[00:00:14] Speaker A: Welcome to two Travel Dads podcast. Here we share our favorite destinations, travel tips, stories from our adventures, and bring on awesome guests to share insights into their travelsome lives. Be sure to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and check out our detailed show
[email protected]. Podcast episodes welcome back to another episode of two Travel Dads podcast. I am Rob, and I've got with me today, me, Kate. She's back. And today we are sharing with you an episode of, let me ask you this, where we take questions from listeners and friends and Rando people, and we answer them together.
[00:00:59] Speaker B: Not that you guys are rando.
[00:01:01] Speaker A: Well, everybody's a little bit random.
[00:01:04] Speaker B: Okay, fair, fair. In a good way. In a good way.
[00:01:07] Speaker A: Yeah. Not like bad random. Anyways, though. So we're going to be answering a very interesting and specific question from a listener. Kate, what is our question today?
[00:01:17] Speaker B: So the question is, do you experience travel depression and how do you cope with it?
[00:01:25] Speaker A: Which. So I think you need to explain a little bit more. What does that mean? Because I might travel depression. Traveling makes me happy. Why would I be depressed about that?
[00:01:37] Speaker B: So travel depression is when you come down off the high of going on the most amazing trip ever, and then you get back to your house and you're like, oh, this place is kind of boring. And then you start to kind of go spiral. You've lost your dopamine hit of going on a trip and the excitement building up from the trip and all of these things. And then you come home and it's back to folding socks.
[00:02:01] Speaker A: It's the post travel doldrums.
[00:02:04] Speaker B: Yes, that's exactly right.
[00:02:06] Speaker A: So, I mean, it's funny. Cause, you know, I work and travel, so I always have something on the books and.
But I do kind of face that sometimes. So why don't you tell me when you get home? Let's talk about. We went to New York and had a magical experience together.
[00:02:23] Speaker B: It was quite magical.
[00:02:24] Speaker A: And you were embarrassingly loud and energetic at wicked as you sang along, and you were at your peak happiness.
[00:02:32] Speaker B: It was amazing.
[00:02:34] Speaker A: And then you came home. What did you feel? Why did you feel that way, and how did you deal with it?
[00:02:40] Speaker B: It's like an interview. Oh, great. I think that the. I don't. I think that, like, I have travel depression pretty much after any trip. Weirdly, like, regardless of, like, if it was the most, like, exciting and wonderful and, like, I did a million things trip, or if it was like, I just went to so and so's house for the weekend or whatever, it's still, like, I always feel like I need to plan the next thing. Like, I'm already like, we don't have a trip scheduled until June. Beginning of June, my eldest and I are going to Costa Rica.
[00:03:15] Speaker A: Oh, that's right. I forgot about that.
[00:03:17] Speaker B: And what's really funny is that I've. I know that I'm already going to come down off the high of that trip, so I'm looking forward to the trip after that trip, like, already.
[00:03:29] Speaker A: So you're. So you're creating a deficit ahead of time.
[00:03:32] Speaker B: Yeah, it's not working in chronological.
[00:03:35] Speaker A: Why are you doing that? Why?
[00:03:36] Speaker B: No. Maybe cause I'm just tired of folding socks. I'm not 100% sure.
[00:03:40] Speaker A: So then. So let's think about that. If you're creating a deficit about how you know you're gonna feel after you get home from Costa Rica, do you think that while you are in Costa Rica, you'll have a moment, maybe a couple days before you get back, where you will all of a sudden be like, oh, I have to go home. And then you're gonna proactively start your post travel doldrums?
[00:04:01] Speaker B: No, because I go through. Through a. No matter what trip I'm on. Also, I could be in, like, the Taj Mahal. Never been to the Taj Mahal, but I could be in the most amazing place ever, and I will 100% be like, I am ready to go home. I want to be in my own bed. I want to sleep with my own pillow, you know? And so I go through that, and then, like, for two to three days after I get home, I'm like, love it in here. Love my house. I love my forks. I love my little coffee cup, you know? And then, like, three days in, I'm like, where should we go next? So I think it's like, I don't know. Maybe I'm just never happy.
It's like a roller coaster.
[00:04:42] Speaker A: I mean, that sounds like a roller coaster.
[00:04:44] Speaker B: An emotional roller coaster of travel.
[00:04:46] Speaker A: Well, so before we dissect that, I do have a tip for you.
[00:04:49] Speaker B: Okay, great. I love tips. That's why we're here.
[00:04:51] Speaker A: I write about this all the time.
One of my biggest travel tips is to travel with your own pillow. Seriously?
[00:04:59] Speaker B: Yeah, but you can't always fit it in the.
[00:05:01] Speaker A: Why can't you? I take it everywhere.
[00:05:03] Speaker B: All right, here's. I'm gonna call the girl card. I'm gonna pull my girl card for a hot second. We have to bring, like, shoes and stuff, and you can't just bring, like, one pair of shoes. You gotta bring four shoes.
[00:05:14] Speaker A: So we're gonna shift the entire dynamic of this entire podcast episode, and we're gonna talk about that.
[00:05:19] Speaker B: Shoes?
[00:05:20] Speaker A: No, we're gonna talk about the girl card and travel and what you have.
[00:05:23] Speaker B: To pack, because, oh, my gosh, we have, like, have a fancy outfit, and then you have to have, like, regular outfits.
[00:05:28] Speaker A: How many pairs of shoes do you think I travel with?
[00:05:30] Speaker B: Probably three.
[00:05:31] Speaker A: I travel with three pairs of shoes and my pillow.
[00:05:34] Speaker B: So what do you like?
[00:05:35] Speaker A: And suit jackets.
[00:05:37] Speaker B: Do you have a really flat pillow?
[00:05:40] Speaker A: I just really squeeze it down to pack it, and I get it in my suitcase or my backpack, and it's amazing. And then when I've got a red eye, it comes out, and it is a lifesaver.
[00:05:52] Speaker B: All right, well, we're gonna have to examine your pillow to see the size.
[00:05:55] Speaker A: Next time we go on a trip, I will pack your bag for you.
[00:05:57] Speaker B: Okay, great. I could not have fit it in my suitcase for New York. I, like, literally tried. I was like, hmm, can I get my pillow in here? And I was like, I can't even get, like, a toothpick in here. It was full up.
[00:06:09] Speaker A: So what else prevents you from bringing the things that make it so that you can be comfy and cozy?
[00:06:14] Speaker B: That's really just the only thing. Just my pillow would be, like, a hot. That would be my one thing.
[00:06:20] Speaker A: So we'll just figure that out on our own, and we'll make it so you can bring your pillow.
[00:06:23] Speaker B: Okay. But we're gonna tell everybody about it, because I'm sure there's other people. If we figure this out, you guys.
[00:06:28] Speaker A: We'Ll get you it. Literally, it has changed. Like, I've been bringing my pillow with me for probably, like, I don't know, four years, five years. It completely changed how I enjoy the trips that we go on, because when you spend a lot of nights in hotels, each pillow is a little different. Sometimes they're awful.
[00:06:45] Speaker B: There's nothing worse than a bad hotel pillow.
[00:06:48] Speaker A: There's lots of things that are worse than a bad hotel.
[00:06:50] Speaker B: No, nothing is worse than that. It is the worst.
[00:06:53] Speaker A: Your reality is special.
[00:06:55] Speaker B: It is so horrible to wake up with neck pain in the morning, and then you have to go to the thing that was planned and go to see the museum or whatever, and you can't move your head. It's horrible.
[00:07:05] Speaker A: So then you should know the importance of bringing your own pillow. I know I need to figure something out anyways.
[00:07:10] Speaker B: I'm not allowed to check bags, and I have to bring my own pillow. It's so hard.
[00:07:15] Speaker A: You're not allowed to check bags.
[00:07:16] Speaker B: And this is what causes me travel anxiety. And then I get on my trip, and I'm full of dopamine and happy, and then I drop. Like, it's like. I don't know, man. It's like a drug that traveling.
[00:07:26] Speaker A: So I think you actually did just hit it on the head there. It is really genuinely a rollercoaster because we have that we record a podcast episode about travel anxiety.
[00:07:33] Speaker B: Yep.
[00:07:33] Speaker A: And how you manage that. And then now it actually makes sense. You're anxious, you go and you have fun, and it's amazing. You come home, and then you're, like, down, and then you're ready for your next trip. And so you get excited, and then you get anxious about that. Yeah, I get it.
[00:07:48] Speaker B: Emotional roller coaster. And yet I still want to go.
[00:07:51] Speaker A: On trips, weirdly, because it's amazing. So continuing with that, I'll tell you how I kind of deal with the whole traveling. Travel. Not travel anxiety. That's a different.
I do sometimes.
[00:08:02] Speaker B: Oh, okay.
[00:08:02] Speaker A: Only sometimes, though.
Not often.
[00:08:05] Speaker B: Anyways, I have to delve into that deeper.
[00:08:08] Speaker A: Well, no. So I only get travel anxiety when I'm worried that things will be canceled.
[00:08:11] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:08:13] Speaker A: So. But that's a trauma response.
We won't talk about that today either. Okay, great. Anyways, there's a podcast episode about that, too.
For me, the travel sadness, you know, that time after you're home, for me, it doesn't really hit until I've been home for a significant amount of time.
[00:08:38] Speaker B: Like a month. Like, what's significant?
[00:08:41] Speaker A: Like a month and a half at least.
[00:08:42] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:08:43] Speaker A: And for me, that's really rare to be home for that long.
[00:08:46] Speaker B: Right.
[00:08:47] Speaker A: And. But then with that, like, I easily fix it by. I literally can walk to the beach when I'm feeling down in the dumps and sad because I have lost my dopamine high from running through an airport, and I just walk to the beach and everything is better.
[00:09:03] Speaker B: Okay. Privileged. What do you do if you live in Wisconsin or something?
[00:09:05] Speaker A: If you live in Wisconsin, you head to Milwaukee because it's such a cool city.
[00:09:11] Speaker B: Or you.
[00:09:11] Speaker A: You do a little weekend trip up to door county because it's beautiful and we love it. There's. There's little things like that that you can do.
[00:09:18] Speaker B: What if you live in, like, Dayton, Ohio? Shout out to Dayton. What? Whoa, whoa.
[00:09:23] Speaker A: Well, let's see. Well, I was just talking with our friend Dave about how glorious Cincinnati is.
[00:09:28] Speaker B: Cincinnati is pretty.
[00:09:29] Speaker A: So you can, you know, find a little. Find a reason to do a quick little overnight to Cincy.
[00:09:33] Speaker B: So do you think that that's, like, the solution to, like, when you start to get in the doldrums? The tried, the travel doldrums is like, just pop over to some other place for a hot minute.
[00:09:43] Speaker A: It's one of my three tips.
[00:09:44] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:09:45] Speaker A: Did you know I had three tips ready?
[00:09:46] Speaker B: You said I have a tip, so.
[00:09:48] Speaker A: Oh, I've got three tips.
[00:09:49] Speaker B: I was led to believe there was just the one, but.
[00:09:51] Speaker A: Okay, so we'll. So with the first one, it is literally understanding your means and your time and putting something on your calendar that doesn't involve flying and that you can easily drive to that is a really good change of scenery. So, like, for us, maybe it is a trip to exotic Gainesville, which we've had fun in Gainesville.
[00:10:17] Speaker B: Yeah, Gainesville's great.
[00:10:17] Speaker A: It's great bird watching.
[00:10:19] Speaker B: I didn't know it was fantastic as it is. And now I dig it.
[00:10:23] Speaker A: Yeah. So. And I think that most people have something that's an hour to an hour and a half away from wherever they live. That is a complete change of scenery.
[00:10:32] Speaker B: I think. I think it'd be very rare to.
[00:10:34] Speaker A: Find a listener who is 3 hours or more from something that is dramatically different from their own domicile area, their own area of.
[00:10:47] Speaker B: Maybe if they live in, like, North Dakota. I don't know what's in North Dakota. I've never been there.
[00:10:51] Speaker A: Yeah, I was gonna say there's actually lots, lots of cool stuff.
[00:10:54] Speaker B: I heard Duluth, Minnesota is lovely.
[00:10:56] Speaker A: Is it?
[00:10:57] Speaker B: I know anything about it.
[00:10:59] Speaker A: Anyways.
[00:11:02] Speaker B: Sidebar. Anyway. Yeah, no, I think so. Like, you're so tip is do a pop over. Just like a quickie something.
[00:11:09] Speaker A: Book a quickie. Book a quickie for.
[00:11:12] Speaker B: Everybody loves a quickie.
[00:11:13] Speaker A: Something that is not necessarily exotic and wild and crazy, but is just different from the norm. And be thankful that you get to do that. I think that that's the other side of that is that the ability to get away for 24 to 48 hours kind of amazing. So if you're able to do that, great. Because, I mean, let's face it, having the travel doldrums, the post travel doldrums, is a privilege.
[00:11:41] Speaker B: That's true. I would. Yeah. All right. Fair. I feel like living where we live is a privilege because we can pop. We have a lot of quick pop over places. So, you know, we can go to the west coast, we can go to Savannah, we can go to Orlando.
[00:11:55] Speaker A: And when you say the west coast, you mean the Gulf coast.
[00:11:56] Speaker B: Yeah. Not like west side. West coast. But, like, the other side of Florida.
[00:12:01] Speaker A: Yeah. It's like, it's not easy to get to Oregon from here.
[00:12:03] Speaker B: No.
[00:12:04] Speaker A: Well, but it is easy to get to Tampa.
[00:12:06] Speaker B: You don't have to take a boat. So I guess you could just drive.
[00:12:08] Speaker A: But have you done the drive to Oregon? No, I have.
[00:12:13] Speaker B: It's a really long drive. All right.
[00:12:15] Speaker A: And there's some stretches in there. The people who live in the stretches to which I'm talking about might struggle to find something.
[00:12:22] Speaker B: Oh, they need. They need a popover place.
[00:12:24] Speaker A: They need a popover place.
[00:12:26] Speaker B: Just go to your friend's house for, like, the weekend. Be like, we're gonna house swap for the weekend because I'm in the travel doltrums.
[00:12:32] Speaker A: Yeah, no, you could totally have, like, the holiday. Oh, just in your own town.
[00:12:37] Speaker B: I love that movie. Yeah, that's a great idea.
[00:12:40] Speaker A: And you never know.
[00:12:40] Speaker B: You never know who you'll meet, right? Or just book that trip to Duluth. I'm saying, oh, gosh.
[00:12:46] Speaker A: To get you away from that. How about my second tip to break the travel? Dual rooms.
[00:12:51] Speaker B: Okay, great. I'm ready.
[00:12:53] Speaker A: So there is a lot of negative to be said about social media, and I will be the first person to say it because getting on the gram or whatever it can really wear at you. And I think that's actually a different podcast episode to talk about.
[00:13:09] Speaker B: That's a whole thing. No, but with your tip.
[00:13:11] Speaker A: But you know what, though? But here's my tip. And I actually, today on the instagrams, I even talked about that in my post, is that I get so much joy from sharing our past travels and things that we have done, whether it be recently or through forever ago, like, it genuinely stirs up happy and good feelings.
And so if even when I'm feeling down in the dumps about how awful the social media algorithms are, or if I feel like I've shared something 50 different times, like, for example, I've shared nonstop pictures and videos from Hawaii because we were just there and it was magical.
I still do it because it still makes me happy. And that takes me out of the bummer of not going someplace new constantly.
[00:13:59] Speaker B: So do you think it's like, the reliving of the experience that brings you back up?
[00:14:04] Speaker A: Yeah, for sure.
[00:14:05] Speaker B: That's interesting because I feel like I have the opposite of that.
[00:14:10] Speaker A: You get sad when you're shuffling through photos.
[00:14:13] Speaker B: Yeah. Like, if I look at pictures from our trip to San Francisco or something, I'm like, aw, it was so fun.
[00:14:18] Speaker A: So. But do you do that? Oh, it was so fun because you see pictures of the kids when they were much younger.
[00:14:24] Speaker B: No, it was, like, two years ago. They weren't that much younger.
[00:14:26] Speaker A: They were much younger. Seriously, like, they grow so fast.
[00:14:29] Speaker B: That's true.
[00:14:30] Speaker A: See? And so this is a whole nother reason.
[00:14:32] Speaker B: I know, but I, like, I just look at trips and, like, even, like, our trip to Scotland, we just took. I'm like, oh, my gosh, I miss Scotland. I want to go back.
[00:14:40] Speaker A: So then do you ride that wave of nostalgia and start thinking about, oh, I want to go back.
[00:14:47] Speaker B: I'm going to plan something else. I ride that wave of nostalgia and went on zoopla.com or dot UK and started looking at houses.
[00:14:55] Speaker A: What is Zoopla?
[00:14:56] Speaker B: It's the UK. It's the UK. Zillow version of Zillow.
[00:15:00] Speaker A: Oh.
[00:15:00] Speaker B: And I literally have been, like, searching houses in Scotland, in the highlands.
[00:15:04] Speaker A: You're gonna buy a castle, aren't you?
[00:15:06] Speaker B: I would love to buy a castle. They're a little pricey. A little bit out of my price point, but, you know, I mean, a little drafty, maybe.
[00:15:14] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. A little mossy.
[00:15:15] Speaker B: A little mossy. A little bit. But, like, then also, I'm. You know, it's funny because my husband Brian is also very like, oh, my gosh, let's move to Scotland. He would move tomorrow to Scotland, weirdly. And I'm like, okay, well, we can't really move to Scotland, so we have to. But he kind of goes through the same thing. Like, he looks at pictures and he's like, aw, I miss Scotland.
[00:15:36] Speaker A: Which is totally okay. But does that also, like, when you're thinking about that, is it not also making you happy? Is it making you sad? Or is it making you happy?
[00:15:45] Speaker B: It's making me. Sadly.
[00:15:48] Speaker A: Sadly. Is it making you melancholy?
[00:15:51] Speaker B: No, no, it's definitely just. I think it's that nostalgia thing, that nostalgia feeling, you know? But it does make me want to.
[00:15:58] Speaker A: Like, when you see the hamburglar jail at an old McDonald's.
[00:16:01] Speaker B: Yes. That sort of you guys. The hamburger jail or, like, grimace on anything. I was so excited when he made a comeback. But anyway. But, you know, I think that. I think it's like, well, so when we started jonesing for the Scotland trip, then I was like, we're going to the keys. We have to book it. Let's do it. So we booked a trip to the keys. Even though, like, Costa Rica's before the keys, I'm still, like, more excited about the keys than I am about Costa Rica. Or I'm excited. I don't know.
[00:16:34] Speaker A: Cause with that, because you can think back to those wonderful memories you have from previous time in the keys, and you can be like, this is something I've got to look forward to. I know what is in store, and you know what's in store. You're stoked. Costa Rica, I think, has a little air of mystery.
[00:16:52] Speaker B: There are monkeys.
[00:16:53] Speaker A: There are monkeys.
[00:16:54] Speaker B: I don't know how that's gonna work out.
[00:16:55] Speaker A: And sloths.
[00:16:56] Speaker B: I've heard things about monkeys that and bullet ants. I don't want that. Nope, nope. That's gonna be a hard pass. I don't want any part of that. Well, now I'm gonna google.
[00:17:05] Speaker A: Let's not talk about that. No. So when Angie was down there a couple months ago, she got bit by a bullet ant. She threw up two minutes later.
[00:17:12] Speaker B: No.
[00:17:12] Speaker A: Anyways, Costa Rica.
[00:17:13] Speaker B: Yay.
[00:17:16] Speaker A: So I think this is a happy travel story. Yes. Yes. So, anyways, though, with that, I think that with your upcoming Costa Rica trip, maybe the reason you're still maybe a little bit more stoked about the keys versus Costa Rica is because, you know, you talked about the whole travel anxiety bit. Right.
[00:17:32] Speaker B: I know what's to come.
[00:17:33] Speaker A: You know what's to come with the keys.
[00:17:35] Speaker B: That's a good point.
[00:17:36] Speaker A: And you have a fair dose of uncertainty with Costa Rica.
[00:17:40] Speaker B: That's true. And even more so now that I know about the bullet ants.
[00:17:43] Speaker A: Well, sorry. I'm helpful.
[00:17:45] Speaker B: It's fine. I would rather be warned than not.
[00:17:48] Speaker A: And there you go with your signature phrase. It's fine.
[00:17:50] Speaker B: It's fine. I say it's fine a lot.
[00:17:54] Speaker A: So, yeah, I mean, I think that the whole reliving things through photos and videos and letting out a little bit of creative juices with your memories is a helpful way to manage the downs of being back in the nine to five or nine to two, or whatever.
[00:18:13] Speaker B: It is you work or whatever Dolly Parton was thinking about.
[00:18:15] Speaker A: I know.
[00:18:17] Speaker B: Here it. Well, I have a tip. Do you want to hear my tip? Was that three? Did we get to three?
[00:18:21] Speaker A: No, I still have one more, but I want to hear yours.
[00:18:23] Speaker B: What's yours? My tip is to write about it.
[00:18:28] Speaker A: Oh, hey, I do that.
[00:18:30] Speaker B: Yeah. But I was sitting here thinking about your target. It's like, well, you get to relive it when you write about it, and then you think of things that you wouldn't think of necessarily when looking at photos, and you try to, like, incorporate. So, like, tell your story. Journal it. People love journaling these days. Journal about it.
[00:18:45] Speaker A: Totally. So, once upon a time, when I used to make thought or, like, purchase thoughtful gifts and make gifts and stuff like that, I walked down to pike place market in seattle, and I went to, like, the, like, leather pop up stand in the market, and I got Chris Taylor a really cool, like, little travel, a leather bound travel journal that was, like, handmade in the market in hopes of him using it to. And this is not bad mouthing Chris in hopes of you. Chris using that to document, like, his fun travel stories. And this was long before, like, the blog, and that was not his jam. That was not something that worked for him.
[00:19:31] Speaker B: Interesting, was he now? See, he would be an interesting person to have on this specific episode because he travels so much for work. And it's not travel like you do for work, where it's like swimming with dolphins. It's like going into an office and clacking away on a keyboard.
[00:19:47] Speaker A: It's like king of Prussia, Pennsylvania.
[00:19:48] Speaker B: Yeah. Which shout out to king of Prussia. That is where I'm from. So, my peeps, it's a good place, but, you know, it's not like, a travel destination that people are booking necessarily.
[00:20:00] Speaker A: It's not exotic.
[00:20:01] Speaker B: Not exotic. There is a trader Joe's. There's the mall. We've got.
[00:20:05] Speaker A: There's a grocery outlet.
[00:20:06] Speaker B: Yeah, there's a grocery outlet. There's some stuff. We got some stuff. There's, like, a pizzeria uno I used to work at. So, I mean, you know, it's fine.
[00:20:11] Speaker A: But is that where your love of Auntie Ann's pretzels came from?
[00:20:15] Speaker B: It doesn't come from king of fresh. My love of Annie Anne's comes from Springfield Mall. It's a different mall. But that mirror shout out to Springfield Ians. Also, a lot of shout outs on this podcast, but he travels so much for work, and I wonder if he is like, ew, I hate traveling. Barf, barf, barf. But then goes on, like, funzy trips with your family, and then he's like, thank goodness that I can, like, kind of weed these into the mix here.
[00:20:45] Speaker A: Yeah. And, I mean, he definitely is on a complete high when we are on one of the trips that I plan, whether that's a family vacation or one of my work trips.
[00:20:57] Speaker B: Right?
[00:20:57] Speaker A: Like, I think he loves it when we're on one of my work trips, because then I'm the one who's, like, working and, like, trying to deal with things until, like, 11:00 at night and he gets to go to the pool.
[00:21:11] Speaker B: Yeah. He's like, I'm gonna go get a.
[00:21:12] Speaker A: My time and do all that fun stuff and I'm like sitting there on my computer at night.
[00:21:18] Speaker B: So, yeah, that's a nice little change, little change of pace for him.
[00:21:22] Speaker A: I think that's something that is definitely, probably feels like a little bit of a bonus is that we kind of go through those travel periods where it's like a kind of a role reversal because, you know, when we're at home, you know, he's in his office, like in meetings and all that stuff. And then it always sounds like I'm having tons of fun up here recording podcasts and jamming out to my channel, but like also like, I'll blast my music while I'm editing photos and making videos.
[00:21:48] Speaker B: It's true, right? It's a dance party.
[00:21:50] Speaker A: My little creative studio here probably sounds a lot more fun. And I think there might be underlying, I don't want to say jealousy because I can't speak for him, but I.
[00:22:01] Speaker B: Think I know we're speculating. I know this whole thing is just.
[00:22:03] Speaker A: Now speculating about Chris Taylor's life.
[00:22:05] Speaker B: Yeah. Ps, he's on a work trip right now.
[00:22:06] Speaker A: He's on a work trip right now to Emeryville, California.
[00:22:10] Speaker B: Shout out to Emeryville, East Bay. We're not doing shout outs anymore. This is the last time I saw it.
[00:22:15] Speaker A: You're the one doing it.
[00:22:16] Speaker B: I know. I can't stop.
[00:22:17] Speaker A: Uh, but, yeah, so I think that he definitely is doesn't have that travel doldrum in the same way that we do. Yeah, I think that for him, and maybe we'll have him on to talk about this, have him on to the podcast he's a part of. Uh, I think that for him it probably is much more of the comeback directly into reality and not necessarily even get a moment to still be on the high of travel. Yeah, but it's just, we're home, I've got a meeting at 08:00 a.m. And so I think that he's thrown right.
[00:22:48] Speaker B: Back in the thick of it.
[00:22:49] Speaker A: So it's, it's probably way different for him than it is like for you or for me.
[00:22:53] Speaker B: Yeah, so I get it.
[00:22:56] Speaker A: So writing about it was your tips.
[00:22:58] Speaker B: That was my tip.
[00:22:59] Speaker A: That was.
[00:22:59] Speaker B: I'm glad you pulled me back in. I forgot.
[00:23:01] Speaker A: You know, honestly, you and your shoutouts.
[00:23:03] Speaker B: We tend to go on tangents, but that's the beauty of this whole podcast. Guys, get in.
[00:23:09] Speaker A: Well, let me ask you this, which quick tangent. So here's why this is so funny, as I said, so Kate and I love to go for early, early morning walks like 545 06:00 in the morning, we'll go out walking, and after about ten minutes of walking for physical fitness, where your heart starts pumping and your brain is just activating and you're like, boom, boom, boom.
She will randomly say, let me ask you this. And the very first time she ever said it, she said it just like in the song Strokin by Clarence Carter.
And it's this highly inappropriate song and it's, you know, funk and whatnot. But he always brings it back to, well, let me ask you this. When was the last time that you made love? So that tells you what the song's about.
[00:23:58] Speaker B: So sidebar I had never heard this.
[00:24:00] Speaker A: Song, which kind of blew me out of the water.
[00:24:02] Speaker B: So she had to hear. 20 million people have not heard that song. It is.
[00:24:06] Speaker A: Everybody's heard this song.
[00:24:07] Speaker B: No one has ever heard it.
[00:24:08] Speaker A: It's because you don't do karaoke that you haven't heard this song. Maybe that is, this is such a popular karaoke song.
[00:24:13] Speaker B: Is it really? Really?
[00:24:15] Speaker A: If you've heard or done this songaraoke, please leave a comment on wherever you get your podcast episodes or tag us on Facebook or Instagram and talk about your experience with the song Strokin by Clarence Carter.
[00:24:27] Speaker B: And if you've never heard it, comment that, because I need some backup, because.
[00:24:31] Speaker A: It'S an amazing song.
[00:24:32] Speaker B: It's a hilarious song. And if you haven't heard it, go to Amazon music or whatever and listen.
[00:24:37] Speaker A: To it wherever you get your, wherever.
[00:24:38] Speaker B: You get your folk music.
[00:24:40] Speaker A: But hey, no. So I do still have one more of my special tips.
[00:24:43] Speaker B: Okay, go. I'm ready.
[00:24:44] Speaker A: So my final tip, and you kind of, you've alluded to it at least 15 times in your shout outs, is with the dealing with the travel doldrums afterwards. The post travel doldrums is actually taking time to plan a trip, even if you can't get it on your calendar. Just researching, I find. But of course, this is how my mind works. Researching new places helps me get excited about potential, even if I can't put it on my calendar yet. So, for example, Peru that we're going to in two weeks, that started with just me researching, and then Chris was researching and he found something on Instagram. He's like, oh, this is cool. And so we started researching more without the intent of even planning anything.
And then we're like, why don't we? And we started to talk about all the different things that we could do. And then I said, well, if we're going to talk about this. Let's just do it. And so we used miles, got plane tickets, and voila. Now we're going to pru.
[00:25:48] Speaker B: There you go.
[00:25:49] Speaker A: So that is. I mean, it's a long game.
[00:25:52] Speaker B: Sure.
[00:25:53] Speaker A: Research is a long game, for sure. But it really was helpful, especially when we first started to talk about it. It was when I was just down in the dumps with life anyways, because, you know, my life is a roller coaster, too.
[00:26:04] Speaker B: Yeah. Emotional roller coaster. We're all in it. Okay? We're all living through 2024 and the last five years before it or whatever.
[00:26:10] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. But, yeah. So now we're doing that, and I'm happy, I'm excited. I'm so jazzed to record podcast episodes about it afterwards.
[00:26:19] Speaker B: Yeah. I can't wait to hear about it. I'm very excited about the Peru situation.
[00:26:23] Speaker A: Yeah. So, I mean, that has been a huge thing for me back when I was in that moment. Not necessarily doldrums related to not getting to travel at the moment, but just like, kind of like a sticky spot in life. And now it's come to fruition, and I am exceedingly excited. Like, I'm starting to dream about it.
[00:26:43] Speaker B: Wonderful.
[00:26:44] Speaker A: Like, actual, like, vivid dreams.
[00:26:46] Speaker B: Ooh, vivid dream. Oh, vivid.
[00:26:48] Speaker A: Kind of creepy.
[00:26:49] Speaker B: I would agree with you 100% because I just. I've been looking at trips to Italy because we want to go to Italy in 2025.
[00:26:55] Speaker A: Where do you want to go?
[00:26:56] Speaker B: All. Everywhere. All of Italy.
[00:26:58] Speaker A: So be more specific. All of Italy?
[00:27:00] Speaker B: Whole of Italy, girl. I want a road trip from Cinque Terre to Sicily.
[00:27:08] Speaker A: Say it with me. Cinque.
[00:27:10] Speaker B: No, cinque terra. Cinque terra.
[00:27:12] Speaker A: Cinque.
[00:27:12] Speaker B: That sounds wrong, but it's how you.
[00:27:14] Speaker A: Say five in Italian.
[00:27:16] Speaker B: Sure, that's probably right, but I'm probably never gonna say.
[00:27:21] Speaker A: If you're not familiar with Cinque Terre, there's a fantastic article on to traveldeads.com, all about Cinque Terre and hiking between the five towns, because it is the most magical thing you can possibly do.
[00:27:32] Speaker B: If you want to go to Cinc Terre instead. Oh, God.
Actually, reading that post was the thing that made me want to add it to our list, because it's so gorgeous, and it's like, just up in the mountains, looking down on the sea, and just pretty, pretty, pretty.
[00:27:48] Speaker A: So since you've got a little inspiration there, then start just researching Liguria, like that region of Italy, and you'll find that besides the five picturesque towns which, gosh, what are they? Manarola, Monterosso, Vernazza, a bunch of italian words.
[00:28:08] Speaker B: Italian names.
[00:28:09] Speaker A: I can't remember what the other ones were. Anyways, as you start to, like, research that specifically, you'll find so many other cool and wonderful little spots, and you're gonna be ready to, like, you're gonna need to book something, because it's.
[00:28:23] Speaker B: We're gonna have to go for a month. It's gonna be ridiculous. Yeah, well, we also have to go to where my husband's family is from, which is completely.
They're in two completely different parts of Italy.
[00:28:35] Speaker A: So they from Sicily or were they from.
[00:28:37] Speaker B: His grandfather was from Sicily. His grandmother was from Aso Soli Pesera.
[00:28:41] Speaker A: I don't know where that is.
[00:28:42] Speaker B: It's on the other side. It's on the east coast.
[00:28:46] Speaker A: On the east coast.
[00:28:47] Speaker B: Like, kind of in the calf of the boot.
[00:28:50] Speaker A: Sure, sure. On the way. On the way up to Venice.
[00:28:55] Speaker B: Yes. Cool. And so we have to try to incorporate both those things in. And then, like, two days ago, we really just kind of were like, what if we didn't go to Italy? We went to Ireland. So now we're just kind of exploring all of the european options, apparently.
[00:29:10] Speaker A: And see. And it brings you joy.
[00:29:11] Speaker B: It does. Well, I might have to go to Ireland anyway, because I want to get my citizenship in Ireland.
[00:29:18] Speaker A: That's a different podcast episode. Don't get into it.
[00:29:20] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh.
[00:29:21] Speaker A: That's a different podcast episode.
[00:29:22] Speaker B: We're not talking about it.
[00:29:23] Speaker A: Can't talk about it today.
[00:29:24] Speaker B: But. So that's why Ireland is on the table. And so we've kind of started. But then, of course, I'm also the person that's like, well, let's try to fit as many european places in as we can on one trip.
[00:29:33] Speaker A: So.
[00:29:34] Speaker B: So.
[00:29:34] Speaker A: So if you want, I will totally plan you a two week Italy itinerary.
[00:29:38] Speaker B: Okay, great. Can you put a soli paste in it?
[00:29:40] Speaker A: Absolutely. I know how to. I know how. Now that I know where that is. So there's also a place over there.
Different podcast episode.
[00:29:47] Speaker B: I know. We don't need to talk about here. We're friends in real life. We can talk about it often.
[00:29:50] Speaker A: We'll talk about it when we're done recording. Did you have any other tips, or do you think that this whole conversation was just an exercise in silliness, utility?
[00:30:01] Speaker B: I think that. No, I think this is a thing that a lot of people deal with, and I was gonna give you another. Let me ask you this.
[00:30:09] Speaker A: Oh, wait, hold on.
[00:30:10] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:30:10] Speaker A: And with that, I think it's important to remember that everybody does deal with things very differently. And some people do when they come home. Come home to a job they don't enjoy. Come home to maybe a home that they don't enjoy.
[00:30:24] Speaker B: True.
[00:30:25] Speaker A: Where they have to fix their bathroom or they have a terrible landlord. And it really is, like, a good kind of thing to keep in perspective that when people travel, it is a huge change of reality, and it can be difficult to come back to. And I don't necessarily face that, but I do. Like, as I was listening to you speak about this and thinking about, like, you wanting to renovate your bathroom because.
[00:30:49] Speaker B: Your bathtub, your bathtub doesn't work, makes you want to jump out of a window.
[00:30:54] Speaker A: It makes sense why? Why this is something to.
[00:30:58] Speaker B: I want to go to places that have working bathrooms and functional tubs. I mean, it's not so much to ask. I think that. Well, and I think that also, like, everyone is in, you know, this kind of, like, oh, my gosh.
You know, coming out of the pandemic and we've just all been kind of, like, are we going to be okay? And so people are trying to, like, find that dopamine hit wherever they can. Traveling being one of the things. And I was my. Let me ask you this. Was, did you go through this in 2020 when everything shut down and you couldn't go on any trips?
[00:31:37] Speaker A: Stay tuned for the next episode. Let me ask you this. Where we talk about four years after the pandemic started and where we are at today.
[00:31:47] Speaker B: Okay, great.
[00:31:48] Speaker A: Cool.
[00:31:49] Speaker B: To be continued.
[00:31:50] Speaker A: To be continued. If you would like us to chit chat about your questions and inquiries about life, travel, parenting, LGBTQ issues, you name it, we are happy to do so. Just go to twotraveldads.com podcast dash episodes, and you can leave your question in the little form there, and we will talk about it in an episode of let me ask you this.
[00:32:15] Speaker B: Or you can find us on the gram or on the book of Faces, and they can shoot us a comment or. Yeah, slide into our DM's.
[00:32:22] Speaker A: No, don't slide into our DM's.
[00:32:24] Speaker B: You can slide into my DM's.
[00:32:25] Speaker A: That sounds creepy.
[00:32:25] Speaker B: You can slide into my DM's all the time.
[00:32:27] Speaker A: Good times. All right, thanks for listening. Don't forget to hit subscribe wherever you get your podcast episodes, and we will talk to you later.
[00:32:35] Speaker B: Bye.
[00:32:36] Speaker A: To Travel Dads podcast is created by Rob and Chris Taylor in St. Augustine, Florida. We'd love to answer your questions here on the podcast, providing both our experience and stories to share our own insights into whatever you're wondering about, visit twotraveldads.com podcast episodes to leave your questions and to check out past episodes and show notes. Don't forget to hit that subscribe button and have an awesome day.
