Family Trips with the Meyers Brothers - DAN TABERSKI Vacationed in The Poconos (Live from OnAir Fest 2025)

Episode Date: April 1, 2025

Join Seth and Josh as they chat with fellow podcaster, Dan Taberski, in a special live episode from the On Air Fest in Brooklyn! They discuss Dan's childhood summer vacations in the Poconos, navigating family dynamics, and the joys of recent beach vacations, growing up in Queens, working at Bob's Big Boy, and his unique journey into quilting. Plus, stories about Niagara Falls, terrifying amusement park rides, and the challenges of public transportation in NYC! Executive Producers: Rob Holysz & Jeph Porter Creative Producer: Sam Skelton Coordinating Producer: Derek Johnson Mix & Master: Josh Windisch Episode Artwork: Analise Jorgensen

This episode of Family Trips is brought to you by the all new 2025 Nissan Armada. Take your adventures to new heights. Learn more at NissanUSA.com. Hi Pashi. Hi Sufi. Let's just get something out of the way. You know I have a popular segment on my show called Day Drinking. I do, yeah. Did one yesterday. Yeah, I heard. And deeply hungover. I don't want to spoil who it was with.

Yeah, I was going to ask you, but maybe you'll tell me offline. I will say that it was the first time day drinking ended, and the person I was doing it with said, should we have one more? Oh, okay. Yeah. In the end, I was not, neither they or I were as drunk as I've been in the past.

Okay. I sort of kept it in control. I'm sure it's a conversation with Alexi, your wife, before you go into a day drinking, you say, hey, I'm going to work today and I will come home drunk. The good news is they're still on spring break. So I came home to an empty apartment. Gotcha.

What a dream for you. Dream. Not in your normal day-to-day life, but as a drunk gentleman walking in. As a drunk gentleman of a certain age, yeah. The only other thing I'll say is I don't actually think my issue right now is being hungover.

I just cannot sleep well anymore when I drink. And so I went to bed at nine, thought I'd be good to go, get a full 12 hours. 12 hours? Who are you, mom? I thought I'd be good to go, get a full 12 hours. 12 hours? Who are you, mom? Well, I thought I could go nine to nine. You know, I had, again, I had so much to drink. I had nobody waking me up.

And then I woke up at 1 a.m. for like three hours and then slept from four to seven. So, not good. Yeah. But, you know, it does still feel like, I don't know, legally sanctioned binge drinking, which not a lot of people have in their life. It's a nice little carve out I've built for myself.

Two a year. Where you've decided two a year is all that is, you know, because at some point it does become a little gnarly to watch. Yeah, you don't want wanna keep banging that gong. No, drink responsibly, as a lot of our sponsors make us say in the ad reads. Also, we went to an island.

Yeah, I can tell you're more tan. You're back to being tan, tan Sufi, and this is gonna be you until next winter, I imagine. Yeah, now I've got my base coat. I'll be good to go. Yeah. Really, we had a really fun time. Yeah. And I decided just to lean into the fact

that I am part of a beach family now. You know, whatever opinions I have about the beach are moot. Okay. And- Well, yeah, just, you have to the beach are moot. Okay. And- Well, yeah, just you have to reframe it in your own mind. If you don't like the beach and you're a beach family, wouldn't it be better if you could become pro beach? Beach guy.

Yeah. The great development is as your kids get older, they just need you less at the beach. Oh yeah. So they were really happy to just sort of go off and do their own thing. Managed to read a couple books, which was great. And, you know, but also I was out, there's been vacations in the past where I've said, you know what, I might just hang back.

And I decided not to do that ever. I also made a choice. When we're packing, I said, do I really need my computer? And I don't. And so I didn't bring my computer. And that was very nice as well. Yeah, so you were just on your phone the whole time.

No, as soon as we got there, I bought a computer. An island computer. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it works in the sand. It floats. You want a deal on a computer, buy it on an island. I think I was pretty good with phone too. I left my phone behind a lot when we went to the beach. Yeah, that's good.

I think that just having an e-reader is the best possible thing you can have. Yeah. I mean, you see those people with a big old book, but an e-reader is just, they're good. Yeah. I mean, I see, you see those people, you know, with a big old book, but an e-reader is just, it's, they're good. Yeah. They're good in the sun. I did have one big old book. There was a, there's an author coming up and I read her book. And so I did have a physical copy of a book, but as soon as that was done,

I switched over to the old e-reader. Yeah. And notice I'm not going gonna shout out a brand. Yeah, because someone might pop in here and decide to get the Myers boys to start showing their e-reader. And we've mentioned as well, of course, the two surprise trips that Addie and then Axel took to visit dad. Obviously, Ash is very excited about making a surprise trip as well.

A fourth child has now requested a surprise trip. Cousin Agnes? Yeah, my niece Agnes. And again, not a, this is not a blood niece. Right. So she is not in the Pankajeri or her bloodline at all. But she's a huge, Agnes is a huge in the Pankajeri or Hurri bloodline at all. Right. But she's a huge, Agnes is a huge fan of Pankajeri.

Yeah. Always has been. Yeah. And so she also talks like this, Sass! And she came up to me and said, Sass! Can I surprise Pankajeri?

And, you know, which is very sweet. So I said, maybe Ash, maybe Ash would want you to go on his. And Ash said, no. Yeah. So I might, I don't know if I'll ever actually make a fourth trip with a child that's not mine. Well, maybe you should just send Zach, Agnes' dad, send Zach and Agnes up to New Hampshire for a weekend.

To surprise Punky Harry. Yeah. Also it's like, that's like, that's a different surprise where you're like surprised and then not like necessarily happy right away. It's like surprised into confusion. Huh? When I saw Agnes recently, we were in the car

and I said, how old are you now, Agnes? And she said, I'm five. And I was like, oh wow. And she said, I haven't seen you for a long time Pashi. Yeah. And it was true. It had wow. And she said, I haven't seen you for a long time, Pashi. Yeah. And it was true. It had been like a year and a half. This is recorded when you made your visit

because this episode we did live at the On Air Fest in Brooklyn. It was our first live podcast interview and it was a joy to do. Yeah. Plus it got you to New York City, which was also lovely. Yeah, New York City, onto Connecticut, onto New Hampshire.

Onto New Hampshire. Yeah. Yeah, ticked a lot of boxes. Yeah, and our guest for this, for those of you who don't know him, Dan Taberski, is sort of like, he's a podcasting legend. I think he won Podcast of the Year at the iHeartRadio awards for his current podcast,

Hysterical, which is great about this town where all these girls sort of are exhibiting signs of an illness and is it a real illness or is it like a hysterical illness? It's kind of a fascinating thing. He did one on the show Cops, did one on Richard Simmons, one on Y2K. And yeah, he's a good dude.

He interviewed us the year before and he was good enough to be interviewed by us this year. Lovely, lovely conversation. I do have one more piece of housekeeping because I kind of gave mom and dad a hard time about the fact that they threw my baseball cards away. Right. Mom found a page.

She, you know, again, legend. A page. But it was the cards in my head that I was missing. Right. There were sort of 10 cards in my head. It's almost better that you found them because I had a memory of 10 cards and then thought if there were 10, there were probably 300. And then she just found sort of one,

if you think of nine boxes, nine plastic sleeves you can slide cards into. And so she said this was in your dresser. I thought you were gonna say it was a good thing because you could picture those 10, and if they were gone, you were just gonna get on eBay and buy them. No, I wasn't gonna do that.

I did tell mom I was gonna sell them and give her 3% of the proceeds. Like a real estate agent? I said, look, I appreciate you did some work here, but also these are my cards. Do you, if you had to ballpark it, what do you think those 10 cards are worth? $45. Well, the one thing I didn't remember, these are, you know, again, this is sort of the boom time of cards.

So, you know, not to get... Prior to now is sort of the boom time of cards. So, you know, not to get... Prior to now, which is the real time of cards. Yeah, but sort of, you know, Roger Clemens rookie, Mark McGuire rookie, a lot of guys who then... Their steroid issues have decreased my investment. But the... So I remember what the cards looked like. I did not remember exactly how frayed the edges were. Ah, yeah.

So as I look at the cards now, I have a real, I have my doubts as to the value of the card. So, but 45 bucks still, that's not nothing for mom. Yeah. Were these tops cards or I would assume tops? Kind of a mix, kind of tops and a couple of Don Russ cards. But it was not, you know, what it does is it puts to bed the fear I had

that mom had thrown away hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of cards. Cause now I know the truth. She has found a cool $45 worth. Now she's just got to find that picture of me in Amsterdam on the runway. Yeah. I mean, that's the good one.

The good one. Yeah. Not the knockoff runway. Yeah, I mean that's- The good one. The good one. Yeah. Not the knockoff one. Yeah. Maybe when we go back to Amsterdam this summer, we can try to track down the runway archives. I think, yeah, it's probably in the runway museum. Yeah, the runway museum.

Yeah. All right, well, here was our live podcast at the On Air Fest. Do enjoy our conversation with Dan. Family trips with the Mice Brothers. Family trips with the Mice Brothers. Here we go That was an early cue.

And guys, let me just say, we came out a little late because there were technical difficulties and it was so thrilling for it not to be our fault. Like as newish podcasters, like I would still say every fifth podcast something's wrong with our equipment. Yeah. Yeah. Like we don't still say every fifth podcast, something's wrong with our equipment. Yeah. Yeah. Like, we don't plug the headphones into the thing.

Yeah, it's never like something that wasn't idiotic on our behalf. And we do have producers that are on with us, and it's embarrassing when something's not working and you run through the things that can be. It's like, is the power on? And you're like, oh no. Yeah. Really, I highly recommend if you ever do one of these, get very patient podcast producers

who have to pretend like you're a smart person. Yeah. And they're like, oh, can I suggest one more thing? Yeah. Have you checked the power? It's very exciting for us to be doing one of these in front of people because I would say maybe the biggest problem in our podcast

is we have identical voices and mannerisms. Yeah. We sound a lot alike. We look a lot alike. Yeah. We went to a play last night, and we were backstage afterwards, and one of the actresses from the play caught eyes with me and came over and gave me a huge hug and said,

I love you. And I was like, I think you mean him. Yeah. And she turned, and she said, I do, I do. And then Josh is staying in my apartment and he told me that he was in the elevator with three people who lived in my apartment building. And they were going up and everybody was quiet.

And Josh said, hey, I just want to say, if you think I'm Seth, I'm not. I'm not. I don't want you to think that he's being terribly rude. I just don't know who you are. Yeah. And then I told Josh, the problem is, I just don't know who you are. Yeah. And then I told Josh, the problem is, I also don't say hi to them.

Even though I know who they are. So it's very exciting to be here. Also, since we're talking about family trips and we're going to bring our guest out, you are kind of on a family trip right now. You used this opportunity to come out, stay with me, hang out with my kids, and then you're going to go see mom and dad.

Can I ask you a question? Do you realize you have the biggest suitcase of anybody I know? Well, I'm skiing with you and your children on Sunday. So that requires that I bring ski gear. But it's like the size of you. It's a big suitcase. It's a suitcase that I bought to get married.

What do you mean, you bought? your treat to yourself when you got married? It was a big old suitcase? You should get something for yourself if you get married. I didn't have a piece of checked luggage, so I bought a piece of checked luggage that I could travel to the East Coast because I got married in October. They let you, oh yeah, you have to check that. Yeah. But I checked it.

So I had to bring ski stuff. I had to bring, also when you have a podcast, you have to bring podcast gear. I don't know if we're gonna book talent for like Monday or Tuesday when I'm with mom and dad. So you just always gotta have your gear with you. Yeah, you do, I do. You just have it like shipped, all plugged in.

When he unpacks his stuff, it's like it's been labeled for a child. Yeah. He can't set it up on his own. It's like thrown in a suitcase, all connected, and you just have to like take it all out. That's a pretty nice, I got a pretty nice situation. I guess.

I mean. You're also going home to see mom and dad, and I think that mom is very excited to see you. Because dad, no? Well, dad's excited, but mom needs you as actual, like you're coming in as a relief pitcher. Dad had foot surgery and he's been basically immobile for six weeks.

Yeah. And she has not used these words, but I would say every conversation with mom, the subtext is he's driving me fucking crazy. Yeah, yeah, yeah. She will go out for a drink with friends and be out for, I think, four or five hours. Yeah. Yeah.

She's just going. There's not a lot to do in our hometown, but she's doing all of it when she goes out. Yeah, to get out of the house. Yeah. Also, they live in New Hampshire, and it's been very snowy, and Dad sometimes sends funny pictures, like, ha ha, look, Mom has to shovel the front steps.

And the expression on her face Dad sometimes sends funny pictures like, ha ha, look, mom has to shovel the front steps. And the expression on her face is not that she sees the humor in the situation. Yeah, it's not a good look on dad's part to just be taking these pictures. Cause she's like in a robe. I will say, not a good look for dad to take the picture. Also as a fashion way, it's not a good look for mom.

Well, I don't think she's expecting to be photographed. That's true. That might be it. But I will say there's nothing more New England than your robe with a coat over it and a hat and a shovel. Yeah. Pretty bad look. But pretty common.

Pretty common. Hey, we're gonna take a quick break and hear from some of our sponsors. Support for Family Trips comes from Laundry Sauce. Hey, P're gonna take a quick break and hear from some of our sponsors. Support for Family Trips comes from Laundry Sauce. Hey Pashi. Yes Zuffi. Pashi, you're a loyal user of Laundry Sauce.

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Probably not. Yeah, I think it's Italian a bergamot. Italian a bergamot. I will tell you that 90% of customers reportedly say they now enjoy laundry day because of laundry sauce. Pashi, are you in the 90 or are you in the 10? I'm in the 90.

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This episode of Family Trips is brought to you by our friends at Maker's Mark. Hey, Pashi. Yes, Ufi. I don't have to tell you that we're partnering with Maker's Mark to celebrate spirited women. No. Like Margie Samuels.

You definitely do not, because I made the trip to the Maker's Mark Distillery in Laredo, Kentucky. The same Maker's Mark that Margie was the co-founder of? Absolutely, that's the one. And you, I believe you brought a spirited woman with you. I did. Yeah, my wife, Mackenzie know, is one of the strongest, toughest gals I know and inspires me with her work ethic every day.

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engine, which means it's ready to give you the freedom to explore further and to propel your adventures to new heights. So thanks again to Nissan for sponsoring this episode of Family Trips. Explore further with the Nissan Armada Pro 4X. Learn more at NissanUSA.com. Intelligent four-wheel drive cannot prevent collisions

or provide enhanced traction in all conditions. Always monitor traffic and weather conditions. Here we go. Should we bring out our guest? Yes, please. They're very exciting. He interviewed us on this stage last year, and we are thrilled to be interviewing him now. Yeah, podcast royalty in my book.

Yeah. Yeah, he may- Always knows how to set up his equipment. I'm sure. Doesn't need it labeled. Although has several publicists who we met backstage. It was weird how many publicists he had. I have a talk show, and when Mariah carries on,

she has fewer publicists than Dan. Like the third publicist we met, didn't you feel like it was overkill? I mean, a little bit, but I don't know. I don't know what he deals with. I don't know, but I will say, his life is obviously going real good. Yeah.

Should we bring him out? Please. Let's welcome Dan Taberski, everybody! Whoo! Hey. Hi, buddy. Thank you very much for joining us. Thanks for having me and making fun of me already. We wanted to do it a little bit not to your face before we

did it. Appreciate it. Yeah. I want to ask you something before we get into Famine Trips that is podcast related which is I read that when you were, did you do college radio? I did. And then you did not like the sound of your voice at first. No, it's in college radio? No, no And then you did not like the sound of your voice at first. No, in college radio? No, no, I was the news director of the college radio station, WVBR. But no, I didn't sound good. I sounded quite not good.

So I did one, at college I did one sports radio thing. And I remember they gave me a tape and I listened to it. And I had a moment of like, not for me. I would not want to hear it. And so I stopped doing it. But you obviously got over it. But you just get over it because you're just, you just get used to your voice and nobody really cares.

And it's college radio. You also, at some point you realize nobody's really listening. And so it's just good practice. And then after a while you don't care. And I think that's the key to sort of ultimately getting good or at least passable. It's just not even hearing your own voice.

So you just talk like a person. Do you think it's a good idea to co-host a podcast with somebody who has an identical voice to yours? I was trying to follow it last, back stage, I was like, that's really funny, and I was like, oh, well I'll say to Seth, and I was like, wait, was that Seth or Josh? It is, and it's a little tricky. I think it's super smart, I think it's super smart, yeah. Alright, so you grew up in Flushing, Queens.

It is. There we go, coming up. Two siblings. Two siblings, yes, a brother and a sister. And you were the youngest, so how much older were they? My brother's three years older and my sister's five years older. Were you guys close?

I mean, we were siblings. I don't... That is the best way to say no. No, no, no, no, we were siblings. I don't... That is the best way to say no. No, no, no. No, we were close in proximity. We were close in dealing with each other all the time. I don't think he was asking about proximity. Had some laughs.

Like, if you reached out at breakfast, could you touch them? Yes, yes. Yeah, yeah. But, you know, it was... It's... There's a lot of conflicts when you're that age. Yeah, but I like them very much.

I mean, when people say close, I mean, close? What's close? Well, close is this. You have your own podcast. Right, totally. My husband is Israeli and he talks to his family like three times a day. We're not that close. I'm not interested in that. I mean, I would say that I would think we're very close with our parents. But my wife talks to her parents.

Like it's just like a roll, too much would be a way to say it. But it feels like she's just rolling phone calls where she's talking to her parents or her brother or her sister. And yet every time I ask if she, like I'm like, what time are they coming over? She's like, I didn't talk to them about that. I'm like, so none of it was like details or logistics.

It was just like, it just like buffery. Yeah. You don't have any rules at your place then. You haven't established any like, hey, let me know. Oh, I've tried to establish rules. You've done a real, you lost. I've lost. Yeah.

No, yeah, on rule established, I can spin it to that. Yeah. So you, but like, did you guys, you had one brother, one sister, you said? Yeah. Did you have to share a room with your brother? I shared a room with my brother and my sister. All three of you in one room?

Yeah. Were there some bunks in there? Bunk beds? No, there were. I didn't always do it. When we were in Flushing, we had like, I had a bedroom that I shared with my brother and then my sister had her own room.

But in the summers, we would, my mother was a teacher, and so we would rent like a cabin in the Poconos. But like truly cabin, like it looks like an, like I look at pictures of it now, I'm like, it's literally an outhouse with like a nice porch. It's very small. And so there was only one room, and my brother and my sister and me would share that room.

I would share a bed with my brother and my sister would be in the bed. That's why I guess asking if we're close is a little dicey. I don't know. So the Poconos, the whole summer you would do the Poconos. Pretty much, yeah, yeah, yeah. And same cabin?

Same cabin, the Bob-a-Link. It was called the Bob-a-Link. It was at a, I don't know if it's still a thing. They had cottage colonies. And it was a cottage colony in the Poconos. And there was like, and very, very like non-winterized like mousetraps everywhere. I just remember, I remember this is a member.

I'm sure it wasn't really like this, but I just remembered always dodging like those fly traps that hang from the, it was just like, it was just like webby and mousy and sleeping with your siblings. But also heaven because you're in- Well that was, was it something you looked forward to when school ended, were you excited

about the drive to the Poconos? Yes, yes, I was. Sure. Yeah, I was. Were there other- I didn't have, in retrospect, I know you asked that way, I actually didn't have a lot of friends there,

because I was the youngest. Right. And so it's not like I was going to meet up with my buddies. Like, I was always just kind of hanging on. Gotcha. Right. Were there other families that would be in cabins nearby that would be the same families year after year? Yes, yes.

Like, there was the Bartholds, and there was the Bobby Ryan... The Ryans. They were from Allentown. And yet you couldn't make a single friend. No, I didn't, I don't know. I never felt like the kind of friends that, I don't know, I always felt like I wanted it

more than they did, but that might be my, I don't know, I don't know. What was a day in the Poconos? What was a normal vacation day? Just outside, go outside, and just dirty, and you know, you'd be sitting in the woods,onos? What was a normal vacation day? Just outside, go outside. Right. And just dirty. And you know, you'd be sitting in the woods and there's like creeks and stuff.

And like, it's real. And there's like a lake, sailors lake. You can like swim in the lake. Were there any like row boats or any? Yeah, there was row boats. I mean, we didn't, yeah, there were row boats for sure. But not like with parasols and stuff like that. But there were row boats that you could take out.

But it's fun once and then it's not fun. That's so great that you thought we meant with parasols. What? That's my knowledge of robots at Central Park. And would you have to row it, or would there be an Italian man with a long oar? You would have to row it. It's no fun. And you go fishing, but you just catch little like... Right.

Were your parents actively with you during the day, or were they just so happy to see you? No, no, happy, happy. What would they do? I have no idea. My mother would knit and she would watch television and probably just enjoyed not being around us. Just like, they wouldn't do much. They weren't around, no, they would sort of,

we'd sort of live separate lives. But that's the point. You just want, yeah, you just want space. This is actually why my teeth are so fucked up is because of the Poconos. How so? Because, well, it's not like terrible. It's really not that bad.

Yeah, there's like a big gap and it's like, it's just getting worse. Because my parents weren't around and my brother and his friends were fucking around and like throwing me around for fun. Yeah. I was very young. This is like first memory type stuff, almost.

And throwing me around, throwing me around and one threw to my brother and somehow my two front teeth got stuck in his pocket as I was going down. Yeah, and they just both went boink, and I don't, I don't remember, it didn't hurt. I just remember like vibrating, and I remember them looking at me like,

and then I looked in the mirror and I was like, I just felt like blood, and then I went to the front door, like, you know, like Carrie or something, like, and my mother was walking. She was like, and then my teeth grew back really jacked. Wow. So they both came out.

Pop. Wow. Didn't hurt. Was it like the front pocket? Like you would... I remember front or back. I will say, this must be a false memory. This is how people get convicted of things.

I think it's because I remember like in my head is like my teeth went in and the zipper zipped. Meaning that they were to have been zipper on their jeans pants, which really would be of the time. But I think I might've just been thinking about the fashion of the time instead of reality. Yeah, but it went in the right, right in the pocket and just came out clean. Yeah.

The teeth were in his pocket. Like they were, yeah. They stayed in his pocket? Yeah, I remember. Yeah, and he was like, and I was like... I was really young, like barely. It would have been great if he,

like said to your mom, like I had nothing to do with it. He's like, let me check your pockets. If I find two teeth in your pockets. Totally. He's like, these are different teeth. Yeah. I was once on Lake Winnipesaukee visiting a friend.

That's such a great name. Isn't it great? Yeah. New Hampshire is full of great lake names. And we were on two inner tubes behind a boat, and I slipped off and his heel came by and kicked me in the chin. And I split my chin open. And I have a scar even now.

But same thing, it like split and it was just like blood pouring down me. And that moment where you find out based on other people's faces is so, it's such a terrifying moment. What is, I don't know, something's wrong. Gross Gus. I never got hurt.

No, I got hurt a lot. Yeah. So what, but you are a, if your mom was knitting, you are a quilter? I am a quilter, yeah. When did you pick up quilting? Why are you saying it like that? I pick, is it learned or are you born with it?

Just like 10 years ago, I started doing it. Okay, it wasn't something that like your mom- My mom did it once and I thought it looked interesting, but she only made one. Okay. And so, you know, she couldn't last. So she couldn't hack it? Yeah, she couldn't hack it.

She didn't have, yeah, she didn't have a long shelf life. If she's quilting and the kids are outside, what's your dad doing? He's not there. He's back in the city. Oh. Because my mother's a teacher, so she had the weekends off.

She had the weeks, she had the summers off. So she could literally be there with us. My dad would take the Greyhound every other weekend to come see us. He was a civil servant in the city. He would fix it. Every other weekend, he would come. I think, I don't know.

I mean, imagine, I never thought about what he might have been doing. Look, that's not what this podcast is about. No, no, no. But it couldn't have been every week. Yeah. I mean, that's a lot. How long was the Greyhound to the Poconos?

How long would it stay? I think that it's a two hour drive. Okay. Yeah, it's not terrible. Two hour drive. No, and then we would stop in the middle at a town called Hibernia for, and we were allowed to get vellaments.

If you remember vellaments. What are those? Vellaments. Like mints? Yeah, that's what we were allowed to buy from the diner. Oh, wow. That's what I was looking forward to. Once I got the vela mints, I was nothing was...

That we're going to stop for mints? That was... Well and coffee. We stopped for coffee, but that's what I could buy was mints. Coffee and mints. I don't... yeah, yeah, yeah. What a childhood. Did you guys ever take...

Were you ever... When were you on an airplane for the first time? 12 or something, once. But I didn't leave the country until I was 26. All right, where would you go at 12? Always Buffalo. Okay. Buffalo, that's the only.

Just because you loved it. No family was there. Yeah, totally. That was the only trip we ever took. I was just to see grandparents in Buffalo. Gotcha. Were you close with your grandparents? I mean, sorry, what I mean by that, did you have an emotional connection with your parents?

I did. I love my grandparents. They're wonderful people. Yeah. Who is Buffalo? Your mom's or your dad's? Both. One lived in Niagara Falls, one lived in Buffalo. Oh, really? Two parents lived in Niagara, two parents, grandparents lived in Niagara Falls, two grandparents lived in Buffalo. They met when they were there. So it's right next to each other. Gotcha. Oh, so you go and you see both sets of grandparents.

Yeah, and Niagara Falls. I've seen Niagara Falls many, many times. Is it always great, or do you feel like you're over it? I feel like, you know, you feel like you're over it, you're over it, you're over it. But then you get there and you're like, wow, this is pretty fucking amazing. It is pretty cool.

Yeah, I mean, it's still violent and incredible, even though it doesn't feel cheesy when you're right up next to it. What's the best way to experience Niagara Falls? There's one where you go under the falls, under the American Falls. Okay. I can't remember the color.

And it's just a walking path? It's like sort of wooden stairs. And then there's also, you can do the Maid of the Mist, which is- Yeah, we did the Maid of the Mist in, it's a boat. It's a boat at the bottom of the falls, and it gets really close to the falls, and then you look like you're going in,

and then it turns around. And everybody wears the yellow slickers. Yeah, I just remember it being so misty, you couldn't see anything. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm sure. I never did it. It was like being in a car wash. Right.

Like, just, totally. We did the, we went to Scotland and did the Loch Ness boat tour and that was maybe the biggest waste of time. What happens? You're just on a, like a boat. Yeah. But you're just, it's just a lake. Like there's not, other than the fact that there's...

But is everybody like looking at it like, yes. And there's just like this... You can't help but look. Real, like the, and there's just like a voiceover playing the whole time that's just like this Scottish woman be like, many people say, this is where the last time she put her head up. And if you look down now and just like everybody taking pictures of just water, like there's no, yeah.

That's brilliant. Yeah. That's a good business. It's a business. Yeah. Have you ever gone whale watching? Because that might be the most disappointing trip we ever took as kids.

I've never gone whale watching, no. Smart. I remember we just went out once with mom and dad and it was just like- Like off New Hampshire? It was off Massachusetts, but it was like two hours and we didn't see any whales. And you just realize it's, you know,

you're really rolling the dice. Because like the people that are in charge of the boats, like they don't work with the whales. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, what are they, do they give you an odds sort of thing when you go? Or they're like, what are the odds that we're gonna see something? Will they just tell you like 50% or 75%? I feel like they didn't give us the odds. No. Yeah. Yeah. I feel like that would help me make my decision. I feel like when people have seen whales, they get seasick, and then the other times they don't see whales. Yeah. Oh, interesting. I've been seasick.

Yeah. Yeah. I've been seasick too. All right, so when you said you only left the country in 26, what was the first time you left the country? I went to Paris for my honeymoon for my first marriage. Wow! Excellent. So it didn't take though?

It what? It didn't take. Paris took. Paris is great. I come back all the time. But no, the marriage didn't take. There's only so much Paris can do. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

But that was the first time. Even just going over, I couldn't believe we were flying over an ocean. When you went to Buffalo to visit your grandparents, like what were their activities other than Niagara Falls? Were there like things that you looked forward to doing? They're having Christmas stuff. Go during either Christmas or something. So a lot of driving back and forth.

Yeah. That's cool. And then like, and then just looking at Christmas, you know, just doing like, and then I, and visiting people like my grandfather who's dead, had a vendetta against my aunt. And so we could, for 20 years, my grandfather, James D'Ambrosio, and my aunt Rose, he said, you may never, you are not welcome here, you may never see. This is his daughter. This is his cousin or aunt, they're related. Okay, gotcha. Yeah, but, and he said, you are,

like he's like cut her off. And so we would have to go spend Christmas morning with my grandfather and then say we were going to visit my other grandparents, but actually we would have to sneak over to Aunt Rose's and spend Christmas with her because she wasn't allowed over. Do you, was it explained to you as a child

what the vendetta was based on? No. Really? No. Really? No, I had no idea. We just knew that she just wasn't allowed to. As you got, you don't have to tell us, but did you ever find out what the vendetta was based on? Something very small.

My grandfather was a small man. Gotcha. In that sense. Yes. He had a lot of wonderful qualities, I'm sure. But that sort of lifelong vendetta thing was one of the downsides. You gotta be really wired a certain way to have a lifelong vendetta in you.

And to stick with it. Yeah. And it's not like New York, there's like eight million people. It's Niagara Falls, she lived down the block. Yeah. Yeah. It's like when you have a vendetta,

you've eliminated like 2% of the people you could interact. It's hard to navigate. Did your two sets of grandparents ever, do you got the sense they ever hung out? At the wedding. That was the last time. And they lived close and had no curiosity. No interest.

They're just Polish, Italian, you don't. Yeah, what's the point? Yeah. Yeah. How far apart are Buffalo and Niagara Falls? Uh, they're right, like literally right next to each other. They probably say, where's Sister City is? They're like, I don't know, 20 minutes.

Okay. Did you, so did you get like double Christmas? Was there, were there gifts everywhere you went? And would you do Christmas at both sets of grandparents and Aunt Rose's? There wasn't a huge premium on gifts. There wasn't a, they weren't super wealthy people. So we would get, you know, multiple Christmases,

but it wasn't like gifts. Right, right, right. It was like another tree, another manger, and then like another meal, you know. And Christmases, but it wasn't like gifts. Right, right, right. It was like another tree, another manger, and then like another meal, you know. And your grandfather was like, my gift to you is to not hold a grudge. I will speak to you this year. Totally.

So you wouldn't get like crazy things, you would just like get little dumb things. Yeah. Were you guys a camp family at all, other than the Poconos? I worked at a camp. Oh, really? Yeah, a at a camp. Oh really? Yeah, a Jewish day camp.

But I'm not Jewish. But, well, could've... I've just fooled them. Right. But I also had the worst job at a camp. Like everybody was like camp counselor, and I was like, I worked at like the sanitation thing where I had to like pick up garbage

and hand out balls and stuff. Wow. How old were you when you worked at a summer camp? Like 16. But I've had jobs. I mean, I've had a million jobs when I was a teenager for sure. What was your favorite... If you had a favorite teenage job, what would it be? I was a waiter at Bob's Big Boy for five years. Gotcha.

And what was... If you had a guitar, you'd be like, yeah. What was great about working at Bob's Big Boy? I was really young. I was like 14. And so it was just funny to even try almost. It felt like I didn't, like I had like acne. Like I just, I don't know why I was, they let me do it. You were a waiter right from the jump at 14?

No, I had to start at it as a host. Okay. And I would like, you know, how many people? Three. And I'd pick up the menus and take them to the smoking section. Wow, I mean, you're still very good at it. Thank you. Like, yeah. That was just like, I hadn't even thought about this

in years. It is still very funny to think back to a smoking section based on what we know about smoke. Yeah. I know we didn't know back then. Yeah, really incredible. And that smoking section was always packed. Was it really? Oh yeah, smoking filled up first. Wow, that is then. Yeah, really incredible. And that smoking section was always packed. Was it really?

Oh yeah, smoking filled up first. Wow, that is amazing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I will say we both worked in like food services, young kids, and it was, I will say the most exciting. I worked at a sub shop called DeAngelo's, it's like a New England sub shop. And then you worked at a pizza place.

I worked at a pizza place in Shorty's Mexican Roadhouse. Yeah. Shorty's Mexican Roadhouse. Josh got fired. Josh got fired from Shorty's Mexican Roadhouse. Yeah. Shorty's Mexican Roadhouse. Josh got fired. Josh got fired from Shorty's Mexican Roadhouse. Why? What happened? Our high school basketball team, the men's, men's, boys' high school basketball team

was playing in the state final. And I was not on the team, but I wanted to go to the game. And I asked for the day off and they said, well, I was a junior and there were a bunch of seniors that worked there and they were like, well, the seniors have seniority and they're going to be graduating, so we're going to give them the day off and you have to come work.

And then I called in sick and I went to the game and it was one of those rare things where a sporting event in New Hampshire was televised and I was on TV with my face painted and they like... No, you had your face painted? Yeah. The indignant. And they called me in, I was supporting my team and we won. And they called me in and they were like,

you weren't sick. And I was like, yeah, I was. And they were like, you on TV. And I was like, oh. And they were like, you're fired. And I was like, okay. Just slink out. Yeah.

I remember as a kid, the most exciting thing about working in a restaurant is they would let you bring home food after your shift. And like even more than a salary, like a free sub to me was like so thrilling. Yeah, for me, because Boss Big Boy then had all you can eat bars. Every day was an open, a different all you can eat.

Wow. Yeah. And so every day, so you would just be eating constantly. There was a different all you can eat every day? Well there was a breakfast bar where you could get breakfast stuff, which is amazing. Breakfast bars are amazing. Biscuits and gravy and just like all the bad stuff. But then every night they would have like, for Friday, because there's a lot of Catholics, they would have Fish Friday.

And they would have like ribs some nights. They had a night of Alaskan king crab legs, which is like, where are these coming from? That's terrifying. Oh no, that, if you, they say the best place to get Alaskan crab is at the All You Can Eat. At the Big Boy. Big Boy, yeah. Yeah.

In general, you want to get them all you can eat. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Hey, we're going to take a quick break and hear from some of our sponsors. Support for Family Trips comes from Airbnb. Hey, Pashi. Hey, Sufi. Some of my favorite travel memories are of Airbnbs.

I think back to like when I turned 40 and a bunch of my college friends, we were all turning 40, we wanted to get together and we wanted to do something. And I, in that time of my life, was going to Coachella pretty much every year. And when I go to Coachella, we would get an Airbnb with a group of friends, with like 12 of us. We had a pool, we were on a golf course, we had a grill, we had a kitchen,

and everyone had a great place to sleep. And then in the morning you wake up and you come out, and the first one up makes coffee and you just sit around with your college friends like you're sitting around in a dorm room, but it's not a dorm room, it's a beautiful house in the desert. It's much like you, it's in a dorm room, but it's not a dorm room, it's a beautiful house in the desert. It's much like you, it's like a dorm room that's all grown up. Yeah. If I can exude that, then that's what I want to put out there.

That's fantastic. And thank you, by the way, for the invite. Well you were already 42 at that point. You were old man river. Yeah, I didn't get an Airbnb. I stayed at a retirement home. Yeah, I was like, oh, no. For the weekend.

You know, it's fine. It's nice. And the bingo is fun. And I do enjoy it. And I don't want to just sit around and criticize it, because I think it's pretty great. Book your next awesome trip today at Airbnb.com. This episode of Family Trips is brought to you by Nissan.

Hey, Sufi. Yeah, Pashi. What's that thing I always say about going big and it never going out of style? Oh, I remember, going big never goes out of style. Yeah, that's it. And that's why we at Family Trips love partnering with Nissan, because they know that going big never goes out of style,

especially when it comes to the 2025 Nissan lineup. And the Nissan vehicle we want to give a huge shout out to today, the all new Nissan Armada Pro 4X. Sufi, what's that thing I always say about the all new Nissan Armada Pro 4X? Pashi, you always, always say that no terrain is too tough for the all new Nissan Armada Pro 4X. It's the most capable Armada ever built. Yeah, that's right. It's like your catchphrase.

Yeah, I'm known for saying that and how could I not? With a new powerful engine, incredible towing capacity, and adventure-ready technology, this is the first Armada to earn the Pro 4X badge. It's built for the most rugged of terrain thanks to the fact that it's powered by a twin-turbo V6 engine, which means it's ready to give you the freedom to explore further and to propel your adventures to new heights. And my favorite part, the Armada's premium interior seats up to eight passengers. That means we can bring our six best friends with us

on our next adventure. Let's name them right now. And we're out of time. So thanks again to Nissan for sponsoring this episode of Family Trips, explore further with the Nissan Armada Pro 4X. Learn more at NissanUSA.com. Intelligent four-wheel drive cannot prevent collisions

or provide enhanced traction in all conditions. Always monitor traffic and weather conditions. Support comes from Helix. Hey Pashi. Yes, Huffy. So I've had to sleep in your bed with one of my children twice in the last month. This is your childhood bed.

New Hampshire bed. Yeah. And this is not a terrible mattress that you had. Mm-hmm. You know, it wasn't like, you know, burlap sack filled with hay or anything. It was a nice mattress. Right. But I slept there first time with Addie, had a terrible night's sleep.

A little bit, I would say, as a mattress. The other, as Addie, like, slept on my head like she was a hat. But then, you know, and look, I'll be honest, it was because of the podcast sponsorship. Got our hands on a Helix mattress. You mentioned it to mom and dad, and they said, oh, we'll replace your mattress.

So the next time I go back with Axel, I get to sleep on the Helix mattress in Total Game Changer. Huge leap. Huge leap. It's, I also, I mean, I don't even want to guess how long that mattress has been around that is in the childhood bedroom,

but it was time. It was time, yeah. And the Helix mattresses, they're such a wide selection, and there's a sleep quiz that you take on their website. Are you a back sleeper, side sleeper, stomach sleeper? I wouldn't even think that's a good idea, but some people are, I guess. And they've got mattresses of varying firmnesseses and you sort of go through this easy series

of questions, easy because you know you. Yeah, don't think you're going to flunk the sleep quiz. Yeah, no. I think some people hear quiz and they panic, but don't worry, you're going to be fine. Don't be intimidated by it because it's going to find you the perfect mattress for you to get you a better night's sleep because what is more important than that? And I have one of these sleep trackers. And the morning after my first Helix,

never happened before, the sleep tracker actually, when I opened it, it just said, something changed, dog. Wow. Yeah. So familiar. Well, I've had it for a while. Yeah. Go to helixsleep.com slash trips for 20% off site-wide.

That's helixsleep.com slash trips for 20% off site-wide. helixsleep.com slash trips. Here we go. Did you ever travel with your parents as an adult? I mean, have we ever, like, taken trips together? Yeah, that would be another way to say it. I don't think so. We were never like big, like even growing up,

we never went to like Florida. Right. So it's not even in our day and day to do that as adults. When we see each other, it's more like family gatherings. It's more like the responsibility type stuff. Like we have to go because of grandparents or whatever. And so that's- Did they stay? Did your parents stay in this area?

Yeah, they're in Brooklyn. Great. Yeah. I do feel like you see that. Do you see them a lot now or no? Yeah, I do. They're getting older, so you got to help out. Great. Do you, and you're married now. Yes. And have you, what are like, where, your second honeymoon, where'd you go?

We didn't take a honeymoon. All right. Because you knew they were bad luck. Fool me once, shame on you. Yeah. But now we just do whatever type stuff, like, well, just basic, like go to Paris or, we actually do go to Paris. Yeah, yeah.

It's better this time for some reason, I don't know. Just basic, like big cities, London, Paris, like city stuff. Yeah. Not really like resorts. You don't want to sit still. Yeah. We went to Mexico City, went to Hanoi. What do you like to, are you like museum people?

Yeah, I'm a museum person. Restaurant people? I'm a walking person, I'm a museum person. Okay. I like to walk, walk, walk, walk, walk. Get to see some museums, get some, get a glass of wine, then take your afternoon nap, wake up for a late dinner, get another glass of wine.

That sounds really nice. Do you feel like, do you actually... I apologize by the way. When you're in a museum, do you feel like you're actually like, wow, this is amazing? Or do you feel like I know I'm supposed to be in a museum? Sometimes I go to a museum because I'm like, oh, I'm here, I should go to the museum. Yeah. And then sometimes I realize I'm supposed to be in a museum. Sometimes I go to a museum because I'm like,

oh, I'm here, I should go to the museum. And then sometimes I realize I'm just like not. I just think about it, it's just sort of like an aesthetic walk. I don't think about it like, are you ready for your aesthetic walk? But like you walk in, the architecture is always great. There's beautiful things in the walls.

There's interesting people. There's some sort of thing you're supposed to be getting or not getting. I just think it's usually more interesting than just like walking, than going into any other building. So. An aesthetic walk, I like it. It's an aesthetic walk.

I think you actually have a hit on something and I'm gonna try to think of that one. Yeah, it's nice, it's pleasant. I like pleasant, I don't need big eyes, big lows for vacations, I like pleasant. So you're not a big like thrill ride guy? No. You're not going to a lot of the music? I got stuck on a roller coaster once.

You what? You really? I got stuck on Rolling Thunder in New Jersey, right off the six, at Great Adventure. And yeah, it went all the way to the top. De-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de. And then stopped. And then like 10 minutes later, you hear.

10 minutes? Yeah, you hear click. That was like waiting for this podcast. Yeah, totally. But then you just hear click and the harnesses are off. Oh. And then you look down and you realize that they're coming up on the gangplank.

And it's an old, old, old roller coaster. And they're coming up on the wooden gangplank and they made us walk down. It was really fucking... You had to walk down? We had to walk down, yeah. The steep? Like, well, the coming up and the wooden gang flag, and they made us walk down. It was really fucking... You had to walk down that? We had to walk down, yeah. The steep? Like...

Well, the coming... It's a coming up part. It's the part where you're gaining... We never went over the first hill. So that... It's the lightest hill, but you can walk down that hill for sure. Do they have like stairs on the side?

They have like stairs on this, like you would on the side of like a bridge or something. Yeah, gotcha. It's not super rickety. And a friend of mine, she was... Barbara, she was terrified and she wouldn't get out. It took her like a long time. Classic Barbara.

Yeah. Classic Barbara. She wouldn't get out. What was the play when she wouldn't get out? Well, I think eventually she realized that there's not a lot of ways. Yeah. I think that it's a scary thing to...

Scary, yeah. Dismount a roller coaster. They had to come down and talk her down. At the apex, yeah. And they came up and helped her out, so that was okay. A friend of mine was at Euro Disney once, and there was an Indiana Jones ride, and it broke, and he said there was like a teenage French kid who was dressed as Indiana Jones, you know, because all the kids were dressed, and he was like basically the same thing,

walking up to Gangplank, and everybody in line who was not stuck just started going... Dun, dun, dun, dun! This, like, 14-year-old French kid was good enough to see, like, which cord got unplugged. Have you gone to an amusement park as an adult? Or in those days? Like a water rides park. I don't need to get on a ride now.

Yeah. Yeah. I don't need to. on a ride now. Yeah. I don't need to, yeah. I don't like the idea that it's not funny to me to be locked in. Yeah. If I could unlock myself, but the fact that they'd like do it

from some over a computer over here and that you can't undo it, that just doesn't go with my whole vibe. So you would ride a roller coaster if you weren't locked in? If I had control. If I had control. If I had control. You're like, I'd rather not wear this harness.

No, it's just, it's knowing that I have control. Okay. That's why I don't like horseback riding. Because like ultimately, like you can, whatever you, however good you are at it, the horse is in control. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I just don't like that part of it. And even if they're like, this horse is really well trained,

I'm like, it's still a horse. So you won't get on a horse? I will get on a horse, but I will not have any enjoyment on the horse. In general, there are things that I have decided I don't really want to do unless I would be the Killjoy member of the family. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And you don't want to be that person. No, I would do it for my kids. Be the Killjoy or do you? No, I would ride a horse for my kids, but I won't ride a horse for my kids. But if... Be the killjoy or do you... No, I would ride a horse for my kids, but I won't ride a horse for my parents. Yeah. Like my parents wanted to go... My dad for his birthday wanted to go on a...

He was like, my dream is to go on a hot air balloon ride. And I said, 100% no. And the reason is if the four of us were on a balloon, first of all, I'd be miserable the whole time. But the worst thing would be if something went wrong, the whole time we were falling and about to die, you and mom would be bickering. Like she would be blaming you for the death.

But it's like still a slow defense. It would just be too much bickering. I'll do something with you guys if we die right away. Right. But it can't be long and slow. Do you do, have you done, or do you do now any like, friends getaways? Do you go with other couples? Yeah, I do travel now with other couples, because I don't have kids,

and so it's better to go with a couple or two, just as adults. But also I have a place up in Woodstock in the Catskills, and so I have a lot of friends up there. So I can get away and like see people. Yeah. That's nice. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's nice to be there.

I'm glad you finally made some friends. Yeah, I have friends. I know, I feel like this whole way. Yeah. If only the Ryans and the Poconos or whatever the other names are. I'm very impressed that you can remember all the names of the Poconos.

Joey Ryan. And I could swear, his name was Joey Ryan. And I'm so unfortunate that it's a hard name to Google because I could have swore I saw his picture on a, not to be gross, on a porn box once. And I was like, oh, is that him? And it was Joey, I don't remember what the other name was. It was different. I was like, I wonder if that's him.

But you can't, it's hard to Google Joey Ryan. Yeah. Right? It's tough. So I never solved it. I never solved it. I think it'd be fun to just imagine it was him. Knowing him, it really could have been. Like he was headed that way.

Yeah, he was headed that way. You could always tell the kids in the Poconos that are heading towards adult entertainment. Go to them. That's why the name, it's called the Poconos. I think it is too. I think it is too. They're ties to the porn industry. Yeah. That's why the name, it's called the Poconos. I think it is too. I think it is too. Their ties to the porn industry.

Yeah, yeah. That's really smart. Yeah, some people go there because they spelled it wrong in their heads. Right, they're like, this is going to be great. I've made a mistake. What about how your siblings, do you ever go and visit them? Yeah. Where do they live?

My sister lives in Connecticut, but my brother lives in Philadelphia. Gotcha. So, I got onto... We got onto Philadelphia a bunch. It's nice and close. Do either of your siblings have kids? Yeah, they both have two kids. Okay, gotcha.

So, there's four all together. How are you as an uncle, would you say? Yeah, okay. Thank you for your honesty. Josh saw my kids yesterday. I hadn't seen them for a while. Yeah. Since your wedding. Josh saw my kids yesterday. I hadn't seen him for a while. Yeah.

Since your wedding. Yeah. Which was October. And based on the way they greeted you, I think it's fair to say you think I have not done a good job teaching my kids how to hug. Well, yeah, the girl didn't want to hug me at all. Yes.

Yeah. And she just wanted to know where my wife was. Yeah. And then when she did hug you, where my wife was. Yeah. And then when she did hug you, she only would back into you. She backed into me so I had to like hug her from behind. She was not comfortable enough to like face to face. Although your eldest ran at me so fast and his arm, he just sort of doesn't, he's eight and doesn't really have control of his limbs.

And his arm hit me right in the center of the throat at a dead run. And yeah. Nobody is landing the hug. No, it was a disaster. It was like 10 out of 10 enthusiasm and one out of 10 execution. It's okay. Yeah, but it was pretty exciting.

Yeah, that was exciting. How old are they? Sorry. They're eight, six, and three. So they're still friendly. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because I had, that's the big betrayal as an uncle. Like once I had become teenagers, it's just not,

Yeah. They just don't care about you. Yeah. Although I did walk out this morning and it seemed like no one recognized that I was there. So. Because they thought you were. But there were like Legos and breakfast out.

And it was, yeah, it was a whole thing. There were, I will say when my, when Addie, when my daughter was like six months, she had a hard time with you coming over. Well, she thought I was you. Yeah. And she called me Dada.

Yeah. How old is she? She was six months at the time. She's now three and a half. She's good now. She has facial recognition crushing it. Definitely knows who her dad is. Super psyched about that. But yeah, it was at six months.

That's incredible, that's incredible. That's really wise. Yeah, yeah. We have questions that we ask all of our guests. Yeah. And I was worried that I was gonna forget them, so I wrote them down. Yeah.

I saw you bring out a book and I go, I bet it's a big question. You don't remember what the questions are? Nah, always. Isn't this your, you said you had almost 100 episodes. It is embarrassing for Josh that he had to bring the book out. Yeah, and that I have my glasses. But anyhow, here we go.

Is your ideal vacation relaxing, adventurous, or educational? Educational. Yeah, that's aesthetic. You're on your museum walk. Yeah. What is your favorite means of transportation? Oh, I'm not a big transportation person. Yeah, but like, do you like a train, plane, automobile,

boat, bike, bicycle, walking? I haven't taken the subway in 20 years. I grew up in New York. I had a panic attack when I was 16, and I developed a really bad phobia of the subway. Really? Yeah, and so now I don't, I haven't taken it in 20 years. Wow.

Isn't that amazing? I walk a lot. Did something happen on the subway to give you your panic attack? Yeah. What happened? We had stopped. I was on my way home from high school.

I went to high school in the Bronx. It was an hour and a half to get back to Queens. And it just stopped in a tunnel forever. And it was really packed. And it was just one of those times where you're like, oh, I just realized I can't get out. And that's why I won't take amusement park rides. This is why I won't like.

Well, you've had a terrible string of bad luck. So it's not Subways. So it wouldn't be Subways, but I do like a train. I like in a cellar. Yeah. I find that fun. It is amazing. The most common answer for our guests is train.

And it is sort of heartbreaking that we live in a country that like other than like the Eastern corridor, there's not a lot of train travel available to anybody. But I do think it's the most romantic and it's the most likely means of transportation for there to be a murder. And then everybody is a suspect. But that's, it's fun.

It's fun. Well, I think like, again, a murder on an airplane, no fun at all. A murder on a train, like, oh, here we go. And it's amazing how often a detective is on board. With a fabulous mustache. Yes. Oh. If you could take a vacation with any family, alive or dead, real or fictional, other than

your own family, what family would you like to take a family vacation with? And while you're thinking about it, I'm going to say this is the most on the spot question, and we do appreciate that we have put you in the corner of trying to come up with a family to go on vacation with. This is really aging, but I just came up with the Brady Bunch. Yeah. Because I like the types of vacations they would take.

They would always get into trouble. Yeah. But make it out okay. Yeah. Because I like the types of vacations they would take. They would always get into trouble. But make it out okay. Grand Canyon, camping. Cursed Idol, Hawaii. Hawaii, yeah. All right, Brady Brunch. Yeah, yeah, so why not?

All right, I have a follow-up about the Brady Brunch. Please. Who do you think you would get along best with of the six Brady kids? Peter. Okay, Peter. Okay. Shocking lack of time needed to kids? Peter. Okay, Peter, great. Shocking lack of time needed to answer that question.

If you had to be stranded on a desert island with one member of your family, who would it be? Oh. Now we're finding out. No, no, no, well it's complicated. I mean, God, I don't want to say my mother because that's just a sad answer. Yeah, you know what's really sad?

If she's listening. It's a sweet answer. If you mean it. If I was on a desert island, it would be my brother, because he's older and he's bigger than me, and he could actually do, he could have two stuff. So it's interesting, you're not looking for companionship, you're just looking for who will help you survive.

I like them all. I like them all. Gotcha. But I'm just trying to think of what their flaws are. Because you have to deal with those as well. I really, not just love my family, I really like my family. Yeah. But I don't, but being on a desert island with them

is something very different. Okay, gotcha. So brother. You're from Flushing, Queens. I am. Would you recommend Flushing, Queens as a vacation destination? Yeah, if you like Chinese food.

That's a great answer. Yeah, is there's incredible ethnic food? A lot of people take vacations for Chinese food. It would be a terrible, terrible place for a vacation. Okay. But a good, for like a day trip to get great Chinese food. One, great Chinese food, Korean food, like things that you can't even imagine,

different types of, I think it's the second largest Chinatown outside of Chinatown. It might even be bigger than Chinatown in terms of community. Were you aware of that growing up? Was that? It was changing as I was growing up. So it was, it was turning, it was, it was literally like a white blue collar neighborhood that was turning into that was, and so it was super interesting. But like now you go back, all the signs are different, all the restaurants and the stores, and they're sort of the same, but they're just a little different, and the food is incredible.

We went to, I would say, a low-end, low-to-medium-end Chinese restaurant every Friday with our parents, and it was so exciting. Yeah, with the sort of the chips and the duck sauce. 100% that, and I just remember the thrill of, I mean, order the same thing every time. And it just felt, you know, it felt different and exciting. Going to a restaurant for Chinese food is great.

That is like to actually get the tea and then like, yeah. My turn? Yeah. All right. My last question, I should ask everybody. Have you been to the Grand Canyon? Yes. Was it worth it?

Yes. Really? Yeah. Okay. When did you go? 25 years ago. Who'd you go with? My first wife. And what did you do?

Did you just stand around? We just went to the edge. Okay. And I just thought it was really big and moving. Okay. And beautiful. We didn't go down into it though. But like it's a long drive to get to just.

Yeah, but for somebody who grew up on the East Coast, I didn't see California until my 20s or the, or any of that sort of the stuff in the West. Like for me, that was, even just driving in the West is vacation. Yeah. Because it's like, it's like Mars. And I just think it's so interesting.

Yeah, I agree. Seth disagrees. It's fine. You don't like Grand Canyon? It was fine. Did you go down? No, but I got it right away. Did you stay for sunset? What?

Did you see a sunset? We did not, no. Sunrise? It was a little rainy when we were there. Yeah, it was a little rainy, and then we were with a big group of friends, and they were like, we're gonna get struck by lightning. And I was like, we're not gonna get struck by lightning.

And then around us were all these trees that had been shaved in half by lightning bolts. Well, this doesn't sound like a Grand Canyon problem. It sounds like a Your Friends problem. Or a me problem. What about, we don't ask this for everybody, but Niagara Falls, would you say it's worth it? Would you tell people you should see it?

If you're swinging by, if you're in the area, swing by, but I wouldn't make a, there's other things to see. If you're, so if you're within half an hour, you have to go see it? 100%. If you're within two hours, well, I guess two hours. Yeah. Okay. I would do two hours, sure. What else do you do?

If you're within two hours, what else do you do? If you're within two hours at Buffalo, you're like, yeah. Yeah. Okay. I would do two hours. Sure. Okay. What else do you do? If you're in two hours, what else do you do? If you're in two hours at Buffalo, you're like, yeah, there's nothing. You have to go to the bathroom somewhere.

You might as well. Right. There's nowhere else. So you would go to the Niagara Falls. Yeah, just to go to the bathroom. To go to the bathroom. Yeah, no, no, no. That would be the thing to see there.

That would be the thing to see. Thank you so much for joining us. Oh my gosh. You kidding me? Thank you so much. Yeah. Podcast royalty. Really happy.

Thank you, everybody. Thank you. royalty. Really happy. Thank you everybody. Thank you. Really enjoyed being back at this wonderful festival. Goodbye. He was a college DJ, didn't like the sound of his own voice Used to share a bed with his brother, but it wasn't really his choice In the summer, mom would say, let's go And it all piled into the car drive, to the polka-dols, to the cottage colony. It was the coolest place to be, hanging with the Bartholes, the Ryans, and all the fellas.

Go swimming in the lake, or row, a row, row without an umbrella And Dan was the littlest one, so the bigger kids were throwing him around for a fun day Front teeth out Pop both his front teeth out Oh no It sounds so gross He hooked his choppers on a pocket One two combo Those teeth are toast Say adios Adios!