Family Trips with the Meyers Brothers - Listener Episode #10: Taiwan Travel Nightmare & A Wandering Finnish Grandfather

Episode Date: February 27, 2025

We’re back with another listener episode! Seth and Josh hear stories about one woman's nightmare travel story coming back from Taiwan, a granddaughter's recounting of her wandering Finnish grandfather, and one man's unfortunate beach tale when he "really had to go." Want to submit your family trips story for our next listener episode? Or send a question in to Seth and Josh? Submit your voicemail to speakpipe.com/familytripspod! Supports our sponsors:NissanFamily Trips is brought to you by the All-New 2025 Nissan Armada. Take youradventures to new heights. Learn more at NissanUSA.com AirbnbVisit airbnb.com and book today 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. Because going big never goes out of style. Learn more at NissanUSA.com. Here we go. Hi, Paji. Hi, Sufi. You went to Kentucky. Yeah. We went, Mackenzie and I went, and we toured the Mak's Mark Distillery in Loretto, Kentucky. It's amazing.

It's a historical landmark. And it's a beautiful place. Yeah. But I have a question. Yeah. So how far into the tour are you tasting whiskey? Pretty quickly you dip this, like, it's not a ladle. It's like a sort of, it's not a ladle.

It's like a sort of, it's almost like doing like an oil change. You take this stick kind of, and you dip it in. Like a dip stick. Like a dip stick. Yeah. But it's nicer than that. Yeah, and I love a dip stick full of whiskey. Mm, keep going.

And you go right into a barrel and you pull some whiskey out, straight out of a barrel and you try that. That's pretty early on. And before that, you have this like a full on ladle that you can dip into this like uncolored sort of, before some things have happened to it. into this like uncolored sort of before it's, before some things have happened to it. Obviously I didn't take in everything about this tour.

I'm not giving the tour, but we were there pretty early in the morning, I think we showed up at around nine o'clock and probably by 10, I had some alcohol in my lips. And we were there on January 31st and Mackenzie and I had been alcohol in my lips and we were there on January 31st and Mackenzie and I had been doing Dry January. So to break it, the first thing that I had was some like- That's a good way. I mean, breaking Dry January on a distillery tour

really says that it didn't take. I will say, I'm drinking much less overall since then. Yeah. Which I think is a good reset. I think that's good. I've never done a dry January. I've never done a dry month. Was it ultimately pretty easy?

Yeah. That's good. Yeah, I mean, there's times where there was a lot, you know, there's a lot going on in the world, the fires and just some global world news stuff that maybe might turn you to drink, but we didn't. So, yeah. That's good. I think being clear-eyed also, you know,

let's be honest, sleep better. And sometimes the world is giving you a lot of reasons to not sleep well. So you don't need to help out. With that said, I do feel like, you know, a distillery tour is still a kick-ass way to break a... Yeah, and it really is beautiful. And we went all around the property. We saw, you know, the farm and we saw where they're growing a lot of their crops.

We saw this, there are these grain trucks that come through and this big sort of mechanical arm and they test those, that grain. And if it's not up to snuff, they're like, drive on. Not here, you're not selling that stuff here. Really? Yeah. You watched them turn a grain truck away? I saw them sampling a grain truck.

I didn't see them sort of have to tell a driver. Did they have a grain guy who they sort of bring out and he just comes over and he's the grain sommelier? I mean, I'm sure they do. We were, we hung out with the master distiller, Blake. Wow. That's a good name for a master distiller. Do you think their fear is in the early days,

they were like, God, I'm just so afraid that we'll give the tour and then people will leave and they will know so much about it that they'll tell people and no one will come. And then they were like, you know what? Let's give them a dipstick full of whiskey and they won't remember. Yeah, and then you forget. You forget the last half hours stuff.

Were there a lot of people on the tour with you or was it kind of just you dudes? We were on a very nice sort of VIP tour. So it was smaller, but there were, they say they maybe have 140,000 people that go through there every year. Get out of town. Yeah, and the standard tour is I think about an hour maybe,

maybe it's an hour of walking around and then 15 minutes of tasting. But we did, we were there like nine to five or something like that. Were you really? Yeah, we were there like nine to five or something like that. We- Were you really? Yeah, we went into some great, great, you know, like cellar kind of things, like these barrel houses

that are just cold and natural and they don't, they don't do any sort of, you know, air conditioning or heating or anything like that. It's just all natural and it's the way the limestone is in Kentucky sort of has treats the water and it's just pure and nice and good. And that's that maker's mark. They invited me as well.

And it's a little bit harder, three kids to get away and do a distillery tour. But when you were on that tour, I laid at night after my kids went to bed, I hid in the pantry and drank it straight from the bottle. Yeah, I mean, however you want to enjoy. Yeah. I mean, I think you,

I should say you probably had a better experience, but I do think the Makers was just as good for both of us. Yeah. Yeah. I got to dip some bottles in the wax. Oh, really? Yeah, that was fun. Yeah.

Yeah. But yeah, you really got to suit up for that because that's hot wax. That is hot wax. Do you wear like big, long rubber, industrial rubber gloves? You wear gloves and these sleeves and an apron and eye protection. Yeah.

But yeah, I thought I did a couple good bottles. I have a question, be honest. If you had seen one of your bottles in a store, do you think your reaction would have been like, oh, that one's real bad? Or do you think it would have blend in? Well, it's sort of like that sort of biologic thing that you recognize your children. that sort of biologic thing of,

that you recognize your children. Uh-huh. And so I would always, I'd be able to pick my bottles out. Oh, you think even today you'd be able to see. Oh, that's fascinating. Yeah. Well, guess what time it is. What's that? It's time for another listener episode.

Oh yeah. Hey, before we get into this, I just want to say, Mackenzie, every now and again, we'll look at some comments. Okay. Of our podcast. Yeah. Okay.

And I don't look at them that often, but she sent me one that I thought was really sweet. Okay. So this one, the title of this one says, "'Josh breathes like a sick person.'" Oh. And then it says, "'One star,' and then it says, "'Ses like a sick person. Oh. And then it says one star, and then it says Seth barely lets guests talk

and he's all caps boring, please stop. Okay. So thanks guys. You breathe? How many stars did I get on mine? Well, that was one review. Oh. The title of the review was Josh breathes like a sick person,

then one star, then Seth never lets the guests say anything boring, please stop. I mean, I do appreciate that they spread out their criticism so that, you know, if it had just been Josh breathes like a sick person, one star, I would have spent the rest of the day walking around kicking pebbles being like, he's dragging me down. Yeah, also if somebody breathes like a sick person in the two of us, it's you. Yeah.

Yeah. I mean, that's a shocking outcome. What do they think you breathe like? If they think I breathe like a sick person. One could argue I'm barely breathing. I told you though, we're talking more about crazy shit that I'm doing. Did I tell you that Alexi and I mouth tape now?

Oh yeah. Jesus Christ. Explain this to people who maybe. So you mouth tape. You put a piece of tape over your mouth and it's sort of, it can, it's breathable. Ideally it keeps your mouth closed, but if you're worried about,

you're not gonna suffocate if you have a stuffy nose, like you can, your mouth will open and you can pull air through it. But the initial idea was it will stop you from snoring, which has been a problem. Not for me, you know, I sleep right through it, but I think for Alexi, it's maybe a problem. So I was happy to give it a problem. Not for me, you know, I sleep right through it, but I think for Alexi, it's maybe a problem. So I was happy to give it a try.

And as Josh said, I do breathe like a sick person. I've had congestion issues coming up 51 years. So it's not great, but I love mouth taping. I think I'm getting a really great night's sleep. I genuinely, I wanna stress right now, you guys know if you think an ad's coming, this is not an ad. Yeah.

And I'm not gonna say, it's so not an ad, because there's a lot of companies out there. I'm not gonna tell you which one I'm taping with. Yeah. But now I really like it. Yeah, well, maybe if you own one of these companies, maybe you gotta reach out, maybe figure out. Would you switch the kind of mouth tape you're using

if we had a sponsor? For money, yeah. I would also, if somebody wanted to pay me just to stop wearing mouth tape, I will. If the Institute of American Snoring wanted to reach out and be a sponsor, I'd rip that thing right off. Yeah. Anyway, Poshi breathes like a sick person. Also, you know, have a little empathy.

Maybe, you know, again, we've talked about, you know, you're living in a city that has been on fire. It's bad air quality. Maybe that's part of it, you know, have a little empathy. Maybe, you know, again, we've talked about, you know, you're living in a city that has been on fire. It's bad air quality. Maybe that's part of it, you know, just in general. Yeah. Yeah. So. Also, I don't like the idea that I don't let people talk.

Yeah, I think you do. Yeah. It just hurts my feelings, you know what I mean? Oh, I see, all right. Waka, w see, all right. Waka waka waka. Waka waka. Hey, we're going to take a quick break and hear from some of our sponsors.

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? 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'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 for family trips comes from Airbnb. Man, oh man, Airbnb. They've really taken care of us in this podcast. We've had some of our best trips with mom and dad at Airbnbs recently. Absolutely. I feel like I've had some of the best trips

of my life in Airbnbs. And you know, I remember when we got to the last Airbnb that we stayed at with mom and dad, I walked in the door and you had, on remember when we got to the last Airbnb that we stayed at with Mom and Dad, I walked in the door, and you had, on a giant dining room table, you had already set up a brand-new board game. Now, again, we're a board game family. You've done some research,

and it was one of those games with a million pieces, and I feel like there would never be a place in a hotel room to do this sort of thing, but it was just laid out, ready to go. It felt like a home away from home. Yeah. I mean, if I had done that at a hotel, you'd probably have to lay it out on a bed. Yeah.

And then you'd probably come in and just jump on the bed and mess it all up. I'd be exactly what I would do. Because it would be funny. It would be a jerk move, but it would also be funny. I recognize that. It's nice when you're reuniting, be it with friends that you used to hang out with, or your family that you

used to hang out with, in warm spaces to go to an Airbnb and have that instant connection that you used to hang out with, or your family that you used to hang out with, and warm spaces to go to an Airbnb and have that instant connection that you used to have in places that were not hotels. Also, sometimes you're like, I don't know, is this place gonna be okay? Well then you should just try a guest favorite and you know it's gonna be okay, because people aren't gonna find a place

that they were not impressed with and say that's my favorite. So get yourself a goodie. Book your next awesome trip today at airbnb.com. All right, Sam, let's get into it here. What do we got? Okay, well, first I'm gonna actually jump off of Josh, what you were talking about.

Mackenzie had the right idea. So we have been encouraging- There's a lot of people have written in about your sick breathing. Yeah. No, we've been encouraging people to go to our YouTube and subscribe and watch the videos and people really have been.

So thank you to all of our listeners, but people have been leaving some pretty great comments. So I picked out a few and I'm gonna read them to you guys. Great. Okay, so the first one was from Ronnie Chang's episode. This person said, "'When Ronnie said his family didn't take trips, I immediately knew this was gonna be a rough episode

for Daddy Boy, but in Ronnie's defense, a 23-year trip from Manchester to Malaysia is probably the longest trip in this podcast's history.'" Yeah. Oh my gosh. I think dad will be okay with Ronnie Chang. In fact, I believe dad has told me that he has since watched his special and enjoyed it.

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. So Ronnie broke through. Okay, good. Fear not. Good. For Patrick Adams, Josh, this is for you. Anyone who hasn't gone to listen to the audio version

of the podcast, that was before we were putting the songs up on there, in all caps, do it now. Josh was absolutely firing on all cylinders for the closing tune and it is an all time great. This person was loving the closing song for the Patrick Adams episode. And then they said, and obviously it's probably gonna be his last one based on his breathing.

He's not gonna be with us much longer. Yeah. Well, you know, all right, we did get this. I think that was a Snoop song, if I'm remembering. I love that. That was a good one. I was happy with that one. All right, good.

Seth, this one's for you. I don't like the way you're already sighing. From our listener episode nine, Seth, as a New Mexican, I will say you aren't going to the right New Mexican restaurants if you aren't finding more options than enchilada type foods. Sounds like you're having Mexican food. There's a noticeable difference. So this person was roasting you.

All right, I'm going gonna, yes, roasting me, much like they roast their green chili peppers. And put them in everything. Not green chili peppers, sorry, I don't wanna get that wrong. All right, I will look into it. But again, I just go where they take me. So I will accept the burn,

but I will also turn the burn on my, I mean, I will say, like Carne Anavada, there's a really good place in Brooklyn called Ursula, which is a New Mexican restaurant. And we, that chef is local, or I should say, not local anymore, but he's native to New Mexico. And so I agree, there's different stuff

and I shouldn't have said that, but New Mexico is a wonderful culinary destination that I highly recommend. I think that'll make the listener very happy. Well, I fucking hope so. Nice backtrack. Okay, this was from the Holiday Hangout. Seth is my number one, but Timothy Olyphant is viciously, aggressively, viscerally attractive and hilarious.

And I need him to be the third host of this podcast. I've heard very good things about Timothy, especially from the end of the year episode with Ike. Yeah. From people that know us, from Boom Chicago people who know you, Ike and I, and know how we talk. And they were really, shout out to Tim, who really hung with you guys.

Oh my God, yeah. I have a problem with this comment. You have a problem with the next one, okay. Yeah, no, with this current comment, because I am, I don't know if you guys are aware, I'm campaigning to be the third brother on this podcast. So it can't be turned. So you don't like, yeah,

you don't want the olefine to just jump. No, no, no, no. Jump the line. It's hard to compete with Tim Olyphant, you know? So we'll see. All right, last two comments. This was actually Josh, the photo we posted of your pants. Someone said, I think Josh is becoming the icon

we never knew we needed from your fashion show. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I'm glad we got that out there. Yeah. There is, there is a better version of that picture. And mom and dad just can't find it. And I felt bad because I texted. I was like, hey, can you guys take a picture of this and let me know?

And apparently, it's no longer on the stairs going up in the stairwell. And like four hours after I texted them, dad was like, is this one okay? We've looked everywhere and mom doesn't know what else to do. And I feel like it turned into an afternoon's activity for them to try and find that picture. But, and I'm going to, can I venture one more move that happened? Sure. They turned on each other. So yeah, so my saying, yeah, that one's good enough. Maybe, maybe save their marriage. They've never looked for anything for four hours

without turning on each other. So I'm actually gonna be home in a few weeks. And if I can unearth the better picture, then I will, we will get that up. All right, cool. And thank you, and thank you. All right, that's all for the comments. Okay, great.

So we have a couple stories that I'm gonna play, I'm gonna get to right now. Hi, Seth. Hi, Josh. My name is Amanda, and at age 25, I lived in North Carolina with two kids under three and a husband in medical school. My parents had moved to Taiwan for three years, one does and my husband wanted to do a month-long surgery rotation in Poland

Also as one does I decided that rather than spend a month in a tiny Warsaw apartment with two kids and no polish language skills I would fly to Taiwan with my kids and stay with my parents on their dime Because they hadn't met my six-month-old baby and they also weren't living on student loans. The first 14-hour journey to Taiwan wasn't too hard. I just had the stomach flu so I held my baby on the changing table with one hand while I puked into the airplane toilet. My time in Taiwan was really beautiful and fun although I don't think I can ever go back to the Splendor Hotel in Kaohsiung because of the unspeakable things that my potty training toddler did to a window seat there. But the way home was a real challenge. My flight was delayed for four hours in Taipei so I missed my connecting flight to the US and Tokyo. My little traveling

companions and I wandered around the airport for quite a while until someone could figure out what to do with us and put us back on another flight to the US on a different airline. As we landed at the Ohe Airport my son woke up in the middle of a night terror and began wailing. So his confused crying is the soundtrack to this story. We had 45 minutes from getting off the plane to go through customs immigration, recheck our bags onto another airline and get through security. When I arrived in the security line, I still had a weeping toddler who was pretty much lying on the floor at this point, a six month old baby bouncing around in a baby carrier on my chest. And I was trying to fold up my jogging stroller in half and hoist it onto the

conveyor belts to be scanned from across the terminal. I could hear someone yell, why isn't someone helping that woman? We finally made it through and I had five minutes to get to my plane. I strapped my baby into the stroller, picked up my toddler under one arm who was now yelling, I won't going on another airplane at the top of his rungs, and darted across the airport arriving at the gate just as they were closing the doors. I sat down in the chair and breathed a bone-deep sigh of relief. I was finally heading home to North Carolina. Just then, the flight attendant got on the loudspeaker

and welcomed all passengers on their flight to Dallas, Texas. That is when I began to cry. Luckily, I learned almost immediately it was a mistake. They were a Dallas BIS crew and they had just misspoken. I was actually on the right plane. And when I wrote up my story to complain about the various flight mishaps that weren't related to my children,

they gave me enough money to fly me and my husband to New York City, this time without any kids. 18 months later, our little family went back to Taiwan so my husband could see my parents and the cool country where they lived. This time we were stranded in the San Francisco airport for over eight hours on Christmas day when the bathroom flooded on our airplane

and the water messed with the circuitry. So just as we were speeding up to take off, all the electronics failed and we had to be accompanied back to the gate by fire engines. We eventually made it to Taiwan and had another wonderful trip until our last night when I was sitting in my parents' formal dining room in their home in the middle of Taichung when something began moving in the curtains right behind my chair. It was an enormous rat, almost a foot long. I jumped up and literally ran screaming for my mother like I was a child who just had a night terror.

My husband and my dad cornered the rat and killed it with a shovel. All in all, it was always an adventure when I went to Taiwan. Thanks guys, I really love the podcast. Oh my goodness. I mean, Taiwan must be fantastic based on the fact that she's still telling us how important it is to go there.

Yeah. Yeah, I mean, that's like an ordeal. An ordeal. I was so worried when she said, I finally got on the flight with the stroller and one of my two children. Really like kudos to those moms out there who are traveling alone with a couple of kids.

And I, you know, if there's a moral, it is try to, try to help before somebody screams, why isn't someone helping? Try to not be standing next to a woman while someone across the terminal yells that. We, I remember once we were scrambling, I want to say in Madrid and the kids were young and I, actually, you know what? It was just me and Ash.

There was no Axel. Ash and I were so sick and we were running through the airport and it was one of those things where you're in an airport you've never been in before. And so you just kind of believe nothing's more than 45 minutes away. Right. And I feel like the Madrid airport, at some point we said, how close are we?

And I swear to God, someone was like, hours. It was just the most we've ever missed a flight. Wow. That missed a flight. And that was a flight home where, I think Alexia had 10 diapers and baby Ash managed to just like blow through them all on a 10 hour flight. Yeah. What do you do?

Someone's just, you just start asking around or is the flight crew? They must have some, it must be a standard issue thing. And I think she timed it. I think it was like real touch and go, but we did go through all 10, but I don't think there was a moment where she needed to borrow another one.

And then on top of everything, I was so sick that I was just sort of, like I immediately fell asleep for 10 hours. Yeah. It was just like hot sweats. It was not her, I don't think it was her favorite day with me. Yeah.

I feel like the same way, you know, they've got, you know, you can request a wheelchair on a plane or something like that, but then they've got those little like little cars, those little things to drive people from gate to gate. I feel like someone in Amanda's situation, the airline should have provided for a woman like that. Yeah.

Also something, cause I don't have kids and I've never sort of been a babysitter or been in charge of a kid in this situation. But when, I mean, that has to be the way, but like if you have to go to the bathroom and you have a toddler or smaller, they're always coming with you. That has to be, that has to have to go to the bathroom and you have a toddler or smaller, they're always coming with you.

That has to be, that has to have to be some weird moments. That has to be some real bonding. Yeah, it's not great. I will tell you this, now all three of my kids do this. I will take them. We had to, we were going skiing the other day.

We had to stop at a cafe that we go to all the time. So I don't feel bad. For the sole purpose is Addy had to go to the bathroom. Yeah. And we just knew we weren't going to make it purpose is, Addy had to go to the bathroom. Yeah. And we just knew we weren't gonna make it. So, and so I go into the bathroom with her, and she goes to the bathroom, and then I'm like, give me a second,

since we're here, I'm gonna go to the bathroom. And she's like, okay, I will meet you outside. I'm like, just stay. Yeah. Like I had to stay for you. Yeah. By the way, I'm just gonna pee, like it's gonna be over in two seconds, but she's like, yeah, she goes, I will open the for you. Yeah. By the way, I'm just gonna pee. Like it's gonna be over in two seconds,

but she's like, yeah, she goes, I will open the door a little bit. Like no, that defeats the whole purpose. Just stay. Yeah. There you go. I took Addie, we went on a date the other day and by the date, it's just, she calls it a date,

which is just she and I hang out for an hour. And she wanted to go to a park that's two blocks from the house. Now, earlier in the day, Alexi had thought we were gonna go somewhere else. And that ended up being closed. And she had said to Addie, like, you can take your scooter,

but then if you're tired at the end, you can come home in an Uber. So anyway, she had said that based on this other plan. Now we're like two blocks from home. And I'm like, all right, it's freezing cold. And I say, let's head home. And she goes, okay, call the Uber. I'm like, honey, I'm not gonna call an Uber.

We're two blocks from home. And she's like, mama said that. And I was like, all right, the Uber is waiting for us. We gotta walk to the Uber. And she's like, okay. And I just put her on my shoulders and carried her scooter and walked home two blocks. And then we got to the front door

and she was even more upset. She's like, no! Where is the Uber? And it's so funny because I think there's this kind of parenting which is like constantly, and there's a better word that I'm gonna come up with. You just wanna like prepare your kids for everything. You just wanna lay out what the schedule is.

And it's all well and good until something changes and they feel as though they've been ripped off. Yeah, yeah. Do you think she just like loves Ubers? I just think she liked that there was another step in her adventure. Right. You know, in her head she was, yeah.

Well, maybe next time. Maybe next time. Yeah. Yep, there you go. Hey, we're gonna take a quick break and hear from some of our sponsors. This episode of Family Trips is brought to you by Nissan. Hey Poshy. Yes, Ufi.

Let's talk about some things that never go out of style. Ooh, I love this game. Like, uh. Pasta. Bomber jackets. High top shoes. Jean jackets. Baseball hats.

You know what else never goes out of style? What's that? Going big. 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.

No terrain is too tough for the all-new Nissan Armada Pro 4X. It's the most capable Armada ever built. 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 So thanks again to Nissan for sponsoring this episode of family trips explore further with the Nissan Armada Pro 4x learn more at Nissan USA com intelligent four-wheel drive cannot prevent collisions or provide enhanced traction in all conditions always monitor traffic and

weather conditions All right, let's hear the next one, Sam. Thanks, Amanda. So, the trip I want to share is actually not a trip I took myself. But years ago, my father, his siblings, and my grandfather took a trip to Karelia, the region where my grandfather grew up. Once part of Finland, it now belongs to Russia. And the purpose of the journey was to visit his childhood home. Though I wasn't there, we have the

entire trip on video, and one moment in particular never fails to make me laugh. As my grandfather walked up the driveway, he narrated everything, pointing out familiar landmarks, reminiscing about his youth. But when he reached the house, instead of knocking, he simply strolled right in. Inside, a bewildered Russian family sat at their dinner table, frozen in confusion, as this elderly Finnish man wandered into their home, speaking a language they didn't understand. Despite the initial shock, nothing bad happened. They all ended up outside, awkwardly attempting to communicate. My grandfather, who didn't speak Russian,

kept pointing at my cousins, frantically trying to explain that they attended a Russian-speaking school. He kept saying, Ruski skole, Ruski skole. And somehow that bridged the gap. Though I never took this trip myself, watching the footage of the moment remains

one of the funniest things I've ever seen in my life. So what did you think the house was? Did he think it was? I know, I think he was like, so it was his old house. And he just maybe in the moment kind of forgot that you're not allowed to just walk into a house. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Seemed like he was maybe having

an emotional reaction to it. I, again, it's that thing. I don't know. Do you feel like you having an emotional reaction to it. I, again, as that thing, I don't know. Do you feel like you have an emotional connection to old spaces? Like if you saw our old house in like, Okemos, would you have an emotional reaction to it? I think so. I think I'd be a bit fascinated by it.

I feel like someone came and looked at that house when we were living there. Right. But yeah, I feel like we've had a guest that said like, you know, that doesn't, that would never happen. Or maybe it was like Sebastian Maniscalco was talking about. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.

But I feel like I would love to walk through our old houses. And I do recognize that it is a leap of faith that the owner or leap of faith that the owner or inhabitant of that house would have to do to let you in the door. And then in this situation of this story, like crossing a language barrier, yeah, is another weird one.

I feel like, you know what, we should really have Tom, my father-in-law Tom on the podcast. Let's do a special episode with Tom and talk about the family trip where he went to Russia to pick up his son, Tolya. He adopted Tolya, he and my mother-in-law, when he was five years old and he went to a Russian orphanage.

And it's the craziest story because, you know, there's a language barrier as well. And the reason I bring it up is it's on video. You have this moment where he, this crazy moment where basically Tolya is saying goodbye to the woman who runs the orphanage and she just is sort of patting him on the shoulders and saying, okay, be good.

It's nuts. But that, I think that would be a very special episode. So inspired by that story, we're gonna see if we can lock down Tom. I think he's gonna be a hard yes. Yeah. And also I don't mean to say about Sebastian's take on it that everyone should let everyone into their house.

Cause sometimes I'll see, I'll be driving by an old friend's house in New Hampshire and they don't live there anymore and they haven't for years. And part of me wants to like take a picture of the house and send it to him to be like, hey, here's your old spot. But I'm always creeped out at being a guy who's holding my phone out and just taking a picture of a suburban house

and worried about someone looking at me and being like, what are you doing? Well, I think that when they do that, I mean, if you want it, like I think the appropriate thing is to just scream, I'm not breaking any laws. It's free country. It's a free country.

It's a free country. Did you yell at the Google guys when they came to take their pictures? Yeah, that's really funny. What a great scene. Great, Steve. Thank you for sharing your story. Also, it's very funny to both like not,

it's not your house anymore and also it used to be Finland. Yeah. I mean, I think that, it would be like if we went back to our, if mom and dad sold the house and the next time we went and visited it's like, it's Canada now. Yeah, and these people speak French Canadian and they don't, yeah. Great story.

Thank you for sharing. I think we have one more story for you today. Great. Hello, Seth and Josh. I'm a big fan of the show. Here's my story. I grew up on the East Coast, and like many East Coast families,

we would take an annual trip down to the Outer Banks in North Carolina. So we would brave that five hours of intense traffic to visit a beach that was slightly less crowded than the Jersey Shore or Virginia Beach. Now, my family always prided itself for our ability to stay on the beach all day. So we'd get up in the morning and my dad and I would carry this giant pop-up tent and we'd bring this big cooler bag filled with drinks and enough snacks to last us the rest of the day. We'd find our perfect spot before, preferably before everyone else got there and we'd set it up and guard it very jealously.

Right. Now when I was either 13 or 14, I found myself on that beach one day, looking out over the ocean, I had my Walkman on listening to some angsty music and probably reading a Tom Clancy novel feeling very, very cool about myself. And suddenly, there was a flash of heat from deep inside of me and beads of sweat started to appear on my forehead and there was a twist in my gut and a pulse of a sphincter and I knew I was gonna need to go to the bathroom right now. Now, the problem was our beach house was at least two blocks away. You had to walk up the beach,

climb over the dunes on this boardwalk and then go through these winding neighborhood streets. And this was an emergency. I didn't know if I could make it. So I quickly got up and I paced back and forth and I was weighing my options, trying to decide whether or not I could make it so I quickly got up and I paced back and forth and I was weighing my options trying to decide whether or not I could make it and I walked down to the ocean and I'm considering like can I can I just slip into the ocean unnoticed and and take care of business there and get out before anyone notices but it was a very clear day

the water was clear there wasn't much wind or waves, and there were just people packed everywhere. And it was very obvious that that was not going to be the answer to my problems. So I quickly scurried back to the tent. And as casually as I could, I asked my mom, I said, hey, hey, mom, you got the key to the house? I think I'm just going to go up to the bathroom real quick. My mom was reading a book and so she said, oh yeah sure, just a second. She set her book down

casually, you know, took her sunglasses off and adjusted her big floppy hat and she pulls out the biggest bag in the world. This thing is full of extra sunglasses, sun tan lotions, multiple books, sudokus, pens, God knows what else. And she's just rummaging, taking her sweet time, looking for that key. And I'm trying not to hop back and forth and I'm feeling antsy and I can just feel things pulsing inside of my body.

And she says, oh, here it is. Just as a flood of liquid exits my body. So I quickly grabbed a beach towel and I wrapped it around myself as tight as I could. And I snatched that key up and I said, okay, see you soon. And I scurried off down the beach with my flip-flops, making that little flip-flop sound, kicking sand up as I go. And I get over the boardwalk and everything seems to be okay. I'm checking the towel, it's holding right. I get to the edge of the boardwalk, I'm going through the neighborhoods and the coast is clear. There's

nobody in sight. And I'm just praying to the good Lord that nobody sees me. And I'm going and I'm flipping and I'm flopping. And all of a sudden I just start feeling the damn gives way. Oh, and there is liquid running down my legs. Sorry, buddy, in the souls of my flip flops, kicking back up onto my calves to repeat this process. And I'm going through the neighborhood, flip, flop, flip, flop. And I turn a corner and I see these two boys playing catch. They've got their baseball mittens on,

they're throwing a ball back and forth. And as I'm flipping and flopping past them, they both stop and they turn their head to look at me. And I swear one of them throws the ball to the other one and it sails over his head because he's staring at my legs. Eventually I get back to the house and, and I assess the situation and I am too much of a mess to go into the house without causing a scene. So I just go into the outdoor shower and clean myself off the best I can.

And I, I take off some, some underwear that I had underneath my bathing suit. And I just chuck it as hard as I can over that barrier into the trees behind the house and hope that nobody ever finds it. It seems like the trees, they probably will. I went back to the beach. That's my story by the way my wife is

Angelica who sent you that? Data on your guests. Thank you. So, you know, she's able to provide detailed statistic analysis and I Put my pants. So yeah I can't wait for Angelica to give us more data, which is like I do a statistical analysis and I poop my pants. So there's that. I can't wait for Angelica to give us more data, which is like the longest story about shitting self, my husband. Now, Pashi, I think we've established this is kind of one of your moves.

What's that, pooping my pants? Yeah. I mean, I don't know if it's one of your moves. What's that, pooping my pants? Yeah. I mean, I don't know if it's one of my moves. I feel like kind of a go-to of yours. I have it in a good long time. If I played that to my boys, they would laugh the whole time. Yeah. I mean, to me, the right move is going in the ocean.

Yeah. Regardless of how clear, that right move is going in the ocean. Yeah. Regardless of how clear, that's just, that's cruise ship, that's cruise shipping it. Cause that's what those cruise ships are doing out there everybody. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They're full of thousands of people just pooping in the ocean.

I think you, yeah, right? Even if it's clear water, you go out, you do it. And then just as cover, you scream, oh my God, that jellyfish just took a huge shit. And then you kind of move away. But you keep going, it's one of the clear ones, you can't see it. It's one of the clear ones.

You go out as far as you can. Yeah. Yeah. Also if you're there early, but yeah, I don't know, like digging a hole in the sand, that's another option. The notion that he thought he was gonna go into the house when there was an outdoor shower is like, no, no, the outdoor shower, that's where you're headed.

Yes, that's accurate. Yeah, that's rough. It is nothing's worse than that moment of like, I can make it. Yeah, it sneaks up on you sometimes. Well, I will tell you this. I mean, if there's anyone to blame, it's Tom Clancy. I've never read one of his books.

It didn't make me want to crap myself. Just because of the drama. You know, you're reading, you know, Ghost Protocol. Pulse pounding. Pulse pounding to the point that all of a sudden you're like, well, it's hit my, the nonstop action has reached my bowels. That's, must be Clancy. Must be Clancy.

And then they were, do you remember then when they used to have book commercials for books? Uh-huh, sure. You know, Tom Clancy's new, hunt for red October. It's the beach read that makes you shit yourself. Tom Clancy's new, Hunt for Red October. It's the beach read that makes you shit yourself. Sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss want to submit your family trip story or just ask us a question, head to speakpipe.com slash family trips pod. And it's just so lovely to hear from you guys. So please do that. Thanks everybody.

Thank you. We will be back with you soon and do enjoy the rest of your day. to go to Poland so instead she went to Taiwan. When she returned her toddler brought his carry on layover in O'Hare was a mess she had no time to spare Long customs line To her chest one baby strapped The toddler just whines Why isn't someone helping that woman Once in Finland Actually now it's Russia With Russia I guess that's how it goes

Granddad walked in To the home of his childhood, narrating on his home video. Was it a crime at dinner time? Was it trespassing? What would these Ruskies do? In Karelia, no common language what to say? They went outside Grandpa said Ruskie, Skolay, and it was okay And in North Carolina, there was a rumble in the boughs. Angelica's husband, who then wrapped it with a towel, pooped up into flip flops. It was the sum of all fears, clear and present danger

in his pants.