The Latitude Adjustment:
An Aging Heroes Podcast
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A Positive Change Podcast Awards Hall of Fame inductee and American Writing Awards Podcast of the Year, The Latitude Adjustment is a Caribbean-flavored, story-driven positive psychology podcast focused on flourishing in the second half of life. Hosted by Erica and Rusty Harrison, each episode challenges cultural myths and delivers real-world tools for resilience, purpose, belonging, relationships, and intentional living—all through vivid metaphors, hard-won wisdom, and a little adventure. If you’re navigating change, craving meaning, or rebuilding your life, this show is your compass.
44 Episodes
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The Latitude Adjustment: Positive Change Podcast Awards Hall of Fame inductee and American Writing Awards Podcast of the Year.This episode is for the moment your life has clearly changed… but your inner operating system is still running the old version. If retirement, relocation, empty nest, grief, healing, or a hard-earned reinvention has left you feeling disoriented (even when the change is good), you’re not broken—you’re in transition. Erica Schwarting Harrison and Randolph “Rusty” Harrison unpack why identity shifts mess with your head, why “drifting” is sneakily expensive, and how to move through the in-between without blowing up your life. You’ll leave with a simple Two-Minute Identity Refit to stop defaulting to old scripts and start building real-world proof of who you’re becoming—one small action at a time. Welcome aboard The Latitude Adjustment: An Aging Heroes Podcast—a Positive Change Podcast Awards Hall of Fame inductee—where island warmth, human-centered stories, and positive psychology help you navigate life’s next chapter.
The Latitude Adjustment: Positive Change Podcast Awards Hall of Fame inductee and American Writing Awards Podcast of the Year.This is your Season 3 finale safari into what happens when life finally calms down… and your body doesn’t believe it yet. From the breathtaking (and brutal) reality of the Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania, Erica and Rusty Harrison unpack why humans don’t “return to grazing” the way animals do—because our nervous systems can stay activated by imagined threats, replayed danger, and the habit of scanning for what could go wrong. You’ll learn why calm can feel unsafe after long seasons of chaos, how adrenaline can masquerade as purpose, and what to do when peace triggers restlessness, irritability, or the urge to manufacture a new emergency. Plus, you’ll get a simple 10-minute daily practice—“Crater Time”—to retrain your system to recognize safety and rebuild a baseline where meaning doesn’t require an emergency.
The Latitude Adjustment: Positive Change Podcast Awards Hall of Fame inductee and American Writing Awards Podcast of the Year.In S3E11, “Crew Repair: The Power of Apology,” Erica and Rusty Harrison get brutally honest about why so many apologies leave you feeling worse—because they’re designed to protect someone’s ego, not repair the relationship. From an almost-apology in a sea island kitchen (“I didn’t know you were like that”) to real-world moments at work, in partnerships, and in friendships, this episode breaks down what a genuine apology actually does: names the behavior, validates the impact, takes clean responsibility, and creates future safety with a real change plan. You’ll learn the psychology of why “intent vs. impact” keeps people stuck, how to respond when you get a defensive “sorry,” and a simple two-minute repair script you can use this week to rebuild trust without groveling, self-erasing, or pretending you’re “fine.”
The Latitude Adjustment: Positive Change Podcast Awards Hall of Fame inductee and American Writing Awards Podcast of the Year.In S3E10 of The Latitude Adjustment, Erica and Rusty pull you into a golden-hour Caribbean rooftop bar where the photos look like paradise… but the energy tells the truth: somebody’s paying a tax. From there, they get real (and funny) about why highlight reels aren’t relational evidence, how to spot red flags vs. green lights in conflict, ownership, and repair, and the surprisingly revealing places this shows up—towels, money misfires, hangry time-outs, and “past relationship ghosts.” You’ll also get this week’s Aging Heroes Challenge: pick one person, recall one crunchy moment, tag the pattern (red/yellow/green), and make one tiny “front-row seat” adjustment—no dramatic confrontation required. Whether you’re navigating romance, family, friendships, or coworkers, this episode helps you stop confusing chemistry with chaos and start building a crew that fits your next chapter.
The Latitude Adjustment: Positive Change Podcast Awards Hall of Fame inductee and American Writing Awards Podcast of the Year.In S3E9 “When the Tide Turns,” The Latitude Adjustment drops you onto Isla Bastimentos where the reggae floats in from Old Bank, the jungle has opinions, and your nervous system quietly suspects the calm is a trap. Erica Schwarting Harrison and Randolph “Rusty” Harrison get real (and funny) about why peace can feel threatening after long seasons of stress, how hypervigilance and negativity bias keep you bracing even when nothing is wrong, and what it actually takes to trust the good without waiting for the other shoe. You will leave with a simple two-minute daily practice called “Best of the Best: Evidence of Good” to help your body register safety in real time, plus a reminder that joy is not fragile, sometimes the mud and the belly laughs are part of the healing, and you do not have to earn calm by staying tense.
The Latitude Adjustment: Positive Change Podcast Awards Hall of Fame inductee and American Writing Awards Podcast of the Year.In S3E8 of The Latitude Adjustment, Erica and Rusty take you straight into a rainy surf lesson in Bocas del Toro, Panama—panga boat, deep water, no beach, and a nervous system that would like to speak to the manager. Using surfing as the metaphor, they unpack why fear often spikes right after you make a healthy choice—setting a boundary, resting, quitting numbing, telling the truth—not because you did it wrong, but because your brain is leaving a familiar pattern and treating “new” like danger. You’ll get practical positive psychology and strengths insight, plus the official Aging Heroes Challenge: Three Breaths in the Channel—name the moment, name the wave, breathe, and choose from clarity instead of panic—so you can ride the wobble, build self-trust, and keep paddling toward a second half that actually feels like yours.
The Latitude Adjustment: Positive Change Podcast Awards Hall of Fame inductee and American Writing Awards Podcast of the Year.After a major life crisis, the storm isn’t the hardest part—it’s what lingers after everyone expects you to be “fine.” In this episode of The Latitude Adjustment, Erica and Rusty use one unforgettable metaphor—Charleston fish stew spilling in the trunk on a mountain road—to unpack what “aftermath” really feels like: the way your nervous system stays on alert, your identity gets shaken, and your life starts smelling like what happened even when the event is technically over. You’ll hear the difference between “Febreze coping” (busy, numbing, pretending, over-explaining, toxic positivity, going it alone) and “vinegar work”—the sharp, honest practices that actually neutralize what’s stuck: acceptance, grief without deadlines, boundaries, consistency, and rewriting your story without erasing the hard parts. Plus, an Aging Heroes Challenge you can do in 24 hours—because you don’t need a full reinvention… you need one real next step.
The Latitude Adjustment: Positive Change Podcast Awards Hall of Fame inductee and American Writing Awards Podcast of the Year.When life blows up your carefully designed plans—illness, grief, family chaos, a travel-day storm that turns your itinerary into confetti—your smartest move isn’t doing more, faster. It’s playing to your strengths and letting your crew do the same. In S3E6 of The Latitude Adjustment, Erica and Rusty drop you into a Caribbean airport as weather in Panama City starts wrecking flights, then use that chaos as a metaphor for every real-life storm: who problem-solves, who steadies the mood, who handles logistics, who holds the story. You’ll get practical CliftonStrengths insight, a simple “storm roles” framework, and the Aging Heroes Challenge: the Strengths & Nonsense Storm Map—a quick exercise to name what you do well under pressure, what habits derail you, and what lane you’re choosing next time the sky goes dark.
In S3E5 of The Latitude Adjustment, Erica and Rusty take you to Tanzania—from the edge of the Ngorongoro Crater to the starting line of the Kilimanjaro Marathon—and use one cheap spiral notebook to show how a life gets rebuilt one day at a time. This episode is for anyone who’s changed their beliefs, their relationship, or their zip code… but somehow rebuilt the same exhausting schedule with prettier wallpaper. You’ll get a simple framework—the Crater (perspective), the Marathon (pacing), and the Cheap Notebook (structure)—plus the Aging Heroes Challenge: The Cheap Notebook Day, where you design one real day around three anchors: care, focus, and connection. If your calendar doesn’t match the life you say you want, this one will help you stop winging it, catch “grind creep” before it hijacks your week, and start building days that actually feel like yours.
In this episode of The Latitude Adjustment, Erica and Rusty dive into what happens after you stop shrinking—when boundaries collide with burnout and your old relationships no longer fit the life you’re building. Using the unforgettable metaphor of an open-air house on the water in Bocas del Toro and an eighty-year-old artist who built a pagoda one paddle trip at a time, they explore why boundaries aren’t walls but architecture, how burnout is often fueled by misplaced emotional labor, and why shared values matter more than shared history when building a new support crew. This conversation is for anyone who’s exhausted from overgiving, navigating guilt around saying no, or quietly realizing it’s time for a new map—and new people—to match their more honest way of living.
In S3E3, “Can You Handle Unrestrained Honesty? — When Your New Life Makes Waves,” Erica and Rusty take you to a sun-faded Caribbean lane where a freshly painted neon house becomes a metaphor for what happens when you start living more honestly—and the people around you don’t know what to do with the new you. From the tortilla-chips “be honest” moment to a graduate-school truth bomb that changed everything, they explore the difference between brutal honesty and brave, compassionate truth that protects both growth and connection. You’ll get practical “comfort + clarity” scripts for guilt-trippers, underminers, and the folks who preferred the old version of you—plus this week’s Aging Heroes Challenge: One Honest Shift, a small experiment to help you set one boundary without burning the village down.
What if your gut never got the memo that you’re retired, the kids are grown, and the old job title is gone—but it’s still acting like you’re on call 24/7? In New Days New Directions – When the Old Map Doesn’t Fit, Erica and Rusty talk about what happens when your roles change but your insides keep running the “busy = worthy” script, even in the middle of a slow island morning. They’ll unpack why calm can feel “wrong,” how to upgrade your gut from dictator to advisor, and how to design new days built around mind, body, and real connection—not old crisis schedules. Plus, an Aging Heroes Challenge to help you reclaim one small block of time and start drawing a map that actually fits who you are now.
In the Season 3 premiere of The Latitude Adjustment, Erica and Rusty explore what it really means to belong—and how to build community wherever life drops you. Through the story of a sandy Caribbean road, cultural role reversals, and countless small invitations that turn strangers into family, they unpack why belonging isn’t about fitting in, geography, or sameness, but about being fully yourself and genuinely wanted. Drawing on travel, psychology, and lived experience, this episode offers a portable blueprint for connection—rooted in curiosity, inclusion, flexibility, and presence—for anyone navigating relocation, transition, or the quiet question of “Where do I fit now?”
In this episode of The Latitude Adjustment, Erica and Rusty throw fitness culture overboard and ask a better question: what if “getting in shape” is really about keeping your body strong enough for the life you actually want? From beat-up docks and squeaky knees to surfboards at 59 and groceries-as-a-workout, they reframe fitness as access—not aesthetics—and trade influencer perfection for crew-based, real-life movement. With humor, honesty, and zero shame, they break down five simple kinds of movement every Aging Hero needs, tackle the head game that keeps people stuck, and celebrate the quiet, everyday heroes who keep showing up for their bodies without turning life into a fitness cult.
What if your best “nutrition coach” is Future You? In this episode, Erica and Rusty use island humor and real-talk psychology to turn food from a battlefield into an act of care. You’ll write a kinder script to Past You, learn the seven-word question that can rescue any meal (“What will Future Me thank me for?”), and try simple rituals—like the 5–1–7 dinner reset—to eat with more presence, less drama, and a lot more compassion.
When the world literally spun sideways during Erica’s cerebellar stroke, it became the wake-up call for this episode—and a metaphor for every Aging Hero whose body has suddenly “filed a complaint.” In this conversation, Erica and Rusty explore what it means to live, move, and train inside an imperfect vessel: pushing back on the big three excuses (time, age, and health), learning to captain your body on wobbly days, and making tiny, doable moves for Future You. If you’ve ever felt “too broken,” “too busy,” or “too old” to stay active, this one hands you the wheel and says, “You’re not disqualified—let’s sail anyway.”
Cartagena doesn’t ask you to blend in—and neither should your life. In this episode, we wander the Walled City and Getsemaní to explore the difference between fashion vs. style, courage vs. conformity, and why individuality is a service to your relationships, work, and community. Erica shares the modeling-industry pressures to “fit the box,” Rusty roasts his old trucker-cap uniform, and together we build your “stone walls” (core identity) and paint your “mural” (how you express it). Expect practical tools, a gutsy weekly challenge, and some salsa-and-steel-drum energy—plus a playful rum-tasting confession that proves authenticity can be messy and hilarious.
In Season 2, Episode 7 of The Latitude Adjustment, Erica and Rusty explore the art and necessity of staying connected through the playful metaphor of knots, nets, and unforgettable crab sandwiches. From Outer Banks family traditions to workplace relationships, community bonds, and digital connections, they reveal how meaningful relationships are woven through everyday moments—laughter, shared meals, small acts of care, and intentional outreach. Blending island humor, heartfelt stories, and research-backed insights about the impact of loneliness, the episode reminds listeners that connection isn’t automatic—it’s something we choose and build, strand by strand. With practical ideas, an “Aging Heroes Challenge,” and a celebratory toast to the people who hold us up when life gets rough, this warm, witty episode invites listeners to strengthen their own nets and rediscover the joy, resilience, and belonging that come from staying truly connected.
In “Be Creative,” Erica and Rusty invite Aging Heroes into a sun-soaked, slightly chaotic journey where sinking boats, duct tape, and glitter glue become unlikely guides to a more imaginative life. Through the legendary tale of The Salty Opossum’s ill-fated voyage, they explore why real creativity isn’t about talent or perfection—it’s about courage, play, and the willingness to make something meaningful from the mess. With humor, heart, and a practical Creative Survival Kit (plus a seven-day challenge to spark your inner artist), this episode reframes creativity as a way of living, not just making art. Whether your masterpiece is a poem, a dinner table, or a glorious failure, this episode will inspire you to embrace your weirdness, trust your imagination, and float boldly into the unknown.
What do bison, boundaries, and barefoot living have in common? In this episode, Erica and Rusty face down 2,000 pounds of prairie muscle and discover why every hero needs a personal Code of Honor. With humor, tallgrass wisdom, and a toolkit you can use today, they’ll show you how to define your non-negotiables, commit to what matters, and live your values when life tests you. This isn’t about rules—it’s about soul architecture, alignment, and walking your own wild trail.
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