Is Moving Abroad the New American Dream? | Ep 70 - House of Peregrine

Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Hi, I'm Mikkel Weber, founder and auteur of House of
Peregrine. Expat, immigrant, pioneer.
None of these were a fit, but Peregrine describes what we are
all about perfectly, those that craft their life story with
intention. I've spent the last six years in
awe of the life changing connections and stories I've

(00:23):
experienced while living abroad and believe it is time for this
adventure to be recognized, celebrated, and elevated to the
life stage that it is. Through these interviews, I hope
to connect those living internationally more deeply to
both the place they are living and with themselves and those
around them. We cover everything from
international finances and meaning making to global

(00:46):
parenting and relationships to make your time abroad more
intentional, edifying and full of beauty.
Find us at houseofperegrine.com where you can find more ways to
connect with the ethos of Peregrine.
I hope you enjoy today's guest. Let's get started.
Hello everyone and welcome back to the House of Peregrine

(01:06):
podcast. Today I am joined by Garrett
Vanderweelen, also known to manyas Tall Red Beard on TikTok.
Garrett is a second generation American with deep Dutch roots,
a filmmaker turned content creator, and a curious historian
who makes his audience laugh andat times angry.
As he would be the first to admit he Sometimes his facts are

(01:26):
loosely interpreted. Garrett's fascination with the
Netherlands began early, thanks in part to the stories of his
Dutch grandparents who immigrated to the US after World
War 2. But it wasn't until a sabbatical
with his then fiance that if theidea of living.
Here took root. When that relationship ended,
Garrett found himself suddenly without a visa, without a home,

(01:48):
and bouncing from place to placefor six months until, in true
modern fashion, he found an apartment through a random
Instagram post. The same day he signed the
lease, he lost his job, which then left him in visa limbo
again. Garrett is a creator at heart.
After graduating from film school in Los Angeles and
landing his first job editing for Sesame Street, he brought

(02:09):
his skills in storytelling, e-commerce, and experimentation
into the thriving online presence.
His TikTok persona is, in his words, him at 110%, the humorous
high energy channel that now reaches over 15,000 followers.
In this episode, we talk about identity in motion, the humor
and heartbreak of building a life abroad, the stories we

(02:30):
inherit and the ones we rewrite.We also talk about how Garrett's
views of family and home has transformed after more than
three years living in the Netherlands.
Thank you so much for joining metoday, Garrett.
I'm so excited to have you on. Thank you for having me.
I appreciate it. Yeah.
I want to get kind of right intoit.
You and I spoke earlier and I was very I I want to talk about

(02:55):
your TikTok channel because that's how that's how I came
about you and it makes me laugh all the time.
But I want to start actually at the beginning.
Tell us about because I'm reallyfascinated with this idea of of
reverse immigration right now. And so I really want to hear
growing up as a second generation American and then how
that kind of flowed because it wasn't that intentional from

(03:16):
what I understand. No, not in the slightest.
Yeah. So, so growing up, my parents
and grandparents, they, they like made it a point to to like
tell me I'm Dutch and they wouldshow me Dutch things like
breakfast that that make Hagasla.
And they're like, you know, we had wooden shoes during

(03:38):
Christmas instead of stockings. And we were very proud to be
Dutch, even though I was growingup in America to the point
where, yeah, the first time I came to the Netherlands was when
I was 8. And I grew up in the US and I
had no idea where my ancestors were.
Like my grandparents would say we're American.
They wouldn't say we're English or whatever.

(04:00):
And so actually, it brings, it brings a different kind of
awareness of identity. Did you notice that was
different from your kids, other kids growing up?
Yes, definitely because I, I do,I do feel American, especially
now living here. I, I tell people I am Dutch by
blood, but culturally American because the, it's just too

(04:22):
different. And what I found that there is
sort of a different cultural, A generational cultural thing.
So it's like some of the things that I know to be Dutch are
actually just really old becausethey're coming from 2
generations ago. Even like certain Dutch phrases
that my grandparents would say, some people will look at me and

(04:43):
be like, are you like 80? What are you talking about?
Yeah, because you got all of that influence from your
grandparents, which is 2 generations.
Oh, that makes so much sense. So you're like an old soul Dutch
person and a young and your correct age and your own
culture. It's so interesting to me how
that those stories affect the way you grow up.
And so when you're hearing thesestories, and I think you shared

(05:04):
with me, they would sometimes say this phrase, if you're not
Dutch, you're not much or something.
Did I say that correctly? That's very common, yeah.
And it's, it's one of those things where it's like, it's
this like sense of pride. My oppa's brother, he was like a
Carpenter and he just had so much pride in like the designs,

(05:27):
the stuff that he would make. And like, it wasn't just that
like he designed it. It was like he a Dutchman
designed it because Dutchman aregood at engineering.
And it was like, so it's like it's pride in his work, but then
like also pride in the heritage in which the knowledge came
from. Yeah, and I can identify with
that becoming a little bit stronger when you move like as a

(05:48):
parent, like I have kids and they're American.
Like I'm American, my husband's American.
And so I I identify with that somuch.
Just become more of something orI don't know.
It is wild. So you had that all growing up,
your grandparents saying these things to you.
And it's almost you're living intwo worlds.
We know this about immigrant families that they're they're
living in more than one world, which is again why we're House

(06:11):
of Peregrine exists because you probably now even more
understand your grandparents. Oh yeah, yeah.
I would say I know how to sound.How do I say this without making
my grandparents sound terrible? Because they're not terrible.
Growing up, I kind of thought that my grandparents,

(06:33):
specifically my oma, was like kind of mean.
Yeah. Like she's just, she's just
Dutch. She's just Dutch.
Like I, I came home from collegewith my freshman 50 and the
first thing she said to me was like, oh, you got fat.
I'm like OK. Thanks.

(06:54):
We don't say this out loud, Grandma.
But if, if I did not say that, then I would be lying.
It's like, well, that's kind of kind of, but not really.
That is so true though. I mean, that's the first thing
that people tell you when you move here is that they're rude.
But they're it's just a different kind of honesty,
right? Right.

(07:14):
Yeah, it's, it's honesty in that.
Well, it popped up in my head and I have to say it.
Yeah, it's true. Well, and it's only if you have
you experienced some from your grandparents, would they have
said that to a stranger? Or is this more of a intimacy?
Like if you're close to someone,you tell them what's popping
into your head? Oh, that's interesting.
Yeah, I think, I think it has todo with like, God, I would hope

(07:37):
they're not saying that to strangers, but I, I don't know.
Well, I've learned to. Well, I think my Dutch neighbors
have learned to go easy on me, and I've learned to appreciate
this this about them. Right.
Yeah, you can kind of, you can kind of see the, yeah, the
silver lining of it. Yeah, but you know, I always

(07:58):
love that even honesty is cultural so that it makes me so
I I really get into it. So so you grew up California,
Dutch grandparents. You go on to film school and
you're you're studying film. What?
What was your process like? Being a creative in the anywhere
is a process when you graduate, but what was your story?

(08:20):
I think how I look at it, because I grew up in Los
Angeles, it was mostly just like, that was the work that was
the industry there. So it's like if I had grown up
in Idaho, I would have been a potato farmer.
But because I grew up in Los Angeles, it was like, that's the
work that was there. So it was like PA work or my

(08:41):
first job was like, basically itwas this like it was some
subsidiary of a studio and they would just get like script
submissions all the time. And it was like my job to just
read them and like put them in the good and the bad pile and
then like give them like a synopsis.
So it was like the the executives could like just go
through the good pile and read like the top line of each

(09:03):
script. So they like, yeah.
So it was like I was the first filter.
It was an unpaid gig, but it wasgreat.
You got to read a lot of screenplays then.
Yeah, I did and that and that was that was very fun.
I was so proud when like one of the scripts that I said yes to I
like saw created like five yearslater and it was like, Oh my
gosh, I I put that in the yes pile.

(09:24):
It turned out to be a terrible movie, but that's fine.
I understand and that I spent myearly career also in the film
industry, but in Salt Lake City.So I worked a lot on everything.
Everything coming from LA that was filming in Utah, which is a
lot actually for the bigger movies.
But yeah, I, I identify with that.
I was, yeah. Super, super interesting

(09:46):
industry. But you do learn a lot.
And so when you graduated, I grew up watching Sesame Street.
Maybe our listeners don't know what Sesame Street is.
It's a, we'll put a little link in that thing.
But it's a beloved children's show on public television in the
US. Yeah, yeah, it's yeah.

(10:07):
I I love Sesame Street. I mean like even still, I got
hit with a clip from it was likeAndrew Garfield talking to Elmo
about grief and I was just like,Oh my God, I'm, I'm crying.
It's. This is so deep, yeah.
Yeah, so I my right out of college, I started working for
an animation company called Extra Credit Studios and they

(10:28):
have like a very successful YouTube channel, but it wasn't
like enough to pay the bills. So our producer would like get
us gigs on other things. And so she got me a like it was
just supposed to be like a one time job.
It was a DIT for like an on sitelive action shoot for Sesame

(10:50):
Street. And what DIT is, if you don't
know, is just, or if the listeners at home.
Yeah, explain. It Yeah, it is.
There's one guy on set with a computer and the hard drives,
and as the the camera's memory card fills up, he hands the dit
the memory card and I just put them on the hard drives and then
I duplicate them. And then so at the end of the
day, I'll give one hard drive tothe director and then one hard
drive I deliver to the editor. And so yeah, that that was a

(11:13):
very fun day. It was just we were shooting
because because Sesame Street isin studio with puppets, but then
it's also like live action sketches of like, kids playing
and stuff. So that's what we were shooting
that day. And then, yeah, at the end of
the day, I was like I said, I gave one hard drive for the

(11:33):
director, and then I was assigned to go the hard drive to
the editor. And then when I got to the
editor's house, he like, wasn't picking up.
He like wasn't answering the door or answering his phone.
And so I called the producer andI was like, hey, the editor
isn't answering. And they're like, Oh my God,
what are we gonna do? And I was like, I'm an editor.
I can, I'm I, yeah, I prefer, I edit videos.

(11:55):
And they're like, OK, can you meet the director at his place
and like get into the edit? I was like, OK, yeah, sure.
So. Yeah, it was great.
That's amazing. Can I tell you a story about
that? I was working on a movie that
maybe I shouldn't name, but it was a very big movie and they
they kept losing footage. So I had to edit it at my house

(12:18):
for a few for a few weeks beforethey they replaced the entire
digital team. Oh my gosh.
So I have this footage that I'm editing because we were in
production. And so it was, yeah, it's it's
the movie magic is made by by instances like this, which is
actually what makes it so addicting, but not always a

(12:40):
sustainable living. Right.
Yeah, because while I was working for, at that time, the
parent company, NBC Universal and like, HBO had the rights.
These are like the biggest studio names, Sesame Street,
which is like a show that is prolific.

(13:01):
It's been on for over 40 years. And meanwhile, their editor is
sleeping on a couch in West Hollywood because I'm getting
paid $100 a day. Yeah.
Yeah, that's what. The industry run that and that
that's hard to understand and it's actually still the Today.

(13:21):
This is how it works and and I don't think a lot of people
understand that. Yeah, yeah.
That I've heard from my friends back in LA that it has gotten
worse. Yeah.
The the wages have stayed stagnant.
And then also a lot of stuff is being outsourced out of the
city. So it's like it's not even the
the creative hub that it once was.

(13:41):
Yeah. Well, and this was tell us what
year this was. This was maybe before YouTube
was. So what is today?
I guess, yeah. I think it was around 2015.
So it was like YouTube had just been acquired by Google like a
couple of years before, I think.And so it was just starting to

(14:05):
bring in some like pretty good ad revenue.
Like, like I said, the studio that I worked for, extra credit
studios, like they were able to keep the doors open because of
YouTube ad revenue. So it was like, and this was
like a big deal. So it was like it was kind of at
the start of it before, like it was like pre Mr. Beast YouTube
era, Yeah. That's what I mean.

(14:26):
I think we've we've seen a turn in maybe the professionalism or
people doing it for a living. And so those were kind of the
Wild West days. Now it's almost a given if
you're a filmmaker that you havesome sort of platform on your
own. That's almost your show reel
now. Yes, exactly.
It's like I saw this trend happening where it was like you

(14:49):
had at the at the time a lot of streaming platforms would like
just give people with a lot of followers like shows they go,
oh, you have like 2 million followers, great.
We want them to come to our streaming platform and they
just, like, throw a bunch of money at creators.
And it was like this trend that was awesome for creators.

(15:09):
But those skills don't translate.
It's like someone who's vloggingand has 14,000,000 followers on
YouTube. First of all, people don't like
to leave their platforms. And the second of all, like,
that doesn't mean they're a goodactor or actress.
It's just, yeah. Well, and I think it's really
what I, what I think most peoplelove about making films and

(15:32):
making content is it's a team sport.
But with these platforms, it canbe cut.
You become almost your own production studio.
You or you have to and so that'swhat that's what this change in
industry, at least from my pointof view, has done I, I spent a
lot of time as a producer as well as I'd like.
I had the camera skills and I have the producing skills and so
that has served me well. But yeah, it's super

(15:55):
interesting. So you're kind of in this moment
in in LA when Tell us how this comes about, because it doesn't.
It's not like you had your sights set on a move to the
Netherlands. Or did you?
No, there was like throughout, throughout my childhood, there

(16:16):
was like, it would pop up. It would like bubble up and be
like, oh, it'd be fun to live inthe Netherlands.
Like, oh, like I would ride my bike around LA and I only got
hit twice. Oh my God.
So it is a. Totally different game.
It's like taking your life into your hands riding a bike around
you. It's.
Really bad. Yeah.
And so, like when those things would happen, I'd be like, oh,
man, it'd be so nice to live in a place with, like, bicycle

(16:38):
infrastructure. But it was.
Yeah. It was just like there was no
viable, like, option to, to do it.
So it was just like a passing thought or, you know, like when
Trump got elected, like, man, I'd love to get out of this
country, but it was like, I didn't have any sort of way to
do it. So it was just like, yeah, did
you ever? Talk to your grandparents about
it. Yeah, Yeah.

(16:59):
I remember we would come to visit the Netherlands and I'd
say, oh, I want to live here. And they're like, it's very
cold, so it rains a lot. I don't know if you want that.
So it's like they weren't like, yeah, do it.
They were like, I mean, I, I think they're very proud of the
life that they were able to build for the family.
Yeah. That makes sense.

(17:21):
So they're like, why would you go back?
We made a very nice life right here.
Yeah, that makes sense. But the country that they were
building and was is also changing rapidly.
We I think we're similar ish ages where the country like
industries, countries everythinghave.
There's a moment in time where all of us are experiencing a lot

(17:41):
of change that maybe our parentsand grandparents didn't.
Yeah, definitely. And I mean, like, I'm, I'm sure
there is somebody way more skilled that can talk on this
than me. But for me, it just felt like
there was just certain things certain like goals, certain,
like, I guess just life markers that were just always out of

(18:04):
reach for our generation. Yeah.
I mean, my dad bought his first car in cash from like a part
time job and like bought a housewith a down payment from like
his money that he got from the wedding and like a mild savings.
So it was like, so it was like those those like things were

(18:26):
just always a little further. Like, I had come to terms with
the fact that, like, OK, I'm just never going to own a home.
That's not going to happen for me because it was just like,
every year, even like the dumpiest places in like, Silver
Lake would be like 1.5 million. And it's like, this is a shed on
the, like, the backyard of a house.
How can you justify this? But yeah, so it's OK.

(18:46):
Well, that's never going to happen for me, Yeah.
And how, when was that list? Like right after university or
when did you start realizing this?
Yeah. I mean, it was, it was basically
right after university, like I said, I was like sleeping on a
couch for a little while and I was like trying to save as much
money as I could. And it was just, yeah, it was.
It was impossible to to really get ahead.

(19:10):
Yeah. Interesting.
So when you and your then fiancetell us that story about
deciding to try life abroad? Sure.
Yeah, it, it happened really fast.
We had just kind of like finished the first year of the
pandemic. So it was like we were, we were

(19:32):
locked away. And yeah, so the, the company
that she worked for was an advertising agency and they're
like, hey, we're, we're opening not, they weren't opening up the
satellite office, but they were like, we need to get more
control over the, the, the satellite office in Amsterdam.

(19:53):
So we want to like install someone from the main office.
Does anyone like have a volunteer or does anyone want to
volunteer? And yeah, we talked about it.
The decision was made fast. Like just like, hey, this
opportunity came up. I want to do it.
And like I said, I was just coming off the pandemic.

(20:14):
I had. I had, as far as like, my career
goes, I had just been let go from an advertising agency,
which was like, like, advertising for me was just a
means to an end. I never really even liked it.
It was just a way to keep the lights on.
And I had been at, like, during the pandemic, trying to pitch
some animations. And I was just getting, can I

(20:37):
say ass on this podcast. Yeah.
It's a technical term, actually.Sure.
Yeah, and I was just getting my ass kicked like pretty
consistently in these pitch meetings.
It was brutal. And so I didn't like, I guess
like a better term just didn't have a lot like going for me.
So it was like this kind of thisgreat opportunity to be like,

(20:57):
you know what, yeah, fuck it, let's drop everything and leave.
Like that sounds great for me. And it, like I said, it was
fast. So we decided like, yeah, we
would like to do that within like a week of the offer.
And they're like, OK, cool, we're going to send you out next
month or at the end of the month.
And it was like, oh, OK, great. OK.

(21:19):
So they were like, we'll providethe movers.
We'll we'll set you up for the first month in a hotel and give
you like a real estate agent andwe'll figure it out.
So it's like, oh, OK, this is all happening very fast.
You didn't really have time to to consider what this might

(21:42):
mean. No, we had no idea.
Yeah, I in like our head in the conversation.
We're like, OK, yeah, we'll we'll live in the Netherlands
for a year. That sounds like the plan.
And yeah, I mean, we'd lived in the Netherlands for a year.
There was, yeah. And.
Then another one. And then another one.

(22:02):
It's happened to the best of us.I came for a year and it's now
been 9. So, right, yes, but I think in a
move like this, and we actually did it similarly, when you don't
have much time to consider your wise once you land here, it's
not the end of your journey. You're not just living here.
Suddenly you don't just pick up your life there and move it

(22:23):
here. That's not you're changing your
partner at the time, she had connections that she had at her
office and she was doing her life.
And you had, like you said, you were.
This was a fresh start for you in a way.
Yeah, 100. Percent.
I knew nobody here. It was.
It was very lonely. Yeah, it was, it was.

(22:44):
It was difficult because, yeah, like I said, I didn't have a lot
of time to consider. And also all of our stuff that
was being moved by a storage container had gotten caught in
the Panama Canal around that time.
So it was just like we didn't have any stuff for like 6
months. And so it's just like we're

(23:04):
living in an empty Dutch apartment with, like, IKEA
furniture that we found and, youknow, we made it work.
It has zero effects on relationships.
By the way, if you do this, thishas zero effect on any.
Anything that's going on in yourrelationship suddenly becomes
massive. Yeah.

(23:25):
And So what I've come to, what I've come to realize about my
relationship is I think during the pandemic, it was just her
and I and for for a lot of couples, from what I understand,
that was like kind of a make or break moment for them.
It was like, oh, we're spending a lot of time together.
And for us it, it was really good.
Like we, we got along really well.

(23:47):
But now that things started opening up, we were in a new
place. What I, what I've come to
understand about that situation is like there were no outside
influences. So it was like the, which also
are hard on not hard, but just like affect a relationship.
So it was like the world opened up and then we went to a

(24:10):
completely different world and then where I knew nobody and she
was the source of my entire social circle through her job,
which was difficult. And I think a lot of people can
actually relate to this. I think this is like a story I

(24:31):
hear a lot, which is if you've come on your partner's visa for
their work, it's actually your you.
It's an actual skill that can betaught of actually making a new
life where you have no contacts.Like the people that do this
well and over and over again, they know there's a process, but
if you don't know that you're stepping into this, the, the

(24:53):
rate of couples that don't make it through this experience is so
incredibly high because there's dependencies.
I mean, tell us. I mean, if you don't mind, I
know this is not part of your thing, but like I would love for
you to describe to us what changed in you because I did the
same. And I, I love to hear people
talk about this because it's psychological.
What happens when you're actually dependent on someone

(25:16):
for the first time? For your visa, right?
For everything. Yes, yeah, that was that was
that was new. I've I always consider myself
very social. It's fairly easy for me to make
friends. Not to prack I I listen, I get
along well with people. So it was like I was leaving a

(25:39):
large, a large network of of friends and family to go be
alone in a hotel room. Yeah.
So that was that was. But it does.
Things to you that you can't anticipate, like it does things
to your in psychologically, I feel like it does.
Oh yeah, 100. Percent, yeah.

(26:00):
I was like, I was, I was lookingthrough my CBT journal just like
yesterday, and I was like, well,what's going on?
There was this passage from it right when I moved where it was
just like, I'm a passenger in mylife, basically.
It was just the feeling of like,I have no control of what's
going on. And it was like, while it was a
decision that I was a part of, Ifelt like a supporting character

(26:25):
in my own story, which was weird.
It was like I was watching my life instead of living it.
Yeah. And I think that's an there's a
couple of layers to it. But like, especially when you've
immigrated as a couple, they, they, there's this term that now
people don't even use, but they used to be commonplace to say

(26:45):
trailing spouse. Like it's now like people do not
use it. But in the eyes of a government,
in the eyes of who you are in the world, you are tied to that
person. That's the only way you have
access to your healthcare, to your like all of this.
It's, it's a really, really it'sa Crucible moment in a
relationship when this sort of dependence happens, in my

(27:05):
opinion. Yes, Yeah, it was.
Yeah. Yeah, it's definitely a shift in
dynamic for sure, because yeah, I was here on a partner visa, so
all of my stuff was all tied to her.
Yeah. Yeah, and that's tough.
I remember like the first few years we lived here, not one
document said my name on it, my bank card said his name on it.

(27:28):
Everything, everything was I didn't exist.
And that was that's a weird again, like you know, you exist,
you love your partner, but like it's, it's a weird individual
journey. And so thanks for going into it.
I know that's not your thing, but I think I think it's good
for people to hear other people talk about this, especially men,
because for men, I think it's even even more different.

(27:49):
And I've seen a lot of my friends come here as they had a
career in the States. They come with their partner
who's usually a woman's job, They become a stay at home
parent. That's another layer.
And that's it just changes. It changes a lot.
So, but what it also changes is it's really hard to make.
It's another layer of ending a relationship to if your visa is

(28:11):
tied to it. And so just briefly, let's talk
about that. Sure.
Your side of it. My, my side of it.
Yeah, right. You're here to hear first.
But it's a story a lot of peoplehave.
This is a lot a big deal. Yeah, definitely.
Yeah, I didn't, I didn't have a lot of friends.
But I, I will say this, this wasthis was for me.

(28:32):
I don't. This probably isn't for
everybody listening, but I took an improv class.
As one does as one. Does it was like English improv
at Boom Chicago on Rosengraut there.
And I was like, I just was riding my bike by and I like saw
sign and I was like, you know what?
Yeah, I knew a lot of improvisers in Lai never had any

(28:52):
interest in it. But I was like, I don't know,
it'd be nice to like just be in a room full of English speakers.
And I went from having zero friends to like 10 friends,
which was really nice. It's like, I still, you know,
years later, I'm still hanging out with that group of people.
You know, we still do shows around Amsterdam.

(29:13):
It's called the welcome distraction.
But so that was like, I went from having zero friends to some
friends, which was like, nice. And so I kind of like got out of
a shell a bit, which was, yeah, so needed and refreshing.
And then so, yeah, we started, we started doing shows around
town together. We did our our first show and my

(29:34):
partner couldn't make it and I was like, Oh yeah, that's that
feels a little weird. I don't understand.
I, I change countries. Psychopath.
Thank you. I'm so glad you said it.
I change countries for you. No, this is real.
Yeah, no. This is real.
Yeah. And it turns out that she was

(29:55):
cheating on me with a Co worker,a married man with a family and
kids. And so when that all came to
light, it was just like, all right, this sucks.
Yeah. So to put it.
Mildly, yeah. I was like, damn, OK.
And then so yeah, obviously top of mind, it was just like, OK,

(30:19):
everything here is tied to you. So it's like obviously the, the
pain and stuff. And it was like we, we tried to,
we tried to work it out. And I don't want to like get too
into the nitty gritty details, but like, we went to a couples
therapy and it was like, there'sthere was this like side of her
that I had never seen before. And we're five years into this
relationship. We're engaged.

(30:40):
And it was just like this complete lack of accountability,
this like this refusal to like stop the yeah, yeah.
So it was, it was hard. And so I made the very difficult
decision to leave. I OK.
And I, I left with the intentionto like, just just to like take

(31:01):
a breath because it was like every time we were in the same
place together, it was just like, Oh my gosh, this is, I'm
so mad at you at like, not just at the cheating, but like also
at the all of it. It was like it holistically or
it's it in its hole. It was just like, wait, I, what
am I doing here? Which is a thought that I have

(31:22):
every day when I wake up. I would I wonder the percentage
of people listening to this right now who actually have that
same experience without without the relationship drama that
you're right. See, I, I reached out to my
improv community and I was like,hey, does anyone have a room
that I could rent? And then like, through a friend

(31:43):
of a friend, they were like, oh,my, my friend's going out of
town for a month, maybe you could stay at their place.
And then so I reached out to them and they're like, yeah,
that sounds great. And then like two days before I
was supposed to do up there like, Oh my gosh, listen,
someone else is so one of our family members actually needs
it. They're having like a family
emergency. So you you can't stay here.

(32:04):
But here's this friend is going out of town.
You could stay at their place. And I was like, oh, OK, so it's
like a stranger of a stranger orsorry, friend of a friend
rather. And then I was like, oh, OK,
yeah, sure. So I reached out to them.
I stayed at their place for like3 months.
And then that that ended up. And then I was like, hey, I like
the person that I was staying at.
I was like, I needed a place after this month.

(32:25):
And they're like, oh, I know somebody.
And then so it was just like this very lucky game after that
point of just like every month, the person whose place I was
staying at, I would just like, as the month was coming to an
end, I'd be like, I need a placeto stay next month.
And they'd be like, oh, I may know somebody.
And they would give me some information.
And it was just like, I would take an Uber XL with my two

(32:48):
suitcases and go to the next place.
And I did that for six months. What did that teach you, both
good and bad? Yeah.
It taught me to travel light. It taught me to ask for help.
Yeah. I think that that that is a hard

(33:09):
lesson to to learn. Yeah.
You know, it's like if you need help, ask for it.
You don't even necessarily like have to know what you need for
help. Just kind of like to talk to
friends about your situation. And sometimes it's like it's
nice to get it off your chest, but it's also nice to just

(33:30):
sometimes people give solutions to the problems that you're
having. Yeah.
But going from going from knowing no one to suddenly
having a couch to sleep on everymonth, that is, that's not
something that would have happened.
That would not, that's not a skill you would have had to
employ. The the feelings, all of that

(33:51):
experience, if you were in the US and you guys broke up, it
would have been done, dusted. Oh yeah.
My dad would have showed up withhis truck, I will have loaded my
stuff up and I would have gone to live at my parents or at a
friend's house and then that would have been it.
So. Suddenly you're thrust into
this, this new net of people whocaught you.
I mean, it sounds like you you were able to be caught, yes.

(34:15):
Yeah, and I mean, the entire time I was, you know, updating
my parents about it. And they're like, what are you
doing? Just come home.
Because you were here for for your ex fiance, right?
Like that's just, that's the. Remind yes, yes.

(34:35):
And I mean, at that time, like, like I said, I had a small group
of friends building something here.
I, you know, outside of that whole situation, I like it here
a lot. I like the, I like the culture
as much as I make fun of it. I like the food quality as much
as I make fun of it. I like the bicycle

(34:57):
infrastructure. I, I enjoy the directness, which
is the culture. But yeah, I, I like my life
here. It's it's, but it's hard to
explain that, especially when you're in a crisis and you have
a group of people on the other side of the planet who like love
you and want you to be OK. They're like, why, why are why
don't you just come home and thedid you just.

(35:19):
Describe chronic homelessness like just come home.
Like your life can't be that great.
You're like, but there's cafes, you can sit by the side of the
cab. To the place that I need to go,
I have the grocery store down the street.
Yeah, these are. These are.
It is. It's hard to explain to
Americans, but it's also hard toexplain when you're in a crisis,
like you said, like your life doesn't sound that great.

(35:42):
Walking is not actually a positive thing.
Right, right. But it is though, Yeah.
So it was like the, the thing that I, I told my support group
on the other side of the planet was that, that I think kind of
got through to them was just, I don't want this to be the end of
my story. I I I need a happy ending in

(36:05):
some capacity? Yeah.
So yeah, you didn't want it. To be the end of your Amsterdam
story. Yes, yeah.
I didn't want my Amsterdam storyto be.
I packed up everything I owned, moved across the planet to
support my partner who then cheated on me, and I left with
my tail tucked between my legs because this is my country.

(36:28):
I, this I'm Dutch. I I'm not going to leave.
Yeah. Yeah, but also it would have
made the story completely you, not a main character in your
story at all if you left. Right.
Yeah. So having some sort of
reclamation of your existence, Ican imagine, feels somehow

(36:50):
therapeutic in a way. A. 100% I am not.
I am also an armchair psychologist.
Suddenly, you know, I don't know.
No, thank you. That's what.
We were looking for. No, but I see it over and over
again. And you know, I've had now I've
been here nine years, There's been several of my friends who
have gone through divorces. And it adds an infinite amount

(37:11):
of layers to a breakup or separation to to be in a
different country. You're dealing with identity,
all sorts of stuff. And then if you had a visa in
there, it's just complex. So thank you for exploring it
with us. But this, so this culture that
you love, you are now creating all these videos.

(37:31):
How did this start? What?
When did the mic turn on for Tall Red Beard?
Yes. So the tall red beard brand, if
you can call it that, started during the pandemic.
Basically it was just kind of a way to like connect with people.
I'd play video games on Twitch and so that's where I like I

(37:52):
registered the username. I saw like mild success with
that. I think at one point I had like
800 followers, which like isn't a lot in Internet terms, but
when I think about 800 people watching me play a video game, I
actually like, I get nervous. It's like that's way too many
people. Like at most three people should

(38:14):
be here on my couch playing the game with me.
So that's like kind of where it started.
And so it was always something that I would just kind of, it
was always fun because, you know, as I was working in in
entertainment and advertising, Inever really, the only times I
ever was in front of the camera were like out of necessity.
It was like during the pandemic,I was working at an advertising

(38:38):
agency and we like still had to make ads.
So they're like, hey, editors, can you film yourself in the
shower for this Doctor Squatch ad?
And I was like, OK, yeah, sure, whatever.
So it was like, yeah, the only time I was ever really, like, on
camera as a personality was like, just out of necessity.

(38:58):
But so I was collecting all these, like, best practices and
things. And my now girlfriend, Sanae,
we've been dating for a year now.
This month she was telling me this story that she heard about
how Dutch last names were kind of a joke.
It was like during the Napoleonic occupation of the

(39:21):
Netherlands, he wanted to start registering last name so they
could like, track property and taxes.
And up until then, Dutch last names were like based on your
occupation or like your your father.
So it would be like if your father was yon your name, your
last name would be yon son. It was just like, you're of or

(39:43):
like, yeah. So it was.
So she told me this like kind offunny story where it was like a
lot of Dutch people when they were forced to register their
last names, they would just likekind of do it as a joke because
they didn't really think that that was going to last.
They didn't think it was going to be permanent.
So like that's why you have so many weird last names like
Krauts, which is I think means. Big like if you were short,

(40:06):
you'd like write that as your last name or like the there's a
last name that like translates to naked born and it's like, so
that's like if you like. And what I've come to find out
for my comments section is this is debated heavily the the the
the truth of all this. But so anyways, my girlfriend

(40:27):
was telling me this story and I think that's such a fun story
because even my last name, Vander Whelan, means like of the
wheel, which could have been like an occupation of some sort.
I don't know, maybe like my ancestors were wagon makers or
something. So I was like, oh, you know
what, I'm going to tell this story.
So I, I sat down and I just recorded me telling the story

(40:51):
that she had told me in a way that I had kind of like, like I
said, I've been working in social media advertising.
So it was like I had all these best practices.
I kind of know the cadence in which a UGC creator is supposed
to talk, how often you're supposed to edit.
And so I was like, oh, you know,I'll just try it out.
You know, just as like kind of afun experiment.

(41:11):
And it really blew up. Like it hit 1,000,000 views
within like 3 days. And I was like, oh OK, people
like this. So then I just kind of sat down
and started doing research on other fun facts.
The first like couple of videos were just like kind of things
that my grandparents had told me.
And then obviously the first onewas my girlfriend.

(41:33):
But yeah. And then I just kind of kept
going. But yeah, like I said, the
comments started rolling in. And let me tell you, Dutch
people love to correct that is the majority of my comments is
people being like, I'm actually it was Napoleon's brother that
was occupying the Netherlands. So.
So. Everything you just said is
wrong, yeah. Yeah, yeah.
And you're an idiot and you should leave the country.

(41:56):
Yeah, that's everyone. Just that's the way.
I always say how they can't hearlike speaking English is a so I
always say because my kids speakDutch and they make fun of me
constantly. And I always say you can
understand the rest of the sentence even if I said that
word wrong. Like it's like don't pretend
like you can't. You can't hear the rest of what

(42:16):
I said just because you got stuck on that one word that I
said incorrectly. That's so real, yeah.
It's like, it's like you'll try to speak Dutch to them and like,
I'm terrible at Dutch. I'm not going to like I'm.
Also terrible, but trying. I'm always trying you'll.
You'll, you'll say like, you'll try to speak Dutch.
It's like what I can't understand.
And then like, you know, we'll just speak English and then

(42:38):
proceed to speak to you in the most broken English you've ever
heard. You're like, see, I can, I can
still decipher this what is, butI can.
Hang. I can hang with you.
This is not a two way street. I don't.
Understand. Let me speak.
Have a broken Dutch to you? Yeah, exactly.
Exactly. No.
But I think it's getting better.But it is it is a different
tolerance for accents and the correct way of speaking a

(43:00):
language that I've noticed that made it made it really difficult
to start to learn. But once I was kind of on to
this, I was like, you can listen, you can handle me saying
the one letter incorrectly. But it is it does come from a
place of wanting to improve. And so I always wonder if they
want me to correct their Englishsomehow, but I don't.

(43:23):
Oh. Interesting.
Yeah, I I don't either. And I think a lot of that has to
do with like my take on that is just like we come from America,
which is just massive. So it's like every single state
has its own way of pronouncing things.
And I'm not going to, like, whena Texan says a word a certain
way, I'm not going to be like, I'm actually it's pronounced
this way because, like, I probably sound weird to them.

(43:45):
And it's like, there's no point.But like, the Netherlands is
literally the size of, like, LosAngeles County.
So it's like, everyone needs to speak the same way.
Yeah. But I always say that I'm like,
you could be American, like you're speaking English to me in
a Dutch accent. You could be American, like I
have no idea to tell how someone's an American.
There's no American English. There's the, the LA version,

(44:07):
like the, the movie version, which is like an
internationalized accent, I guess.
But so it's very, it's very confusing to learn a language
and have it. So that's, it is, it's very
pronounced. So now I, I don't let it, I
don't let it hold me back as much.
But your comment section is a full on full display of the

(44:27):
accuracy that is required to getin.
Yes, yeah, 100%. And it's one of those things
where I don't mind it. Like basically like my formative
years were spent reading commentsections about shows and stuff
that I was working on. So it was like, I have learned

(44:47):
to not take anything personal. It's like, yeah, they they can
be kind of funny too. It's always, it's always funny
when like they find your insecurity and you're like, oh
gosh, you, you nailed it. But like most of the time it's
just like you're grasping at Strauss here.
And I think it's a little bit ofdelusion too, where it's like
they're jealous. I mean, that's one.

(45:08):
Way to deal with it. Right.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. But yeah, so I found this was
like very early on in when I started doing like e-commerce
advertising was like, I would end this.
It was found by accident where I'd like accidentally misspell A
subtitle. And then like that version of
the video would be AB testing would get like way more

(45:29):
interaction engagement. Yeah, engagement.
Thank you. We get like way more engagement.
And then, you know, you go to the comment section and it's all
people just correcting that subtitle and it's like, oh, the
algorithm has no idea the purpose or like the the intent
of the comment. They just see that this one is
getting more comments. So it was like from that point
our, our advertising agency would be like mess up a little

(45:53):
bit. And it was like, so there was
this kind of weird, like, oh, ifyou can see the seams holding
the ad together, that actually is a little better and makes it
seem a bit more bespoke and homemade.
And so I'm not going to say thatevery mistake I make on my
TikTok and YouTube and Instagramchannel is on purpose.

(46:16):
But there are definitely, there are definitely some that I'm
like, I, I'm casting a net sometimes.
Like, oh God, I did a video about how the Dutch love
mayonnaise and I love mayonnaise.
And I was like, Oh yeah, the Dutch, they put mayonnaise on
everything. They put it on fries, they put
it on herring and they put it ona bunch of other stuff.
And like my entire comment section was like, we would never
put mayonnaise on herring, you psychopath.

(46:38):
I'm going to call your you should be deported for this.
Why is that the first thing you go to?
Always deported. Yes, that is, but that is real.
Like that. It surprises me and people will
say this and it's true. Like you're an American, you
would never be deported. You have the you have a strong
passport. And I'm like, it's very real.

(47:00):
But you realize for the first time in your life you can be
deported from somewhere, right? And so in your YouTube comment
section, it's probably not visceral, but it is in an
interesting first lob at someone, yes.
Yeah, yeah, especially. About Herring, which let's, I
mean, every country has its cult, but Herring is you.

(47:23):
You hit a nerve. Oh yeah.
Oh yeah, yeah. And I love Herring.
I've actually, I was unemployed for a little bit and I made it a
point to go to every herring stand in Amsterdam and I know
where the good ones are. But yeah, it was it was kind of
an obsession for a while. I like how all of your most
interesting stories start with. I was unemployed for a while.

(47:43):
I've been. Unemployed for a while.
It's funny too, because like, I work freelance, but it's like I
don't count that as a job. So I'm like, I'm still
unemployed. Yeah, yeah.
I've only ever had freelance jobs, so I get it.
But it is, yeah, that that that takes you on some adventures
sometimes. So are you going to share with

(48:04):
us the most, the best herring stand in in Amsterdam?
You know what? I will this this is not
sponsored, but let me find it onmy maps here.
OK, It's Herring and Zoe. It's like it's right by the it's
like just West of Dam Square. OK.
Right in front of that Albert, that giant Albert Hyde.

(48:26):
It is the best one. OK.
You heard it. Here and he the, the guy who
works there, he's, he's, he's nice about my Dutch, which I
like. That goes a long way it.
Does. My first few years here, I I
planned my entire day around whowouldn't change to English.
But yeah, I get it. So that makes it, that makes it

(48:49):
also expat friendly. So in your YouTube channel, it
sounds like it almost started like an accident.
Like, not as an accident, but like this, this intersection of
your heritage, your fascination with the culture, and then your
advertising background and filmmaking background.
All you needed to do was make make yourself in front of the

(49:10):
camera and not playing video games.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, yeah.
What's nice about the video games is like I am a little
square in the corner and the video game is like the main
thing. I'm just kind of commenting on
it, but yeah, yeah, it was all just kind of this like big happy
accident. I mean, like with so much
content that I've made over the past years, it's just like

(49:32):
throwing stuff at the wall. There's been so many series and
so many things that like, I've, you know, it's like had an
interest in I'll make a thing and then like it gets no
reaction. I'm like, OK, that's fine.
I made it. I'm, I'm proud of it.
And yeah, so this was kind of the one of the first things that

(49:53):
really kind of popped off and was like, OK, cool.
I'm, I'm going to milk this until people are interested in
it because it's something that Ienjoy.
I like learning about Dutch culture.
It's something I'm doing anyways.
And so it's just like kind of learn with me.
And yeah, in fact, I am planningon releasing a book, hopefully
by the end of the year, of 365 Dutch Facts.

(50:16):
Nice, you should do one that's like anti emburgering, like
these are the facts. You don't want to learn or learn
them wrong for emburgering, because that's it's a little bit
what you're doing. Like it helps people connect
with the culture a little bit. And so tell us, tell us your
favorite video, like what what it and we can maybe show it, but
it's like, what is the thing that just tell us your favorite

(50:39):
video. You've made me.
Gosh. I love them all equally if
they're listening, but let's see, I make them in batches, so
it's like I'll make like 10 of them in one day.
So they all kind of blend together.

(50:59):
Oh yeah. So I do want to talk about a
couple of them. There was.
I talked about a Dutch Pokémon card being sold for €35,000 my
son. Loved that one.
Yeah. Tell us about it.
Tell us about it. Yeah, well, I love that one a
lot because it is absurd. Like I, I mean, I love Pokémon
cards. I like playing the game, but

(51:21):
like Dutch cards only existed. Dutch Pokémon cards only existed
for like a short period of time.Basically the Pokémon Company
like released them and then realized like, oh, there's no
marker for this. So like they stopped making
them. So there's like a very limited
set. So it's like most of the world
does not care about Dutch Pokémon cards.
But like there is a small group of Dutch people who love Pokémon

(51:43):
and love Pokémon cards who are like looking for pristine
perfect edition card. So it's like just, you know, a
piece of cardboard sold for €35,000.
I'm like, Jesus, that was that'sa house or down payment at
least. So yeah, I like that story.
And also it's like it's it kind of mixed everything.
Like it, it mixed everything that I enjoy a bit.

(52:07):
So it's like Dutch culture and it's also a little bit of video
gaming or gaming. And yeah, it was kind of a thing
in the right direction. So it's like a.
News story that happened mixed with the cultural phenomenon
which is like they only made so many because it's such a small
country. And is it?
The Dutch people don't want to buy their own Pokémon cards,
they would rather buy them from another country.

(52:29):
Yeah, I'm not exactly sure the purpose of it.
I think it's just like, yeah, I,I don't know, They, they like
stopped producing them in like 1999.
So it's like it, it could have, I'm not exactly sure what was
going on culturally in the Netherlands at that time, but
it's yeah, because I mean, they still make Spanish cards.
They still make German cards, They still like make them in a

(52:49):
French cards. But yeah, they just stopped
making Dutch cards. I I, yeah, I assume it was a
lack of interest, but like, now that they're hard to get.
Yeah, there's. Like anything, a big.
Interest, so it brought. A lot of things together.
All right, What's your next one?Yeah, so one that I one that I
was like kind of horrified by was I was talking about how the

(53:14):
the Dutch East India Company massacred a an island for
nutmeg. But it was just kind of a the
story of like the the colonization.
That was really eye opening because as an American, it's
like, I know there's a lot of debate about like what the
horrors in, in our past, but like it's, you know, it's

(53:37):
important to recognize it. It's important to at the very
least like acknowledge it and, and it's historical and like
relevance today. I was kind of, I was kind of
pleased and horrified by the comment section of that because
it's like you do have a like a small percentage of commenters

(53:57):
and I know they don't represent the majority of Dutch people.
I, I will say, like, I, I want to recognize that like
commenters are not a good or accurate representation of the
majority of people because like to leave a comment on a video,
you're already in like a very fringe group of people.
So like, that's important to remember when you're making
content. But yeah, it was like the amount

(54:20):
of people that were proud of thecolonization, like past of the
Netherlands. I was like, oh, that's, that's
really weird. Like there's they, there's a
Dutch, the Dutch word for colonized, which I can't
pronounce it, but they would like write that word with like a
strong arm emoji. I'm like, oh, that's, that's,

(54:41):
that's actually kind of scary. Yeah, like that.
They're like proud, but like, oh, OK, I don't love that.
Yeah, but that's why that's my favorite.
Video, but it was like a definitely a shift and like, oh,
you, some of you guys are weird.Yeah, well, but it's also
without the awareness, right. So I think the thing that I

(55:03):
learned when I started learning about Dutch, like being here,
learning about more close up, itput context to some of the the
things that are happening in theUS and also just the yeah, it
helped me understand my own culture to learn about this in
Dutch culture as well. Not not to be proud of it, but

(55:23):
if if you were to just again, like in when I was growing up in
school in the US, we didn't talkabout the bad parts.
You only talked about the good parts, which I think in some
ways happened here where it was like, yeah, we America, America
first. Like we were so proud of our
country. We, you know, the founding
fathers. If you only hear the good
stories, then it's like, yeah, of course you're proud, right?

(55:45):
Right. Yeah.
And it's like going back to whatwe were talking about before.
My, my family be like, hey, if you're not Dutch, you're not
much. And I'm sure it's like there is
a bit of learned exceptionalism happening in in most Western
cultures that like is, is a bit hard to unlearn because it's
like nobody, nobody's sitting here saying that like we should

(56:09):
suffer or be punished for the sins of our grandparents.
But it's like also at the same time, it's like, well, I mean,
we should, we should at least acknowledge it so we don't
repeat. Yeah, that's the reason I.
Do yeah, Yeah, it's actually so true.
So you, you gave good tips for how to survive having a YouTube
audience. Is there any other advice you

(56:33):
would give people who are wanting to be creators on on
YouTube? Yeah, I think if you're thinking
about doing it, just do it. Don't worry about the logistics
of it. That's I think just like a major
hurdle for a lot of creators is like, oh, I have an idea and I
know how it's going to be perfect and it's like, well, it
might not be and just just do it.

(56:55):
I've never been precious about my ideas.
I think like I yeah, I don't. That's hard.
One training, though, that's, that's film school, that's being
in the industry a while. That's a really good tip, not
being precious about your ideas.That's the difference between
being, I don't know, like it's, it's a really important skill.
And I went to art school as welland didn't learn that until I

(57:19):
left art school. Oh, OK.
And so that, that's a really powerful lesson.
And it actually came from working in software like just
iterate, iterate, iterate, iterate, iterate.
Just keep. Iterating until you find your
voice and that I think it's important that that most
creators are doing that. And if you watch anyone, even
your early videos, you'll see that it's created over time.

(57:42):
Like you found your voice over time.
What works for you over time, what's accurate, what's even a
persona over time? That that's a really important
process as a creator. And some, some people think
content creators aren't artists.I tend to disagree.
They're just the new, you know, when the camera is invented,
painters thought they weren't artists, right?
Like photographers weren't artists.

(58:02):
Now they're artists. Now they're fine artists Even
so, content creators, I mean, they run the gamut, but I think
the process and the the craft isstill being crafted.
Yeah. A. 100% there's a, there's two
quotes that like come to mind often when it comes to the
creative process. And one is from Jake the dog of
Adventure Time. And he says being bad at

(58:25):
something is just the first stepof being good at something.
I'm like, OK, that's, that's very helpful.
And then another quote is Dan Harmon, creator of Rick and
Morty problematic figure, but some good, good quotes.
He he says if you think you're abad writer, just prove it to

(58:46):
yourself. That's really good advice.
Yeah. And we've had this moment, and
both you and I have been in the film industry.
We have to hold two things. You said he's a problematic
figure. I think this is true of
countries as well as as a personis being able to hold 2 treat
things as true. Someone's work is really great,
but they're problematic figure. A country you love, your country

(59:09):
also done horrible things right?Do you love?
Your country that you live in now, they also threaten to
deport you all the time. Those things can all be true.
Right. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And it's like, yeah, yeah, yeah,Dutch people are so mean to be.
But also Dutch people in my lifepersonally are very nice to me.
So it's like, yeah. Why do I crave their their

(59:32):
acceptance? They're so mean, but why do I
accept their? Why do I crave their acceptance
so deeply? That's funny.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's like they're like, yeah,
Dutch people are like doing likethat toxic dating technique or
it's like, oh, they're mean to me.
I want them to love me. It's a strategy.

(59:56):
If it's strategy, it's working. No, but it is.
It is complex. It is complex to be in a culture
that seems rude according to your culture.
And you grew up with that paradigm from when you were
little. But it was something I had to
learn living here. Yeah, yeah, definitely.

(01:00:17):
Very fun. Well, I hope people go to your
YouTube channel. What what would you say?
I feel like when I watch it, I feel like you're it's part like
self confessional and part you're just wanting to share
what you're learning. It just feels like we're going
through it with you. Is that what you would say the
intention is? Yeah, definitely.

(01:00:37):
Like I said, it's it's always been for fun.
I'm yeah, I'm just kind of throwing stuff at the wall with
it. And yeah, the current like Dutch
history, Dutch culture is just like, you know, if I learn a fun
fact, my audience is going to learn a fun fact, and then I
will learn that I'm wrong. I may make a correction video

(01:00:58):
one day once I get like enough. But yeah, it's, it's, it's just
things that I find interesting about Dutch culture said in my
voice. Yeah.
Well, and I've learned that every history, every single
history is what is right, you know, so there's the there's the
line that everyone learned in school or the I call it the

(01:01:20):
dogma. And then there's the actual
historical facts, which still probably aren't exactly how it
happened, Right. And so you're you're walking
that line. And then there's the
interpretation as someone who didn't grow up here with that
dogma or you did a little bit with your grandparents.
Yeah. So it makes it very rich what
you're doing, which I think is is maybe unintentional, but I
appreciate it. Oh, well, thank you.

(01:01:42):
I I appreciate you saying that. Yeah, yeah.
It's a fun time. And like, I take suggestions.
I read all the comments. I don't let them affect me, but
people will be like, you should make a video about this.
I'm like, what is that? I'll research.
And I'm like, Oh my gosh, that'sso weird.
Yeah. Cool.
So you're, you're having conversation with your audience
a little bit as well. Yeah, yeah. 100% yeah.

(01:02:02):
Cool. Cool.
And then you're also doing, you mentioned welcome distractions,
so you're also doing improv, is that right?
Yes. So we, we were doing once a
month, now we're doing once every other month and it's just
like an improv show around town.That's also, you can find that
through my social media as well.I, I put like a link in my bio,

(01:02:24):
all that stuff. And that's just been like a
really fun outlet. I've been doing improv now for,
good God, three years so. Ever since that, yeah, it was a
full day at Boom Chicago. Right, yes, yes, it was fun.
I was it was just like I said, it was just so a way to try and
make friends. And now it's great too because

(01:02:44):
people come to the show. It's I think it's like a great
environment to meet people because like people from my
TikTok will come to the show andbe like, I follow you on TikTok.
The show's so fun. It's like, I think it's like a
good environment because it's like, we'll they'll see me
perform and be silly and then it's like, well, I'll go grab a

(01:03:06):
beer afterwards. And it's like, that's, that's
actually very nice, Yeah. That's, that is, it's a really
fun and very visceral way of interacting with your audience.
Very cool. So people can find you on TikTok
at Tall Redbeard. Is that the best way, or is
there other ways that you'd likethem to contact you?
Yeah, I think just tall Redbeardon any and every platform.

(01:03:28):
I I got it across the board, yeah.
Yeah. Good, good, good.
And then is there any last things you want to tell us that
we didn't cover? I talked about the book that I
want to release. Right.
Yeah, you did. Like, I've got all the facts
written. I just need to format it in a
way. So yeah, I, you said this might
come out in the fall. Yep.

(01:03:48):
OK. So yeah, OK.
I'm going to try to get it out by then.
All right, let's do it. OK, OK.
OK, yeah, so so a book of Dutch facts coming out soon.
And I mean, oh, geez, I didn't even talk about the comic books
that I write. Sadie Sword is a comic book that

(01:04:09):
yeah, that that I I wrote with some friends that's also
available on Amazon. Nice.
Yeah. Yeah.
I mean just give a follow if you'll watch the videos, if you,
if you like them, make angry. Comments.
If you don't, it helps the algorithm.
It helps. Yeah.

(01:04:29):
Yeah. Good.
Well, thanks for sharing with ustoday.
Thanks for they're going so deepon some of that stuff.
And for the videos you make, I think they're really, they're
really fun addition to the repertoire of people who are
living this life and making fun of it.
And yeah, it's it's beautiful. So thanks for sharing, sharing
your talents. Thank you so much.
This was a lot of fun. Right?

(01:04:50):
I I appreciate it so much. Yeah, awesome.
And thank you everyone for joining us today on the House of
Peregrine podcast. Please give us a like and listen
on any platform you listen to and we'll talk to you next.
Time. OK, that's it for today.
I hope you've enjoyed our show. For the latest insights on
living internationally, join us at houseofperegrine.com to find

(01:05:12):
out how you can connect with ourcommunity.
Let's. Craft our life story with
intention, together.

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Is Moving Abroad the New American Dream? | Ep 70

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Is Moving Abroad the New American Dream? | Ep 70