We’re talking about the less glamorous sides of travel – things like travel scams, mishaps, and when things don’t go exactly as planned. Whether it’s being cheap and missing out on once in a lifetime experiences or your phone getting stolen and it threatens the mood of your whole trip, we have to remember to enjoy the trip and work with what you have. 

In this episode we laugh over some of our funniest travel mishaps from around the world. We also shed light on travel scams you should be aware of to hopefully avoid, but just know we all make mistakes and then learn from them. Hopefully you’ll learn from ours!

Travel Scams, Mishaps, and Mistakes – Episode Transcript

3 (54s):
Welcome to this week’s episode of the Travel Squad podcast. Today, we’re going to share some of our stories from our travels when life had other plans and what we were intending.

4 (1m 4s):
Let’s not kid ourselves travel mishaps happen all the time, and they’re an unfortunate reality of traveling. They can potentially ruin a trip, but you can’t let that happen. And you sure as hell know, the squad never lets that happen.

2 (1m 17s):
And a strong mindset and having the end in mind is the best way to get through these mishaps, not if, but when they happen

1 (1m 24s):
From rescheduling travel plans to freak out, we are sharing our top travel mishap. So hopefully you guys can learn from our mistakes.

3 (1m 32s):
Maybe we should have called this episode, travel freakouts instead of trouble, mishaps,

4 (1m 36s):
Freakouts mishaps. You know, I feel like if you called it freakouts, it would be really catered towards me, but this is happened to everybody. So Vanna

1 (1m 45s):
I freak out fine.

4 (1m 47s):
No, no. And I said this on a previous episode, I’m going to say it again. You know, I just allow myself to be the butt of the joke. I’m agreeing with you guys. Now, when you say that I have freak outs, I don’t really, I think you guys are, over-exaggerating the fact, but you know, I’m just keeping with the banter and keeping the squad kumbaya. So with that said, let’s get right into it with the first one. Why don’t you tell us about it, Brittany, because this was a trip that you had planned and then mishaps happened and we weren’t able to take it, but we improvised and persevered.

1 (2m 13s):
Yeah. So the squad was supposed to take a highway one adventure. We were heading to big Sur. We were super excited about it. And then we planned it in February and we were going to go during the biggest storm of the year.

3 (2m 26s):
We had it planned for a couple of months before February.

1 (2m 30s):
We did. And we had everything kind of planned out to be able to hit big Sur. And then I think about two days before our trip, there was that huge storm and there was a landslide that took out the highway and we couldn’t even drive up highway one to get to big Sur.

4 (2m 45s):
So when you say highway one, let’s just put it into perspective for some of our listeners who don’t know what California highway one is. It’s the iconic California coast highway runs north to south along the Pacific coast. It’s so, so iconic, beautiful views mountains, the whole works. And we were going to go to big Sur, which is an area along the coast in central California. That’s very famous for those things that I just mentioned earlier. So we were going to go and then, like you said, I think we had an El Nino that year. That was the year that pretty much got California out of the drought. And we were in so much of a drought, so much rain that a mud slide literally came and wiped out the road and highway one in certain sections was closed.

1 (3m 28s):
Yeah. I actually got released from work early that day because the power was in and out and they were like, oh, just go home, be safe. And I’m like, all right, guys, let’s pack up the car and let’s go. And so we all met up, we hydroplaned several times while you’re driving or Slayer

3 (3m 43s):
Branches flying everywhere.

1 (3m 46s):
And we arrived to the hotel so late that it was closed and they had to leave the key under the doormat for us. And I had to call beforehand to let them know we were going to be late.

4 (3m 56s):
Well, we’re getting ahead of ourselves. We didn’t even tell anybody what we did in lieu of the big sir road trip. Cause we titled and dubbed this the big Sur, not big, sir. So you’re talking about, we did leave. Yes. Cause we persevered and went on, but what did we alter our trip and do,

1 (4m 10s):
Yeah, we had to reorganize our trip. We instead went to Monterrey and then we also were still able to see the big speed bridge, which is on highway one. And then we did pinnacles national park and had all of this not happened. We would have never gone to that national park. It wasn’t even in the works.

3 (4m 27s):
And we went in February when it was rainy. So it was beautiful and green and luscious. And we had all to ourselves and I’ve heard of people going in the summer where it’s barren and hot and not as pretty. So we are really lucky actually.

4 (4m 40s):
Yeah. So we didn’t let the fact that our road trip was ruined because of mudslides and no longer even having a highway. So

3 (4m 47s):
Potential danger as we drove up

4 (4m 49s):
And most people would take that as a sign to say, you know what? I’m not going to go on my trip. I’m going to have to cancel it. But we were like, no, like let’s make the best of it. Let’s still go up and do something. We can’t drive up on the one. Let’s do a few things that are east of it, inland one being pinnacles national park, still get to the coast by going to Bigsby bridge and Monterey. So we still made it work halfway. It wasn’t the full experience that we had hoped, but nonetheless, we have a very memorable trip out of it. So the point of that is whether an unforeseen circumstances can alter a trip, but how you handle it and decide to do afterwards is going to be the deciding factor on, is this still a successful trip or just a ruined trip? And I would say our trip was a success.

2 (5m 30s):
I mean, hydro planning will take it worst rainstorm of the season. We’ll take it

1 (5m 36s):
Almost being attacked by a Cougar.

4 (5m 38s):
That’s exactly what I was going to say. There was a time where Xena almost got attacked by a Cougar when we were out there too. You

2 (5m 42s):
Won’t take that one though.

4 (5m 44s):
No one wants to be attacked by cool.

3 (5m 46s):
We did a whole episode on this weekend trip that we took it’s episode number 11. If you want to go back way to the beginning and find that one. It’s a good one.

4 (5m 53s):
So a second mishap that happened, wasn’t even going to be a Squad trip. This was a Brittany and Jamal solo trip, Britney and I were going to be going to Hong Kong. We’ve said this before in previous episodes, I’m going to say it again. This was specifically to finish off Hong Kong Disneyland, and this would be the last Disney park in the world that Brittany and I needed to go to. And you know what this was supposed to take place in March of 2020, right at the onset of COVID really spreading across the globe. And I’m sure you can imagine we’re not able to go to Hong Kong. So what did we do instead? We rebooked our tickets with our airline instead of going to Hong Kong, we went to Hawaii.

4 (6m 35s):
Now, keep in mind, this is at the beginning of March. So before it really, really took off, but at the onset where international travel specifically to Asia was getting canceled.

1 (6m 43s):
Yeah. So first off our flight to Hong Kong was canceled and we’re like, Aw, man, that really sucks. But also we don’t want COVID. So we’re okay with that. But when we did rebook to Hawaii, it was actually a cheaper fare and we actually got money back on our ticket, which was pretty cool. The one unfortunate part was we did book our hotel in Hong Kong with chase rapid rewards. And because we didn’t purchase the travel insurance on it, we did lose all of our points to this hotel and they wouldn’t refund us because apparently it’s not covered under epidemics and pandemics circumstances.

4 (7m 18s):
So that was really unfortunate. So we lost out on our hotel using our chase points that we use to book can’t do anything really about that nowadays through chase through Expedia, the good news is a lot of them are actually being really lenient with their exchange refund, cancellation dates, et cetera. So hopefully you can mitigate that going forward. If you have to schedule something and COVID or anything else ruins it, but do keep that in mind. It’s always good to purchase trip protection. If you can. We used to not do it. Cause I always thought to myself, well, trip protection is just an excuse to back out. And now we really learned that the world has real circumstances that can prevent you from going to these places.

3 (7m 57s):
A lot of people can relate to this one, being that over the last year, there have been so many trip cancellations and canceled plans for travel, but some good comes out of it. I guess you guys got some money back. So we did get

1 (8m 12s):
The money back and we did learn how to do some last minute planning. And we had a great time in big island Hawaii. And if you guys want to hear all about it, it’s episode 45 big island Hawaii on Travel Squad Podcast.

4 (8m 23s):
And as much as I’m still disappointed that I have that one lingering park on my to-do list for the Disney bucket list, I am so stoked that we ended up going to big island. We did Hawaii volcanoes national park. We did a lot of other things on big island too, obviously, but if you haven’t been there, that’s such a unique experience and place to see beautiful geological formations. I mean you’re on a volcano. So again, still unfortunate, but at the same time, you know, rolling with the punches and still had an amazing experience with our new destination.

2 (8m 53s):
I still remember when we were in the airport, January and London and we are coming back from Lebanon and Dubai. And this is like right when I just discovered that COVID existed

4 (9m 2s):
Because Wu Han had closed on her way back from the Mid-East and London back to the states.

2 (9m 7s):
Exactly. And I just found out what COVID was, which is a crazy time to even remember that. Like at one point I was just finding out what this thing was, but anyways, I asked her mom, Brittany, you guys aren’t so going to Hong Kong in March, are you, it just seems so dangerous. And you guys were still considering going to Hong Kong because you were so determined. But of course this is like before we knew what we knew about COVID

1 (9m 30s):
Were true danger ninjas,

2 (9m 31s):
Seriously, seriously. And I remember at Christmas time to Jamal looking at his tree with all the ornaments and he said, you know, it’s missing from this tree, an ornament from Hong Kong Disney.

4 (9m 41s):
Even though this episode’s going to air a little bit later, by the time everyone’s listening to this, we are recording this with our Christmas tree in the back. And it is still lacking a Hong Kong Disney ornament, so know way to rub salt in the wound on that one seven

2 (9m 54s):
Day.

3 (9m 55s):
Another one of my most famous travel mishaps is on a trip that the squad took to Kings canyon and Sequoia national parks. This was a couple of years ago. We went in the spring, it was still snowy out. So there were some roadblocks with snow piles and ice chunks that would prevent us from doing some of the things that we wanted to do. That’s the, the blessing and the curse of traveling in the shoulder season is less people, less crowds cheaper, but also some things are sometimes closed due to weather. So on this particular experience, we were there for two days. One of the days, we didn’t get to do the, the major hike that we wanted to because of snow. And I was a little disappointed because we ate an unhealthy breakfast and I didn’t get to work it off.

3 (10m 39s):
So the next day

1 (10m 41s):
Kim refused a good breakfast.

3 (10m 44s):
We didn’t know if we were going to be able to get on the trailer. Not,

4 (10m 47s):
I just want to say Kim has describing herself pre 30. Now that she’s past 30. I mean, th this is not the Kim today. I just have to say,

3 (10m 56s):
Well, I’m still the same Kim, but

2 (10m 59s):
Debatable.

3 (10m 59s):
So we went out to do this hike and the ranger told us we could do it, but we couldn’t park in the parking lot because of snow. So we had to park two miles down the road and walk in.

4 (11m 11s):
It was one mile down the road. So

1 (11m 13s):
No, it was too,

4 (11m 14s):
I thought it was one mile down to the parking lot and then one mile back. So that made it to, ah, so that’s right. That’s right now that you say that it was,

1 (11m 23s):
I was supposed to be seven miles and then we found out we had hike and additional two miles each way. So Kim was like, well, that’s the, it’s only four miles, more so 11 miles guys, what are you guys doing? We came here for a workout

4 (11m 38s):
And that’s the Kim that I’m talking about. She doesn’t do this after 30. She’s like, oh, five miles. I can’t do this.

3 (11m 44s):
No, I still can hike with the best of them. So anyway, we did this hike, we went on it. It was really great. We saw lots of beautiful things. We were hacking through the Flores were having a great old time. But after a certain, while we weren’t seeing the sites that we were supposed to on this trail and we got a little lost,

4 (12m 4s):
We got a lot lost.

3 (12m 5s):
Yeah. And it was around mile 11 that we all sat down in defeat thinking that we may not make it out of this trail because we had no idea where the end was. So that was fun.

1 (12m 14s):
Yeah. Back it up a little bit. Let’s back it up at mile seven. What did you say, Kim? I

3 (12m 22s):
Said, wow, isn’t this a beautiful hike?

4 (12m 25s):
No bullshit.

1 (12m 27s):
Kim’s like, I am so over this hike already, which alleged them all to have a mini freak out himself.

4 (12m 35s):
I didn’t have a freak out. I kept it. Well, maybe I did

3 (12m 38s):
Kept it. I kept

4 (12m 39s):
It inside. It was internalized. It was internalized, but

2 (12m 42s):
I got was later. But you did tell me after she said that, cause her and Brittany were either ahead or behind after she said that you were like, are you fucking kidding me? She’s the one that suggested this hike and she’s already fucking over it.

4 (12m 54s):
Let’s put it this way. At this point, we knew we were lost. We were like, we already hiked more than we knew what the mileage should be. We didn’t bring a lot of food with us. So we had not a lot of food, minimal supplies and

3 (13m 7s):
Then eat breakfast. And you know how I get when I’m hungry.

4 (13m 10s):
And then the person who wanted to do the hike the most is the one who said she’s over it. And I just like, literally lost my fucking shit with that one right there. And I internalized, it came out a little bit later where I had a freak out where I threw my walking stick and just beat it on a Bush and on a tree. Cause I was so pissed. Cause we had to crawl through like thickets of Bush and there was no trail. I’m like, where the fuck are we? But we persevered. And now looking back on it, it’s a funny, funny story. I love it.

2 (13m 36s):
We crossed creeks, we got our feet wet. We had to walk over a log over a river because we couldn’t walk through the river because it was too deep. Like it was pretty crazy. It was pretty crazy. And when we were at that 11th mile, we laughed because we had no idea where, where we were at.

3 (13m 52s):
We made it out. It was Easter day. We emerged into the forest and we were resurrected after 14 miles.

4 (13m 58s):
I love that analogy.

1 (14m 0s):
What’s so funny is we did see most of the things that we were supposed to, but just not on the timescale, we were supposed to see it on. So instead of seeing it on like mile three, it was like we saw something that we were supposed to see at mile three at mile five. So I don’t know what happened to the scale, but it was a little crazy. We never did get to see fallen Goliath though. Yeah.

4 (14m 21s):
Fallen Goliath. And we’ve referenced this a couple of times as an inside joke on previous recordings, it’s supposed to be a big fallen tree. It’s a marker of the trail at a certain point. It’s like, oh, you’ve come across fallen Goliath. And I can tell you this,

2 (14m 37s):
We didn’t fall.

4 (14m 38s):
Maybe it did. I don’t know where it was. Cause we sure as hell didn’t see it. So I mean, that’s how lost we were yet. Somehow we meandered back onto the trail. Cause we found our way back.

1 (14m 48s):
I think we need a repeat of this trip because we really to go to see the falls that we’re supposed to see the first day in Sequoyah. And then we need to redo this trail and see fallen Goliath. We need to redemption

4 (14m 59s):
Redemption of Kings canyon and Sequoia national park,

2 (15m 3s):
Some girth in my life

4 (15m 4s):
Who can’t.

2 (15m 7s):
So even though we didn’t have food, we did have two bananas. I had a banana that I split with Kim at mile 11 and Jamal in Brittany had a banana that they split. And also for reference, I brought a bagel that ended up being stale by the end of the trip and banana flavored because it was with that banana that we ate at mile 11 in a bag, but the bagel stayed in the car. And even though I offered everyone my bagel throughout the course of the trip and everyone gave me shit for it. We devoured that bagel in four pieces. Once we got to the car because after 16 miles, we had a little bit of an appetite.

4 (15m 40s):
You know, when you lack sustenance, anything tastes good. And that steel banana flavored bagel tasted fantastic. It was five star.

2 (15m 47s):
There you go. Not only is this five star, it was episode five. So keep those fives in mind. And I do have to say that this is my favorite episode, episode five. I think it is one of the funniest ones that we did.

4 (16m 1s):
So go check it out. So number four that we’re going to talk about is not one specific incident, but an overall theme, phone mishaps. I’ve had a lot of them. So

2 (16m 11s):
Have I.

4 (16m 12s):
And I’m sure we’ve all had them. So again talked about this many times, but I’m going to go over it again. We were in Mexico city, we made the whole trip a success. We’re taking the Metro back to the airport and literally on our last day there, as we’re about to get to the airport, I ended up getting my phone pickpocketed from me and on their subways, man, I’m telling you, you pack like a sardine. I don’t know if a lot of people know this Mexico city is the second most populous city in the Americas. That’s more populated than New York by a substantial millions of people. And so on their subways, especially during rush hour, it is crowded. You’re pushing your way through and in all that hustle and bustle and crowdedness, somebody picked my phone out of my pocket.

4 (16m 57s):
Didn’t even realize it.

2 (16m 59s):
I mean, just to give you a little bit more context, all four of us were standing next to each other, but there’s so many people on the platform to even get onto the train that when the door opened, Jamal ended up being pushed and Jamal had to fight to not get onto the train because me, Brittany and Kim were still all the way in the back. And so in those moments where Jamal was being pushed and fighting the crowd because he didn’t want to get on without us. That’s when the phone was taken from him, like it’s complete pandemonium and chaos.

1 (17m 26s):
And if you want to hear about that it’s episode, one of our podcast, Jamal has also had another unfortunate time with a phone where a rogue wave took Jamal out and ruined his phone.

4 (17m 38s):
Well, I was going to let Kim go first with her story, but I’m actually glad you brought this one up for us to do next because it perfectly coincides because this literally happened three months after Mexico and I had a buy a new phone and then my new phone gets fucked up. And this was the first time I said to myself, you know what? I’m an idiot for not buying insurance on my phone. So this is actually what inspired me To buy. I know, I know

2 (18m 1s):
Your phone getting stolen in Mexico, inspired you to get insurance where the rogue wave,

4 (18m 6s):
The phone that installed in Mexico inspired me to get insurance. And so I had it after the rogue wave incident, which we’ll talk about, but I still had a hefty deductible, but still better than paying $800 for a new phone. So a few months after next taco city and that whole debacle, we just talked about, we were in the Philippines, it was me, Brittany and her family going to the Philippines like every five years as we often do. So Brittany can go back to the motherland and we were in a very famous touristy spot. We talk all about this in episode 54, specifically, Palawan Philippines, one of their most pristine and beautiful islands. Anyway, I’m getting off of a boat and this isn’t like, oh, you know, I’m on a big boat.

4 (18m 49s):
I’m on like a little small boat island hopping in a sense, pretty much. I get out. You have to step into water that is shin to knee high. And all of a sudden on the last one to get off the boat, a rogue wave comes in. It’s so high and powerful. It’s up to my shoulder. It literally washes me ashore as it comes and hits my back. And my phone ends up getting ruined early on in the trip. So for the remainder of the trip, I had no phone. Even when I got to wifi, I’m like, what the fuck am I supposed to do? So it happens. I was pissed how to freak out during that instance, won’t deny it. But again, getting those things stolen from you or ruined it sucks. It’s going to happen.

4 (19m 29s):
I was pissed in the moment, but don’t let that anger carry with you for the remainder of the trip to ruin it.

2 (19m 35s):
You know, it’s even salt on the wounds for that is Brittany’s mom got you. Guys’ phone, water protectors, or what are those?

4 (19m 43s):
It was a water sealed backpack. And I wasn’t using that.

5 (19m 51s):
What

4 (19m 52s):
Else can I do now? You know, I’m out 250 bucks, which was my deductible, but what else can I do now? But laugh. It’s a funny story. And it’s why we’re telling it. But this happened on the list

2 (20m 1s):
When I used to live in Lebanon. I remember one time I was at a bathroom. I remember it specifically, even the bathroom that it was at on the American university of Beirut campus. And my phone was in my pocket and I leaned forward to wash my hands in the sink, filled with water. Cause it wasn’t training that well. And my phone fell out of my pocket into the water. So it was completely submerged. And of course, you know, I immediately pull it out, but it’s not working. And I remember being so pissed, but I just went home and I put it in a bag of water and the next day it was working. So I was so backwater, just kidding. A bag of rice. Thanks for catching that bag of rice. So too bad. You didn’t have rice with you at that moment.

4 (20m 38s):
I did not.

3 (20m 39s):
I’ve had so many phones, either stolen or damaged or lost or just ruined on trips and festivals and so many different things and yeah, you can’t get mad. I mean, you just have to keep going, especially if your trip has several days left in it. I mean, you just gotta do what you gotta do. The only thing I’ve learned from those travel mishaps is to have the cloud backup on your phone. I will pay for it every single month. It’s only a few bucks to back up my photos and have everything fall right back onto my phone. When I get a new one that is saving, I have lost all my photos from our trip to China because I didn’t have the cloud.

1 (21m 17s):
Well, at least you learned from your mistake, right?

4 (21m 19s):
I lost all my photos from Mexico city. Cause I didn’t have it backed up to the cloud. And so after that incident, that’s when I started backing up everything to the cloud,

3 (21m 27s):
You’re on a trip. You want to save those pictures. If something does happen to your phone, take it from me and Jamal,

2 (21m 34s):
Do you guys remember when smartphones didn’t even exist yet? We just had what? I don’t even know what they were called

3 (21m 41s):
Phones

2 (21m 42s):
Pretty much. The only thing that you could do on your phone was placed snake and

4 (21m 45s):
Motorola razor. Oh no. You’re talking about the Nokia’s like old school

3 (21m 49s):
And you had to push a button like three times for a letter to pop up.

2 (21m 53s):
Yeah. And you used to have to pay for how many text messages you would get per month,

4 (21m 57s):
10 cents.

2 (21m 58s):
That’s what I’m talking about those days. So anyways, I used to travel during those days. And so most people didn’t really take their phones because you didn’t even have international plans for cell phones. Like it was such a

4 (22m 9s):
Difficult time internet

2 (22m 10s):
That too, that too. Right. So why take your phone? But anyways, when I traveled, I did take my phone and I remember I was in Europe with Nicole Long story short. We split up for the evening and I got on the bus and Nicole said, oh, it’ll be easy. You just get off here. And of course it wasn’t easy for me. And I ended up on the bus for three hours. I even passed an airport and I was like, what the fuck? We weren’t supposed to pass an airport. And it Saks because Nicole didn’t have her phone and I couldn’t even use my phone. And so I had a phone that was just like completely couldn’t do anything. So anyways, long story short, I ended up finding my way home, but it was at a time when phones didn’t really play any importance in travel. So you just figure it out and you go with the flow, you ask questions and nice people are going to help you.

1 (22m 53s):
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2 (23m 3s):
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3 (23m 46s):
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4 (24m 1s):
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2 (24m 32s):
Wouldn’t necessarily call that one, right? It wasn’t

3 (24m 34s):
Freaking out. You’re frantically running around the hotel

2 (24m 37s):
In my

4 (24m 37s):
Row. So I mean, I remember this story, but mostly what I remember is Kim and Brittany went down to the spa area in our hotel that we were at in China. And apparently they were taking nudes of each other. I’m just going to throw that out. I remember that being the case. I remember that being the case anyway, all of a sudden I get numerous missed calls in my hotel room because I’m showering yet. Zena’s like, oh, what’s going on? Like the lights are out. I don’t know what’s happening. Yeah.

2 (25m 5s):
Oh no, no. I know what happened. I know what happened. Okay. So in China, in order to preserve energy, your card that you use to get into the room is also your electricity. So they have slots for you to put your card in, in order to give the room electricity. So when you take the card out, it loses electricity. So you lose the lights,

4 (25m 29s):
Very standard and foreign countries, particularly in Asia. I’ve seen that the most,

2 (25m 33s):
It’s a smart system in order to preserve the energy rather than leaving the lights on all day. So Exactly. Yeah. So I was in the shower and I don’t know if it was my card or Kim’s card, whatever. But anyways, Kim went with Brittany, of course, you know, Kim and I are each other’s plus ones. We’re sharing a room, Jamal and Brittany are in their own room. So Kim and Brittany go downstairs to go to the baths and take whatever pictures. And she pulled the card out of the slot, which left me alone. Not intentionally. I don’t think that Kim did intentionally, by the way, You wouldn’t do that to me. But anyways, when she pulled it out, it left me in the dark pitch, black

4 (26m 16s):
And sosanna calls me frantically going like, oh, I’m in

6 (26m 19s):
The dark in here. I have no lights up.

2 (26m 21s):
I wasn’t afraid of the dark to be clear. It was more of like a freak out. Like what the fuck dude?

4 (26m 29s):
And this all happened because Kim and Brittany decided to take nudes of each other in the spot.

3 (26m 34s):
It was a very tall wooden. What was it? Back to tub. Yes. You don’t see those every day.

2 (26m 40s):
So I got in my robe and I went running up and down the halls trying to find Kim so I can get that card back.

4 (26m 46s):
I think he even went down to the spa and we’re asking people, obviously English, like

3 (26m 54s):
You’re running around in the hallways

8 (26m 56s):
Now. I mean, Brittany found you.

2 (26m 57s):
Yeah. And no one spoke English. So no one under obviously, you know, like we’re in China. So like I don’t speak Chinese, although I wish I could, because I do feel like when someone’s at Mandarin, I don’t, I, you know, when you’re in someone’s country, you know, to show them the respect. But I, I was in a freak out. I didn’t speak a single word. I’m like belligerent in English. Have you seen these two girls? And they’re not understanding me. And I think I eventually found them or Jamal. I don’t even remember what happened. And then I was able to resume my shower,

1 (27m 28s):
But this isn’t the only freak out you had in China. You also had another freakout in China. When you lost your, you didn’t lose, you didn’t bring your whisper. And everyone kept asking you why you didn’t have your whisper. You

2 (27m 40s):
Guys drove me to this freak out. She was

3 (27m 42s):
At her wit’s end.

4 (27m 42s):
It’s usually when Brittany driving me towards my freak outs that she tells you about. So then I can sympathize with you on this one because I understand. However,

2 (27m 51s):
However,

4 (27m 52s):
No, I admit that what Brittany describes as freak outs is what happened to Zaina Zaina is saying we aggravated her to it. I’m telling you. And I have them. If you want to call them that Brittany aggravates me towards them. However, a whisper, when we were on our tour in China, they have little headphones so that our tour guide can speak into them. We could be spread apart. Nobody has to yell. You hear it right in your ear. Zayna forgot hers on the bus when we were at a museum.

2 (28m 21s):
Okay. So that was the day that we flew from Beijing to Shan. And I guess we had specific instructions about what you couldn’t take. You couldn’t put the whisper in your luggage. I think it was

4 (28m 34s):
Luggage because we were going to need it. And I think you did.

2 (28m 36s):
I mean, I don’t even remember what happened, but it’s not in like, I N like I forgot it. It was more of, I didn’t realize where I was supposed to pack it. And so then we got off the plane. We didn’t even go straight to the hotel room. Like we just like were hardcore. We went from the airport out in order to preserve time. And so I didn’t have my whisper with me. So I didn’t say anything. I was a hundred percent fine. I took full self responsibility. It’s my fault, blah, blah, blah. So then we go into this museum and when we’re in the museum, Jamal and Brittany and cam all look at me and they’re like, where’s your whisper? And I was like, oh, I don’t, I don’t have it with me. And I was fine about that. Right. And they’re like, I can’t believe you guys, you forgot your whisper.

2 (29m 17s):
I can’t believe you don’t have your whisper. And I’m like, it’s cool. I’m fine. And then the tour guide looks at me and he’s like, oh, you don’t have your whisper here. Use my whisper because someone else was talking, he wasn’t talking. So he was trying to give me his whisper. And I was like, no, no, no, no. It’s okay. I’m fine. I’m fine. He’s like, no, no, no, no, please take it. Take it. And I was like, okay, because he was being kind and he was insisting. And so I was like, okay. So when I took it, then Jamal looks at me and he scoffs at me. And if you’ve ever been scoffed at, by Jamal, it is an experience. It

4 (29m 47s):
Is an experience.

2 (29m 49s):
It gives you shame you.

4 (29m 51s):
When I scoff at somebody, it should be Seamus. Just like, how could you?

2 (29m 55s):
Yeah. And it was so painful when he did that. And I was like, I can’t believe this motherfucker scoffed at me. So I gave the whisper back to Tom and then I stormed off because I was like, why is everyone getting on my fucking case about the whisper? Cause I didn’t even complain about the fact that I didn’t have a whisper. And then I got scoffed at, by Jamal

4 (30m 16s):
Freako

1 (30m 17s):
And just having a freak right

3 (30m 18s):
Now. Massive freak out.

2 (30m 20s):
I am defending myself as to what drove me to that point.

4 (30m 25s):
So if you didn’t discern anything from the stories and had two major, major freak outs in China,

3 (30m 31s):
Major, major, major, I’m

2 (30m 33s):
Called

1 (30m 33s):
And you know what? Jamal has probably the most freak outs of, oh yeah man. So Jamal doesn’t have room to talk.

4 (30m 40s):
I just want to say, we clarify this earlier. You drive me to them, but you know, that’s neither here nor there let’s continue on. We’ll bypass mine. We can,

3 (30m 47s):
Let’s just quickly name them. We’ve already talked about on our episode, how you had a major freak out on our sunrise hike, you stormed off, we were calling your name. You wouldn’t come back. You’ve literally flipped.

4 (31m 1s):
I was ahead of you guys because I was trying to keep pace to make sure we got to the top of the mountain for sunrise, which was the whole goal. And,

2 (31m 8s):
And you disappeared. We were shouting your name.

4 (31m 12s):
I was so far ahead. I didn’t hear you guys until later. So it wasn’t a freak out. Like I’m ignoring the bitches in the back. It was like, literally I couldn’t hear you. Cause I was so far ahead. Anyway, they claimed this was a whole freak out situation. You know, I’ll give it 33%. Maybe it was. But, but you know what? Anyway,

3 (31m 31s):
What about the incident in Japan? In the Japan episode we talked about with

4 (31m 36s):
I’ll admit that, but it was half freak out, half panic attack. And if anyone is prone to panic attacks, sympathize with me on this one, this was a legit panic attack that turned into being like a freak out. Cause I thought it was going to die.

2 (31m 49s):
The months before we went to Japan, Jamal was like talking a big game about he’s finally going to have food.

4 (31m 56s):
I wanted to try Fu it’s a delicacy. If anyone doesn’t know what it is, it’s Blowfish. It’s highly poisonous and toxic. If prepared in the wrong way by the sushi chef or the chef that is cutting up and dicing the fish. Cause if you get to their internal organs and it spills out into the flesh, they have a neurotoxin that will paralyze you kill you. There literally is no remedy for that or anything they could give you. They could just put you on oxygen and hope the oxygen supplement keeps you alive when you can’t breathe yourself. Okay. So that’s what Fu is. You

2 (32m 29s):
Have to be trained to

4 (32m 30s):
Yeah, you have to be a specialty chef

2 (32m 33s):
And the emperor can’t eat it.

4 (32m 34s):
Yes. He can’t eat it because of how dangerous it could potentially be. So nonetheless, I was excited to try it. Not because of the danger aspect, even though I am a danger ninja, it was simply because I was like, dude, this is a Japanese delicacy. I want to have it. We finally try it. And you know what? After I ate it, I gave myself an induced freak out thinking to myself, oh my gosh, I’m feeling all the things that they say you’re supposed to feel if the neurotoxins in there and you’re about to die, my lips were going numb. I started to get warm. Probably the warmth was me just panicking myself. Won’t deny that. And then everyone was trying to calm me down and talk to me. I’m just like, shut the fuck up. Don’t talk to me.

4 (33m 15s):
I need my own space. I’m about to die and you know what? Well, okay, I didn’t die. I’m still here. However, I, in the moment I thought I was and you know what? I let it alter my mood for the remainder of the evening because we had dinner that night. However, the next morning I woke up refresh, knowing that I’m alive and well, and I didn’t let that mishap ruin the rest of my trip in Japan.

2 (33m 37s):
I think you’re freaked out started before you even took a bite because when they brought it out, which by the way, foo for being so dangerous, it’s a very cheap death. It’s $5

4 (33m 47s):
And it’s all over the place,

2 (33m 49s):
All

4 (33m 49s):
Over the

2 (33m 49s):
Place. So Jamal and Brittany, you get the $5 and then they put it out.

4 (33m 55s):
Oh, $5. Like they went cheap. That’s the price. I know. I know. I’m just clarifying.

2 (33m 59s):
I’m just saying that it’s cheap. If you were to die, like it for such a delicacy, it’s not like, even for me, I was expecting to see like 10 or $15 on the menu. So when I saw that it was actually $5 for this FUBU, I was like, damn, that’s cheap. So anyways, they put it out in front of Jamal and Brittany and Jamal immediately. Like you see the sweat bead formulating upon his forest.

3 (34m 24s):
And that says a lot because when we were in that sauna in Arkansas, hot Springs, national park, you didn’t even in sweat,

9 (34m 32s):
We were covered in,

4 (34m 33s):
It took me a little bit too time to start sweating in there. I don’t know what it is. You know, I, I, I maybe should see a doctor. I don’t know if it’s on my unhealthy or what, but it takes me a while and heat to literally sweat. But once it comes, it’s profused. However, I started to get a little bead of sweat on my forehead out of nervousness, like, oh fuck. I don’t know if I’m ready to eat this food goo. And then it lands on the table. Brittany takes a bite right away.

2 (34m 57s):
Wait, wait, you even told Brittany, I think we may have to throw this $5 away.

4 (35m 4s):
I did say that I was concerned and then it came out, Brittany just ate it. And I’m like, if Brittany ate it, I have to eat it too. And so I hadn’t mentally prepped myself for it. And again, you want to hear the full story? Listen to our Tokyo Japan episode. It’s a classic one. Even beyond this tale of a supposed to freak out. Yeah. So I mean, we talk about putting tush on that one and if you want to know what the reference is, again, go listen to it. But one more freak out. Maybe we’ll talk about, unless the girls could think of other ones. I chipped my tooth in Europe. I was highly pissed about that. It was the most stupidest way I bid a fork and I thought to myself like, man, it feels deep.

4 (35m 44s):
I think my tooth is going to crumble and yeah, I had a freak out, but again, want to reiterate freak out in the moment by noon, I was ready to go for the remainder of the trip. Don’t let it spoil it.

3 (35m 55s):
All my freak outs come around food. If you don’t feed me or you try to feed me mushrooms, forget about it.

4 (36m 2s):
You ruined my Chicago style pizza experience because of your hate of mushrooms.

3 (36m 8s):
You mean I made it better?

4 (36m 9s):
I don’t think so. So tell us about it.

3 (36m 15s):
Well, who the fuck eats mushrooms on a pizza? It’s disgusting.

4 (36m 18s):
We do.

3 (36m 20s):
All we need to know is there were some nasty ass mushrooms coming on. This pizza, everyone was being a hard-ass on the pizza and Jamal is just the sweetest soul on earth To offer, to eat mushroom pizza with the best of us.

2 (36m 36s):
No, cause I think they would only do half the pizza with mushrooms, half not. And so Jamal said, okay, you know what? Don’t even worry about it. Like we’ll get half no mushrooms and I’ll have no mushrooms with you. Even though like the pizza was supposed to come.

4 (36m 49s):
I mean, it’s ma it’s Chicago style pizza. It’s made literally like a pie and apparently they could only put the sides on half. They can’t do it as quarters. Cause we were planning on splitting it. Which if you want me to be honest, I’m calling bullshit. You can put things on a quarter of a pizza and not necessarily on half. So anyway Zayna and Brittany were real adamant. No, fuck it. I want mushrooms. And then it was like a whole debacle because it’s like, these are Chicago style pizzas. They’re deep dish. They’re really filling. Now it’s a waste to order extra just because Kim’s being picky. And she was having a major, major freak out about it and giving everyone shit, you can see it in Kim’s face. You know, when Kim actually has her freak outs, you really get silent.

4 (37m 29s):
She doesn’t have that little Curry. Yeah. She doesn’t have that look of disgust and that scoff that I give, but she has this one look that I really can’t describe when you know, it was like, oh fuck, Kim’s pissed.

2 (37m 41s):
She gave it to me. And I don’t think I necessarily helped because here’s the thing. Okay. So we’re at a very, very famous Chicago pizza place. What is it like Lou, Malnati’s somebody

4 (37m 50s):
Super,

2 (37m 50s):
Super, super famous. And they’ve already told us that it’s going to be 30, 40 minutes. Wait, once we place the order. And so we’ve been sitting there for about 10 minutes,

4 (38m 3s):
Even 20 deciding

3 (38m 5s):
It was 10 and we weren’t starving.

4 (38m 7s):
We’re starving.

3 (38m 8s):
We weren’t starving

4 (38m 10s):
Was starving,

2 (38m 11s):
Debatable, but anyways, so we’re sitting there and in those tent, this is a popular place in the 10 minutes that we’ve been sitting there, the restaurant has filled up to capacity. And so I guess this was brought to my attention that maybe I could have said this in a more softer way. It was meant with love. It was meant with awareness that, Hey, they already said that it’s going to be a 30 to 40 minute wait for the pizza. And now it’s filling up faster. So we probably want to put our order in. Otherwise we’re going to wait even longer. And Kim responded with that. Look not a single word.

2 (38m 51s):
She like was looking at the menu. She looked up, she gave me that look. And then she looked back down at her menu and I was like, whoa, I got those.

1 (38m 60s):
And Kim said she wasn’t hungry. She was because she ordered cheese, curds pizza. And I knew she was hungry. She was hangry.

4 (39m 11s):
The point being Jamal trooped it out said, I won’t have mushrooms on my deep dish. And we were good to go and place our order. But because of Kim’s freak out, we literally lost probably an hour that day of extra time in Chicago.

2 (39m 26s):
I just want to point out that after that incident, Jamal and Brittany kind of got into a little bit of a freakout fight because Jamal gave Brittany a piece of pizza. And then as soon as he gave it to her, he realized that there were no mushrooms on it. So he was like, oh Brittany, I gave you the piece without any mushrooms. Let me switch you. So you can have the peace with mushrooms. And Brittany is like, no, it’s okay. I’ll eat this. And Jamal’s like, no. I said, I was going to have the portion without any mushrooms. And Brittany’s like, no, it’s fine. I’ll eat it without mushrooms. And Jamal’s like, no, give me the piece without the mushrooms. And then it became an argument for the slice without the mushrooms

4 (39m 56s):
Look at Kim’s picky eating rule in the whole day for all

3 (39m 59s):
Of this could have been avoided if we just did Sans mushrooms.

1 (40m 2s):
So, or if we all got mushrooms and everyone just ate it,

2 (40m 6s):
If anyone’s wondering what we argue about on the road, these are our typical

4 (40m 11s):
And Zena’s lack of understanding of a shower rotation.

1 (40m 17s):
Zaina Zaina, doesn’t often check the visa requirements when we go into other countries and that is another travel mishap.

4 (40m 27s):
So we’re moving on from freak outs. And we’re now going to not checking regulations when entering a country. And this is Zeno right here, not looking at visa requirements, not realizing that she needs us dollars in Zimbabwe to buy her visa and has absolutely no money when we get to Zimbabwe for a visa.

2 (40m 46s):
No, no, no, no, no. I just want to say that this is in, where were we? We were still in South Africa and Kim was not with us on this trip. Otherwise I think I know Kim was so yeah. So I think Kim and I would have looked out for each other, but in any case I didn’t have us dollars on me because I had pulled out, well, I didn’t bring any us dollars with me. And instead I just,

4 (41m 8s):
That’s

1 (41m 8s):
Already a mistake.

2 (41m 9s):
Yes, I get that. So I just had the south African dollars. I forgot exactly what the Rand. Yes. I only had the Rand on me. So this is several days before we’re even leaving for Zimbabwe. I mean, we still have a stop in east. Guazzini where we’re going to celebrate my birthday. So

4 (41m 26s):
Big birthday, by the way.

2 (41m 28s):
So anyways, our tour guide mentioned that we need U S dollars in order to get our visa in Zimbabwe. So I was like, oh shit, I don’t have any us dollars. I was perfectly content with going to the ATM and taken out U S dollars or going to the bank. Cause he was saying that if you don’t have us dollars, you will need it. You need to go here in order to get it. So I was fine with that.

1 (41m 49s):
The steps you would have, have to drag the rest of us with you to go do that

4 (41m 54s):
Because we weren’t going to be anywhere in town, near and ATM for the rest of the day. Wow.

2 (41m 58s):
Anyways, so Jamal and Brittany drove me to a freak out as they scoffed.

4 (42m 3s):
And we let you thinking about it,

1 (42m 5s):
But you know what? We let you borrow the money and you learned that you need to bring American dollars no matter where you travel in the world,

4 (42m 12s):
You know, this was on a guided tour. They give you a literal itinerary of what you’re doing each day and the requirements of it. It was in there. Zaina chose not to read it another perfect example of her not coming prepared on a trip. I just have to say,

2 (42m 27s):
I’m a different person. When I travel by myself, I’ve traveled by myself. Plenty of times, I’ve lived overseas by myself.

3 (42m 32s):
Dana went to Cuba and we got along just fine without mommy.

4 (42m 35s):
Well, when Zaina has to do the research, she’s fine. But when she relies on us to do it for her, sometimes things lack and obviously bringing the money to get the visa into a country on one of your tour spots. That is a lacking thing.

2 (42m 48s):
Did I read the itinerary? No. Did I assume that they’ll let me know if there’s anything important in there? Absolutely. So anyways, they let me borrow the money and I paid him the back once we got home. But yeah. So I guess main point of that story is read the itinerary, but yeah, Kim is right. We did get along great in Cuba. I mean, we even ran out of dollars. They don’t have ATM’s in Cuba. So you have to bring as much cash as you need. Plus more to Cuba. And the night before we went out partying, we got drinks. There was no food to buy cause apparently you can only get it in restaurants. So we partied in a place where we had to forgo our purses and phones.

2 (43m 29s):
They took us to a back place, partied back there and then we walked home and then we pooled our us dollars together in order to get a cab ride to the airport, they dropped us off at the wrong terminal. And then we had to find even more money deep in our pockets because we were running so low to get another taxi to the correct terminal. And then we found out that we had to pay in the Cuban, cooks to check the baggage. And we were like, oh shit, I forgot exactly how we managed. But a money came out of thin air

4 (44m 0s):
CNN currency

10 (44m 2s):
And it works out. It worked out. That’s the fun of travel.

2 (44m 5s):
You figure it out. I’m telling you, you will always figure it out. You just gotta go with the flow and be a positive.

4 (44m 10s):
Yeah. And I just want to say again, you know, the whole theme of this is travel mishaps and that’s a mishap they’re going to happen. You just can’t let it affect your trip. Even if it affects your trip in that moment, don’t let it linger and affect the remainder and duration of your trip. You just got to persevere, move past and move on.

2 (44m 27s):
So a hop jump and a skip to the next one on the list.

4 (44m 30s):
Lucky number seven.

2 (44m 31s):
Yes. Number seven is not purchasing travel insurance.

4 (44m 35s):
And the days of COVID, this is crucial now. So you always should. And again, a lot of the booking sites, Expedia, even airlines are being more lenient with their refunds returns postponements, but you should still look into getting the travel insurance.

2 (44m 52s):
We should also specify that there’s two types of travel insurance and we’re referencing one. So one of course would be for your health. That takes care of that. That’s not what we’re talking about. We always get that always, always, always. So the travel insurance that we’re talking about is for the trip cancellation

4 (45m 7s):
Protection.

2 (45m 7s):
Exactly. Yeah. So at the beginning of January, 2020, we did go to Lebanon. But as soon as we bought our ticket in, I think it was October or November, the country started their revolution, long story,

4 (45m 19s):
The mass anti-government protests, long story for another time, but point being civil unrest.

2 (45m 25s):
Exactly. And so it immediately broke out after we bought our ticket. And so when it came time in January, we were debating on whether or not we could go just because of the safety. And there were riots that were taking place every single day in different portions of the city ATM’s were smashed. Graffiti was everywhere. There was looting in the downtown area. And we were like, oh shit, what should we do? But we didn’t have any type of insurance. So we were like, well, let’s just go. But we were concerned because there was also road closures. So we thought like, shit, once we get there, are we even going to be able to do anything? But we went

4 (46m 1s):
The way you described it as semi accurate. However, we were still able to have a really good time. They were confined to certain areas, but what you see in the news versus when you’re there, I don’t want to say it’s like different, but again, there’s over exaggerations. Or if not, over-exaggeration is not the full story of what’s happening. It wasn’t happening everywhere, only in certain parts. But some other people might’ve taken that and said to themselves, you know what? I don’t want to go. And again, have that trip protection cancellation. I don’t want to say this was a full-blown travel mishap in a sense in that way. But for somebody it could have altered the trip and then they could have been out a lot of money, same situation referencing back about Brittany and I’s trip to Hong Kong and not purchasing that insurance, same thing.

4 (46m 42s):
So I’m a believer now and trip cancellation protection insurance,

1 (46m 47s):
Another travel mishap. Number eight is not doing enough research and thinking you only need a certain number of days in a place, but you get there and realize you could have done a lot more there and wish you had more time for

2 (46m 59s):
Before oppositely. You have too much and you realize I could have done it in less time.

4 (47m 4s):
Absolutely. A good point on that one, because we’re talking here more about not having enough in one spot, but I could think about one specific version. No, not Denver. I was going to say one spot where Brittany and I spent the night and it was way too much time Hilo Hawaii. And let me tell you something, they have a cool waterfall there, but other than that two one’s better than the other. So that’s why I really say one. However, however, it’s a big city on big island, Hawaii, and you think you need the time and then you’re there and realize that’s really it. Everything else in Hilo is really residential. Not touristy, not really all that. Cool. Don’t want to throw shade on Hilo, but I am. So that’s something on that end and not realize in that.

4 (47m 47s):
However, going back to what we originally saying though about not doing your research and not having enough time, let me say something hot Springs, Arkansas. I think we’ve mentioned this before someplace that we weren’t expecting it to be terrible. We just didn’t realize how fricking awesome was going to be and how much more time we really would want to spend there.

2 (48m 6s):
I mean, we mentioned it on so many podcasts, how underrated hot Springs Arkansas was. We really weren’t expecting that much. And it was just such an amazing time

4 (48m 15s):
And in such a small town too. And that’s why we thought like, okay, we don’t need much time and then you’re there. And just like, oh man, I could spend more time here.

2 (48m 22s):
Yeah. I mean like the entire city is pretty much the national park. It’s amazing. Yeah. I can’t wait to go

4 (48m 27s):
Back

2 (48m 27s):
Someday. Exactly. But the reason why I initially said that like, or maybe you didn’t do enough research and you realize you can do it in less time. Cause that also happened to me for soccer, Croatia. No Sakara is the Capitol for Croatia. And I was just passing through Europe on my way to Lebanon. And I think I like had booked on the hostel three nights cause I thought, oh, this’ll be great. And then after roaming around the city that day and I get back to my hostel, I’m talking to the group of front and I was like, there really isn’t that much to do. And she’s like, oh yeah, you really don’t need more than a day in Sahib. Like you want to spend more time in split Croatia and Dubrovnik Dubrovnik. Thanks. I was trying to think of it. I knew it started with a deep, and so I told her, well, I’m going there, but I just, I booked more time here.

2 (49m 13s):
Cause I thought like I would need more time in Zagreb. And she’s like, oh no, if you write us a five-star review on hostelworld.com, I’ll go ahead and refund you back for like two nights, if you want to like leave tomorrow. And I was like, oh my God, absolutely. So I worked that out with her and then that way I was able to spend more time in split and Bravo, Nick,

4 (49m 33s):
When Brittany and I were in Croatia, we went on a guided tour, granted that went through the whole Dalmatian coast, Croatia, Albania, Slovenia, et cetera. And it bypass saga grub probably for the same reason that you’re talking about right now. They’re like, oh, Nope, we’re just going to Dubrovnik and split.

2 (49m 52s):
Those are the tourist areas. Now I do think soccer was really, really nice. And I do think it’s worth seen, but it doesn’t need that much time. And I was there on Easter Sunday and everything was closed,

4 (50m 3s):
Even worse.

2 (50m 4s):
Like I I’m like legit when I found a McDonald’s and I discovered that it was open. I bowed down to the yellow arches because nothing, nothing was open feeding us right into number nine. Huge,

11 (50m 18s):
Huge, huge

2 (50m 20s):
Travel mishap Being.

4 (50m 23s):
I think we can all admit that we’ve been there at one point or maybe once or multiple times. And let me tell you something going cheap on a trip is a fucking terrible and stupid idea. Don’t do it.

2 (50m 36s):
You know, I sell who went with Kim and I to Cuba. I just always remember because when I lived in Lebanon and I would be like cheap at that time, because this was years, years ago, she would always shake me on my shoulders sometimes. Literally sometimes not. And just be like, Zana. I mean like you’re here to experience this. Like how many times are you going to come back? Obviously in Lebanon, like I’m Lebanese, I’m going to go back plenty of times. But for her, she wasn’t, she’s like, how many times are we going to be here? How many times are we going to experience it? Don’t be cheap. We have to do this. Otherwise you’ll never be able to do it again.

4 (51m 7s):
It’s like when Brittany convinced you to get titty coffee, when we were going to Mount

3 (51m 11s):
Rainier, I don’t regret that.

2 (51m 14s):
I was like, what was Teddy copy? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, because it was so expensive and Brittany looks at me and she’s like, well, it’s a part of the experience. And as soon as she said, that mindset has changed over the years, as soon as she reminded me that this is the experience, I was like, oh, okay, I’ll take a vanilla latte please.

4 (51m 29s):
Well, the coffee from the barista in lingerie, isn’t really too much of missing out on an experience. Like the other ones that we’re going to be talking about specifically Sochi Malco. When we were in Mexico city,

3 (51m 41s):
Africa level,

4 (51m 42s):
While Africa level regret for you Squad level regret for all of us. So Sochi Malco is a very famous spot in Mexico city where you can ride in little canals and rivers on boats that are all flamboyantly colored and decked out. And then while you’re on the boats and riding through the canals, there’s other boats doing the same thing. There’s vendors on there, selling tacos, selling roasted corn and selling beer surveys. So yeah, anything you could want and you know what, there also is. There’s boats going around with mariachi bands and you can call those mariachi bands onto your boat and they will play mariachi for you.

2 (52m 21s):
We didn’t even call the mariachi. They, we were passing one and the guy jumped on to our boats and he’s like, oh, you know, we’ll play a song for you. We’ll play a song for you.

4 (52m 29s):
And we were all too cheap to do that. And as a big regret, and let me tell you something, you’re going to hear this and think, oh my God, how stupid they were trying to charge $5 for a song. And

3 (52m 41s):
We’re like, hell didn’t we do it. And we were writing,

2 (52m 43s):
No, I, you know, I, I look back and I’m just like, why? Well, okay, Jamal says $5, but they said a hundred pesos. So you have to do the conversion because,

4 (52m 54s):
And 20 pays, 20 pesos is pretty much about a dollar

3 (52m 58s):
And we’re passing each other. And we had to think quick,

4 (53m 0s):
But you know what I said this before, when we were talking about this in the Mexico city episode and maybe another one too, it’s one of those things where you think all this is Mexico. Things are cheaper than they really are. And certain things are, but obviously not when it comes to human talent and skill such as the mariachi band itself. So I felt like, oh, $5 for one song. Like we’re really getting shafted here. But I mean, there were six of us on the, so it was less than a dollar per person, but yet we still thought, so that is a big regret. Don’t go cheap on something like that. But there’s been other instances too. Absolutely.

1 (53m 35s):
Kim, you have a big,

3 (53m 37s):
I think anyone that anyone that’s into fashion and style when you don’t buy something and you think about it for a long time after that is a bigger gret. And I think things that you want to buy on trips fall into that category. They’re massive regrets if you wanted to buy something. And there was one, there’s been many times that I can remember these necklaces and Cusco that I was like, oh, I’ll come back to it and I’ll get it. But we never went back and I never got it. And I’m here before you four and a half years later still thinking about it.

1 (54m 5s):
What about Africa?

3 (54m 6s):
Africa is just one. I didn’t go on the trip. And that is a huge regret. So that’s a travel mishap in itself is saying no to a trip that you could have made happen

4 (54m 15s):
And being cheap because I think you thought it was too expensive and I’m not going to sit here and say it wasn’t expensive. It was. But in hindsight, in terms of the value that would have gotten out of it, it was fairly cheap.

3 (54m 25s):
The value doesn’t take away from the cost of something. It costs is a cost, regardless of if it’s worth it. But yes, it was expensive. I wasn’t being cheap. I was being budget conscious.

4 (54m 36s):
Sure. I used it. I used a bad word, I guess, by calling you that I didn’t mean it.

3 (54m 40s):
I could’ve made it work in hindsight if I would’ve just made the decision to do so.

2 (54m 45s):
I mean, in all fairness, it was over $5,000 per person for that trip.

4 (54m 49s):
No, absolutely

3 (54m 50s):
Cheap trip. It’s not, you know, a day trip or anything, but I could have made it work if I really wanted to. And that is my Africa regret.

1 (54m 58s):
Jamal also has the regret in Africa as well.

4 (55m 1s):
I know I was going to say funny thing, you mentioned that about fashion and style Kim, because I don’t think I have a fantastic sense of fashion, but I don’t think it’s dull either. However, when we were in Africa, my friend Josh came, his girlfriend bought him a specific button up shirt when we were in east Latini, Swazi land. And I don’t know how to describe it other than, you know, it just kind of has those African patterns, colors, and flares to it. And it looked really good on Josh. And I said, oh man, I should probably get one for myself too. I think I could pull it off. Probably could add. Brittany’s like, oh yeah, I definitely think you could. And when Brittany says I can, I believe it because she’s very firm at telling me when something doesn’t look good on me.

4 (55m 41s):
So I believed it. And then I was in, I ended up getting cheap and I was like, nah, like I don’t really want to spend 20 bucks on like the button up. Like, it’s cool, but when am I really going to wear it? And now I really regret the fact that I don’t have it.

2 (55m 55s):
It was such a sick shirt on Josh.

4 (55m 56s):
It screamed Africa, but like in a good way, you know what I mean? And I regret not having it now. So that was me being cheap.

2 (56m 4s):
Brittany, do you have any regrets?

1 (56m 5s):
No. Every time that Jamal and I go on vacation, I say Jamal bucket, we’re on vacation and we go

3 (56m 11s):
Motto

1 (56m 11s):
Balls to the wall.

2 (56m 13s):
I don’t know if we mentioned this on the Balise episode. I can’t remember, but Nicole and I did the ATM cave tour, which is where the Mayans used to take people to sacrifice others. And I remember Nicole and I didn’t realize that you didn’t need as much time there. And so we still had another day. And so as we’re walking around, some guy came to us and was letting us know you should do the ATM and the cave tour. And I remember thinking to myself, like if we do this, I’m going to have to take money out of the ATM. And I have just enough in order to get back if we don’t do anything. So Nicole and I talked about it and we decided that we did want to do it. And it was $75, which is so funny. Cause like, when you really think about it, it’s so cheap.

2 (56m 54s):
And it was one of the most amazing experiences that I’ve ever had. So I’m so glad that I did it and I didn’t let that cheapness stop me because I was really pissed that I was going to have to take money out of the eighties, which is so stupid. When you think back on it,

4 (57m 7s):
Well, I want to move on off of this so we could get to the next one. But that also reminds me too, weren’t you? When we were in Africa, not really wanting to do the line walk and counter, cause it was a hundred dollars and he thought to yourself, that’s too expensive. I don’t want to spend 50. Yeah. So even more than I remember it being right. And so you didn’t want to do it and then you did it and you were happy about it. So it goes both ways in the sense that you can meet cheap and regret out on it and then something can be expensive and then you do it and realize, yeah, I’m so glad I didn’t go cheap. So point being when you’re on vacation, obviously people do have a budget, but if there’s something that’s really a splurge and you want to make it happen, make it happen. Because when you come back the experience and the memory is going to be well worth the price later, that is for sure.

4 (57m 49s):
So moving on to number 10 here, we’re going to talk about a guest in a sense, this is also still being cheap, but in a completely different way, travel mishap. Don’t bring shitty three ounce bottles that have your liquids leak out on you. When it’s in your luggage, it’s on the show notes here. Somebody probably had this happen to them. I’m waiting to see who jumps in and talks about it.

3 (58m 9s):
I’ve had it. I know Xena has too. I’m sure a lot of people haven’t, it’s not that they’re shitty bottles. It’s just that like, if you don’t pack them right. Or your bag is so full, you squish it and things get opened or things pop up in mid-flight and you don’t have it in a plastic bag, like you’re supposed to, and it gets all over your clothes and they’re wet and they’re greasy and they’re lotiony or they smell like a vape pen. Cause it broke in your luggage and you didn’t pack it. Right. No one else. Just me. Okay. Yeah. That happens.

2 (58m 39s):
I

3 (58m 39s):
Feel you properly.

2 (58m 41s):
Yeah. Because like you buy stuff and like you’re buying stuff for everyday use. So it’s not like it’s in three ounces, it’s going to be bigger than three ounces. So then when you’re going on the trip, you have to just take it out and put it into a three ounce bottle. And sometimes like, you just can’t help it. The bottle sucks, even if it’s not necessarily cheap, but it still leaks. And so like when you like basically what Kim said, you just got to pack it right. In order to avoid getting all that liquid and gunk and shit all over everything.

4 (59m 6s):
I mean, certain things will leak for sure. However, even though they are reusable containers, some are still better than others in that sense where you could help probably mitigate it. But sometimes, you know, even if it’s checked and it’s a liquid, it could explode in the airplane under pressure. So things do happen in that sense where your internals on the inside of your luggage get ruined based on the liquids that you have packed. Something I know all about too. That can be a travel. Mishap is taking too many pictures. Number

2 (59m 36s):
11,

1 (59m 36s):
Not taking enough pictures.

3 (59m 38s):
Oh yeah. I get so caught up in the moment sometimes. And I think back and I’m like, damn it,

4 (59m 42s):
I’m glad you said that Kim, because my first thought is, and again, hate to harp on Africa that you missed out on. But when we were in Africa, I took a lot of photos when we were on safari

3 (59m 53s):
For me to feel like I was there. Yes.

4 (59m 55s):
I took them for you. Really. Kim is really what it was and I enjoy still looking at them. They were great. However, I wish at some point though, I really just sat back and admired the moment more and what I was seeing, and I’m not sitting here saying that I didn’t do that because I did, I was able to admire enjoy. But sometimes you get too caught up in the moment of getting that perfect photo that you just don’t really accept the moment that you’re in and enjoy it fully. And I’m thinking one thing in particular, when we were at the elephant herd and they were crossing the road, I snapped so many pictures of the 50 elephants all lined up. And I just really wish after the first couple elephants, I watched the rest of them instead of taking all those photos,

2 (1h 0m 38s):
Good point, make sure you’re actually present in the trip and not behind the camera,

1 (1h 0m 42s):
But how many times have we come back from a trip? And we’re like, Hey, does anyone have a picture of this or that? And everyone’s like, no, we don’t have a picture. Dammit, wish we had the picture of this.

4 (1h 0m 53s):
I know. And it goes to being mindful too. So it’s both ways don’t take too many that you’re not in the moment, but if there’s something I guess maybe don’t get too caught up in the moment that you don’t have it if you want it later for a specific reason.

1 (1h 1m 5s):
And sometimes when you go on a trip, like the first few days, you’re like, oh, I got to take a picture of this and that and this and that. And so you take so many pictures, but by the end of your trip, you’re like, I don’t care if I get a picture in front of this

4 (1h 1m 16s):
Totally burnt out. And that’s probably how

3 (1h 1m 18s):
Burnout, that’s a real thing.

1 (1h 1m 20s):
Yeah. And you’re like, fuck it. I gotten like a hundred pictures.

3 (1h 1m 24s):
I don’t want another damn picture of this thing now. And another thing about photos too, is if you’re trying to get a certain photo of video, I know when we were in Dubai for the waterpark, we brought the GoPro, Jamal brought it, but we didn’t look up the rules for GoPros. There’s a bunch of rules for GoPros things on sticks, like selfie sticks and drone. So always look that up, but we didn’t look them up. So we didn’t know that it had to be on a bracelet on your wrist. Otherwise you weren’t allowed to have it out

4 (1h 1m 54s):
Or like as a necklace, like on like on your chest. Yeah.

3 (1h 1m 57s):
And therefore we got through a couple of times with then we got busted and we weren’t able to get the videos of us going down the water slides that we were really looking forward to having,

4 (1h 2m 7s):
We got a few they’re just not as good because I kind of had to hide it. So, you know, they’re not as good. And that they’re great.

3 (1h 2m 15s):
They just, we could have had more if we would have been prepared.

4 (1h 2m 19s):
Absolutely.

2 (1h 2m 20s):
And especial mentioned to also asking the wrong person to take a group shot who ends up sucking out, taking a group shot.

4 (1h 2m 26s):
I think in your favorite episode, Zane out, we talked about this. If we’re referencing back to Kings canyon and Sequoia, we talk all about photo etiquette. And I can’t tell you how many times we take a photo and you’re standing behind something grand and great. And the idiots just take a photo of you and don’t even get what the fuck you’re standing

3 (1h 2m 44s):
Up. It’s like,

12 (1h 2m 45s):
What are you crazy? You’re taking a photo.

3 (1h 2m 48s):
I was at Salem, Massachusetts Halloween week. And we were in front of the famous which house where they had literal witches that were hanged back in the day, took a photo for somebody, got the whole house in the background, stood back, kneel down, took sideways, long ways, beautiful shots of the whole picture, hand the camera over to get ours. The bitch like cuts off half the fucking house and just us. And I’m like, I don’t even look at it. I’m like what a damn shame. And it’s a long line to just get your picture in the first place too. You know, that was her travel mishap. And it was mine for trusting someone. You know, you gotta really look, you gotta see, does somebody care about their photos?

3 (1h 3m 30s):
Like ease your up a little. Are they talking about the shot? They’re gonna get like really scope out who you ask to take your picture.

1 (1h 3m 36s):
Sometimes you have to like actually get in their spot and be like, okay, this is the angle. I want to take it with this, this, this

3 (1h 3m 43s):
To show them the whole shot you want, then go stand in it.

1 (1h 3m 45s):
Yes.

3 (1h 3m 46s):
Ooh bonus. Wipe your camera down with a disinfectant white. Before you hand it over or likely someone to say, yes, I’ll take your picture. That’s

1 (1h 3m 53s):
True. Especially now in the times of COVID

3 (1h 3m 55s):
These are the times these are the times guys. I think another thing totally off topic from photos, but street food, lots of places have lots of crazy things to eat. You. Two are really crazy. And I think when you’re in a country, one of the biggest mishaps or regrets you could have is not trying something that the country is known for, that you really wanted to try.

4 (1h 4m 14s):
That’s why I had it. That’s why I had the food go. And even though I had a freak out, I don’t regret that. I had it. I actually feel like I would regret the fact I’d be like, oh, I didn’t have it. When I was there. Even though my experience with it was complete shit.

1 (1h 4m 29s):
I would say I’m probably the most adventurous eater out of the four of us.

2 (1h 4m 33s):
You took it out of my mouth. I was about to say, shout out to Brittany. She’s the first one to put it in her mouth. No, really like when we were in Japan and we’re passing like octopus on a stick, Brittany’s the first

4 (1h 4m 47s):
Step.

2 (1h 4m 48s):
Yeah. She’s like, I’ll do it. You know, she’s the first person quail egg. I’ll do it. Embryo. What was that? Is that the Qualia? Yeah. Brittany’s eaten an embryo before, out of an egg. She’s like, I’ll do it. Let’s

4 (1h 4m 60s):
The bullet in the Philippines.

2 (1h 5m 1s):
Brittany is the first person to say yes, I will totally own it. I am the last person to say yes, on specific

1 (1h 5m 7s):
Things. You and Kim kind of like tie for that. Well,

2 (1h 5m 10s):
I am adventurous. I do believe that I am adventurous, but like,

4 (1h 5m 13s):
You know what you like, I guess Kim’s just a picky eater.

2 (1h 5m 19s):
Yeah. She’s very picky about mushrooms, but she was the first one to put the kid be Navy, which is raw meat in our mouth and love. Right.

4 (1h 5m 27s):
But Kim never turns down an opportunity to put me in,

3 (1h 5m 30s):
Especially

1 (1h 5m 31s):
When it’s wrong

4 (1h 5m 32s):
And it has growth

2 (1h 5m 33s):
Or Italian sausage,

1 (1h 5m 37s):
But you know what be adventurous. Try the street, food street, food says a lot about a culture and you might try something that you really like while you’re there.

3 (1h 5m 46s):
I had a memory pop up on my Snapchat the other day for my trip to Thailand, where my friends are chomping on barbecue scorpions. And I have the video like zooming in on their mouth, crunching all the pieces. Great experience.

2 (1h 6m 1s):
I don’t know if I would do it. I mean, like it just, you know what? I lied. If money was on the line, I would do it

4 (1h 6m 6s):
Last, but certainly not least number 13 here, the biggest mistake and travel mishap that you can make is thinking you don’t have the time or money to travel and go on that trip that you want to do.

3 (1h 6m 18s):
Absolutely. I can. I mean, Africa, Hulu,

4 (1h 6m 21s):
I was going to say, Kim can attest to that. We’ve mentioned it already with Africa, but just in general for people, we get this question all the time. How do you have the, the time, the opportunity to do it? And a lot of times we take rush trips on the weekend and yes, you may think to yourself, oh, I want to spend more time there. We already talked about that to an extent on one of the other things. But if we want to go, we go, we make it happen in a weekend or a longer trip. We budget for it. And I get that sometimes the time and means is difficult. But if you want to make something happen, not necessarily so many times over that you travel a lot, a lot, a lot, but want to do something you absolutely can if you prioritize it. So I think that’s a big mistake and misconception,

2 (1h 7m 3s):
You know, we all have the same amount of time in the day from like bill gates, Beyonce to the Travel Squad. So it really is a matter of, and I’m not saying that you can do everything in one day, but it really comes down to what do you prioritize? Because I promise you the things that you do prioritize, you’re going to get done and the things that you don’t, you don’t. So instead of saying, I don’t have the time try saying it’s not a priority for me and see how things change.

4 (1h 7m 27s):
I love how you put us in the echelon of Beyonce and bill gates and not comparison.

2 (1h 7m 32s):
We’re just like them. We got the same amount of time, man. They don’t have any more than us.

3 (1h 7m 36s):
So we’re not going to have a questions of the week this week. I know I’m really sad about it. But since this episode was inspired by people’s questions, when their trips have been canceled, we’ve gotten some DMS on Instagram about how they could salvage their trips. So we wanted to do this episode based on questions. So we’ll spare you the segment that I love most, but thank you guys so much for tuning in to us this week. We really appreciate it. Keep the adventures going with us. We’d love to see who our listeners are. Follow us on Instagram and YouTube Travel Squad Podcast, and send us in your questions. We’ll use them in the next episode.

2 (1h 8m 8s):
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 would

4 (1h 8m 14s):
Enjoy it too. Please subscribe, rate, and review our podcast and tune in every travel Tuesday for new episodes.

1 (1h 8m 21s):
Stay tuned for next week’s episode, we have some more amazing adventures and tips in store for you. Woo can’t wait. Bye everybody.