September 18, 2025 • 24 mins
Welcome to our inaugural collection of travel stories from the depths of Reddit, where my dog Noodles and I react to online tales that range from bone-chilling to heartwarming.
After two years on the road, Noodles and I craft informed commentary on Reddit's wildest travel stories; the good, the bad, and the ugly.
What I like and dislike about the USA.... as a tourist:
What's your favourite "crazy life experience" travel experience?
https://www.reddit.com/r/travel/comments/117e2cx/whats_your_favourite_crazy_life_experience_travel/
Travel mishaps: Do you have any funny travel stories?
https://www.reddit.com/r/travel/comments/1cyuwuc/travel_mishaps_do_you_have_any_funny_travel/
Tell me the stories from your solo travel trip that you never got to tell anyone else (because no one else is usually interested)
https://www.reddit.com/r/solotravel/comments/11hk4m9/tell_me_the_stories_from_your_solo_travel_trip/
Noah and Noodles here!
We want to extend a heartfelt thanks to every listener of Backroad Odyssey.
Your support fuels our passion and inspires us to keep sharing stories and discover overlooked locations.
Follow each adventure visually at:
https://www.instagram.com/backroadsodyssey/
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to the Van, into our very first collection
of travel stories from thedepths of Reddit.
After traveling in our van forover two years researching lost
locations and histories, meetingwonderful people across the
nation, my dog Noodles and Iwill react and provide
(00:24):
commentary as we read sectionsof Reddit posts about travel.
We'll get into the dark, theweird, the inspiring and beyond.
We'll also, of course, continuewith our deep dive into the
overlooked and undervaluedlocations across America.
That's what we do, that's whatwe love, but we'll also do this
(00:47):
and I hope you're on board.
It'll be very fun, verydifferent, very casual, and
there'll be surprises along theway.
We'll see you at the end of theepisode, but for now, enjoy
Mine and Noodle's thoughts,reactions and commentary on the
stories of fellow travelers.
Safe travels Cruising down thestreet.
(01:08):
I wonder where this road wouldlead.
So many possibilities.
Care to share what you think.
Oh, noodle Dolls, what do yousee Back?
Road odyssey.
Our first story comes fromAskReddit.
(01:33):
The question is solo travelerswhat is your creepiest travel
story?
Okay, and right off the bat, Iknow there'll be a ton, because
solo traveling inherently has atinge of creepiness to it.
You have to be on your game,you have to be ready.
It's fantastic, it can changeyour life, but also there are
(01:57):
risks that come with it.
So let's see where this goesgoes.
Traveling in South America bymyself.
As a 22-year-old woman arrivedin Santiago, chile, by bus
really late at night, likearound 10 pm.
Shortly after I got off the bus, a guy comes up to me from the
general area of the taxi standand asks if I need a cab, and I
(02:19):
say yes.
We start by walking to his caband it's really far away, like
at least five blocks.
Uh, first red flag.
A little bit, you know, but hehasn't done anything creepy yet.
I start to feel kind of uneasy,but I'm also in the middle of
this big, unfamiliar city andjust try to reassure myself.
(02:40):
It's fine.
I double check.
His cab has all the normalbrand markings.
When we finally get up to itand sit up front with my bag,
more out of habit, it's commonto do this in Ubers in South
America.
Okay, so she is a conscioustraveler, she knows what she is
doing.
I gave him the address of thehostel I booked and we small
(03:01):
talk in Spanish for the firstfew minutes of the ride and then
there's a bit of a naturalpause, which he breaks by
looking over at me and sayingvery calmly are you scared?
Yeah, second red flag there,especially after the pause flag
(03:30):
there, especially after thepause.
Of course that really freakedme out, but I tried to seem calm
.
I just laughed a bit and waslike ha ha ha, no, I'm good,
just tired and it's late and hegoes.
Hmm well, you seemed prettyscared back there when we were
walking.
You know there's a lot of badpeople around here.
Sometimes they pretend to betaxis.
You never know who to trust.
(03:51):
Are you traveling here alone?
Some thoughts.
If this guy is in the fake taxibusiness, he is very forthright
and I'd be scared too.
That's actually terrifyingafter a moment of silence like
that.
There have been so manylocations in the van when I pull
up to a place to park for thenight or what have you, where
(04:11):
people come up to me and startto talk and if I ever feel
uncomfortable I get out.
You know, you just have thisfeeling in the pit of your
stomach that something might notbe right and the first thing to
do for me is to get out.
This is while we're stilldriving through the middle of a
city.
It's dark and it's late and I'mnow painfully aware.
(04:32):
Literally no one knows where Iam.
I was going to message myfamily with an update when I got
to the hostel.
They don't know I'm in Santiago.
They still think I'm on thecoast.
Yeah, so that's a mistake.
Anywhere you go, you tellpeople where you're at, where
you're going and what your plansare when you're solo traveling.
Of course I don't say that andI tell him that I'm always very
(04:55):
careful and actually my group offriends know I'm on the way and
are waiting for me at thehostel.
I see a stoplight coming up andwas literally just thinking as
soon as the car slowed down Iwas going to make a break for it
and just jump out of the car,probably the most scared I've
ever been.
Out of the corner of my eye, Isee this guy reaching down for
(05:18):
something under his seat and mybrain is just going gun, gun,
gun.
It's going to be a gun.
Instead, he.
There's always one thing we cantrust, right, the Lord.
Do you believe in God?
(05:38):
He then proceeds to try toconvert me for the remainder of
the ride, but in the moment thatrandom religious cab driver
scared the absolute shit out ofme.
Yeah, that could have gone anynumber of ways.
It's good that she told himthat her friends are waiting.
Yeah, I mean, you know, bestcase scenario would be someone
(06:02):
trying to convert you to theirreligion in that particular
instance.
Let's see what we got for ournext story.
All right, this is under solotravel and it is entirely
different than the story we justread.
The question is what's yourcraziest slash?
Funniest travel story Startssimple enough.
(06:29):
I went to Japan with a friend tosee a concert.
We were exchange students inKyoto, so it wasn't that far,
but we only had one day to seethe city.
We got to the middle of townand had no idea how to get
around.
Sometimes that's the best wayto see a city.
Noodles and I actually willpark near downtown and just walk
(06:50):
around.
No research, no anythingbeforehand, just experience the
city, one of our favorite waysto experience a new place.
We had a map, but were stuck onhow to get up the giant hill in
front of us and we didn't knowhow to get anywhere on foot.
Just then, as we panicked aboutwhat to do, a man came up to us.
(07:12):
We both spoke Japanese, so wetold him we were lost.
He told us to follow him to hishouse.
He then had a car and told usto get in.
My friend and I looked at eachother like WTF, but Japan is
pretty safe and we had no otherway to get around.
So we got in his car and hetook us to his house Right away.
(07:36):
Similar situation, but you havea friend, it's daylight and you
have no other option.
Sometimes you know it's thatline of being safe and taking
risks and you know where will itlead.
I don't know, but let's findout.
(07:57):
His wife made us tea, oh, andgave us snacks, and they talked
about how their son was livingin the US and they were so sweet
, see, you know, sometimes itworks out getting in a
stranger's car.
Then I guess the man changed orsomething and took us back out
to his car.
We then drove up the big hilland told him to just drop us off
(08:17):
near a museum we wanted to see,but instead he insisted on
waiting for us.
This is either really nice orexceedingly creepy.
He walked with us around theneighborhood after we went to
the museum and he took us to anice cream place that his friend
owned.
We got free ice cream and thenhis friend told us to come
(08:39):
upstairs and look at his jewelrycollection.
He made and sold pearl jewelrythat was gorgeous.
It was fun to learn about thatkind of work.
Then the man drove us toChinatown and we said goodbye.
We ate in Chinatown and went tothe concert, but the best part
of the day was being touredaround by a local.
(09:00):
Had we said no, we would havemissed out on a cool way to see
the city.
I'll probably only do that inJapan, though.
Okay, glad it worked out.
I actually had a similarsituation in Montana.
So I was in Western Montana onthe 4th of July and Noodles and
I went to a campsite in theforest just to avoid the
(09:24):
fireworks I don't think Noodleslikes them very much and there
was this older man across theway.
Sometimes with these campsitesthat you don't have to pay for,
there's nobody.
Sometimes there's a lot ofpeople, and in this case it was
just me and this older guy.
So when I get there he comes up, introduces himself and seems
very friendly and we talk for awhile as I'm setting up the van,
(09:48):
and then he asks I wonder if Ican show you a place around here
.
He had an ATV.
Is that what that's called ATVattached to his motorhome.
And kind of reluctantly I'mlike, yeah, definitely, could we
do it tomorrow?
Because I had just driven a lotand wasn't really feeling
(10:08):
social and also just met thisguy.
So he's like, yeah, sure, sure,all right, you have a good
night.
So the night passes and hecomes up to me really early in
the morning, knocks on my vanand says, all right, let's go,
your dog can come with us.
So me and Noodles go all aroundand this really, really nice
(10:33):
guy shows us different spotsaround Montana, different lakes,
different forest trees, and itturns out he was a tour guide
for a long time at GlacierNational Park.
And it just goes to show withthe last two stories you never
know when you're traveling andit's this fine, minuscule line
(10:54):
between accepting what'shappening, being open to new
experiences but also beingcautious, especially when you're
solo traveling.
Next story this next storycomes from solo travel.
Yet again, the prompt is tellme the stories from your solo
(11:16):
travel trip that you would nevertell anyone else, because no
one else is usually interested.
Man, I can relate to this Allright.
I live on the west coast of theUnited States and took a solo
road trip to the Midwest Statesand took a solo road trip to the
(11:36):
Midwest Because it's the normalthing to do to bash it with the
company I keep.
I had to hide my excitementabout seeing prairie dogs in
North Dakota and touring theDeadwood Brothel Museum.
I love it.
I love it when people have openminds like this, and the drive
didn't feel boring.
All those cornfields and flatland felt, I don't know,
meditative, like a zen garden.
(11:58):
There are really some beautifulareas and people everywhere.
If you're just willing to openup your mind, alright, I want to
see and meet this person,because that's what Noodles and
I are trying to do with thispodcast.
Anywhere you go, any people youmeet have a story, an
(12:19):
interesting story, if you justlook for it.
I love the way it was describedlike meditative.
A lot of people say it's boring.
Nebraska yeah, boring Nebraskayeah, boring.
But Iowa, the driftless regionwhich we're going to dive into
next week, it is infinitelyfascinating and beautiful to
(12:43):
drive through and not manypeople know it.
So I love when other peoplehave the same mentality.
Good for you.
This next one gets into theweeds a little bit, but it's
fascinating.
All right, so it's under traveland the prompt is what I like
and dislike about the USA as atourist.
(13:05):
It's always fascinating hearingdifferent opinions, even from
different states, people fromthe West visiting Midwest or
Midwest going to going toCalifornia or New England or
what have you.
But I think conversations likethis are what makes traveling
interesting, this exchange ofideas.
I have been touring the UnitedStates for several weeks now,
(13:26):
visiting multiple states.
I am from Europe, theNetherlands specifically.
This is not my first time inthe US, but it is my most
extensive.
It strikes me how vastlydifferent the USA is compared to
my country or Europe in general.
I just like to give my thoughtshere from a European
perspective, which things Ithink are better here and which
(13:48):
things are worse.
I'm also keeping this limitedto tourist perspective, so I'm
going to stay away from thingsthat are only relevant when I
would actually live here, likehealthcare, taxes and politics.
Okay, okay, okay, okay, let'ssear it.
Things I like Nature, raw, wildand untouched.
(14:09):
Most of all, vast.
The sheer vastness and varietyof nature and pure wilderness
here is definitely unmatched inEurope.
Specifically, the little naturewe have in the Netherlands is
laughable compared to the USA.
That is a good point.
I wonder where specificallythis person who posted this went
(14:29):
what states.
But yeah, the nature here isjust absolutely gorgeous,
particularly out West, thediversity of it all.
People are generallyapproachable and friendly.
Yes, I do like Americans, atleast their overall demeanor.
I would be greeted and askedwhere I'm from, even by someone
(14:49):
at the 7-Eleven.
In general, dutch people arequite rude.
Free refills this is a smallthing but really unheard of in
the Netherlands.
In my country you pay the sameprice for just one tiny cup of
coffee.
In fact, all drinks you orderare tiny in the Netherlands and
you pay for each one.
You know I like this, but I'llactually disagree.
(15:14):
Here's a weird thing about meAnywhere I go, I like to have
especially coffee.
I like to have smaller portionsof it.
I like it to be concentrated.
Sometimes I feel like let's say, coffee here a little watered
down Traffic lights across thestreet.
I can't for the life, life ofme understand why we still have
(15:36):
to lean over the steering wheeland get a sword neck looking
straight upwards at the trafficlights in Europe.
Oh, interesting, I actuallydidn't know that.
So you can't see, unless youlike, lean forward.
Well, the more you know.
Let's get to the final positiveTipping.
(15:57):
This is a widely contested topic.
Why the heck do I need to bepartially responsible for a
proper salary for these people?
There you go Also.
It's just annoying to have tocalculate the tip every time.
It is also annoying that listedprices are almost exclusively
without tax, that listed pricesare almost exclusively without
tax In my country and acrossmost of Europe, as far as I'm
(16:23):
aware.
You pay exactly what is listedas the price, no hidden
surprises.
You make some good points, goodpoints there.
The food Ooh, we'll see aboutthis one, especially breakfast.
Almost everything containssugar.
Well, okay, yeah, you're rightabout that.
Breakfast is never with freshbread and fresh good meats and
(16:45):
cheese.
In fact, american cheese isawful.
You know what I will chime inand agree with that American
cheese is the worst of thecheeses.
But maybe I'm spoiled, livingin my cheese country, living in
cheese country.
For dinner the price isn'tquite as bad, but it's still
(17:05):
nowhere near the quality andvariety that you find in Europe.
Plastic Too much plastic is aproblem for Europe also, but the
amount of plastic and styrofoamand other disposable crap used
here is bizarre.
I also find it really bizarrethat in every hotel breakfast is
all disposable cutlery andplates.
(17:26):
Also, you really never see thisin Europe, not even in the
cheapest hotels.
You're making some good points,yeah.
Yeah, the disposability of itall is kind of all around here.
Depends on the state, butyou're right.
And finally, for negatives,imperial measurements Gallons,
(17:51):
miles, feet and especiallyFahrenheit is so bizarre.
Also because the conversionfactor to metric is odd.
Almost all the world, as wellas the scientific world, uses
metric, which makes so much moresense in every way.
Why does the US hold on to suchan archaic system?
Your guess is as good as mine,my friend.
(18:13):
I would be so curious to lookinto the history of that.
Maybe that could be a futureepisode.
So here are some of my thoughts.
Feel free to add your own ortell me where you agree or
disagree.
I'd love to read the sameperspective from Americans who
have visited Europe.
That's what it's about, rightConversation, talking about the
(18:37):
goods and the bads of any placeyou go, and that's what makes
these conversations absolutelyfast.
Our next story is from travel.
The prompt is craziest thingthat's ever happened to you
while traveling.
Okay, this could get crazy.
Let us see.
(19:02):
Went to a Finnish saunasomewhere in the middle of
nowhere in Finland because Iwanted the real experience, not
the touristy stuff.
No one spoke English, andFinnish looks like made-up words
to me.
Everyone was completely naked,except for a teeny tiny towel
you were supposed to sit on.
It wasn't large enough to coveranything up.
You know, sometimes when you'rein one of those experiences you
(19:27):
just have to dive right in.
So I mustered all my courageand went into one of the three
bungalows.
As soon as I opened the door, Irealized this wasn't right.
About 15 very drunk men andwomen holding beers were sitting
in this teeny sauna house.
(19:47):
Since everyone stared at mestanding in the open doorway, I
decided to just go for it and goin, figured it would have been
weird to mumble sorry anddisappear.
That's the right mentality.
That's the mentality you haveto have just going for it.
For example, I have a quickstory.
So when I hosted a beer podcast,I would go all around and
(20:10):
interview brewers about how theygot started, why they enjoyed
brewing and the breweries thatthey were at and or created.
And one time in South CarolinaI went deep into the woods.
It was far away from any maintown because I was going to
interview this brewery.
I kept going and going and I'mlike man.
(20:33):
This is kind of in the middleof nowhere.
So I got there and it was agarage, just somebody's garage,
and there was five men sittingthere, three of them bearded,
and a dog.
And there was five men sittingthere, three of them bearded,
and a dog, and there wasdefinite proof that this is
where I was supposed to go,because the brewery sign was
above.
So I thought to myself you knowwhat?
(20:54):
This is going to be great, I'mgoing to make this an awesome
experience.
And I talked to them all night.
At some point, the owner of thebrewery in the garage took me
back, poured a pint and saidwatch this.
We went out to a field, twodonkeys came up, and one of the
donkeys, right away, made anoise and chugged the pint that
(21:16):
he brought out.
Yeah, so it turned out to be agreat experience.
So when you're in those kind ofexperiences, you just got to go
for it.
Glad that this person did.
We'll see what happens, though.
As soon as I sat down, the nakedguy next to me started talking.
After realizing I don't speakthe language, he switched to
(21:39):
English.
So how do you know Micah?
Huh, who?
Well, it's Micah's birthday, oh, so I started to get up and
leave because I didn't want tocrash a naked party of strangers
, but the guy next to me hadalready called Micah over to
introduce me.
Before I could even apologizefor crashing and making my
(21:59):
excuses, micah had alreadypulled me into a massive hug.
Yep, you read that right.
I got a hug from a very naked,very large and sweaty Finnish
dude in the middle of nowhere inFinland, while being naked as
well For context, I'm a prettypetite girl.
(22:20):
That adds a little spice to it.
He put a beer in my hand,invited me to join the party,
and that was certainly one of mymore weird experiences while
traveling.
Love the fins, though.
You know it's a story.
It's a story that's awesome.
(22:42):
So our final story is from SoloTravel.
The prompt is share inspiringtravel stories.
I wanted to end our very firstReddit travel story reading
reaction to a positive story,something to uplift the spirits,
(23:02):
because I feel like that's whattravel is supposed to be and
that's what we're trying to dowith this show.
Without further ado, let's getinto it.
Me and my girlfriend were havingsome quiet drinking in a quiet
bar in far north Vietnam.
The owners started to set up atable with a cake, food and
(23:23):
other celebration-style things.
Up a table with a cake, foodand other celebration-style
things, it became obvious thatit was their young child's
birthday party, maybe five yearsold.
Aw, I always love seeing that.
Since we were the onlycustomers there, we decided to
leave so they could get on withtheir party, but they insisted
we stayed.
They shared their food and gaveus more drinks and didn't
(23:45):
expect any money.
Of course, we gave them adecent amount, no more than what
we would have paid if it was ameal plus generous tips.
There was such a huge languagebarrier that all we could do was
say to one another cheers andjust smile and laugh with one
another.
Lovely human interaction, andwe were very fortunate to be
(24:05):
there.
Love those moments.
Now.
I love this story.
This speaks to the core of whatit means to travel, in my mind,
to connect with people that arefrom different places, speak
different languages, havedifferent points of view.
You can connect with people ina fundamentally human way.
(24:30):
Whether it's taking animpromptu trip to the Midwest,
even though your friends saythat it's lame, whether you
cheers with somebody who doesn'tspeak your language, there's
something fundamentally human inus all that we should try to
seek out and acknowledge, andthat's what's great about
(24:50):
reading stories like this exceptfor the taxi guy who asked if
you're scared, that's you know,but mostly it's Noah here.
I hope you enjoyed our newsegment into deep dive Reddit
(25:12):
travel stories.
It's fun to feel like I can sitdown and casually talk about
travel and travel stories withyou and travel stories with you.
This is not to say that we'renot going to continue with our
deep dives into locations andthe history of places people
normally overlooked Far from it.
(25:32):
We've got some very excitingthings coming in that regard,
but we'll also add casual talksand reactions like this, as well
as some interview episodescoming up.
So we're expanding.
We're doing some very excitingthings and if you find value in
what we're trying to do here, inbringing the joy of travel,
(25:55):
finding new places, stories topeople, rating and reviewing is
the best way that you can helpus continue to do that.
So thank you for your time.
I appreciate you all.
Be good to each other.
Where to next?
Welcome to the Van, into our very first collection
of travel stories from thedepths of Reddit.
After traveling in our van forover two years researching lost
locations and histories, meetingwonderful people across the
nation, my dog Noodles and Iwill react and provide
(00:24):
commentary as we read sectionsof Reddit posts about travel.
We'll get into the dark, theweird, the inspiring and beyond.
We'll also, of course, continuewith our deep dive into the
overlooked and undervaluedlocations across America.
That's what we do, that's whatwe love, but we'll also do this
(00:47):
and I hope you're on board.
It'll be very fun, verydifferent, very casual, and
there'll be surprises along theway.
We'll see you at the end of theepisode, but for now, enjoy
Mine and Noodle's thoughts,reactions and commentary on the
stories of fellow travelers.
Safe travels Cruising down thestreet.
(01:08):
I wonder where this road wouldlead.
So many possibilities.
Care to share what you think.
Oh, noodle Dolls, what do yousee Back?
Road odyssey.
Our first story comes fromAskReddit.
(01:33):
The question is solo travelerswhat is your creepiest travel
story?
Okay, and right off the bat, Iknow there'll be a ton, because
solo traveling inherently has atinge of creepiness to it.
You have to be on your game,you have to be ready.
It's fantastic, it can changeyour life, but also there are
(01:57):
risks that come with it.
So let's see where this goesgoes.
Traveling in South America bymyself.
As a 22-year-old woman arrivedin Santiago, chile, by bus
really late at night, likearound 10 pm.
Shortly after I got off the bus, a guy comes up to me from the
general area of the taxi standand asks if I need a cab, and I
(02:19):
say yes.
We start by walking to his caband it's really far away, like
at least five blocks.
Uh, first red flag.
A little bit, you know, but hehasn't done anything creepy yet.
I start to feel kind of uneasy,but I'm also in the middle of
this big, unfamiliar city andjust try to reassure myself.
(02:40):
It's fine.
I double check.
His cab has all the normalbrand markings.
When we finally get up to itand sit up front with my bag,
more out of habit, it's commonto do this in Ubers in South
America.
Okay, so she is a conscioustraveler, she knows what she is
doing.
I gave him the address of thehostel I booked and we small
(03:01):
talk in Spanish for the firstfew minutes of the ride and then
there's a bit of a naturalpause, which he breaks by
looking over at me and sayingvery calmly are you scared?
Yeah, second red flag there,especially after the pause flag
(03:30):
there, especially after thepause.
Of course that really freakedme out, but I tried to seem calm
.
I just laughed a bit and waslike ha ha ha, no, I'm good,
just tired and it's late and hegoes.
Hmm well, you seemed prettyscared back there when we were
walking.
You know there's a lot of badpeople around here.
Sometimes they pretend to betaxis.
You never know who to trust.
(03:51):
Are you traveling here alone?
Some thoughts.
If this guy is in the fake taxibusiness, he is very forthright
and I'd be scared too.
That's actually terrifyingafter a moment of silence like
that.
There have been so manylocations in the van when I pull
up to a place to park for thenight or what have you, where
(04:11):
people come up to me and startto talk and if I ever feel
uncomfortable I get out.
You know, you just have thisfeeling in the pit of your
stomach that something might notbe right and the first thing to
do for me is to get out.
This is while we're stilldriving through the middle of a
city.
It's dark and it's late and I'mnow painfully aware.
(04:32):
Literally no one knows where Iam.
I was going to message myfamily with an update when I got
to the hostel.
They don't know I'm in Santiago.
They still think I'm on thecoast.
Yeah, so that's a mistake.
Anywhere you go, you tellpeople where you're at, where
you're going and what your plansare when you're solo traveling.
Of course I don't say that andI tell him that I'm always very
(04:55):
careful and actually my group offriends know I'm on the way and
are waiting for me at thehostel.
I see a stoplight coming up andwas literally just thinking as
soon as the car slowed down Iwas going to make a break for it
and just jump out of the car,probably the most scared I've
ever been.
Out of the corner of my eye, Isee this guy reaching down for
(05:18):
something under his seat and mybrain is just going gun, gun,
gun.
It's going to be a gun.
Instead, he.
There's always one thing we cantrust, right, the Lord.
Do you believe in God?
(05:38):
He then proceeds to try toconvert me for the remainder of
the ride, but in the moment thatrandom religious cab driver
scared the absolute shit out ofme.
Yeah, that could have gone anynumber of ways.
It's good that she told himthat her friends are waiting.
Yeah, I mean, you know, bestcase scenario would be someone
(06:02):
trying to convert you to theirreligion in that particular
instance.
Let's see what we got for ournext story.
All right, this is under solotravel and it is entirely
different than the story we justread.
The question is what's yourcraziest slash?
Funniest travel story Startssimple enough.
(06:29):
I went to Japan with a friend tosee a concert.
We were exchange students inKyoto, so it wasn't that far,
but we only had one day to seethe city.
We got to the middle of townand had no idea how to get
around.
Sometimes that's the best wayto see a city.
Noodles and I actually willpark near downtown and just walk
(06:50):
around.
No research, no anythingbeforehand, just experience the
city, one of our favorite waysto experience a new place.
We had a map, but were stuck onhow to get up the giant hill in
front of us and we didn't knowhow to get anywhere on foot.
Just then, as we panicked aboutwhat to do, a man came up to us.
(07:12):
We both spoke Japanese, so wetold him we were lost.
He told us to follow him to hishouse.
He then had a car and told usto get in.
My friend and I looked at eachother like WTF, but Japan is
pretty safe and we had no otherway to get around.
So we got in his car and hetook us to his house Right away.
(07:36):
Similar situation, but you havea friend, it's daylight and you
have no other option.
Sometimes you know it's thatline of being safe and taking
risks and you know where will itlead.
I don't know, but let's findout.
(07:57):
His wife made us tea, oh, andgave us snacks, and they talked
about how their son was livingin the US and they were so sweet
, see, you know, sometimes itworks out getting in a
stranger's car.
Then I guess the man changed orsomething and took us back out
to his car.
We then drove up the big hilland told him to just drop us off
(08:17):
near a museum we wanted to see,but instead he insisted on
waiting for us.
This is either really nice orexceedingly creepy.
He walked with us around theneighborhood after we went to
the museum and he took us to anice cream place that his friend
owned.
We got free ice cream and thenhis friend told us to come
(08:39):
upstairs and look at his jewelrycollection.
He made and sold pearl jewelrythat was gorgeous.
It was fun to learn about thatkind of work.
Then the man drove us toChinatown and we said goodbye.
We ate in Chinatown and went tothe concert, but the best part
of the day was being touredaround by a local.
(09:00):
Had we said no, we would havemissed out on a cool way to see
the city.
I'll probably only do that inJapan, though.
Okay, glad it worked out.
I actually had a similarsituation in Montana.
So I was in Western Montana onthe 4th of July and Noodles and
I went to a campsite in theforest just to avoid the
(09:24):
fireworks I don't think Noodleslikes them very much and there
was this older man across theway.
Sometimes with these campsitesthat you don't have to pay for,
there's nobody.
Sometimes there's a lot ofpeople, and in this case it was
just me and this older guy.
So when I get there he comes up, introduces himself and seems
very friendly and we talk for awhile as I'm setting up the van,
(09:48):
and then he asks I wonder if Ican show you a place around here
.
He had an ATV.
Is that what that's called ATVattached to his motorhome.
And kind of reluctantly I'mlike, yeah, definitely, could we
do it tomorrow?
Because I had just driven a lotand wasn't really feeling
(10:08):
social and also just met thisguy.
So he's like, yeah, sure, sure,all right, you have a good
night.
So the night passes and hecomes up to me really early in
the morning, knocks on my vanand says, all right, let's go,
your dog can come with us.
So me and Noodles go all aroundand this really, really nice
(10:33):
guy shows us different spotsaround Montana, different lakes,
different forest trees, and itturns out he was a tour guide
for a long time at GlacierNational Park.
And it just goes to show withthe last two stories you never
know when you're traveling andit's this fine, minuscule line
(10:54):
between accepting what'shappening, being open to new
experiences but also beingcautious, especially when you're
solo traveling.
Next story this next storycomes from solo travel.
Yet again, the prompt is tellme the stories from your solo
(11:16):
travel trip that you would nevertell anyone else, because no
one else is usually interested.
Man, I can relate to this Allright.
I live on the west coast of theUnited States and took a solo
road trip to the Midwest Statesand took a solo road trip to the
(11:36):
Midwest Because it's the normalthing to do to bash it with the
company I keep.
I had to hide my excitementabout seeing prairie dogs in
North Dakota and touring theDeadwood Brothel Museum.
I love it.
I love it when people have openminds like this, and the drive
didn't feel boring.
All those cornfields and flatland felt, I don't know,
meditative, like a zen garden.
(11:58):
There are really some beautifulareas and people everywhere.
If you're just willing to openup your mind, alright, I want to
see and meet this person,because that's what Noodles and
I are trying to do with thispodcast.
Anywhere you go, any people youmeet have a story, an
(12:19):
interesting story, if you justlook for it.
I love the way it was describedlike meditative.
A lot of people say it's boring.
Nebraska yeah, boring Nebraskayeah, boring.
But Iowa, the driftless regionwhich we're going to dive into
next week, it is infinitelyfascinating and beautiful to
(12:43):
drive through and not manypeople know it.
So I love when other peoplehave the same mentality.
Good for you.
This next one gets into theweeds a little bit, but it's
fascinating.
All right, so it's under traveland the prompt is what I like
and dislike about the USA as atourist.
(13:05):
It's always fascinating hearingdifferent opinions, even from
different states, people fromthe West visiting Midwest or
Midwest going to going toCalifornia or New England or
what have you.
But I think conversations likethis are what makes traveling
interesting, this exchange ofideas.
I have been touring the UnitedStates for several weeks now,
(13:26):
visiting multiple states.
I am from Europe, theNetherlands specifically.
This is not my first time inthe US, but it is my most
extensive.
It strikes me how vastlydifferent the USA is compared to
my country or Europe in general.
I just like to give my thoughtshere from a European
perspective, which things Ithink are better here and which
(13:48):
things are worse.
I'm also keeping this limitedto tourist perspective, so I'm
going to stay away from thingsthat are only relevant when I
would actually live here, likehealthcare, taxes and politics.
Okay, okay, okay, okay, let'ssear it.
Things I like Nature, raw, wildand untouched.
(14:09):
Most of all, vast.
The sheer vastness and varietyof nature and pure wilderness
here is definitely unmatched inEurope.
Specifically, the little naturewe have in the Netherlands is
laughable compared to the USA.
That is a good point.
I wonder where specificallythis person who posted this went
(14:29):
what states.
But yeah, the nature here isjust absolutely gorgeous,
particularly out West, thediversity of it all.
People are generallyapproachable and friendly.
Yes, I do like Americans, atleast their overall demeanor.
I would be greeted and askedwhere I'm from, even by someone
(14:49):
at the 7-Eleven.
In general, dutch people arequite rude.
Free refills this is a smallthing but really unheard of in
the Netherlands.
In my country you pay the sameprice for just one tiny cup of
coffee.
In fact, all drinks you orderare tiny in the Netherlands and
you pay for each one.
You know I like this, but I'llactually disagree.
(15:14):
Here's a weird thing about meAnywhere I go, I like to have
especially coffee.
I like to have smaller portionsof it.
I like it to be concentrated.
Sometimes I feel like let's say, coffee here a little watered
down Traffic lights across thestreet.
I can't for the life, life ofme understand why we still have
(15:36):
to lean over the steering wheeland get a sword neck looking
straight upwards at the trafficlights in Europe.
Oh, interesting, I actuallydidn't know that.
So you can't see, unless youlike, lean forward.
Well, the more you know.
Let's get to the final positiveTipping.
(15:57):
This is a widely contested topic.
Why the heck do I need to bepartially responsible for a
proper salary for these people?
There you go Also.
It's just annoying to have tocalculate the tip every time.
It is also annoying that listedprices are almost exclusively
without tax, that listed pricesare almost exclusively without
tax In my country and acrossmost of Europe, as far as I'm
(16:23):
aware.
You pay exactly what is listedas the price, no hidden
surprises.
You make some good points, goodpoints there.
The food Ooh, we'll see aboutthis one, especially breakfast.
Almost everything containssugar.
Well, okay, yeah, you're rightabout that.
Breakfast is never with freshbread and fresh good meats and
(16:45):
cheese.
In fact, american cheese isawful.
You know what I will chime inand agree with that American
cheese is the worst of thecheeses.
But maybe I'm spoiled, livingin my cheese country, living in
cheese country.
For dinner the price isn'tquite as bad, but it's still
(17:05):
nowhere near the quality andvariety that you find in Europe.
Plastic Too much plastic is aproblem for Europe also, but the
amount of plastic and styrofoamand other disposable crap used
here is bizarre.
I also find it really bizarrethat in every hotel breakfast is
all disposable cutlery andplates.
(17:26):
Also, you really never see thisin Europe, not even in the
cheapest hotels.
You're making some good points,yeah.
Yeah, the disposability of itall is kind of all around here.
Depends on the state, butyou're right.
And finally, for negatives,imperial measurements Gallons,
(17:51):
miles, feet and especiallyFahrenheit is so bizarre.
Also because the conversionfactor to metric is odd.
Almost all the world, as wellas the scientific world, uses
metric, which makes so much moresense in every way.
Why does the US hold on to suchan archaic system?
Your guess is as good as mine,my friend.
(18:13):
I would be so curious to lookinto the history of that.
Maybe that could be a futureepisode.
So here are some of my thoughts.
Feel free to add your own ortell me where you agree or
disagree.
I'd love to read the sameperspective from Americans who
have visited Europe.
That's what it's about, rightConversation, talking about the
(18:37):
goods and the bads of any placeyou go, and that's what makes
these conversations absolutelyfast.
Our next story is from travel.
The prompt is craziest thingthat's ever happened to you
while traveling.
Okay, this could get crazy.
Let us see.
(19:02):
Went to a Finnish saunasomewhere in the middle of
nowhere in Finland because Iwanted the real experience, not
the touristy stuff.
No one spoke English, andFinnish looks like made-up words
to me.
Everyone was completely naked,except for a teeny tiny towel
you were supposed to sit on.
It wasn't large enough to coveranything up.
You know, sometimes when you'rein one of those experiences you
(19:27):
just have to dive right in.
So I mustered all my courageand went into one of the three
bungalows.
As soon as I opened the door, Irealized this wasn't right.
About 15 very drunk men andwomen holding beers were sitting
in this teeny sauna house.
(19:47):
Since everyone stared at mestanding in the open doorway, I
decided to just go for it and goin, figured it would have been
weird to mumble sorry anddisappear.
That's the right mentality.
That's the mentality you haveto have just going for it.
For example, I have a quickstory.
So when I hosted a beer podcast,I would go all around and
(20:10):
interview brewers about how theygot started, why they enjoyed
brewing and the breweries thatthey were at and or created.
And one time in South CarolinaI went deep into the woods.
It was far away from any maintown because I was going to
interview this brewery.
I kept going and going and I'mlike man.
(20:33):
This is kind of in the middleof nowhere.
So I got there and it was agarage, just somebody's garage,
and there was five men sittingthere, three of them bearded,
and a dog.
And there was five men sittingthere, three of them bearded,
and a dog, and there wasdefinite proof that this is
where I was supposed to go,because the brewery sign was
above.
So I thought to myself you knowwhat?
(20:54):
This is going to be great, I'mgoing to make this an awesome
experience.
And I talked to them all night.
At some point, the owner of thebrewery in the garage took me
back, poured a pint and saidwatch this.
We went out to a field, twodonkeys came up, and one of the
donkeys, right away, made anoise and chugged the pint that
(21:16):
he brought out.
Yeah, so it turned out to be agreat experience.
So when you're in those kind ofexperiences, you just got to go
for it.
Glad that this person did.
We'll see what happens, though.
As soon as I sat down, the nakedguy next to me started talking.
After realizing I don't speakthe language, he switched to
(21:39):
English.
So how do you know Micah?
Huh, who?
Well, it's Micah's birthday, oh, so I started to get up and
leave because I didn't want tocrash a naked party of strangers
, but the guy next to me hadalready called Micah over to
introduce me.
Before I could even apologizefor crashing and making my
(21:59):
excuses, micah had alreadypulled me into a massive hug.
Yep, you read that right.
I got a hug from a very naked,very large and sweaty Finnish
dude in the middle of nowhere inFinland, while being naked as
well For context, I'm a prettypetite girl.
(22:20):
That adds a little spice to it.
He put a beer in my hand,invited me to join the party,
and that was certainly one of mymore weird experiences while
traveling.
Love the fins, though.
You know it's a story.
It's a story that's awesome.
(22:42):
So our final story is from SoloTravel.
The prompt is share inspiringtravel stories.
I wanted to end our very firstReddit travel story reading
reaction to a positive story,something to uplift the spirits,
(23:02):
because I feel like that's whattravel is supposed to be and
that's what we're trying to dowith this show.
Without further ado, let's getinto it.
Me and my girlfriend were havingsome quiet drinking in a quiet
bar in far north Vietnam.
The owners started to set up atable with a cake, food and
(23:23):
other celebration-style things.
Up a table with a cake, foodand other celebration-style
things, it became obvious thatit was their young child's
birthday party, maybe five yearsold.
Aw, I always love seeing that.
Since we were the onlycustomers there, we decided to
leave so they could get on withtheir party, but they insisted
we stayed.
They shared their food and gaveus more drinks and didn't
(23:45):
expect any money.
Of course, we gave them adecent amount, no more than what
we would have paid if it was ameal plus generous tips.
There was such a huge languagebarrier that all we could do was
say to one another cheers andjust smile and laugh with one
another.
Lovely human interaction, andwe were very fortunate to be
(24:05):
there.
Love those moments.
Now.
I love this story.
This speaks to the core of whatit means to travel, in my mind,
to connect with people that arefrom different places, speak
different languages, havedifferent points of view.
You can connect with people ina fundamentally human way.
(24:30):
Whether it's taking animpromptu trip to the Midwest,
even though your friends saythat it's lame, whether you
cheers with somebody who doesn'tspeak your language, there's
something fundamentally human inus all that we should try to
seek out and acknowledge, andthat's what's great about
(24:50):
reading stories like this exceptfor the taxi guy who asked if
you're scared, that's you know,but mostly it's Noah here.
I hope you enjoyed our newsegment into deep dive Reddit
(25:12):
travel stories.
It's fun to feel like I can sitdown and casually talk about
travel and travel stories withyou and travel stories with you.
This is not to say that we'renot going to continue with our
deep dives into locations andthe history of places people
normally overlooked Far from it.
(25:32):
We've got some very excitingthings coming in that regard,
but we'll also add casual talksand reactions like this, as well
as some interview episodescoming up.
So we're expanding.
We're doing some very excitingthings and if you find value in
what we're trying to do here, inbringing the joy of travel,
(25:55):
finding new places, stories topeople, rating and reviewing is
the best way that you can helpus continue to do that.
So thank you for your time.
I appreciate you all.
Be good to each other.
Where to next?
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