Family Trips with the Meyers Brothers - McKenzie Co-Hosts, Olive Oil Tours, and Dead Boat Motors: Listener Episode #25

Episode Date: June 25, 2026

Josh is joined by a special guest co-host for this month’s listener episode…his wife, McKenzie! While Seth is away, the two catch up about Mackenzie’s recent trip home to western Massachusetts for her high school reunion, including nostalgic visits to her old campus, time with both parents, a newly renovated porch and chimney that sparked plenty of conversation, and a stop at the recently reopened Bridge of Flowers in Shelburne Falls. They also hear some fantastic listener stories, including a Girl Scout cross-country train trip, childhood summers at a remote Canadian cabin, and a trip to Spain that swapped a highly anticipated Barcelona soccer match for an unexpectedly awkward all-day olive oil tour. Plus, Josh and Mackenzie answer listener questions! Watch this episode on the Family Trips YouTube or Spotify, or listen wherever you get your podcasts! 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! Get your tickets for Family Trips Live! 8/12 - Philadelphia: https://tickets.citywinery.com/event/family-trips-with-the-meyers-brothers-il7k6b 8/13 - Boston: https://tickets.citywinery.com/event/family-trips-with-the-meyers-brothers-iipsfk Support our sponsors: OlipopGet a free can of OLIPOP: Buy any 2 cans of Olipop in store, and they'll pay you back for one Works on single cans of any flavor, any retailer visit https://drinkolipop.com/TRIPS OLIPOP is available in the soda aisle and with the chilled beverages at thousands of retailers nationwide, including Walmart and Target Mint MobileTo get your new wireless plan for just 15 bucks a month, go to https://MINTMOBILE.com/TRIPS. That’s it there’s no catch. $45 upfront payment required (equivalent to $15/mo.). New customers on first 3 month plan only. Speeds slower above 40GB on Unlimited plan. Additional taxes, fees, & restrictions apply. See MINTMOBILE.com for details Lola BlanketsGet 40% off select Lola Blankets products at https://Lolablankets.com by using code TRIPS at checkout. Experience the world’s #1 blanket with Lola Blankets. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey, Tripsters. It's another listener episode. And once again, old Sufi, too busy, too busy for a listener episode. And so now this time coming to the rescue is we've had our mother, we've had our father. But now to the rescue once again is my wife, honey bunny, sweet babu, McKenzie Rollins. No, I didn't know how many nicknames I was going to hit you with. But hi, sweetheart. Hi, how are you? I'm great. Hi, listeners. This is so much better than my initial trial by fire, which was in front of a live audience. Yeah, in Brooklyn.

We needed you desperately there. And yeah, here you are probably less desperate because it just feels much more relaxed and there's not a lot of people watching. But all the same. But we're going to get to your stories in a minute, but we have had some family travels in the meantime, you went home for your high school reunion a couple weeks ago and got to see your parents. I did. Yeah, I got to see my parents, which was great. It's never enough time. But yeah, I got like, it was supposed to be a week-long trip, but I had to come home early. But I got one great night at my mom's, one great night with all my girlfriends, and then one great night at my dad's. Yeah. And it was so fun. And your mom has been doing some work on the house.

And a day before you got there, her new front porch was completed. There was not a single speck of dust or dirt left. That's amazing. We've been getting this play-by-play from my mom for weeks, I feel like. Progress shots. She got a new, like a whole new front porch. And it's stunning. but to show up and literally have it totally finished.

I felt like she rolled out the red carpet for me. And here's the new front porch. She's very proud of her new chimney as well. Oh, yes, the chimney, the sexiest chimney on the street. So if you are in Shelburne Falls and go out. Yeah, you hear about a sexy new chimney. You know it's at my mom's house. And then like there's a anytime I'm back there,

we always try to do a dinner. on the deck, on the back deck. And you got to be there for the first dinner of the deck, first dinner of the season out on the deck. Yep, this year. And actually, as I was on my way home, you know, like in your iPhone, how, like, memories will pop up. And it was from the first dinner on the deck last year

that was literally one day prior. It was on June 3rd. And I was getting home on June 4th for the first dinner. And it just felt very kismet. It was lovely. And then you sort of insisted with your, like, group of friends that are your big, you know, high school group, the Stonley girls, that you wanted to not just go to the reunion. You wanted to have a sleepover. You wanted to have a whole day together.

And you were, I feel like, the driving force behind that. Yeah. Yeah, because the last time I think I really saw those girls, they're affectionately known in our house as the fucking Stonley girls. Because of your father because he got a black eye dancing at our wedding from one of the fucking Stony girls. Sorry. Can you say that? Yeah, you can say it. I mean, we can also, we can bleep it out.

And so now that's like how they're in my phone. And we like stay in touch very regularly. We're on Marco Polo. We have a text chain. And it's hard. Everybody has kids. Everybody has lives. Some of us live in California.

So it's really hard to sort of piece together. a good chunk of time and we all knew we were going to this reunion. And I was like, look, let's just like do 24 hours together. Let's just make it happen. So we, my beautiful friend Ella, hosted and it was great. We got to sit out by her pool during the day. We all had lunch together. Then we all got ready together. And it really, it really did feel like high school. And we were all like doing our makeup and doing our hair and picking outfits together. And it was so fun. And then we went to the school and I grew up there.

I started riding there in the community riding program when I was six. So I really did like spend my whole childhood there. And it was very emotional. I mean, everybody knows I'm a crier. Yeah, well, so am I. And yes, but I think like by far I cry way more than you. And like we started driving up the driveway to the school and like you enter and the barn is right there. And like I spent all my summers, all my vacations working there so that I could ride there.

And it is it was just so visceral for me. And I was like, I have to get out. We have to all walk up the driveway. And it was like so fun. And we all walked up the driveway together. And there were a lot of girls from our class that were there that we hadn't seen in ages. And it was just so, I don't know, it was, I could not stop crying. I was like weeping the whole time we were walking around the hallways and like going into our old

classrooms and our favorite teacher's office. And it was so visceral for me. And also that time of year, like I feel like most people are very excited to graduate high school. And I was very aware that it was such a unique time for us to all be. be there together. And I just felt like every day that passed, I was like, we're one day like farther apart. And I just like held on so much to that like senior year with all of us. And I dreams about it all the time. And it was just like really fun. And it was like fun to be drinking wine on campus. Because I was like, we're not going to get in trouble. We're of the age.

We can do this. And then, you. Yeah, we all went back to Ella's and had like this wonderful slumber party and it was great. And we did you guys all because Ella has some little kids. Well, they're not little. Well, okay. Okay. Um, I think. But, uh, she said they had just had something like, you know, 16 kids sleeping over there.

So you got, you guys were in the basement, yeah? We, yeah, we were in the basement. But it's beautiful. And like, we had air mattresses and blankets and my poor. friend Sophia, who you guys have heard us talk about before because we stayed with her in Brooklyn, but she's like, I'm going to sleep way over here in the corner because I snore. And I didn't hear her, but yeah, it was really cute. And Ella's daughters were there and her husband with, I mean, oh my God, Ella's husband, Mark, was constantly making food for us, constantly making,

I mean, I felt like we were teenagers, just like leaving stuff everywhere. And Mark, and Mark, was cleaning up after us and making us all this food and we got home from the reunion and he had like tidied our stuff for us. It was so cute. I was like, this is such a girl, dad. What a champion. They have three daughters and they're used to having like lots of teen girls around and I feel like we like instantaneously revert to being teenage girls when we're all together and it was

just so fun. Yeah. And then did you get out of the motor? motorcycle with your dad? I didn't get out on the motorcycle with my dad. That was like the big plan. Because I think it's been like two years. My dad's a motorcycle guy and I've grown up riding on the back with him. And it's so fun for me. I remember when we first started dating. We had an early fight. I called Josh and I was telling him about this ride that my dad and I had been on. It was just a like beautiful, like a perfect spring day in New England or summer day or something. It was we ride all up through the country and the apple orchards and stuff. And then like I wanted to go by

my high school and we got on the highway and my dad just like kicked it. And like I think they were going like a hundred or something. Yeah, you were because you told me. I told Josh. And he got so mad. And I was like, how dare you? I'm with my father. Like I don't think it's cool to go 100 miles an hour on a motorcycle. Well, you're not my dad. It's cool with my dad, does it? Yeah. Well, your dad's cooler than me. Yeah, he is cool. So we didn't, we didn't get to do that, but we did the annual air conditioner installation. Oh, well, that's cool. That was a very good fun experience. Always. And we, my dad, um, designed and built this garage and above it, he has like this vintage pool table and we played a game of pool and I just like had a moment where I was like, oh,

I totally figured out how to hit the ball. I always am like slipping it off, missing it, hitting the ball I'm not supposed to hit. And I just had this like moment with my dad. And I felt like we played like an actual game. It wasn't just like a bullshit game. Gotcha. And then yeah, we did our like big, we have this like walk. We have a couple walks in town that we like to do and we did one of the big ones. Yeah. And then the Bridge of Flowers is back. You guys, where we got, where I proposed. Look, I got this new shirt from my friend Megan. Yeah. Because her husband worked on the renovation. So if you're going passing through, if you're in Western Massachusetts and you wanted to check out the Bridge of Flowers and Shelburne Falls, it is open again.

It's open. It's beautiful. It's not filled in yet. But like next year, it's going to be, Fantastic. And I think my first day, I texted you and I was like, I've walked across the bridge four times. Like, just going back and forth to my dad's house. It's just such a nice way to go. And I kept getting pictures of you with different dudes on the bridge. No, just my friend Caleb. And your dad. And my dad. And my mom, not a dude. But, yeah, it was. And the weather was spectacular. And my mom also works at this little cafe in town called Baked. So it was really. really fun. Like, when I would walk back and forth between town, I would just, like, stop and, like, hang out of Baked for a minute. And I would run into friends from high school that were in

town. And it was just, it was just really awesome. Yeah. Man, the, uh, in a hippie little western Massachusetts town, uh, a little bakery called Baked feels very appropriate. Oh, my God. Yes. Well, I'm so glad. I'm always happy when you get home. I know you love it so much. And so, yeah, glad you got back there. And then we got your mom coming out here and like a week. So we're, yeah, we're getting ready. We're strapping in for that.

And yeah, but we've got some stories. Sam is with us today. So Sam, what do we got? Hi, Seth and Josh. My name is Megan, and I'm also from New Hampshire. I grew up in Keen, a straight shot down 101 to you guys. So technically this isn't a family trip, but the people involved were like family, so I'm counting it. In high school, my Girl Scout troop did a two-week cross-country train trip.

Yes, I'm actually one of those people who have traveled by train. There were eight girls and three adults. We spent two nights in Chicago, two in San Francisco, and two in Seattle, with the rest of the time on the train, playing cards, and seeing the country with zero issues. All that changed, though, as we started the journey back from Seattle home, which was going to take roughly three days. Due to track construction, we had to take a bus from Seattle to Spokane, and then wait for hours for buses from all the other stations to get to Spokane.

When it was finally time to board the train, we had to go up the escalators to the track. An elderly woman in front of us dropped something and stumbled. Other travelers steadied her, but the dropped item, probably a bag, created a traffic jam chain reaction. Essentially, half of us ended up falling down, tangled with luggage as we reached the top of the escalator. One of my friends was pulled out of the pile by a stranger, while the rest of us ended up with bruises, scratches, and even a bloody leg. Unfortunately, that wasn't the end of the misfortune. Somewhere in I believe Montana, we were stopped for hours

while freight trains used the Amtrak lines due to flooding. As a concession, all passengers were given a delivery of a boxed subway lunch. We slowly started moving again, but faced more extreme delays prior to our arrival in Chicago, where we were supposed to switch trains. We were all getting restless, ready to be home despite the great trip. At one point, an announcement came that the cafe and dining cars were sold out of all food,

but that they were going to come up with a meal option. So, after already receiving one meal, we then received a new one. But this meal, it was essentially slop, rice, mystery meat, and some sort of gravy in a bowl. Truly a pity meal. But at this point, our only food option for hours. We finally made it to Chicago and were able to get a rescheduled train to Massachusetts due to our crowsy. crazy delays. In the end, we arrived home at about 3 a.m. instead of 5 p.m. like intended. I still recommend train trips to everyone. Just be prepared for the possibility of some pity

slop. This is why you always bring snacks. Got to bring snacks. Got to bring your own snacks. That's incredible. Well, starting with the escalator snafu. Wait, do you know that our friend Ali got stuck in an escalator when she was a kid? and she got like very injured. And that's why there's like a warning on the escalators. Because of our friend Allie. Yes, our friend Allie, who hosts ologies. Allie Ward of Ologies thing.

She got stuck in it. I like really hope I'm right on that. If I'm not, I'm sure the ologists will come after me. Yeah, well, they're dangerous. As my mother says, everything that can hurt you is a death trap. And she also, my mom wants. dropped her license. She was trying to get ready to go through security at an airport, and she took her license out when she was on an escalator, which is just a bad idea. And then

she dropped it. And then it just got eaten by the escalator. And she managed to get on a flight with no ID. Same thing happened to me, except I dropped mine in a porta potty at Coachella. That's very different. It's very different. But the dropping of the license. Yeah, but you didn't have to get on a plane. I did because Coachella is here. And this was when I lived back east. Oh, okay. Yeah. Different time. Different time.

Yeah, a pile up on an escalator sounds like a nightmare. Also, I know my father's going to listen to this, and he does have a tendency to get out of a revolving door or off of an escalator and just take a minute. You were just talking about this when we were traveling. People who stop and are looking at their phones, but they're in the middle of like whatever, this major walkway.

What are you doing, you guys? Step to the side. Yeah. Mary. Yeah, that sounds rough. I like the, when you're a Girl Scout, you are small enough to be able to just be like plucked out of a pile. Yeah.

I like that you're friends. I can't believe they didn't have cookies with them. Oh, yeah. Did you, come on, Girl Scouts. Megan, where were the cookies? The slop sounds rough. It almost, it's like old-timey train. It's like Jack Kerouac.

People probably, that's the last time people were happy to get train slop when they were just that era of travelers. Yeah. Yeah. And then, yeah, I don't know. You made it home. Yeah. And still singing the praises of trains. So if it can be that bad to be on a train trip, imagine how great it could be when it

all goes well. Right. I wonder, Megan, are you still friends with these girls? Yeah. Oh, yeah. Do you guys ever get together for a sleepover in your friend's basement? You should think about it. Thank you so much, Megan. Also, yeah, love Keene. We were one of those girls from that sleepover, got married in Keene a couple years ago. Yeah, Jackie. She lives in Keene, and there's a really great tax store, the Cheshire Horse and Keen. Yeah. So many great things. Yeah. And, uh, Jumanji, the original Jumanji. And Jumansi, that's right. Shot in downtown Keen.

Yeah. Charming little town. Thank you so much, Megan. Appreciate it. Hey, we're going to take a quick break and hear from some of our sponsors. Hey, everybody. We have some very exciting news from Allipop, but Posh's news is more exciting than mine. I mean, mine's exciting because I'm drinking blackberry vanilla, which is one of the two summer flavors.

But Posh has the other one. This bad boy right here. Oh, no. How come you're the one you've got that? The raspberry sherbert soup. Oh, my God. I'm going to watch you open it, and I'm going to watch you drink it, and then I'm going to listen to you, tell me about it. I remember we used to have tubs of sherbert in the freezer. Yeah, but Sherbert ice cream. Although, yeah, is Sherbert ice cream? Who knows?

Yeah, no one really knows. No one will ever tell you. But this, this tastes just like that. It really throws you back to those days in New Hampshire on a hot summer day. And it would cool off. and no better way to do it. And is it true that it's less than a thousand calories? Yeah. How much less? Let's see.

If I'm looking at the back here, total calories. It's 30. 30. That's insane. Yeah. It's just two grams of sugar, six grams of fiber. It is bold, bright, fruity, and refreshing. And really, Sufi, it takes me back.

I feel like at this point people want to go buy their olipop. So let me give them some good news. you can get a free can of olive pop. Buy any two cans of olive pop in store and we'll pay you back for one. It works on single cans of any flavor, any retailer. Just go to drinkollipop.com slash trips. That's olipop. That's olipop.

Is available in the soda aisle and with the chilled beverages at thousands of retailers nationwide, including Walmart and Target. Taste like summer. Hey, tripsters, we have some very exciting news. Family Trips is taking a little road trip. and doing a couple live shows this summer. So come join Sufi and I and some special guests at City Winery on August 12th in Philadelphia

and August 13th in Boston also at City Winery. Those are different places. They're called the same thing. There's a City Winery in one place, a City Winery in the other place. You get it. Of course, you know we love taking this show on the road and we love seeing all of you. So come join us on August 12th in Philly. I've never been there.

I'm so excited. August 13th in Boston at Citywinery. Go to citywinery.com for tickets. This message is a paid partnership with Applecard. Planning family trips can get chaotic, but my Apple card makes things way easier. I applied right for my iPhone in as little as a minute, and now I use it for everything travel-related.

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You know, for when I'm on the roads, less traveled. Applying the wallet app on your iPhone today. Subject to credit approval, Apple Card is issued by Goldberg. Sacks Bank, USA, Salt Lake City Branch, terms, and more at applecard.com. Hi, Seth. And Josh. We're Emily. And Amanda.

Sisters in a core four family here to tell you about our Canadian cabin family trips. When we were six and nine years old, our outdoorsy dad convinced our much less outdoorsy mom to take a family trip to his cousin's cabin in Canada, just over the New York state border. The cabin sits on a lake surrounded by undisturbed wilderness with about 14 cabins in total, with electricity, running water, but no indoor toilet. We're still not sure how Mom agreed to this. Our first time at the cabin, we walked in to Chipmunks acting like they owned the place. Mom immediately told us not to get anything out of the car because if the Chimpmunks weren't removed,

we would not be staying the night. Luckily, the Chipmunks found their way under a bed and into a rolled-up carpet, which dad stuffed clothes with wash claws and carried out of the house. Repairs were made to the screens of the cabin. We stayed the week and we returned for family vacation the next few summers. A couple years later, we were back at the Canadian cabin and enjoying a boat ride on the lake, ready to go tubing or water skiing when the boat motor suddenly shut off. Despite every effort from dad and likely some silent prayers for mom, the motor would not restart.

Now, this was in the pre-cell phone era, but even if this happened tomorrow, we probably wouldn't have had cell service or anyone to call for help anyway. We were a significant distance from the cabins and docks, but the beach used as a boat launch was nearby. And when we say nearby, you could not throw baseball to hit it. It was around the other side of an island and a good ways away, but wildly closer than the docks and cabins. At this point, Dad did the only thing left to do and jumped into the lake wearing his life jacket, tied a rope to the front of the boat and to himself and began tugboating us into the launch area. Being the older sister, mom and I were responsible for using water skis as oars in an attempt to help the process along.

As the younger one, I had very little to offer, but remember feeling like I was being left out of a fun adventure. Luckily, I was given the task of watching for rocks, very much a made-up job to appease an eight-year-old, classic youngest child. Eventually, an hour later, the boat was pulled and paddled to the boat launch beach, and a soaking wet barefoot dad walked a half mile on the dirt road to get the keys, the van, and the boat trailer. So the boat did make it safely back on dry land. Luckily, this happened at the end of the week, so it was still a fun-filled vacation.

The boat was even repaired and saw the water again for future adventures that did not involve being stranded in the middle of a lake. Despite the mishaps, we really do look back on the Canadian cabin family vacations fondly. We love the podcast and always look forward to new episodes. Thanks for the opportunity to reminisce on our family trips. Oh, thank you, Emily and Amanda. That's great. What a hero. What a classic dad hero.

Like when you're little and your parents do things like that, they are just superheroes. Oh, my God. It elevates them to just untold levels. And that must have been so incredible. You must have... That man must have been so tired. That's all I'm like, I hope someone got him a very ice cold beer after that. Yeah, there's also the thing of like when you're little, you think things are further away than they are.

You think like sledding hills are steeper than they actually are. So, yeah, I don't know. I think like tugging. a boat with your human body in the water no matter how far it is, it's tiring. Yeah. Well, you always swim like you're tugging a boat behind you. Me? Yeah. That's like your stroke. I would say that I had a stroke. I just like to paddle around. Yeah, like you're pulling a boat. Yeah. Yeah. That's your form. I did a like half triathlon once and I was like, how am I going to get through this water? And I was definitely like doing a side stroke and I got on my back at one point.

And I was just like, I hope this is over. Yeah, well, that's what a lot of people think when they're doing triathletal. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I'm with your mother to insist on the chipmunks needing to be out of the cabin. They're so cute, though. They are so cute. Yeah. We, yeah, we did a, we did a cabin trip to this place in Maine called Malasses Pond that sort of had so many shortcomings, but it just remains in our minds as one of the best trips we've ever taken.

And it was like, yeah, that, you know, screens just stapled to wood. Oh, yeah. Those, like, rickety doors that would slam shut and some little bit of. musty, a little bit old smelling. But yeah, a Canadian cabin on a lake. That sounds great. We'll be there. We'll be there this summer.

Let us know. We'll come voting, but just make sure it works first. Yeah. And really kudos to your father. Yeah. And to your mom, for going, as you said. For paddling. For paddling.

Yeah. Yeah. That's amazing. Thank you guys so much. Yeah. Thanks for listening. Yeah. Thanks for sending that story.

And writing it out. And really, you guys, it sounds like you guys. Well, and it was a very good taking turns. They were sharing the story well. Give and take. Yeah. Yeah. Sisterhood.

Yeah. All right. I think we've got one more story. Sam. He Myers Brothers. Love the podcast. Long time listener. First time caller.

But I do want to preface by saying this. is a family trip before we were officially a family. So this is my then-boyfriend now husband. So I'll start off by setting the scene. We had just graduated from law school. And this was my husband's first international trip in his entire life. And so I did all the planning. It was also one of the first international trips I had planned in my life. And so I wanted to make a big impression, make sure that he had a great first experience. And we decided to go to Spain. So we touched out in beautiful Barcelona. I'd say a red eye face. flight, get in the morning, have a lovely time, walk on the beaches, grab a drink on the beach,

get a lovely seafood dinner, sleep, wake up the next morning. I'm so excited. I'm like, hey, guess what I have planned? This is the big coup de grace of the trip. I have booked us tickets to a Barcelona versus Granada, actually, football game or soccer game, as we call it. My husband's super excited, and I ask him, hey, I'm just going to do my makeup and hair real quick. Can you run down to the front desk and just ask how we get to the stadium, because I'm not sure. A few minutes later, he comes back up and he says, hey, I actually have some good news and some bad news. Good news.

Barcelona won. Bad news. Game was yesterday. And so I am panicked. I'm like, what? I look at the tickets. Turns out I did the math wrong on the dates. With the red eye flight, I did not realize we were arriving the same day as the game

and just completely boosted it, just missing. So now I feel terrible because that was the big fun event that we were going to do. in Barcelona. I'm trying desperately to find something else we can do that day. And I feel just awful. And so we go down to the lobby of the hotel. There's literally those pamphlets with all the activities that are nearby. And I find one that says olive oil tours, which of course is just as fun as going to a soccer game. And so I book us an olive oil tour. There's a bunch of these couples. We are the youngest by at least a decade. But we actually have a great time to tell you how olive oil is made. You taste of olive oil and have good bread. And it's lovely.

scenery, it's like being at a vineyard. Then about a couple hours in, they say, hey, who here booked the half day tour and who here booked the full day tour? Can you raise your hand if you book the full day tour? I felt so guilty that I thought more olive oil was better than less olive oil, and so I had booked us the full day tour. So the only people that have raised their hands now are myself and my then-boyfriend and a couple in their late 60s who were Irish, and the lady was perfectly lovely and social, but the gentleman was quite rough and taciturned did not say a word the entire time. And so I was like, ooh, I may have made a miscalculation here. So the big difference between the half-day tour and the full-day tour is that you get a lunch and then you basically go

to another one of these olive oil vineyards. And so we go to our lunch. It is probably 1130, which is absurdly early in Spain. Nobody's eating at this hour. They drive us in, the guy drives us in, He opens the door. It's so early, there's nobody in the restaurant. There's also no music play. It's just completely silent. And he says, hey, I'm going to leave you guys here. Do you guys want to eat together or separate? And the wife and I look at each other, we kind of shrug and smile. Somehow we end up looking at my husband. And he goes, and separate, which is, of course, the wrong response for a completely empty restaurant. And he still swears to this day that the older Irish man was very pleased with this decision. and kind of like also would have gladly chosen to eat separate. But it was very awkward. So now the guy leaves. It's literally just the two tables in the small restaurant that probably seats about 40 people. We're literally seated back to back.

And we continue just eating virtually in silence because it's so quiet in there that you could hear the other person's conversation. And so we spend the rest of the day together. We go to the next vineyard. And then at the end of a long day of olive oil touring, we are dropped back off at our hotel. And as we're departing, the only words that this Irish gentleman spoke to us all day was literally as we were stepping out of the band. He said, vote for Obama. And we close the door. I'd be clap because we were like, that is so random and great.

So anyway, that was one of our most memorable trips. I love the podcast, loved listening to you guys. I hope you can make a great song out of that, Josh. Oh, that's so fun. Man, I had a friend who texted me just a screenshot from Stubhub about the first U.S. World Cup game that was going to be in L.A. And there were tickets, they were like $1,700 tickets.

And I was like, I mean, it would be great to go, but I'm going to be out of town. And he also said, like, here's this game Saturday. And I was like, it would be great to go. I'm going to be out of town. Also, the game's Friday. He was like, oh, man, imagine if I bought these $7,800 tickets and got a day later. But to then also sort of like feel like you're winning back your trip a little bit and do this olive tour and then to have to like sit in that very awkward dinner.

Yeah. Lunch, just a lunch, because there's a full second half of the day afterwards. I wonder like if that were you and I, if we would just be like, whispering or if we would just be forcing them to talk to us. I don't know. We hiked around Norway. We did some of these Norwegian national parks and you would sort of go hut to hut. And when you would arrive at a hut, they might sometimes seat you with people. And this one time we got sat with this Belgian guy who we always just called Belgium.

We kept seeing them on the hike, you know, because we would hike miles every day. And so it was me, you, Belgium, and this other guy. And we're, you know, you're just making conversation. And they, we had these tiny, like, prawns, these tiny shrimps, which gross you out. Frees of the sea. I was not vegan at the time. And you were like in the middle of just like a conversation about Norway and traveling or whatever. You were like, does anyone want my shrimpies?

Which the language barrier on shrimpies, like, wasn't, it just bumped for everybody. And they were like, what? And you were like, my shrimpies? I really, stuck it. My shrimps? My shrimpies? And they were like, no, that's okay. You just really wanted them.

But it has been a lifelong or a relationship long joke between us. Yeah. Anytime we see shrimps. Yeah. Shrimpies. Anyone want my shrimpies? And you just wanted them off your plate. No, thank you.

An olive oil tour sounds like a good thing to do, though. Yeah. Yeah. Maybe not the full day. Maybe not the full day. Half day olive tour sounds like the right amount of time. But I wonder if she got like the best olive oil that she's ever had in her whole life. Yeah.

Yeah. Also. Because olive oil's good. But when you have like a great olive oil. A stunner of an olive oil. Yeah. It's a game changing. Yeah, that sounds good to me. Also, like, your tickets to the, you know, the soccer match were a bust, but you were in Barcelona. It wasn't like there was going to be nothing else to do. Yeah. Yeah, that's it. He's amazing. So, go get lost. Go get lost. Yeah. And maybe not just lost with a taciturn, old Irish man.

But it's really funny that that was the one thing he, like, said to them. Like, vote for Obama. Yeah. Hey, we're going to take a quick break and hear from some of our sponsors. Support comes from Lola Blankets. You know, my wife, McKenzie and I, we're big snugglers, and we love a night on the couch. Don't get me wrong, we like going out, but we love a night that is just set up for the two of us to be on the couch. We're so snuggle forward that we have a blanket ladder with some of the coziest blankets

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I think we put a call out for some questions, honey, to ask of you and me specifically. So I don't know if we got any of those. Sam, do we have some questions from McGonzie and I? Nope, cricket. No question. No, we do. We do. Great.

So these are questions that were submitted on social media, so we don't have any voicemail question. So I'm going to read these off for you guys. Okay. Okay. So first question is from Purple Cat 99 on Instagram who wants to know how did you both meet as you are from the same part of the country and now live nowhere near it? Um, well, Purple Cat, first of all, it just reminds me of Northwestern. Yeah, go cats. Go Cats. Um, and then yeah, we met in Los Angeles. Uh, we live sort of near a little strip of restaurants and sort of a very pedestrian street in the middle of Los Angeles. And I was having dinner with a friend. I was friendly with the hostess who was working that night. And I was very friendly with the hostess also. And I lived one block away. So I would

frequent this block. And it's actually like the first neighborhood that I kind of came to when I moved to L.A. Yeah. And so I was having dinner with this guy, and McKenzie came down to have a glass of wine with our friend Avital, who was working that night at Franklin & Company, which is no longer. But they were... They got busy really quickly. They got busy.

And so our friend, Avital, was like, well, I have to seat these tables. So McKenzie, this is my friend Josh, Josh. This is McKenzie. And I was seated when I met you. And we sort of had an awkward... What was the funny thing I did? I don't know. You were sort of moving your arms like a clock.

It was like a clock that had like gone on the fritz. Yeah. I was coming. Maybe I was like miming to you before I knew that you had mimed. Yeah. I was in the mime troupe in college. So I'd take it very seriously. Yeah.

It was like a very like friendly exchange. It wasn't like, boing, like eyeballs at each other. but we ran into each other the next night at the same spot. There's Woody. Nice a dog barking. And I was with a different group of people that you were also familiar with. Your friend Allie, who got, is the reason we have warnings on our escalators. Yeah, my friend Alley and Catherine, who I actually don't think Catherine was there.

No, I don't think so either. Yeah. Yeah. But yeah. And then we walked home to, that night together. Mm-hmm. And we walked past your place and you asked me if I wanted to be escorted back to mine.

And I said, don't be ridiculous. And I walked home. And then he sent me a message on Facebook. Yeah, because I was too nervous to ask for her number. So he was good old Facebook. But we met IRL. Yeah. And then we hung out the next day and the next day and the next day.

And now here we are doing a podcast. And then we got married many years later. So that's it. That's the history on it. Thanks for the question. We get another one, Sam. Tracy NNC from Instagram wants to know for McKenzie, which of the Myers Core 4, not Josh, would you choose to be on your team in a board game?

Ooh. That's a very good question. I mean, I guess if I wanted, yeah, I guess I would have to say Seth. He's very good at games. Yeah, he is very good at games. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

But yeah, part of me feels like you might, you might choose my mom just because... I love her. You love them all, but that girl power. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And like, it would depend on it.

Yeah, yeah, I don't know. I guess it would depend on the game because your mom is also exceptional at games. Yeah. This was like a very difficult family to come into because I did not grow up playing games. I mean, the extent of card games for me is like war and slapjack and like, that was it. I don't even know. I never learned how to play poker. Never really did board games past monopoly.

What's your favorite board game now, would you say? Favorite game? I really love that skull game that we played. It's just so fun. It is. And, yeah, it was tough. to just sort of like they're so good at games and they're all so quick at games that it just took me a long time to feel like I could even like keep up with everything. But, you know, I'll dive right in now.

Oh, and Hughes. I love that game. Hughes. Hughes. Hughes. Yeah. Great game. It's beautiful.

All right. More questions? We got two more here. Great. Over Kyle Art from IG wants to know when you're back in Western. mass, what outdoor or nature spots do you guys like to visit? Well, I have a bunch of classic walks and hikes that I do with my parents. And I really feel like I just slip right back into that. I've been wanting to go home in the winter to go to Berkshire East, which is like a little ski resort

near my hometown and my niece and nephew ski there and teach skiing lessons there. And I grew up skiing there, but it's been forever. And they also have a zipline course there, and I've never ziplined. Yeah, what could go wrong? What could go wrong, Josh? Do tell us. What could go wrong? We talk about it all the time. Yeah. So, yeah, it's a lot of hiking. What's the, is it, Catamount is the... Oh, yeah. Catamount is a really good hike, but then also up to the Fire Tower. Yeah. And this is like very Shelburne Falls sort of local. But we, We drove to, is it Williamstown where the Clark. Oh, yeah, we went to the Clark right after we got engaged.

Yeah, the Clark Art Institute is amazing. And then there's also a, and there's Mass Mocha. Mass mocha. But at the Clark, there are trails. There's, you know, a big system of trails and there's art sort of out in the fields. And we didn't get a chance to do all of that. And it's a stunning. It's a stunning museum and that I haven't been to, haven't been to Mass Moka.

Yeah, it's on the list if we get back to in. And Jeff Tweedy does a, does like a festival there every year, which sounds incredible. So, yeah. Good question. What about for you when you're in New Hampshire? You go, you guys golf a lot. That's the big thing. Yeah, we golf, but if I, we hiked Mount Cardigan in eighth grade.

it's this bald mountain in the white mountains and it's great and I would love to go back there and do that but sort of any of the any of those mountains and Mount Manadnach is like the most hiked mountain I want to say maybe in the country or something like that and you might even need reservations now to do it but it's very you can see from that patent hill walk yeah yeah but it's such an achievable hike in a day and it's also, you know, just rocky top and... It's spectacular. Yeah, that's great.

So those are some of my faves. Yeah. Oh, but my favorite thing to do is get maple soft serve ice cream. Why do you... They're called maple creamies in her hometown, which sounds gross to me. Yeah. Yeah. But that's like, as I'm driving into town, I'll stop and get one of those because they're so good.

Yeah. All right. And last question, Sam. Marnia Aikens from Instagram wants to know what your dream vacation together is. Our honeymoon. Our honeymoon. We still haven't done it. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, we're trying to figure out when we can do it. But we sort of, we know the contours of it. We think we want to do one of these hut-to-hut hikes and the dolomites that Seth and Alexi have done and other friends of ours have done. So we want to do a little bit of that, maybe a week of that, and then go to Florence where McKenzie studied for a semester. I've never been.

And then go to Venice where I've never been. And McKenzie's also been with other guys. No, no. I went with my mom. And then, yeah, maybe some other cool little coastal town. Yeah. Once you start sort of coming up with ideas of where you want to go. you can just make an endless list.

Yeah, but it's Italy-centric. Yeah, it's going to be Italy-centric, and that's how you know it's our honeymoon. Yeah. We'll get it done, one of these days, honey. Yeah, yeah, maybe this year. Maybe this year. Well, thanks everybody, and thank you, honey, for stepping in.

It was so fun. And thank you all for listening. Thank you for sending your stories and questions, and we'll be back next week. with another family trips. But without me, I won't be here. Yeah, from her. Bye, guys.

Bye.