Your Happy Hour - Episode 30: Top 10 On Traveling Solo

Episode Date: June 28, 2024

Happy Friday everyone! Tune in to episode 30 and let’s wrap up the month of June with our thoughts on The Top 10 on Traveling Solo:In this episode, we chat about flying it solo in the travel-sphere, finding your way into unexpected destinations, the treasures of spending time by yourself, as well as finding your tribe and the truths about being a digital nomad and how to best balance work while indulging in new-found foods, drinks and reads!We’ll be here - every Friday - celebrating with you!Connect with us @ friday-feels.co▶ Podcast Chapters2:30 Exploring Flying it Solo in a State of Travel3:06 Wine, Food and Dancing on Tables4:02 Unexpected Travel Treasure Destinations6:03 The Hidden Gems of Being By Yourself9:13 Finding Fellow Travelers and Locals14:45 Finding Your Tribe22:24 Be in the Moment and Mindful!25:22 The Truth About Digital Nomad-acy30:29 Balancing Work and Travel36:54 Favorite Foods and Drinks Discoveries41:13 Our Best Reads On The Go47:19 Final Thoughts and Farewell

Happy Friday, beautiful people, and welcome to your first step of the weekend. You're tuned into your happy hour with friday fields we're celebrating all you working professionals out there doing your crazy craft embracing the beauty of being human and connecting authentically we're your host sarge and nicole we're living and working around the world and we're holding space for you and keeping it raw and real as we share fresh content with you every week. So follow us at LinkedIn at Friday Feels and Instagram at These Friday Feels for updates throughout the week. In our last episode, we had our wonderful families on for Father's Day chatting about

the top 10 on growing up with entrepreneurs. We had some funny and blissful moments chatting to our folks on the sacrifices of being an entrepreneur, the highs and lows, as well as the powerful and sometimes calming energy of the women behind the men. I had a lot of fun doing that one. How about you, Nicole? Your folks are like so cool and awesome, especially with their hobbies and the way they talk. I really enjoyed it more than I thought I would oh I had such a great time I felt like it was such a special episode and I think we were saying this afterwards like one we'll probably keep in our hearts and treasure forever and uh

yeah just getting to know everybody and yeah your mom is just the sweetest so I uh I loved I loved that episode I think it was really really awesome one check it out if you haven't already yes for sure I think we only could have had that that sort of dialogue with your family um because you guys are so open and warm and welcoming it was very interesting I think even some of my parents answers surprised me on there so I think it'll be very interesting. I think even some of my parents' answers surprised me when I was on there. So I think it'll be very interesting when the videos come out. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. But it was fun.

So, yeah, if you haven't checked it out, definitely check it out. You'll definitely get some laughs. I was cringing a lot, but also happy and also, like, tears. I don't know. It was a lot. It was a lot going on in that episode. Very unexpected, but so much fun. And then for this week, we're continuing our top 10 theme with the top 10 of solo travel. So we're going to be exploring what it means to be a digital nomad,

the hidden treasures of travel and the best tips and tricks to find your tribe when you are traveling. So are you ready to jump in? Yeah, yeah, I haven't really looked at these questions. So let's give it a go. But I know a little bit about travel after the last year and a half. So I'm sure I can't go wrong. Yeah, I think it's gonna be super exciting to hear your answers so okay so we're gonna do number one would you rather have too much wine or too much food you can only pick one oh that's a hard one because too much wine means I'm dancing on the tables food means that I'm bloated and then I can't go dance on the table but I think too much food is a better one because then I won't embarrass myself so I mean if it's great wine and great food that's really hard honestly I hadn't thought about my answer um I guess too much food because

I'm just greedy but that's yeah they're equally good options I would say 100% either one you can't go wrong maybe like too much food with too much wine like yeah hands down cool so number two is which travel destination did you unexpectedly enjoy oh the one I unexpectedly enjoyed the most um Ialy so mostly because it was an unexpected trip that kind of happened by fluke so a home exchange fell through and we had to reroute and ended up going to verona and yeah what an incredible incredible city beautiful amphitheater just didn't expect that you know I didn't expect I mean Italy is beautiful but I didn't expect Verona to be so special and what it was so yeah how about for you that's awesome yeah I think unexpected travel is always the best one there's been so many but if I had to pick one that I didn't really understand the charm or look too much into,

it was Prague. It's a very, very charming city. It's beautiful. There's water. It kind of looks like you're in Beauty and the Beast. And you're just kind of like walking alongside Belle everywhere. You can drink on the streets. At that time, I didn't used to drink beer that much.

So I didn't know how much I would like it. But it was just such a charming city. Everything is different hues of nude and brown and gold. And so it felt like you were in a fairy tale going there. And I always remember that about it. So I would say if you're ever looking for a a romantic kind of trip I mean there's so many places in the world but it was just very unexpected how much I enjoyed it and I started drinking beer a lot after that oh man I haven't actually been to Prague it's one of the places I really want to go

so putting that on the list you should you definitely should okay number three what's one thing you love about traveling solo oh yeah quite a few things top thing you know I think it's having that freedom I think it's having the space to be yourself you know not that I don't enjoy traveling with other people but often when you have to think of someone else and me being an empath I tend to put other people's desires before my own so when I'm by myself and you know Gracie she gets a say but she kind of goes with the flow as well and so I really get to express myself and find myself in weird and interesting situations you know and yeah sometimes you might want to explore down a certain alley or certain road in a town you can go and wander and find some

interesting things that you wouldn't have otherwise if you were with someone so I would say it's the that uh the hidden gems of being by yourself yeah and for you yeah I completely agree I think that's a really good point I guess traveling by myself I when I talk to myself a lot I don't know why even if people are around so it's just that you realize you're really just on your own so whether you decide to go out or you can't I try to force myself to go and do things that are outside of my comfort zone but still like safe in a way when traveling solo and it's just really nice to just worry about yourself I mean sometimes it sucks because sometimes you get energy from the other person like being like well let's just go out even when you just want to sleep in but it really causes you to be very self-reliant and

almost like a form of self-respect right okay well if i decide i don't want to go out it's because i decided you know it wasn't because somebody else forced me um or i don't want to waste the night so let's just go and do something so I think it's it's almost like a really high form of self-respect when you travel solo because you like you said you do what you want to do or can do or feel like doing and if you don't you know you only have yourself to deal with and I had so much fun I remember the first time I traveled solo. It's just that nobody else wanted to go the places I wanted to go, or I was meeting up with a friend at the beginning,

and then towards the end in some of the countries they weren't there, and I loved it. I just fell in love with it. It's not like I would do it for so many. I haven't done it for an extended amount of of time but I highly encourage people to travel solo I think it's such an amazing experience Yeah it really really is and you know I think a lot of people are scared of doing it

but once you start the solo travel journey it's a bug that bites you know and you really like you say you get to to love yourself and laugh with yourself and yeah it's a different kind of relationship so yeah it's awesome yeah all right number four what are some of the best ways to meet fellow travelers or locals when you're exploring a new city alone so you've done a lot of this you've done a lot of this. You've done a lot of traveling in the past year to so many different countries and cities. How do you find people to kind of connect

with or to share moments with, you know, share food, share drink, share memories, share laughs, share experiences when you're going to a new city do you plan it out in advance do you have certain apps do you kind of fly by night or you kind of decide i think that's something that a lot of people like like to know about people who travel by themselves yeah yeah it's interesting i think every city and country is kind of different. It also depends on what space you're in. You know, sometimes if you're going through things in yourself, you might not want to go out. And then that's a whole different experience.

But yeah, I think that someone actually recently asked me that and said, you know, they really want to go visit a place by themselves for a few months, but they're really scared of not finding that community. And so I really had to sit and think about that. Like, what is this thing that, what are the things I've done that have helped me along the way? And I think one thing I realized is that I will make sure to go get like a coffee or croissant, which I love. And I'll always go back to, I'll try different places, but if I find the one I like, I'll always go back there,'ll try different places but if I find the one I like I'll always go back there especially if I stay for a while and then somehow you become like a familiar

face and you have familiar faces that you can smile at every day and greet and become a little bit of community and you know you're part of the the society and then the other thing that's really helped me is um just walking a lot like you know when you get to a place the moment you if you have the energy put your stuff down and get out get out into the city explore it um it's almost like you immediately break that barrier of being in a new place so yeah I don't really go on like the apps or things like that you know I don't really I kind of try find or hear what are the things that are cool and interesting but yeah I think those are two big things that have really helped me and then co-living spaces and co-working spaces if you can find some cool

ones like and cafes that suit that kind of need and vibe where you feel good that helps a lot and then the other thing which is really cool but sometimes a little bit uncomfortable is if you take yourself into situations where you feel uncomfortable but it's something you love doing then it's not so bad so for example I love dancing so I will always go look for a place to go dance but I might still feel uncomfortable going on my own even though I've done it so many times but at least I'm doing something I'm passionate about. So it kind of helps you bridge that weird awkwardness in a new space. So find that thing you love and then go try to find situations that you can do that in a new space.

And you'll find your tribe because you're doing something that you're passionate about. So that's really a little bit of what I've been doing to break the loneliness at times. I think those are all amazing answers. I actually have zero to add to that. You covered all the ones that I would. When I traveled, I haven't traveled alone recently and too much in the past. But before that, when I like stayed at hostels, they had like really interesting like meetups common area and I guess the equivalent now would be like co-living co-working spaces um meetup groups I really like the idea that you talked about like you know centering it around a hobby that you have I know you and I have kind of like bonded over reading cafes like like coffee, things like that. And so, yeah, I would just say,

you know, sometimes you can ask your, I always ask people, I ask the cab drivers, I ask the hotel staff, I ask the anybody that I meet in the city, like friends of friends, like, what do you recommend? What's the best food? Where's the best place to get this? And then I kind of just aggregate it. usually when I travel I try to do like research beforehand as much as I can but yeah just asking people locally you know is this place safe is this a cool place to go I think it's a lot of times like the wherever you're staying those people will kind of have good recommendations for tourists or if you consider yourself a tourist in the town or a local but I like to go wherever the locals go that's like my thing when I when I

travel do some sometimes touristy stuff but I feel like you really get to see you know the city from that sort of point of view. Yeah, definitely, definitely. And one thing that's also come to mind for me, and I know a lot of people maybe have spoken about this before, use Bumble for dating or like Hinge or whatever it is, but I really just use it for networking. And so I found that a lot of people are also just keen to meet cool connections and they will take you on the hikes they will you know

they will show you the cool spaces that you wouldn't have gone to by yourself perhaps so and if you if you keep your boundaries up front and know what you want then you won't get into any trouble so yeah that's a great option uh to check as well. So on that note, can you share a personal experience where you found your tribe during your travels and how it impacted your trip? Yeah, I think I have a few. I don't know why this specific one is coming to mind now, but I was in Laguna Beach in Los Angeles. now but I was in Laguna Beach in Los Angeles and maybe it's because I spoke about the little shuttles that are in Laguna that are free and then you kind of hop on and they take you to the little places and it's quite fun but I what was really quite fun there which was a spontaneous finding of tribe was I went out I really wanted to go dancing and I was in this place and I was feeling a little bit

awkward but the next moment this lady beautiful tiny Chinese lady said to me you know um you meet up part of meetup and I said no I'm not part of a meetup what meetup and apparently there was this band playing that everyone came to see and so I ended up forming part of this meetup group which I didn't even know existed and I made so many amazing friends and we danced the whole night and I still have some videos it was so much fun so it was this beautiful moment of finding my tribe of people you know just in the bathroom with this lady asking me that and and yeah so so I think being open to saying yes let me be part of your meetup it's a good one so yeah how about you that's awesome yeah I've been to like that's true

I do use meetup when I go to like different cities and towns mostly for networking stuff but they do have a lot of personal and hobby things that you can do. And that's been awesome. For me, a personal experience. So when I was working at Bitly, I went on a work trip. And we went to Atlanta. And it was myself and the customer success person at the time. And she was from Georgia originally, like her whole family was there and she was from she was from Georgia originally like her whole family was there and she was planning her wedding so obviously we had downtime in between meetings and I really thought she was like oh don't worry you know like I'll take care of you you know this is my hometown is my backyard completely left me out to dry and I don't feel bad about putting her on this

podcast right now and I mean she was obviously like planning her wedding in like a few months so she probably had a lot of stuff going on so she was the only other person I knew there I didn't know anybody else like literally no one else we had client meetings where we had already kind of talked to some of the people and gotten recommendations but i didn't really plan anything because i figured we'd go out and you know do stuff completely went silent uh for that time and i ended up going to this mall they have like a huge mall there um it was empty and i ended up sitting at a bar trying to get food and i think i don't know if that was like one of the first trips that I'd ever kind of done something like that where I'm usually with like a colleague or

somebody and I just had to sit at the bar by myself and eat and I was like okay cool so I was hungry I felt weird I remember just feeling weird now it doesn't bother me as much but then it did and the bartender started talking to me and he was like mixing drinks and he was very like nice and just sharing information and there was a girl sitting across from him sitting next to me I think actually I started talking to her and it turns out they were actually boyfriend and girlfriend she was just meeting him at his job while he was bartending and they were like oh what are you doing later and I was like I don't know like I'm just gonna be chilling in the hotel room because like I don't know what else to do and they were like come out with us like come eat blah blah and I was like what and I remember like texting my boss and he was

like are you okay like what like they were like let's meet for drinks later and they took me out like they we went at the hotel I don't know if it was the hotel I was in or a different one got drinks we ended up going out to eat they had like a dinner and like they took me around and I was friends with them for so long on Facebook like I saw them afterwards like doing all this crazy stuff and it was just so nice it was just so so nice I was so grateful to have met them they were like a little bit older than me not by much maybe like five years or something and it ended up being like so much fun and it was just such a good vibe they were very like open people and super nice and I'm like forever thankful to them

for just like inviting me out and being nice to me and then like when their friends were there you know they were just they were very welcoming and I feel like it was a very Atlanta kind of thing. Because even their friends were like, where'd you guys meet her? Like, oh, she was just sitting at the bar. And we told her like, she didn't have anything to do. And I was like, they didn't even find it weird. Like, I feel like if my friends invited, like we were having dinner, and then they invited somebody like, where'd you get this rando from but it was just very like it just felt culturally appropriate and yeah and actually I followed them for a while like on Facebook and they ended up you know getting married to other people one of them she actually

ended up getting cancer and then like she passed away and it was just like I it's just insane those are the things that you remember about people is out of all the people sitting there that I ran across like what are the chances that that happened and that they made such an impact on me it was just such a cool experience in terms of you know how one like simple person saying hey do you want to join do you want to like come out can make such a big impact uh on your experience and it also take me saying yes right like i told a few people and they were like what are you doing who are these people like i was like yeah i'm just gonna go to dinner like so what are you doing i was like well i met this like couple and they were just like what like what and i was like yeah it's gonna be okay like

I've been like trafficked I think that's one thing you realize when you solo travel is you really you learn to trust yourself and you know your gut feeling will tell you this is a safe situation or this is not a safe situation and uh yeah you'd also learn to like you say appreciate those people and then you very quick to reciprocate that to other people who are on that one too because yeah yeah you understand how awkward and hard it is you know so uh yeah it really teaches you a lot of compassion i think yeah and also faith right and to people because yeah one you could be very wrong and then two it's like imagine if I was scared and was just like okay I'll just you know hang out I was so mad at that customer service girl after but actually

she wasn't that great so I was super glad that I went out with them I don't think I would have had as good of a time anyway at at all. Yeah. So everything happens for a reason. Yeah, yeah. It was, it was funny when I was thinking about the questions for today, that story came up for me. And I hadn't thought about it in so many years, probably. So it made me reminisce a little bit there. All right, so let's continue. Number six, how can mindfulness be and being present enhance the travel experience, especially when you're alone? Yeah, I think that's really important. I think being present is what you have to be when you're traveling, especially when you're on your own. And found you know being with two bags and a dog it's kept me

very much in the present moment it's also kept me mindful because having a dog around people and things like that but I think if you when you're traveling on your own and we've said this before it teaches you self-trust and so you have to trust your intuition listen to yourself yeah yeah I think it really does keep you in the present I think that's what I really enjoy about this you know if you too much in one place you kind of get used to a spot and you start ruminating at least this is for me in in other phases but if you just focused on I have to make this train now and you know I have to get here or whatever it might be then you yeah you you're taken a lot more and you you're very much aware of how you're feeling and how you're

navigating so yeah I think it definitely helps to be mindful yeah I think having having the dog with me has definitely done taken that to a different level completely you know Gracie flying in the plane with me from New York City to Paris being mindful of people around you in that situation and yeah you can't you can't else but be in the present like you know the one day we were running for the flight and she just decided you know it was really early in the morning and she just couldn't hold it any longer so she had to just take a shit right there in the airport you know and we had this beautiful moment of the caretaker of the cleaning staff kind of just wanting to help and you know I always clean up, yeah, they keep you in the present moment. You can't not be in that moment in time. So I feel like solo travel in any shape or form does that for you.

It forces you there. So, yeah. Yeah, I agree. Some of the best moments I've had I don't even capture. It's like when my phone is away, I'm just enjoying it. And I realized that too, about the moments that I most enjoy, or like the people I most enjoy is when I'm not, you know, checking on XYZ, like it causes you to kind of forget about all the things that you're one worried about, or trying to keep track of, it's just enjoying people's company. So I think being present is a big part I know you know we live in a culture where everybody kind

of likes to share and you do learn a lot from other people sharing um but sometimes it's just really nice to just sit and soak it in absolutely so for number seven uh what are some of the biggest misconceptions about the digital nomad lifestyle i would say some people think that it's just like really fun and super stress-free and glamorous and sometimes traveling is super stressful you know sometimes we go like when you want to go to a remote island you have to take a plane and a bus and a shuttle and a you know walk like you don't know how you're navigating you don't understand the language like sometimes like it just very frustrating makes you want to cry because you're just like I'm not home I miss this I just why don't you guys have things where we could find them like why does it say bathroom here but it's really far yeah so I lose my crap

when I'm like traveling sometimes to new places that are completely new but I think you know if you're making a really glamorous reel like it took you some time to like put on that makeup choose the dress position it this way and those are the things that people sometimes don't realize so I'd say like when you are traveling sometimes like I notice that about myself too is like when I feel really comfortable around people like I'll just sleep I feel like relaxed enough to sleep and like to not put on makeup and to just like decompress so I think that's a big misconception that it's always fun you like you don't sometimes you don't always want to be on and documenting the digital nomad lifestyle and also you miss things sometimes from the people that are your home and your tribe

because you are traveling all the time so you miss barbecues and baby showers and sometimes engagements and weddings because you you have to be out and it's just a choice right you kind of decide you know what's important what makes sense sometimes it's too expensive to travel back for some of those experiences so it's just to me I think as I've gotten older I've realized that it's just as hard to live you know nomadically as it is to stay in the same place and make that work and I have a lot of respect for people who can find enjoyment and adventure in the same spot that they're living or neighboring towns I think that's you can still have that spirit regardless of if you're a digital nomad or not yeah no definitely and I

I want to echo what you said I think that a lot of what comes to mind for people when they think of digital nomad is like when you're scrolling on Instagram and you go like people jumping in the pool in the co-living area and this one's working on his laptop while he's drinking a cocktail by the sea and whatever else. That's a moment captured in time you know that moment needs to be paid for how what are you doing for work as you travel around how are you making it work I think like you said you miss a lot of moments from home it gets lonely at times you

know and traveling with someone is a lot easier because like you say two people are looking out for are you in time for the train you know are you in the right direction all of that stuff traveling with someone is a lot easier because like you say, two people are looking out for, are you in time for the train? You know, are you in the right direction? All of that stuff. And I think one of the, you know, big things that actually, you know, hopefully we can also help change in the world is that when you're in a new place, you're always thinking about like the SIM card, the data, the credit cards you know for me having been a bit of a digital nomad for a year and a half now like your credit card expires from home and then all of a sudden you're using other cards with international fees and you know your your data runs out but you don't have the right thing to get to a petrol station to buy a new data to get you know

it's like there's there's a lot that's foreign that pushes you to sit with uncomfortable positions that aren't easy and we don't like change we don't like to face those things you know and you it might put you in situations where you feel unsafe or you can't communicate with anybody so I think it depends how you digital nomad travel and where you put yourself in which situations but I think that it's not always moonshine and roses and I think people are such advocates of it because you learn so much along the way and you're never learning if you're in a comfort zone. So this that you see on Instagram, that's not the learning part.

That's just the advertising for the company. That's the polished part. Yeah, I agree with you. So I think there's a lot of misconceptions, but despite all those things, it's super polished part. Yeah, yeah. No, I agree with you. So yeah. So I think there's a lot of misconceptions, but despite all those things, it's super worth it. So yeah. And on that topic, how would you say, what would be your advice?

You do this very well, which is balancing work and travel. So as a digital nomad, how do you do that? How do you make the most of both worlds? I wouldn't say I always balance this very well sometimes I go through periods where it's more work and then it's sometimes travel a lot more travel which sometimes make the work a bit harder which is why I'm in this area for a few months so I could really like ground and settle and work and build but I think just being open to using every opportunity like for example if you're on the train take out your laptop do the work you need or you know maybe you do want to take in the scenery but you have moments where you can do both

and appreciate both and then yeah just working smarter I think helps a lot like if you if you know you're going to travel, then you get things done quicker. It might have taken you much longer if you knew you were just going to be home, but you have something to look forward to. And then, yeah, I guess you get to a point where you realize if you don't go out, if you don't leave the laptop, you're not going to go experience the place that you came all the way to see. So you have to have a balance.

And sometimes you get that right sometimes not and that's okay that's part of the plan that's part of the package so I think it's just listening to yourself and being open to being adaptable and flexible is really important so yeah how about for you how have you found that yeah I find that it has a lot to do with like boundaries and setting your boundaries like with people that you're working with in terms of like, hey, sorry, I'm going to get to this maybe three o'clock in the mind, but then the weight or the exhaustion of the travel, I am still getting used to like what that looks like for me. And I start off with like a big to-do list and I'm like, this is not that many things.

And then when you feel tired and then it moves over to the next day, I think it makes it worse. So I've just tried to like, while I'm up and I have energy, you know, it's like when the baby's sleeping, you sleep. That's all I am. I'm just like, okay, like when I got to sleep, I'm just going to sleep. When I'm up, I'm going to just try to do the best work that I can and let the people that are contingent on my work know, you know, I'm going to be doing it at weird hours. And that's something, you know, I've kind of carved out for myself, you don't sometimes always have that luxury when you're, you have stricter working environments, or you have set hours. But I do know a lot of digital nomads that they will do their hours, and then they just cause themselves to get less sleep, explore during XYZ. So it's just very much about, you know, setting the expectations around work and then fitting travel in and vice versa. For example, like if I know I have a really

important work call or like a client call, I tend to prioritize those, like make sure I have good Wi-Fi because that is just the most frustrating thing when you've like no one knows sometimes how hard it is for you to get there for a certain time and you had to like I remember when you're in Trinidad I had a really important work call I just started the job at Luno and I was like this out of the whole week this is the one call that I have to make sure that I'm somewhere reliable and we planned around it we planned to stay by somebody I'm somewhere reliable. And we planned around it. We planned to stay by somebody who had like reliable Wi-Fi. And it turned out like the two days before the water company said

they were doing some sort of like outage just to like fix the water system. And I was like, why does it have to be on this day? And so had to like pivot the night before go to like someone's job sit in their conference room I get there and then the power outs like minutes before and the wi-fi is actually really bad it was working fine the whole time so I think those things just make me it's like you think about it afterwards and like how could I have done that better and it's like I don't know I don't know how I could have done that better. Like, you just had to change your whole strategy right there. And I think you have to allocate for that when you're traveling. Like, sometimes you think, okay, I could just go to this cafe. It's right there. And you show up and it's like, it looks sketchy. Then what are you going to do? Like, you got to go somewhere else. then what are you gonna do like you gotta go somewhere else so it's a lot about thinking on your feet and then also like figuring you know figuring out what works for you so that you can

get the best out of the experience and it'll it teaches you grace very much I think solo travel it really does because you have to be graceful with yourself otherwise you're just gonna be like mad at yourself for the whole rest of the week that you got it wrong. There's no one else there to like deflect. It's just you. It's true. It's true. And I think also, you know,

I think now people are a little bit more graceful towards the situations because of remote working and lockdown and everything. But, and, you you know like now you and I are having this conversation and I'm going into darkness in a different time zone for those who can't see us you know it's the knowing that sometimes you're going to be on calls in different times like you say and you just have to make do with what you have and that's okay so uh yeah we keep smiling through it all I agree with that people have gotten like other clients other company and members and employees

have gotten better with like especially after COVID like your kids come in your dogs come in this goes out the internet doesn't work before I would be like so it would be considered so disrespectful that like you didn't get your stuff together to get here on time to show up to put your camera on things like that I think people have become a lot more compassionate when you know you were supposed to have an office but then you couldn't have an office and now that people are used to it like yeah it's not that bad he He showed up. Yeah, yeah. He got work done. It's true, yeah.

The world's changing very quickly. Okay, so number nine. What's a new food or drink you fell in love with while traveling that you wish was everywhere? I love this question. I feel like there's so many. Oh, sure. This is going to be not so weird, but it's coming to mind. It's something I had in San Diego,

which was also one of those weird experiences at a bar by myself and chatting to the barman and the waitress was his girlfriend. It was these roasted Brussels sprouts and the way they made them, I've never had anything like that in my life before. And it changed Brussels sprouts forever for me. Like I always had this like really like, you know, like Brussels sprouts idea around Christmas time and it's like all soggy and whatever

but this was like crisp and it had like nuts and you know it was really great so that was a great dish and since then I've fallen in love with Brussels sprouts. A drink I think bitters and soda and lemon that drink is something I discovered along the way and I remember speaking about this in episode two or three right in the beginning but yeah soda bitters lemon I think is a drink that's great and refreshing and it's not something I'd really thought of before um I got to America so yeah they have that actually in Trinidad they call it LLB it's lime actually now now I'm showing how much I'm not Trini I don't know what it stands for it's like lemon lime bitters I think um but they're really good they're a little sweeter than that uh it's almost like Sprite with bitters yeah this one's more like

soda yeah so it's quite refreshing and not too unhealthy so yeah yeah yeah that's a good one the brussels sprouts yeah i've had them like that where they put kind of like balsamic and like goat cheese or something and nuts yeah it does make it taste so different yeah it's a whole different experience so yeah how about those are two good ones uh for me I would say so one thing I fell in love with was hot wine when I went to Europe that was just like the most amazing thing because the first time I had it it was pouring we were out for a while like we're hungry we couldn't find the entrance to this tourist cave thing that I think it was in Prague and it was just I was so miserable and they had this sign and it was just like I forgot what

they call it they call it like they just said hot wine and I was like okay well I could read that one and it was like two whatever their currency was it was like two dollars in their currency and I had it and I was like oh my god this is the most amazing thing why don't we have this like as soon as I came back I was trying to make mulled wine and I was probably like disintegrating all the alcohol by boiling it out like I had no idea what I was doing, but I was like, everybody has to try this. So I'm super grateful that it exists now here. I'm also a huge chai snob from being in India, which I will argue with anybody about because it just tastes so amazing there. And so not amazing here unless somebody makes it for you. So I guess those would be two things that I kind of fell in love with while traveling in terms

of a food I don't know I uh something that I really like I thought was interesting when I went to Eastern Europe they put paprika in everything so they have like paprika chicken that was really good I ate that a lot while I was there and they had like poppy seed ice cream which I had never seen anywhere else but they just do some interesting stuff with their food and it's surprisingly good it's just different I've never had that before so I think those ones were were two cool things ah poppy seeds I've forgotten about poppy seeds I used to love poppy seed muffins oh yeah me too lemon poppy seed or just regular poppy seed lemon poppy seeds I used to love poppy seed muffins oh yeah me too lemon poppy seed or just regular

poppy seed lemon poppy seed yeah that was always great sure yeah that's a great and um what do you feel has been your favorite reads when you're traveling I know you love books so like any specific books or genres yeah for me I mean like if I'm gonna be somewhere the beach I like like the rom-com beachy ones yeah sometimes I usually have something like that I like reading psychological thrillers I don't really like them if I'm going somewhere scary so like or I'm by myself so I usually have like one of those on my app or a self-help book but I tend to like never finish those ones I do finish the rom-coms and the psychological thrillers so yeah I like to kind of just get recommendations and then when I'm by myself I will read no specific genre whatever is

good what about you yeah I think also the the rom-coms you're right it's like when I'm on holiday which I kind of sometimes do feel when I'm traveling then I want to kind of read those I always want to hold a book I find these little street libraries are really fantastic for that and I get to kind of like take a book and give it back or give it, pass it along to someone. I've left some in home exchanges that I've been in for as gifts for people. So yeah, I think it's just about holding the book for me. And then favorite reads.

Oh, I think I had shared one with you that I picked up in a street library in Washington, D.C., and it was called Five Years From Now and I forget who the author was we can put it on our list on the website for those who haven't checked it out we have a reading list on the website waiting for you to discover all the things we talk about on your happy hour but yeah I really really enjoyed that book I thought it was a great story. I think I read it at a time that I needed it in some way. It had a cool twist. I like that because I think my imagination is quite wild and I tend to kind of think ahead,

a little bit of a problem solver in that sense. So if it's too predictable, then I get bored, you know. So I also enjoy the psychological thrillers for that reason. So yeah, but yeah yeah that's it I just depends and then I haven't read it in a long time but I think it's still a great read as Jane Austen it's like an easy read um kind of takes you into a different world so yeah I will say if you have you ever read the girl with the dragon tattoo series love that I forgot about that I love that one so does this ever happen to you have you ever read the girl with the dragon tattoo series love that i forgot about that

i love that one so does this ever happen to you when you so this happens to me i don't know if i'm like it's super nerd for it but every time i eat a sandwich and drink coffee i always think of like kyle blokavis or the like main guy he always does that like no matter where he is he's eating a sandwich and drinking coffee and every time i do that i always think to myself like wow yeah i'm just like um that was such a good series though actually so they came out with a new one that i've been reading like in between other stuff i think it's the girl with the eagle talons so steve larson wrote the first like three or four and then somebody took it over and he continued something like David something and then now this woman took it over and she

wrote this last one within the last year or so okay that's okay like it's going it's interesting unfortunately their books are very disturbing it's like some of the stuff that happens in it but steve larson was just such a good writer that he could have wrote about anything you know i would have read it yeah he is great and you're reminding now that you're speaking of a trilogy i don't know if you like fantasy but for the fantasy lovers out there i know i really enjoyed brian sanderson brandon sanderson's The Mistborn Trilogy. Amazing, amazing books. Very different, interesting protagonist being a female.

So many like life lessons in there and a lot of kind of reference to alchemy. So, you know, kind of the use of metals for magic. And yeah, very, very interesting trilogy. So if you enjoy fantasy, check that out. The Mistborn Trilogy is very good. I'd like to read that again actually I haven't heard of that one so I have to check that out this week I read one that was pretty cool so it was the second in the last Mrs. Parrish sorry I think it's the first Mrs. Parrish I don't know it's one of them one is the first and one is the last one I think the one that I just read was the last one so it's the second one I've been

waiting like a year for this to come out and it was okay I like the first one first I think I've read so many since then so now I have high expectations of what's going on and if I figure like like you said like if I start getting bored I'm like let me just skip to the end and see what happened on Wikipedia so I don't waste my like five days reading this you know when you're reminding me when I was growing up my dad I used to watch my dad read books and he would start he'd read chapter one and then he'd go to the final chapter and read the final chapter and I used to be like dad what the hell the best part is in the middle and then now that I'm growing older I'm like ain't nobody got time for that like chapter one and chapter end it is you know

so I see the logic now the worst is like my memory is pretty bad so like some of the psychological ones I'm like did I read this already because like when I read them on the apps I can't keep track of what I'm reading I like read reviews from people and then I'm like and then sometimes I started then I've been so one of them I was reading and I was like I think I read this before so then I like went to the Wikipedia I'm like reading more and more and I like, I still can't figure it if I read this before until like, I ended up unraveling the whole thing without reading it, like on Wikipedia. And then I was like,

okay, no, I didn't read it, but damn, that sounded like it would have been. Anyway. Yeah. Oh man.

Oh wow. Well, happy readings. Everyone out there who is solo traveling. And I hope you're making some time for the good books as well as the parties and the train trips. So for everybody listening out there, what were your answers to these top 10 questions? And this week, we challenge you to share your best solo travel tip via social media using hashtag these friday feels we'd love to hear from you so remember to tag us and to share your stories and you can of course listen to us on all platforms and next week well this is a little bit of a closing of a chapter we're on episode 30 we've decided that

we've got a really cool theme awaiting in in july called reinventing your conditioning but in order for us to reinvent we're going to take a little bit of a restore a little bit of explore and restore a couple of weeks but don't't fear, there will be something to listen to. It might just not be as fresh as our voices are today. So until next time, stay tuned. That is our mix. We've had so much fun mingling with you and we wish you so many safe travels into your bed,

into the night and into this awesome weekend. So see you next week and keep it real.