This is a fun episode of the top 20 travel questions we have been asked, giving you our very best travel advice! We’re giving our tips and secrets for saving money on travel, advice for traveling smarter and better, and giving travel advice we’ve learned over the years of traveling. Plus a few funny stories as always! There has been some crazy, weird and cool stuff that happens while away from home.

Travel Advice – Episode Transcript

3 (56s):
Welcome to this weeks episode number of the Travel Squad Podcast, questions of the week is one of our favorite parts of the episodes, especially Kim. And I know you guys have noticed our acapellas intro-ing questions of the week. So we decided to make an entire episode dedicated to answering some of the questions we’ve all received.

1 (1m 16s):
These are travel questions that are not location specific, and we just wanted to share our answers with our listeners. So here you go guys, but first Zina is going to read you a review.

2 (1m 26s):
Yes, actually I have two reviews that I want to read to you. And if you leave a five-star review, maybe we will read yours as well. But just to encourage you guys, the first one is from Sarah Bell X four, and she says, I only wish I found this podcast sooner. Their episode detailing their experience during the Inca trail to Machu Picchu was so fun, informative, and got me so excited to plan a future trip. I’m very particular about my podcasters. This podcast is so easy to listen to the relationship. They have reminds me of my own group that makes their podcast so relatable and enjoyable to listen to I’m hooked. So thank you so much for that.

2 (2m 6s):
Sarah Bell X

5 (2m 8s):
One, Sarah,

2 (2m 9s):
I know that one, just like I get, makes me so happy. And the next one, I really like this one because this is Yondi 2, 2, 2, and this person says this is truly the best travel podcast that I’ve ever heard. Kim is my favorites. Yeah, Kim is my favorite, but I like something different. Really good. Listen for travel inspiration. So thank you so much. Yon D 2, 2, 2, and a. I love it because we are four different personalities. So let us know who your favorite is because we’re also very competitive.

5 (2m 41s):
How much did Kim have to pay you to read that one about her? Zaina

2 (2m 46s):
She did promise she was going to hang my TV in my new place. If I read that one,

3 (2m 51s):
Actually just so many reviews saying I’m the favorite that she had a hard time choosing which one to say,

5 (2m 58s):
Getting cocky over here. What would that being said? Let’s just get right into it guys with question number one. And one of our listeners asked us how far in advance should I book a vacation?

1 (3m 11s):
Well, that’s a really good question. And I think it really depends on where you’re going. If it’s a weekend getaway, I mean, you can plan that on a whim or like a few months away, but if it’s an out of country trip, you might want to take some extra time planning it. And I typically book trips out of country about six months to a year in advance.

3 (3m 29s):
I think the least I’ve ever done is three months. And that’s kind of pushing it for an international for me for weekend trips though. I mean, I’ll book it the same week. And if I do that, sometimes I like to pick the hotel. But if I have a nicer hotel, I’m trying to get at hotels tonight, the app on your phone, I swear by it. And if you book the day of that, you want to stay there. It’s risky because you might not have it available in the app, but I always get the best deal booking nicer hotels, same day on hotels tonight.

5 (3m 57s):
You know, I feel like our answers are slightly a little bit biased because us as the squad, we are always booking our trips so far in advance. But at the same time, I wholeheartedly agree with Brittany, you know, out of country trips, depending on you do want to plan those way ahead of time. That way you can do all your research and make sure you have everything taken care of. But those weekenders man on a whim, why not?

2 (4m 22s):
I just want to real quickly add in something about the out of country. If you do book something maybe a year in advance, don’t make yourself partial to any place. Just say that I’m going to take a trip a year in advance and then maybe plan it six months or seven months beforehand, but just have it on the calendar. So it’s never too early to get something on the calendar. All right, next question is, do I need travel insurance?

5 (4m 43s):
So in the past I used to say no on the travel insurance, cause I always thought it to be a reason to have an excuse, to cancel a trip, but with COVID happening in everybody’s lives these days that has absolutely changed. Now, a lot of hotels and airlines are being really lenient with their cancellation policies and rescheduling policies, but it’s still always good to have the travel insurance in terms of needing to cancel. And when I hear travel insurance, I always think about travel medical insurance, which is always 100% a definitive yes. On the travel medical.

1 (5m 21s):
Yeah, Jamal and I actually had to forfeit some of our points because we booked a hotel in Hong Kong that we booked with points and due to COVID, we couldn’t go to Hong Kong and the travel credit card company because of the hotels policy would not refund us. So we lost out on points, but I think there was an option to buy trip insurance and save the points if this situation happens. So we learned on that.

3 (5m 50s):
And then also do you need travel insurance? We’ll first check with the credit card that you booked with. It may already come with some level of travel. So before you go and buy and potentially duplicate check to see what you already are covered for.

5 (6m 3s):
So very good tip Kim,

3 (6m 4s):
I’m just full of them today

5 (6m 6s):
That you are. So question number three, what are some of the common items, savvy travelers bring with them that less savvy travelers don’t

2 (6m 15s):
Sell in charger,

5 (6m 17s):
Bone charger, who does not bring their phone charger with them?

1 (6m 20s):
Apparently

2 (6m 21s):
I ain’t forgot hers in Dubai. Remember when we went to Dubai, we had to get like a phone charger.

3 (6m 25s):
I forgot the adapter for the different type of plug, which is also something that less seasoned travelers often forget.

5 (6m 32s):
I was going to say you, so you really didn’t forget the plug. You didn’t have the appropriate adapter, but it’s funny that you say that because that was going to be my answer. A lot of people. And we’ve touched on this before in other episodes, don’t really realize when you go to other countries that they have different outlets. So definitely bringing a travel adapter outlet is something that those more savvy travelers bring that the less savvy ones don’t.

3 (6m 55s):
And here’s another tip for you. If you do forget an adapter, just phone down to your hotel lobby and see if they have some for you, because that’s exactly what I did. And they did have them for me,

1 (7m 7s):
Perks of being in a nice hotel though. Our next question is what are some of your favorite travel gadgets?

3 (7m 12s):
Hmm.

2 (7m 13s):
While you are in luck, because we did do a whole episode on this. It’s going to be episode number 46, and we list our top 15 products under $50, but spit balling off the top of my head. What are your guys’s favorite?

3 (7m 26s):
That’s something I have to bring with me while traveling, especially with the group is a sleeping eye mask and ear plugs. It is the best way to get sleep while everyone’s still showering and getting ready for bed. Or if some of your travel mates snore, it blocks it right out and you get great sleep. So don’t travel without it.

5 (7m 46s):
One of my favorite gadgets, the portable phone chargers, you never know when you’re traveling, what are you going to be using your phone for how much battery you’re going to go through? So it’s always a good travel gadget to have is your portable phone charger,

2 (7m 60s):
Especially when you’re in a car trip and there’s only one charger and there’s four of us. If you have that portable phone charger, I mean like, whew, it is gold.

3 (8m 9s):
Oh yeah. Question number five. What is one thing that people think you need to travel with, but you actually don’t need it.

5 (8m 16s):
That’s a really good question though, on something that you think you need, that you really don’t now on international trips and long flights. I love to have my neck pillow, but I will say this on short domestic flights or anything under five hours, I think you don’t need that. It’s just a waste of space. At that point. It’s something to carry extra that you don’t really need. But personal opinion I find on the shorter flights is more cumbersome than beneficial.

2 (8m 44s):
So for me, what is one thing that people think that you need, that you can travel without all the clothes that you’re bringing? Yes. Bring clothes. But when you pack and you look at your suitcase and you’re like, oh, I’m good. I promise you, you can take out half, cause you’re not going to need half.

3 (9m 0s):
And I was going to say something similar is that you don’t need a giant suitcase. And therefore also you don’t need all those clothes. People think you need these big suitcases when you’re going on these big trips, but you actually can fit it all in a carry on.

1 (9m 14s):
I was actually gonna say the same thing him. Oftentimes people are like, how do you just travel with one luggage? I need at least two. And I don’t think that’s true at all. You can fit it in a carry-on or a larger size luggage, but you don’t need multiple bags to fit it all in.

3 (9m 28s):
Who wants to lug that shit around for two weeks?

1 (9m 31s):
Jamal and I learned that early on, when we went on our honeymoon, we went to Europe and we both had a large luggage and a Curian and we had to take so many trains. There’s no elevators or escalators in this train station. And we learned the hard way. And we’re like, never again, will we take more than one luggage at a time?

5 (9m 48s):
That was well, before we were seasoned professional travelers. Now we know better.

2 (9m 53s):
You got to start somewhere or you can pull a Josh like he did when he went to South Africa with us and he brought a huge body bag and no one has a bag like that. So it was funny. Cause as soon as like we would travel and get, you know, we’re getting our luggage off the conveyor, everyone knew what was his because no one else had a body bag.

5 (10m 12s):
It’s crazy. Yeah. If you guys don’t remember this story, this goes back to our Africa episode. Our really good friend, Josh, from our hometown, he came with us to Africa. This was his really first, big, big international adventure. It was a two week trip granted. So thinking you’re going to need a lot of clothes, but my God was his bag. It was a duffel bag that could fit like five dead bodies. That was his check luggage size. It was crazy.

2 (10m 38s):
But it wasn’t that big at the same time. You know what I mean? Like the way that I don’t know it was, it was a, it was a good bag

5 (10m 44s):
Point being, you don’t need always the big luggage.

2 (10m 47s):
So number six is what is your favorite airline?

3 (10m 51s):
Selfless

1 (10m 53s):
Favorite? Domestic airline is south was wound up in here.

5 (10m 59s):
How can you go wrong with Southwest cheap fares, great customer service. And one of the most lenient rescheduling policies that there is in the airline industry, in the United States. And this was well before COVID they’ve always had really good cancellation policies. You can buy tickets that allow you to cancel and get your money back. They are more expensive, but if you buy their lowest fares, you can always use that money as a credit to future travel. If you are no longer able to go on the trip. So I love love Southwest specifically for that

3 (11m 33s):
Two, three

2 (11m 33s):
Bags. Yeah. Two free bags,

5 (11m 35s):
Free bags. How can you go wrong? What domestic airlines still allows you free checked bags

3 (11m 40s):
To not one but two

5 (11m 42s):
To free check backs.

2 (11m 44s):
I love it, dude. I’d be like, you never lose money with Southwest. It just stays there in your account. God,

1 (11m 51s):
I love Southwest man. I really live by them. But for international travel, I would say my favorite airline is British airways.

3 (11m 60s):
I haven’t done a whole lot of different or great international airlines, but I think that British airlines is one of the nicer ones. I’ve done two really great service when you treat them well, by the way,

2 (12m 12s):
Yes. I’m going to have to agree British airways. And I also feel like they have the funniest safety video.

3 (12m 18s):
Oh my God. They really do it. It’s comedy.

2 (12m 21s):
And I think they made it for comedy relief, but like it’s, it’s great dude. And you know what? The worst turbulence I’ve ever experienced in my life was on British airways. We were going up and down and side to side all at the same time people were puking and you know what? They were great seriously though. Like they were great.

5 (12m 41s):
I have three shout outs to give on this one for international British airways for all the reasons that you ladies mentioned. And it just so happens. I travel on British airways, the most leaving out of San Diego. Also though I love Japan airlines. They had amazing foot rests built into your seats in coach. And after the meals, my God, I loved it. They brought me my own pint of ice cream. They did that on all the flights that I’ve been on now. It wasn’t really a full pint. It was a smaller size than a pint, but I actually got it legitimately packaged delicious ice cream, but those are foreign airlines in terms of international travel on a domestic airline.

5 (13m 24s):
I want to give props to Delta because Delta knows how to bring their a game for those long haul flights. I think,

3 (13m 29s):
You know, I just thought of another one for domestic jet blue is also amazing, really great unlimited snacks. I don’t know what it’s like since COVID, but before they would just give the box to the aisles and you could just ravage through it and take whatever you want. It was amazing.

5 (13m 44s):
And TVs on the back of the screen to jet blue is legit. I agree with you on that. Yeah.

2 (13m 49s):
Going back to Delta though. Fun fact guys, I actually got hired to be a flight attendant for Delta, but I ended up having to turn down that job offer and I just always think, wow, what would have happened if I became a flight attendant for Delta?

5 (14m 1s):
You know, I’d like to think you’d overcome your fear of flying Zana, but I got to think it also be one of the worst flight attendants because of your fear of flying.

2 (14m 9s):
I’m not afraid of flying. I’m afraid of taking off

5 (14m 11s):
And turbulence and

1 (14m 12s):
Landing.

5 (14m 14s):
So pretty much the whole flying process. I think

2 (14m 17s):
I really am good. I really, truly, truly am good. I think I just like, honestly, takeoff is misery for me.

5 (14m 24s):
Well, enough of throwing Zayna under the bus or now

2 (14m 27s):
The airplane

5 (14m 29s):
Or a, should we say airplane? Very good point. But that brings us to question number seven, which is a really good question. I love this one. What is your favorite place in the world? Tough, but a good question.

3 (14m 40s):
Thailand,

5 (14m 41s):
Thailand for Kim Y

3 (14m 43s):
Love the beaches. Love the party. Scene. Love the weather. It’s beautiful. Food is amazing. Love it all. I would live there.

2 (14m 51s):
I am going to say they Ru my Beirut. Lebanon always has a special place in my heart and it goes through quite a bit of turbulence and it always rises back up just like a Phoenix. I love Beirut.

1 (15m 6s):
I would say my favorite place in the world was Croatia. I love Croatia. There was so much to do so much to see food was great. Beaches were amazing. I had a really great time and Croatian. The natural beauty of the country is breathtaking.

5 (15m 20s):
I’ve been fortunate to have been to a lot of really cool places. So it’s really difficult to narrow it down. But I feel like I’ve answered this before in terms of one of my favorite places that I’ve been, and I’ve still have to go back to Chamonix France in the French Alps. I don’t know why, but when Brittany and I were there in the winter and this Alpine town, something about it was just magical that I really, really loved. And I would have to say Shawmanee France.

2 (15m 48s):
I would just like to throw out there that you guys have not yet been to Cyprus. And we should re answer this question. And after we have been to Cyprus,

3 (15m 56s):
You’ve been on Cyprus for years. Dana

5 (15m 58s):
Always hyping up Cyprus.

2 (15m 60s):
It’s worth being hyped up for. So moving onto the next one, though, what would you say to someone who has never been out of their state?

1 (16m 9s):
Whoa, not out of their state. I think I would say to them, get in your car and drive to the next day over and just go explore

3 (16m 17s):
Once it’s safe to do so. Of course.

2 (16m 19s):
Thank you. Okay.

5 (16m 20s):
Of course safety first, but I don’t know. You know, that’s really tough here in California, California is its own world. So if somebody has never been out of California, you should definitely get out, but you don’t really need to cause everything you could ever want is here. I guess you could see how biased I am for California. But if you can’t leave the United States for whatever reasons, time financial means, et cetera, the best thing you could do is explore America and definitely get out of your home state and just see what there is to offer. Every state is unique and has something amazing and just do it.

2 (16m 55s):
So a little piece of advice, anytime I’m afraid of something, I always ask myself, what is the truth of the situation? So if you’re making excuses to yourself about, I don’t have time, I don’t have money, it’s not feasible. All of that. Ask yourself what is the truth of the situation? Because people are traveling every single day, people with normal jobs, it’s not just celebrities who are traveling, airplanes are sold out. I mean, look at United, even during COVID they made the news for that, filling up those middle seats. So just really ask yourself what is the truth of the situation and just go out and do it. Yeah,

3 (17m 30s):
Absolutely. Question number nine on our list is how many different countries have each of you been to?

1 (17m 37s):
I have been to 33 countries and I think I have the most out of the squad.

3 (17m 41s):
Whoa, not competitive.

2 (17m 44s):
I know I’ve been to 30 and I’m just like, when did Brit pass me

5 (17m 49s):
To all those cruises? She took as a family when she was younger, before we knew each other. I think that’s where she’s gotten ahead of us on the tally account.

3 (17m 57s):
Literally came out of the womb in an airplane. True

1 (18m 1s):
Fact.

5 (18m 2s):
Well, I’m right behind Brittany at 32. So I might need to recount just to make sure we’re not tied or I’m ahead, but I’m at 32 right now.

1 (18m 12s):
When did you let Jamal pass you?

2 (18m 15s):
You know, he was having a freak out that Did not travel to more countries than me. So I said, you know what? I’m going to bow out for this one. And I’m going to let you get to under your belt because I am just for a more dramatic combat.

3 (18m 33s):
That must be what happened on the stairs in Idaho as well. You let him, you bowed out and you let him take the win.

2 (18m 38s):
I didn’t want to embarrass him. He really wanted that. When

5 (18m 42s):
Saying I will beat you any day on this stair challenge,

3 (18m 46s):
I know you’re all dying to know how many countries I’ve been to. I’ve been to a whopping 12, us, Mexico, Peru, Cuba, China, Denmark, Italy, Thailand, Dominican Turks, Lebanon, Dubai. And you know, I have been to the UK. I’ll throw that in as a bonus, but I didn’t leave the airport.

1 (19m 4s):
You’re counting ones. You haven’t even left the airport in. Huh.

3 (19m 7s):
And that would be 13, but it’s a bonus.

5 (19m 10s):
So that’s 12, 13 as the UK as the, before

2 (19m 14s):
You know what Kim? I absolutely love it. I’m trying to think of, Hmm. What bonus countries do I have?

1 (19m 21s):
But Kim, I think you’re showing everyone that it’s never too late to start traveling. Like even though you are behind the rest of us with 12, your heart is in it and you want to travel for life.

3 (19m 31s):
Yeah. I didn’t start traveling until I was 26. I’m 30 years old now. And I went to those 12 countries in four years.

5 (19m 36s):
I was going to say that starting 2016 when we would did the Inca trail. So that is very impressive in such a short amount of time.

1 (19m 44s):
I remember you had to get your passport to go to Peru. So wow.

3 (19m 49s):
It is such a momentous occasion way

2 (19m 52s):
To go. Kim. I’m proud of you.

1 (19m 53s):
So question number 10 is, do you prefer to travel by plane, train car or boat

2 (19m 59s):
Boat,

3 (19m 60s):
Baby. I’m on a boat. Woo.

1 (20m 5s):
I mean, I would have to agree. It’s one of my favorite ways to travel, but one of my favorite vacations today was mine in Jamal’s honeymoon. We went to Europe and we took a seven day riverboat cruise. And that was absolutely amazing. And every single day we would wake up in a new city and we would have the entire day to explore and I would highly recommend taking a river cruise sublime.

2 (20m 28s):
I can’t say that I have a preference because I have partied on a plane. I have partied on a train. I have partied in a car and I have partied on a boat. And you know, it’s just, I can’t tell you one over the other. Yeah.

5 (20m 44s):
I agree with you Zana. Sometimes the journey is half as fun as the destination itself and all of those plane train car boat. It’s part of the journey, man. And each one is unique in their own, right? Clearly the plane’s not the vacation. It’s going to get you there faster. But if anyone hasn’t been on a European or Japanese bullet train, what an experience, that’s a fun way to travel just to get somewhere in and of itself. Real cool

3 (21m 9s):
Question. Number 11. What is the longest road trip you’ve ever taken

1 (21m 15s):
Funny? You ask Jamal. And I just got back from a 90 day road trip exploring all of Washington’s national parks and going to glacier national park in Montana.

3 (21m 25s):
The longest road trip I’ve ever taken was probably our trip at the end of may, beginning of June that we went to Wyoming and Montana through Yellowstone and grand Teton national parks. We did stay in hotels, so it’s not like we were camping and fully on the road, 24 7, but we were in the car driving every day, putting in those miles.

5 (21m 46s):
I was putting in the miles. If I recall, while you were sleeping in the back seat with your fucking eye mask that you love and your inflatable, neck pillow,

2 (21m 57s):
You know, we did do a three-day trip to the grand canyon and antelope canyon and the valley of fire state park.

3 (22m 8s):
That was a fun one. That was go, go, go.

2 (22m 10s):
I mean, one of our dreams is to rent an RV and drive to wherever, whatever national parks. And we’ve definitely looked into that.

5 (22m 20s):
Yes. I really, really want to do an RV trip here real soon and rent one out. I think that would be magical. And that would be the super-duper road trip for all times.

2 (22m 30s):
And then we can throw people in the RV too, as we go along, which moves us right along to the next question. Have you ever made any good friends while traveling?

3 (22m 38s):
Oh my God. Yeah. Peru is where we made lots of good friends. We were on this Inca trail, hiking trip for four days and it was with a group of 12 of us. So yeah, you can imagine, we get really close. And when we were in Denver for a little extended weekend trip, we met up with the two of them, Jim, Jen, and David, and went to their home and cut up with them. It had been a couple of years, so yeah. Great friends.

2 (23m 1s):
David reached out to us when he was traveling through San Diego.

1 (23m 4s):
Yeah. And we met up with him for a beer too. So that was awesome.

2 (23m 7s):
And let’s not forget Casha and Ryan who we met in China and then continued on to travel with them to Arkansas and Japan.

3 (23m 15s):
I love making terrible friends. Yeah.

5 (23m 17s):
And that’s what I was going to say. That’s one of my favorite things about traveling is the people that you meet while doing it. When you meet people, traveling, you always have that commonality in place with each other, the desire to travel, the love of travel. So it’s just really easy to click with people and share unique stories. And one of my favorite things about traveling, that’s for sure as the people you meet along the way, friends that you make,

1 (23m 40s):
You almost left out Marcos

3 (23m 42s):
From Peru. That was more than a friend, Brittany.

2 (23m 48s):
And I want to say that I’ve lived overseas in Beirut Lebanon, and I’ve made wonderful friends there that I still keep in touch with. And last time we went to Lebanon, we met up with some people to,

1 (23m 58s):
Yeah. I loved meeting up with your friend Layla. She was so nice. And we had a great dinner with her.

2 (24m 3s):
Layla’s good fun. We used to get in trouble in class all the time and we weren’t allowed to sit next to each other because we were allowed and would be disruptive.

3 (24m 10s):
Sounds about right.

2 (24m 12s):
So,

1 (24m 13s):
So question number 13 is where have you never been yet, but have always wanted to go.

2 (24m 17s):
Don’t disappoint me on this answer guys. You know what I want you to say?

1 (24m 21s):
Ooh, Chechen mall or Cyprus.

2 (24m 23s):
I wasn’t expecting chat mall, but that’s a good one, Brittany. Yes. I want to take you guys there.

1 (24m 28s):
I have not been to Chile or Argentina and those are definitely on my bucket list and I definitely want to go there when it’s safe to do so again,

3 (24m 35s):
Hell yeah. I want to go to Argentina for the Malbeck. I want to go to Croatia for the waterfalls and Iceland definitely want to go there for the Northern lights and the blue lagoon.

2 (24m 47s):
Yes. Iceland is big on my list. I’ve almost made it to Iceland several times, but a long stories, but I never have

5 (24m 54s):
For me, I want to go back to Africa, but I want to go this time to Tanzania and do a safari out on the Serengeti. I want that so, so bad. And I also want to do some gorilla trekking out there. So I want to do some more serious exploring of the African continent because when we were there and Africa did South Africa did Zimbabwe, did Swazi land. Wow. Wow. What an amazing, amazing experience. And I just want to see everything else that is so unique about Africa.

2 (25m 23s):
Yes. And you know what? It’s not like it’s high, high, high on my list, but I really, really, really want to go is the south here in the United States because we hadn’t done that. And that was one of our plans trips, but because of COVID we ended up canceling and then also BAMF Canada is another one. There’s just so many places I feel like I just really want to go everywhere.

3 (25m 43s):
Question number 14 is what is the best way to sleep on an airplane? Brittany

1 (25m 49s):
Is by purchasing a foot hammock, especially if you’re short, like Kim and I, and hooking it to the back of your tray table and just falling asleep because you’re so much more comfortable bonus if you throw in a melatonin.

3 (26m 2s):
Oh yeah. Another thing when I flew back from Thailand, there was four of us and we had the four middle seats on a 3, 4, 3 plane. And we just all like cuddled with each other, leaned on each other, put our feet on each other. And I don’t know if it was that or just being exhausted from that trip, but that was some good sleep.

5 (26m 21s):
I guess that is a good way to get sleep on a plane as if you have the whole road or yourself to lay down. Because we were able to do that on our flight to Lebanon when we went to, and that’s some pretty good sleep, but you have to be really fortunate to have that empty space to get that type of a RNR on a plane.

1 (26m 37s):
I also love to sleep on Jamal. If I could put my head on him or lean on him or my feet on him, I’m

5 (26m 42s):
Happy. So I’m never comfortable on a flight sleeping

1 (26m 47s):
Question. Number 15 is, have you ever been upgraded? Oh

3 (26m 51s):
Yeah.

2 (26m 52s):
Yes. And in fact, we have a tip almost always guarantees that you will get upgraded. And if you aren’t able to get upgraded, you will be treated better than anyone in first class. So if you want this tip, leave us a five star review and send us a screenshot of that. Five-star review to Travel Squad Podcast at gmail.com and we will send you that tip. And again, it always works. And if the plane is crowded and it can’t work, you will be treated better than the people in first class guaranteed.

3 (27m 26s):
Zayna you used our hack and you did get upgraded. You were on a flight to London, was it?

2 (27m 31s):
Yeah, it was my international fav British airways. It was a double Decker plane. I forgot what those ones are called, but Jamal was jealous cause he’s never flown on one of those. And they took me to the top. I had my entire own row. They gave me two glasses of champagne, the captain, not like the flight captain, but the cabin crew captain checked on me. And at the end he checked on me again and thanked me for flying. And I’ve also gotten thank you cards from the pilot before this is a different flight. And thank you cards from the crew. I’ve also gotten a full bottle of wine and I’ve had free drinks for my row. Like yeah, seriously, they hook it up.

2 (28m 11s):
Or even like, when we flew to Lebanon, we executed, this is travel hack. And the cabin captain brought us alcohol and real glasses before we took off, he brought us so much food. And like, people are just looking at you. Like what did they do?

5 (28m 28s):
But definitely if you are interested and want to know that hack send us that five-star review screenshot and we’ll send that information your way. So moving on to question number 16, have you ever bought a package tour? Oh, let me say something. Fuck. Yeah. You know, we have packaged

3 (28m 46s):
Tours

5 (28m 47s):
Are sometimes the best tours and vacations to go on.

3 (28m 50s):
I love a package tour because they take care of everything for you, from your flight to pick you up the airport, transportation, your bags, breakfast booth phase experiences, the tickets like literally it’s you don’t even have to think about it. You just have to be there and enjoy it. It’s amazing.

2 (29m 7s):
You do have to remember to bring your passport, but that’s another story.

1 (29m 13s):
Yeah. Sometimes people are like, I don’t want to travel or as a group or on a tour, but let me tell you, we once thought that ourselves, once we went on it, we were hooked. We were like gate one, sign us up. Let’s go on more.

3 (29m 24s):
Yeah. I’m really bummed that our gate, one trip to Ecuador in September is canceled

5 (29m 30s):
Me too. But we are going to go on that when it’s safe to go. And when gate one presumes the tours, but I can agree with some people where they say like traveling in a tour is not their style. I wholeheartedly agree with that sentiment, but let me say this. There are some places that you don’t want to go on your own that are more conducive for the tour, such as China. When we went to China, when we went to Africa just as well. And not that those countries aren’t necessarily safe. It’s just harder to get around on your own in terms of language, barriers, less transportation. So the all-inclusive makes it so amazing to do it that way.

2 (30m 9s):
When we were in China, there was only one night out of those 10 days where we did not do the add-on night excursion. So we explored the city and we immediately went back to the hotel after exploring, because we couldn’t figure out what to eat because nothing was in English.

1 (30m 23s):
Yeah. That was fun. We were trying to get around. We using like Google translate. We didn’t get far.

5 (30m 28s):
So that’s why, like I said, certain places guided tours, packaged tours are the way to go.

2 (30m 34s):
Yes. And they take care of all of your stuff like flights, which brings us to the very next question. Have you ever missed a flight?

3 (30m 42s):
I have missed a flight.

1 (30m 43s):
I have not

3 (30m 44s):
Heard that. Doesn’t surprise me.

5 (30m 46s):
I was going to say that doesn’t surprise me either though, Kevin, that you’ve missed a flight. If somebody was, it would be you and Zayna and it doesn’t shock me that you

2 (30m 54s):
Don’t have.

3 (30m 56s):
Oh, perfect. So my flight was early morning. Like I had to get up at five in the morning. On Thanksgiving day, it was a Southwest flight from San Diego to Sacramento. And my friend dropped me off. We maybe had a Thanksgiving Eve outing as people do possibly. And I’m

5 (31m 13s):
Pretty night bender.

3 (31m 15s):
And I, and I was sleeping, woke up super early to get on this flight, got in the car. My friend was driving me, have my phone on airplane mode charging because it was almost dead. So that’s how you can charge it faster. Got out of the car, left my phone in the car and sort of freaking out called a family member who I shared my phone line with off a stranger’s phone to try to get ahold of my friend, to get her, to bring my phone back and through all this debacle, I missed my flight, cried to the flight attendants and got on the next one, like an hour or two later Thanksgiving was saved.

1 (31m 49s):
That does not surprise me at all. Kim let’s hear yours Zena.

2 (31m 52s):
So it was day flying from London to San Francisco. I was with a friend and yeah, I just missed the flight.

3 (32m 2s):
What were you doing with your friend?

5 (32m 4s):
No cool story with that saying I, you just missed the flight,

2 (32m 7s):
The midday flight and I missed it. There was nothing else to say.

5 (32m 12s):
Another classic example of Zane being unprepared. Kim at least had a valid excuse. I don’t know what yours is over there.

2 (32m 19s):
I don’t want to throw anyone under the bus. So I was traveling with a friend and we were flying back to California together, but she was going to one city and I was going to San Francisco and my flight was an hour ahead of her. And so she was running a little bit behind and we’re like, oh, it’s fine. It’s fine. It’s fine. So when we got to the airport, it was fine for her, but it wasn’t for me. So I had to pay a $200 fee. So I have just gone on without her.

5 (32m 41s):
See, now the story became more interesting,

2 (32m 43s):
But I love that friend. And we were really, really young. And so whatever it,

3 (32m 47s):
I almost missed another flight in a layover. I was killing time. As you do in the airport with a few beverages, I’ve had a few too many and was like, oh shit, my flight is about to leave. So I didn’t even get to finish my third beer. And I was running to the gate and they’re like, are you Kimberly? We’re about to close the doors. And I was like, woo. I made it.

2 (33m 9s):
That happened to me too. I was in Denmark and I would thought my flight was like, let’s say my flight was at nine o’clock, but I thought my flight was at 10 o’clock. So I am literally walking around, listening to them last call for my flight. And I’m like, oh man, whoever like needs to get to that flight, better get to that flight. And I’m just like, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. As I’m walking around. And then I realized, holy shit, that’s my flight. And I went running through and they basically, they said the same thing, like are using a Marusha. And I was like, oh my God, I thought I had an hour to kill.

1 (33m 39s):
Dang, Jamal. And I are just like, mom and dad over here. We’re like never been late. Never had that happen.

3 (33m 45s):
I’ve seen how you guys hustle when they call your number. You guys are like sitting on the chair at one point, the next boom. It’s like you’ve teleported to the gate.

2 (33m 54s):
That’s how, And we were in Hawaii at the luau. Jamal was right to me. He made a comment about the drinks I turned for a split. Second. I swear to you guys. It was a split second. And then I turned back around to Jamal and he’s already halfway across the auditorium at the bar. And I’m like, what the hell just happens?

5 (34m 17s):
We can see my priorities are right. I want to get to the bar first. And I would definitely want to get on the fucking plane. Like you guys over there, but moving along to question number 18. Have you ever been in a difficult situation while

2 (34m 31s):
Traveling? I once punched a guy in Mexico city

3 (34m 33s):
And that’s right.

2 (34m 35s):
I did. So what happened was the subway was super, super, super crowded. Like people were on top of each other and I felt someone put their, and I was wearing a short skirt, which I learned don’t wear short skirts, even if it’s hot. So I felt someone put their hand up against my leg and I was like, ah, it’s just a crowded Metro. So like, it’s fine. You’re getting off at the next one. And then I felt it again and I’m like, you’re getting off at the next one. It’s fine. And so I was in Mexico city visiting Nicole, and we were speaking in English. And so I think maybe that threw the person off thinking like, oh, this is just like a tourist, but Nicole does live there. She does speak Spanish. And I speak Spanish too. But like we grew up speaking English together. So we’re not really speaking Spanish.

2 (35m 15s):
So anyways, as we’re getting off, it’s so crowded and people are pushing to get on and pushing to get off. And someone pushed me off. And as I was flying mid air, you know, like land, someone like snapped my thought, they lifted my skirt and they snapped my thong and then pushed me. And so as I’m like gliding, flying through air, trying to land on the platform on both my feet, my skirt is lifted with my thong, like MIS moved. So basically I was like sexually assaulted on the Metro. And then all of a sudden I land. So I pulled down my skirt and I turned around and the guy who was like right behind me is now behind me on the platform.

2 (35m 57s):
And so without thinking, I just boom punched him. And I know that it was him because I hit him hard. And then he looked at me and said, it wasn’t me. And if it was not him, he would have had a different reaction. But he was very accepting of the hit that I gave him.

3 (36m 14s):
He knew he deserved it.

2 (36m 16s):
Yeah. So then he started to say like, oh, you know what, guys, I screamed at him. And he said, knowing glass. And so I said in Spanish, no problem. I speak Spanish. Then he ran and I chased after him screaming. What a pig he was in Spanish.

1 (36m 29s):
I don’t think I can beat that difficult situation. So I’m going to give it to you.

2 (36m 34s):
Yeah. Well, I had a Badger jump on my back while I was hiking the

3 (36m 38s):
Badger,

2 (36m 39s):
The Badger in tabled Slan Mexico, which do like another story. It just about that. Gosh guys, I don’t want to take up too much time, but yeah. A Badger jumped on my back and yeah.

1 (36m 51s):
Yeah. I have one for you guys. You know what a difficult situation is that I’m in while traveling it’s been Jamal has its freak out.

5 (37m 1s):
You want to know my difficult situation. I have my freak outs because of Brittany. So apparently it’s a continuous circle that we can’t figure out where the origin originates, but between you and I it’s Brit,

2 (37m 13s):
I can think of a difficult situation Jamal’s been in when you guys were in Japan. Jamal almost died from Fu

5 (37m 19s):
Hey, that was real. That was real. I felt my lips go numb and I was having a panic attack. That was a real difficult situation. Yes it was. And if you guys want to hear that full story, don’t want to take too much of your time on it. This one. But if you haven’t already go check out our episode on Tokyo, Japan, you’re going to

3 (37m 37s):
Love it. Episode number 42. Yes. Question number 19. Ooh, this is a good one. If you were to be offered a one-way ticket to your dream adventure, this says tomorrow, but I’m going to say right now, what would you say? Where would you go? I would say fuck. Yeah, even though COVID is a thing. I mentioned Iceland before. I would totally take Iceland because it’s going to be a lot of nature when you go around the island and it’s a lot of nature stuff. So you’re gonna be out in the outdoors where it’s safer. There’s going to be less crowds, which it’s normally a crowded place. So that’s the bonus and yeah, I think that’d be a good one.

1 (38m 12s):
I don’t know why anyone would say no. Like if I was offered a one-way ticket to go on my dream adventure, I’d be like, absolutely. I don’t care if it’s during COVID or not. As long as I could be safe and can keep everyone else safe.

2 (38m 24s):
I would say with who I can travel alone. No biggie. I’ve traveled alone plenty of times with myself, but yeah, I would want to know those details

3 (38m 33s):
With your squad. Of course. Yeah.

2 (38m 36s):
In that case. Hell yeah.

5 (38m 37s):
Then why wouldn’t it be as for me? Yes. Obviously I say yes to travel on a whim all the time. When Brittany comes up with a crazy idea and asked me if I want to be crazy, I usually just say yes. So the answer’s yes, for sure. But where would I go? Two things. I would say one, go back to our previous questions. When I mentioned ideal locations that I want to go to Africa, Tanzania, that’s on the list, but I really, really want to go to the Maldives. And I feel like right now, if a question is right now, this very second, including COVID maladies because it’s so, so isolated. I want to go there so bad.

1 (39m 15s):
And that’s what I meant. Like if Jamal and I could be safe and during COVID and all of this, if we could be safe traveling and keep everyone else safe, the melodies is a perfect example. I think Iceland’s a great place to go to, but pretty much anywhere that you can be out in nature and can pretty much self isolate from other people,

2 (39m 33s):
Give me a breakfast buffet and I’m a happy clam.

5 (39m 36s):
They have breakfast buffets out on the Maldives. All-inclusive All right, guys. So this brings us to question number 20, our last question of the evening. And the question is what’s something you love about being a travel podcaster that maybe you weren’t expecting.

3 (39m 56s):
Can I go first year?

5 (39m 57s):
Absolutely.

3 (39m 58s):
My favorite thing about being a travel podcaster is the feedback that I hear from other people. So I love hearing it from people. I know I had a friend, my friend, Leah called me the other day, and this was random. I hadn’t talked to her in a very long time. And she’s saying, I listened to your podcast every week. I am so excited for travel Tuesdays. I feel like you guys are talking straight to me and I just love hearing that kind of feedback. And she’s literally being inspired to travel and enjoying our podcasts. And that was our goal of the podcast. So I love that.

5 (40m 31s):
I’m so glad that you said that can, because your answer is my answer, but whereas you get more excited from feedback from friends and people we know which I obviously do, who doesn’t want to hear their friends and family say they love what you’re doing, but when we get those reviews and comments from people that we have, absolutely no clue who they are. I feel like we’ve touched a stranger, right? And

3 (40m 54s):
That’s just

5 (40m 54s):
So refreshing. And that’s another reason why at the beginning of this episode, we read some of the reviews. You know, we always love to hear that feedback from people. And that’s one of the unexpected things of being a travel podcast or that I enjoy the most. I mean, I knew we were going to be providing a benefit to people, but when we get those reviews in real life, it’s just hits you a little bit differently.

1 (41m 18s):
I love getting the random review is from our listeners, but I also love when people message us on Instagram, when they slide into our DMS and they’re like, Hey, do you have a recommendation for this or that? And I love having a conversation with them and giving us some good recommendations. And sometimes they have really great recommendations to give us as well. If we talk about an upcoming trip that we have. So it’s really great to connect with our listeners and feel like we’ve made almost like friends through our podcast,

3 (41m 48s):
Childhood friends.

2 (41m 49s):
I know. I mean, like not to be repetitive, but yeah, pretty much the same thing. It’s just hearing the feedback and knowing what you guys like or just, you know, that people look forward to it and it brings them joy. I also really liked just listening back to it because I obviously, these are my favorite people, Jamal, Brittany Kim. And so listening to the past episodes, it’s like listening to a diary entry about the trip, but you know, everyone’s there and just walking and, and laughing and knowing that other people are laughing with us.

3 (42m 23s):
For sure. Well, that sums up our 20 questions for this episode. Please keep sending us in your questions of the week. You know how it just jazzes me up. We’ll work them into future episodes, or maybe we’ll have another 20 question episode for you in the future. But thank you guys so much for listening to this week’s episode. We obviously appreciate it so very much and keep the adventures going with us even more. You can join our new Facebook group Travel Squad mob. You can subscribe to us on our YouTube channel, hit us up on Instagram, slide into the DM make Brittany’s day.

2 (42m 55s):
And if you found the information in this episode to be useful, or if you thought we were just playing funny, please make sure to share it with a friend. That’s going to enjoy it too.

5 (43m 3s):
Please subscribe, rate, and review our podcast and tune in every travel Tuesday for new episodes.

1 (43m 9s):
Stay tuned for next week’s episode. Make sure to pack your bags and grab your passports because next week we’re going to take you to some notable tropical places in the Philippines.

5 (43m 22s):
Bye everybody.