Magic: The Gathering Drive to Work Podcast - Drive to Work #310 - Traveling

Episode Date: March 4, 2016

Mark talks about his experiences traveling for his job and shares a few tips as well.

I'm pulling up at the driveway. We all know what that means. It's time for another drive to work. Okay, so today I'm going to talk about an aspect of my job that I keep touching upon in other talks, but I never talk directly, which is traveling. So one of the things, one of the great, I mean, I always talk about magic being a dream job, and it allows me all sorts of awesome things. And one of the things that it's allowed me to do in my life is travel a lot of places. I've got to see a lot of the world that the average person might not see, thanks to magic. So today, I want to talk a little bit about kind of where I've traveled, and then the lessons learned of traveling. What have I learned of being a frequent traveler? What have I learned? So, for starters, I have been all over this country. I have been to, I think about one point, I've been to, I think, over half the states for magic. I've been to many, many, many states. Although today is a little more talking about visiting other places and other cultures.

So I did, and some of that applies to a lesser extent when you're traveling within your own country, but really a lot of the lessons are more like being in other countries and being in places that are unfamiliar to you. That's a lot of what today. So I have had the pleasure of being all over the United States. I have been, like I said, to most reaches. I've been to all corners of it. I haven't actually been to either Hawaii or Alaska,

which are probably the farthest away, for magic. Although I once tried to get to Alaska. That was a story I told. But I have managed to get to quite a bit of other cities. For example, there are a lot of domestic pro tours, and so I've just been all over the place just going to eight years plus of domestic pro tours and world championships and stuff. But anyway, like I said, I'm a little more focused on foreign travel for me,

travel outside my home country. Now, as I've talked about during the Invitational podcast, I actually have had the pleasure of visiting every single continent for magic, minus Antarctica. Not a lot of magic played in Antarctica. I do think, by the way, there are sanctioned matches that have occurred in Antarctica. I know there have been some scientific people who run arena leagues and things. So, magic has made its way to Antarctica.

I haven't made my way to Antarctica. And some of the continents, I've only been there once or twice. For example, in South America, I went to Rio de Janeiro for the Invitational there. In Africa, I went to South Africa for the Invitational there. And Australia, I managed to go to an Invitational there

and to a World Championship there. But those are all good examples of countries, or sorry, continents, where I got to once. Australia twice, obviously. Now, we start talking about Europe and Asia. I mean, North America, I've been obviously all over. I've been all over the United States. I've been to Canada twice. Or I've been to two different cities, Toronto and Vancouver.

I've been to Toronto actually multiple times for Magic. I talked about how the very first pre-release of Ice Age was there. There was a Pro Tour there. So I've been there more than once. And I've been to Vancouver. Was there a Pro Tour in Vancouver? I was there. I had a run-in event once in Vancouver. Is that what it was? I was there. I had a run at an event once in Vancouver.

But anyway, so North America, I mean, I've never been to Mexico for work. So, I mean, I've been all around North America, but most of that is in my own country. I've been to South America once. I've been to Africa once. I've been to Australia twice. But when we get to Australia and Australia, we get to Europe and Asia. I've been to a lot of countries, especially in Europe. I've been all over Europe and I've been... So one of the things in general about for me is I, most of my trips to other countries, the majority of them fall into two major camps. One is the Invitational and that's got me a lot, as you can see, some of the more exotic places and the Pro Tour. For eight years, I was on the Pro Tour. I've done other traveling that's gotten me other places.

I talked about it once. I went to RopaCon, the biggest gaming convention in Finland, as a guest of honor. I've been to a couple different nationals. I went to Korean nationals. I've been to a few Grand Prixs. I went to Korean nationals. I've been to a few Grand Prixs. I went to a Grand Prix in Tokyo. So I've been around, like I said, the majority of it was for the Pro Tours and Invitational. But there's been a few other opportunities.

And one of the things that is really sweet, like one of the funny things right now is I get asked all the time to go places. And because I've made a commitment to my family to sort of not leave too often, I actually, my travel, I've cut my traveling down a lot in the last 10 years because of my family. So anyway, it's interesting, like for example, talking about Europe, let's see, I've been to, like I've been to Finland, I've been to, like, I've been to Finland. I've been to England. I've been to France. I've been to Italy. I've been to Germany.

I've been to Brussels. I've been to Spain. I've been to Amsterdam. Oh, actually, I've not been to Amsterdam on company. I take it back. I've not been to Amsterdam on, I was going to go for a pro tour when my daughter was born. So, actually, I've never been to Amsterdam on company. I take it back. I've not been to Amsterdam on I was going to go for a pro tour when my daughter was born. So actually, I've never been to Amsterdam.

I mean, I've been there personally, but I've not been there for magic. Anyway, I know I'm missing a couple countries. I've been to a bunch of other. And then in Asia, I've been to Japan. I've been to Malaysia. I've been to Korea. I've been to Hong Kong.'ve been to Korea, I've been to Hong Kong.

I'm sure I'm missing a couple there too, but I've definitely had the opportunity to sort of see a bunch of different places. So really what I want to talk about today is not so much where I've been, but what I learned. Like what exactly have I learned traveling to so many different places? And it's sort of a tip for other people as they travel. So first and foremost, here's my lesson number one, which is remembering that when you're someplace else, that you are the foreigner. It's very easy when you travel other places to take with it your norm of how things are supposed to be and then go, wow, the people here

they act so differently. And the thing you have to remember is that when you're somewhere else that that's the norm. You're the one acting differently. And that one of the things that's fascinating to me about traveling is getting a chance to see other cultures.

Like, now given most of my traveling, a good chunk of my time is spent, I'm in some hall somewhere playing magic or overseeing magic being played. But I always made a big effort to try to get out and go and sightsee and see things and get a sense of where I was visiting. things and get a sense of where I was visiting. When I was younger, for example, I would usually take anywhere from a couple days to a week extra just so I could travel around and I could see things and I'd have some opportunity to actually see the place that I was visiting. When I was younger, like once I was married, I brought my wife with me in a bunch of different places. There's a number of invitationals.

In fact, Rio de Janeiro is where I asked my wife to marry me. And briefly, wherever we were married, we went to Barcelona together for the Invitational Barcelona. And then after my daughter, Rachel, my oldest was born, when she was only six months old, Laura and I, and Rachel went to Australia for the Invitational in Sydney. So definitely, I've traveled a little bit with my family, mostly by myself. So the number one thing that I think is important to understand is that when you are somewhere else, really do take the time and energy, especially if you're there for a magic reason,

if you're there for a magic event or something, spend a little time to get out to see the place and to understand where are you and what is it like and try to absorb the culture that is there. And like I said, it's important to remember that you are the outsider

in those scenarios that you are the thing that is not normal. And so, try to treat it with respect that where you are, that they do things in a certain way

and that's how they do things and that you are the outsider that, you know. And one of the things that I find is, and this is another very interesting thing is, with very rare exception, I'm not saying it's not exception, but with very rare exception, people are very welcoming of visitors and that I found so many countries I went to, how really welcoming they are and how much they are interested in sharing with you their culture and that they're, you know, normally

pretty happy and that if you just show something inquisitive and say, I want to learn about your culture, they're very happy and usually very proud to show it. And that one of the things that I think is an important part of, you know, dealing with any sort of travel is, you know, if you're going somewhere else, you want to observe it and you want to sort of take in. And one of the things that's been fascinating to me as I traveled around the world

is a couple things. First and foremost is I'm interacting with magic players wherever I go. And one of the things that I've grown to love is, and begin to realize is, the university of magic players. Sorry, the university of magic players. Sorry, universality of magic players. I'm not saying there aren't differences, and there are, and that's important,

but there are a lot of similarities no matter where I go in the world. And that everybody really appreciates the game and appreciates what I've done for the game and it is I've just had welcomes wherever I go and that people are so excited to show me their version, their community and how they play Magic and what Magic means to them and I've had the opportunity to just

tour tons and tons of just game stores and play spaces and it is always exciting to see how they're playing Magic. Now, the thing, like I said, is there's a similarity that runs through all Magic players of just really a love of Magic. And one of the things that has been so awesome, and one of the great boons of this particular job,

is that Magic has sort of a universal language to it. I have sat and played Magic in many places with many people that had no ability to speak a language that I spoke, or at least a verbal language. I played many Magic games where the two of us could not have communicated easily, normally, but in the act of playing Magic, we are able to communicate and we are able to play. And that is a pretty amazing thing. The idea that I can sit down with somebody that I literally have no ability to directly, through verbal communication, communicate with,

and we, without really any problem, can play a game of magic. It's one of the things I love about magic, is that it really does create this shared language that's a new language, and it's a language that transcends traditional sort of verbal language barriers and that it's fascinating. The other thing, like I said, is it is fun to go and that everywhere I go, people are so, like I talk all the time about this is a dream job. And there's many reasons. It's fun. It's challenging. It's cool. It's something I wake up and I enjoy going to work every day.

But one of the things I really love about it is that I get to do something that really brings joy to people, that really makes people happy. And I travel around the world and meet so many different magic players from so many different places. There's a universality to the happiness of them wanting to show how magic has affected them and how it has brought them joy. And it's neat.

One of the things when you go to different places is that the magic is the same, the game is the same, but the trappings around it can be very different. is the same, but the trappings around it can be very different. For example, like when I went to Asia, one of the things I learned is that it's very, back in the day, I assume it's still true, but it's a very popular thing to hold tournaments in malls, in shopping malls. I think because space is somewhat at a premium. Shopping malls have space. And so it's just something that they often will do. And so I've been in many, many big tournaments held at malls, in Asian shopping malls. You know, I've been to a lot.

I know there's other places, some European places, where it's very popular to hold events in restaurants or taverns or, you know. That is one of the things that's really sort of cool is watching how things get adapted and how people take what's part of their life

and bring magic to that. And that is beyond cool, beyond exciting and something that just really is neat to see. Like, one of the things that I've always done is, not only whenever I've gone to new cities have I tried to make sure it's time to see the city and understand the culture of what I'm coming to, the other is getting a chance to see magic in that country

and see how tournaments get played and, you know, be able to sort of experience not just that country, but magic in that country. And that's always been cool. So one of the big questions people get asked of me is, I'm a picky eater. I am a picky, picky eater. And I've talked about this on my blog all the time. I've tried to get better with age. I'm a little better than I was as a kid.

of time. I've tried to get better with age. I'm a little better than I was as a kid. But in general, I'm not proud of my eating habits, nor I've worked hard not to affect my kids with them. And my kids eat far better than I do. But one of the things people ask me, because I don't pick either, it's like, well, how do I survive? I've traveled all around the world. How do I survive? The answer is, what I've learned is, there is meat and starch in every, every culture has their meat and starch. A lot of them do things to jazz it up. There's a lot of sauces and spices and this and that.

And in general, I like the meat and I like the starch. I'm not always fond of necessarily the spices or the sauces just because those is where you tend to get things that are a little spicy and stuff, not my cup of tea. But I've learned that actually every culture, people are always worried that it'll be too bland for me, but I'm like, my tolerance for blandness is very high. But I've actually been very successful

traveling around the world and finding things to eat. There's always things that I find that fit my palate. Now, one of the interesting things is different cities. So here's another big tip is if you can, travel. Have somebody who understands the native culture that speaks your language with you. So for example, when I go to Japan, it's very important.

So there's a man named Ron Foster who works in our office who does a lot of business with the Asian, especially Japanese thing. And he's fluent in Japanese. He's American, but he's fluent in Japanese. And having Ron with you in Japan makes life so much easier.

I know when I was in Brazil, I managed to have somebody who was a local Brazilian who speaks Portuguese, who was able to help me. And having somebody who speaks the native language makes things a lot easier. And here's why. So let's say I want to go to a restaurant and I want to order something. And I'm particular. I'm definitely high maintenance, I want to, usually I want something simple, but explaining that I want it without sauces or spices or things, they can do that, but finding the dish or explaining that can be complicated. So for example, in Japan, for those who have never been to Japan, one of the things that's very common is in the front window, they have plastic versions of all their food.

So if you want something, one of the things you can do, although one of the tips I will give you is most restaurants around the world often will have special menus that are translated into other languages, English as being very common. So one of the things I learned very early on is try to ask and communicate if they have an English menu. If they don't, a lot of what I've discovered, like in Japan, there's a lot about, okay, let's go to the front window and we're going to point to the thing I want because I can see it.

A lot of menus, for example, there'll be pictures, or a very common trick is to find other people eating the thing that looks like what you would want. Because a lot of the trick of trying to get the right food is making sure they understand what you mean. And having a native speaker, by far, by the way, is that having a native speaker does two things for you. One is, it just allows you to communicate, which is very valuable. And the second is,

it, um, you have someone usually, usually if someone knows the language, they know something of the culture. Um, and it is very nice to have somebody who understands the culture.

Because, like, one of the things about traveling to a new place is, you want to learn and understand. My goal when I travel to a new place is not to go, how can I exist in this place so it doesn't, it's exactly like home. No, no, no, no.

I want to experience the thing that's unique to this place. I will admit on food, I'm a little less adventurous. Although I try, I will, I have in new places, I have eaten alligator and snail and various different things that are the delicacies of wherever I'm at. Just, I mean, to try it. You know, I, oh, so let's talk about communication in general.

So, number one, have somebody who understands the language. That's number one. You can't always have that. And I've been to a lot of places where no one necessarily traveling with me was a native of it. The one nice thing for my travels is normally if there's an event, there are locals that are working at the event. And because having someone who can translate between English and the local language is very important, usually there are judges or there are people helping out that have the ability to speak both the local language and English. One thing you'll note, especially traveling in Europe, is in America we tend to speak one language.

We speak English and that's really it. I mean, people will study other languages in school, but there's very few people in America that are fluent in a second language. There's some, but not a lot. When you go to Europe, everybody's fluent in a second language. In fact, many people are fluent in third or fourth languages. One of the things that they really pride in Europe, which I

admire quite a bit, is just the number of languages they'll speak. There are so many countries I've been to where their native language is not English, and I had no problem communicating because so many countries I've been to where their native language is not English and I had no problem communicating because so many people just spoke English. Okay, so tips with communicating if you can't have a native speaker. Number one is, in a lot of countries, there are people who are capable of speaking English. So sometimes

it's good to just let you know that they speak English to see if they happen to speaking English. So sometimes it's good to just let you know that they speak English to see if they happen to speak English. In Europe, I find in particular, there's a high percentage chance they do speak English. Number two is, before I go to any country, one of the things I like to do is I like to mark down, and there's a lot of easy ways to do this with apps and things now. I find that you want to learn a few key things. It's probably about 10 words that you really, really, really need to learn. And it's sort of stuff like, you know, please and thank you and where, bathroom, just a few key things that you know you need to communicate. Because what I've discovered is there's a lot you can do with body language.

It is interesting how often body language can be helpful to you. Another tool that is really helpful, by the way, is having something with you that has pictures. One of the things that's very, that helps the most when you're trying to communicate something is just having pictures. One of the things that's very, that helps the most when you're trying to communicate something is just having pictures. Like one of the things I found most useful, in fact, I used to have a book that I used to carry with me when I traveled a lot. And what the book was, was it was a book of pictures separated by categories so that you could find the thing you wanted and there were pictures of it. Because one of the things that's very interesting is, let's say I'm looking to eat chicken. It is not necessarily that easy to pantomime chicken.

You'd think it would be, and I'm not saying, sometimes they'll get chicken, sometimes you can pantomime it, and using body language and stuff is very helpful, but nothing is as useful as pointing to a picture of a chicken. Chicken's mighty useful. Oh, by the way, I decided I want to remember it. Something that I, it's funny, I've traveled less and less in the last 10 years. This has become more true. If you have a cell phone, which most people do these days, and you don't have a plan that is local to the area you are, it can be very costly. It's a very costly mistake. What you want to do is put your phone in

airport mode, airplane mode, which will keep it from trying to find a local signal. But you can do that, and then you can turn on your Wi-Fi. Normally when you put on your airplane mode, it shuts off Wi-Fi. You can have airplane mode on so the phone isn't searching for stuff, but you can put on Wi-Fi. And then what you'll find in a lot of my travels is I, for example, don't have a phone that uses local stuff.

I don't travel enough to get plans like that. But I do have the ability, there's a lot of opportunities, and usually at magic sites, this is always true, to get to the Internet through a Wi-Fi connection. And so just remember when you're traveling internationally, if you don't have a plan for international calls, put your phone in airplane mode, but turn on the Wi-Fi

so you can find Wi-Fi when they're able. And that way you can actually communicate, even though you might not have a local plan. Anyway, a side note. So anyway, I want to talk about communicating. So number one, have a native speaker. Number two, do make use of body language and trying to communicate.

And be very cognizant of two things. One is that pictures are very helpful and the second is if you can write down words ahead of time on a piece of paper and then write, what I often do is I'll take a piece of paper,

I'll write down key words that are important and I'll write down the English next to the word. Now, this is easier in languages that use romantic lettering like in Europe than it is in some Asian countries who it's harder for you to write the word. Now, this is easier in languages that use romantic lettering, like in Europe, than it is in some Asian countries. It's harder for you to write the word. What I discovered is, if you're going someplace in which it's harder to write, what I've done is find a native speaker in the U.S.

Like, I'll find someone who speaks Japanese in the U.S. There's a bunch of people in the office who speak Japanese, and have them write down, I'll write down a few key things that I need the words, I'll have them right next to it, and then I can actually point to people and show them. Another thing to keep in mind is there are people who do not speak English that can read English. It is very popular in certain countries to learn English. I know in Japan, for example, they learn English, but they don't necessarily learn how to speak

English as much as they learn how to read English. So another big tip I'll give to you is sometimes if you need help, you can write down in English what you want. And there are some places where they actually will speak the language. They'll speak English in written form, but not in spoken form. There are also certain cultures in which if they can't speak it well, even if they have some ability to speak it, they won't speak it because it is considered impolite to poorly speak it. Which is another thing for you to keep in mind. One of the things I tried really hard when I first went to other countries was to try and learn some words of a language so that I at least could do some speaking.

What I discovered is there are some countries that really don't like you butchering their language, maybe a little blunt, but who would rather help you that... The trick I've learned is sometimes speaking a language when you speak it poorly,

it's hard for them to understand you. And there are some places where they... I don't think it's horribly offensive, but it is a for them to understand you and there are some places where they I don't think it's horribly offensive but it is a little offensive to them that you're kind of butchering the native language and so the trick I've learned is having a piece of paper that has words on it ideally in both English and

or in your native language I'm assuming most of you who are listening to me can speak English since I'm speaking English but in your native language and the language of the country you're going is very helpful and like I said pictures if you could find that book I don't know the name of the country you're going is very helpful. And like I said, pictures, you can find that book. I don't know the name of the book, but it was a very neat little handheld book that separated the pictures by categories. And like one category was food, which was really useful when I was trying to order food,

you know, pointing to a chicken or a cow or whatever. It made it a lot easier for people to understand. In fact, it also had food in, like, it wouldn't just have a cow, but it would also have a hamburger and stuff like that. Okay. Another big tip when traveling is definitely, you need to take into account the time change. One of the things that most people, and this is very important for magic events in general, or traveling in general, but magic events particularly, is it is going to take you a little bit of while to adjust to a time zone change. And the bigger the time zone change, the harder it is to adjust. So here's the trick about getting, is when you arrive, wherever you are, you need to

stay up until it is nighttime. Usually like 8 or 9 p.m. something like that you need to stay up late enough because what happens is your body has a certain rhythm you

the way the body functions is there's a rhythm it is used to and all the functionality play off that rhythm and when you are traveling and going to a different place you are messing with your biorhythms and your body has issues with it. So one of the ways it sort of sets its biorhythms a big way has to do with your sleep cycle. And so one of the problems is if you get to a place and you're just tired

because to your body it's late at night and it wants to go to sleep. If you sleep on off hours it really causes some problems for your body and makes it harder to adjust. So number one is when traveling always take into account there is a change and don't plan. You need to plan for a day or two just to adjust. Don't book your travel such that the first day is just full of stuff you really really want to do because what you'll find is you're going to be really tired and you're not going to be able to enjoy it quite as much. What I recommend on the first day is taking it easy, kind of learn the ropes of where you are, walk around a little bit, definitely get some local cuisine, and sort of take the

first day or two to adjust. take the first day or two to adjust. The thing you want to do is you want to wait until it is nighttime. So there's two tricks. One is figure this out on the plane. When you land, from the time you land, you want to be up and you want to be up until you go to bed.

So it's nighttime and you're ready to go to bed. You can go to bed early. You can go to bed at 8 or 9 o'clock, which you probably wouldn't do at home. But you need to stay up until it's actually nighttime and it're ready to go to bed. You can go to bed early. You can go to bed at 8 or 9 o'clock, which you probably wouldn't do at home. But you need to stay up until it's actually nighttime and it's time to go to bed. That means that A, you can nap on the plane some if you need to, or B, and this is the tricky one,

if you get someplace and you know you're not going to make it to the night, what you need to do is you want to have a nap that's no longer than one or two hours. You want to nap just long enough to allow you to stay up late. But set your alarm. You can't oversleep. If you do a full sleep, what happens is when you're traveling, your body's going, I'm tired.

I'm really tired. It's looking to figure out the rhythms. And that if you give it the wrong rhythms, if you play into your normal, natural biorhythms, it makes it harder for your body to adjust. So the important thing is understand that and you have to take that into account. You're not going to be your norm for a couple days. And even, by the way, even once you do this little trick, you know, start, but what's going to happen is you're going to, depending which way you go, but usually what's going to happen is you're not going to wake up at a normal time.

For example, normally when I go to Europe, for instance, it's very common for me, I go to bed at a reasonable time, and I get up early, way earlier than I would normally get up. But the goal is to try to get up, like, a time you could get up at home. get up. But the goal is to try to get up like a time you could get up at home. You know, getting up at 4am is problematic. Because at home

you would never get up at 4am. Getting up at 6 or 7 is early, but at least you can sort of accommodate a real day. The other thing that I'm trying to stress is when you are traveling, take into account that you're going to have time that you need to catch up. Same is true when you get home, by the way.

It is not great to get home the day before you have to jump back into work. Because if there's a time zone change, obviously if you're not leaving time zones, you're going just a few hours, that's not a big deal. For example, when I travel from here to Europe it can be 7, 8, 9 hours 6 to 9 depending on time of year in the United States we do something called daylight savings where some of the year it's different and that can affect things

make sure by the way when you figure out oh another important thing is make sure I'll segue to the next thing there are things you need to do to prepare for a trip I already talked about one of them which is doing a little bit of language stuff getting a sheet of paper that has the language Okay, so I'll segue to the next thing. There are things you need to do to prepare for a trip. I already talked about one of them, which is doing a little bit of language stuff, getting a sheet of paper that has the language things on it,

ideally both written in the native language and in English, so you can sort of know what the words are and point to them. Pictures can be helpful there. Another thing you want to do is you want to make sure that you understand your schedule ahead of time. You would take into account that there's going to be time change stuff and you have to adapt to that. Another big thing you want to do is understand your money. So one of the things that the tip I'll give you there is most airports are going to give you the worst rate the airport you the airport understands it has you in an awesome place which is you kind of need your money and we're here so airports the exchange rate of airports is poor um if you use your credit card there is an exchange rate

done through your credit card um the exchange rate through the credit card is better than you're getting at the airport, although usually not awesome. It depends on your credit card. Some are better than others. And the other thing, by the way, is the credit card will adjust it on the day, exactly now, what is the change. You can, by the way, before you even leave, it depends on where you're going, some currencies, by the way, before you even leave, uh, depends on where you're going.

Um, some currencies available in local banks, if it's a, like you can get euros usually in a bigger bank. Um, all of Europe uses, uh, uses the euro. So the euro is big enough that most banks or bigger banks in the United States will have, you can trade for euros ahead of time. Um, another good trick is your bank card tends to give you a halfway decent rate, better than you're going to find usually on your credit card, and for sure, for sure, better than the airport's going to. One of the things is do some homework.

Figure out if you use your bank card, what rate are they going to give you? If you use your credit card, what rate are they going to give you? Figure out your best rate. Sometimes it's best to just get the money ahead of time, but think about how you're going to get the money. And yes, you can pay some stuff with credit cards, but there are more places in other countries where you can't. America definitely has a lot more places you can use credit. Like, you can use your credit card 98% of places. It's a little less true in other countries.

It's getting better, but still, you want to make sure you know what cash you're going to have, what you're going to do. Another thing is, be aware that most countries do not use the electrical outlets that you are used to. And that one of the things you want to do is understand

what are the outlets of the place you're going to, and you want to get universal stuff to be able to do that. And remember how many things you need to do is understand what are the outlets of the place you're going to and you want to get universal stuff to be able to do that and remember how many things you need to plug in um one of the trips i've heard that's really good is to take a power strip so have an adapter a good adapter and use a power strip and that way the power strip plugs into the wall with with the adapter and then you can plug your items in normally because you have an adapter, you have a power strip that's your own thing, and then you can plug it in. But be aware of how many devices you're taking

that need to be charged, that need to be plugged in, especially with cell phones and iPads and also computers and stuff like that. You need to be aware of how many plugs you need and be aware that you need to make sure you take enough and understand where you're going. That's another general rule, by the way. If you're going to travel to another country, you want to do research before you get there. One of the things I know when we travel is whenever

they put together information for people traveling for work, they always put together some information on the place you're going. A little bit about cultures. Like, one of the things you want to learn about is are there things there that are a little different? Usually, if you do the researching, you do it online stuff. Like, you know, I'm talking from an American-centric thing because I'm American,

but go on and look and say, you can specifically say, in this country, what will be odd for somebody coming from your country? One of the things I'll do a lot is sometimes there are gestures that are American gestures that mean something different in the other country. It's very good sometimes to understand what is offensive to the place you're going. There are things that you might do that you might think nothing of

that have other meaning in the culture you're going to. And once again, you are the visitor. You need to conform to their norms, not have them conform to your norms. If doing something is considered very rude where they are, even if where you're from it is not, look, refrain from it. You are the visitor. You should be a good ambassador of where you come from, and you need to adapt to their, you are in their space.

If they don't like something, don't do that thing. The other thing you'll find and you need to adapt to their, you are in their space. If they don't like something, don't do that thing. The other thing you'll find if you do your research, you'll learn things about tipping, you'll learn, like, there's just a lot, or one of the things

that's very important to understand is there are a lot of cultural things sometimes where, oh, in our place, when you go to a restaurant, like I remember in Brazil, they had a tradition where they would put a bottle of wine at the table. And you were supposed to tell them

at the beginning of the meal if you didn't want the wine. If you don't tell them you don't want the wine, it assumes you're buying the wine. You need to understand stuff like that and that you need to, it's important to do research. The other thing is definitely check out

the weather of where you're going. I know a lot of people make assumptions about things. Like, for example, if you're going to a place that is traditionally cold, it might not be cold. What time of year is it? Remember, by the way, that northern and southern hemisphere don't work the same. That you might be going somewhere and it's really cold where you are, but where you're going is very hot.

Like, I know, for example, when I went to Australia, that our summer and their winter, our summer's their winter, our winter's their summer. And we were going at a certain time, I have to try to remember, I think we were going when it was winter for us and summer for them. Just understand, make sure you look at the temperature

so that you bring clothes that's appropriate to where you're going. Another thing, and this is a cultural thing, Americas tend to be much more comfortable not covering up. And there are other places where that's considered very not okay. Also, as you visit things, there are different places where you need to cover your head or you need to cover your arms or your elbows or your knees. One of the things you want to understand is

not only dress for how you normally dress, but dress for what the culture is required of you. There are definitely places, and I know men and women, there's some different things, you know, that you need to sort of look and understand that you are a guest, you are coming to them,

respect their culture, respect what they want. And, you know, there are places, if you are coming to them, respect their culture, respect what they want. And if there are places if you want to go visit, a real common thing is you're visiting churches or something where there's just extra rules tied in and it's a belief of them and look,

this is their rule, you need to honor it. And if they want you to cover up or do whatever so you can visit certain landmarks or things, hey, they have every right to ask that. You as a visitor need to follow what they're saying. In general, I guess, my big note here is that there are a lot of things that are different and you need to do the homework

to understand what those differences are. The other thing, for example, is just some general travel tips, which is, and stuff like iPads make this actually pretty easy these days, but make sure you understand how long you're traveling, how long your layovers are,

and that you bring the things you need to be able to entertain yourself for the amount of time. Like I said, with the advent of digital stuff, it's funny because when I used to travel, I actually, one of the things I tended to do when I traveled is I tried to travel as late as I could. My rule of thumb was I never, I tried to, if I could avoid putting luggage into baggage, I, my rule of thumb was I never, I tried to, if I could avoid putting luggage into baggage, I did just because there's less chance of something happening or losing luggage

when it's not, when it's out of my sight. That if I'm packing small enough that I can, you know, put it above me or below my seat or whatever, then I keep my, I keep my eyes on it. Where if I put it down below. If you happen to lose your luggage, by the way, it is very, very good on your luggage to include the information of where you're staying so that if you lose your luggage, the luggage itself says where you are staying.

And it has on it a means to contact you that someplace they can contact you where you're at. Your cell phone, if you don't have active, if you can't take calls where you're at, do you know somebody else who is? Some place you're visiting or a co-worker who does? One of the things I would often do is, I know that, you know,

I'd have somebody who I know who travels enough that does have a phone that could take international calls, and sometimes I'd put their number on, so if something happened. But anyway, what I'm saying is, I used to travel, I used to take a lot of things with me to entertain me. And it's funny now that, like, I can condense all the things I used to bring into, like, my iPad.

Technology has definitely made traveling a little easier. I can't stress enough that you need to be very, don't overpack. There's lots of negatives to having too much. There's negatives to not having enough, and I'm not saying don't be prepared to bring what you need. But also try to be smart. And I think a lot of bringing what you need is having to do the research. The final thing, I'm almost to work here,

the final big piece I would give you if you're going to travel is, I talk a lot about planning ahead, but part of that also is, make sure you take time to enjoy where you're going and that you're not rushed. One of the things that I find is, one of the biggest mistakes of people visiting is they just try to get too much in in too short an amount of time. And the idea is don't say, hey, I went to this famous, famous place and I was there for five minutes. Like, if you're going to go visit something, visit it.

I would much rather go to less places but really get to see the thing you get to see. Another thing, by the way, that I really... A big tip, by the way that I really a big tip by the way is early on I would take a lot of pictures of where I would went but I was never in the pictures it was me taking the pictures and then when I realized what I really want when I got home

was pictures of me in the environment hey here's this famous national monument and I'm in the picture with the monument that remember to sort of have friends or other people take pictures that a lot of what you want, it's not like,

here's a picture of the monument that I took because that doesn't mean anything or it means less. Having pictures of you with the thing so you have memories of you being there. Just don't forget to be in the pictures. But take your time. Don't rush things.

Schedule things so you really have time to see things. And do the things so you really have time to see things. And do the research so you really have an opportunity to sort of not just see the most obvious thing, but maybe see some of the coolest things. One of the big tips I did is talk to people. Ideally, talk to natives if you can. That's not always possible. If not, talk to people that have previously visited and say, hey, what did you learn from your visit?

What could I do? And what you'll find is, you'll get a lot of really good tips from people. A lot of people, like this whole podcast is me trying to give you tips on if you're going to travel, kind of cool things you can do when you travel. And one of that is just talk to people

that have been the way you've been. A lot of times they'll go, oh, I went to this awesome restaurant or oh, I did this thing I didn't like and maybe skip this thing. You'll get people that will give you some very, I mean, you'll go, oh, I went to this awesome restaurant. Or, oh, I did this thing I didn't like, and maybe skip this thing. You'll get people that will give you some very, I mean, you can take or leave the advice, but you'll get some actual advice. I guess my big thing today is basically there's homework.

You want to travel, there's a lot of homework that needs to get done. You need to understand where you're going. You need to understand what you want to look at. You need to understand what you need to bring. And what you'll find is traveling is a lot of fun. Like, one of the reasons I wanted to do this podcast today is I love traveling. And then, to be honest,

I still travel a little bit. Just not as much as I used to. But traveling is a blast. That, you know, getting to see new cultures and new places is one of the great joys of this job that I've had. The fact that I've gotten to go to so many places and seen so many things

really has broadened my life experiences and it's been a wonderful opportunity. And so what I'm saying to all you out there, if you have the opportunity to go to other places, I just take the steps, do the homework, do what's necessary, both so you're comfortable and you have the things you need while you're there

and that you know what you need to see and you have the better opportunity to really maximize your trip. So that said know and what you need to see and you know you have a better opportunity to really maximize your trip so that said i hope you have a wonderful trip next time you travel and speaking of trips i've just parked in my parking space and i'm done with my trip so we all know what that means we mean this is the end of my drive to work so instead of talking magic it's time for me to be making magic see you guys next time