you're in is it would be
Wonderful if the people that are against immigration, if those people could go visit the country that the people are trying to flee, they might look at it a little differently. Scott, thank you so much for sending in that comment. I promised I would share it, so we have shared it. And I agree. And just like Orly said, we all grow when we get to visit other countries and we get to experience other cultures.
We grow ourselves. So everybody out there, be kind to yourselves this week and find a way to be kind to somebody else. It's good for your soul.